The Korean drama blockbuster Descendants Of The Sun is an essential watch for all K-drama fans and can be enjoyed by both women & men, since, unlike many other K-dramas, it cannot possibly be confined lớn just a "chick flick" description; it has many delicious ingredients that will delight both sexes: romance for the gals, military skirmishes, lots of action shots, international politics, and criminal intrigues for the guys, và both sexes love humor in their shows. Descendants Of The Sun also features a significant portion of its story filmed on location in Greece (these were my favorite parts since I"m of Greek descent & have been there twice), adding a sense of exoticism rarely found in most other K-dramas today. I feel that traveling to lớn other locations lớn shoot part of a story always adds interest to a K-drama because Koreans tend to be an insular people, so when their television dramas are set in locations around the world that makes their people more curious to kiểm tra the stories out.
The four main cast members are long term acting pros và have been in hit shows before: tuy vậy Joong Ki who starred in hit K-dramas like Sungkyunkwan Scandal & Will It Snow At Christmas? and the worldwide hit film A Werewolf Boy, song Hye Kyo, lớn my mind the most beautiful actress in Korea for the last 16 years & counting (Autumn In My Heart, That Winter The Wind Blows, Full House, Worlds Within), Jin Goo (All In, Swallow The Sun, Spotlight, Falling For Innocence and the haunting film Epitaph), & Kim Ji Won (Heirs, One Sunny Day). They all had perfect chemistry together as a great team of players. And as it turns out, as I predicted by looking at their chemistry right from the beginning scenes, there was a developing personal relationship developing between the two main leads, & they eventually married in real life.
The extended cast members were all fun lớn watch too, và in fact I feel that many of the extended cast characters grew more as individuals during the course of the show than did the four main characters; the four main lead characters fell in love more deeply than they were in love at the beginning, but basically their inner cores as characters were mix from episode one to episode sixteen. They were already strong as people and became stronger. Whereas a secondary character like that played by actor Onew (below), a rather childlike doctor with a lot lớn learn, grew tremendously as a person through the trials & tribulations he went through during the earthquake scenes and afterwards. I really enjoyed that young man"s performance. He essentially played "shell shock" for several episodes and did a great job depicting the symptoms.
The Story:
The action begins in North Korea where Captain Yoo ham Jin (Song Joong Ki) & Sergeant Major Seo Dae Young (Jin Goo), who are a part of an elite South Korean Special Forces unit named Alpha Team serving the United Nations, are engaging in a secret military operation against North Korean soldiers. Ham Jin undergoes a hand khổng lồ hand combat fight with a North Korean soldier (actor Ji Seung Hyeon - a star is born, loved his deep voice & unique facial features) but essentially they agree to lớn stop the fight before anyone is killed, with tê mê Jin allowing the soldier lớn leave with his comrades in peace. (Interesting that communist đài loan trung quốc insisted this scene be cut before they would allow the show to be seen in their country!).
Back in Seoul, Captain ham mê Jin và Sergeant Major Dae Young are on leave after their exhausting mission, & enjoying their vacation together in the city. While playing an arcade shooting trò chơi (hosted by actor Lee Kwang Soo in a cameo) they catch a motorcycle thief named Kim Gi Beom (Kim Min Seok) và knock him khổng lồ the ground. He yells out in pain và an ambulance is called; while this is going on Gi Beom steals Dae Young"s cell phone and pockets it. Once the thief is in the hospital Dae Young realizes his phone is gone và who took it: off he & Si Jin go to that hospital khổng lồ try and retrieve his phone from the thief.
Bạn đang xem: Descendants of the sun
In the emergency room, si Jin meets Dr. Kang Mo Yeon (Song Hye Kyo) for the first time. He falls in love with her at first glance và she"s intrigued with him as well. Mo Yeon mistakenly assumes đắm say Jin is part of thief Gi Beom"s pickpocket gang of bullies. Ham mê Jin proves to lớn her that he is a soldier with the help of visiting Army doctor & First Lieutenant Yoon Myung Ju (Kim Ji Won). She knows both say mê Jin và Dae Young very well from the service; in fact she had dated both of them at different times và she"s obviously still smitten with Dae Young, who pretends he has no feelings for her when we can tell that"s just nonsense.
As for the bicycle thief Gi Beom, he is inspired by Dae Young"s kindness toward him to try và change his life around and he signs up for the military và becomes a soldier. He even starts working toward earning his high school diploma. We shall see him again, transformed.
