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Doctor Stranger: Episode 18

Our hero gets railroaded into doing nothing but reacting this hour as the only person he could cling to with any sense of assurance takes some time away from her main job of keeping secrets in order to multitask—now she gets to keep secrets and attempt to scrape Hoon off like an extra-clingy barnacle. When that inevitably fails to work, we can at least trust the show to stick to its prevailing modus operandi: If at first you don’t succeed, keep doing it for nineteen more episodes.

SONG OF THE DAY

Huh Gak – “아프다 (It Hurts)” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 18 RECAP

Hoon grabs Jae-joon’s hand to stop him from beginning his surgery as the president and Prime Minister Jang watch the live feed with confusion. As Hoon concedes his loss to get Jae-joon to stop, the president asks Prime Minister Jang what just happened. Jang: “The game is over.”

Chairman Oh smiles like he just won the villainous lottery while Sang-jin continues to be irrelevant. Jae-joon asks Hoon to repeat those magic words about him losing before he dares to put down the scalpel.

Doctor Moon is NOT happy about Hoon conceding his loss. After he goes off to do whatever it is he does, a reformed Doctor Yang gives Hoon a smile of approval.

Jae-joon takes over surgery for Hoon’s original patient while Hoon watches from the mezzanine. Jae-hee exchanges a look with him during surgery, and afterward mouth breathes to herself: “I’m sorry, Hoon-ah. I have no choice if I’m to let you go.”

When she actually confronts Hoon, she puts on an angry facade as part of her act(?). Claiming that Prime Minister Jang told her the truth right before the surgery, she asks Hoon about her father and how he killed him in order to transplant his kidney to her.

Hoon’s expression turns nervous as he stutters, “I… I really had no choice.” He flashes back to the moment when her father begged him to save his daughter at all costs, and apologizes to her in the present.

“You’re sorry?” she repeats back incredulously. “For what? For killing my father, or for saving me?” Again, Hoon claims he had no choice, but Jae-hee thinks he did: He could’ve just let her die. At least then she would’ve died happy and in love.

Jae-hee: “Is that love? Saving me by killing my father? No. That was just your greed to save the girl you loved. My father died because of that greed, which you’ve kept hidden from me until now. It was a lie that you loved me. You just felt guilty for what you did, so you just tried to compensate for the wrong you did to me. Isn’t it funny? Even after that, you still pretended to be a real doctor. You’d win the competition and do the surgery with me? Then why didn’t you do the surgery today? After promising that you wouldn’t let me go in there alone, why? Everything you said was a two-faced lie.”

Hoon tries to get through to her, but she cuts him off soundly by ordering him never to say her name again or to appear in front of her, because she’ll never forgive him. But after she storms out, she crumples to the floor from the weight of her idiocy. Sorry, noble idiocy. I meant noble idiocy.

Hoon is in a state of emotional shock as he goes straight to Mom in order to tell her about what happened with Jae-hee, and cries as he realizes that if Jae-hee hadn’t found out, he would never have told her.

“Father told me never to forget that I’m a doctor,” he says through his tears. “From the beginning I was never a doctor, Mom.” Aww. Even with her reduced capability to understand the situation, Mom instinctively reaches out to comfort him.

Jae-joon reports to Chairman Oh, who congratulates him on his big win by inviting him to attend a board meeting with him, seeing as how he promised to give Jae-joon some executive responsibilities.

When the topic turns to how this will affect the losing team, specifically Doctor Moon, Chairman Oh decrees that he’ll be sent to that branch hospital in the fifth dimension. He’s got Sang-jin looking for ways to revoke Hoon’s license, and if there aren’t any, he vows to pressure the right people to get it revokes anyway.

At least Jae-joon finally asks why Chairman Oh hates Hoon so much, to which Chairman Oh replies that it’s because Hoon’s father once dared to challenge him by testifying in a medical malpractice suit. And if he hadn’t taken care of Hoon’s father then, there would be no Myungwoo now.

Jae-joon’s eyes grow wide as he realizes that Hoon was telling the truth about his father’s involvement—especially because it means he’s been hating the wrong person. Chairman Oh is the real bad guy.

He stays so out of it, in fact, that he isn’t even listening when the board unanimously votes him in as the youngest acting chairman Myungwoo Hospital has ever seen.

After Chi-gyu and his sister share a bonding moment over his promise to be the one who performs the surgery she’ll need later in life, Jae-joon calls him out to the One Dunkin’ Donuts In All Of Seoul.

It’s there that Chi-gyu apologizes for ignoring Jae-joon’s judgment in his sister’s case, but unlike before, Jae-joon’s all smiles now as he tells Chi-gyu not to worry about it. Hell, he would’ve done the same! Or something.

Later, Doctor Yang turns his resignation letter in to Jae-joon with an addition: A witness statement detailing what he and Chairman Oh have been ordering him to do.

“Is this a threat?” Jae-joon asks. “It’s a recommendation,” Doctor Yang replies, before adding that he hopes Jae-joon doesn’t become even more of a monster in the hellhole that is Myungwoo Hospital. (Testify!)

After he tears up Doctor Yang’s resignation letter, Sang-jin hands him confidential hospital documents he was supposed to deliver but can’t for whatever reason.

Naturally, Jae-joon opens the envelope and reads about the hospital’s development fund (on Jeju island?), along with its list of donors and the amounts donated.

Jae-joon takes the documents to Chairman Oh when he’s invited for dinner with him and Soo-hyun that evening, and Chairman Oh is none too pleased that Jae-joon had the documents in the first place.

Chairman Oh referees the forced date his daughter may as well not be on for all the weight he gives anything she says. Since he’s only got eyes for Jae-joon now, Chairman Oh tells the pair to prepare for Jae-joon’s congratulatory party as well as the next step forward in their relationship: marriage.

He completely ignores Soo-hyun’s shock when he only checks with Jae-joon about whether this whole marriage thing is peachy keen with him. (While we’re at it, would Chairman Oh like to be the bride?) Jae-joon says yes, which has Soo-hyun sending him all sorts of confused gazes from across the table—but again, the men are talking.

While Chairman Oh tears into Sang-jin for entrusting Jae-joon with confidential hospital documents, Jae-joon gets a private moment with Soo-hyun to tell her that he’ll take care of this whole marriage deal.

He also apologizes before admitting that he was wrong about Hoon, and basically gives her permission to like him. Because not having that really stopped her before.

An abrupt cut takes us to the next day, where Soo-hyun and Chi-gyu end up meeting for [choose your own adventure] in Jae-joon’s office. Having just learned of Jae-joon’s appointment as acting chairman, Chi-gyu remarks that this means Jae-joon finally took over the castle.

