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It just shows that at its root; not matter what fandom you’re in, there will always some weird ones that have really odd opinions.
The series is about a doctor, Park Jisang, who was born infected with a virus that gave him a condition very much like a vampire. And later, he needed to race against time to find a cure to that virus in order to save a number of patients infected by that very virus.
The series is quite okay, but some of the viewers opinion of the show made me uncomfortable. It’s from a comment I read about someone who felt that the villain’s action is justified and how they wished the villain’s plan would succeed.
But before that, let’s summarize a bit of info about the villain. Director Lee Jaeuk was yet another infected, who used to be part of the same research team as Jisang’s parent. But unlike Jisang’s parent, he wasn’t infected accidentally when the team accidentally found the remains of the dead vampires, which was the source of the vampire virus. Lee ended up turning himself as an infected and kill his team members.
And we bring forward to the series plot where Lee then became the Director of a cancer hospital and began (yet another) experiment to try making use of their own infected blood (that allowed them to have miraculous self-healing abilities) to create a miracle drug that can heal any incurable diseases.
Well, on that premise alone... perhaps one would want to root for the villain, eh? I mean, who wouldn’t want the possibility to find the cure to those diseases that even the most advanced medical expertise had yet found the cure? But would it be worth it? If the catch for achieving that goal, is by sacrificing innocent lives. Killing the people that tried to oppose the ones attempting to reach that goal, treating other people as guinea pigs... is that worth the price?
I like the way the drama move from the scenario where Jisang move in into the hospital and continue working as a genius doctor; and then having the plot focused on trying to stop Lee’s plan. Like yeah, a part of me felt bad that we didn’t get a lot of scenes of where Jisang do a lot of surgeries as a vampire... but really, it’ll be weird if he kept doing his doctor thing and not going after the people that killed his parents. I mean, it's what drives the main character Jisang forward after all.
I like how the drama focused on the ethical issues. As in, was it worth it to try achieving a long life or finding the cure to stop all illness, at the expense of your own humanity? Does it justify killing a number of patients (that came to the hospital, earnestly to hope to be cured... only to become test subjects) just so you can acquire your mythical ‘miracle’ cure?
(And odd enough this kind of plot reasoning was quite similar to the one in another fandom of mine, which is Kamen Rider Gaim. In which the same question surfaces. Does it justify sacrificing millions of lives, in order to save a few?)
Near the end of the drama, it’s implied that Lee had done similar experiments before. And all of it had failed. While there wasn’t any more explanations on what happened to those other test subjects, one could have guessed what would have happened. Those subject would have died or killed... or become yet another infected and left on their own, amongst the normal people unaware that there might be actual vampires living amongst them.
So going back to the earlier statement that kinda started me on writing this essay. Said commenter tried to justify that in the end, Lee would do some good if his project was successful. Thing is, was there even a possibility of an actual success (aka a serum that can speed up healing or recovery in matter of minutes) without having to turn the person into an infected/a vampire?
And I feel it's really irresponsible of Lee to just abandon his failed experiments and bail out to search for another place to restart his project. Like that we might as well don't find that miracle cure. I also find Lee's lack of caring about the sanctity of life, disturbing. Like how he won't bat an eye an the thought of taking someone's life; or just playing God, giving and taking life as he pleases. That is no longer what a doctor supposed to be.
Even if this is a fictional story, seeing someone actually agreeing to that kind of extreme beliefs... it's just disturbing. Taking a life, fictionally or not... should not be taken lightly. Even if the justification seemed 'noble' doesn't mean that it's the right thing. The end does not justify the means.
That said, Blood had a good ending. Though it does leave one question unanswered. Suppose by Jisang's 'death' they managed to create the stable cure to counter the VBT-01 virus and help the patients that were experimented to be turned back to humans--what then is Jisang's true fate? Sure he's still alive but is he still infected... or is he human now? Is he even a 'normal' human... given the fact that as an infected, he was a mutation. A true pureblood. Then, if he's now human... does he still retain his superhuman abilities? I mean, he did appear to be able to fight the foreign infected with ease.
It'll be interesting if this show gets a sequel. Because surely, there must be more of the infected still around that needed to be dealt with.
