Well, well, well… a medical drama that’s not a medical drama (in the traditional sense). I confess that I tuned in because this one takes place in a hospital’s physical therapy facility (with side trips to radiology) and after having spent so much time with my own PT journey I was curious to see how they would treat the practice. Then I stayed for the basically charming, moderately low angst story. And boy howdy! Lee Joon-hyuk plays a character that is the opposite of his smarmy Seo Dong-jae in Stranger!

The main character is played by Lee Yoo-bi (who you may find slightly too sweet and naïve initially), a credentialed PT who is working as a contractor (and desperately wants to be hired as a permanent employee) in the hospital’s PT facility. She’s turned to PT because she needed a career that would pay the bills, instead of pursuing her passion for poetry. She maintains her love for the genre by finding and sharing poems that offer inspiration to those in care, or who are caring for patients. She’s also very tender-hearted and prone to tearing up easily. But surprisingly she’s less annoying as the show progresses, maybe because she’s just a nice and sincere and mostly uncomplicated young woman.

Lee Joon-hyuk is a highly touted PT with a specialty in this weird type of therapy where people are suspended from a series of ropes (think some sort of unconnected hammock/sling) who’s joined the department after issues at his prior hospital. He’s stiff and reserved and hates people prying into his personal life — the epitome of starchy rectitude. But it’s not because he’s your typical #sshole, or ‘geeeenius’ practitioner — a refreshing change of pace. How he comes to fit into the group of characters inhabiting the practice is natural and sufficiently entertaining. It won’t cause you major heartburn, but it’s charming in its own way.

The third leg of the triangle is made up of one spoiled and bratty rich kid who went to school with Lee Yoo-bi’s character and is now come to the hospital practice for a type of internship and to make her life a little miserable until he grows up (a bit).

What I appreciated about this drama was the often realistic behaviors in the workplace — when some get too caught up in gossiping there is stickler Lee Joon-hyuk to appropriately chastise, or when working with patients they do a pretty good job of giving some good advice. While there isn’t the steamy heat of some romances, what there is feels sufficiently genuine (albeit without fireworks). It’s fairly PG, but honestly I didn’t mind that.

I’m not a huge fan of poetry, so the snippets they include in every episode where okay and didn’t work too hard to wedge their way into the plot. It’s not all happy/happy for everyone; some face difficult decisions or lonely futures, but I generally enjoyed the drama as a whole.

#a-poem-a-day, #jang-dong-yoon, #lee-joon-hyuk, #lee-yoo-bi, #lee-yubi