Fire the Writer's
I tried hard to love this show considering all the great actors in this ensemble. However, the writers continued to get in my way. This best way to put this is that within each episode there was contained a high amount of "Dumb" written into the script especially Ji Chang Wook's, character. Someone decided the lead character was going to be a wuss who could not overcome his depression throughout each episode. The love story was good , the bad guys were good and, the other characters all had potential. That is until the writers continued to dumb down the character of No Ji Wook. I still gave it high marks for a number of things. Is it worth watching, YES! Is it frustrating, Without a Doubt!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Suspicious Partner (also translated as Love in Trouble), is a drama that successfully blends the two opposing genres of romance and crime, unlike maybe a Strong Woman Do Bong Soo, which felt like we were watching two separate dramas. The show follows the story of two lawyers, No Ji Wook (played by the charming Ji Chang Wook) and Eun Bong Hee (played by the delightful Nam Ji Hyun), and the subsequent cases that they solve together, including the core central plot of proving Bong Hee’s innocence, when she is falsely accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend (played by Chansung).I classify Suspicious Partner into the ‘typical Korean drama’ genre that is filled with clichés such as the girl getting cheated on in the first episode(just like in Fight My Way), then, the female lead having no choice but to move in with the male lead, or working together in the same office. It becomes a bit too convenient at times, but you know what, as long as the whole drama is enjoyable, I honestly don’t mind. These type of dramas are also as important as the serious ones. As much as I loved Signal, Misaeng, and Something in the Rain, I don’t mind a She was Pretty, a School 2015 and this, once in a while. This show was my stress breaker when I was finishing off my architectural thesis, and it was perfect to take my mind off for a few minutes.
Talking about a few minutes, the half an hour episode format did not suit this show at all. Crime shows require time to explain the crime, the motive, the victims, the suspects, and this show already had a love story in place, so the short episodes ended up breaking the continuity. To combat this, the screenplay alternates between scenes of rom-com, followed by a few scenes of the crime thriller, and then back to the rom-com, and so on. At times, the romance does overshadow the crime plot of the show, especially with multiple cases lining up in the second half of the show, as well as the underdeveloped past of both of our lead characters.
Ji Chang Wook is in top form, especially in scenes involving the courtrooms, or his conversations with Jung Hyun Soo (played by Dong Ha). He is impressive, and he holds theses scenes together. Unfortunately, these scenes are far and few in between, and as much as I love seeing him romance Nam Ji Hyun’s character, these scenes showcase another range as an actor, and I really enjoyed watching him in this mode.
Choi Tae Hoon is amusing as Ji Eun Hyuk, and his chemistry and rapport with No Ji Wook were hilarious, but I wish there was more for him to do, especially the whole part of why he almost slept with Cha Yoo Jung (Hello Venus’s Nara), No Ji Wook’s girlfriend at the time, which totally went unexplained.
Is there any drama where a character doesn’t have amnesia and the lead couple doesn’t break up at least once? Yes there are, but this drama isn’t one of them.
It was both smart and dumb to suddenly put Jung Hyun Soo into a coma; smart because our characters get some time to delve into their past (whose reveal was a sheer disappointment), but dumb, because once Hyun Soo is out of coma, we are back to where we started, right at the beginning of the show. A few episodes are then wasted to get the confession out of Hyun Soo, which could have been saved to give more details onto the lead characters past, which was being teased from the beginning of the show.
The drama does pack a lot for its twenty episode run, and at times does drag, but the reveals are so unexpected, that it hooks you back into the show.
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The story, it was really great. The plot is so interesting. There was so much happening in this drama, it was just right, not a slow-paced nor fast-paced drama. I'm looking for more dramas like this one, so if you know a few, please recommend some for me. Thank you!
The actors are really good. My first drama of Ji Chang Wook and oh my goodness! He is super cool. We all need a man like him. He is so natural and indeed a perfection! The chemistry with Nam Ji Hyun is just great but I had to admit, Ji Hyun's acting sometimes gets too cute and it makes me cringe but no I loved her acting in this so much and I'm planning to watch Shopping King Louis and I hope I will not be disappointed.
The music, uhm.. I didn't get a chance to pay attention to the soundtracks because I'm really immersed by their acting so...
The rewatch value would be 9 and I will definitely watch this again if I have a chance!
If you like Romance, Thriller and Law, this is just for you!
