I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Jejoongwon going in. Despite its lack of popularity, I have to say it was an outstanding drama that did not disappoint. Story: 8/10 One of the things that I loved most about this drama is how much I learned from it--all of the historical events were incorporated very well into the story. I'm sure the show took liberties with some details, but the majority of the characters and events were real (based on my research while watching it). It gave a wonderful insight into the introduction of Western medicine, Joseon era social classes, and the international relations of Korea at the time. The story's progression felt very natural throughout and moved at a good pace. All of the main characters had intriguing stories that converged in their efforts to become doctors. Hwang Jung struggled with hiding that he was born into the "untouchable" class of butchers, Yoo Seok Ran struggled with sexism and the limitations of being a woman in 19th century Korea, and Baek Do Yang struggled mostly with himself. Near the end of the drama the focus started to turn more and more to events with Japan, and less on medicine. This is the main thing I didn't like so much about the drama--I wish they had kept the politics a secondary theme through to the end. Because of this I became a little disenchanted with the final episodes and while I wouldn't say the last episode ended with a whimper, it certainly didn't end with a bang either. The most climactic events in my opinion came some episodes earlier. Acting + Characters: 10/10 Quality acting all around in my opinion, Park Yong-woo in particular. In the beginning episodes I wasn't a huge fan of how Baek's character was done (so much sneering!), but that quickly changed and he ended up being my favorite character. One thing I have to say I really appreciated was that they found white people who could act well, since that seems to be a rarity in Korean dramas. Dr. Allen in particular was a very memorable character. While I found it a bit odd that a man born in Ohio in the 1850s looked clearly half Asian, I still find that preferable to white actors with little acting ability. While Hwang and Yoo were interesting for their stories, the characters themselves were more straightforward: they were both good-hearted, strong-willed, and progressively minded. Baek, on the other hand, I found to be a much more complex and interesting character, not to mention the one that undergoes the most development on a personal level. At times I hated him, and at other times I loved him. Baek was a character that took a long time to figure out, and once you think you understand him, he does something to turn that upside down. He's driven by jealousy and rivalry, but at the same time he's driven by a desire to save people through medicine and to modernize his country. He struggles with his feelings of inadequacy and jealousy when he's constantly sidelined as "second best". His ruling class status more than once proves to be an obstacle during his medical training, which causes him to be conflicted between maintaining his superior position in society and fulfilling his ultimate goal of becoming the best doctor in Korea. He is enigmatic and unpredictable, and in my opinion it's his character that doesn't make Jejoongwon simply a good drama, but rather an outstanding drama. Jejoongwon has its faults, but the rest of it is so well done that I can happily ignore the imperfections. It's a superb drama that deserves far more recognition than it ever got.