But in saying that, Chi-gyu has to explain the story of the Metaphor Castle to Soo-hyun—and the story starts sounding all too familiar when he mentions how the knight wanted to seduce the princess, only to end up falling in love with her instead.

Soo-hyun doesn’t start to realize the connection until Chi-gyu gets to the part where the princess (her) was rejected by another knight (Hoon) when she confessed her feelings to him. Now that she can finally put Jae-joon’s “No matter what, forgive me for whatever I do in the future” into context, she asks Chi-gyu why the knight wanted the castle. Chi-gyu doesn’t know.

Soo-hyun finds Hoon outside her apartment, and even though he’s there in an attempt to track down Jae-hee, she tells him about Jae-joon’s eerie Metaphor Castle in an attempt to glean his thoughts on the issue.

That’s when Hoon remembers Jae-joon telling him about “his friend” Lee Seung-hoon, and asks Soo-hyun if she knows the name. He pieces together (aloud) that Lee Seung-hoon is the son of the plaintiff from the medical malpractice suit that got him and his father sent to the DPRK all those years ago, which leaves Soo-hyun wondering if Jae-joon could possibly be Lee Seung-hoon even if she doesn’t want to believe it.

Standing in front of his Once-A-Metaphor Castle, Jae-joon asks his father to watch over him as he begins the first phase of his revenge plan. With a smirk, he crushes Chairman Oh’s cardboard figurine.

At the stiflingly formal congratulatory party Chairman Oh throws, Soo-hyun tries to broach a conversation with Jae-joon about his hospital takeover plans only to be cut off when he brushes her off thinking she’s needlessly worried about her father announcing the marriage today.

He slips away to meet with Hoon and to apologize for his misconception regarding Hoon’s father. Hoon is unimpressed that he was called out to Chairman Oh’s house just for this, even though Jae-joon claims that he wanted them to part without any bad blood between them.

Hoon also shoots Jae-joon down when he asks for a favor, but Jae-joon starts to ask it anyway as he mentions how Soo-hyun sincerely likes him. Hoon seems to know where he’s headed and asks if this means Jae-joon was faking his love for her, before adding that he better stop hurting Soo-hyun/Quack.

He talks around Jae-joon’s takeover plan even though he couldn’t be clearer in referencing it. “If you’ve done something wrong, ask for forgiveness as soon as possible,” Hoon advises.

Jae-joon’s face falls as he admits that he can’t tell Soo-hyun what he’s about to do, and definitely can’t ask her forgiveness for it. Hoon simply responds that Jae-joon shouldn’t do whatever it is then, only for Jae-joon to ominously reply: “It’s already begun.”

Right on cue, the party is interrupted by the arrival of the police with a warrant for… Not Chairman Oh. They’ve actually come for Sang-jin, and arrest him on charges of embezzlement and bribery.

When Hoon asks Jae-joon if he’s responsible, he says that this is only the beginning. “What happens from now on will scar Soo-hyun irrevocably,” he adds with a tinge of regret.

Hoon guesses that he’s Lee Seung-hoon and asks if this is all part of his revenge. Jae-joon doesn’t deny it and gives the reasons we’re familiar with by now, only for Hoon to remind him that he’s taking his revenge on the father of the woman he loves.

“The woman Han Jae-joon loved, not Lee Seung-hoon,” Jae-joon barks back. Hoon: “You’re wrong. Both Lee Seung-hoon and Han Jae-joon loved Oh Soo-hyun. Am I wrong?” Jae-joon’s guilty expression suggests he isn’t.

While Doctor Moon tells Chairman Oh that a Lee Seung-hoon tipped off the prosecutors, Soo-hyun confronts Jae-joon over his not-so-secret identity. He tries telling her that who he is matters less than the crime her father committed twenty years ago, but she’s less than moved. Was this his idea of revenge?

Jae-joon’s eyes well up with unshed tears as he replies: “Lee Seung-hoon only wants one thing… A sincere apology.”

Soo-hyun then goes to her father—the only person who hasn’t yet made the Lee Seung-hoon = Han Jae-joon connection—in order to ask him about his history with Lee Seung-hoon.

He tells her everything, but defends his actions in protecting Myungwoo Hospital from a malpractice suit all those years ago. Unsurprisingly, he stands by his belief that he did nothing wrong when Soo-hyun entreats him to apologize sincerely so he can be forgiven.

But unlike his daughter, Chairman Oh is unafraid of the consequences should he continue to be stubborn: “I, Oh Joon-gyu, will not go down so easily.”

Jae-hee meets with Prime Minister Jang while he’s faking a hospital visit to fool the press. He tells her Lee Seung-hoon’s real identity before adding that he’ll be sticking to his side of the bargain in sending Hoon and his mother to a safe place.

As if on cue (again), the prime minister’s other secretary gives Hoon two tickets to Switzerland and some money, but Hoon refuses to leave unless he gets to see Jae-hee first. Wish granted.

Jae-hee is standoffish at their meeting and unwilling to listen when Hoon tries to explain that her father had begged him to save her. She looks like her facade is in danger of breaking as she keeps trying to cut Hoon off, and rejects him in as many ways as she can verbalize.

But Hoon won’t be swayed, and promises that he’ll come back for her once he gets his mom somewhere safe. “I promised your father I would protect you,” he says, a reason that she turns back around on him: If he’s doing this out of guilt, he can stop now.

She turns to leave, but stops to add in her final words: “Forget about me and my father. Forget it all and live well.”

The president calls Prime Minister Jang up after looking over Hoon’s extensive medical records. Y’know, it’d be really funny if he chooses Hoon in spite of the competition, because nothing else could possibly negate the competition’s existence more. But, that’d be insane. That’s something only an insane writer would do.

Judging from the way Prime Minister Jang ordered Nightshade to make sure Hoon was “taken care of”, the sentence wasn’t just cut off before he added “…all the way to Switzerland.” He wants Hoon dead.

Secretary #2 is tasked with carrying out Prime Minister Jang’s orders as he aims a gun at Hoon and his mother.

While Hoon stands protectively in front of Mom, the president discusses him with the prime minister. After watching how Hoon tossed his chance at victory away, the president is convinced that that quality (of caring for patients) makes Hoon more of a doctor than Jae-joon.

Secretary #2’s finger tightens on the trigger without squeezing, almost as if he was waiting for the call he gets ordering him to stand down. He hands the phone with Prime Minister Jang on the line to Hoon, who screams into the receiver as he accuses Jang of planning to kill them from the beginning. (And… he’s surprised?)

Prime Minister Jang is his usual haughty self as he tells Hoon that he’s been chosen as the president’s surgeon. While Hoon seethes that he won’t do what he wants, Jang replies: “You’ll have to. We have your mother.”

Hoon turns around to find that Mom has disappeared. Pffft. He somehow failed to notice Secretary #2 taking her back to his car, and is helpless as Mom is driven away.

