The whole medical drama concept is something i live for. I have watched hollywood and bollywood dramas but Hallyu sort of takes the cherry on the top because i actually get to enjoy it till the end. Coming to the drama,
Genre : Medical, melodrama, rom-com, action(though you won't see much of it towards the end)
Story-line : Troublemaker goes through personal tragedies to strive and become a successful neurosurgeon. The plot-twists are rare and a tiny dash of revenge is the only thing that keeps you waiting through a painfully almost realistic journey till the end. The excitement of Park Shin Hye being the action queen slowly dies down and she becomes a little annoying at the end. There are scores of tense medical situations and you are almost at the edge of your seats with anticipation but technically that has nothing to do with the base story. What makes it a melodrama is the mental ordeal that the characters go through and the growth in them. You almost start praying for the characters because they cute af and decide to forgive the weak ass story because the actors and characters have stolen the show away. With a weak story and fairly repetitive plot, you start to get bored of the main characters but the supporting characters are what to look out for, because i have had second lead syndrome but this drama takes a whole top notch for all the other characters too.
Acting : That is the only thing that kept me watching it till the end.... Hats off to the all the actors of the show because you start saving a soft spot for everyone at some point or the other.
Kim Rae Won's portrayal of Hong JI Hong is flawless. Either the character is perfectly donned or may be it's actually him, that you start believing him to be a goofy doctor because he's that good.
Park Shin Hye let me down a little. The first few episodes had a lot of promising character developments that you really don't want to stop seeing the tough girl that she already was (i personally feel they should have added a few more action scenes and instances)
The chemistry between them was so bad. I am sorry but the first kiss was horrible, the second kiss looked a little desperate and you are just holding your head trying to imagine what the directors were thinking when they cast them together. Although the actors tried really hard to play the characters well, it simply didn't work out.
I will have to mention the supporting cast though. Yoon gyun sang was a cute little lover boy, while you really want to see more about Baek sung Hyun and KIm Min suk's characters. All in all the actors saved the day!!!
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The cast did a decent job, but I found myself more invested in the side characters than in the main story. Like Moon Ji In devoted and charismatic as the bestie. Or Kim Min Suk's loveable, quirky side-kick. I even adored Jang Hyeon Seong's portrayal of a fatherly, kind-hearted boss who takes care of his employees as if they are his children.
The biggest disappointment for me personally was the small role played by Ji Soo. I would have liked them to at least check back in with his character at some point later in the drama.
While there was potential for some really fierce scenes with dirty bad guys and helpless heroes, that didn't happen here. The drama quietly flowed from one episode to the next until it ended.
Don't watch this if you are looking for suspenseful medically dramatic moments or passionate love triangles. Do watch this if you love Park Shin Hye, love Kim Rae Won, and hate rollercoaster dramas.
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Secondly, I watched this drama even though I hate teacher/student pairings and I will say that aspect of the drama did not make me cringe as much as the idea usually does... this is most likely due to the separate acting of Kim Rae Won and Park Shin Hye. I don't think there was the astounding chemistry and romance that a lot of other reviewers profess to loving. It wasn't even interesting in my opinion. If I am being honest, I would have preferred Jisoo somehow coming back into the show even though it is cheesy to see some actual tension, awkwardness and conflict. I was actually rooting for literally anyone except for KRW at one point cause everything was so boring. Why place a second male lead that everyone knows has 0 chance? I don't think anyone thought that the PSH and KRW characters would not be the couple.
WARNING, MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE AHEAD: I really hate teacher/student relationships because of their very nature. I am not talking about the age difference which is already a major factor. I mean the principal and mindset and realism to have amorous feelings for someone that is supposed to be your mentor/mentee. It does not make sense and would never happen. Anyone that is reading this, think back on all your teachers... maybe even your aunt or uncle... how many can you say that you would fall in love with? Not lust. Love. I would bet none. Some may argue "that's the beauty because its so rare its meaningful" I would argue that this is a similar situation as falling in love with your step-parent. Not blood-related, but the initial relationship must be something that was inherently wrong to begin with. I would argue that there are many other story lines and characters to create, don't just try to force something that doesn't make sense.
I would never rewatch this drama given the fact that I had to skip past most of the very drawn out "dramatic" and "important" scenes because they really were not. The best part of the drama for me was the music because I really liked all three of the main songs: "No Way," "Sunflower" and "It's Love."
Finally, I think that some people really liked this drama for two reasons... actually two people: Park Shin Hye and Kim Rae Won. I am telling all readers and watchers, please do not rate solely based on one character or actor that you prefer. It makes it so that your comments do not provide insight or describe if you actually watched and understood the drama.
P.S. - Lee Sung Kyung is beautiful and I hope she gets lead parts where she can act as a novel character instead of the "Jealous Bitch" troupe.
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*sigh*
Now that I've finished this, I kinda don't know what to do with myself. What to watch next? lol
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What saved this drama from a flop is Kim Rae Won. He has the uncanny ability to make me invested in his characters. He didn't fail this time as Hong Hong Hong. The other actors are good too. Park Shin Hye definitely saved her country in another life with all the daebak male leads she has had. Honestly, I don't think she is that great an actress. She did well in this though. She felt more real as Yoo Hye Jung.
The music is great. I have already downloaded some.
I will never rewatch this.
This review is short because it is one of those dramas that did not have an impact on me one way or another. I only recommend it for Kim Rae Won.
