I’ve been off medical drama in any language and form since watching wonderful Bong Dal-hee but I knew Uhm Jung-hwa would make a show worth watching. What I didn’t know was Kim Byung-chul (playing husband Seo In-ho) would make it doubly entertaining. I also didn’t know that Jung-hwa survived thyroid cancer. Wonderful to see her back at work and I hope she’s ok!
Of course, we have the juxtaposition of life and death, courage and fear, desperation and hope, and Dr Cha smilingly evokes an overriding sense of positivity, even through her tears. She is such an inspiring character – always looking forward, looking out for others and looking fantastic! Jung-hwa more than ably played her role.
Did I hate In-ho and his mum (played by Park Joon-geum) at the start. So reliant on Jeong-suk and yet, so horrid and unreasonable. I hated him for trying to control everyone’s lives, bossing his wife around and having that brainless affair with Seung-hee (played by Myung Se-bin). After all, it was he who made the first move on Jeong-suk during their med student trip and he chose to marry her. Eventually, though, he turned out to be hilarious, so much credit to Byung-chul for matching Jung-hwa’s ability to present a ‘mixed’ character. It was sad for him at the end to rise to the top and yet feel alone – the pathos certainly came through, while he gets some redemption. His mum also mellows and redeems herself a bit.
Roy Kim (played by Min Woo-hyuk) is a compelling character for most of the show but becomes an almost useless one in the last episode. He is devoted to Jeong-suk for over more than ten episodes, so it is ridiculous that he suddenly moves on to an unspecified girlfriend at the end. At the very least, maybe we should see him getting over being rejected first, and I wouldn’t have minded him ending up with Jeong-suk’s wonderful friend Mi-hee (Baek Joo-hee). His best moments were those with In-ho, both the funny and grating exchanges.
Special mentions, in order of level of engagement, for stunning So-ra (Jo A-ram), the Seo kids Jung-min (Song Ji-ho) and I-ran (Lee Seo-yeon), Jeong-suk’s mum (Kim Mi-kyung once again playing a non-annoying parent), the patients and their families, and the elderly folk at the village where the doctors volunteered.
Some of the fellow doctors were alright too, and Lim Hyeon-soo is in this!, though he doesn’t get a very interesting character, just a few more lines than some others. The two senior doctors fighting was silly and didn’t contribute much to the plot, which was also the case for the scammer side story. Seung-hee’s wealthy background and family were immensely dull as well.
My last mention will be for In-ho and Seung-hee’s daughter, Eun-seo. This girl is completely lost, with an awful character and practically no sense of values or virtues. I could not feel sorry for her nor Seung-hee. Sympathies to So A-rin for having to play a dreadfully unlikeable person.
The main story of Jeung-suk’s gutsy, sparkly victory over the mega thorns in her life upstages all these, though, as do all the funny scenes!
Dr Cha
JTBC, 16 episodes
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