Doctor Slump – Full Review
Welcome to Doctor Slump – Full Review. Two high school rivals meet as adults and help each other through a rough patch in both of their careers. If you haven’t watched this drama yet, I recommend checking out my unspoiled review here.
Doctor Slump
♥Aired: January 27 – March 17, 2024
♥# of Episodes: 16
♥Where to Watch: Netflix
♥Genre: Medical Romance Drama
♥Starring: Park Hyung Sik and Park Shin Hye
The Story
Two high school academic rivals run into each other by chance years after graduation. But despite the pair both achieving their dreams of becoming successful doctors, they are both suffering from extreme stress and burnout. While one of them has lost his clinic to an expensive law suit, the other left her job in a fit of anger. Now the pair will reconnect as they try to put their lives and careers back together. And they soon realize that the person who was once their biggest competition is now their best companion and supporter.
The Leads
Park Hyung Sik as Yeo Jeong Woo
Yeo Jeong Woo graduated at the top of his class in high school and got into a prestigious college where he study medicine. When he graduated, he opened his own plastic surgery clinic and with the help from some tech savvy high school friends, he became a famous internet doctor with a thriving practice. But after a well-connected patient dies on his table, her family sues Jeong Woo and he is forced to sell everything he owns, including his business. He moves to a cheap rooftop apartment, but little does he know, Ha Neul, his old high school rival and her family own the apartment. Ha Neul has suffered her own career burn out. And as they get reacquianted, at this low point in both their lives, they find solace and understanding in each other’s company. And as their relationship deepens, Jeong Woo is surprised to find that he may have misjudged Ha Neul all those years ago.
Yeo Jeong Woo is popular and cheerful. But he hides the scars of his parent’s harsh expectations of him and his lonliness growing up. So when he moves into Ha Neul’s family’s apartment, he is happy when they begin to treat him as just another member of their chaotic family. For the first time in his life, Jeong Woo feels accepted just by being himself. I mean, who doesn’t love Park Hyung Sik? This kind of trust fund son with a heart of gold is kind of his bread and butter, and he played Jeong Woo with heart. But a little bit of serious aegyo goes a long way, and at times the immaturity of this character got a bit old.
Park Shin Hye as Nam Ha Neul
Nam Ha Neul devoted her whole life to studying every waking second and getting the best grades possible. But after bombing the most important test of her life, Ha Neul ends up studying medicine at a small, less prestigious school than she had dreamed. But she didn’t let that stop her. Now she is a successful anesthesiologist at a big hospital. But as pressures from the job and being taken advantage of by her superiors begins to take its toll, Ha Neul finds herself fighting serious clinical depression. Fed up with it all, she quits her job, but now she isn’t sure what to do with her life. And when she comes home to find her old classmate living on her rooftop, she is sure life is just being cruel. But because she doesn’t want to impose on her family, she finds herself confiding in Jeong Woo more and more. And they begin to depend on each other for support and encouragement.
Nam Ha Neul is driven and hard-working. But she has sacrificed many of the joys of growing up. She has had very few close friends and she doesn’t really know how to relax or have fun. But overcoming her depression is going to require her to learn how to think about something besides work. And lucky for her, Jeong Woo has lived his life which a much freer frame of mind, and he is willing to help distract her from her professional troubles. Park Shin Hye tends to play serious, overfocused characters well, and Ha Neul is no exception. And since this is her first role since her marriage and the birth of her son, it was wonderful to have her back on my small screen!
Supporting Characters
Yoon Park as Bin Dae Young
Bin Dae Young was Jeong Woo’s good friend in college, but a misunderstanding caused them to drift apart. But in the face of his current struggles, Dae Young reaches out to Jeong Woo to offer him a job and hopefully also his friendship. Dae Young is a single father who is raising a middle school age daughter. He meets a fellow doctor in his office building who offers to help him navigate some of the difficulties he faces in trying to understand his teenage daughter. And he eventually finds he has fallen for the beautiful anesthesiologist and her adorable young son.
