Asa child, a man and his father are kidnapped and brought to North Korea. The man grows up to become a genius surgeon. When he is finally able to return to South Korea, he begins working at a hospital. He's desperate to save the woman he left behind in North Korea.
The best part? The president agrees. Even when Hoon and Jae-hee protest, the president is all, What could possibly go wrong? Yes, what COULD possibly go wrong in handing these two people over to a murderous psychopath?
He goes into this diatribe about how all these coincidences must add up to Fate, since he had meant for Hoon and his father to die long ago and for Jae-hee to die too, since he was the one who had the embassy doors closed to them back in Budapest.
Even though the president gets to watch the live feed from the operating theatre as the complicated surgery begins, the rest of the hospital remains unaware that any surgery is even taking place. Of course.
After checking in on Chang-yi and Chi-gyu as a couple, we find Soo-hyun running a tight ship in the operating theatre. Later, she remembers Hoon because she performed the same operation as he once did.
Anyway, the gift is his way of telling Jae-joon that doctoring suits him much better than lawyering. Soo-hyun ignores it as she asks about Jae-hee, only to be told by Jae-joon (who magically knows all things) that Jae-hee applied for asylum in China.
Soo-hyun and Jae-joon walk to a hilltop where they see Hoon waiting on a dirt road far below. Hoon stares down the road expectantly, as Jae-joon explains to Soo-hyun that he used his connections to help Jae-hee gain status as a political refugee in China and that it all went through only months ago.
I stopped watching around episode 4 because I didn't have time; and I'm so glad I did!! Really disappointed that a LJS drama turned out this way. I loved him and Lee Bo Young in I Hear Your Voice. I was expecting something similar here. Major disappointment!!
PS. Uri Lee Jong Suk surely deserves special recognition for utmost professionalism to the very end of this travesty. Although I kept holding out in good humor for 18 and a half episodes - come narrative hell or high water, episode 19 finally alienated me 20 minutes in. I can assure you that it takes a special kind of narrative and dramatic negligence to squander all that audience goodwill.
I feel worse for the cast and crew, they lost a few months of their time for a project that did them no favours and likely tarnished their credibility is some people's eyes. I hope to see them again in better dramas.
I agree that it wasn't the best show but no one forced you to waste your time on this. People invest time and then see it was time badly spent and complain but there is actually a very simple formula, watch the 1st and 2nd episodes. If that isn't going to convince you then it isn't worth your time to continue.
Also a decent story builds from the foundation up which obviously is established in the 1st few episodes. Don't fall into the trap of "Oh....maybe this will pick up" cause that is b.s., a good story starts with a good foundation just like a house. If there is no heavy interference from outside influences then the writer does a great job of staying on top of things until the end. Not always but most of the time. In other words a drama that had great storytelling in the beginning can derail towards the end but a drama that starts badly NEVER gets better.
I think some viewers fall into this because once they are committed to see a show they think they have to stick to it until the end so they begin to develop a tolerance for crappy writing and crappy actors. They begin to see plots and justifications were there aren't any. They try to add depth to a story that is just one dimensional at best....sorry for this long-ass post...no one needs to read this lol
I read your post and I totally agree but there are some people (like my sister) who feels compelled to watch a drama to the end no matter how bad it gets and it's not that she's deluded herself that it's still good, it's more like a compulsion than anything else.
1. If the show has a cast I do not care for/know, it has to hook me in within 2 or 3 episodes or I walk. (Ex. Witch's Romance - it was good from the start so I stayed or Doctor Stranger - I walked away after episode 2)
2. If it has someone I like, I'd give it about 5 episodes. (Ex. Trot Lovers - I like Eun Ji so I stuck it out coz it's getting better or Mirae's Choice - I like Yoon Eun Hye but had to walk coz it got worse)
That is a good comment. I think I should try this. I also usually have that compulsion to finish a bad drama or movie just because once I started, I just have to. But you're right, its a delusion to think that a drama that starts bad will end up good.
Recently this few years, I have control my compulsion in watching bad drama or movie. Because I have many experiences of doing this and it really frustrates me and making me depress for the time, energy and emotion I invested. Sometimes it can last for a few days. LOL.
