Chocobana
I enjoyed the show overall and have a fondness for the characters but some things bothered me here more than they did in the first season. Some of the main characters came across as overly sanctimonious when someone around them did something wrong. While I understand a simple correction, I couldn't stop rolling my eyes when a character went on and on about something. The main characters are definitely flawed in their own way but in some aspects, they were too understanding and too kind.
The writing lacked subtlety when it was trying to teach a lesson or communicate a point. A scene featuring a simplistically nasty character would play before another scene showing one of our main character doing the "right" thing to show them in a better light. Most of the characters were overly idealistic and kind or terrible and mean. I wished the arching themes were handled in a much more subtle way instead of us getting hit over the head with them.
The screenwriter's writing really shines when she depicts friendships and the bonds between families, but even then, there were some weak points. She seems to have a tendency to focus on mother figures and use them to create conflict. For most of the patients' families, the father/husband figure was absent completely or only appeared for an important surgery (unless the father was a patient himself). This happened multiple times to the point where I couldn't take the father/husband figure standing next to the woman seriously because they'd been pretty much completely absent until the surgery scene. They rarely have lines and they might as well have blurred faces because they're simply there as props.
I liked most of the relationships except for the one involving Jong-wan and Ik-sun. This couple reminded me too much of the main couple in Reply 1994, which I disliked, and the conflict felt absolutely idiotic and pointless. Again, the screenwriter mostly writes really good couples that have the best interactions and chemistry so I don't get why she keeps reusing these old-fashioned types of conflicts for some of her couples.
The writing lacked subtlety when it was trying to teach a lesson or communicate a point. A scene featuring a simplistically nasty character would play before another scene showing one of our main character doing the "right" thing to show them in a better light. Most of the characters were overly idealistic and kind or terrible and mean. I wished the arching themes were handled in a much more subtle way instead of us getting hit over the head with them.
The screenwriter's writing really shines when she depicts friendships and the bonds between families, but even then, there were some weak points. She seems to have a tendency to focus on mother figures and use them to create conflict. For most of the patients' families, the father/husband figure was absent completely or only appeared for an important surgery (unless the father was a patient himself). This happened multiple times to the point where I couldn't take the father/husband figure standing next to the woman seriously because they'd been pretty much completely absent until the surgery scene. They rarely have lines and they might as well have blurred faces because they're simply there as props.
I liked most of the relationships except for the one involving Jong-wan and Ik-sun. This couple reminded me too much of the main couple in Reply 1994, which I disliked, and the conflict felt absolutely idiotic and pointless. Again, the screenwriter mostly writes really good couples that have the best interactions and chemistry so I don't get why she keeps reusing these old-fashioned types of conflicts for some of her couples.
Was this review helpful to you?
