Doctors

Doctors

6/10

Doctors

Genre:                               Episodes: 20                            Year: 2016

Romance

Synopsis:

Yoo Hye Jung is a troublemaking student due to bad experiences in her childhood. After her father abandons her, she moves in with her grandmother and begins to attend school again. She meets Hong Ji Hong, a doctor turned teacher, who helps Hye Jung try and turn her life around. Thirteen years later, the two meet again as doctors in the same hospital.

Cast:

Park Shin Hye (Yoo Hye Jung)

Kim Rae Won (Hong Ji Hong)

Lee Sung Kyung (Jin Seo Woo)

Yoon Gyun Sang (Jung Yoon Do)

Eom Hyo Seop (Jin Myung Hoon)

Jang Hyun Sung (Kim Tae Ho)

Kim Gang Hyun (Kang Kyung Joon)

Baek Sung Hyun (Pi Young Kook)

Kim Min Suk (Choi Kang Woo)

General Thoughts:

Despite the stars in the cast, the promising set-up, and the wide-spread popularity of the series- it’s a rather underwhelming drama. Nothing happens in the plot, and apart from our heroine and the second female lead no characters are given development.

Well done on making it to the end everyone

My favourite part of the series would definitely have to be the beginning stages set in school, where Hye Jung first starts contemplating the idea to stop living recklessly. It’s an enjoyable period of time with enough conflict in the way of people’s pre constructed perceptions of Hye Jung, and the results when she contradicts those perceptions.

So fun

Despite many viewers having misgivings about the teacher X student relationship, I actually didn’t mind it (and honestly, neither does anyone else when it’s the man that’s younger: Big, Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Hello My Teacher). While it was clear that the two were very close, I found it to be more of a friendship rather than a romantic relationship. Already that teacher-student dynamic has been weakened by them first not meeting in school and being unaware of each others’ status, and secondly by Ji Hong renting a room in Hye Jung’s grandmother’s house. The two only really seemed aware that their relationship could even be considered turning romantic after Seo Woo already started spreading the rumour that they were dating. I think it was that event that sparked the realisation in Ji Hong that he might like Hye Jung as more than a student, and at that point she was expelled and was no longer his student. The school relationship didn’t phase me to much as neither of them acted on it. They just joked around, rode bikes and ate ice-cream. I was actually more annoyed at their relationship once Hye Jung was an adult and they met again in the hospital.

Less fun

While Ji Hong was actually her teacher in school, he never seemed to come off too arrogant and made moves to try and understand Hye Jung and her emotions. However once we were in the hospital and Ji Hong was Hye Jung’s mentor, I found that Ji Hong became much more ‘teachery’ than he had been in the past. He seemed to constantly think he knew better than Hye Jung- both in the medical field and in regards to her own life.

Apparently Ji Hong knows best. All the time.

While he is older and does have more life experience than Hye Jung, the show primarily focuses on Hye Jung and her constant development over the series. As Ji Hong’s character never really changes over the course of the series, and we’re given no real insight into his past experiences and what made him the person he is, it was hard to just blindly accept that he was sooooo much wiser than Hye Jung in every aspect of life. I actually found the relationship dynamic between the two much more stable and equal in their high school days- because in the past Ji Hong was trying to understand Hye Jung for who she was rather than telling her what was best for her. And while the romance between the two should have been insanely adorable- personally I thought it fell a bit flat. I usually love simple, easy, realistic relationships, but for some reason Hye Jung X Ji Hong (or is is Park Shin Hye X Kim Rae Won?) just didn’t work for me. The fact that the two of them started dating so early on in the piece and were so focused on each other meant that there was less than no room for Yoon Do to squeeze in there- which is a shame because he was such a wonderful character.

100% adorable

Although it was cute to see him content with loving Hye Jung from the sidelines, flirting with her and protecting her when he could, I do think it might have been nice if Hye Jung had considered him even a teeny tiny bit. The solid relationship between our main leads meant that Yoon Do’s screen time-was rapidly reduced, as he contributed nothing to the plot besides his feelings for Hye Jung. And I must say, Yoon Gyun Sang did an excellent job at portraying the cool, honest, straightforward, yet mildly dorky doctor. I know I fell in love with him even if Hye Jung didn’t. One relationship that really hit the right note for me was the frenemy relationship between Hye Jung and Seo Woo.

100% correct way to carry out a redemption arc

At first, Seo Woo just seems like a giant b*tch who’s always had everything given to her, and can’t stand it when Hye Jung does something better than her. But as we start seeing more of her family life, the restrictions and expectations placed on her, and the environment she grew up in, it becomes much more understandable why she became the way she was.

Where was the rest of this story?

While her past actions aren’t excusable, she can be forgiven for them because she knows what she’s done wrong herself and does try to apologise for it towards the end. She is also the first one to make steps towards mending the friendship between herself and Hye Jung. As the drama progresses and we see how tightly wound Seo Woo is because of her family and their expectations of her, it becomes so enjoyable to watch her learn to relax bit by bit. While Hye Jung can be considered as playing a part in Seo Woo’s decision to live her life for herself and not her family, it’s definitely Young Kook who helps her the most. Throughout the whole series he has been a calm, steady presence for Seo Woo, so it was rewarding to see Seo Woo realise and accept this, and have Young Kook become a place where she could relax completely, rest, and just be herself. My only gripe is that I wanted to see more of this relationship than we actually saw. The hospital support cast were all brilliant, albeit completely underdeveloped. They were a delightful bunch of characters, but were really only there because you cant have Seo Woo, Ji Hong and Hye Jung be the only doctors in the hospital. And as for the plot…was there a plot? Hye Jung and Ji Hong get into their relationship very quickly, so there’s no back-and-forth story there. The search to discover what happened to Grandma in her operation slows to a crawl, is forgotten in the middle, and then has a very weak resolution in the end, and there’s absolutely no continuing plot-line in the hospital.

