The Hospital

I am not familiar with the way hospitals are run in the Taiwan. If this is a realistic depiction, then it’s very different from hospital life in the U.S. Everyone is so ambitious, as the early part of the series focuses on their battle for power. Gradually, they come to realize the importance of life and family, for their patients and for themselves. I found the way patient-staff interactions were forced, so I didn’t feel concern and sadness when I was supposed to. The only scene I found remotely touching was when the dying doctor told his wife to find someone else to love and take care of her after he dies.

Guan Xin, the main female doctor in the series is exactly like Linda Chung’s character in Moonlight Resonance. I’m not sure who thought of it first, but they should have stopped after the first time. To begin with, I do not like sappy characters who cry multiple times every episode. When the crying is over a single event that occurred many years ago, it’s enough to make me want to yell at her to get over it and move on already. I think she’s supposed to be a strong, righteous, dependable doctor. I found her behavior unprofessional on many occasions, i.e. crying in the hallways of the hospital over her love life. I found her to be selfish in her personal life and I disliked her relationship with both men. There was one scene in particular I found distasteful- when Su Yi Hua came to her house to surprise her and the other doctor was there. She started crying and begged him not to ask any questions and to leave. As the other man said, he (Su Yi Hua) deserved to know the truth. He (Su Yi Hua) should have walked away from her then if not earlier. The actor who played the old doctor was terrible at acting and slightly scary looking. That made it even harder for me to believe the triangle and also made me cringe during their romantic scenes.

As for Janine Chang, who played Guan Xin, she was neither good nor bad. I don’t like that long-haired, stiff and proper look. Plus, all she really did was cry throughout the series. She seems to lack that bit of star quality and likeability factor- the kind where even when you play a villain, the audience roots for you. I think she may be better suited for modeling than acting.

Su Yi Hua is supposed to be brave, intelligent, loyal and so on. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to collapse whenever things don’t go his way and literally cry and whine about how everyone leaves him and he doesn’t want to be a doctor anymore. You’re a doctor, people die. If you can’t deal with it, then don’t be one. That’s what I wanted to say to him. His love story with Guan Xin was supposed to be epic and angsty. It was boring and annoying. I couldn’t see why he would fall in love with her and then put up with her disappearances, reappearances, and infidelity. His relationship with Cui Feng was also a strange one. Did he finally fall in love with her because she was there for him all along, or because she was so very different from Guan Xin? I don’t think I like either of those options.

I have not watched Jerry Yan since the silly and addictive Metor Garden and the regrettable and forgettable Meteor Garden II. I like him a lot better when he’s happy and useful. Maybe it’s because his crying skills are weak. I didn’t think he had much chemistry with Janine Chang and their loves scenes were stiff. I thought he was much better with both the nurse and Josephine Hsu.

Cui Feng (Josephine Hsu) was supposed to be young, spoiled, and slightly immature but also sweet, brave (in love), and fun. I think they took the wrong route at the beginning with this character. Having a sleazy, two-timing, disrespectful deadbeat boyfriend and going out drinking and partying all night seems to be Asian tv’s favorite way to define young and immature. Also, I think that her spontaneous dates with Su Yi Hua were supposed to show that she is spirited and fun-loving. I don’t think it’s cute to keep someone up all night who has a real job to go to the next day just because you’re bored. I have no idea why he put up with her in those early days. I liked the scene where she brought food for him and gave him a big hug, promising that it would give him strength and energy. That was sweet. On the wedding day, she thought he wasn’t going to come and then when he did arrive late, she told him she didn’t deserve so much happiness and was worried it would disappear. Besides agreeing to marry her (SHE PROPOSED), what did he ever do for her? Up until that point, she used all her energy to make him happy, stayed by his side when he was ill, and supported him when he thought he couldn’t go on. Even when she was sad (on the peak) because she broke up with her boyfriend and felt lost, she had to ASK him to give her a hug. The actress grew on me and I thought she played her role well.

On the whole, this series tried too hard to be dramatic. I don’t think that having a few patients die warrants having a nervous breakdown in the street. Nor does having your ex-girlfriend dump you a second time for the same guy. The love story was poorly written, and I didn’t really care who ended up with whom. The old doctor didn’t deserve Guan Xin, who didn’t deserve Su Yi Hua, who didn’t deserve Cui Feng. Also, does a woman’s life have to be that tortured? Here you have: a young doctor who falls in love with her professor, is jilted, and then has an abortion that leaves her traumatized for years; an older woman who attempts suicide after years of being married to a doctor who never loved her; a successful reporter who becomes pregnant during an affair with a married doctor, and after he fails to coerce her into getting an abortion, she attempts to sabotage his marriage and career; a young educated girl with a sleazy boyfriend who flirts with other girls in front of her and thinks that it’s ok to move back in with his ex-wife and son without telling her. The one happily married woman, her husband dies of illness and leaves her with a son to raise alone. I think that people who love Korean series for the melodrama and tears would enjoy this one. I like to watch tv while I eat and who wants to sob into their soup or rice?