Ahjumma Reviews: When the Phone Rings: Focus on Yoo Yeon Seok

I first saw Yoo Yeon Seok as the brutally ireverent samurai Gu Dong-mae in Mr. Sunshine. Though I favored the poet of the three male leads in the Kdrama, I was smitten at YYS’ acting and good looks. I followed and watched his shows available in streaming channels I’m subscribed in.

He was charming Chilbong in Reply 1994. He was the deserving first son of Doldam Hospital. He was the perfect son, friend and excellent drummer of the Lacking Five in Hospital Playlist. There are more of YYS’ works I have yet to see and admire, I’m sure.

Watching him play the tsundere in “When the Phone Rings” is a brilliant turn as he brings another complex character to life. He unfolds his tough facade in Episode 5 and became unhinged in Episode 6. From guarded intensity to raw vulnerability, YYS is magnificent to behold.

Next weekend can’t come any sooner!

Ahjumma Reviews: Again, On Dr. Romantic Season 3

If we are getting a Season 4, then Yoo Yeonsook’s behind the scenes post on IG is a promise of things to come. One photo shows him standing in the hallway of Doldam Hospital and the other is a screenshot from a video (my edit) of his character, Dr. Kang walking towards the Trauma Center. A character in motion.

The selected photo is a dedication to the two medical facilities that have taken a life of its own — the old and dependable Doldam Hospital and the newly established Trauma Center. The former has been a witness to many tales and life-death-life cycles of patients, its doctors and medical staff while the later is just beginning.

From seasons 1 to 3, Doldam Hospital, with its warm and subdued colors, wooden arches and lamps that seem to shine eternal has become a character that shapes and defines the people working there.

I love the camera shots that pan the entire lobby when a new character enters Doldam, especially at night when the old chandeliers are lit. That staircase leading to the President's Office and ICU is proud of its history. The hallway that opens to patients' rooms and offices is a setting from another time and place. Full of nostalgia and yet, it molds the young doctors into the philosophy of Doldam as a hospital for all.

What of the Trauma Center?

Kim Sabu has several projects in the works hinted in previous seasons, like the Oddball Project and the Rock Project. Season 3 may have ended neatly tied and tucked like a box to be stowed in the attic but the ending scene shows the two team of doctors running towards the respective doors of the hospital and the trauma center to meet their emergency patients.

How I wish all doctors are like that, especially in real life. Well, this is the purpose of Dr. Romantic and Kdrama of this sort. They remind you of an imperfect world populated by jaded people. There lies humanity and a reason to never lose it; to make the good choice despite the odds stacked against you.

And that epilogue where in Dr. Yoon is seen arriving in the dead of night at Doldam is a treat and teaser to fans. Aigoooo!!!

#DrRomantic3 #KdramaIsLife