Hey Jung farewelling the plot before it gets hit by a car

We have little two or three episode patients who come in with small stories before disappearing again, which does keep the drama entertaining, but the lack of a single continuing plot means that the series lacks the momentum and addictive quality that a drama really needs.

What Was Great:

PSH:

This was without a doubt the Park Shin Hye Show. I must admit that until this point I’ve found her to be an insanely overhyped actress- but she really came into her own in ‘Doctors’. She delivered a strong, passionate heroine that was likeable despite her bold personality and ‘f*ck you’ attitude.

Everything else was great- but CRY LIKE YOU MEAN IT

It was wonderful to see Park Shin Hye break away from her typical Candy roles and attempt (successfully) to give us a feisty, endearing heroine. The drama was all about Hye Jung, so there was a lot of pressure on Park Shin Hye to deliver. Her character dominated the screen-time and had to express emotions that not many of Park Shin Hye’s characters have delved into previously. This is the first drama that’s made think that Park Shin Hye can actually act and is more than just a pretty face. She always held on to Hye Jung’s distinctive ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ personality, even in her softer, more vulnerable moments. However, I do still think that she needs to let go of the idea that you have to cry prettily- nothing says anguish like snot and tears and goo. While Kim Rae Won is an older, more experienced actor, Park Shin Hye didn’t appear inexperienced next to him, nor was she overshadowed by his acting. The rather sloppy construction of Kim Rae Won’s character actually left me feeling as though Park Shin Hye did most of the heavy lifting in this drama.

Hospital Placing:

In regards to the plot, the story really could have been set anywhere- a bakery, a restaurant, the entertainment industry. Despite ‘Doctors’ sounding much more engaging than ‘Bakers’, ‘Chefs’, or ‘Actors’, the other upside of the setting was it meant that we had an abundance of delightful side character always present in the series.

All the cute hospital babies

The residents at the hospital were just plain delightful and were always fun to watch. Not to mention that Kim Min Suk was cast as the youngest of these doctors. And I love Kim Min Suk. His career is gaining momentum after a small supporting role in ‘Descendants of the Sun’ earlier in the year, and he got a much more active role here in ‘Doctors’. Of the hospital minions, Kim Min Suk’s character of Kang Woo was definitely the most enjoyable. He also got a story arc of his own (unlike the other hospital boys)- and boy was it a killer.

Slayer of hearts

His story was engaging, entertaining and emotional, and Kim Min Suk smashed it. I wish that all the residents had gotten a little more story and development than they did (the drama is 20 episodes, it’s not like they didn’t have the time).

Cameo Cafe:

Way more engaging than our actual male lead

Boy were there a lot of excellent cameos in this series. If the character on your screen isn’t a main or support character, you can bet it’s an awesome cameo performance- Ji Soo, Lee Ki Woo, Namgung Min to name a few. Having such talent playing the drama’s extras definitely added a huge amount of quality to the series. All the cameos were engaging no matter how long or short they were. Namgung Min was particularly excellent as the debt-ridden single father of two young son’s with brain cancer (whose wife also died of cancer). I’m pretty sure we got more development and emotion out of Namgung Min is his three-episode appearance than we did out of Hong Ji Hong all drama long.

What Wasn’t:

Zero Plot:

I honestly don’t know how on earth this drama managed to recruit the star power that it got because it has virtually no plot- and I have no idea how you would float that to actors of this level. But they succeeded- they got their awesome cast with a script that had NO POINT. There’s the relationship development between our two main leads, but that gets sorted out petty early on. Every character is brutally honest (which is a nice change), but it also means that there’s not much tension between the characters because everyone knows what everyone is thinking.

Once again, no one cares about the corporate plot-line

The hospital director plot was boring, predictable and no one really cared. Grandma’s death plot was barely there for the most part only coming back in at the end- and even that has zero tension. Hye Jung doesn’t want to punish Seo Woo’s father- she only wants an apology. Talk about low stakes.

Boring Male Lead:

Hong Ji Hong is SO VERY VERY BORING. He’s just so inescapably bland. I think this is the first K-Drama I’ve ever watched where our leading lady has more development and characterisation than our leading man.

HOW ARE YOU SO UNENTERTAINING?!

Ji Hong is just characterised as a typical nice guy who’s always loved one girl. He doesn’t get jealous. He doesn’t get in fights. He’s a mature, responsible doctor with a steady income. So yes, while he is every girl’s dream man- he’s just not entertaining to watch. Not only that, but over the whole 20 episodes we learn basically nothing about his character. 1- his parents died in a car accident. 2- The Chairman of the hospital adopted him. 3- he was a doctor, then a teacher, now a doctor again. 4- he loves Hye Jung. He’s not a complex character and he doesn’t have a lot of depth. Even the small amount of depth he could  have had he lost because it was story that wasn’t explored. Why did he quit being a doctor? Why did he become a doctor again? Of all the girls in the world, why was he drawn to a young damaged high schooler who shoved a middle-finger up at the world? All unexplored ground resulting in one boring character.

Re-watch?

Goodness no. While it wasn’t a drama that was offensively bad, it was definitely bland. I don’t know how it managed to get out 20 episodes, but I don't think I'll be watching them again.

Not awful, not amazing