A medical drama giving Grey's Anatomy vibe with balanced fun, angst, romance and chaebol-ness ?
Growing up in a family of doctors, I have immense fascination and affection for the profession, for which reason I have a slight bias for medical dramas. Not bias in judging, but bias in the priority for watching the show.
I have watched most Chinese, Korean, English and Hindi medical dramas, and there's something about this show here that has brought me back to it several times for a rewatch. This show has now become therapeutic for me, wherein it would play in the background on a hectic day and I would relax to the beautiful melody of "It's Love" by Jungyup. Just the starting beats of the OST have me smiling and I can see every single moment between Hye Jung and Ji Hong flash before my eyes.
I like the character development of Hye Jung, and to be fair, PSH is one of the biggest reasons for me to keep watching this show. That coupled with excellent acting by some characters like Yoon Do, Seo Woo, Soon Hee, and Kang Soo keep me going. Soon Hee plays the role of Hye Jung's best friend beautifully and it is so amazing to see their bond traverse over the years. Similarly, LSK has delivered a powerful performance, like always, to the extent where she made me hate her character the first few times. You see her develop from this aloof personality to this strong woman who learns to prioritise herself, which is commendable. I also quite enjoy the cute and hilarious banter between Ji Hong and Yoon Do, kudos to both KRW and YKS for the amazing bromance!
In terms of the story, I like the swift shift we see in terms of the time period from Hye Jung's high school days to her life as a doctor. I also thoroughly enjoyed the storyline revolving around the grandmother and malpractice issue. What lifts it even more for me is LSK's brilliant portrayal of a person involved in the entire issue in some capacity. I also like how they keep it real by not giving it a fairy tale ending by putting the people behind bars for the main issue (not side issues like embezzlement). Hye Jung's acceptance of the issue and how her character derives peace at the end is very beautiful to watch over the span of the show and makes me happy for her. Totally love the grandmother, granddaughter bond. Though, I believe the show could've done without the unnecessary storyline of the stepmother and stepsister. Maybe even water down the story with the father to some extent. They seem like irrelevant characters to me and hence wasting so much time describing feelings related to them seems like unnecessarily stretching the show to me.
However, it's not all rainbows and sunshine. I am all for "age is just a number" and "age is no bar for love" but I'm just not able to understand the development of romantic feelings between the main leads here. He is a qualified and practicing doctor when he is teaching Hye Jung in high school. Which means she's a minor (if I'm not wrong) and it just gives me quite "pedophile vibes". Although it is not a huge age difference per se, it's just the timing of when it seems to begin that makes me uncomfortable because she was just so young. Although nothing happens, and it doesn't actually begin, so it's all okay. It's just uncomfortable in my head.
Another problem I face is the constant neglect of Ji Hong's feelings by Hye Jun. She seems to be walking all over him for most part of the show which really puts me off. Her aloof character begins to annoy but PSH's beautiful expressions make up for it and do not let me dwell too much into it. However, the shift we see in her character and the growth is commendable, which saves this show from going all downhill for me.
All in all, this is definitely worth a one time watch if you're into dramas with conspiracy, medicine and rom-com. It is not the slow burn or way too fluffy kinda romance, so, please keep that in mind when you go ahead with this wonderful piece of work!
I have watched most Chinese, Korean, English and Hindi medical dramas, and there's something about this show here that has brought me back to it several times for a rewatch. This show has now become therapeutic for me, wherein it would play in the background on a hectic day and I would relax to the beautiful melody of "It's Love" by Jungyup. Just the starting beats of the OST have me smiling and I can see every single moment between Hye Jung and Ji Hong flash before my eyes.
I like the character development of Hye Jung, and to be fair, PSH is one of the biggest reasons for me to keep watching this show. That coupled with excellent acting by some characters like Yoon Do, Seo Woo, Soon Hee, and Kang Soo keep me going. Soon Hee plays the role of Hye Jung's best friend beautifully and it is so amazing to see their bond traverse over the years. Similarly, LSK has delivered a powerful performance, like always, to the extent where she made me hate her character the first few times. You see her develop from this aloof personality to this strong woman who learns to prioritise herself, which is commendable. I also quite enjoy the cute and hilarious banter between Ji Hong and Yoon Do, kudos to both KRW and YKS for the amazing bromance!
In terms of the story, I like the swift shift we see in terms of the time period from Hye Jung's high school days to her life as a doctor. I also thoroughly enjoyed the storyline revolving around the grandmother and malpractice issue. What lifts it even more for me is LSK's brilliant portrayal of a person involved in the entire issue in some capacity. I also like how they keep it real by not giving it a fairy tale ending by putting the people behind bars for the main issue (not side issues like embezzlement). Hye Jung's acceptance of the issue and how her character derives peace at the end is very beautiful to watch over the span of the show and makes me happy for her. Totally love the grandmother, granddaughter bond. Though, I believe the show could've done without the unnecessary storyline of the stepmother and stepsister. Maybe even water down the story with the father to some extent. They seem like irrelevant characters to me and hence wasting so much time describing feelings related to them seems like unnecessarily stretching the show to me.
However, it's not all rainbows and sunshine. I am all for "age is just a number" and "age is no bar for love" but I'm just not able to understand the development of romantic feelings between the main leads here. He is a qualified and practicing doctor when he is teaching Hye Jung in high school. Which means she's a minor (if I'm not wrong) and it just gives me quite "pedophile vibes". Although it is not a huge age difference per se, it's just the timing of when it seems to begin that makes me uncomfortable because she was just so young. Although nothing happens, and it doesn't actually begin, so it's all okay. It's just uncomfortable in my head.
Another problem I face is the constant neglect of Ji Hong's feelings by Hye Jun. She seems to be walking all over him for most part of the show which really puts me off. Her aloof character begins to annoy but PSH's beautiful expressions make up for it and do not let me dwell too much into it. However, the shift we see in her character and the growth is commendable, which saves this show from going all downhill for me.
All in all, this is definitely worth a one time watch if you're into dramas with conspiracy, medicine and rom-com. It is not the slow burn or way too fluffy kinda romance, so, please keep that in mind when you go ahead with this wonderful piece of work!
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