I was thinking of writing about Doctors or Doctor Crush before I have seen Memories of the Alhambra. Then I got trapped following the cliffhangers of MOA (Memories of the Alhambra) and just like everything else about writing and social media, every aspect gets delayed.
There’s not a lot to comment about Doctors, it’s very feel-good show while Memories of the Alhambra is way darker, fantasy “oh crap” kind of thing. But since I’ve already seen various repeats of Doctors even before MOA finished filming in Spain, I say let’s reminisce about the rags to riches character and story of Dr. Yoo Hye-jung.
Literally, Park Shin-hye kicks ass in this drama. She is so adept in her action scenes defending herself from the bullies of her youth and the bad guys in her professional life. Yoo Hye-jung emerges from the scars and trauma of her rebellious childhood and adolescence, a star. She is shaped, as we all are, by her upbringing. But rather than settling for mediocrity, she fought off adversity and harnessed her high IQ to become a neurosurgeon. She was far from a good student. She was removed from her previous high school before being taken-in by her paternal (I think so) grandmother and given unconditional support.
In her new school, she met Hong Ji Hong, (Kim Rae Won) her homeroom teacher, a medical doctor (the word “doctor” always sound cool, notwithstanding the hard work it entails) and new friends and classmates, Jin See Woo (Lee Sung Kyung) and Cheon Soon Hee (Moon J In). Jin See Woo played is the definition of the alpha student, the beauty and brains who does well in school and top all the exams as the daughter and
granddaughter of physicians. See Woo and Hye Jung initially are friends, it was See Woo who lent her notes and gave her pointers for the midterm exams, as Hye Jung professed that she has not done any studying in her school life. But just as it should be in feel-good dramas, Hye Jung topped the Maths exams instead of See Woo and the latter girl definitely didn’t take it lightly. As an antagonist, what she did next was a bit immature. Antagonists could never handle defeat in any drama. A fire, a stint in jail due to the fire and her grandmother dying on the operating table propelled the heroine to a career in medicine.
Thirteen years later, Hong Jihong (after stints in Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic) is a professor of neurosurgery and both Hye Jung and See Woo became Fellows in Neurosurgery. They all work in the same hospital. What are the odds? Then comes a series of medical and surgical subplots and individual inpatient cases and a second lead in Jung Yoon-do (Yun Kyun Sang) as another capable neurosurgeon and it becomes very enlightening and educational series. I simply enjoy watching people saving lives and making a difference in society. Although Hye Jung seeking justice for her grandmother’s untimely demise makes the plot convoluted. It's out of character for a doctor not to know her country’s statute of limitations.
I ship Park Shin-hye here with Yun Kyun Sang as I find it so awkward for a teacher to fall for a student especially within the confines of a high school. But Hong Ji Hong is the more acclaimed neurosurgeon and his love story with Hye Jung is an adorable garnish.
I know Park Shin-hye doesn’t like summer as much as she does winter but I like her style and fashion in this
drama. In her other summer-filmed drama, Heartstrings, she wore mostly nun-clothes. In Doctors, she not only comes into her own as a lead character but a stylish top star.
And I like watching medical dramas, I believe health is wealth. We all need the services of health professionals at some point in our lives, even health professionals themselves. I like all the studying they're doing in this drama, how the doctors and nurses are saving lives. People comes only to appreciate that when their own health is in peril, not during their healthier, happier days.
