Chocolate

 Chocolate (Available on Netflix) 

Content Warning: Language, Smoking, Violence, and Death 

Rating: B- 

Character Glossary: 

Lee Kang: Neurosurgeon/ Main Guy

Moon Cha-yeong: Chef/ Main Girl

Lee Joon: Lee Kang's cousin/ Neurosurgeon 

Kwon Hyeon Seok:  Director of the Hospice

Moon Tae-Hyun: Main Girl's brother

Chocolate is about Lee Kang who, as a young boy, was brought to live with his cutthroat relatives. After his mother is killed he pushes away his childhood and focuses on becoming a neurosurgeon. Moon Cha-young always wanted to be a chef after meeting Lee Kang as a kid and eating the delicious food. She never expects to see him again but their fates are intertwined. 

Chocolate is good for a one time watch when you are in a show lull but it isn't at the top of my recommendation list. I felt like it didn't have any certain direction or defined purpose. But be warned this show takes place primarily in a hospice so there is a decent amount of death. Seriously, I was crying in every episode because they made things so incredibly depressing. That being said it didn't ruin the show for me but there were a lot of aspects that fell flat for me. So I would recommend you check this out if you have the time but don't feel bad if you put it off for a while. 

SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

OVERALL STORY: Like I mentioned above the overall story seemed really directionless to me. I didn't understand really what the goal of the story was. The main romance wasn't the main pull..or if it was supposed to be it did a really bad job of it. The medical aspect wasn't as well thought out either. So I really struggled to figure out exactly what I should be looking forward to or what the point of the story is. What goal were we trying to reach? True love like in Meteor Garden? Or the duty of a doctor like in Doctor John? That is not to say that the story wasn't interesting but I just like stories with a particular goal in mind and this show didn't seem to have that for me. There were a lot of aspects I liked though like the relationship between Moon Cha-yeong and her mother and brother. I liked how she didn't excuse her mother for anything and I loved how the relationship with her brother developed. I liked the hospice scenes as well but I felt like there was a lot of death that was unnecessary. This show wasn't like Doctor John where patients were the main focus. Again, if this show had a main focus this would answer the question of what the purpose of these scenes was. 

MAIN ROMANCE: I really think this was the worst show to watch after I rewatched Meteor Garden. That is because, I felt, that the romance in this show was incredibly passive. It probably wouldn't have been as annoying to me if, again, I hadn't watched an incredibly "aggressive" romance like the one in Meteor Garden. But I also felt like there just wasn't a lot of chemistry between the leads and although I supported them as a couple I really didn't...feel the romance if that makes sense. * It just fell flat for me which was disappointing because I wanted to like them more. Honestly, I shipped her with Lee Joon for a bit because I felt like there scenes had more chemistry. But that being said the thing that bothered me the most about their relationship was what happened at the end. Maybe I am just not understanding something but the ending sequence made literally no sense to me at all. Basically Cha-yeong had a run in with her mother (who is a horrible person by the way, more on that below) and then told Lee Kang that she needed space. Which is fine I get how traumatic that would be but then she like runs off to Greece. And I just don't know how mother troubles constitutes that big or that long of a separation from your boyfriend. AND THEN Lee Kang literally had to go track her down like she didn't go look for him at all. If someone can explain it to me please do because it seriously bugged me. 

SECONDARY ROMANCE: Although this romance didn't get a lot of screen time I liked it more than the main couple. It is between a guy (Director Kwon) and his ex wife who works at the hospice's cafeteria. And she has Alzheimers. Their journey of coming back together was seriously the sweetest thing. And I liked how the show didn't gloss over her disease either or the repercussions of it.  And I liked how Director Kwon had to overcome his anger and hurt due to their divorce. There was a lot of growth in their relationship and it was really sweet. 

THIRD ROMANCE: I am not going to go into this one very much either because this one got even less screen time than the secondary romance. It was between one of the nurses and her ex boyfriend who is terminally ill. They were so cute and they seriously made me cry. But I loved the little bit of development we get between them and I wish we could have seen them singing together in the competition.... I also want to say how grateful I am that they did not have him die during the show. It would have broken my heart. 

LEE KANG: He was seriously a jerk in the beginning and for a while I debated stopping the show because of that. But I mean he was cool and eventually he actually got some character development. And his scene where he operated on someone while he, himself, was injured was pretty cool. (But it was also extremely unsafe.) But my big question is: what exactly was the goal of his character? I'm talking about this from a writers point of view not the characters. Lee Kang originally wanted to inherit the hospital group but changed his mind at the end. Instances like this and his appreciation for the hospice were parts of his character growth. I just wasn't sure what his endgame was supposed to be... but his character growth was good enough that I was overall satisfied. 

MOON CHA-YEONG: I liked her but I felt like she could be an incredibly passive character at times. I liked how much she cared about everyone and worked hard to make sure the patients at the hospice were happy. I also loved how she put her mom in her place--she didn't do some pointless redemption arc but instead did what was best for her. And I really liked that because her mom was a seriously awful person. I also liked how she portrayed her PTSD, from what I understand about the condition I think she portrayed it accurately and it brought a new depth to her character. However, her passiveness at times especially in the area of Lee Kang bugged me a little. She didn't really make any effort in that direction and it bugged me because I felt like she should have. That didn't ruin her character for me or anything but it did make me like her less. 

LEE JOON: He was my favorite character in the whole show. He had a lot of character growth and he really just was the sweetest person. I liked how he began to question the decisions of his parents and really start to form his own beliefs. I wish the story were more about him because he was such a fascinating character. I liked how each of his experiences shaped the person he became and how he really had to push back against his parents and take control of his own life. I would watch a show all about him I swear. 

KWON HYEON SEOK: Besides Lee Joon, Director Kwon was my other favorite character. First of all I love the actor for his character. He was in Strong Girl Bong Soon and he had a cameo in Hotel Del Luna. He is hilarious and his role in this is probably one of my favorites of his. There was a lot of depth to his character and he could be so deadpan at times... But  I really loved his character growth that I talked about in the secondary romance section. He really had to work hard to overcome his anger at the past. I also loved just how much he cared about the hospice. I think it is such an important facility and I was grateful for how hard he fought to protect it. 

MOON TAE-HYUN: I loved his character which was surprising considering how much I disliked him at first. But I loved to see how he began to look outside of himself and I especially loved how his relationship grew with his sister. It was one of my favorite things about the show and I wish that we could have seen more about his relationship with that one patient. We see how deeply her loss affected him but I would have liked to see more scenes between them.

QUOTE: "As if today is your last day, and as if you know that this moment will never return, cherish every single moment that comes by, ladies and gentleman. The day you wasted today is the tomorrow that someone who died yesterday so badly wished for." 

SHIP VIDEO: (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl-vG77VaQg