Later, si mê Jin, unable to lớn forget Mo Yeon"s beauty, bluntly asks her for a date to lớn go see a movie together ... Và she says "yes!" At this point I thought to myself, "I guess this must be a new record for a main couple in a K-drama going on a date ... In the first episode!" However, their date is interrupted before it can begin when she gets all dressed up, arrives at the hospital to lớn meet him, & he phones and tells her he is on the rooftop of the hospital building! Up she goes, only to find him about to lớn get on a helicopter khổng lồ a secret mission, essentially leaving her in the lurch, wondering where he is going and if she"ll ever see him again.
While he"s gone (the mission is khổng lồ Afghanistan this time lớn rescue hostages)Mo Yeon has some serious thinking to do as to lớn whether or not she wants to lớn get involved with a soldier who kills people for a living, when she herself is a doctor who tries to lớn save people"s lives instead. When he returns and he has khổng lồ leave her yet again during the same movie she is really upset but tries lớn hide it.
Next they meet at a coffee cửa hàng and she honestly tells him her feelings: that since he"s so secretive about his work (he has khổng lồ be, it"s part of his job), và that they seem to be so different & have different outlooks on life, that she doesn"t feel comfortable in beginning the relationship with him. She leaves the cafe, leaving him sitting there looking sad, but at the same time he is understanding her reasoning completely.
At work in the hospital, Mo Yeon becomes upset when she fails khổng lồ become a professor due khổng lồ a selfish, petty female colleague (Park Ah In) getting in her way. She decides to appear before the cameras on a medical talk show & becomes famous giving advice on health. Then the hospital chairman Han Suk Won (Tae In Ho) makes advances on her and she rebuffs him. In order to lớn get even, the chairman "volunteers" Mo Yeon lớn work for Doctors Without Borders, as the head of a team of health professionals he had planned lớn send to lớn a war torn country named Urk (Greece). She doesn"t fight it because he "nominates" her during an official public meeting & it would look bad if she said "no". Several of her best friends at the hospital agree khổng lồ go with her, not fully understanding at first the real reason she was picked lớn go, that it"s more a punishment for refusing the Chairman"s blatant sexual advances.
Off Mo Yeon và colleagues go to Urk, including Dr. Song Sang Hyun (funny actor Lee Seung Joon from Nine: Nine Time Travels), resident doctor in training Lee chi Hoon (Onew), ER nurse Ha Jae Ae (Seo Jeong Yeon), và ER nurse Choi Min Ji (Park Hwan Hee), where they will be stationed at an Army camp off the beaten path away from any front line actions. This stay in Urk is about to lớn dramatically change their lives.
Of course who should be stationed at this camp but Captain yêu thích Jin và Sergeant Dae Young! Surprise! Surprise! Mo Yeon is quite shocked when đê mê Jin picks up her fallen scarf after his military helicopter lands at a runaway, & hands it to her. Later the medical staff settle in & get adjusted lớn their new surroundings. They soon realize the area is a complicated one: there are children who run around where land mines could be buried, there are refugees with little khổng lồ eat or drink, there are criminal gangs, political unrest, sex trafficking, diseases, you name it.
There is little time for recreation, but when there is a break in duties đắm say Jin is most likely to be found teasing Mo Yeon in some way, or trying khổng lồ volunteer for local missions where he has khổng lồ accompany her và drive her around. It"s obvious the chemistry between them is still very strong and Mo Yeon still tries khổng lồ be on her guard, although she doesn"t mind watching "the doves" in the morning with her female colleagues: their term for the soldiers at the camp who jog shirtless every morning.
Eventually the ice begins breaking between tê mê Jin and Mo Yeon, as she begins to understand him better and the work he has pledged to do: khổng lồ protect the weak from the bullies, even if that means to kill the bullies. In one altercation guns are pointed at her in case she operates on a Muslim politician to lớn save his life: they want her to lớn wait until their own male doctor shows up to operate, but she tells them in broken English that he will die immediately without intervention. đắm đuối Jin tells her to lớn go và operate on him khổng lồ save his life. Later the Muslims actually thank si mê Jin and Mo Yeon & praise them, giving them rewards that will figure in later during a daring rescue mission.