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I must admit that the main story did drag on a bit. The pacing noticeably slowed down as the main plot had to give way for the patients' stories to be shown. But while waiting for the main plot to develop, I was rewarded with the discovery of great actors such as Kim Min Suk and of course, Nam Gung Min whose guest appearance was so amazing it broke my heart. There are other supporting and guest performances worth mentioning in this series but I think KMS topped the list.
The OST in this drama was pretty good too. I wasnt into kpop but while watching this series, No Way kept playing in my mind that I had to download it.
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The romance is a teacher/student, if you're into that kind of thing, and there isn't much romantic angst. Since it's a medical there are cases of the week that are interesting. Good side characters and side plots. The actors were... You guessed it... good. The main story was annoying. A childish revenge. A grown woman who should know how things are dealt with. High production quality. Nothing "new" nothing special. A "good" borderline "ok" drama, worth watching if you like medicals and non stressful romances without angst.
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I actually enjoyed the patients' stories more than the actual plot of the two main characters. Overall, not a drama that I'd re-watch, but quite enjoyable.
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This review may contain spoilers
Set in the past
I sincerely think the drama should have been set more in the past and her journey to being a doctor. The jump made from her teenage years and her being a doctor was a big gap to fill. It created a disconnection on my part. Plus their love story was really empty, not much to hold on to.I do have to mention the number of empty in between plots. Especially that of the love triangle. What I find repulsive in dramas are love triangle but this wasn't worthy of one as it shouldn't have existed in the first place.
Most importantly, somehow, the ending was very unsatisfying.
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A great medical drama
I like doctor and hospital shows, so this one was perfect for me. It also had romance, which made it even better. As a bonus, Park Shin Hye was the female lead. She was excellent as usual. I watched this because I searched for dramas with strong female leads. This one had a strong female lead from start to finish. I’m glad I took the time to watch, and it kept me entertained for the entire series. The operating scenes were realistic, and there was enough drama and suspense to satisfy everybody.If I were to find a fault, it would be the flow of the story. The focus was on the medical drama, sometimes leaving the romance and character development aside. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the medical stories. Some were suspenseful, and some were heart-wrenching. I think they followed Yoo Hye Jung’s life very well, which was the main focus of the entire drama. Again, Park Shin Hye played this part beautifully. She captures the screen with every move she makes.
The four residents were more like first-year med students. With a drama focused on brain surgery, you would think the residents would have a little more professionalism. I think this was supposed to be funny, but it didn’t come across very well. Punching, smacking on the head, and kicking the shins, isn’t funny. It was a weak attempt at humor.
Now let’s talk about romance. The storyline tried to force a love triangle with Yoo Hye Jung as the focal point. Unfortunately, they overplayed it so much I expected massive changes in the love interests. Jung Yoon Do knew her for just a short time. Hong Ji Hong had a history with her. It might have worked if it was an ex-boyfriend or something, but it just didn’t fit in this case. Yoon Kyun Sang didn’t seem to be the right fit in this drama for romance. As a doctor, he was great. Why push the love stuff on him? It was not romantic or funny, and it was awkward to the end. Do all writers think it’s required to have a love triangle?
Almost every episode interjected Yoon Do’s feelings about Hye Jung. As a result, it diminished the romantic relationship that was growing between Ji Hong and Hye Jung. I kept wondering why they kept focusing on Yoon Do’s feelings. After she rejected him several times, why didn’t they just let it go? On the other hand, it was nice to watch the relationship between Hye Jung and Ji Hong grow from start to finish. I didn’t see great chemistry between the two, but I did see love blossom into a sweet and romantic ending. There were four kisses which helped with the lack of chemistry.
This series gave me precisely what I was looking for, a strong female lead. Park Shin Hye was so good at displaying martial arts and the toughness of spirit. I would highly recommend this drama to everybody.
Subtitles: 7.5
There were numerous missing lines and some strange translations. Never using contractions in the entire drama was also cumbersome, but I’m getting used to seeing that in subtitles. Also, I’m getting used to common differences. Using “why?” in places that “what?” should be used or “get off the car” instead of “get out of the car.”
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I always like stories of underdogs who turned their life around. But Doctors is the story after our heroine turned her life around which made it less interesting than how I thought it would be. If I am to choose which part I liked the most, I'll divide Doctors into: the hospital politics, the romance, Hye-jung's past, and the other characters. Out of these, I'll select 'the other characters' as my favorite. I really don't care much about the hospital politics and I found Hye-jung's past frustrating. I like the romance, don't get me wrong, cause they really are cute at times, I like how they are supposed to be together to grow and enjoy life together. It's just that after a few episodes of getting together, I think it was way too much.
The Cast
This drama have its fair share of good actors and actresses. I love our heroine badass so when she started softening around the edges, I find myself liking her less or less (or is it just the story?). I like Lee Sung-kyung's character until everything got frustrating on her storyline. Lee Sung-kyung's character always end up being sympathetic but frustrating (I do hope to find her in something better). Kim Min-suk and Yoon Kyu-sang keeps me watching and the other side characters. It also helped that this drama invested in cameos. I could have stopped watching this until Nam Goong-min cameod.
Rewatch Value
I can't watch the last episodes without skipping on a LOT of scenes so...
Overall
I did enjoy Doctors for most of the beginning run. I just found it too long with not enough plot to cover. Funny how everything goes around like karma here. But, the last episodes are thoughtful and somehow lifted what I felt about this drama (though there really are a lot of rolling eyes that happened while I'm watching).
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