It had its moments

This dramas started out great with two seasoned kdrama actors, acting was never going to be a problem. Premise was good, medicine is one of the most stressful careers, doctors suffer a lot there was a lot of potential in the story to explore real issues. But the drama fell on its own sword when the driver of the mental imbalance came from half baked external sources. FL story was more compelling, but the ML story involving the criminal case was so unfortunately bad that it derailed the plot. No matter what the genre is when you have professional elements involving law, business, medicine or others care should be taken in maintaining some level of authenticity otherwise it ruins the viewing experience when we start poking holes at the plausibility of certain events, in doctor slump neither medicine or law was well researched. The bigger problem was there was never enough story to sustain 16 episodes, at best it could have been a decent 12 episodes drama. Mental health was more of a plot device than a subject of honest examination. Bottom line idea was interesting but the execution did not deliver, in the end it was all foregettable.

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Drama that talks about Mental Illness

Mental illness is not a plaguing problem just in South Korea this concerns all of us no matter where we are from. Daily dose of sunshine poignantly explores the world of psychiatric care. Directed like a procedural, each episode spotlights a unique mental illness drawing inspiration from real life cases. Drama is educational, a conversation starter that is a genuine attempt at trying to remove the stigma of mental illness. Dialogues are carefully crafted with the intention to inform not lecture the audience. Narrative does not offer easy solutions because there is no permanent cure, if you want to live you manage your symptoms and adapt to the new you.

The patients are not just mere symptoms and the doctors and nurses are not just plain scrubs. Audience can easily empathize with each character as each condition is carefully presented with the appropriate backstory grounded in sincere performances. Patient’s struggles dissect with the nurse’s lives, who have their own personal battles. Nurse Jung Da Eun is our POV character played with endless kindness by Park Bo Young. She has all the qualities of a great nurse, her character growth is about finding the balance between kind-heartedness and being effective at her job, and in between she must take care of her own mental health.

Highlight of the series is when it is pointed out what society is afraid or ashamed to admit. If you fall prey to the breakdown of your mind, the most generous of us, even a psychiatric nurse capable of infinite empathy, and care to others inflicted with mental illness will struggle with perceiving the alignment as being a stain on one’s character.

Drama also addresses various concerns within the health care institution such as the hierarchical power structure, psychiatry being looked down upon, overworked staff and tension between nurses and doctors. We get a splash of delightful romance, and what is a kdrama if we did not have the rich man falling in love with the poor girl. However, the romance does not exist in a void it is there to support the main subject of mental health and self-love.

Verdict

The drama earnestly tries to balance the reality of living with mental illness and optimism of living a full life. It will bring tears to your eyes, but there are moments of levity, joy, hope that when society bands together with compassion and understanding we can uplift each other to reach our potentials. If there are faults it is negligent in comparison to what we gain. A drama with no fast forward moments.

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A near perfect drama

If there was any big plot holes or things that did not make sense it was Senior Mr. and Mrs. Hong, what did Chairman Hong really gain from supporting the family that murdered his son (if it was all about money/power this did not come across well) and worst is Mrs Hong this woman had no redeeming qualities yet they tried to gaslight us into thinking noooooo she does love her daughter, lets call FUBAR on this.
Paik Sa Eon is an excellently written character, everything he did/said was in line with the psychology of this character that was well developed and presented with nuance. The final action of fleeing does make sense if you understood his trauma. YYS gets full marks on his performance.
Hong Hee Joo had a tough challenge to hold her own against a very charismatic ML and give full credit to CSB for able to portray HHJ with silent strength. She was not just a romantic tool, or a mere plot device, she was her own interesting person and her character had a fully evolving journey in the plot.
Final acknowledgement of excellence to the entire production team director/editor/writer, especially the screen writer for this superior adaptation.

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