Why Am I Here

Too Much Ingredients, Most of Them are Overcooked

This show is a right example of what would happen if you keep adding ingredients into the pot while cooking and forget that the stove is on: it's going to overcook. The first half of the show is just incredible! The plot, the characters, the set, even the shots of the foods and ingredients, as well as the cooking scenes. But then I don't know what hurt the writer's head mid-show, he begins to build a story on a pile of misunderstandings which is crap.

Starting with the Japan trip, this plot is extremely questionable. I can't get why Chef Mo feels responsible to make her past head chef eats well. And the way Beom-U follows her all the way to Japan, it ticks the Makjang box! How the hell does Beom-U able to find Chef Mo in such big city of Sapporo? Also remember: THEY ARE BROKE. But somehow they are able to afford two round-trip tickets, another round-trip ticket to pick a jug of doenjang, and fresh-premium ingredients for the head chef's diet. Also I don't get the problem between Chef Mo and her ex. She stepped up for her ex and resigned from her position, let's assume she did it because she was blinded by love. I don't think that's enough reason for her to resent him. What's actually going on never shown on screen. Maybe the only purpose of the Japan trip is a kiss in the middle of Sapporo street.

All of those irrelevant premises then mixed by a series of countless stupid misunderstandings which is frustrating. They also keep adding unecessary plots such as the arsonist and the temple trip. I mean with such short number of episodes, they should have to be more focus with Jungjae and Hansang! The final cooking showdown is no less ridiculous! How come the PD obeys Chairman Han all the way? He is just fine when the Chairman twisting the showdown result! The show then wrapped with some questionable endings, as expected. What happen to Motto then, when you especially say that "you need to think about my people who work at that restaurant"? At the end of the day, they forgot the soul of this show. The very last cooking in the final episode has neither cooking scenes nor eyepleasing shots of the foods.

The only positive side of this show is the comedy is totally unexpected. I never thought such exhilirating comedy will come out from a show like this. I can't unsee it now, I really want to laugh everytime I see Kang Ha Neul's face. Go Min Si does a great job playing a self-driven chef (only if the character personality stays the whole show, because it doesn't). ML and FL don't have childhood relationship, which deserves a round of applause for a K-Drama in 2025.

It will be difficult to cook too much ingredients in one pot. Some will be good, others may be undercook, the others may be overcook. This show has a premium raw ingredients, but only some of them are well cooked. Watch this show if you just want to enjoy a great comedy and can bear a meaningless story.

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When you have watched the previous season, you will always compare this to it. Overall, the story and the vibes are still the same. Nothing turns into a massive downfall or some kind like that. The story is (more) intense, and we get a (very) slow burning romance too. The new main doctors Cha Eun Jae (Lee Sung Kyung) and Seo Woo Jin (Ahn Hyo Seop) have a great character. They both deliver the character excellently, while Kim Sa Bu and the whole Doldam staffs are of couse nailed it again.

However, the story this season seems a bit overcooked. Compared to the previous one, this season has more focus to the hospital politics rather than the patients or the doctors themselves. In the effect of this, we barely get stories about Eun Jae and Woo Jin's personal back story. The villains don't seem to learn from their past mistakes, neither to repent nor to find a better idea to beat Dr. Kim. Instead, when he already has an upper hand, he chooses to play a impactless card. Like he is the president now and he can do whatever he wants, but he chooses the rough way only to lose it! The connection between the first and the second season is though not definitely disconnects, but is rather blur. Yun Seo Jung is mentioned several times, Kang Dong Ju once or twice, but Woo Yeon Hwa? She disappears and suddenly Doldam becomes "short-staffed" again. There isn't any privacy in this hospital because apparently it is very easy for you to eavesrops everyone.

When Nam Do Il contract's terminated by the management, I don't get it why he decides to keep it himself. Burdening Dr. Kim and this situation does not connect together in my opinion.

On top of those, this is still a Dr. Romantic. This is still a fight between consicence and greed. People who have watched (and enjoyed) the previous season should definitely watch this sequel!

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In short: this is not a drama special, it's the 21st episode of Dr. Romantic. You can't watch this episode without watching the original show.

Since the final episode of the pilot show has already have a good closure (with that highlighted quote), this episode will bring mixed receptions. This episode is surely a better closure for Teacher Kim, but not really for other casts. But this may connect between the 1st and 2nd season since the main casts are a bit different, I don't know since I haven't watch it.

