Writing about bad doramas is easy, just make fun of how bad it is but there's always that strong feeling of anger and frustration that lingers cause you sort of have to experience it twice. Writing about pedestrian doramas is hard because you can never be sure what's missing, only what you had hoped to see. Writing about well written doramas is a joy because the thoughts come to you when you're watching. Its just a matter of organising it.
After the events of ep 3, we can see the effects of the operation on Moriyama-sensei. People think him a great doctor and the nurses all greet him and he begrudgingly greets them back. A great change from ep 1 when the doctors would not greet the nurses. The theme for this episode is pride, specifically Moriyama's pride. He may be a childish but he has skills and pride and for once Moriyama has actually done something to be proud of. Manipulation of Moriyama's pride is the key to motivate him or use him like the sales rep.
I love the scene where Sagara gets into an argument with Moriyama and lets him win. His rational is that winning an argument will not change people's minds. His method is to make people change their own minds not be winning them to his side but by letting them experience what they could be. Moriyama is becoming a better doctor after episode 3. He takes his young patient seriously and even does some reading the night before the operation.
Success and praise has made Moriyama feel more responsible. Its gives him a feeling that he can make a difference. We also get another funny scene with Minagawa sensei appealing to his pride to help him connect with the patient. The whole team thing in episode 3 was also a message to Minagawa to trust that the other doctors would respond to the trust. I hope Moriyama never goes to the 'good side'. His character of being childish and vindictive towards Sagara should not change. He can become a good doctor while still being himself.
This episode really shows the purpose of Moriyama sensei and that he is a cartoon character not because jdoramas always like their villains to be non-threatening, overacting caricatures but because it makes Sagara sensei's manipulations more fun and makes Moriyama sensei great comedy relief. I can't believe he has turned into an enjoyable character! I dare say that Moriyama probably knows he is being manipulated but his pride will never let him admit it.
The other element of episode 4 is the story of the two patients, a middle school student from an elite school and a homeless man and how they are connected. I like how the story addresses two things that we don't see often in jdoramas; firstly that no one wants to be homeless and the pressure of living life as a Todai graduate/elite. Episode 4 doesn't go into the issues great detail but I thought the script deals with it very succinctly and beautifully.
Looks like episode 5 is going to be about the nurses vs doctors and there's a bit of foreshadowing with one of the doctors saying that the nurses are complaining their workload has increased since the hospital started taking emergency patients. I for one cannot wait for Nutcase's subs for the next episode.
4 comments:
I'm glad I gave this series a go. Thanks Mike.
Moriyama is definitely the star of this show. The writer/director made a wise choice in playing up his role, otherwise the show would not have been the same. This becomes even more apparent in the later eps where he pretty much takes over.
I hated his overacting in the beginning, but now I think the man is a genius. He may have carved out a new role for himself, kind of like Tanihara Shouske who found his little niche playing comedic roles now and then, despite his serious face.
I can't believe I'm warming up to Moriyama in this episode. This time, Sagara took a backseat while effectively pulling his strings by planting the ideas and see it grow inside Moriyama's head. Brilliant.
This episode also made me laughed. I love the double-checkup scene. And a normal jdorama idealist doctor will probably willing to pay the homeless treatment himself. But not Sagara. He gets the admin guy to work for it.
I wonder if this drama is adapted from a novel or manga? If it's not, then, I have to give a big kudos to the scriptwriter for coming up with this scenarios. Hopefully the quality says consistent until the end.
more of a comic relief though. i was jst laughing from the very start. the father and son thing is something i have seen before. but overall, it was ok.
At first I didn't like this drama very much (I stuck with it because you gave it such high praise) but I now find myself looking forward to it.
I hope Moriyama remains the same too, it would be kind of boring if he went over to the good side.
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