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[Why you should watch] Doctor Stranger

By: @emsel

Doctor Stranger is well known for being a bad drama, but I felt otherwise when I watched it recently for the first time. That is why I am here to convince all the unsuspecting and innocent ones to give it a chance.

The first and foremost reason would be that this drama has not one but two hot male leads — played by Lee Jong-seok and Park Hae-jin — but if you are someone who weighs dramas by the female character, then we have an awesome Kang So-ra acting alongside a plain vanilla Jin Se-yeon.

Yes, I am aware that such frivolous reasons aren’t good enough to motivate people to watch a show that lacks a substantial plot, but there was never a dull moment in any of the episodes. Truth be told, this drama isn’t my favourite or even on anyone’s list of top 50 K-dramas, but at the end of the day it is the entertainment factor that counts, and this drama made sure of having it nailed.

Imagine wanting to be with your lover, but in order to do so, you have to compete in medical surgeries to score points to be a lead doctor in a VIP surgery that involves a conspiracy between North and South Korea. This is not makjang, and certainly not an average medical romance story, but rather a mix of genres to keep everything balanced. Everyone gets to have a taste of something, and I am going to ignore the collective groan I just heard at that point.

The unintentional humor at play is another plus for this drama. For instance, the protagonist fleeing on a motorcycle is cornered by enemies between a staircase and a car in a narrow alley. It is impossible to escape, but this is fiction, so the hero rides straight at the evil guy standing on top of the stairs, and boom! The bike sweeps across the antagonist, in addition to partially hitting him in the process, and continues its onward journey with the lead. Actually, people call this suspension of disbelief or plot armor, but if it does not involve throwing the phone or pulling the hair in frustration, it definitely gets a brownie point.

Although this drama has emotions running high, it doesn’t drain the viewer because the writer and director pull stunts left and right that leave the audience emotionally checked out and enjoying the characters’ reactions to situations rather than wrecking their poor brains. The team behind this drama lets viewers kick back and trust the process, which does not happen often in dramaland.

Did I mention what is also not common in dramaland but was addressed in this specific show? It is the title, and the drama justified its name by beautifully coupling it with the characters’ presumptions and motives. The meaning behind it is, well.. go watch the show for yourself to know it.

Speaking of coupling, I know that the majority disliked the character pairings, but the core of the plot was built on a strong foundation of love, and to break it would mean undoing the entire plot progression and making the entire drama a joke. In hindsight, the quick resolution in the finale episodes does raise the question of whether that was the case. Nope! The couple earned it. The easy way out does not nullify the obstacles in the journey.

All those who have not watched Doctor Stranger yet have the added advantage of going into the show with the end pairings in mind. This leaves a lot of room to observe the consistency in the writing, which we complain about a lot, but never fully comprehend because we watch dramas while wearing our hearts on our sleeves.

 
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While I remain unconvinced, I'm sooo glad that you shared your positive thoughts about this drama. It certainly gave me another perspective to consider which was rather fun. I do agree with you about the hot male leads and the awesome Kang So Ra. And I did find quite a bit of humor amidst all the craziness. Lee Jong Suk was so entertaining as the title character. I mean, even his hair joined in on the fun!

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In fact, his hair won the competiton by a landslide, IMO.

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I was disappointed when they changed his frizzy hair to a straight hair. Actually on second thought, dramas have their characters nonchalanty change their hair in the later half, but this drama gave a good reason for it. Maybe I am reading too much between the lines than was intended by the PD/writer, but I was convinced.

I really want to mention the reason for hairstyle change, but this is another reason people should watch it :p

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His hair was iconic as an ML. I am convinced his hair was the one thing the viewers wouldn't forget from the show.

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This proves that there really is an audience for every drama 😅. I am definitely one of those left with PTSD from this show but I can still endorse your first point - the MLs were the reason I stuck with the show! Lee Jong-seok was great and I can only be grateful that the show introduced me to Park Hae-jin.

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As for the reasons I stuck with the show -- let's just say Idiocy isn't always Noble, and isn't limited to kdrama characters.

Or, in the immortal words of Javabeans and Girlfriday
https://www.dramabeans.com/2014/06/odds-and-ends-zombie-apocalypse/
(scroll down a bit for what they have to say about the show, and Jin Se-yeon)

If you go to
https://www.dramabeans.com/ratings/page/2/
You'll see it got a well-earned "F" rating
(If you are new here and weren't aware of those rating pages, do yourself a favor and look there before you leap into any oldies)

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Oh I remember reading the first link years back! Loved their 'Odds and Ends' series. I still cackled at Jin Se-yeon needing to run faster 🤣. I've seen the ratings page but sorting by High to Low makes you miss these gems!

As for idiocy and continuing with dramas, can I plead the Fifth 🙊

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Oh, wow! Somehow I had never found that ratings page, so thanks! I wonder what other buried treasures are still lying around this site. 👀

There are some interesting discrepancies between DB staff grades and User ratings - for example, Circle gets an A+ from Javabeans (and from me) but a measly 7.5⭐️ from beanies. Seriously, guys, go watch Circle! (It's free on the Roku Channel.)

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User ratings are weird. I see shows with 9 stars, and then right underneath all ranting comments from frustrated Beanies. I don't get it.

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I'm always confused about that too.

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Some erroneous programming has swallowed their comments for each of the dramas they rated. Hope @db-staff corrects it out.

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you, mention Javabeans and Girlfriday, brought me to tears .. I miss them .. and yes, I still remember that whatever reason the drama is bad, Lee Jong Suk is not part of it *sigh

I really love LJS roles in here but the writing is so bad and I think it's a big waste of talent for him and 2nd ML and 2nd FL

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🫘Beansprout🌱 for services to the community by flagging up some unfrequented parts of the site.

