TV
The first episode of Park Shin-hye and Park Hyung-sik's 'Doctor Slump' recorded a viewership rating of 4.1%.
JTBC's Saturday-Sunday drama 'Doctor Slump' premiered on the 27th. During the most brilliant days of Yeo Jung-woo (played by Park Hyeong-sik) and Nam Ha-neul (played by Park Shin-hye), the 'disgust (hate relationship)' mode brought pleasant laughter. The shabbiest times of slump and burnout, as well as the current situation, evoked a deep sense of sympathy. Above all, the 'reunion ending' of two people meeting again after 14 years at the worst moment of their lives at the end of the world raised expectations for a full-fledged story. The viewership rating for the first episode was 4.1% nationwide and 4.8% in the metropolitan area (Nielsen Korea, based on paid households).
On this day's broadcast, Yeo Yeong-woo and Nam Ha-neul, who were ranked first in the nation and received perfect scores on mock exams in Seoul and Busan in 2009, were introduced. Seoul's Yeo Yeong-woo was an unrivaled first-place winner, and Busan's Nam Ha-neul was already famous as a venomous study genius. The ‘prelude to war’ between the two began when Nam Ha-neul came to Seoul with her family and attended the same school as Yeo Yeong-woo. Just as there are no two suns under the sky, the heat of checks and competition to determine the top student in the entire school never let up. And the winner of this fierce war became Yeo Jeong-woo, who entered medical school at Korea University.
Now, 14 years later, Yeo Yeong-woo and Nam Ha-neul are living their respective lives as plastic surgeons and anesthesiologists. However, like Nam Haneul's narration, “The incident that day was enough to destroy his and my life,” there came a moment in the lives of the two people when they needed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). First, Yeo Yeong-woo faced a crisis when a patient undergoing facial contouring surgery died from excessive bleeding. Due to CCTV in the operating room, which was said to be broken only at the time of the accident, and an anticoagulant vial found in a pile of hospital waste, everyone suspected Yeo Yeong-woo of being an intentional murderer. A mysterious medical accident, suspicious circumstances, and a lawsuit worth 10 billion won tied to it caused him to fall into the worst slump of his life.
Nam Haneul was still running while looking ahead. Before I became a doctor, I was crazy about studying, but after becoming a doctor, I was crazy about work. As a result, my body and mind were exhausted without me even realizing it. Then one day, Nam Ha-neul was lying down on the road due to acute cholecystitis when he came face to face with an approaching truck. At that moment, the thought occurred to me, ‘It would be better to die.’ Nam Ha-neul, who took this opportunity to visit the hospital, was diagnosed as suffering from symptoms of depression and burnout.
At the end of the broadcast, Yeo Yeong-woo suddenly appeared on the rooftop of Nam Ha-neul's house, drawing attention. The two people recognized each other at a glance, and images of the boy and girl from those days came to mind. And, added to the images of those who are in a mix of confusion and surprise, Nam Ha-neul says, “I met that boy again in the worst slump of my life,” and the journey, “At that very moment when I was standing at the end of the world, hanging on the edge of a cliff.” Woo's voice made people look forward to the reunion story that would unfold in the future.
'Doctor Slump' aroused sympathy from reality from the first broadcast by dealing with 'mental illnesses' such as depression, burnout, and slump that all modern people are likely to experience. 'Star Doctor' Yeo Yeong-woo and 'Passion Doctor' Nam Ha-neul have different illnesses for their own reasons, but they met again, shining a faint light on each other in the dark times of their lives. This raised expectations about what kind of comfort and healing the two would provide to each other and to the viewers.
Director Oh Hyun-jong's sensuous directing, which maximized the synergy of 'rom-com power' from the first episode, writer Baek Seon-woo's witty script, and the actors' chemistry were perfect. Park Hyung-sik and Park Shin-hye once again confirmed their true value by depicting in detail not only the passage of 14 years in the play, but also the emotional changes that go back and forth between the two extremes.
Episode 2 of ‘Doctor Slump’ will be broadcast at 10:30 pm today (28th).
Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr
