Great story and great acting
This is a very enjoyable drama with a fantastic cast and a great story. The three main actors are all excellent, as are the supporting cast. My only complaint would be that Go Kyung Pyo seemed a bit young for his part, but then, young rich CEOs seem to be common in KDramas.Gong Hyo Jin was an absolute delight as Pyo Na Ri. I came to this drama after having seen her in Pasta and When the Camellia Blooms after which I was quite sick of seeing her cry. Thankfully, she gets to show a wider range of emotions here making her character very sympathetic. I was really cheering for her happiness.
Jo Jung Suk played his character, Lee Hwa Shin, really well, both as a reporter and as a romantic lead.
This is a great story about friendship, unrequited love, new romance, resilience and determination with some workplace politics, competition and revenge as well. There's a lot going on but that just makes this story even better.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Rough Start, Heartwarming Story
STORY:I'm going to say it right now, the first episode was one of the worst pilots I've ever seen. I was really questioning whether to watch this drama after experiencing the first episode. The setup for the characters was poor, especially Pyo Na Ri. I hated that she was inexplicably groping Hwa Shin's chest at different points throughout the first episode, to the point of making me uncomfortable, just so she could drop the bomb at the end that she thought he had breast cancer. Like, that's a good cliffhanger, but it was poorly executed. It just made her seem like a woman who couldn't control her sexual urges.
However, I was determined to at least give it a second chance, and the second and third episodes cleared away my disappointment with the first episode. I have giggled and squealed happily throughout this drama.
CHARACTERS:
I cannot even describe how much I love Hwa Shin's character. Yes, he's an ass. Yes, he's incredibly flawed. But when he loves, he loves with his whole being, and watching him go all out to win Pyo Na Ri was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. When he cried, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything was going to be okay.
Jung Won is the best best friend anybody could have. I get why he and Pyo Na Ri didn't work out, so I wasn't brokenhearted when they separated. I loved that, despite how he felt about Na Ri, Jung Won stayed Hwa Shin's friend, however reluctantly.
Pyo Na Ri bothered me sometimes, especially during her teeter-tottering between Hwa Shin and Jung Won. I liked it much better when she figured out which one she really loved. I also wished she would stop bottling up how she was feeling and just be honest with Hwa Shin when she was upset; I hated it when she just kept insisting she was fine.
Anyway, this got a solid 9.5 from me; I docked a half-point for that awful beginning episode. Blech.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Only sort of a love triangle
The plot is messy; agreed. The love triangle fizzles out a bit early, and along with it, presumably, an opportunity to better understand why the heck those two were friends in the first place. But, I came here just to defend Pyo Na Ri’s choice because the amount of folks claiming she picked the wrong guy is just… perplexing.Yes, one guy is “nice” and rich, but he’s also controlling (all that consideration comes at a cost—she needs to do what he says or else get yelled out, or coldly shut out) and, most importantly, she’s never fully comfortable with him. We never meet his father, but the writing makes it pretty clear that Go Jung Won is a lot like him. Most importantly, says he’ll “never give her up” even when she asks him to. BIGGEST RED FLAG EVER. Run; don’t walk.
Meanwhile, while the other guy is “selfish,” sure, but that is pretty clearly demonstrated to be about his fear (of failure, of ridicule) rather than a lack of regard for others. He cares so much for the people he loves that he sometimes does or says the hard thing instead of the easy thing. Lee Hwa Shin shows Na Ri his vulnerability and he makes multiple real sacrifices for her happiness (overcoming the very fears that made him selfish in the first place). He’s even willing to let her go when he thinks (briefly) that that’s what she wants.
plot wise, lots of loose ends and weird red herrings (voice phishing…? what?!), and the bit about Chef getting “cured” pretty much canceled any wins for ace visibility, but big props for the breast cancer angle, great lead chemistry, and wonderful twin cougar supporting roles.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This script - these actors - the directing! I can't believe how well they put it all together. The situation was so believable and I became incredibly immersed in the unfolding of the story. Such a fun main story and well handled darker/tragic subjects. What really got me was how the sideplots were paralleled to the main story, same situations of jealousy and love triangles that were solved differently due to different context or personalities.
