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Binge, Stream or Skip? Drama Review // Ghost Doctor 《고스트 닥터》

   You can watch the trailer above or start watching  episode one here on Netflix . Warning! Spoilers ahead. I don't even remember the exact reason why I clicked on this show but I am sure glad that I did. The last time I watched Rain star in a drama would be Full House (that's like close to 20 years ago, gosh!) whereas I am more up-to-date with Kim Beom's dramas, the last being Law School. Not gonna lie but after watching the trailer, I actually held a bit of expectations for this series and I have to say, they delivered! Let's skip all the fluff and I'll go straight down to dissect why I think this series is bingeable in the sections below. Synopsis (taken from AsianWiki): Cha Young-Min (Rain) is a genius doctor, but he is arrogant and selfish. One day, he gets involved in an unexpected case. Due to the unexpected case, his spirit possesses another doctor's body. These two doctors are complete opposites, with opposite personalities and medical abilities. The

Binge, Stream or Skip? Drama Review // The Devil Judge 《악마판사》

 

You can watch the trailer above or start watching episode one here on Netflix.

Warning! Spoilers ahead.

Writing this immediately I finished the last episode of the drama. Straight up I would say that this drama is streamable. I was actually considering it to be borderline-skippable because it had gotten so bad from episode 12 onwards, but then it kinda salvage itself a bit, just a littleee bit at the end. Hence, I'm labelling it as streamable.


Synopsis: (taken from Netflix)

In a near-future dystopia, an enigmatic judge punishes the haves by carrying out his vision of justice in trials live-broadcast and voted on by citizens.


What I like about this drama:

Crime drama. Where the good guys kick the asses of the bad guys and give them a taste of their own medicine. Some mystery which the plot slowly unveils as the characters inside the drama investigate and figure stuff out.

The original soundtrack (OST).

Ji Sung.

Ji Sung.

Ji Sung.

The concept of having a live court case where the citizens can vote on whether the defendant is to be found guilty or not is quite a fresh idea, I suppose. And I like it when every 1-2 episodes the main characters work on a different case while they kept working from episode 1 on plotting to unveil the greatest criminal at the end, in this case, criminals, in the drama. Hence, the drama was off to a good start, to my liking. I thought it was going to be like the Japanese drama, 99.9% Criminal Lawyer. This style is actually not new in the Japanese drama scene but I would think it is quite new in the Korean drama scene. But sadly, the plot was so badly written that I had thoughts of giving up on this show. Which I will come to that later.


Who I like in this drama:

No doubt. Kang Yo Han, played by Ji Sung. The one and only character that I like. Kang Yo Han single-handedly carried the "good" guys in the drama, in my opinion.

Treading between neutral and like, would be Kang Yo Han's niece, Elijah. Didn't really like her at first but she kinda grew on me towards the end. Same goes for the housekeeper.


What I don't like about this drama:

The plot. The plot. The plot.

Could have been great but it was so badly written especially in the middle and the end. The entire drama, felt like it was written based on the mood of the writer when he/she was writing. Today I felt like this character should die, and then the character just died. There isn't much development for all, if not, most characters. The story doesn't exactly draw me in, so I couldn't feel sad for all those who have died, even when they played sad BGM with all the flashback scenes.

The only scene that ever made me felt touched was when Yo Han wanted to so desperately stop the Jung Seon Ah from letting Elijah know the truth about the fire in the cathedral that killed her parents.

I read somewhere that the writer used to be a judge. Is this why the story felt so all over the place? Because the script writer is a newbie? If the script writer is experienced, then I would be even more disappointed.


Who I don't like (or possibly even dislike) in this drama:

Gosh. So many. Let's start with...

Kim Ga On, played by Got7's Jin Young. Although I have to say, his acting did improve a lot from He is Psychometric. I cringed so hard when I tried to watch his acting in that drama that I couldn't last 20 minutes. But of course, it wasn't entirely him that I couldn't finish even episode of the drama. Back to my point. Kim Ga On, this character went from neutral to being extremely annoying. His idealistic views made him such an easy target to manipulate that he ended up being kicked all over the place like a football. And he only has himself to blame. But throughout the entire drama, he is always blaming Kang Yo Han whenever things take a bad turn. Annoying fool.

Yoon Soo Hyun. Also another annoying character but not as annoying as Ga On.

Jung Seon Ah. This character is just, disgusting.

And of course, all the other members of that elite secret society(?)

Min Jung Ho, Kim Ga On's mentor and I suppose, adoptive father in a sense? He looked after Ga On after his parents both died when he was in high school? I knew this character was sus. And I was right.


Other notes:

All in all, in the fictional world, Kang Yo Han carried all the "good" guys. While in reality, Ji Sung carried the entire drama. Haiya. Still felt that it was such a waste. It was a good idea, just badly written. It had the potential to be a mind-blowing drama.

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