"Doctors" Episode 13

Namgoong Min, apparently unsatisfied by acting against type as the male romantic lead in"Beautiful Gong Shim", makes a special appearance in this episode of"Doctors"as the loving father to two adorable moppets. This ends up being both good and bad. The good is thatNamgoong Minis generally great in the role, and the kids have wonderful chemistry. The bad is that this story has little to nothing to do with the emotional arcs of any of the actual relevant main characters in"Doctors".

It's actually Seo-woo of all people who ends up taking a relevant interest in the family. And see, this is what I mean about"Doctors"finding ways to make Seo-woo sympathetic when we're obviously not supposed to like her. She has good bedside manner, and is probably one of the best doctors in the cast when it comes to questions like which character would I want as my doctor if I were sick.

It doesn't help that Hye-jeong and Ji-hong continue to be embroiled in their generally cheesy romance with its minimum of conflict. The closest Hye-jeong and Ji-hong ever get to trouble are discussions about the extent to which they should be "out" as a couple. I will admit that as minor as this obstacle is, I do appreciate that there are at least moments this episode where Hye-jeong has to struggle to get what she wants, which make it a significant improvement over the usual in"Doctors".

There are also a few funny gags sprinkled thoughtout here- the main one being what I'm assuming is a reference to"W", since the plot point in question is so inherently silly I can't come up with any other reason why it's in the script at all. Generally speaking dramas should try to avoid pointing out when they're acting cartoonish. Although really, bringing up the gangster fight really just reminds me of how Hye-jeong used to face more formidable obstacles than the same generic medical emergencies.

Is it just me, or does the production team just keep replaying the same clip of a pulsing red thing? There's a very basic pattern for all the doctoring parts of"Doctors". It never matters what the specific problem is, the doctors just have a council to try and figure out how to solve it, which they eventually do. While this episode of"Doctors"is better than usual with its cute, even then the drama can't really escape its own predictable format.

Review by William Schwartz

"Doctors"is directed byOh Choong-hwan, written byHa Myeong-heeand featuresKim Rae-won,Park Shin-hye,Yoon Gyoon-sang,Lee Seong-kyeong,Kim Yeong-aeandJeong Hae-gyoon.

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Episode 13

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