Brogana Sunfrog

dated classic "Old school" drama with Kim Hyun-joong; good to look at but playing a jerk

This was one of the First 4 k-dramas I watched. I got to ep 10 or 11 & had became so disappointed in the story that I put it on hold. 3 years & alot more dramas later, I finished it and found that whatever attachment I previously had for the characters was severed. This is an "Old School" drama, with tentative melodramatic piano music for for much of the background. It's not bad, just dated. the style of filming & the situations is very dated as well. I think what really drew me in & got me attached was the acting & story potential. Well, honestly, it was Kim Hyun-joong ! I first saw him in Boys over Flowers & wished that he had been the lead instead I was thinking that Playful kiss would fulfill that. Sadly, I did not find his character here to be one that you can just forgive for being a jerk. When he smiles you forget everything else, but he does not smile much & there is NO reason for his jerky attitude or cold behavior. He's definitely not tsundre , just inexplicably cold. I wanted to like this so much, but then I had the same problem with Boys over Flowers : the lead is a jerk that I just can't accept & it ruins the story

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leads have no chemistry. Interesting medical "mysteries"

Let's just start with: It ends on a cliff hanger & after watching this I hunted down season 2 & it was not in any way as good as season 1
So;
I jumped into this without reading any reviews . 1st few episodes are unpleasantly dark with, everyone dying, trying to die or trying to kill someone. The tone picks up but there are alot of heartbreaking moments. It takes awhile for the characters to "jell" into a 'family' of sorts and for you to actually like or care about them. Eventually I did end up getting invested in the characters . The over arching story was not as interesting as the individual medical cases in the rural area, though there did seem to be ALOT of cases where the the mistreatment of women & thier low status/lack of rights was front & center. It would have been nice to have more diverse medical issues , but honestly, they were in a rural area, so that limited them greatly. The leads didn't really have much chemistry, but by the end you have expectations & right as everything seems to be resolved & calms down, they end the series on a cliff hanger (before you can get any relationship resolution or happy warm fuzzies).

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Comedic train wreck that becomes depressing

I actually had this marked as "not interested" because of the compelling bad reviews & I should have not allowed myself to be tempted , but it was free on Netflix & I thought :oh, it has Choi Si-won in it AND it has a happy ending ( I cheated & looked). Ah, I was SO very wrong to watch it. I wish I hadn't because I now like Choi Si-won less & that is harsh, but his character was horribly irritating & written badly. I loved Choi Si-won in 'She was pretty' & wished that he had been the lead. This series should have been the answer to his fan's prayers, but no, it fails miserably. the first 10 episodes are a comedic train wreck .It's so bad that Choi Si-won's mischievous smile actually becomes less & less attractive & for that I hate whoever was directing him. His character is selfish, even in his selflessness. He never really shows any real growth & even in the happy ending, he is not considering the female lead's feelings or wishes, only his own. The last 6 episodes have a totally different feel to them as things get serious, but though you get a relief from the comedy, it just starts to become depressing. To make matters much much worse, they play Gu Keun Byul"s "sing my song" not only as a theme for the 2 leads, but also for the the bromance ,as well as the unrequited love with the 2nd lead. It is SO over used that is looses it's charm completely. The series is lovely to look at & the actors are all charming, but it is not a series I would recommend. Only my affection for Choi-si won kept me from giving this 1 star

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High rating is a mystery even to me

Sadly, the modern ending made this a not something I'd.
This was a SLOW burn romance with a good dose of feminism; Featuring strong ,determined, selfish & career focused women. In contrast, the men were ruled by thier emotions & overall seemed a bit dimwitted (clueless). The end is modern, not giving you the traditional happy ending, but hinting at the possibility the couples might be together. ( would be interested to see how others interpret the ending, as I'd like to be wrong !) However, the way I saw it, It was a cowardly, waffley "cop out". I found the lead female's character to be hard to warm up to & really it felt like she didn't know what she wanted. The whole " yes I want him & I want him to want & commit to me, but only if & when it fits into my mood & schedule, AND my goals are more important than he is !" , thing was just badly written character to me. I also found it odd that the female lead was too dense & could not see the obviousness of the male lead's interest. I did enjoy the series, but the female lead & the noncommittal ending put me off. I think what really impressed me what that this was a Netflix original. I hope they do more Korean dramas that we can view in the US

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I wanted so much to love it but it fell short

