Kdrama Review: Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim (Season 1-3)

Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Main Genre: Romance

I was going through a “medical” phase when I started watching Romantic Doctor, and this show definitely satisfied my craving. 

Synopsis: A story about Boo Yong-joo ( Han Suk-kyu), a triple-board certified surgeon, who was once at the top of his field and used to work at Seoul 's top medical center, Geosan University Hospital. After a traumatic incident, he disappears and changes his name to Kim Sa-bu.

This show has created such fantastic characters! First of all, Kim Sa-bu, of course, was the star of the show. He seems like a grumpy old man, but in reality, he’s a softie for the people he cares about and is really wise. He has a romanticized view of life. I, along with the characters throughout this series, have learned so much from Kim Sa-bu. His past as Boo Yong-joo, the best surgeon known to even bring people back from the dead, is what made him who he is now, Kim Sa-bu. A mentor to the young surgeons who find themselves at Doldam Hospital, a small hospital in the countryside where Kim Sa-bu works. They really couldn’t have chosen a better actor than Han Suk-kyu to take on the role of Kim Sa-bu, he really brought the character to life. I loved his facial expressions throughout the series, they were quite entertaining and also fit the character’s vibe.

In Season 1 we have Dr. Yoon Seo Jung and Dr. Kang Dong Joo. These are the two main love interests and young surgeons in Season 1. Dr. Yoon Seo Jung aspires to be a better doctor and takes Kim Sa-bu as inspiration. She is both strong and weak. Her past traumas are what makes her weak but her determination to get over them and fight to become better is what makes her strong. Dr. Kang Dong Joo lost his father as a kid because no doctor treated him and that made him decide he wanted to become a doctor to keep people from being neglected like his father was. He sticks to his morals when he first becomes a doctor but slowly starts to want to go down the path of success which makes him bend his morals. Dr. Kang Dong Joo wasn’t the nicest and really did not like Kim Sa-bu at first, but later on his character developed and by the end of the season, I loved his character so much. 

In Season 2 and 3, the main love interests and young surgeons are Dr. Cha Eun Jae and Dr. Seo Woo Jin. Dr. Cha Eun Jae is overall a great doctor, but she has a problem of falling asleep in the Operating Room (OR) because of the pills she takes to soothe her upset stomach that she gets whenever she has to do a surgery in the OR. As a result, this gets her sent to Doldam since they needed surgeons as Dr. Yoon Seo Jung and Dr. Kang Dong Joo left to study and improve as doctors. Dr. Cha Eun Jae improves working in the OR with the help of Kim Sa-bu. I generally didn’t love her character in season two that much, there wasn’t a lot of depth in her character. Though in season three, I start admiring her as she starts standing up and overall becomes a stronger character that I loved to support. Dr. Seo Woo Jin is known as a “whistle-blower”, someone who informs about wrong things going on in an organization. This causes him to be an outcast and he’s having trouble finding work as a result of this. Kim Sa-bu hears about him and recruits him. Dr. Seo Woo Jin takes up the offer as he needs money because he borrowed money from loan sharks who won’t get off his back. At first, all being a doctor meant to Dr. Seo Woo Jin was to make money but working with Kim Sa-bu changed his mindset. By season three, he was completely on team Kim Sa-bu and was by his side no matter what. I really admired Dr. Seo Woo Jin’s sense of right and wrong and how logical he was. He was always calm and reasonable; I loved his character. 

The second leads of this series were also SO GOOD. Head Nurse Oh Myung Shim, Nurse Park Eun Tak, Dr. Do In Bum, Dr. Park Min Gook and so many more characters were simply outstanding. I loved the two nurses; Head Nurse Oh Myung Shim was close with Kim Sa-bu and supported him through and through. Nurse Park Eun Tak was a kind of closed off person who didn’t show many emotions but when he did, I was swept off my feet. The actor who played Nurse Park Eun Tak, Kim Min-jae, was crazy good. When he broke his calm demeanor, and actually got angry, or sad, or worried, you could really feel what he was feeling. The scene when Nurse Park Eun Tak really got mad at these guys from his past who came to his hospital because they started provoking him was when I was like “dang, he’s good.” It was a shock to me because from the way his fists shook and to how his eyes were wide and filled with anger, he really executed what he was feeling perfectly. The character development in Dr. Do In Bum and Dr. Park Min Gook was so good, I couldn’t get over their character development. I loved it so much! Seeing a character go from being on the antagonist’s side to the protagonist’s side is such a satisfying victory.

Talking about antagonists, Director Do Yoon Wan, the head of Geosan University Foundation at first, was our antagonist for season 1 and 2 in this series. In season 1, I hated him so bad but we had someone more powerful that helped Kim Sa-bu keep him in check. Though in season 2 we didn’t have this luxury and I hated him even more. I hated him so much and he wouldn’t leave Doldam alone at all, it just got frustrating, repetitive, and kind of boring at times because of that. That’s also the reason why I dropped a star from my rating. Season 2 I kind of had to force myself to finish, but season 3 was really worth it. Though I have to say, the ending in season 2 that got rid of this guy was even better than I could have imagined, and his reaction was even better. In Season 3, there wasn’t a “main antagonist” but there were multiple problems that were continuously having to be dealt with, though it never got really boring. The more the season went on, the better it got.

The plot for all three seasons were really well made. They brought tense situations and problems that would have me on the edge of my seat and then afterwards ease the situation so we could all recover. Overall, the series had a good balance of humor, romance, suspense, wholesomeness, and everything in between. I think the length of this series is intimidating, and i have to agree it can seem like a lot, but you’ll fly through it if you get invested enough like me lol. At some times you may have to push yourself to watch the next episode, but overall, it’s 100% worth your time. 

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