Ghost Doctor (2022)

It started out as a must watch weekly show but halfway through my curiosity fizzled that i even forget there are still new episodes coming.

Dont get me wrong, this show is not bad at all and definitely watchable. The problem is watching the first episodes set my expectations high.

Kim Bum and Rain are both fantastic as Ko Seung Tak and Cha Young Min. I loved their small nuances when they are acting as one. The way they showed them during surgeries are also effective. However as lovable their characters are, they’re actions are also confusing. For example, Seung Tak was initially portrayed as a book genius and although he may buckle during actual surgeries we were led to believe he was still supposed to know whats going on, but there were scences when he was just waiting to be told what the medical conditions are and what to do with them. Also, I cant tell if Seung Tak is afraid of ghosts (more on this with spoiler alert, later).

Another thing lacking is a good antagonist. Han Seung Wong and Jang Min Ho are like your high school bullies, all talk no real bite. I cant even tell what is the real motive behind Seung Wong's action. Making him morr despicable would have been more effective, or just remove that angle completely and focus on the medical and supernatural side of the drama.

I may also be expecting a lot more from the female leads. Uee, as always, is amazing although Jang Se Jin's relationship with Seung Tak is borderline creepy. Son Na Eun, on the other hand, was completely wasted and Ooh Soo Jung's exposure was almost non existent.

I also have to say that their take on ghost lore, feels a little bit off. **MINOR SPOILER ALERT** All the ghosts in the series EXCEPT ONE are comatosed patients, and, they implied that these spirits banish once the host body is completely dead. So were they really ghosts or some form of astral projections? In connection to that, i dont understand why Seung Tak is scared and cant do surgeries, not even during his time in school, because for one, he has an understanding that the spirits he sees belong to people who are alive (or at least about to die) in real world. And as they implied that the ghosts banishes when they're dead, that means he cant be seeing ghosts during the cadaver surgery practicum.

Also what is so special about Young Min that he is the only comatosed patient that can actually posses someone? Again, should we call them ghosts? By definition, ghosts are apparitions of dead people, so technically the professor and the other guys are in fact not yet ghosts. Or, maybe, they could have made Young Min the only comatosed "ghost" and let the others be ghosts from dead people to set him apart and make him a bit unique, thus the ability to posses Seung Tak. I think they should have explored and solidified that supernatural concept a little bit more and explained the mythology better to make it believable.

With that said, im still giving the show a fantastic 8.5 out of 10 stars. Will i rewatch? I dont think so.

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Ghost Doctor is a supernatural medical drama that introduced a new concept of coma ghost. We have heard of ghosts haunting the Earth after death. But, this is the first time I have heard of a coma ghost, the soul of a person who is in coma, wandering in the Earth. I was interested in this concept and almost enjoyed the drama.

The most of the plot is set in a hospital. The story begins introducing the invincible first-rated heart surgeon Cha Young Min (Rain). Despite his skills, he is arrogant and short tempered with a cold personality. While, Ko Seung Tak (Kim Bum) is genius student, who is the grandson of the hospital's founder and had to study medicine because of his family despite not being interested in it. Although he is a genius, he has no field experiences because of his ability to see ghosts. Yet, he cares about the well-being of his patient due to an accident which happened when he was a child, because of which he got the ability to see ghosts, and does not wish to see it again. Ko Seung Tak and Cha Young Min loathe eachother, especially Dr. Cha, at the very beginning of the drama.

The current situation changes as Dr. Cha is involved in an accident But, after being a ghost, he finds himself possessing the body of KST, despite not being able to touch anyone else. Eventhough he performs surgery on and saves himself, he slips into coma and his soul becomes a coma ghost. This becomes the turning point of his life to becoming a doctor who is less short tempered and cares more about his patients. When CYM finds that KST can see ghosts, they helps eachother to find the truths about the foul acts taking place in the hospital and is thus forced to share a body.

I actually started this drama due to it's interesting plot. But, after watching the drama, I was disappointed because of its bad development. Everything was too easily revealed. They were not interesting enough to keep me engaging. Of couse the beginning is interesting. But, as the story progresses, everything becomes draggy.

Another thing that became draggy was the romance plot. We could see that there are two MLs. So, the presence two romance plots was obvious enough. Actually there are two more main leads apart from Kim Bum and Rain: Uee, who plays Jang Se Jin, CYM's ex-girlfriend and Son Na Eun, KST's crush. But, after watching the drama, I doubt if they could be called main leads. They were more like two support roles to keep the romance plot moving. Actually, there was no need of the romance itself. The bromance between the MLs were interesting enough. So, the romance was dragged until the very end. Also, the romance with body sharing was unacceptable.

There are many side-characters in this drama, humans as well as ghosts, and many sub stories. My fav support character is Tess, a good ghost who had died years ago in the hospital and the cleaning lady on whom he enters.

When we come to the cast, I'm satisfied with their performance. Rain, Kim Bum and their bromance was awsome. But, I am really sad that the two FLs were ignored, especially Son Na Eun. They didn't have enough screentime to make them feel like the main leads. Could have made their part more interesting other that the romance one by giving them more medical activities. All the supporting characters too did a commentable job.

I didn't really care about the OSTs of the drama. There were some musics but not very memorable

An overall summary for lazy readers:-

WHAT I LIKED:

*The concept of coma ghost
*Good medial plot
* Awsome performance of the cast
* Supporting characters and their stories
*The bromance

WHAT I DISLIKED:

* The draggy plot
* Romace plot
* Really obvious and unsurprising
* Less focus on main characters except the 2 MLs
* Poor writing

Warning for future viewers:

There are many operation scenes as this is a medical drama and the leads are surgeons. So, fast forward if you can't handle blood.
Also there are many medical terms used in this drama, half of which I didn't understand. But, this importance given to the medical part of the drama makes it fairly interesting

Overall, this is a fair watch, if not a good one. It is mildly enjoyable because of the comedy element as well as the performance of the cast. This is a good watch for Rain's and Kim Bum's fans but, those who come for the plot, you will be undoubtably disappointed.

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