Army doctor / First Lieutenant Yoon Myung Ju arrives at the medical camp just as her loved soldier Dae Young is leaving for a break to lớn fly back lớn Korea for some Rand
R. He manages khổng lồ hug her to let her know he still cares about her. It turns out that physical demonstrativeness will have lớn hold her for a long time -- he"s not very verbal and when she calls him long distance he just holds up the phone to lớn his ear, saying nothing. But just the fact that he doesn"t hang up consoles her. It turns out that he is obeying his senior officer, who just so happens lớn be Myung Ju"s father, General Yoon (Kang Shin Il). He doesn"t want his soldier daughter lớn be involved with a member of Alpha Team; he wants a son in law who is not in the military & who wouldn"t die at any time. So this young couple have a lot of rocky moments ahead before they can possibly have a chance to be together.
During the course of the show Mo Yeon even relishes getting involved in a few battle skirmishes herself! By the end of the drama she has wrecked 3 cars ... & 1 wheelchair. LOL! After another mission is completed she inadvertently lets the entire camp hear her love confession to yêu thích Jin over the public radio (she thought she would die when she recorded the message earlier -- while hanging off a cliff!), & then she runs lượt thích heck lớn the radio station lớn pull the plug on it! But it"s too late. Ham Jin has heard it, as well as everyone else -- and it becomes his favorite thing lớn listen to, after recording it for his own cell phone. LOLOL!
Soon Captain tê mê Jin discovers that an American compatriot he had at one time rescued from death during a stealth operation, David Agus (American actor David Lee Mc
Innis), a rescue operation which had resulted in the death of ham mê Jin"s own dear Army buddy, has turned into an international gangster và crook, weapons" và diamond smuggler. He will kill anyone who gets in his way. đê mê Jin had told Mo Yeon about him in the past, calling him "Private Ryan", nicknamed from the American film about WW2. When he learns Agus had turned bad he is grieved but still stands up lớn him in several confrontations. Agus also doesn"t fail khổng lồ notice how beautiful Mo Yeon is and has his eyes on her from that moment on. (I just wish that another nationality could have been chosen for the main villain other than American. I really get tired at seeing how many times Americans are portrayed in Korean dramas and films as bad guys. I wish the K-drama producers would remember who their real enemy is: North Korea, not America).
An earthquake hits the portion of Urk where the medical & military camp is, và huge rescue efforts are under way khổng lồ save lives. Many civilians die, và a nearby solar power station built by the Koreans is destroyed, with many engineers và builders buried underground. The station is run by the arrogant Jin Young Soo (Jo Jae Yoon) who is a stooge for the evil Agus. He illegally gives stolen diamonds to lớn Agus for money, but recently has been trying to hide a big stash from Agus, wanting khổng lồ keep them for himself to sell. Right before the earthquake he had hidden them in a certain place in his office & when the earthquake hits the first building he wants to lớn be looked at during rescue operations is his office. A big argument results between the Alpha Team và Young Soo that human lives will come first, và Young Soo puts others at risk, including đam mê Jin, by grabbing a bulldozer and trying khổng lồ plow through his office khổng lồ get his secret diamonds first. The guy is so stupid that when he finally retrieves his diamonds, in order lớn hide them from Agus, he swallows them one by one, & later tries lớn escape Urk by dressing as an Arab! What a doofus! Of course the airport can see right through his disguise & fake papers. LOL!
Young doctor Lee đưa ra Hoon (Onew) panics when, during a rescue attempt, he runs out of a crushed building that is collapsing further, leaving his patient behind, a young worker at the plant named Lee Yi Kyung (Kang Min Jae from Nine: Nine Time Travels và Because It"s The First Time). The patient is eventually saved but poor bỏ ra Hoon is filled with guilt that he deserted his patient and he questions his whole dedication khổng lồ becoming a doctor. Hit by a kind of shell shock, he spends a lot of time alone, shaking, và being comforted by a homeless refugee boy who doesn"t speak his language. đưa ra Hoon nicknames him Bleki.
As he is undergoing all his stress, Mo Yeon is undergoing guilt for not being able to lớn save an older male victim, Manager Go (Nam Moon Chul), who had his legs crushed during the earthquake; he eventually understands that a younger man near him is suffering badly too, although he cannot see him; the younger victim has a metal spoke through the right side of his chest, is in excruciating pain lớn the point of delirium và is having trouble breathing. Because of the way both men were injured during the disaster it"s not possible to lớn save both of them; Manager Go understands this & tells Mo Yeon it"s okay if he dies, that he had lived a full life. He just has one request, and it"s for Mo Yeon to gọi his wife & tell her he said goodbye và I love you. Mo Yeon is devastated. Yêu thích Jin tells her she has khổng lồ save one or the other và that only she can make the decision as a doctor. She eventually chooses khổng lồ save the younger man, và the older one dies. She grieves that she couldn"t save him, và she grieves when she calls his wife. Boy, did I cry during those scenes. Heck, I"m even tearing up while I type this, remembering those poignant moments. Later, mê say Jin tries to lớn comfort her, but she feels that even the beauty of the stars is mocking her during this tragedy.