Amazing talented veteran cast, great directing of the juniors, an ensemble that worked very well together and never disappointed. As most of the time with Kdrama the supporting characters were well fleshed out and got to have their own char development.
Brilliant editing and scinematography, keep an eye out for what goes on in the background. So many fun easter eggs, symbolism and telling through props. The music was really good and suited the scenes and atmosphere of the drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The story started by introducing a lot of characters with confusing relationships. Eventually, their relationships became clear. The show touched on different issues such as breast cancer in males and unconventional family arrangements. The acting and OSTs were good! These were pretty much the good side of Jealousy IncarnateI have a lot to say about the story but I'll summarize it in one word: disappointing.
The story was confusing at first but eventually things seemed to fall into place until everything is shaken up again to another set of confusing arcs. There were characters who were given the limelight only to be thrown into the background later on. Probably the only consistent "main character" was Pyo Na Ri. Although the concept isn't original, the first half of the story actually made me think that the story would be different and special (probably groundbreaking) with how Jeong Won and Na Ri's relationship was given a long arc despite the expectation that Jeong Won is just the second lead. Yes, I fell in love with Jeong Won's character and his perfection was probably a signal that he won't be Na Ri's choice in the end; but I seriously hoped that the writers wouldn't make this another kdrama cliche. Sadly, they still did it. The second half of the story was framed badly. It basically threw the first half of the story. Like they could have just made the first half run for three episodes. Na Ri's choice is also very problematic and unconvincing. Sure, many kdramas do this, but Na Ri portrayed a foolish character of still choosing Hwa Sin who made her suffer for three years and was constantly mean and insensitive towards her. As a viewer, it was just difficult to fathom Na Ri's choices. They were able to make a clean ending with how everyone was "happy" in the end.
Overall, I can't help but be frustrated with this drama. I don't frequently experience second lead syndrome because many kdramas justify the main characters' choices. For jealousy incarnate, it just wasn't. Although I have to say, Hwa SIn is at times funny and can be anyone's crush but just not for Pyo Na Ri.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Initially it was very fun to watch, it's funny, clever and witty, but somewhere in the middle of the show, it made me bored, because of pyo na ri's attitude. I cannot understand her decision to like both of the guys, although i know that hwa shin is interesting guy but i believe the other guy is better hahaha. After that i skipped so many episodes and watched the last one. Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
The name of the show should have TRIANGLES
I have very mixed feeling about this drama...First of all the synopsis is completely wrong both of the leads were never COMPETETERS!!!
Every one in the review section loved the love triangles and that is what frustrated me!! Though as said it was unique.
The SML and FL had soooooo many good moments and unique bonding that it was very odd that he lost in the end
It was almost like FL toyed with both of their feelings...I mean how could she live with both of them and look at them with that gaze..
The show rarely had peaceful moments when one comes the other runs away..I didn't get it at all..and it happened more than four times!!!!
There were also few characters whose existence was just a prop...for example step mother of FL and FL brothers friend..
The show is full of triangles(two people fighting for one..aaahhhhhh!!!)
FL ,ML and SML
FL, ML and SFL
Papl gam, FL brother and his friend
Two sister in laws of ML and chef
Two sister-in-law of ML and papl gam
Two sister in law and brother of ML
SML, his fiance and FL
And I don't know if there are more but this is more than asked
I just hated the part where both were fighting for FL...it was made in such way
You won't hate it you would love it but would find it problematic in few ways
It was filmed great
SML is what you ll pity the most..he looked on the verge of crying on their wedding day
You could always tell he loved her more and the chemistry was better...
I guess ML won cause he had been her crush for three years..it was deep rooted or else there was no chance!!
Even after all this you would like it root for both ML and SML
It was never boring
It talked really well on prejudice about males having breast cancer
It also has very much detail about journalism
The kisses are best
And all the characters are somehow related to each other in a very genius way
I felt bad for SML as he remained lonely as always
But give it a watch...
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Yes to more dramas like this. Yes to realistic and relatable characters, yes to engaging and well thought out plots, and yes to tackling real-life issues. Taking on male breast cancer was massive, and I appreciate the drama writers willingness to go there. Pyo Na Ri was this fascinating combination of confident, vulnerable, honest, bold, and self-aware. Hwa Shin and Jung Won were two fascinating love interests with a heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, friendship. The make-up of this drama is almost flawless.I only have 3 complaints.
