First Impression: D-Day

D-Day is a 2015 drama that depicts what would happen if a major earthquake were to hit Seoul, it stars Kim Young Kwang (Plus Nine Boys, Pinocchio), Jung So Min (Can We Get Married?, Big Man), and Ha Suk Jin (Shark, Legendary Witches). This is Korea's very first medical disaster drama and has been 3 years in the making with it being more than 80% pre-produced when episode 1 aired.
Live shooting seems to be the norm with Korean dramas so having a drama film nearly all of the episodes by its premiere date isn't at all common, but producers at jTBC felt the quality of the drama was far more important than pleasing viewers as they go. I can agree, it also allows the actors to properly get into their characters and give a better performance without worrying about something suddenly changing. This also shows with the first four episodes of D-Day.

I have to applaud the production team for the efforts put into this drama even four episodes in, the special effects are amazing. Even if the plot sucked (which it doesn't), I'd still praise them for their editing. It's that good. The fact that it's taken them 3 whole years to really create this drama shows with each scene, they're very detailed and have made sure their set resembles a city that was nearly destroyed by an earthquake. Even if the story doesn't suit me by the end, at least I can say it was a high quality drama.
Kim Young Kwang stars as Lee Hae Sung, a surgeon who is a bit of a hothead, but a dedicated doctor who basically lives to save his patients no matter what. He clashes with higher ups and winds up being dismissed when he goes against Director Park Gun (Lee Geung Young)'s orders to not operate on a patient who was hurt in an accident. Director Park (as he will now be referred to as) is your average medical drama hospital politician who only cares about money and what will bring in the most money to Mirae Hospital. Director Park transfers Hae Sung to a branch check up hospital, which we find out that he is the reason why it's understaffed and limited supplies, the less money he's putting into the subsidiaries the more money can be used to fund Mirae's cancer center and his puppet Han Woo Jin (Ha Suk Jin)'s robot surgery. He's such a jerk that it's pretty satisfying when he finds out the patient he rejected is actually the Minister of Health and the one they accepted is the guy's mistress. It will take some time, but his actions will come back to bite him, I know it especially with Hae Sung back at Mirae Hospital and Chief Kang Joo Ran (Kim Hye Eun) on his side.

I adore actress Jung So Min so I was excited to see she was cast as lead in this drama, her portrayal of 3rd year resident Jung Ddol Mi has been great so far. For someone who wasn't even suppose to be in Seoul that long, Ddol Mi has gone above and beyond what she thought she was capable of doing. In the beginning, she was scared to mess up because she wasn't experienced, but after the earthquake she toughened up and showed why she became a doctor. When we saw her getting yelled at by Hae Sung, I thought she'd take forever to show what she's made of, but it didn't even take entire episode before we saw Ddol Mi proving herself.

The thing this drama has shown is that there will be those who rise to the challenge and those who cower out of fear or selfishness. The homeless ahjussi took control and was leading the subway passengers to safety while a hotheaded doctor, a nurse, a nurse's aide, and a resident did more for injured citizens with minimal supplies than an entire hospital equipped to handle such events. I'd question whether Mirae was the only hospital in Seoul, but others weren't mentioned and we see that there needs to be a major overhaul with the higher ups and the staff need some motivation. Joo Ran taking control and choosing to care for the injured showed why she was needed although I do feel for her, not knowing whether your child is dead or alive has to be nerve wracking which makes me believe this is a reason why she's so determined. She was outside when the earthquake hit and has seen the results firsthand while many of her colleagues have seen it through a screen so they are detached from the real issues. Assemblyman Koo Ja Hyuk (Cha In Pyo) was one such person was trying to make people see what could happen if an earthquake were to hit, but his concerns were brushed aside. He's been one such person who was attempting to retrofit major buildings in case of an emergency, now that it's happened people are more quick to follow his advice. There are times when politicians are warned of potential catastrophes, but they stall since they have never experienced such events. At the time, his only real ally was a reporter who really wanted the story to get out, but he was blocked on all sides. Now that it has happened, he will be able to show what he knew and then some. He has the video of Hae Sung helping the patient Mirae Hospital rejected, he seems to be everywhere and his stories will come out at the right time.

We are still at the beginning of the series so there's no telling where the story will head. Romance will be there, we already saw a teaser hinting at that and Ja Hyuk and Joo Ran are already a couple, but I can see this not making that a main point in the story. I'm looking forward to seeing how the earthquake situation will affect Seoul and the people who are tasked with aiding in rebuilding of the city and lives.