After all that fuss, Prime Minister Jang tells Chairman Oh that the surgeon has to be Hoon now. He literally even says that there’s nothing they can do about the president’s choice with a shrug, like he didn’t just spend X amount of episodes trying to make that choice for him.

He promises that he’ll be the one to tell Jae-joon, and reassures Chairman Oh that Myungwoo will still get all the credit since Hoon will be working under them. He’s also pulled strings to get Sang-jin out of jail.

Prime Minister Jang does as he promised and calls Jae-joon, but it’s mostly to warn him to sit quietly for a week. He claims Jae-joon will get his chance for revenge after the surgery is completed.

Hoon pays a visit to the prime minister while he’s pretending to be a hospital patient, and demands to know where his mother is. He doesn’t trust Jang anymore when he says Mom will be safe if the surgery is successful.

“Fine,” Prime Minister Jang petulantly concedes. “What if I said it like this? If you say something stupid, your mother will die. How’s that?” Ugh, this man.

Hoon tells Jae-hee everything, but earns a non-reaction from her at the news that he’ll be the surgeon after all. She says disinterestedly that as long as he does his best during the surgery, she’ll handle the rest.

He’s worried that she won’t be able to get to the president afterward with Prime Minister Jang’s men hovering around, but she brushes that concern aside: Agent Cha taught her how to take care of problems like that. Hoon looks surprised at her meaning: “Take… care of them?”

“Did you think I came here trained only in anesthesiology?” she asks incredulously, and it’s clear from Hoon’s reaction that yes, yes he did think exactly that. But she makes sure to add that if she had known he killed her father, she wouldn’t have gone through with the training because she wouldn’t have had a reason to see him again.

Hoon asks what her plans are if everything ends up working out for the mission. “I don’t know,” Jae-hee replies. “But the one thing I’m sure of is that I’ll never be with you.”

After trying in vain to get her father to apologize for a wrong he still claims he didn’t commit, Soo-hyun attempts to convince Jae-joon to stop what he’s doing. “I know you used me and deceived me. I can forget everything, so please stop here,” she begs.

Jae-joon only replies that he’s sorry, causing Soo-hyun to desperately grab his hands in an effort to connect with him as she promises that she’ll do all that she can to convince her father. He cuts her off by telling her not to bother.

He makes a production about locking the door in Chairman Oh’s office and closing the blinds. For a moment, you think that Chairman Oh has realized who he is… but instead he just buys that both Jae-joon and Soo-hyun have been meeting with Lee Seung-hoon. Somehow.

It is so ridiculously obvious that Jae-joon is speaking as Lee Seung-hoon by pretending to speak for him as he tells Chairman Oh in every viable form but song that ALL he has to do is apologize sincerely in order to put a stop to Seung-hoon’s revenge.

But Chairman Oh repeats the same tired refrain that he didn’t do anything he needs to apologize for. Jae-joon: “You never once thought you did anything wrong?” Chairman Oh: “Never!” Trust me when I say it goes on like this for far too long, and becomes less of a conversation and more like a Monty Python sketch.

No matter how many last chances Jae-joon offers in Seung-hoon’s name, Chairman Oh stubbornly rejects every last one until you’re left wondering how on god’s green earth he hasn’t connected the dots yet. Still, he stubbornly sticks to his story, at least until Jae-joon tells him that Seung-hoon has made it so that Oh can’t open up his branch hospital in Jeju island anymore.

This is really the last straw for Chairman Oh, enough to drive him to have a heart attack on the spot. As he clutches his chest in agony, Jae-joon just gives him even MORE details about Seung-hoon’s master plan to bring Myungwoo Hospital down, and Prime Minister Jang with it.

As Soo-hyun tries to get into her father’s office, Jae-joon tells the ailing chairman that Seung-hoon spent his life thinking about his revenge and worried what he’d do if, after all that, he found Chairman Oh living in regret as penitence for his sins. Would it make his life seem meaningless?

Chairman Oh starts to get suspicious when Jae-joon says he’s relieved. “It’s really a relief that you’re still like this and haven’t changed. Actually, I want to thank you.” Chairman Oh: “Are you… perhaps…” Jae-joon: “Yes. I’m Lee Seung-hoon from twenty years ago. Thank you for not letting my life go to waste, Chairman Oh Joon-gyu.”

He casually knocks the phone from Chairman Oh’s reach when he grabs for it with one hand, while the other stays clutched tightly to his chest. Jae-joon stands as still as a stone as Chairman Oh writhes in pain before collapsing on the floor.

Soo-hyun scrambles for a key to the office while crying outside for her father and Jae-joon, as if she knows something terrible is happening inside.

However, Jae-joon continues to ignore her cries as his longtime enemy, her father, is finally lying helpless at his feet.

 
COMMENTS

A lot can be said about the whiplash-inducing experience it’s been to watch Jae-joon’s character fluctuations from week to week, since he never quite hit a sweet spot and stayed there. He played with being a lot of things, and ultimately I think his potential has been wasted just waiting for this moment for episodes on end. Still, Jae-joon has the pleasure of being the only character to offer us the least bit of gratification this hour, so for that I have to thank him.

Compared to literally everyone else, Jae-joon at least made decisions this hour, followed through with them, and wrestled with their emotional consequences. He actually did stuff with a purpose, which—while being so grossly overstated that stating it at all is akin to killing a horse just for the purposes of beating its dead, desecrated husk—could not have been made any clearer to us. In a desert of murky and constantly changing objectives, Jae-joon’s clarity of thought really was like having our own little morally-ambiguous oasis.

Is it sad that the bar has now been set so low that a character needs only to make a decision within reason to automatically grab our attention? Yes. That result seems inevitable when eighteen episodes are spent watching characters we just don’t understand. And repeat offender Jae-hee undoubtedly won at being the most completely and totally incomprehensible character this hour. I’m honestly shocked that I dared to think she couldn’t get much worse after her most milquetoast of identity reveals, but I stand corrected. Being wrong has never felt so wrong.

That being said, there are two possible ways to contextualize Jae-hee’s recent actions: 1) In an attempt at noble idiocy, she’s trying to push Hoon away emotionally to save him from heartbreak while also trying to spare him from performing THE surgery, or 2) She really is mad about her father’s death and now hates Hoon because of it.

I’m more inclined to believe it’s the first, mostly because Jae-hee had that moment where she apologized to Hoon from afar before putting on her angry/normal face to shut him down, and because she had that wilting flower moment after being mean to him where she couldn’t stay standing from the paaain. Her knowledge of Hoon’s involvement in her father’s death is where understanding becomes impossible, since she either knew it all along and is just using it now as an excuse, or she’s telling the truth and really did just find out in an off-screen game of telephone.

