If you are looking for a fun, easy-watch kind of drama, one you can enjoy without thinking too hard, you should try Ghost Doctor. It finished airing recently, which means you can binge it now! I’ve got three reasons why you should see it.
Reason 1: Rain and Kim Beom
This may be cheating, but I’m counting them together because they are so good together. If you’ve heard of this drama at all, you probably know it’s about a doctor (played by Rain) who becomes a ghost and takes over the body of an intern (played by Kim Beom). Doctor Cha is arrogant and strict, and won’t even try to help patients who he thinks won’t make it.
The intern is Go Seung Tak, the grandson of the hospital chairman. He knows he can get away with anything, so he slacks off big time. The more Doctor Cha gets aggravated and tries to put the intern in his place, the more Go Seung Tak smirks and acts brainless. Those two are amazing together; their expressions are priceless. They are the main reason for watching this show!
Of course, the doctor gets injured and – this kind of scene is always interesting – comes to realize he is a ghost. He rides the ambulance to the hospital, and our intern is put on the surgery team. Both of them are shocked when the ghost slides right into the intern’s body because neither of them expected it.
Reason 2: My kind of ghosts
There are other ghosts in the hospital, and they are my kind of ghosts because they aren’t scary. Ghost Doc is pretty embarrassed to meet three coma ghosts who are patients he had refused to treat! They try to give him a hard time, but as Ghost Doc gets to know them, they are the ones who start softening his edges a little. They are a big reason the last part of the drama is so heartfelt.
We get plenty of ghost shenanigans as Ghost Doc tries to talk to people, to get back into his own body, and to possess the intern to do surgeries. He is befriended by another ghost, Tess (played by Sung Dong Il, the dad in the Reply shows), who tries to teach him the rules of the ghost world. He is surprised that Ghost Doc can possess the intern, though, because none of the other coma ghosts can do it. Not that they don’t try!
Reason 3: The background quirkiness
The first half of the drama especially is very humorous; we get a slapstick scene at the escalator and a chase down the hospital halls with a gurney. The little tricks pulled by the coma ghosts last through the whole show, and the special effects for them are nice.
Intern Oh (Son Na Eun) is one of my favorite characters. She knows Go Seung Tak from their med school days, and notices that sometimes he shows mannerisms she has seen in Ghost Doc. It’s fun to watch her become more suspicious, and start to make remarks to try to get him to admit something.
Intern Kim (on the left) is another friend from med school – close enough friends that Go Seung Tak calls him Brother. The guy on the right, Dr. Ahn, is a fellow who expects to be promoted to attending soon.
Dr. Jang Se Jin, played by Uee, has been in the U.S. and is Ghost Doc’s ex-girlfriend. She is very melancholy at first and doesn’t have a lot to do in the drama, but becomes more interesting in the later part of the show when she starts noticing odd behaviors and becomes suspicious too.
The easy-watch qualities extend to the bad guys, as this is not an intense crime show. The one in the white jacket is Dr. Jang’s half-brother, who is quite the jerk. The one in the suit is Go Seung Tak’s cousin, who is actually fun to watch as he becomes convinced about the existence of ghosts.
Final Thoughts
There is some very good acting in this drama. Sung Dong Il is a national treasure, but Rain and Kim Beom carried the show. Rain made gradual and very believable changes in his character as the story progressed. Kim Beom essentially played two characters, a serious personality when he is possessed by Ghost Doc, and an irresponsible intern who slowly grows more responsible.
It must be admitted that this is probably the worst hospital ever. The doctors keep turning people away from the ER and refusing to do surgeries that they think are too hard. It’s an old-school plot, but you just have to let it go. Of course, this is a medical show, and there are a lot of surgery scenes. You don’t want to be eating something when one of them pops up! The background music was great, from tinkly magical tunes to beautiful choral mood pieces. It’s entertaining all the way through, and I enjoyed it a lot. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Until the next quirky drama,
Telezytalks
Dramas With a Side of Kimchi