But if you have watched the first season, you have to watch this episode because it is the part of the season.

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Short Refreshing Rom Com

What an astonishingly short and refreshing show! This show is an example that a rom-com does not always require cliche plots such as childhood relationship or triangle love. The story is lightweight and the plot is effortlessly "flow into the chaotic situation" by itself. The idea is fresh, about two person struggling with their own mental health issues, how they overcome and heal each other. The comedy is also super hilarious. Also there are a lot of messages behind this show, especially about mental health awareness, abuse and hate comments. I can't believe they put a lot in this super short show!

The chemistry between ML and FL is just incredible! Both Jung Woo and Oh Yeon Seo play their respective character perfecty, whom have their own struggles, and full of rage.

Still, I feel the story is going south after their first kiss. Min Gyeong frustratingly begins to make illogical decisions. I personally think the drug dealer story isn't really necessary. It doesn't really relate to the main story and just only plays a bit part on Hwi-O reinstation. Additionally, I think the last episode is kinda "forgivable" makjang. And what about Seon-Ho, does he get what he deserve or does he able to get away again? Oh come on, it could be a strong message there!

This show is still a gem. For someone who is seeking a lightweight romcom, this may be the answer, with such short and full of laughter drama.

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What an Underrated Show

When you ask someone about best show of 2024, why people rarely mention this one in the first? Truthfully before watching this show, I was expecting this to focus more on the fantasy and supernatural side. I don't know but maybe that makes me easier to enjoy this show. And by doing that, I feel all of things about the romance and scam aren't dragging. This is also the show where past relationship isn't the annoying part, and instead becomes the key of the story. Overall, the story is a well-written one. It tells about almost everyone struggles and how to overcome them. The romance isn't excessive and the somewhat thriller isn't dreadfully dragging. Character developments are really strong in this show. They learn about their flaws, and they learn how to accept it.

Jang Ki-Yong and Chun Woo-Hee play well as the ML and FL. But if you're asking the star of this show, it is Park So-Yi. She doesn't get the most screentime, and she's even a quiet type. Even though she rarely talks, but her actions and expressions speak a lot.

Although the story itself is already impressive, some things are worth to note. We all see that Bok Dong-Hui losts her weight from time to time. But prior the wedding, she suddenly losts her weight in extreme amount which is weird. Episode 11 is clearly a filler and it is there only just because they can't have an odd number of episodes . Also it is questionable that Man-Heum gets over with her husband's affair easily. I kinda like the soundtrack when they put it correctly, because for me they sometimes use it in the scenes that don't belong with the soundtrack's vibe.

To me, this is a must watch. I understand why people rarely talk about this, it is because the makjangs are too much for romance lover and the romance is too much for fantasy enjoyer. However to me, this show is well balanced.

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Short Hilarious Stories Packed Together

A show with quite short story each episode. Each of them are adapted from a sit-com quite alike webtoon. I haven't read the original webtoon. The idea of the story is overall good. It has a sitcom-ish comedy punchline for each episode. Each episode doesn't necessarily related one another. The setup is comical and far from realistic. This show is also supported by excellent actors who potray the Jo's family perfectly.

Unfortunately, I still feel the quality of the comedy still varies a lot throughout the episodes. Since this is an one-off story for each episodes, I feel they have picked 20 numbers of stories from the webtoon collections. Yet some of the picks are insanely funny and some others are less funny. I'm also a bit disappointed that they didn't explore the character of Ae-Bong more.

Overall, this is still a recommended guilty pleasure show. If you're looking for a little laugh, then you should see this show, because you can finish this quick. I'm also looking forward for the second season, since I know that the webtoon is still ongoing.

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Your Friend Doctors are Telling You Their Love Life

This sequel is not so different with the previous one, so my review won't be long as I have written all of them in the earlier season. This show is still like "your friend doctors telling you their day at the hospital", but now including their love life. You'll still get the same feeling about this show, calming and heartwarming. You'll still get the same feeling of standing in the middle of the ER, watching the patients being brought in, the doctors rushing around the corridors, the families crying while waiting for their relative's surgery.

