First of all,the plot had it's up and downs. I went from being interested to being bored in half a sec. The development of the story leaves much to be desired. And a lot of people cried but i had a poker face until the ending,i think i teared up a little but nothing more.
And second of all,my biggest problem was with some actors in particular. The english speaking scenes were horrible. They were so cringy that i almost wanted to die. I understand it was necessary but damn,everytime they switched languages it was like turning a good actor into a bad one. And the american cast was trash.
I loved everyone else tho. The supportive cast was excellent and the chemistry between the main leads was cute even if their relationship was 100% bipolar. The female main lead changing her mind and dragging everything was kinda annoying.
I mean,it's not a bad drama at all.I enjoyed most of it. The cinematography was breathtaking,one of the best ones out there. And the OST gave me chills. But y'know,those flaws were pretty strong.
Overall,do i think it's overrated/overhyped? Maybe? But everyone has their own preferences. And focusing on the good things,like i said,i enjoyed most of it. And you're probably gonna enjoy it too,just don't start this with high expectations. I think that was my mistake. A popular,hyped drama,doesn't always mean a perfect drama.
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The only different and unique thing was that their love blossomed in a deserted country ( I forgot the name ) where earthquake took place .
And that's why everyone thinks the story is very different but in reality it's typically the same . I mean only difference was the earthquake right ?
Well I don't think they showed it too much I mean okay I know they showed it and it was the main plot holder but I think they focused more on their love than the earthquake and that's totally okay with me ! Alright ! But the thing is that their love story was not even that powerful for me .
I mean , what was there ? Huh ?
There is this girl who just couldn't decide if she loves this soldier guy or not . I mean like seriously more than half of the drama she was confused . I mean In one episode she' ll say that " I love you " then in next episode she'll say " I don't " I mean just decide girl ! I liked the second couple's story much more then theirs but that wasn't very special either. I mean their chemistry was very good and I think the reason dots was a major hit was becuase of their chemistry .
This drama was a total disaster. Why ? BECUASE it tried to mix so many things in a drama and failed to do so .
Then there were so many characters that I got confused so much as this was my first drama so I was really bad at remembering korean faces but now it's like natural to me but I really can't able to recognise anyone as they all were wearing the same uniforms -- doctor's and soldier's .
The villian was senseless too . I mean there was no need to show him too . It was just pointless his whole story-arc.
I remember there was this couple who were half korean and half Canadian or something and their story seemed interesting to me too but then they didn't had the time to show us about them so ....
I thought as there are many characters they would show stories of some of them but no ! They wouldn't bothered to do that too !
They were so lazy that they didn't properly showed the second couple's story which by the way I was more interested in . So yes they just mixed too many characters and story arcs and didn't finished them up properly and I was just not interested in the main characters at all. Like I couldn't care. I do agree that the drama had good OSTs and the comedy element was good too but that's the only things I liked about this one.
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Jong Ki and Hye Kyo were my faves since I have watched them and this is their first project together so I got curious as to how their chemistry would work. Honestly, it works fine. Not great just fine. Maybe because the story itself is not love story. For me, the story did not focus too much on them as a loveteam which is good coz it gives the audience more attention on the story. Every episode, I am more excited of how the incidents would turn out. Also, there's another love team that has good chemistry as well, and not to mention the bromance of the lead and support. So, this drama basically will excite you because of the story itself. The actors portrayed their character well based on the story. Undeniably, all of them are on top of their game. Both Jong Ki & Hye Kyo's last drama were heavy and its good to see them light up a bit on this. Songs were perfect. Acting were great. Story beautiful and fresh. A bit short on the chemistry of the leads. But nonetheless, its worth watching.
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For those of you who have not yet seen DOTS, but plan to watch, the most helpful comment I can provide is go into it with an open mind, tempered expectations, and judge for yourself. You may love DOTS as so many do, but don't assume that or you might be disappointed. I doubt most of us went into episode 1 of our all-time favorite dramas EXPECTING them to become our all-time favorites.