Honestly, her existence would still be a moot point even if some or any of those explanations had been made clear by now. With only one week left, it’s time to start making peace with what this show is rather than what it isn’t. So for instance, you could say that it is—…

Actually, that’s all I’ve got. It exists, therefore it is.

 
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I'm saying the same comment from last recap because I posted too late for anyone to see :(

I really want to ask all the viewers here, because I'm curious to know "What do you find so disappointing in this drama?"
I see comments saying that this drama has been a disappointment, it's a mess, etc.
I can slightly understand that you may feel that the drama has been messy but I believe it's not a disappointment at all! Every episode ending leaves you off your seat. every cliff hanger is so interesting.
People may hate how to rounds of continuous surgeries are endless, but I believe that they are the source to how things are patched up. Every surgery has lead to an important factor in the entire plot.

curious to know your opinions :) please reply! I'm happy to read everything negative, positive

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I think it's different for everyone. For me, after each episode i like to have a bit more understanding of each character and lil bit of clue around the mystery of the drama. So I can understand and relate more to the character.

But I hate it when a drama adding more confusion instead of explanation after each eps to a point where I don't care anymore and give up and just skip it to know how it end up. I guess i'm not patient enough LOL. I feel this way too after I watched pretty little liars.

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Oh one more thing i dunno why but i can't invested on the love line between Hoon and Jae hee. But I love so hyun with Hoon so much, but i know she's a second lead and they will not end up together so I just save myself from the pain and give up watching.

I keep getting second lead syndrome from doctor stranger to trot lovers. Why they keep casting adorable second lead!! T-T

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AGREED! Quack Couple aka Hoon & Soo Hyun are a much better match than Hoon and Jae Hee.

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I think that for the most part, it lost a lot of steam with the love lines. It's difficult to know how much the audience had a part in this, with the pressure to go to one ~*ship*~ or the other (at least for me, since I don't speak Korean and therefore can't read DC and other forums/news outlets), but the excessive moping by Quack let me down because she had so much potential in the beginning. Hoon as a character has been neutered as well for reasons I can't comprehend - he was awesome and colorful but nowadays he's just reacting to stuff and whining. If I could change anything, I would add more spy shenanigans which is where the show used to shine, and take the love triangle away.

Also, still not over Cha's death. I keep expecting him to pop up from behind a tree in all his smirking glory :(

Regardless, I haven't missed an episode and enjoy it a lot. I love the show and I'm amused by both how demential it can get and the reaction from most of the (anti?)fandom. It only disappoints me that the drama tried to appeal to the ~romance fans~ outcries and ended up messing up the story with angsting and crying when it should've been all epic awesometastic thrills from start to finish.

We might be a small bunch, but there are so people who enjoy this little crazy show *waves*

(I guess I should add a ~haters to the left~ here lol)

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I think the major flaw with this show is that it tried to be too many things at once - a love quadrangle, a spy movie, a medical drama, and a corrupt politics + chaebol drama all rolled into one.

There was just too many different plots going on for any single one to make any sense.

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There are just so many things.... :P

But for me it was all the ridiculous plot assumptions given as reasons for doing things.

It started losing me in the first episode when they decided that a super doctor had to go to North Korea to save the local dictator and prevent a war. That whole plot device was just totally stupid.

And it went down from there - dozens of outright factual errors that would take minutes to check on the internet, plus people doing stupid things for no good reason. The continual contests on patients, spies shooting up hospitals and nobody ever notices.

I guess my past life as an engineer kicks in more than for most, and I tend to notice all the errors more than most - in this show though it was so bad that I totally lost any interest in who died, who kissed who, or if Jae Hee was really her or not.

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The show could have been really good, but like windsun33 says, it tried to be too many things and just ended up being repetitive and nonsensical.

This could have been a great show if it had been, say, about Hoon learning to adjust to life in South Korea with maybe a touch of spy stuff thrown in and no endless surgery contests or NoKo gf doppelgangering it up or back and forth about who likes whom.

If you really must watch a medical thriller with a North Korean element, even Cain & Abel is better than this.

Hell, even Heirs is better than this.

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I was expecting the story to go a different route....and when it didn't and got stuck on the love square/repetitive surgeries and hospital misconducts--I gave up.

I really loved the first two episodes --thought it set up a story about revenge (kind of like city hunter), finding the woman you loved and having her be a sidekick, and, more importantly, realizing what being a doctor meant after being put through the horror in NK and at the same time following his father's legacy while bringing his father's contribution to light.

I guess it was more of a personal disappointment.

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Honestly Nancy, I find that I am just watching for the eye candy. There are some fine actors but so little for them to work with, which makes me sad.

It would so nice to see a plot developing, layer after layer and the same goes for the characters, with steady growth and exposition.

There are sometimes dramas that you would want to read as a novel because of the great characters and storyline. I could never say that about Dr. Stranger.

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Right from the beginning the writer didn't bother making the premise plausible- Oh noes our leader is sick, if people find out the country will grind to a halt and the people will collapse in despair! And on that weak foundation we got spy stuff that didn't make sense and so many surgery competitions I've stopped counting.

Neither Seung/Jae Hee nor Soo Hyun were treated as characters in their own right. Even if Hoon was left in the dark we, the audience, should know Jae Hee's backstory and motivations. Soo Hyun had a promising start but pretty quickly she became a fanservice prop.

JJ talked about his revenge a bit but nothing happened until this week. His plots and the hospital politics shenanigans should have been where Soo Hyun's story happened but no.

I don't have much of a problem with Hoon -although it's clear Jae Hee is the smart one in that relationship- but I wish his road to doctor redemption had been handled better.

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I think people are just upset cause they thought this wasn't going to be a typical medical melodrama, and unfortunately it is. Viewers were also probably expecting more from Lee Jong Suk, cause his last drama (I [Can] Hear Your Voice) was so good.

But what I would tell those people is, "This IS a MELO! What did you expect?" LJS is still an excellent actor! AND he is acting his butt off despite, the bad writing (along with most of the rest of the cast). Hopefully he can get a better project next time.

Also, the story may end in cliff hangers in every episode, but once the writer(s) kinda answer one question, they go back and change their minds (ie Jae-Hee Loves Hoon; takes him back, then decides to not forgive him for saving her life over her fathers -_-). My brain checked out on the rest of the storyline. I am now only watching for my undying love for LJS and hoping he some how ends up with Soo Hyun.

QUACK COUPLE HWAITING!!!!

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Reasons why this drama is disappointing:

1. It tried so hard being mysterious with it's big conspiracy and the secret identity of Seung Hee. By midway, I guess the excitement built up ultimately failed to deliver the punch. In the end, it just seemed like a weak lame plan all in the name of saving their loved ones. If Seung Hee can easily fake an identity and stay in South Korea and become a doctor, why not just create a fake identity outside korea altogether and elope with Hoon???