Years ago I saw & loved the original Taiwanese version- & Highly anticipated a Korean version, especially with D.O. in a romantic role . As of this writing it is on Amazon Prime video [for purchase.] I dread saying it but to be brutally honest, [and honesty in this instance does feel brutal] It felt rushed , right from the start. The original version suffered from the same issue . There needed to be a sense that the leads were meeting over a few weeks , if not a few months to build a relationship. Another negative was that the camera gives you whiplash as it bounces back & forth around in different scenes (piano competition "duel" for instance) . Beautiful scenes lacked seamlessness making for a disjointed storyline. I blame the director & the editor for depriving us of perfection :P
That said; I will watch it again, good cast, lovely romance (even if it is too quickly started)

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Avoids most tropes. Nice balance Some parts are worth skipping

I was pleasantly surprised that this avoided most drama tropes & every time I thought it was heading into heavy drama territory it evened out nicely, which was a relief as there were already enough sober issues that get dealt with. I never did figure out what the title refers to. The height difference between the leads was often weird .
Even though I rated it highly when I re watch it I will need to skip some parts in order to have the drama I want !
There were 4 things I absolutely hated.
spoilers:
1) Female lead's actions.
Female lead feels bad about herself so breaks up with guy because SHE feels guilty. And later they trick us by making it SEEM as if female lead says she's not going to leave but then changes her mind and does.
2) Time Skip.
I loathe time skips & this one is done oddly.
3) Male lead's sister's husband is probably gay (but in denial) it's a bit is he or isn't he for most the series & the couple start to get along really well & both seem happy & at that point-they divorce ! UGH!
4) Not watching some parts definitely make the drama better
This series is totally rewatchable until the female lead decides to leave for __________. so I personally will stop before that ( as what follows really crushes the warm fuzzies you have for the main couple.
here are my notes for future rewatching:

Ep. 13
stop 57:24
right after he says "is it all right" [with 5:29 left in the episode]
Ep 14 pick up at 17:17 with 46:02 left (when he is outside leaning against car)
stop at 19:25 (rings)
pick up at Ep 16 making eggs 28:37
stop 31:35 holding hands
pick 54:42 I feel lucky and thankful (feeding him) (with about 6:04 left ]

so future me:
stop before she leaves for overseas in the time skip & skip right up until they are dressed for thier wedding at the very end .

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Cute & lighthearted series

Cute & lighthearted series wastes precious minutes on the band & the evil female singing, but over all was really nice.
Unfortunate digestive joke in the beginning had me cringing as my culture does not find any humor in anything poop related. Tropes, but they are on the fluffy side such as people having intersected lives in their past that they didn't realize. Satisfying ending without any expression of affection .
On first viewing I gave it 7/10
it could have been better but it was short & sweet at least & not long & drawn out painfully putting us through the wringer

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intense edge of your seat drama sprinkled with sweetness. Wounds heal super fast

My initial take was that it was similar to Shakespeare's 12th Night- struggling with gender attraction. the leads I have seen before & are worth watching". This has enough fear, gore & violence to keep you on the edge of your seat. The moments of sweetness provided a lull-that sometimes lasted so long you forgot you were not in a drama that was simply romance driven. There's alot to like about this but
I got half way through & took a break-there is alot of intense drama & it got tedious -losing it's plot momentum . It should have been a 16 episode drama. There was too much plot resolution that came unraveled & had to be rehashed. Other issues were that 4 main & secondary characters are repeatedly (REPEATEDLY) slashed, stabbed beaten up & generally abused. They recover within a miraculous time frame & are up & ready for altercations quicker than blood dries on a rock on a sunny day. We are to then ignore when a major character gets a minor slash wound to the arm & it takes them more than a week to recover.
A big negative for me was that so many characters had beards that I could not tell who was who. First you have the old guys, which is really important as one of them is the main villain ! Then you have the man of arms in the maroon, another guy in grey, blue & yet another one in red....but they all are important characters on a particular political side, so knowing who they are is vital! !!It doesn't help that more often than not they are in stealth mode-so you see them mainly at night. I'm guessing that if I was more fluent in Korean it would have been easier to identify them, but they don't exactly call out thier names as they enter the scene! nice tidy happy ending but I was irritated that they did not explain how they achieved everyone staying alive for the happy ending.
**spoiler of a sorts**
(how hard would it be to say :"ah, I figured out the antidote ?)
random rant : WHY did the King's bodyguard not have his hair in a top knot like literally every other man in the palace ?
I would not rewatch but I do think it is a decent drama-just too much violence , beards & needed to be shorter

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lacking balance, relationship break, Disappointing end