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Story: [8.0/10.0]
There are two things that DOTS should be applauded for doing well. First off, the romance found in this show was very refreshing. If anything, the romance in this show overshadows a lot of the action in the show. I enjoyed watching as the relationships started forming between the main characters as well as the relationships that were forming between some of the support characters. I found myself gushing at some of the romantic scenes as if I were in those scenes myself. Those scenes where just that good!
Another aspect of the show that was done well was the creation of the characters. The show made sure that each and every one of the main support characters stay relevant. You'll see which ones are the main support characters once you watch a few episodes. Each support character's interaction with the other characters only helped to make the story better. I especially liked the part where the doctors were watching the soldiers running. I thought that part was hilarious. You'll just have to watch the show to see what I mean.
Although there were some good parts in the drama, there was also some bad parts as well. Personally I was really annoyed with the villain that the producer/director chose for this show. Not so much because of the actor that it was chose. I was more annoyed at the villain's role in the show. Argus was the main villain of the show. The problem with Argus was the fact that he seemed like some sort of quasi-villain. Argus was more like some sort of jay-walker or speeder in terms of the types of villains that are out there. I was expecting more when they showed him as a drugs/weapons/human trafficker. Unfortunately that was not the case. Honestly I liked the parts where the cast was confessing to each other more than a lot of the confrontations that occurred between the villain. That's not to say that they all of the confrontations were bad though.
Overall, the romance and the characters in this show was great. However, the same cannot be said about the plot. The plot was lacking more than just the main villain as well. Sadly it also lacked events that I could actually care about as well. The main part of the show (besides the romance) where the characters where in Urk was mostly very boring. They could have taken about 50% of the material out of the material of that part of theshow and the overall plot would not be any better or worse. It felt like a lot of the story was there for the sake of filling the 16 episodes.
Acting: [10.0/10.0]
As mentioned earlier, the cast did a very great job in this drama. They both did very well in terms of acting and employing the cast to make the show that much more interesting. I did not pay much attention to the acting. That's a good thing in this case because it meant that there acting was very natural. Usually I only notice the action when it's bad. I.e. when someone shows no emotional sadness when there suppose to be sad about someone's death or something. I also enjoyed the fact that the most of the actors and actresses in this show had a great control of the English language. Some parts of the show required the cast to speak English. It was refreshing to actually understand the English when it was spoken and not having to work out the accents.
Music: [9.0/10.0]
As per usual, you really can't go wrong with the music. The music did what it was suppose to. It made sad moments sadder. It made happy moments happier and so forth.
Thanks for reading my second ever drama review on MDL! I hope that you have enjoyed the review. I only gave this show an 8.5 overall, but that does not mean I did not enjoy it. I merely tried to grade as objectively as I can. I rarely give shows that I review all 10s because most often they are often not as perfect as they can be to receive the 10s.
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The acting carried this drama!
Now, I am whipped for dramas with a sassy yet beautiful female lead and a handsome soldier who find his way to her in the most weirdest way, or vise versa (*cough* Crash Landing On You *cough*). So don't get me wrong, but this review is definitely biased in that direction!When the main couple first met in episode 1, I practically fell for Yoo Shi Jin because of his flirtatious attitude towards Kang Mo Yeon. Besides the point, I'm still fallen! Getting to the second couple, Kim Ji Won acted her part to the point I was gravitated towards the character Yoon Myung Ju just cause I related to the pain and confusion she felt throughout the whole plot. I'm not just talking about her relationship with Seo Dae Yeong either. I haven't even began about the rest of the cast!! Without them, the show wouldn't be as lighthearted as it needed. During serious times, they made me laugh either with their sarcastic remarks or just normal indirective jokes.
All the actors played their parts way too well that it felt like I was in the story the whole time. The emotional rebound this show brought me is undeniable, along with the tears I shed throughout it!
