With no prior knowledge of the original webtoon, I watched this primarily for the sake of Ju Ji-hoon.
As expected, Ju was spot-on with his portrayal of Baek Kang-hyuk with so much finesse, suaveness (both with reference to his looks and performance) and wackiness. While the character might be rude and aggressive at times, it was hard to dislike him at all. Of course, if you had to deal with someone like that in your workplace, this might be a different story though. That being said, the drama may have been led by him and he dominated with his strong screen presence but the supporting cast still pulled their weight to make this a very enjoyable show from start to finish. The veterans such as Yoon Kyung-ho, Kim Eui-sung, Kim Won-hae and Kim Sun-young were pivotal as well in making the cast line-up more well-rounded.
While I have never watched Choo Young-woo in action before, I was very impressed with how he managed to hold his own against the overpowering Ju (in terms of screen presence and his strong character in the story). Of course, Yang Jae-won a.k.a. Anus and No.1 was led around by Baek and subjected to the latter's high demands and standards. However, it was unmistakable that in the span of just 8 episodes, the development of Jae-won from someone who lacked confidence in himself as a doctor to one who could make critical decisions without running away from responsibility and in a logical manner was done in a comprehensive and believable manner.
On the other hand, Ha Young's character Cheon Jang-mi a.k.a. Gangster who was already a senior nurse with years of experience was comparatively more "developed" in her career compared to Jae-won. As such, the story didn't really need to show her "growing up" but rather how she could thrive in her role as a senior nurse under the right management and the right amount of trust placed in her. Jang-mi had so much spunk and liveliness with the strength of someone who wasn't a pushover despite nurses often being portrayed as those who needed to follow the doctor's lead all the time and their contributions always overlooked or belittled. Under Baek who recognised her talent and contributions, it was obvious to see that while the external environment outside the Trauma team wasn't that friendly towards them, she could still do her best with so much positive energy and be the lubricant for the rest of the team when things got rough and hold them together.
As for the anesthetist Park Gyeong-won played by Jung Jae-kwang, I thought that his face looked a bit familiar but struggled to remember in which work I had seen him before. Although I did some research after watching this drama and found that he appeared in "Save Me" and "The Fiery Priest" before, I have to admit that this still didn't ring a bell to me as to what his roles were in those titles. Anyway, despite his limited airtime here, I thought that his character was quite distinct and the twist towards the end showing his real thoughts and personality added a fine touch to make Park Gyeong a lot more memorable this time.
As for the story, it wasn't a typical hospital/medical drama in the sense that it managed to infuse a lot of wacky and fun moments which would make viewers chuckle or laugh out loud at some of the nonsense on display. However, the humour was well-balanced with the more serious scenes so it didn't feel so heavy and hard to get through. Moreover, the pacing of the story was speedy so 8 episodes flew by so quickly. While I am usually not a fan of sequels no matter how much I like the original series/movie, this is probably one of the few which I would be more than happy to see a Season 2 especially given that the ending had hinted at the expansion of the Trauma team and more resources devoted to them.
Coincidentally or not, there seemed to be some references to "Hospital Playlist" as the facade of the HNUH seemed to be the same as Yulje Medical Centre. In the first episode, there was also a doctor call where the announcement asked for "Ahn Jeong-won" who was played by Yoo Yeon-seok. If you are a fan of "Hospital Playlist", you might want to keep a lookout for these.
If I have to cite one thing which I didn't quite like about this drama, it would have to be the surgical scenes. I appreciated the amount of detail and effort put into such scenes but there was so much blood and organs to see that it made me a bit queasy and I had to look away from the screen when it got too much to take in. Granted that the setting of the story was in the trauma centre and surgical scenes were a fixture, there was no way these could be cut down. However, if you are the type who can't really stomach such scenes, be mentally prepared to manage but I would say that the rest of the drama besides these scenes should be worth your time and effort to stick with it.
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