Season 1 |
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Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 7 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 8 -| Review Score – 4.5/5
Episode 9 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 10 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 11 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 12 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 13 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 14 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 15 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 16 -| Review Score – 4/5
“Unlike happiness which feels vague at times, misfortune always makes its presence known”, says Yeo jeong-woo (Park Hyun-sik) in the latest healing romantic comedy Doctor Slump, which concluded its finale to 6.4% nationwide ratings and an average of 5.6% in South Korea. The quote reverberates throughout the show as characters try to find their definitions of happiness.
Director Oh Hyun-jung of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, and writer Baek Sun-woo of popular rom-com k-dramas My Roommate is a Gumiho and What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, unite to weave a tale of growth and healing in Doctor Slump.
Doctor Slump narrates the lives of two highly successful doctors and former high school rivals, Nam Ha-neul and Yeo Jeong-woo, who find themselves in one of the lowest points in their lives.
While Ha-neul develops depression working as an anesthesiologist under an incompetent and difficult professor; Jung-woo, a successful plastic surgeon and internet celebrity, gets entangled in a medical accident conspiracy and loses everything – his image, profession and friends. The two meet again when Jeong-woo relocates to Ha-neul’s rooftop, rented by her mother and thus, begin their journey towards healing and growth, as they find themselves rocking in the same boat.
The show starts strongly with the themes of healing, mental health, personal growth and self-care but soon loses its vision multiple times, getting entangled in a less-than-ideal conspiracy and using the mental health trope to drive its plot at times.
Unlike k-dramas like It’s Okay to Not be Okay and Netflix’s Daily Dose of Sunshine, which treat the theme of mental health in order to create awareness and dispel stereotypes, Doctor Slump uses it inadequately, brushing it aside for romance instead.
However, the show, being a healing drama, does it part extremely well. Most of the characters are wholesome and likeable – Ha-neul’s family, Ha-neul and Jeong-woo’s relationship.
The most character growth is probably that of Ha-neul – where she becomes an entirely different person than who she was at the beginning of the show. Bada’s self-growth and personal development is also noteworthy. Jeong-woo was more-or-less the same: the PTSD arc to his character did not really play out as much as Ha-neul’s healing journey did.
The beautiful and pleasing cinematography of the show also helps with accentuating the fee-good atmosphere. Park Shin-hye’s performance as Ha-neul was quite well-balanced but Park Hyung-sik’s Jeong-woo felt a bit too loud and out of sync with the atmosphere of certain scenes.
Despite this, his caricaturist acting works really well for comedy sequences. The show also has some great dialogues as Ha-neul and Jeong-woo’s voiceovers – they are insightful and touching and create a wholesome atmosphere.
However, the plot is quite predictable and it doesn’t help for it to have an antagonist in Min Kyung-min, who the show aims to portray as a tragic character, but fails due to serious loopholes in character motivations and reasoning.
The romance sub-plot with Hong-ran and Dae-young is a bit pale in comparison, mostly because it works more as a filler to stretch the storyline, which is a bit frustrating since we are going in circles for the most part of it. The depth in their relationship is also almost non-existent.
On top of this, there are quite a few episodes where nothing significant really happens and so, the show feels unnecessarily stretched. The entire conspiracy plot, first with Jeong-woo and then with Ha-neul, is underwhelming and underdeveloped.
However, the show concludes wonderfully with a sense of satisfaction and feel-good aura. All the character arcs are nicely wrapped up, even for the minor character of the anaesthesiologist at Jeong-woo’s clinic, leaving us with a sense of fulfilment and closure.
Overall, as a healing drama with likeable characters, Doctor Slump performed satisfactorily. Nevertheless, the poor plot progression, and many loopholes in character motivations and plot logic, makes it lose some points in the end.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10