2. A lot of things that just doesn't add up or explained properly. Like how Seung Hee/Jae Hee could have gotten training as secret spy in the short time she was away from Hoon? I mean she was shot, recovered, sick, trained to be the best anesthesiologist and secret agent during that short period of time? Not to mention how easily Comrade Cha was killed. This way the guy who manged to stay alive and wreck havoc in their lives for 10+ episodes and just get killed that easily?

3. Hoon has enough sense to know that Quack likes him but not enough sense to NOT lead her on from the beginning? The director/writer build up their chemistry to imitate a love line and not expect fans to be fighting over ship? It was a sinking ship from beginning but I sunk along with it. I think Hoon's relationship with Jae Hee was too forced to be real. They conveniently knew each other as a kid, grew up loving each other and planned to get married before she was suddenly arrested and then soooooo much more stuff in between just made me feel they forced it on me. Meanwhile Quack and Hoon took the time befriending each other and support one another in their workplace. I do think the writer messed up with Quack's character in the recent episodes.

This could have been a great drama, had it not linger on secrecy/conspiracy for too long and messed up with the character's growth. The only reason people find the cliffhanger somewhat interesting or keep tuning into is because they want to see how much lower this ship is sinking and how messed up the ending will be. I can honestly say, people just want it over and done with already.

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You know, context is everything - and this show made it clear from week 1 that Absolute Absurdity was the order of the day. There was really no way to know what in heaven's name was going on by the end of episode 2 and the following weeks remained pretty consistent on that count. [In case you doubt me, just revisit the Budapest sequence from when Joon stops Jae Hee's heart, revives her, spirits her away through the basilica-like columns of the embassy onto a nearby motorbike over the bumpy cobble stone streets of Budapest into a dead end which he escaped by gunning said motorbike UP some stone stairs and miraculously defying gravity and all things sacred in the physical universe to JUMP FLY the motorbike - (with the still-newly-resuscitated-kidney-transplantee-Jae Hee hanging on) - I say, JUMP FLY the motorbike over Cha who is waiting at the top of the stone stairs with menacing self-assurance, I repeat JUNPL FLY and LAND the motorbike to the threshhold of the bridge where he will lose her to the cold, cold river...] I believe that those who, after such shenanigans, did not immediately accept that Absolute Absurdity was the rule of law in Dr. Stranger's universe are the ones who ended up disappointed with the show.

If, however, you were willing to accept that there would be little sense to be had from the spitball plotting and the nodding-off-on-a-drowsey-afternoon character development writing, then you are golden!

Last week I wrote about owing this show the realization that I could sincerely enjoy nonsense and have fun doing it. If I have to be completely candid, I'll say that of all the kdramas I've seen, this is among the ones that most approaches the pointlessness quotient common to American shows.

Yet, despite all that it is lacking in poetry, art and logic, the "Dr. Stranger" actors imbue the show with oodles and oodles of charisma -- so much so that I keep watching just to indulge in their overflowing charm and I am quite thoroughly enjoying myself.

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I love the first 2 episodes. It was fabulous story telling with very good pacing (at least from the moment Lee Jong Suk appeared). Then it went on a strange ride. I take issues with these:

1) Doctor Moon - what's a professor doing from the beginning of his appearance till the end doing nothing but following another junior doctor around? Seriously?

2) Ridiculous focus on love 'triangle' - I am tempted to blame the pro-Soo Hyun camp for this. If there were not so many disgruntled voices about Jin Se Yeong and why-not-Kang-Sora-we-are-unhappy people out there, even before the show starts (yes, check it out. And oh, how they multiply! Look up the sky syndrome?), the writer may not have went on to weave a tale of never-ending this girl or that girl (yawn) story.

3) Wasting good opportunities of a good story. Certain storylines could have been done so much better. Such as Hoon's mother. I couldn't believe they let go of the excellent possibilities. Chang Yi and Hoon could have been done a little more. And oh, Hoon! Lee Jong Suk is such a good actor and he carried the show so well. Yet, the drama made his character into an audience halfway through. Unforgiveable!

4) the drama goes round and round like a merry-go-round. Ignoring important developments in the story but focusing on nothing. I am constantly reminded of the farce of Mary Stayed Out All Night.

3) Shoot the writer. Go ahead. Whatever reasons there are, it's still his fault for messing up everything. Even with a nothing-better-to-do doctor or endless, clueless and forced love triangle, it can still turn out well under a good writer. The writer reportedly apologised to LJS for the poor ratings. Well, he should have just quit.

The drama is not exactly boring since I am able to stick to now (ok largely because I want to watch the excellent acting of LJS). But it has focused on all the wrong elements in this drama. It went from being a fabulous drama to become a could-have-been.

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I don't necessarily think this drama has been a disappointment. I was hooked for the first 4-5 episodes, and I found the whole North/South tension thing really interesting. But, then it all just started to get a little silly and way too confusing. I kinda found that whole 'we're doctors, but we act like it's all a competition, and we don't really care if we screw up or sabotage each other so our patients die' thing. It was just absurd for me. I know that there has to be some evil dudes in this show for the whole thing to work, but... I just don't really get it.

And, for a long time, I was REALLY confused about the prime minister's evil master plan. But, when it was finally revealed, I just found it a bit stupid. I mean, all that stuff? Is that really necessary? If he really wanted to remove the President, I'm sure there could've been an easier way instead of kidnapping people of threatening left and right.

Again, I know it's the plot, but it just got way too silly and way too confusing and a bit dumb. It just started to seem like that all the characters really did was threatening people as they pleased or laugh/smile evilly in inappropriate situations O.o Who the hell smiles when a patient is about to die because some idiot doctor has been ordered to sabotage an operation? I don't get it.

And, I kinda started to get confused as of whom I was supposed to cheer for in this drama, because 80 % of the characters are so unlikable. The chairman is an idiot, his son is an idiot, the prime minister is an idiot, Jae Hee is an idiot (sorry, but I don't like her one bit), the President is a gullible idiot, Jae Joon keeps acting like an idiot. I mean, sure, he wants his revenge and yadada, but he's just cold, man, cold as ice.

Honestly, the supporting cast and Hoon are sort of the reason as to why I keep watching this drama. I love the quack doctor, and that wacky dude with the crazy/sweet sister. And I love Chang-yi, too. In my humble opinion, Lee Jong Suk really lifts this drama and makes it worth watching. I may be biased, but I probably wouldn't have watched it if he wasn't in it. He's a phenomenal actor, and I can't help but be drawn to him. It's like an emotional roller coster when he's on the screen, and I love him for that.