Kong Seong Ha as Lee Hong Ran
Lee Hong Ran is Ha Neul’s best friend. They are both anesthesiologist. But Hong Ran’s life is complicated by the fact that she is a single mother to a young son. Because of her hectic schedule, she sends her son to stay with her mother and aunts during the week, but tries to spend time with him on her days off. When a handsome young doctor in her building offers to help her catch some bugs to impress her son, they begin a sweet friendship that natually turns to love.
Oh Dong Min as Min Kyung Min
Min Kyung Min was once Jeong Woo’s live-in tutor. Jeong Woo sees him as a mentor and older brother. But Min Kyung Min carries resentment toward Jeong Woo and his family because Jeong Woo’s mother indirectly caused the death of his father. Kyung Min is also the head of the department Ha Neul worked for. Kyung Min’s plans for revenge against Jeong Woo end up almost getting Ha Neul killed in the crossfire.
Things I Liked
♥ Dae Young and Hong Ran
I really loved this seond lead couple. They skipped all the ugly love triangles and let these two lonely, single parents have their own love story. I could have done with more scenes for this pair, but I liked everything I saw. Their interactions both with each other and their kids was honest and realistic. The topic of single parents is becoming increasingly more common in kdramas, but its rare to see 2 characters in the same series. And I liked that they could each help the other.
♥ Growth
I liked the way this drama showed how, in the end, the characters had grown. Jeong Woo forgave his friends, but he didn’t make it his problem to fix their lives. He is finally living for his own happiness rather than his parents or friends. Also Ha Neul has learned how to speak up for herself. And she finally understands that success does not always equal happiness. I like the acceptance that while sad things may still happen, they can find happiness in just being together.
♥ Mental Health
The topic of mental wellness has been a trend of discussion around the world lately. And especially among health care workers, who were extremely overworked through the pandemic. Netflix recently postponed a drama about residents out of respect for the current resident shortage. This is a subject that is timely and relevant. I’m always glad to see shows that are willing to tackle these kinds of important issues.
Things I Didn’t Like
Over the Top Acting
The humor in this drama was often based on over the top acting, whether it was cutsie moments with our leads or fighting among Ha Neul’s family. The level of maturity seemed to take an instant dive in an effort to get a laugh. And if this had happened a couple of times, I could have overlooked it, but it just continued to the point of being cringe-worthy. All of this cast are talented. There is no reason they needed to try so hard to create humorous moments.
Dull Moments
I really didn’t get the pacing on this drama. It started strong out of the gate, but there were points as it progressed where it didn’t hold my interest. It wasn’t that it was just slow so much as it felt like there was nothing happening. There were scenes but the story felt stalled and dull. Maybe part of this stemmed from the fact that the villain character felt a bit flat. His back story seemed more like an afterthought than a viable plot line.
Complicated Mystery
The whole mystery component of this drama was a bit too confusing. The whole “who installed cameras in the office, and what happened to the disk drive” story was convoluted and not that interesting. The courtroom scenes felt out of place with the rest of the drama. I kept forgetting there was a legal case at all. I see what they were trying to do but it didn’t really work for me.
The Ending
Since our villain has already passed away from his injuries, “Doctor Slump” gets to spend the last episode giving us lots of happy endings. Ba Da has finally found a purpose for his life and is doing well working in his uncle’s restaurant. Dae Young and Hong Ran are happy together and seem to be creating their own little family. Ha Neul gets an offer to study abroad, and Jeong Woo gets points for encouraging her to go even though he doesn’t want her to. But in the end, the offer is taken back so she can’t go. But she is back at work and her depression seems to have improved to the point where she doesn’t need therapy anymore. Jeong Woo opens a new clinic, but he is keeping things smaller and more manageable this time around. He has learned the beauty of life/work balance. The final scene shows the couple finally getting to watch the sunrise together and the epilogue shows a montage of the happy couple’s wedding photoshoot.
Should I Watch
“Doctor Slump” is a medical romance that moves away from the traditional focus on medical patient stories and cases to highlight the leads and the struggles they face as health care professionals. While I liked this drama, I really wanted to love it and I just couldn’t. I love these leads and I think the topic of professional mental health is relevant and interesting. But the pacing of this one felt off and I found myself losing interest through some of the middle epidsodes. Also, some of the over the top acting wore thin, even with the adorable Park Hyung Sik. I give “Doctor Slump” an 8 out of 10 ramen.
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