Sheesh

Gosh darn it all - FL is yet ANOTHER moping mumble-bunny and a completely uninteresting person. She has a couple of lash out moments, but they don't make up for her general "almost as interesting as cold, stale porridge" acting ability. ML is easy on the eyes, but he is not a good actor in this one. I thought he was better in Sweet Home, but that may have been a result of a more action oriented plot. OTOH, most secondary characters were well acted, but we really didn't get enough of those scenes to improve the overall plot.

The story really did not merit this many long, crushingly boring scenes. While some people may find it different with the whole "with benefits" aspect, the fact is, most romance movies and shows are already "with benefits" -- not a lot of dating or other more normal together times, so this show isn't as special as the promos want you to think it is.

The music was repetitive and annoying. You couldn't pay me enough to watch it again.

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Caricatures and Stereotypes

There is nothing new in the story whatsoever - no surprises, no cute or interesting deviations from the tired tropes we see in so many other romcoms. This show is what it looks like when writers "phone it in" instead of actually writing.

On the upside, there is some reasonably good and entertaining acting, far better than the script deserved. Unlike other reviewers, I don't think that either the ML or FL gave good performances. ML looked either wooden or like he was forcing himself to look less wooden and not succeeding. FL was a travesty - everything she put in her mouth got the exact same squee of delight, whether it was soup, coffee, or a carrot stick, or if it was a gift of some sort. Her acting was amateurish and painful to watch. The secondary characters, however, were vastly entertaining - the boss who is so hammy and chewed the scenery so flamboyantly, and the second male attorney and female attorney were worth watching, just for their masterful comedic skills. A gentle attraction portrayed with care between tertiary characters was a breath of fresh air as well.

The music was repetitive and therefore annoying, Sadly, and somewhat grimly, there was so much obvious plastic surgery/cosmetic procedures on display that it was distracting and depressing. For just one example, look at the FL's lips in the first several episodes and then look at them in the last episode. And the show spectacularly failed the Bechdel test, which is a hot button for me - seeing as the concept of women only talking about men with each other is so unrealistic as to be nauseating as well as insulting.

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Don't Bother

The blurb for this made it sound like it could be pretty good - adult introspection, reevaluating one's life, and choosing to, or not to, make changes.

What it wound up being was a series of jarring and somewhat difficult to follow scenes that were badly patched together, combined with poorly thought out flashbacks, and often insufficiently clarified relationships. It also suffered from bad makeup/wardrobe choices, with one memorably bad FL hairdo and a particularly greasy looking ML with an inexplicable furry pink jacket. The acting was mediocre, the characters so uninteresting as to make it impossible to feel sympathy or empathy for any of them, and there was a complete lack of cohesive flow in the story line.

It was boring. Really, don't bother.

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Lots of Laughs

The plot was nicely done and lasted just the right number of episodes to keep it moving along well. The settings were good, the comic relief characters were nicely done, and it passes the Bechdel test with ease.

I enjoyed all of the acting - I think the cast was well chosen and did a really professional job. ML and FL had good onscreen chemistry and played off of one another nicely.

The music did not annoy me, and I'd rewatch it without hesitation.

The only part *SPOILER ALERT* that was disappointing was the outright wrong resolution of the FL's mental health issue. It just doesn't resolve that quickly or like that. I DID appreciate that there was good context, but the flip from having a socially/mentally disabling condition to "on top of the world" mentality was not realistic.

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I Wish I Liked This More

The storyline has some interesting twists and turns, and while I find most time loop stories to be versions of "Groundhog Day" trying to be really different and failing, this one was not bad in terms of plot.

What ruined it for me was the casting of the FL who was a mumble-bunny martyr, which set my teeth on edge. I don't think there were many conversations between women that didn't focus on men, which is another disappointment for me. I do think the ML did a good job.

The last few episodes did a good job of explaining a very different ending plot twist, which was a nice surprise.

