God's Quiz (2010)

I have to say this is not typically what I watch, as I'm more of a romance-comedy-drama kind of person, but this really got me hooked from the first episode.
Maybe it was also a very nice change for me BECAUSE I was watching so much romance..stuff.

This story actually reminds me of a mix of some US-series but it definitely has it's korean touch to it which made it very enjoyable.
I liked the whole plot setting and that it always develops towards one question and one issue that is present during the first season.
Some points are clear from the story but some really surprise you which made it not boring at all. Even if you're not a medical-stuff-love-freak, they made every aspect quite interesting and it IS interesing because it's about a group in a university lab which deals with rare deseases.  
I loved the acting and the cast, because they balanced each other out pretty well.
At first I didn't like the female lead because sometimes she seemed to act a little tough for me, but during the series while she gets warm with her crew and Dr. Han she changes a little and that made me like her in the end.

Also I have to say that the antagonist of this whole story was pretty well played! I loved the mystery and the danger and also the craziness. I mean this is nothing for soft hearts for sure.

What I also really enjoyed were the talks Dr. Han had almost at every end of those episodes because they were so so human. Dr. Han is portrayed as pretty arrogant and he doesn't care what he says but at the end of each episode he asks his mentor about human nature and why people act how they sometimes do and that made him actually pretty human and likable and I think everyone can learn from those talks...getting philosophical here...(probably because I'm writing a paper for uni atm xD hahahaha)

sometimes I thought the music was a bit off or was cut off too fast at the and of a scene but it didn't bother me in the end.

Because this drama shows a lot of unpleasant stuff that could happen to you, I wouldn't rewatch it right away, but at some point I would.

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I am a sucker for episodic crime dramas. I love them which is why I am wondering why I haven't watched this drama sooner lol I LOVED IT! It wasn't hard to watch or get through...what is hard is understanding why I hadn't seen this sooner.

Story: If you don't like episodic police procedurals, you won't like this drama. Me...I love them so this drama was made for me. I liked that this drama wasn't just a murder drama but disease played a role. It made it very interesting and I definitely learned something with every episode. I also liked that there wasn't a romantic angle...just a straight up episodic crime drama.

Acting/Cast: The cast made the drama. Each character was quirky and played a part in the motley crew that made up the crime fighting team. I thought it was cast very well. The 2 main leads were awesome! Ryu Deok Hwan's role was made for him. Of course they made the female cop's character sort of typical but I liked that both characters grew through working together and learning from each other. The supporting cast was brilliant! Just great.

Music: Sorry, don't remember a lot of the music so I don't have an opinion.

Rewatch Value: Definitely would rewatch this or since it was episodic, even just rewatch an episode when I am not watching anything else.

Overall: I can see why this drama has 4 seasons plus a reboot now in 2018. It was a great start to the series and I can't wait to watch the other seasons. I don't think there is anything I hated about the drama AT ALL!

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Basic procedural drama.

I would be lying if I said this drama aged well. It’s nothing less, nothing more than a mix of CSI, Criminal Minds and Dr House - one case by episode with little complexity to the story.

The ideas behind the cases were rather interesting, maybe I just prefer a bit more realistic approach. How many crimes related to rare diseases in such a short period of time happen in a small country like Korea?

While the acting was good, the characters themselves were rather poorly written - there wasn’t much to them. Till the end of the show I knew little about a few team members. Even the main characters had not much to offer. Not to mention the weird out of a blue romantic twist at the end - the chemistry was not that throughout the show.

The editing and camera work are dated. It’s truly all done in the style of the old crime shows, but that was given, taking into consideration the drama aired in 2010. I did not mind the old style production aspect, they had a sentimental value for me.
Since the show focuses on rare diseases, it’s inevitable to include some medical jargon. In more modern shows, all the essential information is usually presented in small text boxes - here, they were part of the dialogues - I am not the biggest fan of that approach. The scenes did not flow well when I kept getting Wikipedia quotes all the time.

Overall, I watched the last few episodes at 1.5x and 2x speed. If the show was longer, I would probably drop it. It might have been a masterpiece in 2010, but it does not hold up for 2021 standards.

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Season 1 & 3 in last place

God's Quiz in general was more mystery/thriller/investigation than medical. The main lead, who's a medical examiner, was doing more field detective work and following suspects than the real detectives. I didn't like how they setup the main lead character, he's genius because of a drug experiment in his childhood and this led to all kinds of made up scenarios stemming from his condition across different seasons. Every season, they twisted it in a different way which took away from having a consistent character. It's the eternal problem of any unplanned sequel seasons in a series. Which imposes an impossible task for any multi-seasons writers.

Production: Seasons 1 to 4 were molded under the same OCN early days template, which all shared the same level of underwhelming production value. Soundtracks during season 1 & 2 were super generic stock background noise, only with season 3 they started to include music. Although season 3 was filmed better but had a much worse audio production in general. Season 4 was a noticeable improvement in production but it still wasn't quite there yet. This is all in comparison to regular shows that were released around early 2010s. On the other hand, season 5 brought with it a proper production and other improvements.

Characters: The dynamic and chemistry of the entire group during season 1 was abysmal, overacting from everyone, forced unnatural interactions and none of them clicked. Season 2 somewhat got better in that regard, you can notice that they got more relaxed but still not quite there yet. The ending scene of season 2 while the ML is kissing, his lips were shivering like crazy. It must have been super awkward to the point that they couldn't afford to have another take. Season 3 took a step backward with its changed cast. Detective Bae Tae Shik brought an awful dynamic to the table. Him and main lead didn't click together and created a bad on screen combination. It's probably why the writer didn't write him in for later seasons. The same can be said about other characters associated with Bae Tae Shik. The relationship and attempted romance between ML and Kyung Hee during season 1 & 2 was plain awful to watch. Only in season 4 it got reasonably better and season 5 fixed this issue completely by dropping the childish romantic tension and having them behave like adults. I liked seeing Kim Jae Won as a flashy villain in season 5, it was fun watching a different type of role from him.

Story: The structure of every season consisted of having a few cases then dedicate the last 3 episodes to the final case which had a personal connection with the characters. These last cases in every season were quite problematic for a variety of reasons, only season 5 had a better implementation despite its weak climax. More highlight across the seasons, the last episode of season 3 was the worst out of the entire series. The cloning plot in season 4 was super trashy and tacky, despite having an obvious playing room to take it into very interesting directions. The ending of season 4 featured another super weird and awkward kiss. The entire thing about AI in season 5 was really janky and a big stretch for the viewers to accept. In general, the cases were a mixed bag in every season, some were decent and interesting while others were boring, flawed or being stretched thin. However, season 3 featured mostly bad cases in addition to the handful of other problems which made season 3 to be the worst one in general.

The series as a whole was alright with a lot of ups and downs. It had a good concept with a varied degrees of execution. Although season 5 is the best one but it wouldn't have been that good as a stand alone drama without the accumulation of these characters journey. The ending of season 5 with both leads walking outside was very nicely done. On an unrelated note, it was impossible to not notice the ML's height.

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God’s Quiz Season 1 (2010) - I’m glad I ran into this drama. I feel like I am watching an educational show but in a fun way. This drama is really good, I like that they introduced rare diseases with analytical thinking, and I like that is centers about crime and mystery as well. This drama made me feel like I'm the smartest after watching an episode. I came to watch the seasons after this one because the first season was really well portrayed. Almost all the characters especially the ones inside the lab are really engaging. I like the last episode of this drama, especially about the lines regarding human ethics and about life as well as death.

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