Hyphen TV: MacGuffin Neurological Institute

March 18, 2013

"Kevin" is way too happy to work at Shirley's sandwich stand

It's a short one this week, guys! On Monday Mornings, a professional violinist with perfect pitch named Chun Mai (at least I think that's his name...the actor went uncredited unfortunately) came to Dr. Sung because his perfect pitch was beginning to escape him. Why Sung? Because he is both "a neurosurgeon of extreme precision" and a fellow violinist who also has perfect pitch. Ah-ha! Another piece of the Sung puzzle revealed, sorta. It doesn't really tell us much. Anyway, it turns out that Chun Mai has a tumor in his brain that is "risky, but can remove," per Sung. He went on to elaborate that the removal procedure "could make you better, could make you lose music all together." While not the most positive prognosis, Chun Mai decided to go through with it.

We see the violinist spending his last hours before the surgery playing his violin for what could be the last time, a gesture that would be moving if Sung weren't standing right outside the door listening in and conversing with other doctors. C'mon, guys. Then, we saw the surgery itself: while Chun Mai was wide awake and being operated on, Sung had him identify notes being played on the violin. I'm not a doctor, but is that...normal? He got the first two right, but when he started guessing on the third, Sung barked, "Wrong. Guessing." So now we can picture how he parents that little girl we saw for one second a few weeks back. Eventually, the tumor was removed, Chun Mai's perfect pitch was restored, and the two violinists performed a celebratory duet at the end of the episode. You know, what folks usually do after successful brain surgery.

On Community, we got our first real dose of Chang since his mysterious reappearance with "Changnesia" at the beginning of the season. While everyone was convinced that Chang's transformation into the docile, know-nothing "Kevin" was real, Jeff remained skeptical and, throughout the episode, tried to prove Chang was faking it. A grant from the MacGuffin Neurological Institute (GET IT?) for the study of Changnesia further confirmed the reality of the supposed disease, and in the end, even Jeff himself was convinced after kissing Chang's ex in front of Chang and eliciting no reaction. But, of course, a simple Chang is a dull Chang, so we saw the character make a clandestine phone call at the end of the episode, hinting at yet another grand takeover plan. I really hope they're not going back to that well again...

I would like to see what's in this book

And finally, our favorite stuntman Steven Ho was on Conan once again, this time as part of Nina Dobrev's stunt team. The bit is supposed to show off her fighting moves, but we all know who has the real skillz. Check out the video right here.

Staying cool before the big fight

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Dianne Choie

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Dianne Choie's TV is in Brooklyn, NY. She has a cat, several reusable shopping bags, and other mildly annoying stereotypes of youngish people who live in Brooklyn.

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