生 birth, 老 old age, 病 illness, 死 death.
It’s the passage of life we cannot avoid.
It’s the passage that’s explored in The Heart through our Medical Team at Dongli Hospital and the patients we come across... The passage where everyone battle with illness and death so we can continue living.

Medical dramas aren’t anything foreign. In fact, it’s precisely the familiarity of the profession and the amount of shows featuring them that makes this genre a tough nut to crack. On one hand, this genre deals directly with emergencies and deaths - perfect ingredients to string our emotions. On the other, it can be overtly cheesy at best, and a turnoff at worst if they overdo with the dramatic stories.

That’s what stood out about The Heart - it draws this balance perfectly, almost.

While we go through this show through our 3 main leads - Doctor Zhou, our physician, Doctor Lin, our surgeon and Doctor Fang, our ICU and post care doctor - the patients’ stories in The Heart makes them more alive than ever. None of the patients were fillers, even if they only take up 1 episode or less. None of the patients’ arcs were predictable, even if they appear to be the familiar troupes we come across in other stories or our day to day lives. This says a lot about the heart and sincerity that goes towards the cast and story plot.

The depth of patients’ stories made me afraid to watch this show in public transport as I go back and forth to work. This is because they draw tears at every juncture. Tears that I don’t feel cheated of.

Besides the patients’ stories, they also explored the politics of the doctors in The Heart delicately, pragmatically, and realistically. One can argue that politics shouldn’t be present in the face of life and death. But Doctor is another profession that requires management, systems, budget, and communication structure to continue its operations, even if they are in the line of saving patients.

Instead of taking time away from the patients or medical team, the political affairs of Dongli Hospital add color and life to The Heart. Even if we do not enjoy or agree with the political moments or the decisions that the characters take, I feel that those plots cement the fact that these doctors are people too.

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“Everyday you have to worry about this, consider about that, aren’t you tired?” Dr. Lin asked.

“Tired. Very tired.” Dr. Zhou remarked.
~~~~

At The Heart center, the dynamics of our 3 main leads are the core of the stories. Doctor Lin is the medical genius that learns to work in a team. Doctor Zhou is the workaholic that learns to rely on his team. Doctor Fang is the cherry one that reassures everyone. From these 3 lines, it’d sound like Doctor Fang has a shorter end of the stick with her character arc compared to the former two. And this is somewhat true.

That said, these trio won’t be complete without her. In a story that has so many things going on, Doctor Fang is a steady and warm presence that plays a more important role than people would give her credit for.

I love how they become comrades together with the medical team in Dongli Hospital. It made me wish that I too, will be in the hands of such a team.

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“每个病人都像一本书 Every patient is like a book。
医生能做的是尽量弥补他们的破碎 What doctors can do is try their best to mend their broken things -
不管是心脏 be it the heart，
还是心灵 or the soul.”

quote Dr. Fang.
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Besides the story, the OSTs of main theme are apt. Especially the ending song, 活着 Living. Deep and impactful lyrics.

Here is the official MV: https://youtu.be/5bOhd4oT6yg

Lyrics extract

生life, 死 death, 离别 separation，
若不由人选择 if it’s not up to people’s choice,
那就向前走 then let’s move forward.
~~~~~

To sum it up, there’s only ever 1 medical drama you have the quota for, give it to The Heart. It’ll pull your heart’s strings like no other.