I do have to say that right about episode 18 it got a little weird for me; it seemed like the writers were forcing Jinhee to go a certain direction. Like forcing her to heal after an arc of sheer bitterness, and forcing her to take on the "other perspective" and to experience what Changmin had to go through initially while just not feeling too organic. The way Changmin reacted was rather strange as well. It seemed like since everyone and their mothers were smitten with the 2nd lead and with the finale impending they had to revert to the initial storyboard, heavily cut down on scenes with Jinhee and Dr. Gook, then give the ending intended. I definitely was not as invested towards the end as I felt that I sort of lost the connection with the characters; the endings, while very perfectly closed up with all individual characters getting a happy ending, felt a little forced and too.. Happy.
Dr. Gook was so charming, though. He's such a tsundere character. I would watch a spin-off of his character in a similar medical setting - dedicated, eeexxxtremely awkward and downright adorable with his effervescent stubble and reactions. Heh. He definitely was the one who matured the most and in the most realistic manner throughout the course of the drama. This drama definitely gave me quite a bit of the 2nd lead syndrome where I sincerely wished for some twist to an otherwise predictable ending. The trolling with their almost kiss was just downright mean on the part of the scriptwriters, I mean WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT!!
Moving on, I was also a massive fan of Dr. Shim; she was confident, relaxed and had a great outlook on life. A breath of fresh air from the stereotypical perfect Korean woman? She wasn't mild, she was extremely great in her field of expertise, took charge when needed, wasn't afraid to express affection, gave philosophical advice whilst throwing witty comments occasionally, balanced work and play, and she was a crack to the stigma of single moms in Korea. Her character was well-written with flaws that did not necessarily came off as flaws, and I do think she does make for quite a good role model for modern age Korean women. Not a jealous supposed third-party, just a well-adjusted woman who knows whats best for her while giving into her eventually "weak" emotions occassionally.
Other characters did not make such a huge impact on me, though still managed to capture a certain bit of attention. I especially liked that there were no obvious antagonists (apart from Ahn Yongpil, though he's essentially played as an annoying wart and one massively insignificant in the grand scheme of things) and even the supposed third-parties to whichever couple we supported came of surprisingly acceptable. Though the overall closure given to the other characters ultimately fell into the trap of being forced, perhaps it's better than overlooking their endings entirely? I also wanna give a shoutout to the editors, who gave that few extra seconds closeup on the very adorable baby Gook!
Specialised dramas, like medical dramas or shows that revolve solely on lawyers, in Korea are far and few between compared to say Hongkong or Japanese dramas. I do find that Korean dramas tend to revolve around romance or family, though the trend seems to be changing a little recently. The stereotypical Korean drama often finds the need to heavily intersperse any work scenes with many others like a birth secret, amnesia or some form of revenge, but I did find Emergency Couple to have a rather good balance with the medical and relationship aspects which was something to give real props to, and instead interspersed their individual lives around their work. The medical scenes were well cut, very realistic and were well-paced midst the storyline to not take away from the tension between the characters while staying true to itself as a medical drama. I truly enjoyed that aspect of it; it also gave us a glimpse into lives of doctors in private hospitals - politics, friendships, intelligence, mistakes and mutual trust.
I had full trust in Choi Jinhyuk's acting, and he did not disappoint. I'm glad he got a good male lead role, since the last two dramas I saw him in he did not really have a significant part. Song Jihyo's acting has significantly improved since the last one I saw her in (which was Crime Squad; a rather subpar investigative drama). I caught a glimpse of her in Heaven's Mandate, but I definitely think that romcom roles suit her above and beyond the melodramatic sageuk roles she tends to lean toward. In this drama, she really handled some of the rawer emotions really well. I also liked how she threw herself into the drama without too much care for how she looks on camera for the sake of a good shot, such as the sleeping/drunk shots which typically tends toward unglamorous and un-actress-like. Lee Pilmo's acting was no joke, he pulled off awkward boy-in-love in a way that sucks you in completely, and his serious work demeanor was great as well. I rather enjoyed Choi Yeojin's acting; I guess I enjoy her sort of laidback way of speaking? Very charming.
All in all, it's a feel good type of drama. I guess I kinda knew from the start there weren't going to be massive twists despite being massively on Team Chief. The trajectory of the couple was what it was meant to be all along, regardless of how inorganic certain aspects might have felt to certain audiences. I had good laughs, I was sucked into their individual relationships especially right about the middle mark, and the bittersweet moments were delectably done. It was a satisfying drama, easy to watch and easy to enjoy.
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