But, I do have to say, this drama isn't a bad drama, not at all. It's just... I feel like it's trying too hard and it has too much going on. I really feel like they could've done more with Jae Joon's character, he feels like wasted potential, really. I'll be watching the last two episodes, as I do want to see how this plays out, and how it ends. But, I'm kinda hoping for Hoon to drop Jae Hee. First loves never work out, and they haven't managed to convinced me yet that they belong together. But, oh well, they'll probably get their happy end. But, in my humble opinion, this drama would really get a boost if the predictable didn't happen after all :)

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I see negative comments because of Jin Se Yeon's acting its so bad I've only seen two kinds of emotion...

At least the two actors really made this drama on top I want to thank Park Hae Jin for his powerful acting and Lee Jong Suk for his charisma and chemistry to all the characters I really mean ALL. I want both guys for another drama because Jong Suk is so good compared to other actor whom he shares with the same age. Good acting bad writing.

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I am so hung up on the horrible writing and plot that I have pretty much lost all interest in the actors or characters. I guess we all look for different things in a drama, but for me it has to make SOME kind of sense in the genre it is supposed to be.

Fated To Love You is totally insane and improbable - but that is what it is SUPPOSED to be, so I am fine with it. I am honestly not sure WHAT this show is even supposed to be about.

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A 'Stranger than Dr Stranger' drama.

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I won't criticize any actor's performance because for me they all do their acting well. I believe the problem lies in their character portrayal, not in their acting. Jae Hee's character is the worst. The writer should at least give her a backstory so we can understand her better and not loathe her that much. I fell bad for all the actors especially Jin Se Yeon. They should never do this drama, though the not bad ratings is beyond me. I wonder if people watch it coz they really enjoy the craziness, or they just want to criticize.

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That's why it's so hard to be invested in Seung Hee/Jae Hee's character, half the time I'm wondering what emotion she's trying to deliver.

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Thank you for these recaps! I stopped watching the episodes a couple of weeks back, it was just too bewildering+frustrating, but I still wanted to know how things would turn out...

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<So for instance, you could say that it is—… Actually, that’s all I’ve got. It exists, therefore it is.

Bwahahahahahaha....

I dropped this show after ep. 2, saving myself from almost all the heartache and hurting brain*.

The recaps have been hilariously entertaining though, thumbs up HeadsNo2.

I hope you get the best drama of the year to recap next.

I want to say I hope the actors get a got long break and better project next time too, but then they decided to do the follow-up film. (?!?!?!?!? Didn't they want to RUUUUUUUNNNN from this trainwreck screaming? Is that $$$$$ really worth it?)

*almost all because even the recaps are painful sometimes (not through your fault of course, but because of the constantly recycled parts and the completely nonsensical bits)

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I wish I had stopped when you did, but I lasted all the way up to ep9. I should have known much earlier - when in ep1 they said that the US would start a war if Kim-1 died - a premise that was just so off the wall that it was obvious that the writer had no grasp of Korean history.

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You may be onto something.

Bewildering as it may be, I think that so many decisions surrounding production of Korean dramas and films are made with the target viewers in mind. The question is who are they and what do they like?

Well, whoever the target viewers may be, I am not them. That is for sure.

As for factors influencing actors and actresses, it is CFs, CFs, and CFs. In other words, money.

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I hold out hope that some aren't all about money but have integrity – artistic, moral, etc (like Kim Soo Hyun that turned down that Chinese film project that ditched Yeo Jin-gu).

Sure, it's difficult to quit when you already started a project (and most of the time you probably shouldn't), but I do question their artistic judgment on wanting to add another instalment to this drama when it could have been avoided.

Not that I blame them, but I'm just going to be a little more hesitant when they announce their future projects. Maybe that's harsh, but I just don't want to lower my standard for dramas. I sometimes feel that's happening – that the bar gets lower and lower (e.g. with casting of people who clearly can't act in lead roles or rewrites mid-drama purely for the fans) and people just make excuses that it's not that bad, that other dramas have worse plots or more non-sensical characters, that the actors are trying, that ratings are high even when it's clear a drama is a train wreck. I think the best actors should be cast, the story should be well-thought out, the characters compelling etc etc etc.

I'll stop before I get too off-topic!

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Personally, I have enjoyed watching the playful interactions between the hospital staff (basically, Hoon, Quack, Moon and the nurses) and skipped the scenes with the old people (because that's where the weird non-sensical intrigues were made).

Maybe this is why I don't hate the drama. Although I kinda gave up on it being good after Hoon's Dad died. :)

I also find the OTP wars amusing - it reminds me of Reply 94 and how little it mattered after we were through.
2 more episodes! HWAITING!

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Agree with you, I really love the bromance between dr. moon and hoon, haha Dr. Moon is so funny. at least from the earlier eps. I gave up watching already.

Yes this one give me the same frustation with reply 1994 esp coz i know my otp aren't going to end up together. That drama also overuse the husband mystery until the last eps. Even though i really love other character i can't stand the frustration.

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Even Dr Moon got tired.

How much of this dude ridiculous antics, can you stomach episode after episode?

And he's a doctor? Like REALLY?

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I think that part of the art of watching dramas is strategic fast-forwarding.

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My father is a doctor he watch this series with me, I ask him if its normal that doctors compete with patient, he answered me yes, sometimes... And he think the drama is bearable despite too much unethical thingy going on.

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Fighting, Heads! You'll never have to look at this mess any more after next week, stay strong!

I hope Kang Sora takes Misaeng and Lee Jong-seok and Park Hae-jin take.....well, anything else, I need to forget that they were ever in this. Even the PD appeared to acknowledge in an interview that the story is a mess though not in so many words of course.

(also it is really funny how Shin Sung-rok and Park Hae-jin basically swapped role types for their next dramas after YFAS - with SSR playing dorky and charming in Trot Lovers and PHJ playing, not evil but certainly very obsessed and not good for the hero, here)

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if we want to talk about makjang drama ( overly push-the unbelievable plot till the end), i guess Doctor Stranger is totally fit the makjang definition. instead of giving an answer, they always give the confusion to the viewers. confusion about the spy, confusion about the loveline. the only good point that i can take from this drama is - their medical plot wise. plus the great acting from hoon,jaejoon and soohyun. but sorry jaehee, u acting so weird and not realistic as the lead. i feel so dissapointed with jin se yeon. she already being the leads for 3 drama but then can't even improve. so upsetting

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yah you are right jin se yeon's acting is so bad, she couldn't match the untensity of lee jong suks acting.... gosh and she is the leads in her all kdramas compared who is always a supporting actor.

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Jin Se Yeon was great in My Daughter the Flower and it showed she had a lot of potential. Then she got stuck playing characters that were similar. I feel like it's her company forcing her to take on these roles one after another because she has evens said that she wished she had time to get into character instead of jumping from one to the next. The writing and lack of character development would give no actor no matter how "good" they were justice. I hope she can get a break after this and pick a really good script and prove those critics wrong.

