I'm sorry, this was last year's in thing, but I only just watched it last week.
Hottest thing last year: Descendants of the Sun.
Despite reading the synopsis, I thought it has something to do with Sun Yat Sen. As usual, had to give it a test drive before committing to watch. Pilot episode went well. I tried to pace myself because ahjumma had a lot of work going on, but by the fifth episode I was already a diehard junkie!! I was a little disappointed that there were actually only 16 full episodes, the other 3 on the list were actually song/scene compilations and TV interviews. Can't complain though, I really enjoyed the "behind the scenes" clips.
So... what's so good about it?
Like Faith, it was between a military captain and a kick-ass doctor. But that's of course not the main reason. It was a fairly realistic take on what problems can arise when people of vastly different backgrounds and job scopes meet and try to get together. The captain being called off to a danger zone every other week was of course far-fetched, but hey, it's K-TV. You need things to happen.
What got me was again the occupational pride and honour like in Faith. The army guys try their best to do their jobs well, and so do the medical team. Plot was solid, there was humour and witty conversation. Not much cliche. Again, really bad, bad guys. Kickass captain- this time it's a dae-wi, not dae-jang.
There was romance, bromance, and a 'cinta terhalang' too. The captain Yoo Si Jin and Sergeant Seo Dae Young are thick as thieves, and get into the most ridiculous fights, even with their own guys. Real giggle-worthy. At the end of the day, it wasn't just a sappy love story about two people, it was about a lot of people who cared and took care of each other.
Romance: YSJ and Dr Kang Mo Yeon meet and fell in love, but it took a while to commit since their dates always got interrupted. It finally blossomed when they were working side by side in Urk.
Bromance: YSJ and SDY are best buddies, and their team loves them too. initially I thought Si Jin looked like a schoolboy and not tough enough to be captain, but he's a damn good actor. Respect. Dae Young (Jin Goo) is more of the strong & silent type, which I find irresistible. He's married with kids in real life so cannot have too many hot scenes with co-star, nanti bini marah seh.
Painful love: SDY and Myong Ju are crazy in love with each other, but Myong Ju's commander daddy wants Si Jin as his son-in law. Jeez, these Korean parents always so busybody meh? MJ would do anything to have her guy, but Dae Young is an honorable, old-fashioned guy who would never take advantage of her without daddy's green light. Cue long sigh here.
Sisterhood: As you can imagine, the two girls ended up being friends despite being arch enemies due to a previous crush with the same sunbae.
Humour and jealousy: It gets REALLY funny when cool and sensible people get caught out by their partners and jealousy rears its ugly head.
Sidekick romance: The love-hate relationship between Dr Song and Nurse Ha is obviously just a sideshow, but a fun one. It's rather stupid though, how it dragged on for years and years without the doctor finding a way to take it to the next level.
Team spirit, fun and camaraderie: Med team and army dudes, of course. There was the long-suffering army boss, nurses, Chi Hoon and a whole bunch of people. Plus other UN peacekeepers and Dr Daniel + Yehwa. I loved the early morning marches of bare chested men, which the girls enjoyed every morning; riling up their respective love interests.
Of course you need the bad guys too. The slightly annoying ones were Chi Hoon's mom, the Chairman, manager Jin and the bad cops. The really bad guys was ex-Captain Argus and his henchmen,
The north Korean guy was kind of a "friend from far away". Meaning that they were on opposite sides, but they held a similar code of honour. Pretty cool.
There was quite a bit of English spoken during the series, since they were dealing with international relief workers etc. Thankfully the pronunciation wasn't too bad. Sometimes it really annoys you to hear them speak!
I loved the intensity of happenings during the earthquake rescue period, how the teams put their best in helping the victims. I loved it when the medical team stepped up once they had to do real rescue work,
The only part I felt weird was Chi Hoon's overacted mummy's boy/ conflicted Schweitzer wannabe persona. Too emo lah. Some more when he was agonized over abandoning the survivor, I thought he must be gay or something. Despite him having a baby on the way...
At the end of the day, it was a heartwarming story about people - from immature idiots to loving fathers, the series had it all. And I enjoyed it very much.
Gamsahamida, Korea!! Saranghaeyo!
Hottest thing last year: Descendants of the Sun.
Conclusion: well worth watching.
 |
| Droolworthy. Our men really should do this too. |
So... what's so good about it?
Like Faith, it was between a military captain and a kick-ass doctor. But that's of course not the main reason. It was a fairly realistic take on what problems can arise when people of vastly different backgrounds and job scopes meet and try to get together. The captain being called off to a danger zone every other week was of course far-fetched, but hey, it's K-TV. You need things to happen.
What got me was again the occupational pride and honour like in Faith. The army guys try their best to do their jobs well, and so do the medical team. Plot was solid, there was humour and witty conversation. Not much cliche. Again, really bad, bad guys. Kickass captain- this time it's a dae-wi, not dae-jang.
Romance: YSJ and Dr Kang Mo Yeon meet and fell in love, but it took a while to commit since their dates always got interrupted. It finally blossomed when they were working side by side in Urk.
Bromance: YSJ and SDY are best buddies, and their team loves them too. initially I thought Si Jin looked like a schoolboy and not tough enough to be captain, but he's a damn good actor. Respect. Dae Young (Jin Goo) is more of the strong & silent type, which I find irresistible. He's married with kids in real life so cannot have too many hot scenes with co-star, nanti bini marah seh.
 |
| Myong Ju's overprotective dad. |
Sisterhood: As you can imagine, the two girls ended up being friends despite being arch enemies due to a previous crush with the same sunbae.
Humour and jealousy: It gets REALLY funny when cool and sensible people get caught out by their partners and jealousy rears its ugly head.
Team spirit, fun and camaraderie: Med team and army dudes, of course. There was the long-suffering army boss, nurses, Chi Hoon and a whole bunch of people. Plus other UN peacekeepers and Dr Daniel + Yehwa. I loved the early morning marches of bare chested men, which the girls enjoyed every morning; riling up their respective love interests.
 |
| Yummy :) |
The north Korean guy was kind of a "friend from far away". Meaning that they were on opposite sides, but they held a similar code of honour. Pretty cool.
There was quite a bit of English spoken during the series, since they were dealing with international relief workers etc. Thankfully the pronunciation wasn't too bad. Sometimes it really annoys you to hear them speak!
I loved the intensity of happenings during the earthquake rescue period, how the teams put their best in helping the victims. I loved it when the medical team stepped up once they had to do real rescue work,
The only part I felt weird was Chi Hoon's overacted mummy's boy/ conflicted Schweitzer wannabe persona. Too emo lah. Some more when he was agonized over abandoning the survivor, I thought he must be gay or something. Despite him having a baby on the way...
At the end of the day, it was a heartwarming story about people - from immature idiots to loving fathers, the series had it all. And I enjoyed it very much.
Gamsahamida, Korea!! Saranghaeyo!
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