My initial take was that the male lead was not that interesting so I was in no rush to watch this. Having watched it, I'm still on the fence about him !This series doesn't have a good balance of tension, violence & warm fuzzies. (simply too much cruelty & violence). One of the biggest plot points: the female lead having a "big" secret from her past, is never resolved ! All we are told is that she was bullied in highschool because of something her father did. Also, It was inconceivable that a character would rather have one month of normal & resign themselves to death than live in a lesser capacity but keep the relationship they are willing to die for. I never did figure out what happened to the fathers (are they dead or ?). The leads' relationship took a break with a "gap" year ( I HATE this trope !!!) And, WHO doesn't communicate in any way for a WHOLE year [even if they are away getting treatment ????]. Secondary couple was a complete nonstarter. A bit too much filler content towards the end and ridiculous circumstances where a guy is mostly dead BUT he manages to fight a whole bunch of guys AND lift a car, AND walk home before collapsing. In the end, though the couple are reunited there is No kiss, no glad faces, just thier backs. SO bland!

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Minimal drama. Smile inducing

I had this on my "not interested" list, but I wanted something light & fluffy & this was free , AND I saw that it had a happy ending, so I figured I'd try it. It took me along while to warm up to the female lead's character. She was SO cringy. I wasn't all that captured by the male lead's visuals either. But by the 4th episode I was getting numb to those negatives. By the 5th episode the male lead's acting impressed me. There was very minimal drama & a very short separation period of the leads before the resolution of the story. I was surprised to find that having had no expectations of really liking this, that by the end I really had done alot of smiling throughout the drama-which is just what I wanted. I would actually watch this again sometime.

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Martyrdom masked as Self sacrifice. Frenetic pace but boring surgeries

Needed something different after a 30 ep. Chinese Historical drama- & figured that I would just watch the 1st episode. I'm not a fan of medical dramas (though did love Ghost Dr. & Hospital playlist-just not the surgery bits. Also slogged through & Dr. Romantic-which had a much more endearing & charismatic lead Dr than this drama does).
I rated this lower because :
1)it was fast paced but frenetic & not exhilarating.
2)The lead Dr. was not given enough time for character development
3) the closeups of surgery was boring (no need for most of it as it just makes things draggy-but then , this is not a fav genre.

The trauma team's dedication is touching, but them being heroes (pretty much against thier will!) did not resonate with me. Self sacrifice is fine, but not when it feels like a death wish martyrdom thing as they live a zombie like life disregarding their own basic needs . I think I've gotten to the certain age where self abuse isn't as noble so all I can think about is : "ah, you haven't eaten or slept today ?!") Also it's hard to ignore the issues of healthcare reality in S. Korean this past year, so it's really unfair to any real hospital trauma personnel to say these characters are heroes, I mean, yes, but they set the bar of care at a fairytale level! O.K. it is JUST a drama, but again the pace they go at is unsustainable for even one week if that & it is a group of people who have no life, just service.
The tension of the medical missions was less stressful for me than the welfare of the main characters! The surgery scenes were standard. Lots of blood gushing, spurting-but to me just boring. Have the doctors comes up with great work arounds, but really the implementation can be left to the imagination! The cast "gelled" a little too quickly , forming thier little rag tag rebel unit, but it was a nice short drama series with an ending that wasn't traumatic. From the trailer I was really expecting this to be about the male lead coming in, not finding the hospital environment hospitable, grabbing the best ER personnel , going rogue & setting up his own trauma center....why does my expectation sound better than the actual drama !!?
Good cast, but tired of seeing Kim Won-hae in yet another bad guy, role with him having tantrums. The trope of angry out of control, yelling screaming big boss needs to be retired. (or is this a reality in South Korea ?)
In the end: entertaining but nothing stellar .

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Frustratingly slow

Male Lead is plainly smitten right away, but is frustratingly clueless about declaring himself. Again the thing that is the major problem is the very old trope of lack of communication.
I'm going to blame the director for having Cha Eun Woo do most of his emoting with his eyes & clenched fists. You accept it because, well, it's
Cha Eun Woo ! Unfortunately, it quickly gets frustrating to watch. His character is written so broken & emotionally withdrawn & yet we never get a good explanation besides his mother leaving. It really needed to be plainly shown that his father's being emotionally distant/selfish/demanding/uncaring is the cause. It was annoying that Alot of his actions & attractions are simply inexplicable. The series stylist did an unflattering job with Im Soo Hyang. Her look was flat & not as attractive as she really is so it was hard to see her as the super pretty. She also was not given much in the way of direction or something as she too often came across dim witted & dull. The premise was interesting & there were alot of good point about appearance, but the series was also heavy on being preachy about beauty standards & attitudes towards females. I was not fond of the OST. I wanted to like this, but it was a bit of a waste of time because of the pace & the flat characters. would not watch again, even for Cha Eun Woo