Once the fallout from the earthquake lessens, another problem is a spread of a rare khung of meningitis (thanks for nothing, Young Soo!) which almost causes the death of Army doctor Myung Ju: she is quarantined & an antidote provided by American doctors. Sergeant Dae Young becomes even more determined khổng lồ be with Myung Ju, even telling her father the General that he will give up his uniform & resign if he can marry her.
Then Agus kidnaps Mo Yeon & Si Jin asks permission to rescue her, but he is denied: he puts down his dog tags & goes on an independent mission to lớn save his beloved. She has become his "nation" now. Dae Young quickly figures out where he has gone and follows him with his own army team. Ham Jin calls in a favor khổng lồ the Muslim politician whose life Mo Yeon had saved earlier and he is granted a helicopter team to come rescue Mo Yeon along with himself and Dae Young"s supplemental team. Mo Yeon ends up having a bomb planted on her chest by the dastardly Agus, & Si Jin grabs her, covers her eyes with his hand, and shoots Agus several times until he"s dead. A soldier experienced in dismantling bombs saves Mo Yeon from being blown up. Everyone is rescued by the helicopter and brought back khổng lồ their base.
Eventually the medical team & later the military leaders are returned trang chủ to South Korea. They leave behind people they care about including Dr. Daniel, who seems khổng lồ love car repair more than being a doctor, his girlfriend nurse Ri Ye Hwa (Jeon Soo Jin), và Fatima (Zyon Barreto), a teen girl they had saved from being sold into prostitution by Agus, & various refugee children lượt thích the boy Bleki who just wanted a pet goat. There are more missions ahead for say đắm Jin và Dae Young, but their ladies are determined khổng lồ be with them, and tư vấn them regardless. Even still, there are troubles ahead that threaten the two soldiers" lives, and the peace of mind of the two ladies who love them. There are more arguments, misunderstandings, separations, and fears of death. We also have another surprise visit by our North Korean soldier whom we saw at the beginning of the drama. (Time for the communist Chinese to lớn get their scissors again!).
However, friendships had been cemented forever between all these dedicated people. Almost all the characters in this drama are very admirable; the show is also deeply romantic & rewarding to watch, with gorgeous cinematography. More surprises are in store for the audience, and the tension doesn"t really let up until near the very kết thúc of the last episode, with a very apropos epilogue, typical of this writer"s ironic style of humor. Descendants Of The Sun is truly a not khổng lồ be missed experience, not just a drama. Because of its worldwide exposure it will probably be the most watched Korean drama in history when you count up all the millions of hits the show has already seen internationally online. I am sure I will be watching it multiple times in the years to come - it"s in my đứng đầu Ten và will probably always be there. The music is also excellent, although I could have done with fewer vocal songs and more of a concentration on instrumental pieces; these pieces of music support the scenes instead of overwhelming them lượt thích vocal songs can easily do. My favorite vocal tuy vậy by far was Always, sung by Yoonmirae. Never get tired of it.
Yes, I know, I"m 4 years late. I"m aware that this drama was really popular and there"s even a Philippine adaptation that started airing in December 2019. However, I never really planned on watching it. I"m usually wary of shows that trend. But since Oppa is into tuy vậy Hye-kyo, he coerced me into watching this. :D
I also know how things ended sadly for SHK và her husband & partner in this show, song Joong-ki. I"ve read a lot about the Song-Song couple, their wedding, divorce, và the theme park that was patterned after this show. After watching them together, I feel a bit affected that they had khổng lồ part ways.
Anyway, Descendants of the Sun was very easy khổng lồ watch because each episode did not last longer than an hour. Even if we started watching late at night, we can still manage lớn finish two episodes. Last night, we finished the last three episodes. I"m not sure if it even took us a week to lớn finish everything.
