Starts off really strong, then becomes more "mediocre"
This was annoying ... I was sure I had written a review about this, but obviously not here, and doesn't seem like I did so on Viki either... :-/It's a while since I watched this now, so this will be a bit brief.
If my memory serves me right, I got hooked straight away, and then after the first couple (or 3-4) episodes it sloped off a bit for me. The politics, corruptions and power struggles over-shadowed the more interesting aspects (if I remember correctly), and the romance was so-so (was there really any?).
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Saddly, a huge disappointment.
I could hardly finish this drama. Disappointment is the word. "Doctor Stranger" beggins with a very interessant and emotional story that made me dive into the characters and hope for a amazing plot. When I started to watch, I was very excited to see were they go with all political plot, with the tensions built initially... But during the episodes, the emotions lost strenght and we don't see nothing that was promised before.All impact that we have in the firts episodes turn to a weak story about a no sense competition in a reputable hospital. Can you imagine a competition like that happens in a real hospital? I really believe that a drama doesn't need shows one hundred percent of reality, but fantasy is different of neglect in the script. I love the criativity in dramas, but with such a deep theme, reduce the story to that was terrible. Without mentioned the couple Park Hoon and Song Jae-Hee, that have chemistry only in the firsts episodes and turn into a obssessed love with no sense. I can't understand the choices that were made for this script, and I believe that they could made so much more for this story... Saddly, we can't see this here.
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An interesting surprise.
This series is about a child, Park Hoon and his father who were kidnapped by North Korea. There, he was trained to become a doctor by his father who was already a doctor. Park Hoon became a genius-like heart surgeon. He then flees under terrible circumstances to South Korea after losing his loved ones. He begins to work as a doctor in South Korea's top hospital Myeongwoo University Hospital, but he become entangled in the shenanigans of politic figures.This story is definitely something. To be honest, I'm a big fan of dark thrillers, and on a whim seeing Lee Jong Suk as the main actor when this series appeared on my feed, I thought why not.
So you can conclude that I'm not a big fan of romance. I tolerate the few romances I see, if done well then I can appreciate incorporating them into a storyline but generally I just go with the flow.
Here, to my greatest surprise I even felt involved. This is a weird and complicated love square. Two men and two women. All I have to say is that unrequited love sucks.
To talk about the romance, and without wanting to spoil, I have to say that it was done with realism, without unnecessary drama, without a childish attitude, just adults falling in love and sometimes hitting walls, sometimes making mistakes or careful choices. They're just humans setting their priorities, their desires, their hopes.
Here the romance was told against the backdrop of a political thriller. And although it's a series that dates from 2014, so we can expect some cliché or cheesy shots in the production or in the music, overall, I enjoyed it very much.
It's a grand web of revenge, greed and ambition that originates when a doctor just tried to do the right thing for a family whose father died of medical malpractice. It degenerates when this one is sent with his son to North Korea. The rest of the story is intimately linked to the situation between the two Koreas, and the ambition of a man who wants to hijack power by manipulating events.
Lee Jong Suk's character, Park Hoon will suffer immensely. From an early age and throughout history, he endured much and yet showed a very noble character. Han Jae Joon also suffers a lot, and I think the hardest part is when he faces those people who have hurt him, and he only asks for an apology for the wrong they have done, but that those people in their greed and power seeking refused to acknowledge what they have done. It's messed up.
I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that, but I'm glad I saw this series even though I'm not a fan of romance. The story is very gripping, the characters endearing and captivating.
I would say that the only negative point would be the competition between the two teams which lasted throughout the series when I would have liked us to move from this plot, I think they could have deepened the political aspect and less the medical one seeing how it turned out. I would say that this part of the story didn't fully elevated to its potential.
But I recommend definitively.
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This review may contain spoilers
Great show but wasted opportunity
I'll start off with the most important question: is it worth it? My answer is yes it is worth it, but it could have been a LOT better than it was if the writers made different decisions story and character wise (i'll get into that later). Overall the acting was great from Lee Jong Suk and Kang Sora, and the story was very interesting from the beginning to the almost end, but I am unsatisfied with some of the story choices.Mainly with the couples. The chemistry between LJS and KS was undeniably strong, I was literally drawn to them and that was the main if not only reason that I was so engaged in the show. On screen it almost seemed obvious that they had mutual feelings for each other, but instead the writers decided to have him choose his first love, and while they were cute when they were younger, their chemistry was a lot less and more bland then his with KS. That was just poor writing in my opinion , and it just makes LJS's character seem like an asshole for flirting with KS when it seemed he had more feelings for her then he did for his first love. I'm still waiting to see LJS and KS on another show together...