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i'd been holding back from watching this for a while because from the description, it sounded like it would be an office drama and that 90% of it would be based on court and law jargon, but it really wasn't! i was pleasantly surprised and irresponsibly neglected some of my own obligations to blast through these 20 episodes.
i thought the characters were well-written and well-executed. ji changwook is ji changwook but nam jihyun (i think she's my fave actress atm!) and dongha really took the cake! i really enjoyed watching their performance. jihyun has a really great range and her acting was believable. dongha did an INCREDIBLE job portraying the villain and i'm really curious to see him in other roles.
the romance was a huge part of the story and that was ok! i felt that their relationship was written very well and most importantly, both adults were honest with themselves and each other, and also upfront if any issues cropped up. i am done with "i hurt you in order to not hurt you" and the denial and pining that is a systemic trope in kdrama. here, both jiwook and bonghee were really, really mature and great characters.
of course there are always aspects that could've seen improvement, but weighing up the things that had potential to be better vs the drama that was presented to us? i'm pretty damn happy!
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Lowkey Gave me Whiplash...
It took me 2 tries to watch this show because I'm not a fan of thriller and I got scared the 1st time lol. A part of me wishes I just stuck through it the 1st time because I probably would have liked it more earlier on in my Kdrama journey (a year ago vs now)...Story- The plot was dragged out for too long (didn't reveal the villain orgin story until like ep 37, main couple is involved with major drama trope for a while, etc.). The show got uninteresting during the 2nd half, especially at the 30 ep mark till the end. There was random situations that happened that didn't really add to the story and overall just a lot of filler. I think it should have been a 32 ep drama instead. I still enjoyed the essence of the drama but I wish it didn't go in a constant circle.
-I low-key had mental whiplash with this drama... 1 moment everything was going decent and then something happens and sometimes in weird spots (like their first night together). Overall, the timing was weird sometimes lol
-The main couple was also cute but a lot of their appeal disappeared halfway through with all of the tropes surrounding their relationship. Noh Ji Wook was a really appealing boyfriend though :)
Acting/Cast- I really enjoyed this cast for the most part! This is my 2nd JCW drama and I really liked him in this. I didn't enjoy NJH's character much... she just didn't bring much personality wise to me. I almost think NJH acting itself was a part of the problem but this is the 1st drama I've watched her in so I won't judge her completely on this role. Everyone else was good and made the story a bit more enjoyable, especially in the later parts!
Music- The OST is good!! A lot of cute and endearing songs :) My favorite is "How Do I Say It" by O.When <3
Rewatch Value- I don't rewatch shows but if I did I wouldn't sit through "Suspicious Partner" again. Maybe I would watch some funny or sweet moment clips
Overall this isn't a bad show, just not my favorite. It got draggy for me. I think this makes a great beginner drama though! If you're a fan of any of the actors I do suggest you try it out!
Happy Watching :)
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This is one of the koreanovelas I have seen that I didn’t get irritated as I watch it. Like most, it’s one of those rich-guy-poor-girl story but what I like about this is that the girl character is not completely helpless (yey girlpower!) There is good flow of how the story is being unfold (I don’t have my usual “WTF how did that happen?” moment) and villains motive at the end of the series is not totally what I expect. I get that the villain was exposed early but it’s his reason for doing such things is what I am interested of.
I don’t really like on how they shot the fighting scenes, like there is a mirror effect or something. Doing it once is okay but doing it in most of the time gives me the impression that the acting is not good enough that’s why they’re using some kind of an effect.
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And while I like both of the lead actors and think they did a fine job in this drama, the chemistry wasn't as good as I was expecting. It wasn't bad chemistry, I just know what it looks like when they have great chemistry with other actors so it was a bit of a let down.
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Best Male Lead Ever!
Honestly I loveeeeeee the male lead,I watched this drama for like 100 times just because of him,I loveeddd his role (like in very other drama😍).To me personally this is one of the best dramas ever,but this is only my opinion.Idk but do you know the feeling when you just love someone sooooo much and like you just wanna see him so you don‘t really care abot other things happening?Well yeah that was happening to me in this drama 😂.I also liked the famale lead,she was funny,but she wasn’t the reason why I came every time back to watch this drama ,it was HIM!
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For the most part, the show was pretty good. But I think the plot got lost somewhere in the middle. Great potential was just never fully realized, and I think this could have done with maybe a few more episodes.
But this drama did have some great kiss scenes, so there is that.
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