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vylmen

Berlin, Germany

vylmen

Berlin, Germany
Heart Surgeons korean drama review
Completed
Heart Surgeons
1 people found this review helpful
by vylmen
Aug 17, 2020
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

Moral dilemma's in a medical background

There is plenty of medical jargon and surgeries for those that love them, but they are the background music in this story about corruption and moral dilemma's. The central question is the purity of health care: is the medical practice as it should exist for the patient's benefit still attainable in this day and age or do we allow ulterior motives like sustainability of medical care, fear of malpractice suits and skill improvement weigh in on a decision to treat a patient.

The main male lead (Uhm Ki Joon) is the one that takes ulterior motives very far, but from a perspective that everyone of us can understand. It makes you scream "no, stay on the straight and narrow" at every wrong turn he makes and your heart aches for him.

On the other end of the spectrum is Go Soo, who truly puts the patient front and centre and will try his best to rescue each and every one of them, using whatever means necessary and he'll fight people that abuse their power at the expense of the patient. It gets him in trouble with everyone and their mother and you can't help but root for him. You want him to be just a little bit more political, but then again, you have the example of where that leads right there with Uhm Ki Joon's character.

The female lead portrayed by Seo Ji Hye is closely related to Uhm Ki Joon's life changing experience and tries to navigate being a good doctor, being an aristocrat and being a survivor at the cost of someone else. Her acting is sub-par in the series, compared to the other strong performances, even though the story gives her a lot of depth. Her struggle was often met with a blank stare and a reading of lines without the right emotions.

Whereas Uhm Ki Joon has an honourable motive, Jeong Bo Seok is the absolute villain. They guy you want to fail, complete with fake smiles, people sucking up to him and a lot of repressed anger for being the lesser of two brothers. Excellently portrayed, because I'm reluctant to see more dramas with him in it - I ended up hating him to the core.

But the best of the series is probably the team spirit. The relations between the supporting cast and the leads and how people try to support each other. The comic relief provided by father and son Goo in the series is also very welcome.

What I think the story missed out on, was the final editing of the TV show they did a lot of interviews for. I was so curious if the chief made the final cut or not and if so for how many seconds. I truly expected a viewing of the episode in a room with all that participants and their reactions to how they were portrayed. It's cheese they robbed me of, so that's the minus points on the writing.

All in all, the series is underrated and probably for people allergic to medical drama's, it's a tough sell as there definitely is enough medical stuff to trigger hives. But if you can get past that, it's a drama that tugs at your heart and makes you think about what's right and what's doable.
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