However, here on MDL, this drama officially goes by its best and most appropriate title "Doctors". If you're looking for a straightforward, romanticized show about what it really means to be a Doctor, this is the show. If you want lots of action, lots of drama, and lots of clichés, you're in the wrong place. While it starts very fast, this is ultimately a very dry, low-key show that bucks typical drama conventions in favor of telling a "more realistic" story. Does that make it less interesting than other popular dramas? Perhaps. But it doesn't make it valueless. There's a lot to like here.
STORY
You're not going to find a kdrama story quite like this one very easily. While it's a romance, they don't drag the will-they-or-won't-they all the way until end. While there's a love triangle, it's a very sharply angled isosceles: one of three arms of the triangle is really short and it's clear from the beginning that it has no chance. While it's a drama, it has no mustache-twirling villains, only complex characters that make serious mistakes and end up hurting others simply because they struggle to face the reality of their wrongdoing.
These things aren't necessarily going to work for everyone, but for this reviewer, they all combine into an enjoyable and, most of all, refreshing experience. The flip side of this is that often times the plot seems to lack teeth; it doesn't grab you and hold on, forcing your heart to come with it. While the first few episodes are action-packed and energetic, the show mellows out immensely toward the latter half, eventually getting to the point where the directing felt almost lazy. This show is largely a leisurely stroll, which can be very pleasant but simply is not the experience we're set up for in the first quarter.
The main romantic pairing quickly becomes the driving force of the show and remains such for the entire 20 episode run. However, it's not your typical kdrama relationship full of peaks and valleys and Noble Idiocy. It's clear the writers wanted to tell a more sensible and realistic romance story, for better or for worse. The combination of almost complete focus on this one relationship while simultaneously making that relationship feel very "normal" definitely results in an end product that lacks dramatic punch and hurts the secondary plot threads. Those secondary threads, however, are delivered with the same understated feeling as the main plot. If you want "larger than life" storytelling, you're not going to get it here at all.
On a random side note: at one point, about halfway through the story, we're teased with a possible side romance with one of the nurses, but that plotline goes literally nowhere and is completely dropped by the end of the show. This kind of sloppy handling of the material makes me wonder how much of the script was being rewritten during filming. It is possible, though, that it was simply a matter of a needed actor/actress suddenly becoming unavailable.
ACTING/CAST
Definitely the strong point of the show and possibly the only reason it's as popular as it is. The four leads all do a great job. PSH is as good as ever, which is kind of surprising since she's never done a role quite like this one. You'd think she'd have some yips or letdowns for her first time branching out into a new character type, but nope. She's lovely and wonderful, and her portrayal (like most of this show) is especially strong in the early episodes.
Kim Rae Won, who plays the first male lead Hong Ji Hong, is one of the most charming actors I've yet to discover in kdrama. A great voice, interesting face, and lovely smile, he performs the first lead here perfectly. I can't imagine another actor playing this odd and unique role, a character who values self-control and communication above all. Imagine that, in a kdrama! Compared to the usual selfish and emotionally infantile male leads we often get in typical romances, the Hong Ji Hong character is a most welcome change.
Yoon Gyun Sang seems to be very popular, even if he perpetually looks like he's had an allergic reaction to something. Although I didn't like him much at all, at first, he won me over by the end. A good performance to go with yet another unusual character. if you ever wanted to know what it's like to be on the losing end of a love triangle IN REAL LIFE, his story is basically that. It's worth seeing.
Last but not least, we have Lee Sung Kyung. Although her character is the trope-iest one (mostly just your typical Mean Girl trope, but with a more sympathetic twist), it really doesn't matter too much because.... well, I'll be honest, Ms. Lee is ridiculously attractive. Seriously. She's surrounded by beautiful women and even among them she stands out. I'd love to see her in a role where she can smile more.
All that being said, the supporting cast here is strong enough on their own to make the show worth trying. My two Honorable Mentions for the Supporting Cast go to:
1. Baek Sung Hyun as Yeong Kook, who I dubbed "Dr. Glasses". He starts as a very odd and (somewhat) forgettable character, but when the writers found an interesting hook for his character, Sung Hyun took it and ran with it. Sung Hyun seems to be particularly skilled at delivering subtext with his eyes.
2. Of course, I have to mention my new crush (I get one almost every show), Pyo Ye Jin, who plays a character I affectionately referred to as "Nurse Cutie Pie". Although her role is very minor, her portrayal was stellar. You'll never tire of her smile. The writers gave one big scene to her character early on and, after she utterly blew it away with her adorableness, they wisely gave her at least one speaking scene in every episode after that. Ye Jin is 24 years young and would be great in a starring role in the future. I may soon watch my first ever Family drama because of her.
