I personally have no issues with the nutty women. They can do their worst and bring the leads closer for all I care. As long as it doesn't out stay its welcome. The show needs some kind of villainy to keep things going. I'd rather have external conflict rather than needless push and pull between the leads. That to me would be far more annoying.
Finally finished this and for me this was undoubtedly one of the more interesting K dramas of the year in terms of stretching the envelope. The Dark Knight allusions are unmistakable but the political parallels depicting the slide into tyranny and totalitarianism is stunning in its relevance. That was possibly my favourite part of the show. The other aspect of the drama that was also well done was the manipulation of perspective by the so-called well-meaning people around Ga-on which effectively clouded his judgment as well as kept him from completely going over to the "dark side". Once they were "removed" from his line of sight and the truth is finally revealed, the blinkers finally came off. It's the perniciousness of evil that everything it touches, turns to ash. Even Soo-hyun's good intentions are weaponized by the truly evil people. I thought Jin-young held his own against the veterans. That look of abject devastation on his face when he realised that he'd been had is quite unforgettable.
She really needs to be in a psychiatric facility. I don't know why Zhijun, a qualified psychiatrist thought it was a good idea to pander to her whims. That was his mistake.
I guess the good times were never going to last as long as the spectre of the obsessive sister was hovering around in close proximity. A cautionary tale all round.
There's something very annoying about this show like it gets on my nerves a bit, it's slightly overhyped (for…
I share your frustration with this drama and I agree that it doesn't really live up to the hype. If it weren't Kim Seon-ho and/or Shin Min-ah at the helm, I doubt I'd be watching it either. For me the writing is the biggest issue particularly the writing of the leads. They are half-hearted caricatures going around in circles misunderstanding and bickering because the plot needs them to. I thought with Episodes 4, the show had improved but it goes backwards not long afterwards. I don't really dislike the leads but I don't really like them either. For me it's the set-up of the push and pull. It's half-hearted and unconvincing. The friendzoning by Du-sik feels clumsy and riddled with mixed messages. Even Hye-jin's snobbery lacks conviction and is about driving the conflict so that there's something for them to bicker about and to provide partial rationale for Du-sik to hold back. His attempts to "fix" her or lecture her often feels disrespectful of her agency. Regardless of who you think is right or agree with most, the delivery of the message is just as important as the message itself. In some instances I would argue that the medium of the message is more important than the message.
I'm not saying that people don't have flaws or characters shouldn't have them but I just don't think the writing is nuanced enough to flesh out the characters without swinging between extremes. It's hard to believe that I'm watching adults communicating here.
The script, the characters are nothing special although there's a lot of pretty that's feast for the eyes.
i am impressed by the maturity and the reasonableness of the characters (aside from the sister who is in need of serious help). The beauty of the show is that even though it appears to deploy same o'l same o'l tropes, it seldom pushes its luck beyond what is necessary to move the story to the next stage or include a little bit of good natured humour.
It's almost criminal that this is rated 8 when lesser dramas are hovering above 8.5. This is one of the more original plots around as well. Unbelievable.
unpopular opinion, but i'm actually preferring this season to season one; not sure if this is because i'm watching…
I don't think it's quite as unpopular as you think. It could be that the people who don't like S2 as much are more vocal about their disappointment. There are aspects of S2 that are better -- the strong development of the lovelines, the long-term focus on specific patients, the way the show uses the Five to highlight the inner workings of the hospital in creative ways.
There's every reason to believe it's a happy ending especially when Qi Yan tells Yu'er a third of the way into the last episode that "they can finally be together" and that he had been thinking of this for some time. Obviously from what else he says that it's been his plan to hand off the throne to Prince Guang once he was sure that Prince Guang is a trustworthy fellow. Also he got the divine physician to continue dispensing that other drug despite knowing the risks. The more I watch the last episode, the more convinced I am that he's free at last to live the life he's always wanted to.
4 
Hope you can find it somewhere.
The other aspect of the drama that was also well done was the manipulation of perspective by the so-called well-meaning people around Ga-on which effectively clouded his judgment as well as kept him from completely going over to the "dark side". Once they were "removed" from his line of sight and the truth is finally revealed, the blinkers finally came off. It's the perniciousness of evil that everything it touches, turns to ash. Even Soo-hyun's good intentions are weaponized by the truly evil people.
I thought Jin-young held his own against the veterans. That look of abject devastation on his face when he realised that he'd been had is quite unforgettable.
For me the writing is the biggest issue particularly the writing of the leads. They are half-hearted caricatures going around in circles misunderstanding and bickering because the plot needs them to. I thought with Episodes 4, the show had improved but it goes backwards not long afterwards. I don't really dislike the leads but I don't really like them either. For me it's the set-up of the push and pull. It's half-hearted and unconvincing. The friendzoning by Du-sik feels clumsy and riddled with mixed messages. Even Hye-jin's snobbery lacks conviction and is about driving the conflict so that there's something for them to bicker about and to provide partial rationale for Du-sik to hold back. His attempts to "fix" her or lecture her often feels disrespectful of her agency. Regardless of who you think is right or agree with most, the delivery of the message is just as important as the message itself. In some instances I would argue that the medium of the message is more important than the message.
I'm not saying that people don't have flaws or characters shouldn't have them but I just don't think the writing is nuanced enough to flesh out the characters without swinging between extremes. It's hard to believe that I'm watching adults communicating here.
The script, the characters are nothing special although there's a lot of pretty that's feast for the eyes.
To Love was fantastic. This one is loads of fun. So far so good.
This is one of the more original plots around as well. Unbelievable.
There are aspects of S2 that are better -- the strong development of the lovelines, the long-term focus on specific patients, the way the show uses the Five to highlight the inner workings of the hospital in creative ways.
Also he got the divine physician to continue dispensing that other drug despite knowing the risks.
The more I watch the last episode, the more convinced I am that he's free at last to live the life he's always wanted to.