Doctor Slump could have been like a perfect warm soup in winters — but its flaws prevent it from becoming truly awesome. Thankfully, the qualities outweigh the shortcomings.

ABOUT

Yeo Jeong Woo (Park Hyung Sik) and Nam Ha Neul (Park Shin Hye) are rivals in high school, vying for delivering best academic performance. At present, he is a popular plastic surgeon and she is an anesthesiologist. They meet again after several years at their lowest points in life. He is facing a court case and penalties after a patient dies while he was performing a plastic surgery and she is suffering from depression after working non-stop and facing disrespect and unfair, abusive treatment from her seniors in the hospital. Both feel all alone in their misery — but start to comfort each other as he starts living as a tenant in a building owned by her mom.

REVIEW

The drama has a zippy and sweet vibe despite some of the serious topics it tackles. The show has a healing quality to it. It is also sometimes very funny; certain moments leave you in splits.

The way this Korean drama captures the theme of depression — the reaction from the female lead, or her mother’s reaction of shock and denial to acceptance and support, or the day by day struggles or the eventual healing and growth — it’s realistic and impressive.

The male lead’s problem at first looks more external as compared to the female lead but soon the drama displays the effect of such ordeal on a person, and even when he wins the case, how Jeong Woo still struggles because of the whole experience — it’s done effectively.

The path of the two leads from being school rivals to neighbors to friends and finally lovers — it’s sketched convincingly and beautifully. I loved their relationship in every phase — their respect, understanding and softness is one of the pleasant features of Doctor Slump. The chemistry between Park Hyung Sik and Park Shin Hye is easy, warm and deliciously sweet.

I absolutely adored the family of the female lead, and their growing bond with the male lead. Their fun, banter and love — it provided laughs, warmth and at times made me emotional.

The second leads are cute but the drama could have given more time to the characters individually and their love story. I especially loved Bin Dae Young, played by Yoon Park — he is so funny and awkward and cute.

Yeo Jeong Woo is compassionate, caring and understanding. He is also sometimes petty in a humourous way. Park Hyung Sik has an infectious charm and he effectively conveys both the light-hearted as well as serious parts of his role.

Nam Ha Neul has always worked really hard without thinking about enjoying her life or taking some rest. She is a responsible, sincere person and it’s lovely to see her starting to embrace the little things in life and step by step growing into a person who is still hard working and earnest, but wants to balance it with fun and relaxation. Park Shin Hye is absolutely adorable and delivers a solid performance.

Both the leads learn the lesson that life will have misfortunes in future too, but they’ll be okay despite the struggles as they’ll face it with their strengths. Both show growth but also maintain their original nature and qualities.

Ha Neul’s brother Nam Ba Da is a fun character who provides lots of laughs — Yoon Sang Hyeon has perfect comic timing. Jang Hye Jin is sterling as female lead’s mom.

THE MINUS POINTS

The show feels too long once the OTP gets together. 12 episodes would have been perfect. The long length also leads to revisiting the unnecessary thriller arc associated with the medical accident — it already felt inefficacious during the first time. It also wastes time on uninteresting and toxic characters and backstories. The whole thriller element feels out of place in a show about warmth, healing and love. Another quibble I had was with excessive drinking shown for characters who are undergoing mental health treatment. One minor issue was how a character inadvertently eavesdrops to conversations at certain times too conveniently.

IN A NUTSHELL

A sweet and heartwarming show that tackles the difficult subject of mental health. It has a really sweet main couple and lovely family dynamics. I just wish it did not involve a protracted thriller arc.

MY RATING: 8.5 out of 10