[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Doctors" Episode 11

In-joo (played by Yoo Da-in) is Ji-hong's old friend, who can typically be relied on to show up when he's in trouble to offer herself as a marriage partner, since that solves problems for some reason. In-joo has not generally been a very relevant character, which is why I haven't discussed her up until now, but she does serve a very important role this episode. In-joo consistently acts like a doctor first and a cool person second, which in contrast to the rest of the cast, is the important priority order.

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And there is indeed plenty of doctoring this episode, as the Hye-jeong/Ji-hong loveline takes a backseat. The official reason for this being that Hye-jeong is pulling back, although Ji-hong really does have the better excuse considering what's going on with his father. All right, all right, adoptive father, although is the difference really all that important? Ji-hong loves the guy like he's his dad, and that much is quite sweet and heartwarming.

For Hye-jeong, the main highlight was the look we got of her room. Superhero plush dolls? Really? That's normally shorthand for nerdiness, and Hye-jeong does not even remotely strike me as being a nerdy woman. The Moomim was a nice touch, though, because the general trajectory of Moomin stories is somewhat similar to "Doctors"- emphasis on feelings and mild adventure, philosophy being a side effect rather than an intended outcome. Also there's a character who bites people because she likes it.

Speaking of which, how's Seo-woo doing? Getting told off as usual, I'm afraid. Seo-woo really is not a very good villain. Any time she gets a verbal whacking from a main character, the exchange always comes off as mutually antagonistic. Even if the things they're saying about Seo-woo are true, they always do so in such a mean way that they come off just as bad. The main exception to this is Yeong-gook (played by Baek Sung-hyun), because his advice is constructive and tends to incorporate objective facts rather than subjective opinions.

Yeong-gook is actually a legitimately good character who I'd like to see more of, since his relationship with Seo-woo is difficult to quantify and is subsequently mildly intriguing. Compare that to Yoon-do, who spends the whole episode sulking because Hye-jeong turned him down. I mean, sheesh, the guy really doesn't have anything better to do in his spare time? Study a textbook or something, guy, you are a doctor.

Review by William Schwartz

"Doctors" is directed by Oh Choong-hwan, written by Ha Myeong-hee and features Kim Rae-won, Park Shin-hye, Yoon Kyun-sang, Lee Sung-kyung, Kim Young-ae and Jung Hae-kyun.

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