Surgeons (2017)

To be honest, there were a lot of criticisms directed at the drama in Chinese media. For instance, Lu Chen Xi wearing high heels at work, Zhuang Shu using his hands to touch his scrub, etc. Personally, I'm not too bothered about all these details. Of course, I wouldn't know if they were doing the right thing or not, but I'm not watching a medical drama to learn how a hospital operates, or to familiarise myself with operating procedures. I think it's ridiculous to expect 100% accuracy for such professional dramas, and I don't think it's fair to judge it like that.

Surgeons actually follows a pretty standard "format". You have the established specialist, perfect in every way, return from the US to work in his home country as our protagonist Zhuang Shu, the idealistic but highly-talented surgeon who is oblivious to everything outside of work as our heroine Lu Chen Xi, and other side characters whom you can find in practically every other medical drama. Some people call this the modern version of Nirvana in Fire, since Zhuang Shu, like Mei Chang Su, returned to seek vengeance on his enemies. I think the similarities pretty much stop there though (but I never finished NiF so I won't know).

The main plot isn't really prominent in the drama until the later stages. Surgeons actually focuses more on doctor-patient interactions. I don't think it's anything to shout about, but I think the script is pretty well-written in the sense that the dialogues were great. The characters were also designed well, none of them are completely evil, or completely good (other than LCX). Acting wise, I'm not too impressed with Jin Dong. I think he was serviceable, but he didn't come across as an elite surgeon. Imo, LCX is the true protagonist since she is the one who "changed" the most throughout the drama, from someone who is borderline annoying because of how stubborn and unmalleable she is to someone who is, well, a little more flexible and understanding. I was never a fan of Bai Bai He's acting because I think she's herself in every project she stars in, but she was good in this drama. LCX and her buddy Chen Shao Cong showed most growth in the drama (probably because they started out at lvl 0). CSC is freaking hilarious and I think Li Jia Hang played the role well. My favourite character is Yang Fan though. I think you just can't hate the character because Liu Yi Jun is so awesome with his portrayal. You can really see the difference in just acting and good acting when you watch dramas like Surgeons and In the Name of People. I was blown away by the veterans.

Also, kudos to the scriptwriter for making the female characters likeable and "aggressive". LCX and Yang Yu are just kickass when it comes to dealing with their boyfriends. LCX's responses when asked about ZS were so freaking funny as well. The two couples had good chemistry too. I think they did a good job with the romantic development in that it was a slow process but you can see how they come to like each other. Much better than other dramas where you have no idea why they are falling in love with each other, or the dramas where the main couple lacks chemistry so badly (yes, I'm talking about O2O).

In short, I think Surgeons is a good watch. It sort of faltered towards the end, but I think it's just me who's a little exhausted because of its length (44 episodes) and how frequently the episodes were aired. I was completely drawn in by the earlier episodes though and so I'd give it a 8.5. The drama is also rated 7.5 on Douban, slightly lower than what it should have been because of Bai Bai He's scandal.

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