They should have kept this series short if they can't justify those 20+ episodes. No wonder Blood was a disaster. Park Jaebum has an eye for writing interesting concepts but the overall execution of it? Fails to meet expectations.
The acting, from Joo Won's permanently hunched back and fidgeting fingers to Moon Chae Won's drunken antics, are really beyond what this drama deserves. The only thing that kept this series together was the cast.
Music isn't memorable enough to comment on so I'll give it a random three for effort.
Rewatched value? What indeed. Except for Si On's hilarious trivia and dialouge, there wasn't much I would want to see again.
Overall, it was a nice distraction to my boring internet free day.
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I'll admit, there were a few flaws. The rewatch value for me in a 7, because I'll be skipping certain scenes. (I'm not upset I watched them the first time, though.) The politics started out taking up too much of the show, and in the beginning few people were on Si On's side. The abuse he suffered was painful to watch- but I think that was important. People with disabilities are often treated badly, especially when someone hasn't met them before. Pretending this doesn't happen might have made the show more comfortable to watch in the beginning but not as emotionally affecting. When people start supporting Si On, you really cheer. And there were always comedic moments, and of course the amazing In Hye. Favorite character ever!
Really, In Hye alone would have made me give this show high marks.
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This review may contain spoilers
After having watched numerous medical series, I quite enjoyed this one. Most of the actors did a great job and there was great chemistry between them. However, this is really one of the main reasons why I gave it the higher score that I would have.Although the concept of the autistic doctor is great and the main actor does a good job at this role, I could have done without the cringe plot of the girl who was raised with dogs. This really threw me off of the realism of the overall story. I should say however, she did a great job at her role as well. Then there is a bit of inconsistency with his "genius". It doesn't make sense for him to suddenly be aloof with the meaning of certain words or phrases, especially when he was raised lovingly by the director who one would think would have taught him these concepts over so many years. It would have made more sense for him to become more aware of it emotionally through multiple encounters with others but not play the fool to the actual definitions. The last downside for me was the screen time with the main character's love life was a bit too heavy-handed.
Despite the negatives listed above, it is still worth the watch. The great acting still pulls it altogether quite well.
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Story | It's quite different than what I was expecting before reading the plot. I always expect some smart handsome doctor to come in to a hospital, be a little rebel, and change from life lessons or something. This was completely off. Park Si On is far from the typical male lead. He's a doctor that has autism but has an amazing talent to memorize medical terms and is able to diagnose patients quickly. Due to prejudices, he's already judged as being someone who is incapable of ever becoming a surgeon. Throughout the drama Park Si On learns more of what he can't understand socially while at the same time, the people around him learn valuable life lessons and break their prejudice walls.
Cast | Loved. That's it. I loved Joo Won. He, in my opinion, portrayed Park Si On's character perfectly. Moon Chae Won was perfect too. I loved her chemistry with Joo Won on screen. They just fit perfectly together and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Joo Sang Wook was just as great. I loved his tough personality. With his character change he was able to keep that stern role while still being extremely likable. Supporting cast was great too. The nurses (head nurse especially!), interns, directors, patients etc. Whether good or bad, I liked how every character was portrayed.
Music | Besides instrumentals, a few OSTs (2Bic I believe) and the same insert song, music was simple and nice. Nothing to rate really high or really low though.
Rewatch | As much as I loved this drama, I doubt I will rewatch it. Like crime type dramas, medical dramas live off of the suspense for the next episode. Since knowing what has happened, I have a hard time rewatching these types of dramas. Maybe in a few years, who knows.
Overall | I think because this was a medical drama I never felt bored when watching. If the love line wasn't going as fast as I'd want it, I'd be distracted by the hecticness of the hospital. I thought it was evened out nicely. (Although I expect people to disagree with my point).
Anyways, this drama is such an eyeopener. I knew very little about Autism and through this I was able to learn about how one might feel or how one sees the world because of such a disease etc. Whenever something would come up as to why Si On was a certain way and they explained it, I sat there saying. "Ah. That makes a lot of sense" I myself learned a few life lessons from this drama and I am extremely happy I ended up watching this drama. Oh, romance is very minimal, but I believe it wasn't needed to push the plot along. So please give it a try!
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The acting was great throughout and all of the cast portrayed their characters especially Joo Won, I hadn't watched anything previously with him in and was really surprised at how well he pulled it off (its safe to say I'll be watching more dramas with him in). Moon Chae Won's acting I also loved, she was just so genuine that it was comfortable to watch, it was like this entire drama was real.
The storylines are realistic in my opinion, they deal with issues that people with Autism experience and how they handle the positive and negative events that happen to them and around them in every day life. In particular, the workplace and a Doctors scenario too. We see how the patient cases coincide with the Doctors lives and we learn things from the cases in terms of love, family, friendships and forgiveness.
As with all medical dramas I get a bit :/ with the medical terms, like i did with Medical top team, the terms they used etc just confused me so much I couldnt really focus on the plot line, but I think because Shi On's personality is so thorough and to the point he explains those terms in more basic detail combined with his unique talents so it's understandable? (I dont know maybe its just me, but i had more of an idea on whats going on than I normally do in other medical dramas)
There was such a variety of characters that the drama was enjoyable to watch so it wasnt all serious business medical stuff all the time, it was a simple and genuine drama.
I loved the OST, I loved the ending, I can't believe 20 episodes are over already! It didn't even feel draggy and their cliffhangers are so exhilarating it really does make you want to watch on for more!
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Not recommended
I'm speaking here as an autistic person, my score is 7 out of 10.Also note:
* I've heard a lot of good things about this.