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First, I want to talk about what this story was to me and why I love it so much! This drama may have been played off as a medical drama, but, to me the medical stuff was only a backdrop for the real heartwarming story! This story was about a Romance that never died, even if Song Jae-Hee had died, I am convinced that Park Hoon would have never loved anyone his entire life. She was the only girl for him, and I loved that! I can't help it, a guy loving a girl no matter what whether she is dead or alive is my kryponite. This is why I loved this drama so much, the love spoke to me. To me, I can always get behind a romance if the guy is head over heels for a girl. The Heartbeat Couple withstood all the obstacles thrown in their way and got together. There were so many things trying to stop them from ending up together, other people who fell for Park Hoon, and also North and South Korean leaders.
I heard that this drama was based on a book, and believe me I wish to read that book. Although, I heard that the ending wasn't as good for our Heartbeat couple as this ending was.
Second, I wish to talk about the Cast/Acting. I loved it, all the actors played their parts well and I loved really believed that they were made for these parts. I can't really see any other actors playing these characters. Lee Jong Suk and Jin Se-Yun of course as our Heatbeat couple stand out! Also, just to let you know there are some really good kiss scenes in this drama! (I guess that is to be expected though, it is Lee Jong Suk after all.).
Lastly, I want to talk about the music in this drama and the rewatch value. The music still brings tears to my eyes when I hear it because I can see the tragedy of our Heartbeat couple so clearly playing out before they got a happy ending. For the rewatch value, although, parts of this drama were clearly about medical operations and surgery, I would not rewatch those parts because I like my family am not into medical dramas. I prefer romance, friendship, action, and family over medical. But, I would rewatch the romance and the funny scenes. They were the core of this drama to me.
Anyway, despite all the other reviews you read, I suggest you give this drama a try, because you might find that you love this drama like I did when everyone else gave it a bad review. I say it is well worth the time.
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I was actually expecting a stable and exciting romance plot in this drama, but sadly the writer just disappoints me because of the confusing loveline (I guess the writer got confused too). But what interests me after that was the competition between Hoon and Jaejoon. It wasn't just a competition, but a competition to show if they really live up to the morals of being a doctor.
The only touching scene that still lingers in my mind until now was the surgery of a woman due to a medical error done by Myungwoo Hospital. I wasn't expecting Jaejoon to give up on the director position and his revenge just because of the surgery and importantly, to live up the morals of a doctor. I can say that this is the first medical drama that makes me respect the doctors in the show very much.
Even though I have finished the drama, I was still quite confused about relationship between Premier Jang and North Korea. Probably I wasn't good in political stuffs.
Overall, the drama is good in terms of acting, especially Lee Jongsuk. However, I won't compliment on the story plot as it frustrates me halfway through the drama. If you are someone who loves romance genre dramas, I will suggest you to drop the drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
------------------- SPOILERS----------------------------Would have been on my list of best Kdramas of the year IF Lee Jong Suk and Kang So Ra had ended up together.. but no.. The writer fooled us in to thinking they still have a chance right until the last episode Lol.
The story wasn't bad. the acting was good. Just got a bit confusing in the middle because it didn't make sense.. they could have gone in to more detail with the other characters backgrounds but overall I enjoyed this drama a lot. I didn't see any point of Sistar's Bora being in it since she was only in it for like 10 minutes in the whole drama.
I didn't like the ending, and I'm sure a lot of you wont but it's a fun watch, would definitely recommend it.
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After the first episodes I thought the story was pretty cool for its intensity and definitely promising, but after a while it was perfectly clear they had no idea how to put it together in a coherent way. A lot of things in this drama made no sense at all, like the President´s behavior when he found out what was going on and how easily he ignored the whole situation, almost like building up people´s expectations and leading them to nothing.
Another flaw in this drama was the fact that only Lee jong Suk's character developed while the rest of the cast pretty much stayed the same, even though this drama is characterized by putting its characters through hardships that should've instigated even the slightest change in their personality.
Despite acknowleging the hard life the main characters had since a very young age, I didn't want Han Seung Hee to end the way she did because Jin Se Yeon's acting made her look fake, cynical and unpleasant, making her seem completely out of place. The whole drama involving her identity didn't help either, because while it was interesting and intriguing in the begining, it became a neverending boring drama that only confused the audience.
Honestly the last episodes were lame and full of unrealistic situations. The poorly done ending showered with this drama's characteristic predictability made me question my friend's sugestion to watch this drama. This time not even Lee Jong Suk´s outstanding acting could save him from this drama, that just like his hair, was a mess.
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Overall: first episodes were great, later it was worst, but bearable, the last few episodes were horrible, with some good moments but still horrible.
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