The Korean drama fever is definitely on again for me. The last series I’ve watched were The Heirs and My Love from the Stars and that was 2 years ago peeps! After being curious for about a week seeing my Facebook timeline filled with Descendants of the Sun posts, I’ve decided to join the bandwagon. (Haha…I even buzzed a friend to ask for link to watch it online. Seriously, I’m that out of touch!) The initial attraction for me was Song Hye Kyo, I love, love her since Autumn in My Heart and Hotelier days. Plus I think she’s the prettiest Korean actress ever!
Binge watching. 4 episodes in a row!
Penned by Kim Eun-Sook, the same person who brought us The Heirs, Descendants of the Sun (DOTS) depicts the story between special forces unit Captain Yoo Si-jin (a.k.a Big Boss) and civilian surgeon extraordinaire Dr. Kang Mo-yeon. Due to some serious misunderstanding at the hospital where they first met, Dr. Kang first thought Captain Yoo and his best friend Sergeant Major Seo Dae-young are part of a gang of thieves (love the “bromance” between the two). Fortunately, with the help of Dr. Yoon Myeong-joo (an army doctor and also love interest of Seo Dae-young) the misunderstanding was cleared. Captain Yoo decided to pursue Dr. Kang (sort of love at first sight for him) and of course, she reciprocated. They attempted to go for several dates, but each time was spoiled by some incident.
The night that Captain Yoo cancelled their second date due to an emergency (third if we count their appointment at the clinic) was also the night where Dr. Kang received a bad news where the promotion that she had been yearning for years had been given to someone else not due to merit but solely on connection. Devastated, the next time they met she decided to end things between them.
Fast forward, eight months later Dr. Kang is no longer a dedicated surgeon but she rather become a celebrity doctor. After rebuffing a sexual advances from the hospital chairman, Dr. Kang was sent to a remote place/country called Uruk (its fictional) to do voluntary work. There, to her surprise, she once again met Captain Ýoo who had been based there for the past 8 months.
I like that the plot in this drama moves very fast, and within 2 episodes only there was so many conflicts and action involved till we were wondering whether there is anything left to watch. But by the 3rd and 4th episodes, new plots come to light and it got more and more interesting. We were glued. I guess no wonder that with just 6 episodes aired, DOTS rating is actually higher than My Love from the Star finale’s rating!
The opening act of Descendants of the Sun
The first time they met
Dr. Kang helped to fix Captain Yoo wound’s. He requested for follow up appointment with her, which she accepted but later cancelled due to an emergency case.
Their supposedly first official date was cancelled because he had an emergency duty. He even had a helicopter to fetch him at the hospital.
He stood her up yet again, due to an emergency.
Spoiler Alert! He ignored her during their first meeting in Uruk.
Shot mainly abroad, (Greece to be exact) filming mainly took place in Zakynthos, Arachova and Lemnos. Beautiful, beautiful places! Definitely another pulling factor to watch this drama.
Another unique factor of DOTS is it was pre-produced where filming was completed prior to airing the drama series, unlike other korean dramas which require editing at the very last minute. Due to this, I seriously hope that they are going to end the story well. (Kalau tak bakar panggung nanti)
Okay, I’m going to leave you guys with the preview of episode 7. Enjoy and toodles!
