This review may contain spoilers
Popcorn but only the best kind
TLDR: Very fun popcorn for your brain with tons of fun moments and high rewatch value.
Overall: Overall a breath of fresh air from the typical romance centric Kdramas. The cast has great chemistry with the lead stealing the show in almost every scene he is in. Coming from a medical background I will say it's best not to think too hard about what is actually going on as you won't find realism anywhere in the same zipcode as this hospital. But thankfully the show doesn't take itself too seriously and leans more into the comedy and goofiness.
Story: Pretty average when it comes to medical dramas. Nothing super ground breaking and not horrible. The pacing was great with nonstop action which both mirrors the hospital and made it infinitely more fun to watch. I don't think this is the main focus of the show and is more a way for us to see the characters shine which it definitely succeeds in. Just don't go into this show looking to brush up on your medical knowledge and this part of the show won't get to you too much.
Characters: This is by far the best part of the show which is a recipe for success. The lead is charisma and competence made human and he is very convincing as a no-nonsense attending who's seen things overseas. I do think the backstory to his character is fine but probably the weakest part of his character. I don't think the show needed to give us an explanation or explore what he did in the past and I honestly think it would've been more interesting to drop little hints without giving the full picture. After all, once this show starts leaning into the more serious side of things it quickly loses its entertainment value imo and dark/gritty backstories fall squarely into that serious camp.
His team is also super fun and I think they are the perfect example of I don't need to know how they got there, just that they got there. From the intro in ep1 to the final scene we don't learn much about them and I think that suits this show perfectly. Anus is super fun as the comic relief that slowly finds his role. I love his arc and how slow the show took it. He always feels out of his depth (which is probably the only accurate depiction of real medicine) and he plays a good balance between hilariously incompetent while trying to do the best he can. Gangster is great as the 'veteran' nurse who knows more about the hospital than most physicians. She plays off Anus well as the yin to his yang and I highly appreciate the shows decision to not hint at any romance between the two because thank god. The anesthesiologist was the rock of the group and completed the group dynamic super well. Not a whole lot to say on their individual characters because frankly speaking they're infinitely better when they're all together and the show knows this.
The villains of the show were suitably evil for the tone of the show. I think the GI attending (forgot his name) had a cool arc and I enjoyed watching the way he tried navigating his way around the proverbial unstoppable force and immovable object that was his boss and the lead. The rest were fine, they weren't given a whole lot of impactful screen time and were more obstacles with faces for the main team to overcome. I thought the reveal at the end that the director had been different in the past was interesting (seeing some jaded attendings it does make you think that at some point they were starry eyed med students at one point) and if they ever get a season 2 I'd be curious to see more of his character and which path he goes down.
The acting is fantastic all around. Can't give enough props to the entire lead cast.
Music: Was fine. Didn't standout and I didn't rewind any scene because of the song so makes it average in my book.
Rewatch value: Super high. I think the lack of any kind of romance subplot with the quick pacing make it very easy to rewatch and have a great time.
Overall: Overall a breath of fresh air from the typical romance centric Kdramas. The cast has great chemistry with the lead stealing the show in almost every scene he is in. Coming from a medical background I will say it's best not to think too hard about what is actually going on as you won't find realism anywhere in the same zipcode as this hospital. But thankfully the show doesn't take itself too seriously and leans more into the comedy and goofiness.
Story: Pretty average when it comes to medical dramas. Nothing super ground breaking and not horrible. The pacing was great with nonstop action which both mirrors the hospital and made it infinitely more fun to watch. I don't think this is the main focus of the show and is more a way for us to see the characters shine which it definitely succeeds in. Just don't go into this show looking to brush up on your medical knowledge and this part of the show won't get to you too much.
Characters: This is by far the best part of the show which is a recipe for success. The lead is charisma and competence made human and he is very convincing as a no-nonsense attending who's seen things overseas. I do think the backstory to his character is fine but probably the weakest part of his character. I don't think the show needed to give us an explanation or explore what he did in the past and I honestly think it would've been more interesting to drop little hints without giving the full picture. After all, once this show starts leaning into the more serious side of things it quickly loses its entertainment value imo and dark/gritty backstories fall squarely into that serious camp.
His team is also super fun and I think they are the perfect example of I don't need to know how they got there, just that they got there. From the intro in ep1 to the final scene we don't learn much about them and I think that suits this show perfectly. Anus is super fun as the comic relief that slowly finds his role. I love his arc and how slow the show took it. He always feels out of his depth (which is probably the only accurate depiction of real medicine) and he plays a good balance between hilariously incompetent while trying to do the best he can. Gangster is great as the 'veteran' nurse who knows more about the hospital than most physicians. She plays off Anus well as the yin to his yang and I highly appreciate the shows decision to not hint at any romance between the two because thank god. The anesthesiologist was the rock of the group and completed the group dynamic super well. Not a whole lot to say on their individual characters because frankly speaking they're infinitely better when they're all together and the show knows this.
The villains of the show were suitably evil for the tone of the show. I think the GI attending (forgot his name) had a cool arc and I enjoyed watching the way he tried navigating his way around the proverbial unstoppable force and immovable object that was his boss and the lead. The rest were fine, they weren't given a whole lot of impactful screen time and were more obstacles with faces for the main team to overcome. I thought the reveal at the end that the director had been different in the past was interesting (seeing some jaded attendings it does make you think that at some point they were starry eyed med students at one point) and if they ever get a season 2 I'd be curious to see more of his character and which path he goes down.
The acting is fantastic all around. Can't give enough props to the entire lead cast.
Music: Was fine. Didn't standout and I didn't rewind any scene because of the song so makes it average in my book.
Rewatch value: Super high. I think the lack of any kind of romance subplot with the quick pacing make it very easy to rewatch and have a great time.
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