1) The three-way cohabitation nonsense that comes a little past the halfway mark (three-way not to be confused with the sexual term).
2) The kiss at the hospital between Na Ri and Hwa Shin when Na Ri and Jung Won are tentatively dating.
3) That silly song/dance at the wedding in the finale.
The first two are important. The last one isn't a big deal. (I just thought the scene was hilariously stupid.)
The cohabitation is never really justified by the writers and lasts waaaay longer than necessary, but the kiss is addressed as being a very poor and inappropriate decision that has consequences. Unfortunately, the character's responses to the kiss is to create said, weird, three-way cohabitation arrangement that is just awkward and uncomfortable and annoying to watch. (I recommend finding a unique way to watch those episodes to ensure you don't go nuts.)
Even in these frustrating moments when you don't really understand what exactly the writers think they are doing though, they found a way to make these characters feel real and believable, like people you want to root for.
I recommend this drama, and I might even rewatch it some day.
Was this review helpful to you?
WRONG.
Thanks to the top review here about this drama being messy in a good way, I decided to give this a shot. And I'm so glad I did or I would have missed out on this wonderful piece of work.
Yes, you have the typical tropes of someone getting cancer, a rich chaebol's mother playing dirty to ruin her son's middle class girlfriend, rich mother offering a girl money to leave her son, a female lead being caught between two men, etc. But instead of these being the source of draggy-ness, what the scriptwriters gave us was this whole feels trip of "oh, typical trope appears, sigh" and "holy crap did this really just solve the problem?!?!" within 1-2 episodes of each other. The drama is filled with unexpected (and hilarious) resolutions to things, and the fact that all the lead characters are mature adults who make reasonable choices makes it so much better than your typical rom com.
The flashback way of presenting new information also fits perfectly in terms of helping the audience understand what happened that led to the characters making these decisions (without being confusing or repetitive). The emotions also flow very well because of this style.
Let's talk about the two male leads. Second male lead is pretty much a perfect man, but second male lead syndrome didn't happen for me. We see very clearly how *despite the second male lead is, on paper, so much better than the first male lead,* the female lead struggles in between them. We see very early on how the first male lead is flawed -- but he is flawed not in the jerk-y manner, but instead in a way that we can't help but love. So by midway I was rooting 100% for the first male lead (and this says a lot because I'm a chronic warm/nice second male lead syndrome patient). The scriptwriter gave all our lead characters -- as well as the supporting characters -- multidimensional personalities and growth lines. Character development in this drama was superb -- both romantically and professionally. The 24-episode format, and the fact that the script doesn't waste time on unnecessary trope-dwelling, gave the writers time to do that.
The word "jealousy" makes a beautiful appearance in the drama, over and over again. It underlies the answer to one of the biggest questions in the drama. Also, you will not only see one love triangle, but (at least) three -- and a lot of the characters' choices are indeed made based on jealousy. However, the relationships aren't really messy in a bad way (again, 24-episode format helped give things more time to develop) and how things get resolved is also super worth looking forward to.
Now to comment on the acting-- both Jo Jung-suk and Gong Hyo-jin are extremely seasoned actors in the industry, and they really brought the lead characters to life. Second male lead Go Kyung-pyo may be young compared to the two leads, but his mature acting gave perfect chemistry to his relationship with the female lead (11 years older) as well as his bromance with the male lead (10 years older). The casting of other characters is also perfect -- Park Jin-joo (Nurse Oh) is legit best supporting cast in all the dramas she's in! I also especially love Seo Ji-hye (announcer Hong Hye-won). This is my third drama of hers (Crash Landing On You, Dinner Mate, now this), and every time I see her on the screen she is a completely different character. Her character here is super cool -- I thought she'd be a typical second female lead who plays dirty (again, typical rom com expectation), but the way she handled things is so lovable. It's just a shame how she never got any screen time with our Kim Jung-hyun (who plays female lead's younger brother) -- Crash Landing On You fans would understand why this is sad.
Kind reminder to stay for the epilogues in ep 16 and 22 -- you won't regret it :) The high rewatch value is for the comedic scenes and for the epilogues omg I can't get over ep 22~~
Was this review helpful to you?
