Review of Hospital Ship

If you enjoy medical dramas with interesting procedures and staff often working under duress, this is a good show for you! It is unique in that it details dedicated doctors and nurses fulfilling a requirement to provide free services to South Koreans inhabiting islands off the west coast. The leads are Ha Ji Won, an accomplished Korean actress, as surgeon Dr. Song alongside Kong Min Hyuk as Dr. Kwak, the latter more than a decade younger than the former and a crossover musician to actor. Song and Kwak have about the most difficult path to romance, not even agreeing to date each other until episode 32 of 40, all the while enduring and transcending multiple medical and family dramas and even being held hostage by armed drug dealers. Includes the typical South Korean operatic-style drama on the part of most characters, e.g. dentist cries after watching childbirth because he is overwhelmed that he won't be able to watch his wife in pain during childbirth. If you are familiar with Korean dramas this is part and parcel of what westerners perceive to be their elevated operatic elements.