However, I feel like this season has slower pace compared to the previous one. Not only slow on pace, but some episodes are also annoyingly long. While you may be looking for soothing vibe like the first season, you may find this season is a bit more dragging. At the end of the previous season, I thought only Song-Hwa and Ik-Jun relationship will be dragging, but then I found out that ChuChu love story is also dragging. On top of that, it annoys me a lot that Jun-Wan relationship broken because of such childish reason. Also, some of the romance related tropes are predictable. And somehow they kinda forget to put Gyeo-Ul in Episode 2.

For the cast, they're still doing an excellent job. With such number of doctors and nurses (and patients), they all are doing quite impressively. I enjoy the soundtrack more this season. And overall, this is still an excellent calming show to watch!

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Conscience or Greed?

"Don't give up asking questions about why we live and what we live for. The moment you give up on that, the romantic life ends."

I came here prior watching this title, and I got intimidated by almost everything: the title, the poster and the genre tags. I thought this is going to be a romance-melodramatic medical show. After watching the first quarter of the show, you will get more confusion, is this a thriller? As you progressing with the story, you then will see how good is the story actually. There are a lot of message behind this show, especially about conflict of a doctor's mind. What should we follow, conscience or greed? Responsibility or climb the ladder? We have three young doctors with their own idealism stuck in an deserted hospital where whatever they do will not result in a wide recognition. There, we can see a very heartwarming character development. We get Kang Dong-Ju who goes from the one who always taking side to the one who faints in the ER due to overworking. We get Yun Seo-Jung who goes from the one who always blames herself for every mistake to the one who stands up for her patients. To me who have no idea about medical, everything seems so realistic. Don't expect a character where the doctor is a superhero that saves everything, I even think they have a lot of died patients on screen in this show. They also highlight the stupid politics inside the hospital. And apart from the medical life, we also get touch of slow-burning romance as well as comedy. All of them in precise dosage that won't make it cringe.

However an excellent story doesn't mean it flawless. I am quite annoyed about how the Doldam Hospital management team responds to the pressure. While President Do from Geodae Hospital is very nosy even to other hospital's matters, President Yeo rarely takes any impactful actions when they are accused by President Do. Manager Jang has been seen taking President Do's side on multiple occassion, yet it takes so long for somone to either interferes or confronts him. The emergercy surgery during President Shin's surgery doesn't seem logic. Yeon-Hwa pages Dong-Ju and In-Beom who are occupied at that time, while actually there is an available GS, Doctor Song. Also, the conflict between Dong-Ju and In-Suk doesn't seem to have any clear resolution. This conflict is caused by a big mistake from Dong-Ju past, and it's disappointing that the writer failed to make a better resolution or show how Dong-Ju repents it.

Finally, I will definitely recommend this show, especially if you enjoy medical dramas. This show definitely has a different kind of "thriller". You don't have to be a doctor or in a medical related to get the message. And after all, it's also worth for rewatch.

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Great Start but Can't Hold On

As someone who like multiple cases in one show, I like this. The idea of helping people getting revenge is really good. Unfortunately as the story progressing, it annoys me more and more. As a group who is specializing in revenge, they work carelessly and keep making "rookie" mistakes. The turning lamp in the mirror is such an embarassment. Another silly mistake is when Jin-Eon crashed by a truck, they somehow allow Ju-Chan to run away easily. They somehow always feel invincible like nobody will watch them kidnapping or abducting someone, while on the other hand they can easily hack any surveillance cameras and see what the bad guys are doing. It seems contradicting when we have a very powerful and unstoppable character, which is the hero and is undestandable, but he keeps making stupid decisions.

The first half of the show is good, but it becomes dragging after they begin to work for themselves instead of the clients. The plot becomes predictable from there, and the makjangs become too much. They even forget about Dong-Hee's family, the one who request to get revenge on Sung-Mi after all!

Still this show is highly recommended! The whole cast play excellently, and the highlight is absolutely Lee Je-Hoon as Kim Do-Gi. The music is quite good, and it's really recommeded to rewatch for the eye-pleasing action scenes!

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Hilarious Start, But Then They Lost It

Truthfully, I feel this show has a really high potential. The idea is unique: how come a gangster, a youtuber and a prosecutor cross path together? Unfortunately, this brilliant idea just turned into your average rom-coms. Most of the shows are cheesy and swoon-worthy. The comedy is the highlight of this show, as they have stressed it from the very first scene. However, consistency is the issue in this show. The trope about the triangle love and Ji-Hwan father's gang are quite dragging. While you can smile and laugh all the way during the first half, you'll smile less and instead raise your brows during those phases. In short, 16 episodes is too long.