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Wow, been here so long, but even I did not know about the ratings page :O

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I love your links! Thanks for sharing them. Its fun to go over what others think about many dramas I have watched. Loved Javabeans and Girlfriday too. They are the culprits responsible for my HUGE love of Kdramas!

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I would love to know which sub-plot/ character gave you PTSD? 설마....is it the pairing?

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The entirety of the show felt like going through a war 😂 but yes the pairing was a big part of it!

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A war that killed no one, okay... killed one of the FL's one too many times 😂😂

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If only she had run faster... 🤣

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I laughed harder at this post than I do at most dramas (The ones trying to be funny, that is). Absolutely marvelous, @emsel. I don't know that I'm going to take the bait, but I suuuure thought about it 👏👏👏

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The day I wrote this, it was as soon as I completed the finale which coincidentally was before my bed time and now, reading it in broad daylight makes me think if I had a satirical take on it.

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It was an amazing read, and I really appreciate your taking the time to contribute these words. IMO, there’s nothing that brings more joy to a Beanie’s day than to hear how other Beanies love their dramas!!!

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Yes, even when we have a total opposite experience. It's sort of refreshing.

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👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 @emsel for an outstanding description! I only remember something really goofy with a motorcycle, that I wanted to give speed to the FML, I liked the guys and was overall glad I’d watched it. So thanks for the memories!

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Do you also remember the scene where Cha Jin Soo shoots at the ML in the hospital and then the drama goes on like nothing happened? People weren't running around screaming, no cops were called, even the leads weren't that terrified 😂😂 There were a lot of funny stuff happening.

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Hahaha no, I forgot that! It was a nutty show 😆

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This drama has the best opening episode - ever. Unfortunately the rest of the drama does not do it justice - but that opening episode is worth the 60 minutes of your life.

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I am watching old dramas for the first time now due uninteresting crop of current kdramas, so I watched "City Hunter" few months before it and thought the first two episodes were inspired by it. Ironically, I dropped City Hunter because it was too boring, but stuck to this "bad" drama.

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Same! Also remember enjoying the opening ep of City Hunter - but I couldn’t finish the rest…

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Do we have topic about drama that has best opening but the rest is bad? .. because I need to shout 1 more drama: Curtain Call

The start is mind blowing with amazing cast, but I drop the drama. I keep telling myself, It is Kang Haneul and Ha Jiwon!!
but the story *sigh* .. at least Doctor Strange sometimes makes me curious of what happen next, even though I end up disappointed.

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Curtain Call was a boring watch. I felt rather bad for the cast.

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Thanks @emsel for being brave enough to mention a drama it was always going to be hard to sell. I watched this in my early K drama watching days but it had too much drama for my delicate self so dropped it quite early.

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@emsel

Thank you for a wonderful review.
👍 👏

We have watched dramas for stranger reasons than the looks of the leads so believe me pretty goes a long way in convincing someone to see a drama. 😀

"Mix of genres" is an apt description. In a potpourri the different fragrances blend together and compliment each other ... here some "floral" notes hit harder, some barely tickled the nose.

I remember seeing the drama because of that motorcycle scene. 🏍 😂

So, good memories. We all have some dramas which we remember fondly not because they we classics but because they were fun and at times made us genuinely laugh, and that is precious.

Your last screencap of Lee Jong-Suk going jebal is so cute. If that cannot convince people to watch then they are the ones who are "Stranger".

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Yaay! I am proud of picking the perfect picture for this post B)

In any other drama the motorcycle sequence would be the point where I drop them, but here it became iconic 🤩 as much as the OTP bridge scenes 😂

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This is brilliant @emsel! HAs to be said, I think there's a "desperation" algorithm at Netflix - shows no-one is watching keep coming up on people's "Recommended for you" lists. Dr Stranger is always on my list and I've always ignored it due to Beanie loathing. But now, just maybe, I will give it a go, armed with the attitude you prescribe. You sold it well :)

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Sometime ago, beanies in fanwall mentioned a weird problem of receiving emails on DB notification which was linked to comments from this drama. No one had, in recent times, commented on the recaps for this drama and it was "strange". I guess this drama and beanies are supposed to be destined together and that's why you got Netflix recommendations :P

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👻
Huh, what (ghostly) game is afoot:
- ghost notifications to @sicarius from My Dearest, Part 2,
- notifications from Doctor Stranger,
- "desperation" algorithm of Netflix.

Strange(r) and Spooky indeed.

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Oooh. Park Hae Jin... almost drew me in.

Enjoy reading your thoughts. =)

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After Bridal Mask, I found Jin Se-yeon's acting bad and Five Fingers and Inspiring Generation just confirmed it. So I avoid her now.

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This is always a good idea 👍🏼

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She was only somewhat tolerable in GRAND PRINCE, but I attribute it to YSY chemistry magic. Otherwise I avoid her like a plague. And that one Daesang nomination... joke of the century, still can't believe it actually happened. Were jury collectively high or what?

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Oh.. Dramabeans' staff KNOWS what they're doing the moment they decided to pick this essay for the theme of the month loool It is a nice article tho! Good one @emsel !

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Also a lot of people don't realise but this is actually about a polyamorous romance between LJS, PHJ and KSR's characters with Park Hoon's North Korean childhood friend as his beard.

Both LJS and PHJ have chemistry with just about anything including inanimate objects so put them in a scene together and....

I heartily recommend Doctor Stranger, for what it's worth, because the whole thing is such a mess of genres and bad plotting that it is officially so bad it's good.

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This is literally the best k-drama i have ever watched.

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