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hell
This review may contain spoilers
Sadly, not as strong as the first season for quite a few reasons. The leads were probably one of the weakest parts, not to mention villain, cast, romance and pacing. Yes, I did have quite a lot of problems with it. Overall, mess. I was thinking about rating it 7, but the "it's okay" that goes with 6.5 fits my feelings towards the drama more.
VILLAIN
I truly dislike when dramas use the same villain in two seasons, especially if the first season had a nice conclusion. There was nothing exciting about Do Yoon Wan since we already knew him and his motivations. I didn’t have to ask myself "why he does what he does". Not to mention, he was barely in the drama in the first place. You can have a strong villain and not show him much, but the viewers need to have this feeling of him being the puppet master behind the scenes. We did not get that here. They brought him back every time they had to somehow push forward the politics, and I couldn't care less.
Park Min Guk could have saved the drama, since his morally grey way of thinking was like a bridge between Teacher Kim and Yoon Wan. For the longest time he was my favorite character. Him struggling so much kept me interested, and wondered on whose side he will stand on at the end. But even his character was losing his charm the closer to the ending we’ve got. From a complex person, to a shallow, stereotypical greed and pride driven villain to a random quick redemption? How amazingly boring. How amazingly pointless.
CAST/CHARACTERS
I was not feeling Lee Sung Kyung’s acting, especially during the romantic scenes. Her emotional scenes did not evoke any type of emotions in me. She was there, there were a few tears, she screamed a lot, and I was bored. That said, I did see quite a lot of improvement as the drama progressed, so maybe my lack of warm feelings for her at the beginning clouded my judgement.
I cannot be sure if it was her performance or the writing that made me skeptical, since I strongly disliked how her character was written too. Truth to be told, Cha Eun Jae at the beginning episodes was an EXTREMELY bad doctor, and if it depended on me, I’d give her an ultimatum: therapy or I’ll revoke her license. The writer stripped her from the character development she quite deserved. The quick and easy way of solving her problem with placebo killed any chance of Eun Jae overcoming it herself and becoming stronger in the process.
To the second lead. I was extremely excited to see Ahn Hyo Seop in a new project, after what a train wreck Abyss was. I do believe he has a talent for acting and we could see some of it in this project. Sadly, his character did not interest me either. I believe both main characters were either boring or frustrating, but I would blame the writing not the actors themselves for it. Both Eun Jae and Woo Jin had their moments, but it was not enough for me to love or even care for them.
That said, the whole supporting cast was amazing. I liked all the characters and the actors aced the roles. The only supporting cast that left me frustrated by the end was Shim Hye Jin. Her character was extremely inconsistent. The whole show she was portrayed as a person who avoids “drama” and conflicts and unnecessary risk taking. She treated being a doctor as a job she was doing, not an amazing career nor a mission. Last three episodes the writers decided to give her a sad story, a heart and a brain of her own. It was so out of nowhere I questioned if I’m watching the same character. I loved who she became by the end, but the change in her image should be more gradual.
ROMANCE
The main romance did nothing for me. I would much rather see Eun Jae with Bae Moon Jung, or no one... Luckily, the side couple saved the romance part of the drama, stealing the whole spotlight even with the limited screen time they had. There isn’t much to say on this aspect, since not much happened throughout the whole show. It would be better without any romance in the first place. Even my angels Ah Reum and Eun Tak had some unnecessary drama brought in the last two episodes. What was the point of it, will forever be a mystery to me.
PACING
The editing ruined the pacing. We kept jumping from scenes and timelines and it made me confused. Let’s start with the fact that episode 12 and 13 ended up at the almost exact same time on the timeline, and it was confusing af. Remembering how episode 12 ended, I started the next one and had to check if I did not miss anything, because there was no continuation of the plot.
The ending was quite messy, I don’t know what was the goal of non-linear storytelling, but I did not buy it. The few flashback scenes did close to nothing to explain Eun Jae’s condition, nor to present her relationship with Woo Jin and how it all began. We kept getting new hints about the background of certain characters but nothing followed.
