Doctor Elise: Skill Under Pressure Makes Her A Little Dull

Hi everyone! How are we doing? I’m doing pretty good. Today, we will discuss skill under pressure via Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp. I want to jump right into it because I have a gripe with this show, and I do not know how long that rant will be. Let’s get into it!

High-Pressure Careers

If you look at a February 2023 list in US News about the 20 most stressful jobs, careers in the medical industry are sprinkled throughout the article. Physicians, surgeons, and paramedics are 19, 10, and 8, respectively¹. With that type of stress, strong skills are essential. That’s why doctors spend tens of thousands of dollars on their education. It is also why they must spend the last few years of medical school on clinical rotations. It is to mitigate the risks of mistakes that could cost lives. However, doctors can make mistakes or even lose patients despite all of this education, skill, and experience. In 2018, CNBC reported that medical error is the third leading cause of death².

This brings me back to Elise. Although she is in such high-pressure situations, she is so skilled that she never falters. Remember that Elise’s life before returning to her old life was as renowned surgeon Aoi. Aoi is in a plane crash, comes to, and begins successfully treating several passengers before succumbing to her grave injuries. She then returns to her old life as Elise, treating patients flawlessly, even removing a spleen. She is revolutionizing medicine in her kingdom, proving that she is more than a noblewoman but a medical prodigy.

But…

Elise is too perfect. In her previous life as Aoi, she never lost a patient. The winning streak continues when she returns to her old life as Elise. No one falls into a coma after surgery and then recovers. Not one patient gets an infection, even in timey-wimey times when things are likely less sterile. Whenever you watch the show, and someone falls ill around Elise, you know they will be just fine.

I may sound morbid, but Elise needs to go through some strife. I mean, what else am I supposed to get out of this show? There is not enough interaction between our two male characters for a love triangle plot. So, I am assuming I am supposed to focus on the medical intrigue of it all. But all medical conflicts are quickly resolved. Can you imagine medical dramas like ER, Grey’s Anatomy, or Chicago Med without the complications of death, affairs, or drug problems? Everyone is just prancing around solving all the world’s issues before they roll credits? How boring! Sure, Doctor Elise isn’t a gritty drama, but it’s not compelling, either.

Possible Solution

We are only four episodes in. There is still time to turn this thing around. If they insist on keeping this saccharine medical fluff, let’s dive more into Elise’s past BEFORE she reincarnates into Aoi. Let’s explore her cruelty, entitlement, and how she destroyed her family and her kingdom. They gloss over it in the first episode, but let’s devote a whole episode to her dark past. I think this will give Elise more depth and weight to her motivations. Then we can return to “Little Miss Perfect and the Men Who Love Her.”

Wrapping It Up

Well, that’s it for now! Next week, we will discuss Mr. Villain’s Day Off and that hot topic of work/life balance. I will see you then!?

Footnotes:

2. Sipherd, Ray . “The Third-Leading Cause of Death in US Most Doctors Don’t Want You to Know About.” CNBC, 22 Feb. 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-america.html#:~:text=The%20researchers%20discovered%20that%20based.