Season 2, Episode 6

Air Date: Friday, November 4, 2016, 8:30/7:30c on ABC

Rating: ★★★★★

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s a Korean thing.” – Troy

Ken (Ken Jeong) finds himself embarrassed over his lack of understanding of the Korean language when Troy (Joshua Elijah Reese), the Welltopia Medical Group’s Korean translator, is needed to help him with a patient. Making matters worse is while doctor and patient are both Korean, Troy isn’t. Things don’t get any better at home when friends of Ken’s father, D.K. (Dana Lee), who also happen to be Korean, poke fun at Ken’s inability to speak the language during game night. Wanting to embrace his heritage, Ken is determined to learn the language even if it means going back to school with his son Dave (Albert Tsai).

Meanwhile, Clark’s (Jonathan Slavin) excited about being elected the representative for the Welltopia nurses’ union. His delight quickly fades when he learns he’ll be going head to head with Pat (Dave Foley) during negotiations of the nurses’ contract, or as Pat likes to put it, “Wounded gazelle meet hungry hyena. It’s feeding time.” The banter between the two as they hammer out the contract is priceless, making it impossible not to laugh at their antics.

Dr. Ken doesn’t get enough credit for being a true ensemble show. Despite being inspired by Jeong’s life and being named after him, in addition to Jeong serving as producer and star, he appears content in spreading the comedy around for the rest of the cast, even at times taking a back seat. Not only are Slavin’s scenes with Foley hilarious to watch throughout the negotiations scenes, Slavin is given an amazing moment to shine during an impassioned speech. Slavin’s performance is so powerful, for a minute you almost forget Dr. Ken isn’t a serious medical drama.

I confess, there’s a lot about “Ken Learns Korean” I’m not able to relate to on some levels. While I can appreciate Ken’s frustration as he feels the pressure to learn his ancestors’ native language, Given my pale complexion, I’ve never been put in that situation and no one has ever assumed I knew the language of my Scandinavian ancestors. Even though I couldn’t fully grasp their plight, the scene between Ken and Dave as they talk about “breaking the chain” is touching to watch regardless of ethnicity.

Despite not entirely relating to the episode written by Mary Fitzgerald, one of the things I took away from “Ken Learns Korean” is how much our perception of people is based on how they look. Much of the humor during the episode is due to preconceived notions. The scene with Troy is funny, not because he speaks Korean but because of his race. Even Clark isn’t taken seriously at first because of certain biases towards him. While this might not have been Fitzgerald’s goal, I very much enjoyed the subtle reminder not to be too quick to judge.

During my review of “Allison’s Career Move,” I mentioned how mature the storylines have become. “Ken Learns Korean” kicks that up a notch as there are many life lessons one can come away with depending on how you view the episode.

I’m not sure if it’s the addition of Lee as a series regular or whether the writers have simply overcome the freshman jitters but in season two, the cast really embraces their Korean heritage. The writers have found a way to respect and honor the cast’s diversity while keeping Dr. Ken a show any family can enjoy regardless of race. There is a genuine comfortableness to the characters that wasn’t fully there last season.

Directed by Phil Lewis, “Ken Learns Korean” is one of my top five favorite Dr. Ken episodes. Capped off by an outstanding performance by Slavin, “Ken Learns Korean” continues the string of entertaining episodes this season.

Tweet me @Staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Ken Learns Korean.”

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All photos © 2016 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

© 2016, Greg Staffa. All rights reserved.