Descendants of the Sun

Descendants of the Sun

8/10

Descendants of the Sun

Genre:                           Episodes: 16                            Year: 2016

Romance

Melodrama

Action

Synopsis:

Dr. Kang Mo Yeon meets army Captain Yoo Shi Jin after an incident leads him to enter her workplace. The two have an immediate attraction, but after several dates fail due to Shi Jin being called away for classified work, the new relationship begins to struggle. The two decide to end their relationship when Captain Shi Jin is sent on deployment to a foreign country. Eight months later, Dr. Kang is sent as a volunteer doctor to the recently war-torn country of Urk after upsetting her hospital’s Chairman. In Urk she once again encounters Captain Shi Jin.

Cast:

Song Joong Ki (Captain Yoo Shi Jin)

Song Hye Kyo (Dr. Kang Mo Yeon)

Jin Goo (Seo Dae Young)

Kim Ji Won (Yoon Myung Joo)

Onew (Lee Chi Hoon)

Kim Min Suk (Kim Ki Bum)

David McInnes (Agus)

General Thoughts:

Pshaw, what a great drama. And what a way for Song Joong Ki to mark his return from military. It took a few episodes to get to the meat and potatoes, but once our characters and situations were set up, it was a non-stop ride. One of the best aspects of this drama is that it really could have been a story about any one of our characters. It felt almost as if a whole group of writers fully fleshed out complete lives of all these characters and then decided who our leads were gong to be.

Welcome back Song Joong Ki...but does it really feel like you've left the army?

Every individual gave off a completely authentic feeling, and added something extra to the series- no matter how small their role or how limited their screen time. Every solider, every doctor, and every villain had a story- and we got to see snippets of all of them. Song Joong Ki was just phenomenal as the Special Forces Captain. While still maintaining his cutely charming flower-boy face, he has returned to drama with a new-found sense of maturity and masculinity.

His acting did not deteriorate- if anything, it got even better

His acting left nothing to be desired, and as an audience we felt every drop of emotion that Song Joong Ki expressed, even in situations that weren’t fleshed out as well as they could have been. It’s a huge testament to Song Joong Ki’s acting ability that we felt conflicted and saddened by Agus’ death even when we knew virtually nothing about the character or his relationship with Shi Jin. Song Joong Ki has basically taken a very underdeveloped relationship and poured so much emotion and sincerity into acting his character that the scene is still heavy and emotional, and somehow feels complete, even with hardly any information to go on. And that’s just one scene. Good job on a fantastic return Song Joong Ki. Song Hye Kyo did well as Shi Jin’s love interest, but I wouldn't go as far as calling her outstanding. However, she did a good job and wasn’t completely blown out of the water by Song Joong Ki- and that’s a task and half in itself. For the female characters I really felt as though Kim Ji Won playing Myung Joo really brought her A-Game. She’s proven previously that she’s a competent actor, but this series was a huge step up from her past works. Myung Joo is a complex character with many complex relationships, but Kim Ji Won handles the character with great care and finesse, and delivers a shining performance. Jin Goo doesn’t fall behind in the acting either. While his character, Seo Dae Young, may have a pretty brilliant poker-face- that only meant that every tiny movement and change in expression from Jin Goo had that much more meaning.

Two thumbs up

It’s either a carefully calculated, well planned movement, or a tiny scrap of emotion that’s accidentally managed to make it’s way past Dae Young’s steely exterior. And of course with four great actors, the chemistry was pretty solid. Shi Jin and Mo Yeon had a simple, flirtatious chemistry that was always underlined by far more serious emotions that the two often chose to cover with jokes. Dae Young and Myung Joo were all fire all the time- and it was insanely addictive to watch. The love and passion between the two characters is plain to see, and it’s mesmerising to watch the two butt heads and fight in order to reach understandings and grow together. Once the story really got rolling after the first few introductory episodes, the plot kept chugging along with pretty steady momentum. There were no real pauses or breaks in the way the story was told. Our characters moved from one stage in their lives to the next.

Here, as an added bonus you can have a bromance

There were several episodes that could have served as fantastic finales, but the plot kept growing and developing, shifting into a more thorough and complete story of our characters and their relationships. The soundtrack was good for the most part, but there were definitely times that it was a touch too in-your-face. There were a few scenes where it felt like the producers were relying more on the music to convey the message and emotion of the scene rather than the actors- which is totally unnecessary when you have such brilliant actors at your disposal. Thankfully, this did die down as the story progressed from it’s initial romance into the more action-heavy plot-lines.

What Was Great:

Everyone In It:

The series had a brilliant ensemble, and there was not one casting choice that could be complained about. The four main leads were wonderful and brought their characters to life excellently, but the support characters weren’t to be ignored either. The writers did a stellar job at giving every character purpose and depth.

Brilliant casting...brilliant casting everywhere.

Every member from the medical team had backstory and character traits and reacted in situations that were consistent with their character setup. The same can be said about the soldiers. Particular mention must go to Onew. I was a little sceptical about his acting- at most I thought he would be a cute, pretty-boy character who was only there for his dazzling smile. But what an amazing character Onew got to play, and what amazing acting he got to display.

