SongofSixpence
The don't make them like this anymore... and I'm glad they don't.
After Romance is a Bonus Book I was looking forward to LJS in another drama, but Pinocchio is kind of a hot mess:
1. Red flag romance where FL is alternately ML's emotional punching bag or cheerleader while ML can't decide between punishing her or himself for their relationship. Plus the fauxest gives it weird step-sibling vibes.
2. A plot that's a series of coincidences explained by the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is... a choice.
3. Relationship drama to rival a soap opera and about as believably written.
4. Guessing game of "who's the real villain" where the real villain turns out to be the most cliche option possible.
6/10 for an important underlying message about journalistic integrity, some touching side stories and a good ensemble cast. Otherwise, this was hit or miss for me and mostly miss. It picks up some pace after a slow start but then drags to the point where by Ep12 I'd lost interest, by Ep16 I was DONE and at Ep18 I was FFing without mercy. There's some banger story lines that get cut off and a total change of focus in the second part that replaces the previous themes and characters with a big revelation that's nothing more than another generic corruption plot. Yawn.
The romance was more rage inducing than yawn inducing. I'm wary of older dramas exactly because of dynamics like this one. ML is an emotionally immature jerk who every once in a while makes a grand gesture which magically redeems all his other awful behavior. Yes, he has tough circumstances, but taking out your trauma on someone else is a HUGE red flag. And FL just rolls with the punches; she even apologizes to him (more than once!) for not being more understanding. There's a few scenes where she asserts herself but she's mostly a sponge for ML's man pain.
Speaking of FL, I expected her to play a much larger role in this drama considering it's literally about her family and she's the one with the Pinocchio syndrome but somehow ML is always the center of attention. FL struggles for years to get a job in journalism; genius ML does it in three months. FL builds a relationship with her mom; she torches it in favor of ML's revenge. FL's family is torn apart when ML's identity comes out; she's more worried about him than them. She isn't given any agency or identity outside of her romance with ML which is another HUGE red flag.
Even SML and SFL basically exist to provide comic relief or act as plot devices to further ML's story. The rest of the ensemble cast is great, but to waste two leads like that is incredibly lazy writing. I was also disappointed at the lack of any close female friendships. There are a lot of opportunities for them to develop but they get passed over in favor of bromances or treated as more comic relief. Not a great look.
The best thing I can say about Pinocchio is it has a great message and tries to portray good people in tough situations attempting to do the right thing. But that gets drowned in the noise of the other needless drama.
1. Red flag romance where FL is alternately ML's emotional punching bag or cheerleader while ML can't decide between punishing her or himself for their relationship. Plus the fauxest gives it weird step-sibling vibes.
2. A plot that's a series of coincidences explained by the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is... a choice.
3. Relationship drama to rival a soap opera and about as believably written.
4. Guessing game of "who's the real villain" where the real villain turns out to be the most cliche option possible.
6/10 for an important underlying message about journalistic integrity, some touching side stories and a good ensemble cast. Otherwise, this was hit or miss for me and mostly miss. It picks up some pace after a slow start but then drags to the point where by Ep12 I'd lost interest, by Ep16 I was DONE and at Ep18 I was FFing without mercy. There's some banger story lines that get cut off and a total change of focus in the second part that replaces the previous themes and characters with a big revelation that's nothing more than another generic corruption plot. Yawn.
The romance was more rage inducing than yawn inducing. I'm wary of older dramas exactly because of dynamics like this one. ML is an emotionally immature jerk who every once in a while makes a grand gesture which magically redeems all his other awful behavior. Yes, he has tough circumstances, but taking out your trauma on someone else is a HUGE red flag. And FL just rolls with the punches; she even apologizes to him (more than once!) for not being more understanding. There's a few scenes where she asserts herself but she's mostly a sponge for ML's man pain.
Speaking of FL, I expected her to play a much larger role in this drama considering it's literally about her family and she's the one with the Pinocchio syndrome but somehow ML is always the center of attention. FL struggles for years to get a job in journalism; genius ML does it in three months. FL builds a relationship with her mom; she torches it in favor of ML's revenge. FL's family is torn apart when ML's identity comes out; she's more worried about him than them. She isn't given any agency or identity outside of her romance with ML which is another HUGE red flag.
Even SML and SFL basically exist to provide comic relief or act as plot devices to further ML's story. The rest of the ensemble cast is great, but to waste two leads like that is incredibly lazy writing. I was also disappointed at the lack of any close female friendships. There are a lot of opportunities for them to develop but they get passed over in favor of bromances or treated as more comic relief. Not a great look.
The best thing I can say about Pinocchio is it has a great message and tries to portray good people in tough situations attempting to do the right thing. But that gets drowned in the noise of the other needless drama.
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