* This was released 10 years ago.
Those said and considered:
1. The show is not about the autistic person, or autism for that matter. Autism was only used as a literary device to create a drama, like most other shows (be it Asian or Western) where there is an autistic character.
2. There was an excessive emphasis on "dumb", "stupid", and "idiot". Instead of it making people emphatize, it makes an audience hateful.
3. None of them actually showed that they finally understood autism and autistic people. To the very end, it was all about "do this" and "do that" so people will accept you and respect you. Sure, this is a common problem with society, however, should they have ended it that way? People will unconsciously think that's the proper way. It is not acceptance, it is forcing an autistic person to be "neurotypical".
And yet, 박시온 (Park Shi On) said in the last episode that it hurts him more when he's trying to remove his difference. But the people around him still acted the same way to end. There's a disconnect there.
4. The female lead is a prime example of a lover who doesn't understand a single thing about autism and autistic persons. She never showed any sign that she's doing her best to understand him, nope, instead she's doing her best to make him a "normal" person.
Yes, that's how it is in the real world. I've been in such a relationship. However, why leave it that way? She want to do things her way to the end. She will eventually get tired and quit. They will have a lot of fights. 시온 (Shi On) will just keep doing the same thing, keep quiet, say it is okay, say he is not mad, because he is always the one doing the "understanding".
What they did was to only validate that this relationship is doomed to fail instead of showing how a relationship with an autistic person can be if done properly.
5. The entire show, it was 박시온 who did the understanding and adjustments. Basically, the show taught us that autistic people should mask, mask, mask, and mask more. That no one will accept you unless you "get over" your autism (or in other words, mask your autism).
Conclusion:
* While it did show the discrimination, stereotype, and prejudices against autistic people.
* While it did capture the traits and quirks of an autistic person well.
* I cannot recommend this show at all because it does more damage than in helping the autistic cause.
If I watched this when it was released in 2013, yes, I would say the same thing and rate it similarly. I'm sorry.
Just watch 이상한 변호사 우영우 (Extraordinary Attorney Woo).
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There were a few things that I wasn't comfortable with, while watching this drama. I really did not like their portrayal of autism, Koreans seems to have a stereotypic (more often than not)misconception how a mentally ill person should talk, walk and hold their gait, however this was borderline offensive for me to watch. Most characters were treating Shion as a child the entire time just like in a children's show, many supporting characters had lines such as "he is really like a grownup now" "he progressed so much" and yet their behavior remained the same, as if Shion was a patient in this pediatric hospital. Moving on to the drama as a whole, obviously it was not preproduced and that really shows. There are multiple odd shifts in the story, character personalities change out of nowhere, probably based on audience feedback. I feel that up until episode 17-18 not even the writers knew what they wanted to do with their main loveline, once they've decided on a path they went for in a rather abrupt manner. I think originally they wanted to go all in with their love triangle with Dohan, but then they've gotten cold feet & the second couple's relationship got mended in a flash.
Episodes 2 - 10 ~ are nowhere near as good as what follows afterwards, I considered dropping it very early on, because the medical cases were not that interesting, the story dragged a lot & even though the angst was expected with a story like this, I felt that it was without merit. Thanks to live filming they completely shifted the mood of the series around e10 & what followed was a lighthearted medical drama that for the most part oozed of hope. At times I have really loved it.
There is no romance in the first half at all and there is very little of it up until episode 17 or 18, I'm not sure if the romance tag is entirely warranted. The way how the main couple got together feels forced & their happy ending feels like a nonending. Yun Soo's parents weren't shown. The writer's idea of a solution for the parent issue was a 1 year timeskip, something along the lines of "They are still together after a year, so dear audience fret not the in laws were convinced somehow"
There was a lot of hospital politics & scheming in the show, however it was not fun, nor interesting, nor a crucial part of the story, so I recommend skipping all the scenes involving hospital politics.
The supporting characters were awesome and there were some awesome parts later on, for these reasons the 7/10 rating seems fair, despite all the negatives that I've listed above.
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This series wasn't an exception. I won't add anything new to my comment because other people have review it thoroughly. However, if someone was to read it, i would just say to them to give this drama a try. The high ratings, in this case, are totally justifiable and correct,in my opinion.
This drama gets a 10/10from me. The actors were brilliant, the script was excellent and i would totally and without hesitation recommend it to everyone.
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So I decided to watch the original korean version (this one) and I am thankful I did. This series is so good and portrays everything really good. I finished watching this series a while ago but I keep watching it again, especially episode 13 and 20. I just love them, and I also love how they put a connection between all the Children in the hospital and Park Si On.
I would recommend this a lot, it's one of my favorite series that I still to this day just watch again for the fun of it.
And Joo Won (Park Si On) is a really good actor, he's really good at the role of someone with autism and he portrays his thoughts and fears really well. Two thumbs up! And the Chemistry between all the roles in the series is great!
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The main character (Shi-on - in the US version his name is Sean) has Autism which limits his social abilities but massively boosts his cognitive abilities. My son has Autism (albeit much milder) so it was interesting seeing the world through a set of eyes similar to his via this story.
The range of characters in the show are great, with some good supporting cast. I really enjoyed some of the sub plots around the hospital featuring the supporting characters particularly the younger patients that he worked with. As with all K-Drama's there's more than one couple forming and they're all interesting to watch.
The pairing of the two leads however was a really beautiful story and I much preferred the journey they took as compared to how the love aspect was handled on the US version.
Definitely recommended. If you haven't seen the US one then it's also worth a watch - while there are numerous elements and facets of the stories that are similar there's way more than enough different to make it very interesting to watch both.
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