Wouldn't pick him as an idol unless you already knew

The character arc of Lee Chi Hoon was perhaps one of my favourites among the support characters. It was plain to see how Chi Hoon was a man of privilege and how suddenly being in crisis situation affected him. I enjoyed that we got the conflict of interest- the dilemma of saving one’s self over another from somewhere in the drama, and Onew really delivered the dilemma in a relatable, understandable and emotional way. It was heartbreaking to see how he was unable to handle a crisis in a situation that he had little experience with. He demonstrated beautifully how all it takes is a single moment and a split second to make a decision that could impact another's life in unimaginable ways. On the other hand, it was wonderful to see how this same person who panicked and chose himself in one moment was able to handle crisis situations and put his own health and safety on the line in an environment where he felt confident in his abilities. 

Smooth Transitions:

One of the better aspects of the drama was the way the writers were able to seamlessly flow one situation into the next. It never felt like we had a strict structure of conflict-resolution-pause-conflict-resolution-pause, but instead we had constant emotional and relational complications interweaving with military conflicts.

So many storylines blended together so well

This steady stream of momentum kept the interest and excitement in the series while easily being able to move from one chunk of plot to the next. While there was no real overarching military conflict that extended for the whole of the drama, the continually progressing relationships between our four main characters gave the series enough continuity that the build-up and resolution of military issues never felt sporadic, or injected into the drama purely to add conflict. Every major event in the series felt real and believable.

It was So Pretty:

The drama really was simply stunning to watch. It was meticulously edited so that we got the best shots of every scene, and every moment was visually appealing. There’s not much more to say on that topic…the drama was purely extremely enjoyable to watch on screen. Casting Song Joong Ki sure didn’t hurt either.

I wouldn't mind waking up to that every morning

What Wasn’t:

Small Mistakes:

I’m not well versed in medical science. I can sit and watch fictitious medical shows all day long and be happily oblivious to how scientifically wrong they are. However, even I sometimes felt that a scene or two weren’t quite medically accurate. I just don’t believe that a wounded solider who was virtually dead from multiple gun wounds is then majestically resuscitated and doesn’t need surgery. I’m just not buying it.

THOSE SHOES ARE 100% IMPRACTICAL

And I hate to say it, but every time I saw Song Hye Kyo’s ridiculous platform shoes, I was snapped right out of the scene. Surely, surely, no volunteer doctor who is involved in activities such as natural disaster rescue operations and virus control would be concerned about her height? I loved the moment where Mo Yeon broke the high heels off her shoes- it was as if she was saying ‘right, let’s be serious now’. Then Shi Jin comes and ties up her work boots so she can do her job properly, without the distraction of ridiculous shoes. But then I felt this moment was completely undone when the very next day Mo Yeon was walking around in those sparkly white platform sneakers. No, no, no. Put the boots back on girl. It was small things like these that weren’t major enough to actually impact the quality of the drama, but still managed to bother me enough that they took me out of the moment, and reminded me that, yes- this was actually just a made-up story. It’s the small details that make a great drama into an exceptional drama, and I’m afraid it’s the small details where ‘Descendants of the Sun’ fell just a wee bit short.

Conqueror of Death:

Hoooooo. Okay. I know that one of the main points of the drama was that our main man Shi Jin could drop dead at any time. I mean, that was basically the main conflict in his relationship with Mo Yeon. But he almost died just a few too many times, that it got to the point where you almost didn’t think he could, because he’s escaped death so many times. While this might not be such a huge deal to a lot of people, unfortunately for me it meant that I didn’t believe for a minute that Shi Jin and Dae Young died in that explosion.

Several gunshot wounds to the torso? Special Forces Captain doesn't need surgery for something as insignificant as that

Huge credit goes to Song Hye Kyo and Kim Ji Won for still making me feel the impact of what it would be like if the men had died, but I still didn’t believe they’d kill the boys off for more than a second. It’s the sad result of putting your hero in one too many life-and-death situations- he just appears invincible. I also didn’t really appreciate the way Shi Jin and Dae Young made their return to the world of the living.

Surprise- not dead! Won't explain how or why though

We weren’t really given any explanation as to why they were thought dead for a whole year. Maybe, had it been a couple of months you could give them a pass, but after a year you can’t really come swanning over the sand dunes and only say ‘yeah, I was in a prison and my North Korean buddy somehow knew I was there and busted me out’. While I sort of understand that he wouldn’t be able to explain the situation to Mo Yeon because it would definitely be confidential- as a viewer I still want to know what happened. I just felt like I was being jerked around by the writers trying to make me believe the men were dead and then surprising us. Sadly, the alive-surprise isn’t all that’s needed in the situation. While the end was satisfying and a great conclusion for the drama, I couldn’t help feeling gypped that I wasn’t given an explanation to the supposed deaths of these men- especially after I’ve watched a whole episode of how their girlfriends try and deal with their deaths and struggle to move on. 

All that Product Placement:

I usually don’t care about product placement- I’m not super observant to minute details. But a fair amount of the products in this drama were not minutely placed. Similarly to Mo Yeon’s shoes, seeing a giant ‘SUBWAY’ sign did a pretty great job of kicking me right out of whatever moment I was in.

Yeeaaaahhhh...that's kinda hard to miss

I don’t want to deny you your product placement- by all means, chuck it in there. But at least pretend to be subtle about it. I don’t love having objects and brands smooshed in my face, particularly in the middle of a drama I’m really enjoying.

Re-watch?

I wouldn’t say no to watching the drama again. I’m not busting my guns to see it a second time, but I did love all those characters so very much. I’m partly afraid that I’ll pick up more inconsistencies the second time around, and I don’t want to ruin how much I absolutely adored this drama. It’s really wonderful, and I want to keep the magic alive.

All in all- a quality drama