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She Causes the Pain and Then Gives You the Medicine
Doctors started dark and violent, with Park Shin Hye playing an out-of-control teen, Yoo Hye Jeong. She was savage, belligerent, and self-destructive. Her encounter with Hong Ji Hong, her new teacher and mentor, opened a new world of possibilities she had never before considered.
The Good:
• I find Park Shin Hye extremely watchable. The styling on the drama showed her at her best. The clothing and shoes were superb.
• Kim Rae Won was mesmerizing as Hong Ji Hong, the doctor, turned teacher, turned doctor. He was warm, charming, and witty. His inherent understanding of people allowed him to suss out what people needed in their lives and he'd try to provide it. One girl needed breathing space, one needed to find her mother, and Yoo Hye Jeong needed a dream.
• Lee Sung Kyong was well cast as the poor little rich girl embodying entitlement and elitism while suffering between the trauma of never meeting her father's unrealistic expectations and being used by him to further his career. As an aside, the actress has such beautiful eyes—it's as though they are illuminated from within.
• The supporting cast was fantastic, especially Kim Min Seok, Kim Ji Soo, and Lee Joon Hyuk.
• Like many medical shows, each episode was likely to introduce a new patient with a perplexing problem. The bit with Nam Koong Min was the most memorable and dramatic to the point of me ugly crying.
• The romance was well done. With two people who had suffered trauma, there were obstacles in their relationship to overcome. This was done naturally without the usual idiotic misunderstandings or evil love triangles. Speaking of which, this featured one of the sweetest love triangles with the person acknowledging defeat, yet still loving the object of his affection in a respectful, supportive, yet unobtrusive, manner.
• The OST, while not containing stellar singles, meshed well with the drama.
• I'm a strong believer in forgiveness, but I hate cheap grace. I was concerned the drama was going to portray Yoo Hye Jeong in a happy family reunion after all the abuse they'd put her through. Instead, Yoo Hye Jeong forgave her father, wished him a healthy life, and permanently separated from him. Her stepmother had never changed her hostile attitude toward her; why should Yoo Hye Jeong subject herself to more misery for a family that abused and abandoned her? I did feel sorry for the half-sister. As far as the viewer knew, she'd never harmed Yoo Hye Jeong, and she seemed to sincerely want a relationship with her.
• Not everything was tied up with a bow by the end. It was like real life in that unrequited loved remained just that; people still had flaws they had to overcome; and the villains didn't get everything that was coming to them, but life went on just the same. I would have liked to have known which fellow got the one permanent position at the hospital, but I'll have to write my own ending. And what happened to Lettuce, the cute puppy?
The Bad:
• The drama switched tone from dark, violent, and frenetic to a brighter, slower pace. I enjoy medical shows so the shift from school to the hospital was fine with me, but it felt like a bait and switch. I like slower shows with lots of dialogue, but other viewers might not appreciate the shift in gears from action to talk. This became a drama with complex characters in a simpler, less dynamic plot.
• I wish the viewer had been shown the extent of Yoo Hye Jeong's trauma with her family. We were shown her crying outdoors when her parents were fighting, and we saw verbal abuse briefly from her stepmother. I'm certain with the stepmother's attitude, there were more horrendous abuses; they should have been established to allow more understanding of why Yoo Hye Jeong functioned as she did.
Gentle Viewer, be forewarned that the attraction of the leads to one another began when Yoo Hye Jeong was a student of 18, and Hong Ji Hong was a teacher of 27. The power imbalance would have bothered me if there had been more than a friendship, but their romantic relationship did not occur until she became an older professional at 31. Age gaps don't bother me (predatory power imbalances do). That's a good thing, or I wouldn't be here, as my father was 30 years older than my mother!
I added a half star for a mature romance between two individuals who didn't always agree with one another but were willing to listen to the other and were open to changing their minds. How refreshing is that!
The Good:
• I find Park Shin Hye extremely watchable. The styling on the drama showed her at her best. The clothing and shoes were superb.
• Kim Rae Won was mesmerizing as Hong Ji Hong, the doctor, turned teacher, turned doctor. He was warm, charming, and witty. His inherent understanding of people allowed him to suss out what people needed in their lives and he'd try to provide it. One girl needed breathing space, one needed to find her mother, and Yoo Hye Jeong needed a dream.
• Lee Sung Kyong was well cast as the poor little rich girl embodying entitlement and elitism while suffering between the trauma of never meeting her father's unrealistic expectations and being used by him to further his career. As an aside, the actress has such beautiful eyes—it's as though they are illuminated from within.
• The supporting cast was fantastic, especially Kim Min Seok, Kim Ji Soo, and Lee Joon Hyuk.
• Like many medical shows, each episode was likely to introduce a new patient with a perplexing problem. The bit with Nam Koong Min was the most memorable and dramatic to the point of me ugly crying.
• The romance was well done. With two people who had suffered trauma, there were obstacles in their relationship to overcome. This was done naturally without the usual idiotic misunderstandings or evil love triangles. Speaking of which, this featured one of the sweetest love triangles with the person acknowledging defeat, yet still loving the object of his affection in a respectful, supportive, yet unobtrusive, manner.
• The OST, while not containing stellar singles, meshed well with the drama.
• I'm a strong believer in forgiveness, but I hate cheap grace. I was concerned the drama was going to portray Yoo Hye Jeong in a happy family reunion after all the abuse they'd put her through. Instead, Yoo Hye Jeong forgave her father, wished him a healthy life, and permanently separated from him. Her stepmother had never changed her hostile attitude toward her; why should Yoo Hye Jeong subject herself to more misery for a family that abused and abandoned her? I did feel sorry for the half-sister. As far as the viewer knew, she'd never harmed Yoo Hye Jeong, and she seemed to sincerely want a relationship with her.
• Not everything was tied up with a bow by the end. It was like real life in that unrequited loved remained just that; people still had flaws they had to overcome; and the villains didn't get everything that was coming to them, but life went on just the same. I would have liked to have known which fellow got the one permanent position at the hospital, but I'll have to write my own ending. And what happened to Lettuce, the cute puppy?
The Bad:
• The drama switched tone from dark, violent, and frenetic to a brighter, slower pace. I enjoy medical shows so the shift from school to the hospital was fine with me, but it felt like a bait and switch. I like slower shows with lots of dialogue, but other viewers might not appreciate the shift in gears from action to talk. This became a drama with complex characters in a simpler, less dynamic plot.
• I wish the viewer had been shown the extent of Yoo Hye Jeong's trauma with her family. We were shown her crying outdoors when her parents were fighting, and we saw verbal abuse briefly from her stepmother. I'm certain with the stepmother's attitude, there were more horrendous abuses; they should have been established to allow more understanding of why Yoo Hye Jeong functioned as she did.
Gentle Viewer, be forewarned that the attraction of the leads to one another began when Yoo Hye Jeong was a student of 18, and Hong Ji Hong was a teacher of 27. The power imbalance would have bothered me if there had been more than a friendship, but their romantic relationship did not occur until she became an older professional at 31. Age gaps don't bother me (predatory power imbalances do). That's a good thing, or I wouldn't be here, as my father was 30 years older than my mother!
I added a half star for a mature romance between two individuals who didn't always agree with one another but were willing to listen to the other and were open to changing their minds. How refreshing is that!
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