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What started out last week as a tumultuous drama I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get behind, has morphed, this week, into a drama to which I am now completely addicted. So what happened in this week’s episodes of Emergency Couple that changed my tune? Well, let’s dig into them and find out!
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Emergency Couple Episodes 3-4 (2/4)”
Welcome back to the Emergency Couple review, episodes three and four with Karen, who is reviewing Emergency Couple each week with Zombie Mamma and Tanya. If last week’s introductory episodes were incredulous, then this week’s episodes are bound to be more interesting because of additional background information on our main characters. Unfortunately, there are still some ridiculous plot lines that bother me.
Last week’s episodes ended with Oh Jin Hee (Song Ji Hyo) shocking a suicidal patient and her ex-husband and intern colleague, Oh Chang Min (Choi Jin Hyuk). Immediately afterwards, almost all medical personnel rushed to Oh Chang Min’s side. What about the suicidal patient? He was never seen again nor did I see anybody treat him. I thought it didn’t make sense to focus all the energy on Chang Min and not the other patient. Even the patient who was accidentally shot by the suicidal patient had more screen time than the actual suicidal patient. Was the suicidal patient’s life not as important as the other patients? I had unresolved feelings about that mini story. In fact, the nurse said the drunkard, suicidal patient was discharged afterwards. Shouldn’t he go to the police station?
Once again, I have my doubts about what intern life is really about at the hospital. From what I learned from the drama, interns are lucky if they even have one hour for lunch because they never know when an emergency can happen and they are summoned. How much sense does it make to leave the hospital to go out for lunch and on top of that, a blind date? Even worse, Oh Chang Min’s blind date was supposed to be fellow intern, Han Ah Reum (Clara). Chang Min is so obedient towards his mother that he didn’t have any common sense. Is it that hard to change the blind date to an evening time after interns get off of work? Profession aside, a lunch date isn’t really enough time to get to know somebody anyway. Han Ah Reum’s family should have known that it would be quite impossible for Han Ah Reum to go to this lunch date when she is an intern at a hospital. The lunch date was doomed to fail from the beginning.
I really like Dr. Gook’s (Lee Pil Mo) response to an intern taking lunch during an emergency. Even with his buried pain, he’s becoming quite the comical character from his expressions to his view on hospital life.
Actress and comedian Jung Joo Ri has a few cameo scenes as the person who attends the blind date in Han Ah Reum’s place. The way Jung Joo Ri looks at art is basically how I look at art. She mistakes the artist’s name (but, thankfully corrects herself) and criticizes the man’s hairstyle in Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing of the “Vitruvian Man.”
In a way, I love that Han Ah Reum is from the United States or at least has a western mentality. I get to see how she reacts to Korean culture. Foreigners such as I would learn a lesson or two about how to assimilate into Korean culture.
I am intrigued by what Oh Jin Hee said about referring to others who are more than five years in age difference by name. My Korean husband, however, says it really depends on the situation, but either way, I would feel more comfortable referring to my colleagues by surname if I were working in a hospital.
On the other hand, I feel that Han Ah Reum is so rude. I hope her behavior doesn’t reflect badly on all Americans. I would never make fun of other people’s age and their insecurities. The way she bullied Oh Jin Hee was such a turn-off to me that I hope Chang Min never falls in love with her.
On a positive note, I have a better understanding on why Oh Jin Hee became a doctor. She has been supported by Oh Chang Min’s father, Oh Tae Suk, all along. I believe Oh Tae Suk had been burdened by the guilt of his wife separating Oh Chang Min’s marriage to Oh Jin Hee so Oh Tae Suk decided to secretly support Oh Jin Hee’s path to become a doctor. I find Oh Tae Suk and Oh Jin Hee’s relationship very sweet even though they can no longer meet due to the awkwardness of their relationship. Perhaps Chang Min’s father will take the Vice-Director job at the hospital after he learns of Jin Hee and Chang Min’s fateful working relationship.
On a side note, the way Chang Min’s parents fight seems to be way more vicious than Chang Min and Jin Hee’s martial fight, yet Chang Min’s parents are not divorced.
