- Slowly but surely, the young doctor abandons his dreams. His ambition to make medical discoveries is thwarted as his effort to fight a syphilis epidemic falters in the face of uneducated, hostile peasants. His spirit and sense of purpose remains unbroken, though, until he discovers how brutal day-to-day surgery can be when confronted with a gruesome and barbaric operation.—Anonymous
- Back in increasingly cold Muryovo, enough time has now passed for the young doctor to have scarcely - managed to grow a beard. But despite his many attempts at appearing more imposing, he is nevertheless still living in the shadows of the doctor who previously inhabited the house; a real doctor, complete with a fully-grown beard and everything, and whose name is uttered oh-too-often by the rest of the crewl; Leopold Leopoldovich.
Meanwhile, things get ferociously bloodier. When a young girl who urgently needs to be amputated is brought in, the doctor quivers at the mere thought of performing the nasty task. Paralyzed with terror, the pitiable creature stands frozen in his tracks, almost as if considering whether he ought to do anything about it.
Are you sure shes not dead?
It is, of course, his older self, incarnated by the captivating Jon Hamm, who comes to the rescue. Very bluntly, he tells him that if he really wants to save the world one peasant at a time, there must be no exceptions.
But when the young doctor finally lets his alter-ego show him the right track, we almost wish hed taken the wrong one. In what will perhaps be one of the most viciously humorous scenes youll ever see, the doctor finds himself regretting reading all those text-books when what he should have been reading was practical tips for jointing a carcass.
Im not a doctor. Im nothing but a butcher
Amidst the black-as-darkness humour of these circumstances, we also meet more of the older doctor and his troubled soul. By the end of the episode were left wondering just how many scars he has been left with.
by Stefani Thrasyvoulou
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