The casts do a pretty well done job here, especially the Thirsty Deer employees. They are really hilarious. Han Sun-Hwa plays the cheerfull Go Eun-Ha well. As for Uhm Tae-Goo, he plays Seo Ji-Hwan, someone who is clueless to love and romantic feeling. However I feel like he drags the cluelessness into other situation, including while he is facing his opposition or while he is on the company meeting. Hong-Gi says that Ji-Hwan is a person who has an exact same expression throughout all situations, but to me he always looks confused.

Character development is the thing that I hate the most in this show. Most of the characters don't have mature thought. As a group who has experience in a lot of bad things, I don't expect them to keep making questionable decisions. I don't really understand why Ji-Hwan needs to resent Eun-Ha (by saying she is just a tenant), as well as what Il-Yoong does to Mi-Ho (keeps saying it's a mistake repeatedly). This ML and FL couple is quite confusing. They seem dating after coming back from the trip, and even kissing after Eun-Ha confession to Hyeon-U. But when they are alone together in the house, why they suddenly become awkward? Also I don't understand the reason Hyeon-U keeps chasing Eun-Ha after seeing her together with Ji-Hwan, and also randomly stops chasing her for no valid reason. I think they created character Ko Yang-Hui for the comedy purpose, but I feel they failed to make use of it properly. It is also unfair that not all of the house members get their backstory.

The soundtrack is quite enjoyable. I'll recommend the show because it still has a good comedy and romance, also you will swoon a lot!

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DoctorMan is Coming to Save The World

Short review for short drama. The pace is as fast as their runs to the OR, yet they manage to keep the intense throughout all of the episodes. Lots of messages lay behind this show including the conflict between saving a life, administration bureaucracy and making money for the hospital. As the first responder, they want to highlight that a doctor should proritize their patients life above all. It also shows how a doctor should be determined to save their patients and not to give up before it's determined. All of the casts play excellently to build the tense around the hospital.

However rather being realistic, doctor Baek Kang-Hyeok has become a Doctor-Know-All. He always knows what is good, and what he does is always good. What a flawless man: a doctor who can pilot a helicopter, climb a cliff, shoot a gun and perform operations with some questionable out of the box methods. Also while all of the medical scenes seem realistic visually, the visual during any accident and crash scenes are just bad. If you compare them both side-to-side and looking to the budget that they claimed to spend for this show, it is a bit disappointing.

Still the show is enjoyable and entertaining. It is also worth to rewatch as it's quite short and easy to get to the main action.

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Good Show But Overhyped

Where is the hype? I know it's a good show but this is totally overhyped. The story on the first half is borderline between boring and calming. The story doesn't really have a strong line, and it spreads everywhere along with the episodes. People are saying that the relationship is healthy, but I can't find it when the ML and FL are stubborn and always opposing each other just for the sake of their own pride. This show has most of the standard Korean Romance show components: childhood relationship, kidnapper, triangle love, past trauma and The White Truck. The childhood relationship is really uneccesary as it doesn't bring any impact. However, it is weird that I enjoy more those tropes, while in other romance shows those are usually the most uneccessary parts.

One thing that saves this show a lot is the visual and scenery of Gongjin. It's really beautiful and brings peace to the show, even when the scene is not really peaceful. Another thing to be appreciated is the casts. Most of them play excellently, creating a very warm (and nosy) village community. Shin Min-A and Kim Seon-Ho also have an outstanding chemistry. They seem like a real enemy when they're enemies and lover when they're lovers. However this doesn't apply to the character of Pyeon Mi-Seon. At first, I thought she is as reluctant as Hye-Jin towards the villagers. However she looks closer to the villagers earlier than Hye-Jin. She also has a history of dating a lot of bad guys, but she looks nervous and stiff all the time. I feel Min-Jung fails to deliver Mi-Seon actual personality.

Additionally, I feel it's rude that June doesn't attend Gam-Ri's funeral. And what the hell are those ads in the last episode? It's too much!