Story
Descendants of the Sun (DOTS) is a story about a surgeon (SHK as Dr. Kang Mo-yeon) who fell in love with a Special Forces alpha team commander (SJK as Captain Yoo Si-jin). They first met in the hospital when Dr. Kang was treating a thief (Kim Min-seok as Private Kim Gi-bum) who stole the phone of Si-jin"s bestfriend (Jin Goo as Master Sgt. Seo Dae-young). Turns out that Dae-young"s girlfriend (Kim Ji-won as First Lt. Yoon Myung-ju) trained with Dr. Kang before & they were not on good terms because of a guy.
Dr. Kang turned down Si-jin several times. She had a huge moral dilemma because her job was lớn save lives while Si-jin killed people. However, they were really destined khổng lồ be together. Si-jin"s team was assigned to lớn a fictional country, Uruk. Dr. Kang, who turned down the hospital chairman"s advances, was punished by being forced to head the team of volunteers who were going on a medical mission in, ta-da, Uruk. So eight months after Dr. Kang turned down Si-jin, they were now staying in the same headquarters in a faraway land.
Dr. Kang still had her doubts. She was afraid of going into a relationship with Si-jin, who had a very dangerous job. But they went through so many things together in Uruk - a risky surgery of an Arab VIP, an earthquake, a virus, and an attack by an arms smuggler. All these things made Dr. Kang realize that they were not really that different. They both had the same goals, albeit with different means of achieving them. Dr. Kang healed lớn save lives, while Si-jin killed some to save more people.
When they were finally back in Korea together, things seemed to go smoothly for the two. But once again, Si-jin was assigned to a dangerous operation that would last for 3 months. He & his bestfriend Dae-young never came back. They were captured by the militia và were presumed dead.
Dr. Kang tried to lớn go on with her life with great difficulty. She volunteered in Albania in time for Si-jin"s first death anniversary. On that day, however, she got the biggest surprise of her life. Si-jin returned & caught up with her in Albania. They were finally together again.
I usually don"t care about the second lead characters. But this show appears to be an exception. I loved Dae-young & Myung-ju. Sometimes I even loved them more than Dr. Kang and Si-jin. At first glance, they seemed khổng lồ be an odd pair. Dae-young was a former gangster while Myung-ju was the daughter of a general, more specifically, the commander of the Special Forces or the trùm cuối of Dae-young. Myung-ju"s father did not like Dae-young. He wanted his daughter to lớn marry Si-jin. Khổng lồ get her dad off her back, Myung-ju asked Dae-young khổng lồ pretend that they were dating. Và we all know where these pretend stuff lead to.
As a soldier trained to follow orders, however, Dae-young had no choice but to ignore Myung-ju as ordered by his commander. Myung-ju persisted & kept on calling Dae-young. She even asked one of his subordinates to lớn report khổng lồ her regularly on his condition, whereabouts, etc. She followed Dae-young all the way to lớn Uruk, only to lớn be disappointed because her father ordered Dae-young khổng lồ go back to Korea.
Eventually, Myung-ju"s dad gave in. He was willing to accept Dae-young on the condition that he would leave the military và join their family company. Dae-young accepted the challenge và he even filed for discharge from the military. Myung-ju was angry that Dae-young agreed to do what her father wanted. So they broke up again for the nth time.
Dae-young still had khổng lồ join the dangerous 3-month operation of Si-jin"s team because they did not find his replacement yet. After agreeing to join the mission, Myung-ju"s dad tore Dae-young"s application for discharge lớn signify that he was willing lớn accept him already even if he remained khổng lồ be a soldier. The abduction happened, however, and Myung-ju was devastated that she was not on good terms with Dae-young before he left.
Fortunately, he was able lớn return after a year. He followed Myung-ju who was assigned in Uruk at that time. & the two were finally together again.
The final scene of DOTS was the wedding of Daniel and Ye-hwa, their friends from Uruk. The Uruk gang flew to Canada but the reception was interrupted by another disaster that the group had to lớn attend to.
Cast/Characters
This is probably one of the shows where I loved majority of the cast & characters.
SJK and SHK are so good looking. I didn"t feel their chemistry right away but because SJK is so handsome especially when he cracks jokes and SHK is so dễ thương especially when she"s angry, they grew on me eventually. I loved the chill yet very strong & dependable image that Si-jin projected. He knew how to lớn divert SHK"s anger, worries, etc. He"s naturally funny.
