Good Doctor episode 1: Dramatic Review

Annyeonghaseyo!  Here we are once again at the beginning of a new drama together!  Yay!  If you've been with us before, welcome back.  If you're new here, welcome to the party!  We love new dramas and all the new and old friends and fellow addicKts it brings us.  I am Dongsaeng and will be recapping and reviewing Good Doctor.  I'll spare you any further introduction as it's already written somewhere up there ^ under the "Dongsaeng" tab.  Besides, you're not here to hear me talk about me, you're here for Good Doctor.  And maybe for Joo Won.  ;)  Speaking of Joo Won, I watched episode one with a few friends online.  Afterwards I was expressing a little concern as to where to even begin on the coverage of this drama as far as these reviews go. One friend's helpful suggestion for a recap was as follows:
 
"1. Joo Won 2. Joo Won 3. Joo Won 4. Amazing surgeries done on the subway by Joo Won and 5. Joo Won. ... And then add screencaps... all of Joo won"

I like the way she thinks.  ^_^

In all honesty though, I must say that Joo Won is the biggest reason why I chose to watch and review this particular drama.  Not just because he is smoking hot, though obviously I'd be a big fat liar liar pants of fire for denying that as a factor.  I mean, Joo Won, right?  Am I right or am I right?  It is more than that though.  I am looking forward to seeing him in this challenging role.  He is playing an autistic pediatric surgeon.  When it comes to medicine, he's a savant, yet he has the social/emotional skills of a 10 year old.  Or so we're told in the synopsis.  Frankly, I have a 10 year old and I'm not seeing much similarity there quite yet, but who am I to argue?  We'll just go with it.  This most certainly would be a difficult character to pull off for anyone.  I think he can do it though.  I think that he is a capable and talented enough actor to play the role well.  It reminds me of a favorite movie of mine from my youth - What's Eating Gilbert Grape with Leonardo DiCaprio playing a severely mentally challenged young man.  Or who can ever forget Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man?   Both are examples of tremendously talented (in my humble opinion) actors playing, convincingly, difficult characters.  I can only imagine the challenge of taking on such a role.  One must be convincing in the authenticity of the condition the character possesses.  Not only that, but Joo Won has to pull it off for not just one 2 hour-long movie, but 20 entire episodes.  Talk about challenging!  I am so excited to see him do this.  I believe that he is up for it.  I think his talent is top notch and he will be brilliant.  Already so far, two episodes in, I'm impressed.  For me, he definitely did not disappoint - he has most certainly lived up to my expectations thus far.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  How about we get back to chatting about what we saw this week in the premier of this long-awaited drama?
  

Dongsaeng's Drama Doctoring - It's Like Urgent Care for Your AddiKtion

In honor of my friend's helpful Joo Won inspired advice, instead of numbers this time around, I've chosen to go a different route for my bullet points.  Chingu, this one's for you!  ;)

J.  Jumping Right In
They certainly don't waste time in getting right to it, do they?  Before we know it we are seeing sad scenes of a tragic childhood.  A young boy getting teased, tormented and beaten by neighborhood children.  The same young man having his beloved pet rabbit killed by an abusive father.  And finally, this same sweet child watching his older brother and biggest supporter die after a cave in at an old mine (they were there in an effort to pass a "test" put forth by the local bully in order to gain this child's freedom from future bullying).  These two events - the death of the rabbit and of his older brother - are what led this autistic child, our main lead, Park Shi On, to want to be a doctor despite his autism.

O.  Other Characters
We are briefly introduced to some of our other characters.

Dr Cha Yoon Seo - a pediatric surgery resident and our female lead.  When we first meet her, she's telling ghost stories in the pediatric ward along with the male nurse, Jo Jung Mi.  I immediately like her.

Dr Kim Do Han - top pediatric surgeon

We first see him visiting the memorial of a young man.  Brother perhaps?  That's my guess.  I have a feeling that these two will be constantly battling each other at work and in love, but will find they share a common background in the loss of a brother.  Just a total random guess at this point...pure speculation.  The boy is H-O-double T hot.  I know he's sort of the bad guy, at least at this point, but yummeh!  With a face like that he's sure to not stay the bad guy forever.  People that pretty just can't be the antagonist.  It's like in the rule book or something.  We may start out not liking them, but things always turn around for the better as time moves on.

Watch out for these guys, they're up to no good...

And this guy is in Shi On's corner so he's automatically awesome.

Director Choi Woo Seok

We'll get to know all these guys and more the further we go.  This is just a brief intro to some of the key players.

O.  Ouch
Shi On is enjoying a little 3D TV demo at the train station when disaster strikes.  A young boy is injured when a giant billboard comes crashing down on him.  Shi On rushes to the rescue, and after a lot of MacGyver-esque medical moves, heroically saves the boy.

W.  Winning Them Over
Dr Choi Woo Seok, Director of the hospital, is before a committee of hospital decision makers, pleading the case for Shi On's hiring.  He informs them not only of his disability, but of his amazing abilities.  As a 7 year old child, Shi On learned all of the organs and is an absolute genius when it comes to things of medicine.  Despite his impassioned plea, the decision makers decide against allowing Shi On to become a resident there.  This all changes later on when Shi On's heroic rescue of the young boy is captured on video and becomes an instant media sensation with everyone seeking out this miracle worker at the hospital doors.  Director Choi even goes so far as to put his own job on the line on behalf of Shi On, something that makes some of his opponents giddy. 

O.  Operating Room Drama
This boy that Shi On had saved at the train station is brought to the hospital still in critical condition.  As his operation begins, Shi On is there trying to warn them of what he believes is going on.  Something is wrong with the boy's heart he has deduced, but no one listens to him.  They drag him away as he cries out the issue and he is left to wait nervously outside.  While out there, he imagines what is happening in the OR and visualizes himself doing the operation.  Sure enough, complications arise in the operation and it is only when Dr Hott Shot remembers the muffled cries of Shi On that he is able to figure out what is going on and save the boy. 

N.  Not Your House
Shi On is having a private birthday party as he remembers his brother and the birthday celebration they once shared together complete with choco pie "cake" and a doctor's kit for a gift.  In it is a toy scalpel which I mention because it is sure to be a symbol of this drama.  Did you know that they originally intended to name this one something like "Green Scalpel" before changing it to Good Doctor?  True. 

Anyway, so Shi On is lost in his memories when suddenly his door beeps open and a woman, Dr Cha Yoon Seo, drunkenly stumbles in, undresses and collapses into his bed.  The next morning she awakens to find a strange man wearing nothing but boxers and brushing his teeth.  And we're left wondering what in the world just happened here.  How did she know the code to get in?  Does she even know him?  How does one get lucky enough to wake up to Joo Won standing in front of you wearing nothing but boxers? 

And there we go.  Episode one in a nutshell.  This should be an interesting one.  I know I'm intrigued to see what comes next, as I hope you are too.

What do you think so far?