A Good Show that Many Will Dislike but I enjoy

Note: This is a show where the ending is predictable and less important than the process. So spoilers won’t affect too much of your experience, or so I think.

Let it be clear that many people will not like this show, even though it is a good show imo. One major reason for dislikes is probably that the main story of this show is about an ostensibly unhealthy relationship. There is no deny of it, and the show is conscious of the fact that the central romantic story is deeply unhealthy. In fact, the multiple relationships depicted in the show all have clear problems that are so unlikeable that most causal K-drama reviewers (esp. in the West) cannot tolerate. But this is not a show that tries to justify unhealthy relationships or glorify problems in romantic relationships. Rather, it is a show that depicts how an unhealthy relationship can gradually become a healthy one, and it has done a good job of telling such a story. If you can bear through the discomfort that the show brings and carries it till the end, you may find catharsis in the end and in how mature the show surprisingly is.

I will not focus on specific plots, since all shows carry some plot holes that affect the story. All I will say is that the plot holes of this show do not affect too much of my enjoyment of it. Instead, it is the topic of this show that I want to highlight in this review. As I said earlier, it is a show about gradually turning an apparently unhealthy relationship into a healthy one. Let us pause for a moment and appreciate the courage for staging an unhealthy relationship in a TV show. The show does not shy away from the fact that main characters are college students who are carried away by their hormones and have no clue of how to be earnest, caring, and accommodating in a relationship. The relationships that are hence developed bear the poisonous fruits such as unnecessary mind-game, dramatic and moronic dialogues, ridiculous breakups, silly stubbornness, and avoidable damage that are characteristic of dating experience of college age. These easily identifiable problems also make this show difficult for audiences who cannot bear with these problems. If you have passed the college age or rather, the age where these problems finally becomes manageable, you may find the show reminiscent of past experience and appreciate the fact that these real problems are being depicted in their raw discomfort. This is one reason why I like the show.

Another reason for my enjoyment and appreciation of the show is how mature the characters are in dealing with all the problems they have. They show the rare awareness of problems, precious willingness and may I say, unconscious wisdom to give in, confess to each other, and repair their relations. One particular moment captures my attention. In the end, when the male protagonist asks the female protagonist whether she will regret dating again after all the drama they went through, she says affirmatively that yes, she will regret. But she is still willing to try. This complex attitude can easily drive the hygienic minds crazy, but truly is touching to me, for it signals the rare passion that still burns brightly after deep disappointment. Another touching point is the choice of the female protagonist. In the end, she chooses not the person who would be best for her, but the person who she loves the most. It is a choice that no one can comfortably affirm that it is absolutely right or wrong, but an undoubtedly human choice that often does not follow “reason” and “logic.” Such an ending, therefore, can again be highly uncomfortable to many audience. But I appreciate and enjoy the openness of such depiction in a TV show. If I may add a third point, let’s look at the ending again. It is not only a reunification of the main characters, but an attempt to try again. This is yet another reason why I think Western audience may have a hard time with this show: When, in the pop culture of U.S. for instance, do you ever hear the recommendation to “try again” when a relationship falls apart? The most you hear is to “move on,” “break up,” esp. when one of the partners shows clear problems. Yet in here we see something different, an willingness and attempt to forgive and restart. Much can be said about it, and I will only point out that neither choice is clearly right, but a conscious attempt of “let’s try again” is harder than the default choice of “giving up.” These points are why I think that beneath the surface of a college romance, the show is surprisingly mature, esp. in the growth of characters and its expression of human experience.

I hope I have conveyed why I genuinely enjoyed t he show and why perhaps you may as well. Thanks for reading.

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Unlike a lot of the reviewers, I find the last episode to be the most unsatisfying. Everything else was good overall, including the middle or late part that many seem to dislike. To explain why I am really unsatisfied with the ending and why I disagree with others and enjoy basically all the other episodes, I will focus on the character develop and plot lines.

The main casts, just like everyone says, are simply lovely. They played a loving couple so well in the show that I almost took them to be real. However, it needs to be said that Jin-ah, or female protagonist has a much more complex character plot than Joon-hee. Her character growth in the show was remarkable and relatively well depicted, whereas Joon-hee's growth is comparatively small, and much less complex.

This difference has to do with two of the major plot lines in the show besides the main theme of romance: workplace sexual harassment and parental authority. Jin-ah was involved in both plot lines directly and heavily, while Joon-hee only got involved in the family struggle that Jin-ah had with her family. This difference played out importantly in the latter part of the story. Jin-ah started out as a capable yet obedient woman in both her family and her job. She had the lowest status in her family such that even her younger brother could scold her, and considered her an immature trouble-maker. In her office, she was targeted as the main female worker who was compliant and can be easily harassed without repercussion, which earned her the nickname of "Mrs. Tambourine." By the latter half of the show, she not only gained support and respect from her brother, but even stood up against her strong-headed mom openly and persistently. In her workplace, she became the sole fighter against sexual harassment and showed courage, perseverance, and tact in her fight. This remarkable growth was initiated by the romantic relationship that Jin-ah and Joon-hee had, and thus, the romantic relationship is always tangled with these two themes. However, growth in character took time to develop, and came at the “cost” of romance because the plot line gradually took up more of her work and family struggles and became less less romantic as a result.