MUSIC
Strong but standard kdrama fare here. Lots and lots of vocal themes, so there won't be too much repeating. In fact, they re-use themes here at just the right pace; enough to get the songs in your head, but not so much that they start to annoy you. Special mention to the tracks "It's Love" and "No Way", which are the best of the best here. If music is a deciding factor for you, just listen to those two tracks to get a good sense of the quality of "Doctors" in this category.
REWATCH VALUE
Unfortunately, there's no getting around the fact that there is absolutely very little RWV here, especially the closer you get to the climax. While most kdramas try and build toward a climax that is exciting and satisfying that you want to see over and over, this one does the opposite. Early episodes are full of exciting character moments, culminating in perhaps the most rewatchable scene of the whole show involving a rooftop, a helicopter, and the best romantic character reunion ever.
However, toward the latter quarter of the show, almost every episode can be described thusly: "two or more characters chat about plot with each other, then someone gets a phone call, they answer it, then it cuts to another scene where there is more chat about plot, and then someone gets a phone call, they answer it, and they cut to a new scene where they chat about plot, and then YOU GUESSED IT, someone gets another freaking phone call and the cycle starts over."
All of that does not make for a high RWV score, as it's bad enough to sit through the first time.
BOTTOM LINE
Despite being better than most kdrama in many areas, this only gets a solid 8/10 from me, and no more. It has too many issues to justify anything higher, despite how strong it is in other areas. However, on the flip side of that, it's way too good to be lower than 7.5. If you're looking for a solid 2016 drama with a great cast that delivers lessons about communication, professionalism, and relationships, you won't go wrong here. Just don't expect the plot to blow you away.
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Story: [6.5/10]
THE BAD
The story in this drama was probably its' weakest part. The story simply lacked meaningful events. Most other medical dramas had something that made it special. Whether it be a genius doctor or a doctor with a disability etc. Doctors had none of that. I could probably just watch episodes 1-7 and 19-20 and still get the main gist of the drama. The other problem I had with the show was that a lot of the doctors seemed very playful. Personally I was not fond of the fact that the director/writer of this drama deciding to go on this route. Many medical dramas opt to go the serious route and have serious doctors. It makes sense because doctors and constantly stressed and constantly handling life and death situations. Of course that's just my own personal opinion.
THE GOOD
On the flip side, a bunch of playful doctors gives this drama a much more light-hearted feeling. Some of these Korean (medical) dramas can get very depressing at times with all of the people dying. Doctors will perk you right up. Another thing that I enjoyed about this series was that there was a strong character who did not bend to the will of others. Dr. Hye Jung used all of these negative events from her past to make herself stronger. For the most part, she did not let past events bother her. One part that really struck a chord with me was when she took responsibility for a mistake that she and several other doctors made. She did not just only take full responsibility for her actions. She also stood up for herself and made sure that the villains of the drama did not win bully her around. I would have probably gave the story a lower score (5 or 6) if the writer's had not included a strong main character like Dr. Hye Jung.
TLDR: Weak Plot, but strong main character.
Acting/Cast [8/10]
No one's acting really stood out to me. None of the acting was overly bad or overly good. I'm just a big fan of PSH. I've been a big fan of ever since I saw her in Stairway to Heaven xD. Also, this is kind of off topic, but I did not feel the chemistry between the two main characters. Although I probably feel this way because of the whole teacher-student relationship.
Music: [8/10]
The music was okay. I like to focus my reviews on the story because I feel that the story is the main reason why someone may want to watch a certain series. An 8 for me means that the acting and music was ABOVE AVERAGE, but not perfect.
Overall: [7/10]
Overall this drama lacks a strong plot. This is not the drama for you if you're hoping for a complex plot. I suggest watching Beautiful Mind (a plot-filled medical drama that aired at the same time) for that. I personally continued watching this show because it was a light-hearted show that helped cheer up my day.
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The couple was cute. They had an immediate attraction, but they took their time becoming a couple. They never broke up over stupid reasons. They never took the Noble Idiot route. No one got amnesia. There weren’t any evil relatives or exes conspiring to split them apart. Even the second lead was adorable, but not an actual threat at any point. I mean, was this even a K drama?!
Why yes, yes it was. Because there was cute, there was drinking, and there was lots of Koreans speaking Korean. Plus, just because the relationship was a healthy one without plot devises messing them up, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t drama.
