My first medical drama and overall forty-third drama is Emergency Couple 응급남녀. Emergency Couple is my third drama starring Song Ji Hyo and whom was the initial reason for showing interest in this series. There was a scene featuring both Song Ji Hyo and her Running Man colleague, Leessang's Gary, which drew in a Monday Couple fan like myself to want to see this drama. As a scientist in the medical field, I never really had too much interest towards medical dramas. However, I felt I should eventually give medical dramas a try and chose Emergency Couple to be my first medical drama series. In the end, Emergency Couple was a great choice and a drama series I highly recommend watching.
Oh Changmin (Choi Jin Hyuk) and Oh Jinhee (Song Ji Hyo) are a two medical school students in love. Chang Min comes from a wealthy family full of doctors. Despite strong opposition from the family, Changmin and Jinhee get married. Changmin gave up his medical internship to work as a pharmaceutical salesman. It wasn't long before their quarrels got the best of them and their marriage crumbled into a messy divorce. Six years later, Changmin and Jinhee cross paths at a mutual friend's wedding. Little did they know, they would continue to see one another even more when Changmin and Jinhee discover that they are both interns at the same hospital working at the emergency room. As they grow as doctors working in the emergency room, Changmin and Jinhee begin to rekindle their feelings for one another.
Despite the intensity of emergency room situations and melodramatic elements from the main storyline, Emergency Couple gives off a very light feel for a drama. Every side character provides some comic relief to the drama. In fact, at times I was more interested in watching the side storylines. My favorite would be between Shim Jihye and Gook Chunsoo, both who were senior doctors at the hospital. Their romantic storyline was similar to the main storyline between Changmin and Jinhee, but was different because I couldn't guess the conclusion. It isn't hard to guess that Changmin and Jinhee would fall in love again. Had this series been more melodramatic, it ending would be more difficult to guess and perhaps more addicting to watch.
The soundtrack for Emergency Couple Soundtrack songs grew on me. While some of the songs were not initial hits for me, I grew to really like the main songs as each episode progressed. Jooah's "I Am" and Lim Jeong Hee's "Scent of a Flower 꽃향기" are two of my favorite ballads from the soundtrack. A good upbeat ending theme is always needed for triggering a drama marathon and 3rd Coast's "Love Again" does a great job of that. Another song that was good was Park Shi Hwan's "The Way We Loved 그때 우리 사랑은".
Emergency Couple does a great job dividing the screen time between general medical emergency scenes and the dramatic aspects of the romantic relationship between Changmin and Jinhee. I did not want the entirety of the drama to be spent on the medical scenes. This series feels more like a romantic comedy than a melodrama. This makes it a easy watch for any viewer, new or veteran to drama series. Song Ji Hyo and Choi Jin Hyuk are fantastic actors and were definitely a reason I enjoyed watching Emergency Couple.