The series is about a doctor, Park Jisang, who was born infected with a virus that gave him a condition very much like a vampire. And later, he needed to race against time to find a cure to that virus in order to save a number of patients infected by that very virus.
The series is quite okay, but some of the viewers opinion of the show made me uncomfortable. It’s from a comment I read about someone who felt that the villain’s action is justified and how they wished the villain’s plan would succeed.
But before that, let’s summarize a bit of info about the villain. Director Lee Jaeuk was yet another infected, who used to be part of the same research team as Jisang’s parent. But unlike Jisang’s parent, he wasn’t infected accidentally when the team accidentally found the remains of the dead vampires, which was the source of the vampire virus. Lee ended up turning himself as an infected and kill his team members.
And we bring forward to the series plot where Lee then became the Director of a cancer hospital and began (yet another) experiment to try making use of their own infected blood (that allowed them to have miraculous self-healing abilities) to create a miracle drug that can heal any incurable diseases.
Well, on that premise alone... perhaps one would want to root for the villain, eh? I mean, who wouldn’t want the possibility to find the cure to those diseases that even the most advanced medical expertise had yet found the cure? But would it be worth it? If the catch for achieving that goal, is by sacrificing innocent lives. Killing the people that tried to oppose the ones attempting to reach that goal, treating other people as guinea pigs... is that worth the price?
I like the way the drama move from the scenario where Jisang move in into the hospital and continue working as a genius doctor; and then having the plot focused on trying to stop Lee’s plan. Like yeah, a part of me felt bad that we didn’t get a lot of scenes of where Jisang do a lot of surgeries as a vampire... but really, it’ll be weird if he kept doing his doctor thing and not going after the people that killed his parents. I mean, it's what drives the main character Jisang forward after all.
I like how the drama focused on the ethical issues. As in, was it worth it to try achieving a long life or finding the cure to stop all illness, at the expense of your own humanity? Does it justify killing a number of patients (that came to the hospital, earnestly to hope to be cured... only to become test subjects) just so you can acquire your mythical ‘miracle’ cure?
(And odd enough this kind of plot reasoning was quite similar to the one in another fandom of mine, which is Kamen Rider Gaim. In which the same question surfaces. Does it justify sacrificing millions of lives, in order to save a few?)
Near the end of the drama, it’s implied that Lee had done similar experiments before. And all of it had failed. While there wasn’t any more explanations on what happened to those other test subjects, one could have guessed what would have happened. Those subject would have died or killed... or become yet another infected and left on their own, amongst the normal people unaware that there might be actual vampires living amongst them.
So going back to the earlier statement that kinda started me on writing this essay. Said commenter tried to justify that in the end, Lee would do some good if his project was successful. Thing is, was there even a possibility of an actual success (aka a serum that can speed up healing or recovery in matter of minutes) without having to turn the person into an infected/a vampire?
And I feel it's really irresponsible of Lee to just abandon his failed experiments and bail out to search for another place to restart his project. Like that we might as well don't find that miracle cure. I also find Lee's lack of caring about the sanctity of life, disturbing. Like how he won't bat an eye an the thought of taking someone's life; or just playing God, giving and taking life as he pleases. That is no longer what a doctor supposed to be.
Even if this is a fictional story, seeing someone actually agreeing to that kind of extreme beliefs... it's just disturbing. Taking a life, fictionally or not... should not be taken lightly. Even if the justification seemed 'noble' doesn't mean that it's the right thing. The end does not justify the means.
That said, Blood had a good ending. Though it does leave one question unanswered. Suppose by Jisang's 'death' they managed to create the stable cure to counter the VBT-01 virus and help the patients that were experimented to be turned back to humans--what then is Jisang's true fate? Sure he's still alive but is he still infected... or is he human now? Is he even a 'normal' human... given the fact that as an infected, he was a mutation. A true pureblood. Then, if he's now human... does he still retain his superhuman abilities? I mean, he did appear to be able to fight the foreign infected with ease.
It'll be interesting if this show gets a sequel. Because surely, there must be more of the infected still around that needed to be dealt with.
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