The problem with this, is that I actually really liked the show ... but then I learned how it ended, and that isn't how I wanted it to end. The love triangle didn't go the way I wanted it to, let's just say that. So I'm actually going to abandon the show now when I still have 8 episodes unwatched.
It wasn't the worst drama I've seen and I didn't mind the jae hee and hoon ship. It is a DRAMA. AND anything can happen. SO I don't believe this drama is as disappointing as people make to believe it as. It just wasn't good but wasn't horrible!
I agree with you.. Only drama beans users who gave the most negative comments, while all people from another website giving positive comments about doctor stranger or jin se yun.. people here who gave negative comments are like people from HELL!
It's honestly because the recapper at dramabeans states her opinion and this influences on everyone else that reads her recaps. If one person says a certain teacher is really good, everyone believes that person, and starts seeing how "good" that teacher is.
Doctor Stranger in China was flooded with positive reviews on Youku (chinese youtube). Negative reviews came from dramabeans because the recapper spilled her negative beans onto everyone else and influenced them. Yes, people probably didn't like the drama a little, but knowing that other people *also had the same feelings* would've definitely amplified their dislike for Doctor Stranger.
I have to say that I am a little happy I never invested in this drama. I wanted to, but never had the time. I kept up with the recaps though, which made me happy I never had time. @James94131 sorry you lost 20 hours, but I am sure there is a great drama out there waiting to make it up to you.
And that drama is definitely not Hotel King which I am now watching just for the Lee Da Hae scenes to try and answer why the heck she felt the need to do plastic surgery on her already pretty face? Don't worry. I loved A New Leaf and am really enjoying Wonderful Days and Glorious Day.
Me again. Sorry but I don't seem to be 'inline' with Dramabean fans. Hotel King was highly recommended by two friends and even though it was longer than I prefer to watch, I liked it. Before I started Hotel King I read other blogs that seemed happy with it.
No malice intended...Just my view
Lol. I hear you ladies. Never saw such illogical, stupid, slow, boring Frankenstein writing in a long time. I can safely say they won't work with SBS again (why they were hired still puzzles me though: Their resume is anemic and certainly not impressive). The cast did what they could but then again, when your character hasn't any coherence, what are you supposed to do? I could hear them thinking: "1 scene at a time... Don't think about the past".
Glad this show is over. I hope that LJS will announce his next project soon. Even Doctors need some healing sometimes...
This is why I stopped watching after episode 6. The second worst Korean drama I've ever seen, Dr Jin being the first worst one obviously. I'm sorry you were forced to re cap for so long. Why is this even #1 in ratings for this time slot? It's so bad.... Oh Kdramaland. I wish to understand you....
It was first cause the rivals were weak and because of its cast. Then viewers stayed for the train wreck quality and to know the outcome (suspense level? Subzero). The channel got VERY lucky here: I hope they'll compensate everyone with good dramas & good parts.
OMG, slightly ot, but boy did I despise that 'I'm Pregnant with Your Baby' movie. It actually sounded like it would be an interesting drama, but it was horrible. I really, really, really despised the female character. Nonsensical, no sense rubbish. Overly long for no reason. Just terrible. Only female character I have despised even more, is the one of the new Pearl Princess, from the remake of HZGG.
This is not to say all Chinese Dramas are bad. I actually watch a lot of them, especially the Palace Dramas, which is what I think they do a better job on. They have been doing more and more "upscale" modern dramas. But, they just need to improve on the story/plot a bit more and not let them get too draggy.
Its finale garnered only 12% despite a young, popular starcast and weak competition; this is below expectations. This drama was a critical failure and had sub-par commercial success. (Although, it was very popular with the Chinese streaming audience.)
I want to applaud both of you for not giving up while recapping this show. You finally manage to to finished it. Great job guys. I was waiting for the final recap to decide whether i should continue to watch the show after gave up on early eps. But I guess i get my answer thanks to you guys. Thank you for the sacrifices and save me and maybe others from the pain. You're both an Angel. BTW just curius how will you rate the show from 1-10?
I rated it 4/10. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I might even be too generous with the rating. Characters are inconsistent and the only consistent character was prolly so hyun. Overall. Might be the second worst drama I've seen. They only come first because there was no competition otherwise it would've been last.
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