Time Slip Dr. Jin 닥터 진 Review

⭐️⭐️

The 2012 Korean drama, starring Song Seung-Heon as Jin Hyuk, Park Min-Young as Hong Young-Rae/ Yoo Mi-Na, Lee Beom-Soo as Lee Ha-Eung, Kim Jae-Joong as Kim Kyung-Tak, Lee So-Yeon as Choon-Hong, and Jin Yi-Han as Hong Young-Hwi. Also known as “Dr. Jin.”



Brief synopsis: Jin Hyuk is a successful neurosurgeon in modern day Seoul, ready to propose to the lovely Dr. Yoo Mi-Na. But strange events start happening after he removes a fetus from a patient’s cranium, including the injury of his would-be fiancé. Taking a break on the hospital roof, he accidentally falls and wakes up in Joseon, unaware of where he is or how he got there. But most terrifying: it doesn’t look like there’s a way back.

This drama had potential. But then it was thrown away by unnecessary plot elements. It could have been just a medical drama, or just a historical drama, or just a romantic drama, but trying to merge all of that in such a complicated and confusing way was catastrophic. The actors were not the ones at fault in this one— the writers were the ones that sabotaged it. I am a fan of both Song Seung-Heon and Park Min-Young yet I still couldn’t finish the drama because I became frankly exhausted with its missteps.

While watching, my mind kept crossing to two other well-known time-travel dramas: “Faith: The Great Doctor” and “Scarlet Heart: Ryeo.” These two accomplished what “Time Slip Dr. Jin” couldn’t. They were all historical dramas with the similar time-travel themes, but both “Faith” and “Scarlet Heart” placed more emphasis on the relationship between the main characters while the plot events were happening around them. But because I had seen those two time-travel dramas previously, “Time Slip Dr. Jin” felt redundant. There wasn’t anything new about this drama to keep hold of my attention. It was rarely comedic and was occasionally too melodramatic for the plot’s grand scheme.



In the beginning I was interested, then I watched for Jin Hyuk and Young-Rae (a bit disappointing), then I watched for the surgery scenes, and then I was bored. This drama had the makings for something good, but lost its fire too soon. 2/5 stars.