There was lots of drama. Interesting drama that I was invested in. And I loved that it didn’t make me want top throw my phone across the room. (Ahem…Heirs)
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I was reading comments on DF where everyone was saying how inappropriate the relationship was between PSH and KRW's character, having a student teacher relationship. They were still complaining about it even after the characters grew. I saw nothing wrong with it. It's not like they did anything out of line. Yes, they were really close, more close than a student and teacher would normally be. But so what? I shipped it so hard after they met again, because they seriously had great chemistry.
I'd say this drama could have been cut to 16 episodes but I still watched all 20 episodes without skipping anything. I enjoyed the drama more because of Kim Rae Won. The man is just so incredible. His character was cute and humble. Always smiling and it made me smile all the time. I absolutely love Shin Hye in this drama. I was sick of seeing her with the roles of being a damsel in distress because I knew she could do something even more amazing. It was refreshing to see her doing something new and awesome. It was great to see Ji Soo. He's such a hottie~ >w< I wanted to hug Kim Min Suk and just baby him. He's too precious. I liked his character a lot. He slayed his emotional scene. It was so strong that it made me cry along with him. Lee Sung Kyung is so pretty. I love her eyes. She's good at her job. At first I thought her character was a b*tch but she was just suffering inside with her own family problems as well as dealing with things from her past that affected her presently. Yoon Do's uncle, Lee Sun Ho was just too adorable.
I loved the music. Every song was a perfect setting for the mood. I actually found myself singing along to a few of those songs. ^^
I'd rewatch this again, mostly for Kim Rae Won, just so I can see his cute self smiling so brightly. ^^
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The best thing about this drama is the cast, and I don't mean just the leads. The only thing that kept me watching towards the end were the ensemble of doctors, who I had grown to like a lot (especially super cute Kim Min Suk). There were also some good guest appearances, and some intense medical storylines, but as a non hospital drama fan, the stories started to wear thin after a while.
But back to the main couple... I am still not sure how I felt about them.
In the beginning Park Shin Hye's character is really interesting, a rebel with a high IQ seemed like a character I could root for. She is matched with Kim Rae Won who plays a beloved teacher and mentor, and that's when things get weird... chester the molester weird. The romance was hard for me to root for, because a teacher giving inappropriate attention to a student isn't very romantic to me, even if he is a nice guy. It didn't stop me from being curious however, so I kept watching to see how it would evolve. Although I loved the way they worked together in surgery (those scenes were intense), their love story was just frustrating, and often boring. I know the Hye Jung character was written to be difficult, with walled up emotions, but even the sociopath doctor in "Beautiful Mind" seemed to be better at romance than her. In spite of Ji Hong's cute devotion and patience with her, I never could did get excited about their romantic storyline. There are a few "cute" moments, but they often felt forced. For me, the chemistry just wasn't there.
Then there's Seo Woo, who I oddly thought was the most sympathetic in a weird way. I didn't like her, but I felt so bad for her throughout the show. Although her character was pretty much reduced to being jealous for 20 episodes, I still empathized with her. The friendship storyline was my favorite part of the drama, and she had the only scene that made me tear up.
Uhm Hyo Seop, who played her dad, was my least favorite. His character is a greedy villain, but also dumb and childish. I like to root for good villains, but I couldn't take him seriously. I don't know if that's bad acting, bad writing, or both. He had waaaaay too much screen time and importance.
Other characters like Yoon Do and BFF Soon Hee didn't have enough of a storyline. I wish more time was spent on developing that than on the boring revenge and hospital corruption plot that dominates the second half of the show. They did give the story a pretty good ending, but I already stopped caring by the final episode.
So would I watch this again? No. What about the soundtrack? I barely remember it.
Overall this started out as a potentially good drama that just couldn't keep up the momentum for 20 episodes. Of all the doctors shows that are out there now, I would say it's safe to skip this one.
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Okay so I think people have mixed opinions about this drama. Personally I kinda like this drama. I agree the story is kinda weak and there's little plot development but I liked how the drama felt kinda realistic. I saw some of the comments saying that only the 1st few episodes were good and afterwards it started getting all draggy and boring. I do agree that the first 6 episodes were really good and afterwards the story was kind of dragging, but I didn't find it boring. The comedy kept the drama lively and interesting. If there wasn't any comedy and this drama took a serious approach, definitely the drama should have a strong plot or at least the number of episodes should be reduced.
STORY : 6/10
~The negative side of this drama is mainly cause of the story. From episode 1 to 6 and again 18 to 20 only there was some sort of development in the plot. In between the only development was Yoo Hye Jung and Hong Ji Hong's romance.