Lastly, I will talk about the Emergency Couple love gauge. Finally, the drama gives me what I want when Oh Chang Min shows a bit of concern for Oh Jin Hee when they found out that their patient, whom they performed tracheotomy on, had died. As they both tried to take the blame, Oh Chang Min was more forceful in protecting Oh Jin Hee, but I will have to wait until next week’s episode to find out what exactly will happen. Previously, Chang Min hated Jin Hee so much that he would rather be shot by the suicidal patient than be saved by Jin Hee. Will protection turn into love again?
Check out our blogs for more dramatic fun!
I don’t know how this week has been for you but for me, it’s been an absolute nightmare. In an effort to salvage what little sanity I have left, I decided to go back in time and pull up a drama whose very name invokes all manner of warm-fuzzies for me, in the hopes that those warm and pleasant memories would be strong enough to drive all of the crappiness of this past week away. While I can’t say this desperate attempt to forget my life for a moment has been totally successful, the memories I have of sitting down to watch my very first K-Drama, and the feelings that inevitably followed, were enough to bring about a few moments peace which is why I’m now suggesting you make the time to marathon My Princess this weekend.
Zombie: So it seems we’re all in agreement that the first episode of Emergency Couple wasn’t nearly as awesome as maybe we were all hoping it would be. Maybe it’s because we’re all married that we don’t find a hugely gianormous fight between our OTP all that funny; especially when said fight brings about the end of a marriage.
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Emergency Couple Episodes 1-2 (4/4)”
Welcome to the Emergency Couple review with Zombie Mamma, Tanya, and Karen. My name is Karen and for the next ten weeks, my partners and I will be sharing our thoughts on the newest episodes of Emergency Couple. Our thoughts will be simultaneously and exclusively posted on each of our blogs: Zombie Mamma, Hallyu Know?, and Wehaiyo! You can find our latest updates on either of these blogs. All three of us are Dramafever Drama club reviewers for the Dramafever website, but decided that we would review this drama independently.
What I am anticipating in the Emergency Couple drama is the chemistry between actor Choi Jin Hyuk, who plays Oh Chang Min and Song Ji Hyo, who plays Oh Jin Hee. When I first heard of the story line for Emergency Couple, it sounded very similar to the story line of the 2011 SBS drama, Paradise Ranch. The two main characters of Paradise Ranch are played by Shim Chang Min, who is most famous for being one half of the TVXQ band and actress Lee Yeon Hee. Their characters married young against their parents wishes, but divorced soon after. Years later, they meet again and fall back in love by the end of the drama. Paradise Ranch was the first full drama I watched on the Dramafever website, but the story line left me so disappointmented and worse, I felt that there wasn’t enough chemistry between Chang Min and Lee Yeon Hee. I sincerely hope that Emergency Couple does not fall into this trap. I can deal with a bad story line, but I don’t think I can handle another chemistry-lacking couple.
Emergency Couple is the third Korean medical drama I am watching. I have watched the 2007-2008 MBC drama, New Heart, which focuses heavily on the medical part and I have watched the 2013 KBS2 drama, Good Doctor, which has an equal dose of medical and love in the drama. By the way, if you haven’t already, I have reviewed all episodes of Good Doctor for Dramafever so feel free to browse through those reviews as well. So far, Emergency Couple seems to be the type of drama that focuses more on love than the medical part. We don’t get any political bickering at the hospital as seen in Good Doctor and there is no hint of any staff member who has familial ties to any hospital administration executive as seen in New Heart.
Still, with a third medical drama under my belt, I should be more familiar about how a hospital works, but I don’t. I am still very surprised at what an intern life was about. How are interns different from resident doctors? I notice that all interns go to work and leave at the same time. I wonder if the residents take over after the interns go home. Why didn’t they go home in shifts like residents do? I understand the interns of team four are assigned to the emergency room for three months, but what are the other departments? I would have liked to know the name of the other departments. I was also extremely surprised when Oh Jin Hee poured a bag of a patient’s urine on top of Oh Chang Min’s head, exposing him to contamination. I work in a medical-related field so I know that this is definitely a very dangerous thing to do. Who knows if the patient had any kind of infection and the urine actually got into Chang Min’s eyes. He would need to go to an eye washing station and report the incident to his supervisor immediately as well as get medical treatment as needed. Jin Hee would have lost her job immediately as she did it on purpose and Chang Min would have to deal with the medical consequences. This is never something to ever joke around with because everyone has a right to be safe at the workplace. Chang Min could not simply go to the bathroom and “wash it off.” I am very bothered by that scene as it was a reckless move by interns who should know better.