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Tediously Waay too long- Side stories were just annoying filler

Are you here for the male lead ? well, skip my review & just watch it !
For everyone else I'll be brief :
It's way too long. The second lead's relationship was irritating & took up too much screen time. Female lead was embarrassingly baby cutesy most the time. Side stories & family scenes were just annoying interruptions. Male lead is the only reason to watch & his character was not boyfriend material. Fluffy oversized dog had gross brown stained fur around it's face, like it needed washing. no weddings shown but abrupt happy endings for all 4 leads (AND 2 year time skip at end) Too much tediousness to really enjoy this series.

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starts out riveting but leads have no chemistry. Violence & traumatizing deaths

I felt like this drama was was written very badly.
Here's a list of things that made this rather "meh"

1) The Female lead every so often would suddenly start to act really cringy presenting the girly side of her character & it was not only embarrassing but unbelievable.

2) Lead Male was presented as bad boy/womanizer but you never see anything to back it up.

3) American soldier being named Colonel Sanders -seriously !? It's a well known persona who represents an American chicken franchise !

The started out riveting but

4) the leads had no romantic chemistry

5) The bad guys were too scary.
6) The death scenes were traumatizing.
7)A beloved character dies later in the series & though it's handled well, it was too much.
8) Things are winding down [with the bad guys] Then, they bring them back for another round trouble. UGH! So much tension.

By episode 18 It was tedious & I was really, really tired of it .

9) I was disappointed with the writing of the female lead that was so tough and capable in the first part of the series but who was easily overwhelmed in the 2nd part. She had so many skills and training but a bullet wound to the arm just takes her out...really ?!

10) There was so much of the series that was violent & unpleasant

I liked the leads but they had zero chemistry and the romance was written badly.

Random notes:
Though it is never shown - a couple sleep together which ends up being important, but it caught me by surprise [could they not have mentioned it!?]

Weirdly, the queen mother wore the same earrings in every single shot & they were really plain and cheap looking.

a brief happy ending and then a 4 year time skip! {death to time skips !!!}

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Alot of food & alot of violence with last minute unexplained happy ending

The male lead is pretty loathful for a good bit & then his deranged broken bad boy charm slowly (slowly) settles in. This is fiction/fantasy, so it's best to avoid seeing his character as real boyfriend material, but you have to admire his loyalty & "all in" attitude. (well Let's try to say so anyway) . Kudos to male lead Lee Chae Min for pulling off the nuances of deranged, unhinged , smolderingly charming & heartbreakingly distraught.
A nod to Choi Gwi Hwa as well for making his villain so maniacal.
The Female lead works really hard to sell her character & though the actress is not my favorite (SO I say ,as I realize just how many drama's I've watched with her in them!) she jumps into every scene with "gusto" and makes it work for her. Male lead's character ,(a demonic form of Austen's Mr. Darcy ), & is angry at everyone & bent on revenge -though he's not sure (or particular about) who the target is. The cooking & the killing being equal parts in this drama, are an odd mix. The cooking segments are wonderful (even if you aren't a foodie) The bite size mysteries that pop up every once in awhile concerning sabotage , trading out new world ingredients for Joseon dynasty ones is surprisingly interesting. Figuring out who (all) the bad guys are is difficult as there are alot of people who'd like to see the leads dead.
In order to enjoy this drama : suspend disbelief a good bit and take it for the violent yet somewhat fluffy drama it is. Set your expectations at that bar & don't get caught up in the few plot holes ( might be more than a few). Overall I enjoyed the drama, though Ep. 11 was brutal & hard to get through, but as you go you see it's necessary. The first half of Ep. 12 is unpleasantly bloody & gut wrenchingly emotional (pun intended). Both Ep 11 & 12 have recollection montages (which I hate) , but the warm fuzzy in them set you up to be emotionally invested in the final struggle & then to fully enjoy the happy conclusion . (Though be warned; the happy ending is both nonsensical & satisfying). If given another episode they might have gone into explanations, but really, why bother ? They have already given clues for us to fill in the blanks ourselves & why does it matter anyway ?

I took off points in my rating for what I felt was too much time spend on drawing out killing scenes . ( A quick stab -camera pans away & move on is the way I like my drama deaths!)

I will rewatch this.
I didn't notice the OST at all, which fits this drama well.

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