Also the 1st and 2nd years residents and Dr Kang Kyung Joon seemed less serious at times and being a doctor, that's not very professional. I found the other doctors good though!
~However the positive side was this drama made me feel relaxed. This is my 1st medical drama but I'm sure most medical dramas are probably tense and depressing. This drama takes a more cheery approach.
Also I liked the characters of YHJ, HJH andJYD.
I like the fact that YHJ is a strong willed woman. All her past negative events made her stronger and independent. It's nice to see the main female lead being strong minded like her in this drama. Also I like the fact that she's willing to take responsibility for her mistakes without blaming anyone else...kinda makes it impossible to hate her.
I like HJH's character a lot too cause he's a nice guy who supports the woman he loves. Most K-dramas they portray the main male lead as arrogant and the second male lead as a nice guy. And always the girl ends up falling for the arrogant guy. Here for me both guys are nice and kind so it was kind of different from the usual style. And I really liked that!
For me there was chemistry between the two leads and I didn't find the initial teacher-student relationship weird. Anyway there wasn't really a relationship while she was in school. Sure both did like each other from before, but the real relationship started when they meet again later.
Also I saw that some people had commented that there wasn't any chemistry between YHJ and JYD (second male lead) , but why should there be chemistry in the 1st place? It's just a one-sided love. She sees him as a colleague/friend and she never encouraged him. Only thing was there should have been more interactions between the two of them cause since he liked her, he should have put more of an effort to try win her over.
ACTING/CAST : 8.5/10
~I have seen PSH only in You're Beautiful before and I wasn't impressed with her acting there, so I wasn't expecting much when I 1st started watching this drama. However I was pleasantly surprised to see her acting her. She played the role of YHJ well in my opinion.
I liked mainly PSH and KRW and the bad guys but the other actors played their roles well too.
MUSIC : 8.5/10
I liked all the songs and the instrumentals. I liked No Way by Park Yong-in & Kwon Soon-il and Sunflower by Younha the most from the OST's.
REWATCH VALUE : 5/10
I would just give a 5 cause although I liked the drama, the story was weak so..
OVERALL : 7/10
I liked the drama and it's ending but cause the plot was kinda weak I'd give only a 7.
Overall I liked this drama but if you're looking for complicated love triangles and an arrogant first lead, this drama is not for you. This is more of a playfully realistic and simple medical drama without unnecessary love triangles and characters.
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A lot of people seemed to be put off by the "teacher/student" thing but I seriously don't see the big deal with it. It's not like anything inappropriate ever happened when they were "teacher & student". They hung out more often then a "teacher/student" generally would (if it were under NORMAL circumstances) but this drama wasn't a "normal situation" drama - the teacher LIVED at her grandma's place! So Obviously they would grow closer and spend more time together - but even then NOTHING inappropriate happened EVER. (of course there were underlying feelings, but none "displayed" until one incident happens and then ... they meet again). Plus I thought KRW and PSH had really good chemistry <3
Story: A girl who comes from heartache has built a wall around her heart and acts out - she then meets her teacher/mentor who leads her to a different way of life. They all meet as doctors again later and we see several different patients come in and get treated. (I actually liked the patients stories more than the "doctoring" part lol) - It's a medical drama but I think it was a slightly more loosely based one where they didn't necessarily go that deep into the medical aspects of it all (so actual doctors might find it a tad unrealistic) but if you ignore that and just watch it for what it is - basically a love story - then you might enjoy it like I did.
Now I however do Not think this drama should have lasted for 20 episodes - it would have been much better at 16 (or even just 18) - 20 was too much so I can understand people who think it's boring or they say they have lost "interest" it's not one of those dramas where you will be sitting on the edge of your seat or where your mind will be at work the entire time - No. It' just a drama to sit down and watch in relaxation. - At least that's how it was for me. -
Cast: My favorite characters are Ji Hong played by Kim Rae Won <3 (perfect kind of guy in my eyes) ^^ Pi Yeong Gook played by Baek Sung Hyun ^_^ (my side romance LOVE) and Seo Woo played by Lee Sung Kyung (the second lead girl that many loved to hate but I loved to understand and like & I totally shipped her with Yeong Gook <3 ). So to get nitty gritty here... Ji Hong is a very playful and fun loving teacher/doctor who is almost always smiling and being cute (and KRW fits this role so well!), You'd have a hard time not falling for this witty and charming man ;) Pi Yeong Gook is the sweet and kind best buddy a girl could ever wish to have that also secretly likes his friend. ^_^ I adored him and so wish he had more screen time!!! Seo Woo was a misunderstood girl who acted bitter and mean on the outside but who was really wounded on the inside - all she needed was some tender loving care people! I liked her and like PYG I wish she had more screen time!!! (they could have shared the screen time between PSH & KRW with PYG & SW! It would have been better too I think if they did that. I didn't like the second lead guy played by Yoon Kyun Sang at all until half way through when my opinion changed a little b/c he wasn't so clingy and mean like he was earlier. I LOVED his uncle though <3 Gosh that man was adorable! ^_^
Most memorable and enjoyable guest appearances: Ji Soo, Lee Sang Yeob, Nam Goong Min, & Han Hye Jin. Their stories were all really good as were their performances <3 (a lot of people were complaining about not seeing Ji Soo all the time - but his role was just a "guest" role it wasn't a supporting role. I do wish they would have a shown a little more after he was in the hospital but... I enjoyed his time that he was on here.)