Overall, after the amazing show we’ve got with season one, this was simply disappointing and unnecessary. They tried to fit too many storylines, characters, backgrounds so at the end, nothing felt well developed.
VILLAIN
I truly dislike when dramas use the same villain in two seasons, especially if the first season had a nice conclusion. There was nothing exciting about Do Yoon Wan since we already knew him and his motivations. I didn’t have to ask myself "why he does what he does". Not to mention, he was barely in the drama in the first place. You can have a strong villain and not show him much, but the viewers need to have this feeling of him being the puppet master behind the scenes. We did not get that here. They brought him back every time they had to somehow push forward the politics, and I couldn't care less.
Park Min Guk could have saved the drama, since his morally grey way of thinking was like a bridge between Teacher Kim and Yoon Wan. For the longest time he was my favorite character. Him struggling so much kept me interested, and wondered on whose side he will stand on at the end. But even his character was losing his charm the closer to the ending we’ve got. From a complex person, to a shallow, stereotypical greed and pride driven villain to a random quick redemption? How amazingly boring. How amazingly pointless.
CAST/CHARACTERS
I was not feeling Lee Sung Kyung’s acting, especially during the romantic scenes. Her emotional scenes did not evoke any type of emotions in me. She was there, there were a few tears, she screamed a lot, and I was bored. That said, I did see quite a lot of improvement as the drama progressed, so maybe my lack of warm feelings for her at the beginning clouded my judgement.
I cannot be sure if it was her performance or the writing that made me skeptical, since I strongly disliked how her character was written too. Truth to be told, Cha Eun Jae at the beginning episodes was an EXTREMELY bad doctor, and if it depended on me, I’d give her an ultimatum: therapy or I’ll revoke her license. The writer stripped her from the character development she quite deserved. The quick and easy way of solving her problem with placebo killed any chance of Eun Jae overcoming it herself and becoming stronger in the process.
To the second lead. I was extremely excited to see Ahn Hyo Seop in a new project, after what a train wreck Abyss was. I do believe he has a talent for acting and we could see some of it in this project. Sadly, his character did not interest me either. I believe both main characters were either boring or frustrating, but I would blame the writing not the actors themselves for it. Both Eun Jae and Woo Jin had their moments, but it was not enough for me to love or even care for them.
That said, the whole supporting cast was amazing. I liked all the characters and the actors aced the roles. The only supporting cast that left me frustrated by the end was Shim Hye Jin. Her character was extremely inconsistent. The whole show she was portrayed as a person who avoids “drama” and conflicts and unnecessary risk taking. She treated being a doctor as a job she was doing, not an amazing career nor a mission. Last three episodes the writers decided to give her a sad story, a heart and a brain of her own. It was so out of nowhere I questioned if I’m watching the same character. I loved who she became by the end, but the change in her image should be more gradual.
ROMANCE
The main romance did nothing for me. I would much rather see Eun Jae with Bae Moon Jung, or no one... Luckily, the side couple saved the romance part of the drama, stealing the whole spotlight even with the limited screen time they had. There isn’t much to say on this aspect, since not much happened throughout the whole show. It would be better without any romance in the first place. Even my angels Ah Reum and Eun Tak had some unnecessary drama brought in the last two episodes. What was the point of it, will forever be a mystery to me.
PACING
The editing ruined the pacing. We kept jumping from scenes and timelines and it made me confused. Let’s start with the fact that episode 12 and 13 ended up at the almost exact same time on the timeline, and it was confusing af. Remembering how episode 12 ended, I started the next one and had to check if I did not miss anything, because there was no continuation of the plot.
The ending was quite messy, I don’t know what was the goal of non-linear storytelling, but I did not buy it. The few flashback scenes did close to nothing to explain Eun Jae’s condition, nor to present her relationship with Woo Jin and how it all began. We kept getting new hints about the background of certain characters but nothing followed.
Overall, after the amazing show we’ve got with season one, this was simply disappointing and unnecessary. They tried to fit too many storylines, characters, backgrounds so at the end, nothing felt well developed.
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