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He he, I totally forgot I saw this episode and that the recap has not been out ! Tells so much about the show doesn't it ?

Whatever it maybe, this recap was hilarious heads ! I was suffering from a heartbreak but reading this, I laughed out loud and feel lighter than I have all day ! Thanks heads !

The branch hospital in Fifth dimension and that off screen game of telephone would be best words to describe this drama!

And am quite glad it would stop existing by next week !

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The greatest tragedy is the loss of that new hospital on Jeju Island. It's core research issue was determining the source of that great kdrama curse, No Peripheral Vision, in which you can miss someone standing in plain sight ten feet away eavesdropping, or an evil minion grabbing your mother and carrying her off while you're talking on a cell phone.

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This show is worth it for generating comments like these.

(also, what's wrong with a hospital in Jejudo? It's a beautiful place, you'd think those 'doctors' would be grateful to live and work in a famed holiday spot but the way they behave it's like the fabled branch hospital is set in the DMZ)

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Another:

Death by bad news (chairman).

Ha! And we sat through 16 eppies for this moment of revenge.

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Still better than a fifty-fifty chance of Se Yeon croaking it in the last week, to the cheers of the audience, because it may be the only thing they're looking forward to.

Myself, I'm hoping Bora will do a sexy dance number. Is her character still alive? Actually, that doesn't really matter. Even dead, she'd be livelier than this script.

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Fighting Heads!! Only one week left!
I watch this drama with one eye on screen and the other wandering around from ep 5 I think. Never I thought it could be much worse...
I don't know why they are still doing whatever they're doing with almost no advancement. Ever after Hoon comes to hospital from the first day, it's clear the objective is to do THE Surgery, but the plot just goes round and round with never ending competition, plans, revenge and whatever it is. Headache inducing and the writing is so bad, I swear I could make better plot than this.

It reminds me a bit of Empress Ki when we get endless revenge talks and crazy stuffs thrown as plots. At least I watch much more actions and some characters stay to the characters in EK, unless in DS. Bipolar characters, ever-changing minds, pointless competitions, and so on.
Sorry for the rant!

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I so should have commented this earlier but it just hit me. I think most will recognize the tune:

This is the contest that never ends. It goes on and on, my frenemy. Some people started doctoring not knowing what it was, but then they prepare for surgery forever just because this is the contest that never ends. It goes on and on, my frenemy...etc.

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Funny. Coincidence - maybe or maybe not - but, I just referenced The Song That Never Ends in a discussion with someone yesterday.

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If all the episodes were available, I would definitely just skip to the last episode. This drama tests the patience of the viewers!!

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Thanks Heads! I bailed on this show weeks ago, but look forward to reading your recaps. Writer is definitely gone over to crazy town.

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I keep hoping next wk brings forth a better progression, but no - only more surgery competitions.

Amazing how:
(1) PM and Prez have got nothing better to do, than to sit together to view surgeries that they probably don't understand anyway.

(2) Doctors who have nothing better to do, in a top busy hospital ... than to keep watching live surgeries. If got learning purposes, they have never heard of recordings?

(3) A doctor, with seemingly no capabilities except to ass-kiss and get into totally derpy situations ... has the potential to be in running for acting chairman? Yes Dr Moon, looking at YOU!

(4) A redundant dwerp with equally dwerp fashion and color sense and haircut ... what is the purpose in his presence? I was so cheering when they finally came to take him away. YAY please lock him up out of sight for the next 2 eppies until it ends.

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I keep hoping next wk brings forth a better progression, but no - only more surgery competitions.

Amazing how:
(1) PM and Prez have got nothing better to do, than to sit together to view surgeries that they probably don't understand anyway.

(2) Doctors who have nothing better to do, in a top busy hospital ... than to keep watching live surgeries. If got learning purposes, they have never heard of recordings?

(3) A doctor, with seemingly no capabilities except to ass-kiss and get into totally derpy situations ... has the potential to be in running for acting chairman? Yes Dr Moon, looking at YOU!

(4) A redundant dwerp with equally dwerp fashion and color sense and haircut ... what is the purpose in his presence? I was so cheering when they finally came to take him away. YAY!!! please lock him up out of sight for the next 2 eppies until this cra-cray finally ends.

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first comment here. my disappointment in this drama is inconsistency character. It's fine for me to have multi-plot as long as the character consistent, the feeling, expression, reasoning of its character handle the plot. but if it's inconsistent, the scene and the plot become unbelievable and it's pain to watch

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"...you could say that it is—…Actually, that’s all I’ve got. It exists, therefore it is."~HeadsNo2

Doctor Stranger is kdrama's answer to or version of Facebook's recent experiment on mood manipulation (i.e. to elicit positive and negative emotional responses). Who knows how many stopped at Episode 2; how many dropped DS midway; how many are just reading the recaps; or how many are still watching and willing to stick with DS until the very end?

For a moment, I thought about saving the following remark for Episode 20's finale recap. But decided otherwise thanks to the world of and modus operandi of Doctor Stranger. When it comes to repetitive behavior for 19+ episodes - Doctor Stranger takes the cake. So who cares if a post (comment) is repeated more than once.

Lee Jong-Suk, Park Hae-Jin, Kang So-Ra, and Choi Jung-Woo...

Did you select Doctor Stranger as your next drama because you listened to advice from your agent(s)/agency? If this was the case, they really should pay you EXTRA $$$$$$$.

Or did you make personally choose Doctor Stranger as your next drama? If so, you did a BADDDDDDD BADDDDDDDD THING!

Park Min-young you made the right decision to turn down the roles of Song Jae-Hee & Han Seung-Hee.

To those who were disappointed with Episode 16 of A New Leaf or the way it ended...NEVER did A New Leaf veer near or into WTF territory like Doctor Stranger!

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I don't know why, but i find this show so baffling and incredulous that it becomes somewhat fascinating?

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I agree! At the end of the week, when I settle down to catch up on my shows, I always find myself watching Doctor Stranger first.

This show is very aptly titled. It is well, a show about Doctor(s) getting Stranger and stranger :p

Strategic fast-forwarding has been very helpful in getting through those tedious parts. And I can't help burst into laughter at each ludicrous scene.

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I know this drama can be pretty disappointing in terms of its storyline and inconsistency but seriously, why are there so many people that come to this review and keep lashing on how they should do this and that to the drama?

And the most ironic thing is that I've noticed that the people who commented generally feel that the show's really bad and ridiculous to the point that their feedbacks are REALLY insulting and it makes me get the impression that these people would instead kill themselves than to watch this crap but hell no... you just keep watching and look for more holes to laugh at. I'm not supporting the writers or anything but what I'm hoping to see is some respect to those who've put the effort to make this drama.

