Dr. Ken, Season 2, Episode 13: “Jae Meets the Parks”
Original airdate January 13, 2017.
Let him soothe your soul; just take his hand.
Molly introduces Jae to her family, and everything’s great until Jae says he’s dropped out of UCLA to pursue his art. This makes Allison uncomfortable and sets Ken completely off. Ken forbids Molly from seeing Jae. Molly stops talking to Ken. Damona learns that Pat has lied to her about being required to wear scrubs at Welltopia. In an act of defiance, she dresses up for work but gets locked in the stairwell. Pat is putting on a few pounds and orders a reluctant Clark to become his food police.
Some people call him an evil man.
Only two things this week really bug me. The first several minutes of the show look like they’re about to get out of hand with all the Parks overacting and overreacting, and when Ken and Molly have their fight, it’s begins as just the worst version of this fight we’ve seen in a hundred sitcoms. Also, guys know when other guys shouldn’t be trusted, and Jae is sneaky untrustworthy. I mean, not in a way that puts Molly in any danger, but in that way where he’s going to make a bad decision somewhere and Molly’s going to be the collateral damage. It’s that lotus flower, I tell you, and “sweets for my sweet.” Gag me with a rice paddle.
Let him introduce himself real good.
The episode gives every indication that it’s going to be like its recent siblings, but somewhere in that diagreement between Ken and Allison, while Molly is walking Jae to his car, it shifts into super believable, drawing on decisions made by actors and writers a year ago. There’s some depth here, some realization of characters who aren’t as shallow as they frequently want us to believe. Comic relief from Clark, Pat, and Damona is better than usual as well, especially from Clark, and even D. K. is pretty much right on. “Korean Footloose” is funny too, a nice little treat for us Gen Xers in the audience.
He’s the one they call Dr. Feelgood.
Last week’s episode was terrible. This week’s isn’t great, but it’s solid and respectable, not to mention pretty funny. What is it about fighting that brings out the best in these actors and characters? 3.5 ID badges out of 5.