Music: I liked it. and they fit well with the drama's atmosphere.
Re-watch value??? humm... Idk, I might b/c of Kim Rae Won and Baek Sung Hyun - but it might be a skip watcher lol
I'm giving it a rating of 8 simply b/c I did enjoy it - but it wasn't the best drama by far and it shouldn't have had so many episodes (especially when BM was cut and this wasn't... but... anyways that is again just my opinion.)
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The best way to illustrate this drama for me is someone selling you a washing machine that is also a dryer but when you get home, you realise the dryer part doesn't actually work.
The story was disappointing considering what it was anticipated to be, the pace was extremely slow, i'd venture that some episodes can be skipped. There was no adequate closure on some of the sub-plots/medical cases earlier on just lessons learned for the characters, and so many characters were not utilised properly. I wish they could have spent more time on these.
The acting wasn't terrible, i feel the workmen were good the tools weren't. They did the best they could with what they had. For me, like most of the dramas this year, this one was overrated because of the cast (rightly so, it was a good cast).
As is typical with kdramas when the pace is slow and it's coming to an end, they rush to tie things up in a bow and this drama was no different. Unfortunately i don't have many nice things to say because i was thoroughly disappointed after coming in so excited but i'm sure others will be able to come up with something. I hope this is the last time i get conned like this.
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I came for a romance and that's what I got with Doctors. I think many expected it to also be a great medical drama on top of the romance. Honestly, you can take them out of a hospital setting and the story wouldn't be that different.
I don't think the drama was as bad as many made it out to be but yes, plot-wise the story wasn't strong. It had a promising beginning with the potential for the story to really branch out well, especially with the revenge plot. In that area, the story wavered: it wasn't vengeful enough to go the revenge route, and it wasn't medical enough to create a compelling medical suspense drama.
I loved the cast though. Fun cast? Check. Eye candy? Huge check. Park Shin Hye as Hye Jung was such a fiercely awesome with her martial arts in the beginning and that was what attracted me. Unfortunately, it did die down as the drama went on but she still had her uniquely strong willed spirit that never gave up. Personally, I just didn't completely feel PSH and KRW's chemistry but not because of their past teacher-student relationship. If anything, I felt like even after they are both doctors, Ji Hong still cared for Hye Jung and looked out for her, as a teacher, more than lovers. Thankfully, the chemistry did get more convincing near the end but don't expect passionate sparks. Nonetheless, they were still adorable together and PSH's kissing scenes were well-done!
The supporting cast was hilarious, the residents, the nurses, Soon Hee, etc: everyone just made Doctors a lot of fun to watch! As I said earlier, the revenge/hospital politics plot fell flat so that made Doctors not as suspenseful as it could have been and it took up a lot of time with little progression between episodes.
I'm a little disappointed with Yoon Gyun Sang's storyline though- they could've done so much more with him! And Lee Sung Kyung, I actually really enjoyed her character, she came a long way and had tremendous character growth.
Doctors did follow a episodic patient storyline (well more like every 2 episodes) and some of the patient stories were in fact really heart breaking to watch, and wasn't filler. Nam Gung Min's cameo stood out to me the most as the single dad and that sub-plot had me in tears. So, as a whole I liked the interweaving main plot with patient sub-plot. Some of them even taught the main characters a lesson that moved the plot forward in the right direction.
The OST did its job in the emotional scenes but they didn't stand out to me that much-some songs felt a bit overplayed at times.
I don't think I would re-watch this as a whole. I did go back to some scenes though so that counts right?
I recommend this drama if you want to watch a fluffy, sometimes heart-warming romance drama with a dose of comedic relief and camaraderie from the rest of the hospital cast members, with some side effects of annoyance from the slow revenge plot progression.
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