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Action/Medical/Romance???
Not the best Drama I've seen, but I've not seen too many. I thought it was going to be an action Drama the way it started out. Great knife fight scene at the beginning. Felt like a bait and switch for guy audiences. I enjoyed the humor. And didn't even mind the romance stuff. I rooted the second couple and third couple more than the first.Still, I liked how it broke the wall at the end, and acknowledged its own brand of storytelling. The actors pulled it off, but was looking for more than I got.
I liked it enough for one time, but will probably not do a re-watch on this one.
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This review may contain spoilers
This show has no idea what it’s trying to be
Honestly this is one of the worst shows I’ve seen. Is this a romcom, serious romance, medical drama or war drama? Was honestly waiting for aliens to show up at one point. I have no idea what direction they’re trying to take. There will be a serious scene involving human trafficking, sexual violence, natural disasters, human loss etc and then 10 minutes later they’re walking through an active minefield and smiling with happy music in the background??Speaking first of the cinematography, it’s awful, every scene has the brightness cranked to 100. The entire show is so washed out because of it, each shooting location looks the same; lifeless, empty and bland. I have honestly never seen something this bad in my memory. The sets themselves don’t help the case because it just looks like a random hill where soldiers are stationed for fun with a couple generic broken ruins around. I’ll talk about my major issues with Uruk in general in a bit.
In terms of the writing it’s truly horrific and chock full of really cringe English dialogue that’s tough to listen to. The main leads have negative chemistry, the show spends 10 episodes going nowhere with their romance and then they slowly start heading….absolutely nowhere only to wrap it up in the last 1-2 episodes. Legitimately 80% of this show is just repeating the same “can I date a soldier” and “idk what my feelings are” for every episode sprinkled in with the stupid side plots. I also think that probably about 20 hours of this show was a gun standoff because that’s totally realistic.
The second love interests are equally as bad but Kim Jiwon was the stole charismatic actor in this show. The medical stuff let’s not get into because I don’t wanna roast this 11 year old looking supposed doctor whimpering away.
Moving onto Uruk, what in gods name was this racist caricature of a country? It’s supposed to be modeled after Iraq but looks nothing remotely like it. I don’t expect them to fly over there and film but zero effort in staging was put in, just change the setting if you can’t be bothered to make something believable. 35% of the city are Korean expats and the rest are a mix of every culture in existence. Let’s add some Russians, some people with dark skin, some white kids, some ladies with hijabs, alright let’s wrap it up! Not to mention the constant racist tropes of Arabs just scattered around like the casual oil barons pulling up and how these “Arabs” don’t want foreign doctors touching their leader and would rather him die as if that would ever happen.
In terms of acting I’m genuinely shocked at some of the high reviews. Not a massive Song Joon Ki fan anyway but this is one of his worst if not worst performance. He was horribly cast, he does not give off a strong special forces vibe at all and his acting is just so unbelievable I couldn’t help laughing at serious scenes when he’d start speaking English. Song Hye Kyo was equally as rough, her dialogue, body language and delivery were so off it looked like a complete rookie. There was zero chemistry between the two. Like I mentioned earlier Kim Jiwon is the only who put up a great performance.
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This review may contain spoilers
Why you may want to watch this drama?+ the OST is AMAZING!
+ the second leads' love story is the highlight of my life. I love them.
+ the first leads' also have a very cute love story. Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo are OTP.
+ amazing plot line. I was literally very impressed.
+ love. love everywhere!
+ Onew of SHINee is the most adorable little kitten to walk on this planet.
+ not a single episode that's boring.
+ no jealous second female leads
+ big boss' love rival was hilarious.
+ great English skills by the cast!
What should you be cautious of?
+ I loved the second leads' love much more tbh~ I lived for their love throughout the 16 episodes.
+ be ready to see a very sexy, yet evil villain.
+ subtle/ intentional/ unintentional racism on some parts.
MAYBE SPOILER:
+ A happy ending.
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