Chinese Drama: Surgeons (外科風雲)
Broadcast Date: 4/17/2017
Airs: Daily
Total Episodes: 44
Leads: Jin Dong & Bai Bai He
Synopsis:
Squealing with excitement when she finds out Dr. Zhuang Shu, the famous cardiothoracic surgeon from America is coming to work at her hospital, our heroine Lu Chen Xi shakes off her co-worker’s ominous warning and instead looks forward to working alongside someone so talented. A very talented surgeon herself, Chen Xi’s short temper combined with her strong sense of justice often lands her in ugly confrontations with her department head and hospital patients thus earning her the title as the hospital’s “troublemaker”.
Unfortunately for Chen Xi who has long been a thorn in her boss’ side, Zhuang Shu’s arrival gives him the perfect chance to get rid off our heroine for good. All her good feelings towards Zhuang Shu promptly disappearing when he ends up taking her position and she is banished to the Emergency Room, Chen Xi no longer wants anything to do with Zhuang Shu but of course fate has other ideas.
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Horrified to see Zhuang Shu standing at her door as her new tenant, Chen Xi begrudgingly accepts him as her new housemate and is pleasantly surprised when he begins to mentor her.
Unbeknownst to our heroine, Zhuang Shu is actually on a secret mission to find out the truth behind a medical malpractice that occurred 29 years ago. Haunted by the memory of his mother protesting her innocence as the doctors accused her of administering the wrong medicine that led to a patient’s death, our hero’s innocent childhood is destroyed after his little sister is lost in the chaos and his mother kills herself.
Focused on his mission, Zhuang Shu has no intention of extending a helping hand to our heroine who is about to become the sacrificial lamb in the hospital power struggle…that is until he finds out Chen Xi’s father is the one his mother supposedly accidentally killed.
First Impression:
I went into this one totally expecting to do a quick drive by especially since I tend to be less patient with medical dramas for some strange reasons. However, after watching eight episodes of Surgeons in one shot, I think it is safe (maybe…) that I found myself a medical drama to follow.
The weird thing is that I can’t exactly pinpoint why Surgeons worked where so many medical dramas had failed for me in the past. In fact, Surgeons seems to be sticking pretty closely to most medical drama’s tried and true formula. Namely: Hospital power struggle, one or both of the leads have some traumatic past that is connected to the medical field and episodic patient stories. Oh, and some romance interjected among all the blood and gore of course.
Case in point, the heroine’s character on the surface is pretty standard. A talented young doctor who holds a very idealistic view on the world and is not afraid to voice her opinions. I would usually find this type of heroine a bit annoying but in Chen Xi’s case I find her very endearing and want to cheer her on.
By the way, the hero’s character might sound a bit typical in the synopsis as well, but he really is not. I am loving Jin Dong’s portrayal of a hero who wants to be cold and cynical but can never quite bring himself to do it since he is actually a very warm and caring person. I am used to my medical genius heroes with terrible bedside manner so it is refreshing to have one that has exceptional bedside manner and a genuinely warm personality.
The show also has plenty of hospital power struggles but here again I find myself rather intrigued instead of wanting to skip this part of the plot like I usually do in most medical dramas. It probably helps that up to this point, the power struggles are connected to the big mystery behind the hero’s past so as a viewer I feel like I am unraveling a big puzzle instead of watching greedy old men going after one another.
The two leads do have great chemistry together and our hero is certainly rocking the sad yet tender looks he keeps giving the heroine. It really does help a lot that the writer has managed to create two very likable leads which seem to be a rather difficult task judging by the medical dramas I have seen…then abandoned.
Anyhow, knowing myself I can’t promise Surgeons will become one of the few medical dramas I watched to the end but for now, it has definitely earned a spot on my watch list.
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