Drama Wednesdays: The 3rd Hospital

This week I decided to discuss a rather underrated drama and by underrated I mean not that many people know it actually exists. When it aired, I am not sure how much advertising tvN did for this one, but it somehow missed many drama watchers' radars. Not to worry, I will show you just how good this drama is (I attempted to recap it sometime back, but realized that proved to be much harder than I anticipated). So I will just give a brief review. 

The 3rd Hospital (or The Third Ward) is about the conflicts between Western and Eastern medical practices within the same hospital. Simple, right? Wrong. The 2 doctors in charge of each side are brothers who have been at odds with each other for years. Kim Doo Hyun (Kim Seung Woo) is a neurosurgeon who followed in their father's footsteps while Kim Seung Hyun (Oh Ji Ho) left modern medicine behind to become an Oriental doctor and has been estranged from his family for some time. What happens when brothers who believe in two different medical practices are forced to work as one or at the very least, get along?

Seung Hyun comes off as a know-it-all and also a hothead who sometimes makes irrational decisions that may affect his entire team, but his heart is always in the right place. While Doo Hyun may seem like the polar opposite, he is in some ways just like his younger brother. Both have a short temper and have an issue with losing to the other, not to mention their father, Kim Ha Yoon (played by Park Geun Hyung) has always seemed to favor Seung Hyun. At least Doo Hyun sees it this way, Seung Hyun sees the opposite. Ha, siblings.

If the sibling rivalry in the hospital wasn't enough, it rises to another level when possible love interests are involved. Introducing Jin Hye In (Kim Min Jung) who is a resident under Doo Hyun, she seems to like Seung Hyun which infuriates his hyung even more. I mean, judging from his actions, Doo Hyun likes Hye In but never actually says anything to her (Typical). Poor Seung Hyun also has someone else whom has been hanging around him for years, it's Lee Hui Jin (Sooyoung) who is his mentor's daughter. When she gets sick, this actually tests both departments' abilities to get along for the sake of saving a patient. 

 My thoughts? This drama isn't perfect, very rarely will I find one that is, but it was close enough. There was a nice mix of comedy without totally drowning out the serious tone within the series. I do question some actions within the hospital by some of the doctors, but this is a drama and everything is turned up to the maximum just for the sake of the show so I will not get into that. I did enjoy the chemistry between the cast especially Oh Ji Ho and Sooyoung, despite the age difference. I could feel her character's pain whenever she cried and her happiness whenever she laughed. You can tell they both cared deeply about one another, something that doesn't happen in every drama. 

All in all, it was very entertaining and really made you appreciate those you are close to. This is a tearjerker, so have your tissues ready. You have been warned. 

4minute's Jihyun had a cameo

Sooyoung's older sister, Soojin played Oh Ji Ho's deceased girlfriend