Littletad

Let's be real, most of us are going to watch this cause of the FL. Alchemy of Souls is one of the best fantasy K dramas out there, and we all fell for Go Youn. Or at least most of us did. True fans know that she's been great for years now. But I have no idea why she chose this project. Let me just start out by saying that I despise medical dramas. They are all the same, mostly. But I've come to realize that the reason people watched Grey's and House wasn't because of how realistic the portrayal of hospitals were, but because of how well the writing was constructed to create characters that audiences connected with. Here, there's just no such thing. Youn plays an incredibly dull and uninterested character that seems void of life. How in the hell did she become a doctor? Let alone finish medical school? It truly does seem like the writers decided to play a game and consider just how boring and apathetic of a character they could create for kicks. The secondary characters are no better. Every single one of them is dumb, or written to be. They make mistakes constantly. Like a show that has a villain of the week, this one is a "scolding of the week." None of this portrays reality correctly, nor is it fun to continuously see stupidly written characters get wrecked over common mistakes. There's even a character who sabotages her colleagues' data by deleting it out of jealousy. No real-world doctor would do this as a first YEAR RESIDENT!! In the 4th episode, when Youn cut her co-worker's hand during surgery, I wanted to throw my laptop across the room. I wish I had stopped there. I really did. And yes, there's a love story, here and there. But honestly, not even Youn could save it. There's literally no chemistry between her and the male lead. None. We don't even witness a buildup as to WHY she likes him. Just out of the blue, she seems to show vague interest, culminating with her holding his hand in a co-worker's photoshoot to confirm her feelings that he obliviously wasn't aware of. Fun fact, that's how most of the audience probably felt, too. At least I did.

For what it's worth, the medical jargon and the portrayal of Ob-Gyn doctors were done incredibly well. Everything seemed brutally realistic and raw. In fact, I'd dare say the best part of the show was the patients themselves and the times they spent in the surgery room. They seemed natural, real, and authentic in their suffering or experiences. Anyhoo, I'm keeping this one of my shortest reviews. If you like the FL, I encourage you to finish watching it, though you may need to skim through it. Otherwise, I'd strongly avoid.