Doctor Slump follows two burnt-out doctors who stumble into each other during their lowest in life, as their reunion sparks the chemistry they had when they were high school rivals, only this time it’s romance. The show is currently streaming on Netflix.
Story
Yeo Jeong-Woo is a famous plastic surgeon who is blamed for the death of one of his patients while performing surgery on them.
He loses all wealth and fame in a blink and the few that he calls his friends also abandon him in an instant.
Nam Ha-Neul is an anesthesiologist who hasn’t been promoted to her rightful position in a long time, despite overworking herself to the detriment of her own health.
She is soon diagnosed with depression and quits her job. During their lowest, the two doctors stumble into each other.
They used to be academic rivals during the school days and now they find a common ground that they both have to sludge through.
Slowly and gradually, the two become each other’s greatest support and help each other overcome their hurdles one by one.
Jeong-Woo’s trial ends with him getting acquitted and the real perpetrators getting caught. However, he still suffers from PTSD.
Ha-Neul is helped with her depression and jobs by Jeong-Woo. The two drift away from each other a couple of times as well, fearing they might hold back the other one.
However, they jump back from their extra slumps and join hands once again, as they also start dating. She helps him overcome his PTSD, and he helps her with her career.
The two also take down a common enemy from the past and Ha-Neul finally gets to be a Professor and her rightful credit for all the work she had done and was robbed of.
Jeong-Woo buys his clinic back too. However, the two decide to do things differently this time and spend more time on themselves and each other.
He proposes and she says yes. The two eventually get married as their family and close friends also find happiness in their lives, just as Doctor Slump reaches its conclusion.
Performances
Park Hyung-Sik brings his charm and quirky fervor to the role, and it’s hard not to love the character he essays while having so much fun doing it.
Park Shin-Hye is so believable as a character who wants to have so much fun and freedom and yet the responsibilities she has to shoulder have crushed her to the point of hopelessness.
Yoon Park and Gong Seong-Ha are the perfect supporting characters and it’s a shame their dynamic and dating aren’t as focused on as the central relationship is.
Jang Hye-Jin is the real standout in Doctor Slump, with her characters beaming with all the instantly recognizable signs of motherhood. She is kind, warm, funny, very vulnerable, and just a sweetheart one wants to see get her happy ever after.
Positives
Doctor Slump revolves around two very sweet protagonists who are really easy to root for. It’s especially true for Nam Ha-Nuel and her family, whose troubles and struggles are universal.
Jokes and gags are more endearing than laugh-out-loud funny, which works for the narrative as the show deals with some heavy themes.
The heavy themes are handled really well and the emotional moments come across as really heartfelt, while never seeming too hammed in or dramatized.
Negatives
The plot and conflict do not seem properly fleshed out. Some loose ends seem to be sorely sticking out at the end but they’re not the central focus so they don’t do that much damage to the experience.
With the humor, the writing could’ve been better, as expressions and slapstick can only do so much.
It’s unintentionally funny when the narration, at several points throughout the show, announces foreboding doom with a different version of “we didn’t know that this happy period in our lives was not going to last for very long.”
The aforementioned cycle of conflicts that are announced and introduced in the story becomes grating at certain points and it ends up highlighting how the supporting characters and their stories could’ve used so much time spent on such redundancies.
Verdict
Doctor Slump is a great little romcom to lift one’s spirit and at times, make one bawl out from the heart. It balances both extremes with endearing, warm, fun characters who bring both levity as well as groundedness to the story.
Doctor Slump
Director: Oh Hyun-jong
Date Created: 2024-01-01 20:30
3.5
Also Read: Doctor Slump summary and ending explained