I"ve seen SHK"s cuteness in Full House & Worlds Within and she does not disappoint in this show. It"s nice khổng lồ see glimpses of that cuteness despite the supposedly much more serious role of Dr. Kang. I still find an angry SHK amusing. But I"m still not a big fan hâm mộ of dramatic SHK. Probably Son Ye-jin mix such a high standard for me but I"ve come khổng lồ appreciate the silent, restrained dramatic acting of SYJ & can"t help but compare it with SHK"s louder with a wailing tendency type of drama. Don"t get me wrong. She"s not bad. We can even say she"s good. But I just prefer SYJ"s style.
And because they looked so good together, I can"t help but feel a bit sad about their divorce. Now I"m really curious about the reason why they separated. I hope we"ll all find out eventually.
I liked how Dr. Kang"s character developed throughout the show. She used to lớn be a no gray area type of person. For her, you"re either good or bad. I"m glad that with her time with Si-jin, she realized that things aren"t always black or white. Sometimes there could be a middle ground. Sometimes you have lớn compromise, meet halfway, or even bend backwards. I liked how she learnt to look at the bigger picture và accept that sometimes there is a bigger purpose behind things. And that when you love someone, you have khổng lồ trust the other person, sometimes even blindly, because you really have no choice.
I felt her pain when she was being asked to lớn sign a confidentiality agreement after Si-jin was presumed dead. She said it was ironic that Si-jin died while saving people và the country yet he can"t even be publicly acknowledged for his heroic deeds. But Si-jin said it best - he does it because someone has to bởi vì it. Và because Dr. Kang loved him, she had to endure that no matter how difficult & painful it may be.
As I mentioned above, I loved the odd couple Dae-young and Myung-ju. While they appear khổng lồ come from different worlds, I liked their chemistry. I felt that their love was more passionate than Si-jin and Dr. Kang"s. Probably because they had a longer history & they had khổng lồ go through a lot of things together. Their love reverberated with every touch & kiss they shared. There were even times when I found Jin Goo hotter than SJK because of the delicate way he loved Myung-ju. But after going through their photos outside the show, my vote would still go with SJK. :D
I loved how Myung-ju stood up for Dae-young. And I also loved how Dae-young was willing to give up his uniform for Myung-ju. I"m just glad that they ended up together without having lớn give up any of the other things they were passionate about.
I also usually don"t care about the bromance angles. Most of the time, they actually put me off because they tend lớn be slapstick with homophobic undertones. But I absolutely adored the Si-jin - Dae-young bromance. Probably because their relationship and loyalty khổng lồ each other was the real khuyễn mãi giảm giá - they were willing lớn risk their lives for each other. I loved how Dae-young did not hesitate to lớn leave his still recuperating girlfriend"s bedside to help Si-jin rescue Dr. Kang. If all bromances were created this way, then I"d be more than glad to have them in every show. :)
Even the secondary bromance storyline was well done. Private Kim và Dae-young were both gangsters in the past. Dae-young had every right khổng lồ hate Private Kim after the latter stole his phone. But he chose to lớn be magnanimous. He probably saw himself in Private Kim. He took him under his wing và made sure he lived a good life moving forward. I can just imagine how Private Kim must have felt when Dae-young was presumed dead. Their reunion scene was just so touching.
Even the supporting cast were superb. I especially enjoyed the love story of Dr. Tuy nhiên and Nurse Ha (who was also in Something in the Rain). The tension between these two was just so funny. But it was so heartwarming to lớn know that Dr. Tuy nhiên loved Nurse Ha since time immemorial. That thư mục in his hard drive filled with Nurse Ha"s pictures was just so sweet. I just hope they elaborated more on how they met & why they never got together.
Daniel and Ye-hwa were also very likeable. Although they didn"t appear that often, I know they made a huge impact on how the story moved and developed. They saved the Uruk group numerous times.
I also liked the character of Dr. Lee Chi-hoon và how he developed from a mere rich kid to a real selfless doctor. I was proud of how he endured the guilt tripping of the patient that he abandoned in the rubbles.
I also loved Si-jin"s Alpha team members - Snoopy, Harry Potter, & Piccolo. Although their roles were not as prominent as Capt. Ri"s boys in CLOY, I still felt their love, loyalty, và respect for Si-jin. Oh và I loved the doves too. :D
Myung-ju"s father was endearing. The North Korean soldier who ended up saving Si-jin and Dae-young was respectable. His loyalty to lớn his country (and khổng lồ Si-jin too) was just so admirable. Special mention lớn Blakey from Uruk too.
