I am really a good fan of the God’s Quiz series; it’s one of rarest medical dramas that I can handle with full joy. It also focuses on forensic medicine which is my real life field of study. Although they can dramatize it but centring the investigation procedural on finding criminals and the blowing mystery for each season were definitely my favourite parts of the whole series.
At some point, I began to wonder if it’s the same writer who delivered the previous thrilling mysteries. Did he lost his touch or something? Maybe stretching the story to four seasons’ length can actually affect his writing style and ideas. For starters, the rare diseases weren’t exactly that complicated but I can be lenient with that side because I am medicine major so I could’ve figured most of them in one glimpse and they didn’t write this for people who know about the field. However, what I could not forgive was the main plot; it was plain boring and predictable that you can’t call it a mystery any longer. It’s unlike the previous seasons where the two (or three) last episodes were too exciting and suspenseful. God’s Quiz 4 was unsuccessful in building the thriller suspenseful part.
The individual cases were pretty much acceptable, many of them managed to reach the satisfying level and even went further above it. I believe that what gives this season a good slack but it’s a fact that some of them weren’t even that interesting. Something else bothered me on a personal level: Romance. I know that many people like to insert that part everywhere but I always thought that OCN crime thrillers don’t need that, because most of the people who come to watch are here for the thrills not for the lovey-dovey part. That’s one of the reason why the 3 rd season is my favourite.
The acting was fine; Ryu Deok Hwan and Yoon Joo Hee were good as usual. Even their characters witnessed some pretty good developments such as Dr. Han’s background and Detective Kang’s feminine side. I can’t say the same about the two idol additions; I really don’t see why they were casted for this type of drama. Idol acting don’t suit this sort of drama at all even if their characters were well-written. That super Junior dude was so awkward throughout the whole drama and the girl next to him wasn’t any better.
The cinematography played a very good part in this drama even of it wasn’t different from the previous seasons. I can’t exactly remember the music note so you can guess the rest.
Watch if:
-You liked the previous season but don’t expect a lot from this.
-You like Medical/Forensic/Mystery dramas.
Do not watch if:
-Just don’t watch this unless you saw all the previous seasons.
God’s Quiz Season 4 wasn’t exactly that captivating but it wasn’t a total bore either. Now, I would like OCN to make an end for this series; stretching it more than this will be over-doing in a very bad way. It was a good run; I hope this will be my last goodbye with the God’s Quiz series.
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Story: It continues after season 3 which i liked and it went on with all the crazy investigations.It was also nice to see the romance evolve more between Dr han and Kang Kyeong Hee which brought a bit more
life in the series.The thing that i dont like is that every season there are new actors inside and the genius computer hacker wasnt there anymore and he was in all previous 3 seasons.Then again in season 3 there wasnt Kang Kyeong Hee which was a dissapointment for that season since she is my favorite actor in the series.However it all connected to each other all seasons and this one is ended again with a open possibility for more god quiz which i like :).
I liked this season most because it was the most easy going of all of them.Not to much pressure on Dr han and his problems and his brain and i think the investigations where a bit eassier to understand.
Conclusion: A very nice show that can continue till season 10 all i care of:).The investigations are fun to watch and interesting.I would suggest this show to everyone that likes crime/investigations and you wont regret watching it :).
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Season 4 in second place
God's Quiz in general was more mystery/thriller/investigation than medical. The main lead, who's a medical examiner, was doing more field detective work and following suspects than the real detectives. I didn't like how they setup the main lead character, he's genius because of a drug experiment in his childhood and this led to all kinds of made up scenarios stemming from his condition across different seasons. Every season, they twisted it in a different way which took away from having a consistent character. It's the eternal problem of any unplanned sequel seasons in a series. Which imposes an impossible task for any multi-seasons writers.Production: Seasons 1 to 4 were molded under the same OCN early days template, which all shared the same level of underwhelming production value. Soundtracks during season 1 & 2 were super generic stock background noise, only with season 3 they started to include music. Although season 3 was filmed better but had a much worse audio production in general. Season 4 was a noticeable improvement in production but it still wasn't quite there yet. This is all in comparison to regular shows that were released around early 2010s. On the other hand, season 5 brought with it a proper production and other improvements.
Characters: The dynamic and chemistry of the entire group during season 1 was abysmal, overacting from everyone, forced unnatural interactions and none of them clicked. Season 2 somewhat got better in that regard, you can notice that they got more relaxed but still not quite there yet. The ending scene of season 2 while the ML is kissing, his lips were shivering like crazy. It must have been super awkward to the point that they couldn't afford to have another take. Season 3 took a step backward with its changed cast. Detective Bae Tae Shik brought an awful dynamic to the table. Him and main lead didn't click together and created a bad on screen combination. It's probably why the writer didn't write him in for later seasons. The same can be said about other characters associated with Bae Tae Shik. The relationship and attempted romance between ML and Kyung Hee during season 1 & 2 was plain awful to watch. Only in season 4 it got reasonably better and season 5 fixed this issue completely by dropping the childish romantic tension and having them behave like adults. I liked seeing Kim Jae Won as a flashy villain in season 5, it was fun watching a different type of role from him.
Story: The structure of every season consisted of having a few cases then dedicate the last 3 episodes to the final case which had a personal connection with the characters. These last cases in every season were quite problematic for a variety of reasons, only season 5 had a better implementation despite its weak climax. More highlight across the seasons, the last episode of season 3 was the worst out of the entire series. The cloning plot in season 4 was super trashy and tacky, despite having an obvious playing room to take it into very interesting directions. The ending of season 4 featured another super weird and awkward kiss. The entire thing about AI in season 5 was really janky and a big stretch for the viewers to accept. In general, the cases were a mixed bag in every season, some were decent and interesting while others were boring, flawed or being stretched thin. However, season 3 featured mostly bad cases in addition to the handful of other problems which made season 3 to be the worst one in general.
The series as a whole was alright with a lot of ups and downs. It had a good concept with a varied degrees of execution. Although season 5 is the best one but it wouldn't have been that good as a stand alone drama without the accumulation of these characters journey. The ending of season 5 with both leads walking outside was very nicely done. On an unrelated note, it was impossible to not notice the ML's height.
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