The correct tag for this show should be "Healing Show". Also you will enjoy this show if you would like to have an eye-pleasing village sceneries. But if you want to watch it you have to be commited, because you may have a thought to drop it during the first half of the show.

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I'm Not Disappointed, but Feel Sorry for It

How many couples do you want? Yes! I think this is going to be long from me. I really pity this show since the story has a very high potential to be a huge hit. The story depicts entertainment industry: how a celebrity make a mess, how their management works their ass to clean it up, how it's stressful dealing with fans and haters, and how threatening a fans could be to their celebrity. The story at the beginning is really good; the vibe is lightweight and joyful, and the comedy punches on point. "Nation's Eunuchs" and "The Sliding Girl"; those are impressively hilarious! However the writer seems to overthink it and bottles it just halfway the show. To me, the change is too drastic that I barely even able to handle it. It's so ominous and intense which they lost the touch of comedy and we don't even able to grin. And to finish it, they give us two filler episodes. So in short, I feel that the show is too long that they have to make up something to fill in.

In the earlier episode of the show, they bring a lot of people whose are celebrities or someone who works in the entertainment industry. However the introduction is a bit too fast, and it's difficult to differ what they actually do and how much they will impact to this story. Although they have a lot of spare that they have to add fillers, some of the tropes during the intense period are left out hanging. It is unclear why Tae-Seong mother disowned him as her son during his childhood. Tae-Seong hater-housekeeper seems unecessary because nothing comes out after she left. Tae-Seong also suddenly forgets about the salty-food syndrome. The underage hater at Episode 15 also seems unecessary because nothing related to it. Nevertheless, this story gives a great illustration about how malicious can a hater becomes towards a celebrity. Hence to all fans out there, WHEN WILL YOU LEARN????? (I'm writing this review few days after the death of Kim Sae-Ron). This show has been 3 years old, so why this kind of sh** needs to happen again???

It's nice to have such character as Oh Han-Byeol. For a romcom, she has a quite mature character. She never holds back any of her secrets and worries from Tae-Seong. Thanks to Lee Sung-Kyung who plays this character well. I almost think that she carries this show alone. I personally think that some of the casts don't have their best performance here. Kim Young-Dae gives a very good expression everytime he's fighting or teasing Han-Byeol. However for other situation, his face expressions seem unnatural. I think he's trying to make a funny expression but it doesn't come up right. Kim Yoon-Hye plays Park Ho-Yeong who is clumsy, but I think she is still a bit too stiff and flustered for that character and we end up having her with the same facial expression for almost the whole show.

I watch this show on Netflix and their subtitle is a lackluster. During the earlier episode there are a lot of names and occupations shown on screen, which Netflix decided not to put in on the subtitle. They didn't even bother to translate any few words of any articles showed on screen.

Overall I would still recommend it if you are looking for some laughs, or a lighweight and easy-to-enjoy rom-coms. It also has a lot of message behind it, regarding anti hate speech, mental health awareness and dealing with hardships.

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Your Doctor Friend is Telling You His Story

I don't think I need to explain it extensively here. Hospital Playlist is an example of a well-written show. It is more like a very calming slice of life story at the hospital. The story is very simple and not dragging (not-dragging K-Dramas are quite rare nowadays). It is seems like watching a hospital documentary, but not boring. I mean, NO! It is more like listening to your doctor friend after you asking "Hi, how is it going today?". We won't be drifted by hoping that tropes should go here and there, because it is your friend telling you his/her story. It might have a good ending, it might have a bad ending, it might not have any ending yet, or it might don't have any ending because your friend just doesn't want to talk about it anymore!

This show has quite huge number of cast. And thanks to them, especially the main leads, for allowing this marvelous work to happen. The chemistry of them five is just marvelous. Most of the scenes are quite realistic, which makes me feel like I'm standing in a hospital and watching around. We can see families waiting in desperation for their relatives to pull through a surgery, the joy of parents carrying their newborn baby, doctors and nurses running in a rush to their patients and so on. Forget about all of the medical terminology that you may not understand, this show will bring you through a journey between happy and heartbreak tears.

At the end of the day, this show doesn't have any surprising or thrilling climax. You may not have any urge to watch the next episode quickly after finishing one. This show is very calm throughout all episodes, and it is better to take it slowly. Like when you are having a hectic day, going through an episode of this show may help to calm you down.

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