I mean if you have nothing positive to say about this its enough to just post one comment to express your views. But seeing comments by the same people every week saying that the show's ridiculous and fked up and yet these people still continue watching with their only reason being "this show's ludicrousy fascinates me" is pretty pathetic. (and yea convince me that that's the reason why Doctor Stranger is leading in terms of ratings)

I mean why watch something that annoys, frustrate and stress you? And before posting smth really insulting, think if you have really nothing better to do.

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...ah, the old fangirl argument. Why should people making a drama deserve respect for putting out a subpar product, anyway? It's a product, not a religious ceremony. And viewers have every right to criticise something put up for their consumption and which hopes to make money off them, even using harsh words if they so choose. If it hurts your feelings that much, this isn't the place for you - the show is barely making double digit ratings, if you really want to boast about first place.

Also JB, GF and now Heads have watched plenty of shows that have frustrated and annoyed them, though it would be a bit of wishful thinking to say they were 'stressed', lol.

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What amuse me is how you're are going all out to lash on a product that you claim to barely deserve your consumption and yet continues to "torture" yourselves by watching this... if I expect any criticism it would be in the beginning/middle of the show when you should be realising that the drama is substandard (and ofc being a rational being, cease watching it) and not at ep 18 when the show's almost ending.

It's funny how you could continue to consume the product that you seem to loathe for a good 9-10 weeks, on your own accord, and at the same time incessantly criticising how unacceptable it is and how it shouldn't deserve your attention at all.

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I'm one of those commenters who gets fascinated by the ludicrousness (btw, 'ludicrousy' isn't a word).

This show doesn't "annoy, frustrate, or stress" me. It's makjang - laughably, over-the-top plots. (Ironic, since SBS announced a makjang-free policy just a month ago).

As for the ratings, I'll quote Javabeans with "the problem is, makjang drives ratings. People may swear at their screens while watching the ridiculous antics unfold on them, but it keeps them tuning in, as we saw when Aurora Princess’ ever-increasing insanity correlated with ever-increasing ratings.".

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It’s funny how you could continue to consume the product

...and who says we are? I'm only here for Heads' recap, I'm not wasting bandwidth on this rubbish and haven't been for the last three weeks.

It's really wishful thinking on the part of fans that Dr Stranger has that many viewers who even care about it any more. Sorry honey, we don't. And you don't have the right to tell people how they should consume or criticise their dramas, just saying.

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I think for some of us, the reason why we still read the recaps is because we are hoping against hope that somehow, by some miracle, the show will prove us wrong and actually put on an episode that will astound us or maybe, just to give us a little bit of hope. We are talking about actors the likes of Kang Sora and Lee Jung Suk so we know their calibre of acting so some of us are sticking with the show because of them. There are others still who are following the show just to see how it ends, how they will tie up all the million loose ends or if this show is ever going to improve. I believe that some criticisms this show has received is appropriately so. And that is why most of us have resorted to just reading the recaps and not wasting anymore of our time. We still want to know how this show ends, if only to hope that they will somehow manage to shed light to the major issues.

And I don't think we are stressed. Annoyed maybe, but not stressed.

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Jae hee -> Soo Hyun, Hoon likes you
Jae joon -> Soo Hyun, its ok to like Hoon
Soo Hyun -> Hoon likes Jae hee~!
Hoon -> Jae hee, I killed your father because he asked me to save you. Soo Hyun, your father sent my father to die.

For some reason I foresee someone in their noble idiocy sacrificing them self for others. I wonder if all four will die.

It's getting messy, but at least it is almost over. Competition is over. Just hanging out for the end to see who lives, who dies and whether first lead actually breaks tradition and ends up with second lead. But looking unlikely.

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my friend and I gave up on this drama on episode 6.. we get more confused and the story gets more convoluted by each episode with NOTHING answered or explained.. even jumping to episode 18.. feels like it's as wacky, if not more, than it was before. I have to say the synopsis was VERY misleading.. oh well..

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Hardly "stressful" though it can be aggravating when tuning in to realize they're lined up yet another competition!

I am one of those guilty as charged for still sitting through this train-wreck. I am new to the re-caps (Thanks Heads!)

Just want to see it through, at this point.

1) Admittedly, because I think Lee Jong-suk is good with a lot of potential to be more, and I like the (hopefully) dol pa-ri Kang So-ra pairing. And Park Hae-jin is a very decent actor too.

2) There's nothing wonderful or a compelling watch out there, this current season. For me anyway. :(((

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For me its a good drama and it has a great twist as I cant predict at all what will happen next ep..but it start to be weird and not logic with the so call competition.. I mean, what kind of doctor will play with someone's life.. The director really pick a good actors to lighten up the drama.. As for the love line, they shouldn't put lots of oh and hoon together if they want to make Hoon as someone who only loves one person since the beginning..And they should have lots of Jaehee's scenes when she had being tortured in criminal camp..at least show how hoon has motivated her to keep alive.. That will prove her love to Hoon to the viewers at least.. otherwise, this drama can be a big hit as the story line in the beginning look so great.. I still watch this drama as I already absorb with Hoon and Jaehee characters.. I love this couple so much.. what ever happen in the finale, I just hope all the conflicts will be solve and not just left the viewers with a hang up ending..At least a happy ending for HoonHee couple is relevant after all they had been through since 1st ep.. or else, those love story line will be just useless.. dude, u are the one that mention to us that 2 heartbeat beat as one that evn fate cant separate them..so prove it!

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Pues a mi la verdad que me ah encantado este drama..cada personaje me gusta lastima que se termine :(

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I agreed with a comment above about the first episodes of Doctor Stranger. I was kind of hoping for this to be a great drama since I got that City Hunter vibe which I absolutly LOVED and still can't get over it (I just watched it a month ago). I was hoping the revenge and conspiracy plots to be just as exciting as CH was. This is the first time I saw LJS and I think he's great (I even started I hear your voice a week ago) and loved his chemistry with Quack they should've been the main couple and still hoping they go this way. I agree when you say the competion was tiring how probably it is that out of 4 surgeries the pacient dies. Of course Hoon's first patient died, Quack's mom but he basically did that surgery because she begged him to, so this men are constantly playing and betting that one patient die (or has to) to choose the doctor and at end it doesn't even matter because president made the decision himself. WHY couldn't he choose by the results on the twins surgery? That and their records were enough to base his pick. I hate Jae hee, she's so blank and emotionless in every situation :| (happy) :| (sad) :| (angry) WTF? I really had high expectations for Doctor Stranger, seeing some of my loved/hated actors from City hunter I thought I was going to get the same history quality. So sad it didn't... As for the acting I only have problems with Jae Hee.

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