On a related note, I am disappointed that, like the plot of Good Doctor, there is bullying going on in this drama as well. Jin Hee’s first day was not only tough because of her mistakes from the previous night, but because all her team members wanted her to quit the hospital because she looked old and unreliable. I have low tolerance for people who judge other people without spending the time to understand the other person. Even the chief, Gook Chun Soo (Lee Pil Mo), tried to fire Jin Hee on the first day without giving her a chance to work. On that note, I felt sad for Jin Hee, especially after she removed her medical diplomas and placed them in her desk drawer instead. What a way to knock someone down. On the other hand, why couldn’t she tell Chief Gook the reason why she wanted to be a doctor? That’s really suspicious. In a way, I am not sure if she should quit or not quit because of that hesitation.
So far, I cannot take sides on this love drama war. Chang Min and Jin Hee equally annoyed me and I don’t see a reason to take either side. Jin Hee seems to be such a weak character who is physically and emotionally influenced easily. Chang Min’s words are so poisonous and his character is very selfish. As a married woman, I found their famous fight scene so dramatic. No matter how angry I am, I would not take my anger out on such expensive items. I guess they didn’t show Chang Min and Jin Hee hitting each other because otherwise, the audience would be too shocked and uncomfortable with domestic violence. From what I see, both sides have their faults and I wonder how they will fall back in love within one year at the hospital. I expected Jin Hee to be more competent as an intern since she obviously worked hard to get where she is, but she messed up a simple thing like a blood draw, making me lose some of my faith in her abilities.
Those suffering from an Heirs drama withdrawal will experience a bit of deja vu because actress Park Joon Geum is playing Choi Jin Hyuk’s mother again, only this time she is his real mother and Jin Hyuk seems to be a mama’s boy.
Yoon Joo Sang, who I will always affectionately remember as Shin Sang Duk from the 2013 SBS drama, I Hear Your Voice, makes a cameo appearance as Chang Min and Jin Hee’s wedding officiant. Actress Jun Soo Kyung also makes an appearance as a hospital director who flirts with Chang Min.
Since we ended with a ridiculous plot line where a suicidal patient had easy access to a security guard patient’s gun, Jin Hee shocked the suicidal patient and Chang Min with a defibrillator, which was a bit comical because I don’t know if her facial expression at the time meant that she enjoyed it or not. I think, at this point, I can’t take the medical part too seriously so I better enjoy the romantic comedy parts and that’s exactly what I signed up for.
Look for our upcoming collaborative chat about episodes one and two soon, exclusively on our blogs.
Zombie Mamma | Hallyu Know? | Wehaiyo!
Emergency Couple:
Episodes 1-2: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]
Welcome to Hallyu Zombie Drama Review! I am joined by The Zombie Mamma and Karen Yoon-Kung and we will be writing weekly opinions on Emergency Couple starring Choi Jin Hyuk and Song Ji Hyo.
Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about this show yet, so my opinion may be fairly short this time around. In Episode 1, we got to witness an adorable rush to the alter as Oh Chang Min and Oh Jin Hee ran away from those who were seemingly protesting the marriage (this was never really explained, so I can only assume that is what was actually happening). Then we are launched into a depressing household, where the characters have been married a year, but there is not real explanation as to what went wrong and how they ended up in that situation. The climax is, of course, this epic fight between the couple which I didn’t find humorous at all. I have to say though, even though it was a bit over the top, it was one of the most realistic fights I have seen between a couple in a drama. There truly are toxic relationships that end with everything literally being destroyed and the two sides just staring at each other as to say “how did we get here?” So in that sense, bravo drama land?