I can"t list down everyone but I guess the cast was one of the reasons why this show was such a hit. I"m not sure if SJK and SHK could have pulled it off if the focus was mostly on them. They were so fortunate to have such a strong supporting cast.
Probably the only character I hated was the chief manager. For all the trouble he caused, it would have been nice lớn see him locked up in Korea. :D
Music
Unlike the other K dramas, music was not so prominent here. Sure, there was the token song that you"d often hear but there were not too many of the dramatic, mood setting music you usually find in other shows.
The song they used, You are My Everything by Gummy, sounded lượt thích a Regine Velasquez tuy vậy to me. But Oppa"s right, it would have been very popular in the Philippines if Regine thanh lịch it. :D
What I Liked
I loved how the show tried to tackle the moral dilemma that doctors and soldiers face. Their jobs come with great nguồn that it can be tempting khổng lồ play god sometimes. Leave a bad man lớn die? Save the better ones first? It"s a huge burden that these people carry.
Dr. Kang was judgmental of Si-jin because his job entailed killing people. However, it was Si-jin who risked his life & position when he let Dr. Kang perform a surgery on the Arab leader at gunpoint. He was the one who ordered Dr. Kang khổng lồ treat Argus instead of taking his revenge. Và he was the one who helped the North Korean soldier because he respected his comrade"s loyalty to his country.
It"s nice how the show tried lớn humanize the predicament these people face. But it was also great that DOTS did not sugarcoat things. They also showed the bad side - an unskilled surgeon who gets promoted because of her connections, a former elite solider who resorted khổng lồ gun smuggling, và an elite soldier who opted to lớn be a hitman. There will always be two sides and I"m glad that the show tried lớn strike a balance between the two.
After seeing how fiercely loyal Si-jin was as a soldier, I can"t help but wish for all soldiers khổng lồ be motivated purely by love for their country & not the people running it. :)
I also liked how this drama showed what volunteering entails - moving to an unfamiliar & dangerous place, where there"s risk of getting hurt from guns & illnesses. The living conditions are far from ideal. But as Si-jin puts it, someone has to vì chưng it. Và I have nothing but respect for people who choose this path.
The show also gave us a nice preview of how politics gets in the way of everything - in the workplace, in the government, globally, etc. Sometimes you just really need to have someone with guts who will be bold enough to cut the crap the way Si-jin did when he defied orders not lớn operate on the Arab leader or when Myung-ju"s dad authorized the đen ops to rescue Dr. Kang despite concerns that it will affect US-Korea relations or when Si-jin helped his North Korean friend return to the North.
The show was very easy to watch because it was visually appealing & the story was compelling. You can"t help but be hooked because of the superb cast và the various interesting storylines. The drama succeeded in making even the sub-stories worth following. I guess there was a good balance between making the lead stars prominent without sacrificing the focus on the supporting cast as well.
What I Didn"t Like
While I enjoyed the show, I also felt that it might have been a bit too polished lớn please the audience. I know that"s every show"s goal but I had a feeling that this drama exerted extra effort in making sure that they pushed the right buttons. There"s really nothing wrong with that. It"s just that I prefer something lượt thích a kim cương in the rough or something bold enough lớn defy the norms.
The initial fight scene looked heavily choreographed. Good thing they were able to lớn improve eventually.
Perhaps another thing I didn"t really lượt thích was the fact that the main love story was not that relatable. It was not something you"d envy or aspire khổng lồ have. I am just so grateful that I have not fallen in love with a soldier. I can never live through the anxiety of waiting. This is also probably the reason why I was so enamored with the supporting cast - their stories were more real.
There were also some confusing parts like how the North Korean friend was able lớn rescue Si-jin và Dae-young and where the two went after they escaped. Number-lover Oppa says there was a huge gap from the time they were released around 5 months into their captivity và the time they were reunited with their girlfriends about a year after they were captured.
I also wish subtitles are available even for the English dialogues. The heavy accent made it difficult for us lớn comprehend some lines.
So...
Over-all, I liked the show because it was easy to watch và follow. It was entertaining with the right amount of cuteness, romance, action, comedy, & with attempts at being socially-relevant.
P.S. Oppa says we should start rating the dramas so we"ll start with this one. Will try to lớn rate the rest when I find the time. Rating will be from 1-5 with 5 being the highest.
