This drama is lacking in many ways, but despite its flaws it has good features that makes it a worthwhile watch. I started watching this drama for Lee Jong Suk and was initially dreading the disappointment to come, however episode by episode somehow i got pulled into the story and find that strangely i enjoyed this drama. Despite the fact this drama is a mesh mash of many different genres and themes, the central story is melodramatic and focusing on romance. There is a chaotic balance in the story as it shifts from melodrama, to politics, to medical and then some more melodrama. If you are someone who enjoys all three genres I would recommend you to watch this drama, however have patience as there are some fairly exasperating points in the story that will make you want to stop watching..
The biggest problem with Doctor Stranger is its characters. In particular Song Jae Hee who is one of the two female protagonist, and Han Jae Joon one of the two male protagonist. The script writer really did their best to mess up these characters, they could have been so much better if not for the terrible script and character development. I came to hate the character Song Jae Hee because she's so unworthy of Park Hoon's love and because she is such a two dimensional character without a hint of intelligence in that brain despite being a spy and top notch doctor. Her role is so cliché that throughout the entire series i was sitting on the edge of my seat hoping she does something I don't expect but it never happens.
Han Jae Joon is a character that might have turned out much better if the drama gave us a chance to know him. Instead after 20 episodes all we know about this guy is he is a good doctor who graduated from harvard and he plotted 20 years to get revenge for his dad. The script writer basically abandoned this character after giving it a goal to achieve in the drama without even attempting to make him seem realistic and three dimensional as a person.
Thankfully the script writer only messed up two out of four main characters. Park Hoon is a very complete human being who is not a robot with no personality, and therefore it is very easy for the viewers to sympathize with him and his decisions. Even tho some of his calls were rather dumb such as choosing to fight bad guys when he is a lanky piece of stick who probably can't even punch properly (sorry Lee Jong Suk). Oh Soo Hyun (Kang So Ra) deserves some notice as well, out of the two females she is the more likeable one being the sensible female who falls for the wrong guy while also having the rather unfortunate fate of being daughter to the chairman and therefore middle of all the melodrama.
Acting wise even though some of the other reviews criticized actress Jin Se Yeon (Song Jae Hee) for her acting I feel she simply did the best she could with the script given to her. It was simply put bad script that destroyed the characters not bad acting in my honest opinion. Also I have a huge question mark toward Lee Jong Suk's wardrobe in this drama as he continuously wore extremely strange clothing that is unbefitting of a doctor. Through majority of the the time Lee Jong Suk was working in the hospital he wore an extremely loose T-shirt under his doctor coat that never failed to show off his colarbones and his skinniness. Was this awful dress code designed on purpose by the drama team in order to emphasis on something? I can't for the life of me figure out what is the reason for his terrible sense of fashion in this drama. Honestly cloths makes a person and Lee Jong Suk was simply a complete failure at passing off as a doctor in this show, more than half the time while watching I was just praying for him to get a wardrobe change because I couldn't stand the cloth.
Music in Doctor Stranger is pretty mediocre. The quality of the music is ok, nothing that really stands out but at the same time nothing that is glaringly bad and makes me hate it for existing. However one thing worth noticing is nearly every single song is a love song, but in a medical drama does this make sense? Sometimes when the song is playing in the background it completely doesn't fit the scene (i.e the lyric is talking about breaking up, but the scene is of a patient lying in the hospital bed post surgery?). I wish this drama could have focused on some classical music and used it during surgery or post surgery moments, it definitely would have added more depth to the drama.
Overall Doctor Stranger is a pretty decent medical drama, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as the saying goes and Doctor Stranger definitely won't awe you with its amazing thought provoking plot and medical knowledge/jargon. The time allotted to most kdrama is too short for intricate plots focusing on politics and mysteries so as long as you watch this drama with the intent to enjoy it flaws and all you will have a good time.
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