Since so much of the beginning story is missing, Episode 2 seems a little off-kilter to me. They run into each other, obviously still have an extreme dislike for one another, but all of that magically seems to subside in course of Episode 2.
Chang Min and Jin Hee both become interns at the same hospital. While Jin Hee makes mistakes the other interns and the department Chief are all hard on her, and Chang Min quickly ends up coming to her defense. We obviously know that they are going to end up back together at some point, but I still want to know what happened to begin with and why it’s such a big deal that since it was never explained. Heck, Jin Hee even throws urine on Chang Min while he tries to prevent her from running into his mother/her former mother-in-law. He’s seemingly trying to be a nice guy.
What I have come to appreciate about this show is the characters themselves are diverse. Each has their own strong point and so far, at least in the limited exposure we have had to them, hasn’t waffled. Chang Min is strong-willed and caring although he comes off as cocky. Jin Hee is stubborn to a fault and seems to thrive off being told she can’t accomplish something, as seen when Chief Gook tells her to quit trying to be a doctor because she ended up in the ER herself. Chief Gook himself has a stubborn streak but is willing to teach through a “tough love” approach to those who are willing to work to learn. Even the other interns have their quirks and I can’t wait to see what they all develop into being.
The most stand out moment as far as comedy, since this show is supposed to be one, is the end of Episode 2. A crazy patient in the ER has taken Chang Min hostage at gun point and Jin Hee decides to save him.
While the situation itself is not all that funny, watching her internal conflict about whether or not she should save Chang Min after she sees that she can get to the paddles is. Definitely not the smartest idea, because she shocks Chang Min as well as the gunman, but at least she did something unlike everyone else who hides… Except Chief Gook. He does try to talk the man down, but you can’t talk to crazy sometimes. Oh. And the faces they make. Honestly.
So, I want to know what you think of this new drama. Are you missing the back story? Where do you think this drama is going to go? Any characters you love so far? You can leave me a comment here or tweet @Hallyu_Tanya.
If you missed The Zombie Mamma’s post yesterday, you can find it here. Don’t forget to join us for Karen’s post tomorrow and our group post on Thursday!
Emergency Couple:
Episodes 1-2: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]
Hey everyone! Hallyu Zombie’s drama review is back and this time we’ve asked our fellow DramaFever Drama Clubber, Karen (aka Powerz) to help us recap TvN’s latest medical rom-com, Emergency Couple. Woo-hoo! Much like we do for DramaFever, Tanya, Karen and I will be spending the next ten weeks sharing with you all of our thoughts and hopes, likes and dislikes, predictions and ponderings as the story of Emergency Couple unfolds. As always, we’d love for you to join us in our discussion, so grab yourself a snack, curl up in your favorite chair with a warm blanket and your computer and join us as we dig into Emergency Couple!
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Emergency Couple Episodes 1-2 (1/4)”
With all of the posts Hallyu Tanya and I have done this week to commemorate the end of Pretty Man, it only makes sense that this week’s drama would be none other.
Zombie: Being fans of U-KISS (and more specifically, Hoon) it just wouldn’t be right if we ended our review of Pretty Man without doing a little tribute to our favorite little brother, Dae Shik.
Tanya: He’s just adorable… In real life and in character, that is. I appreciate the comic relief he brought to the show through Dae Shik, but also the more serious family moments he helped bring forward. Although he and Bo Tong usually fought, you could tell the love was there. Bo Tong always had her little brother to depend on. 
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Pretty Man Finale: Our Tribute to Dae Shik”
Zombie: So as most of you know, Tanya and I have had a thing for Ma Te’s hair from the very beginning of Pretty Man. We predicted from the get-go that Ma Te’s hair would change with each woman he set out to conquer and wouldn’t you know it, we were right! We both agreed that if Ma Te’s hair changed with each woman, we’d have to do a tribute to Ma Te’s hair in all of it’s varied gloried at the end of the show. Being women of our word we’d like to present to you, without further ado, our homage to Pretty Man Ma Te’s hair. Enjoy!
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Pretty Man Finale: A Tribute to Ma Te’s Hair”