For everyone who thinks that latter half of the show became boring, I dare say that it has to do with this gradual change of focus from a clear romance to a more complex show in which the romantic part became less dominate and fuzzy. This, however, is one reason why I appreciate this show: it showed that people live a complex life in addition to the romantic relationship that they have, and how a loving romance can do: it does much more than making one feel butterflies in stomach, and can truly improve and mature a person. It is in these two aspects that I find the male protagonist lack: his whole life focused on the love relationship that they had such that he was willing to threaten his boss multiple times for sake of his relationship, and he had not showed much of a growth even till the end. Initially, his tendency of being protective lent great strength and courage to Jin-ah such that she dared to call out and reject harassment that she encountered. But this protective tendency gradually became excessive and even impeding when Jin-ah became more mature and independent. Joon-hee had always been loving. But he loved the same way throughout and due to a lack of development, his love gradually became impeding to Jin-ha and their relationship. How can you tell a woman to give up her job, her genuine concern about sexual harassment, and her whole way of life just for "love?" The fact that Jin-ah had matured while Joon-hee remained unchanged, to me, is the underlying and true reason for their break-up. Jin-ha had turned into a woman who courageously faced the challenges of love, family, work, and sexual harassment head-on. Joon-hee, however, remained someone who was troubled by perceptions of others, and decided to use work opportunity to escape.

By the time of the second to last episode, Jin-ha's clear determination to fight against sexual harassment and the conspicuous difference between Jin-ha and Joon-hee in terms of maturity become two major issues in the way of them getting back together. However, the final episode does not address either of them directly. It was hinted that Jin-ha succeeded in her fight in sexual harassment, and managed to put the harassers to legal penalty they deserved, but nothing is clear. This is really disappointing, because this lack cuts off the theme that has been building up to this point. Besides, this is one of the clear reasons why they broke up, and not finishing the story on this part is quite a misfortune. My biggest gripe, however, is that the reunion went too short to capture the emotional expectation of the audience and to explain the character development needed for completing the story. This moment of reunion was what the audience had been waiting for. But the couple did not talk nearly as much as they should have, nor had had in previous episodes. In the very last conversation between Jin-ha and Joon-hee, they exchanged less than 30 lines, and all of them short. WHY? Why??? How does this address all the tensions built-up and all expectations that we have??? It came so woefully short that neither was it satisfactory emotionally, nor did it offer a clear, convincing logic for why they got back together. To the credits of the screenwriters and directors, I can understand that this first reunion must be charged with emotion, and logic should be left for a later occasion. But then there is no later occasion that allows for a meaningful conversation or interaction. This really cuts the show short for me.

Overall, however, I enjoyed this show quite a bit. There are many other problems that I didn't mention here, such as the music, some of the plot designs, and so on. But they don't prevent this show to shine. The maturity of plot, the realness of problems, the struggles and love, and the beautiful smiles and laughter of the in-loved Jin-ah all make it worthy of re-watch. How I wish the ending could be different!

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Well Done, except for the end

I assume that you have already watched the whole series, and this review is meant to discuss one problem of this overall very good show. So if you are looking for a thorough review of the different aspects of this show. This is not it. I mainly want to discuss one thing, namely, the the plot design of the very last episode. So let me explain my major issue with the show, and proceed to offer short comments on other aspects of it.

The major issue has to do with the overall themes of the show. It is worth saying again that this is an overall very good show. The majority of the plots are nicely laid out, and delivered to the audience in a digestable pace. This is not a show where the plots get so complicated that you need to re-watch in order to understand some of the intricacies. This is not to say that the plot is very straightforward and banal either. Both the premise of the show (namely, the a clown all of a sudden becomes a king) and the overall story progress are interesting and not cliché. The major conflict through the whole series, namely, the political and power fight within the court, is complex, multifarious yet well-articulated such that the show never gets boring (for me).

Spoiler alert again:
The major problem I had with this show then is where the show should end (I know, pretty technical and even pitty). The time distribution of the last episode is wrong. Given that the major conflict is the political fight, the show should end shortly after where that major plot is finished. While there are other themes and plotlines, such as the romance between the King and the Queen (roughly), the main theme is not romance, at least not so for the 15 episodes of the show. However, at the very end of the last episode, the director spent 20 minutes of the episode on romance, which has nothing to do with the political fight (because it is already finished at this point). It is also not very good romance: 20 minutes about how the King and the Queen are not able to find each other has "tears" value, but feels highly unnecessary. This last bit of the show, therefore, negatively impacted the overall coherence of the show because that bit, which is used to conclude the whole show, makes the whole show look like a romance when it is not. If someone only watches the last episode, s/he would have wrongly thought that romance is a major theme of the show. If s/he gets hooked by the last episode and decides to watch what happens before the last episode, s/he would be disappointed. It is as if the last episode is a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup. If someone likes the chicken noodle soup and wants more of it, s/he would be disappointed because the first 15 episodes are not chicken noodle soup, but stir-fried chicken and noodle with a bit of sauce. This is my major complaint of the last episode: still nice on its own, but not a good episode for concluding the show.

A minor complaint is the sound track, esp. the use of Schubert's ständchen, which is the theme song for (most if not )all romantic interactions. The melancholy of the song just doesn't fit well with some of the sweet interactions.

Actors are good! This is my first time watching the female lead Lee Se Young, and she catches my attention.

Much more can be said about the show, but I don't have much more interesting to add on top of all the reviews. So let this be it.

Thanks for reading.

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