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The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call korean drama review
Completed
The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call
0 people found this review helpful
by NCloudY
Jan 30, 2025
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

A fun medical drama to watch—good, but not the best.

I think this drama is interesting. If you ask me what stuck with me the most after watching, I wouldn’t hesitate to say—comedy.

Honestly, even though the theme is totally different, the way this drama is presented kinda reminds me of Doctor Cha. Plus, the characters are pretty eccentric, making it hard not to remember their absurd behavior.

As someone who’s watched quite a few medical K-dramas, I’d say this one is definitely a good addition to the genre. But personally, I feel like there are still some things that could be improved in the next season.

One of the most important things, which is usually present in other medical dramas, is the explanation of medical terms—whether it’s about diseases, procedures, or other jargon that non-medical people wouldn’t understand.

Honestly, while watching this drama, I was kinda lost because I had no idea what they were saying, but I was too lazy to pause and look it up. Usually, in other medical dramas, they include brief explanations on the screen, but here, all they show is the patient’s basic info.

And then there’s Dr. Baek explaining a patient’s condition to their guardian—he just goes straight into medical terms, and somehow, the guardian immediately understands everything. Either medical knowledge in Korea is just that advanced, or I’m the only one clueless here.

In most other medical dramas, doctors usually explain things in the simplest way possible. If they do mention medical terms, they usually follow up with a line that explains what it means. But in this drama, it’s like they assume everyone already knows what they’re talking about.

Now, about the emotional aspect. Since this drama only has 8 episodes, each one feels kinda rushed. So aside from the comedy, the emotional impact doesn’t quite hit. The frustration, sadness, fear—it all feels somewhat lacking because they’re racing against time.

I think the next season would be better if they increased the episode length, maybe around 60-80 minutes per episode. Anything less than 60 minutes just isn’t enough.

Like, in other medical dramas, even if it’s just a little, they usually give us some background or a flashback about the patient, making us really root for them to survive—like, "I don’t care what happens, they have to live!" But in this drama, the only patient with an actual story was Han Yurim’s child. The rest? We barely know anything about them. Even in Lee Hyeon Jong’s case, we only got surface-level info. Sure, we know he has to be saved, but emotionally, it just doesn’t hit as hard because we don’t really get to know the patients.

But of course, there are things worth appreciating. One of them is the casting. I haven’t read the webtoon, but I feel like they nailed the casting choices. At first, I doubted Choo Young Woo’s acting, but turns out, he was actually the best one! His improvement compared to Once Upon a Small Town is insane.

The surgery and rescue scenes were also well done. The cinematography was great, and the fake organs looked convincing (because trust me, I’ve seen medical dramas where the organs looked super fake). The trauma cases they picked were solid, and the drama really emphasizes the importance of the golden time, which I think is one of its defining traits.

Other than that, this drama, like Doctor Stranger, where the main character has a near 100% success rate, sometimes gives off a fantasy vibe. Even when they miss the golden time, the patient still survives—just ends up in a coma instead. There hasn’t been a case where the main character fails to save a patient. Maybe that’ll happen in the next season… because at the end of the day, doctors are human, not superheroes. Even if it sucks, failure is something every doctor has to face at some point.

But overall, this drama is good! I’d recommend it to people who want to watch a medical K-drama that isn’t too complicated or filled with heavy politics like Yong Pal lol.
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