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Cultural Cliches

South Korea's largely homogenous population's expectations caused the writer's bad choice in the script to become an issue of "acceptable" bigotry and xenophobia, and I found it increasingly offensive as the series continued. ML's name was Ryan Gold. Everyone in Korea pronounced it "Lion". It's not that they COULDN'T say it correctly, it's that they chose to mispronounce it - every single character who had cause to use his name, probably 98% of the time. They introduced him with the mispronunciation, too. And, frequently, they laughed about him being a lion, drew pictures of lions and so forth. He tried correcting them - it didn't stick, so having some social skills, he just took a deep breath and acted as though he thought it was funny, too. It didn't matter if he was Korean by birth; he had been raised for the other 29 or so years of his life in an English speaking country and afahk only had an English/American name. Doesn't matter if he was Nigerian, Australian, Intuit, whatever -- it's insulting to not even try to say their name correctly.

Making this social faux pas even more appalling is the fact that he was the Big Boss of the company where all these folks worked. I don't know about you, but if my big boss had a name that I found hard to pronounce, I would darned well practice it in front of a mirror and on a recording so that I SHOWED RESPECT FOR MY BOSS BY SAYING HIS NAME RIGHT! If your name were "Jin Gwa Ber" and all of your subordinates, neighbors, and friends called you "Jingle Bell" over and over and over again, and laughed over how witty they were being, I guarantee that you would become more and more offended each time they did it.

Sadly, this pretty well ruined the series for me. It was typical fluff, generally sweet trying to seem deep from time to time, well cast and had some very nice sets. The music was repetitive and annoying, though. I don't think it passes the Bechdel test either. I wish I could say I liked it, but I found it increasingly appallingly bigoted as it went on --and as repulsive as a roomful of farting dogs.

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Strong Female Lead! Women not talking about men!

I enjoyed this series because it strikes all the right notes for me -- no one is extra-super special, characters are generally realistic, situations are plausible, settings are appropriate, and, best of all, everyone acts like a real person - which is a joy after seeing so many canned plots.

It passes the Bechdel test with flying colors - also a delight - women talking to other women about things other than men -- their goals, dreams, supportive friendships - it was really top notch there. As an older woman, I often have trouble suspending disbelief when the female characters are two dimensional and/or disappointing stereotypes of what men THINK women talk about or do when they don't have any men around to flirt with.

FL was brilliant in her role, and played it with great skill. What was particularly noteworthy was how her persona held up and remained consistent within realistic boundaries. That's not an easy thing to do. Got a big kick out of ML, who I kept thinking of as "Pineapple Head" (from Meteor Garden) - he got to play a well-rounded, good hearted young man and did it well. Supporting female lead was, sadly, not a well-fleshed out character -- too much "ditz" for the job she presumably had, but I thought friend of ML had some good character development and a great young lion moment with his parents.

I had to revisit the portrayal of FL's mother in my mind a time or two - in many ways at first, I thought it was badly done, however, in the latter episodes, a chance remark makes the wild mood swings and other personality oddities much more understandable. I still think it was a speck over the top, but the chance remarks tamed it. Nice to see Mom do some growing up, too. Great green jacket on Mom!

There's also an element which I have now seen in several Chinese serial stories - comeuppance within realistic boundaries. I like this -- it doesn't happen as often as we'd like to think in real life, but when it does, it happens with doorbells, not trumpets, which is how that element worked out in this show.

I recommend it and encourage you to wait through the few places where it drags in order to see a glimpse of life played lovingly and believably.

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What a shame

I thought there were many quality aspects to this show - production value was good, settings were good, and many of the characters were played well by good actors.

Sadly, the main reason the score is so low is because the lead actress, Shen Yue, was dreadful. She was exactly the same character that she was in Meteor Garden and in A Love So Beautiful. I am forced to believe that she is a one trick pony when she is acting. It was disappointing to see the *exact same* mannerisms when she was worried, upset, angry, tired, etc. - not a whit of difference, and that, in and of itself, was enough to ruin this show for me.

It also fails the Bechdel test since there is little to no conversation between women that doesn't revolve around men.

I watched to the end because I thought the storyline, while trite in many areas, nevertheless added some interesting timing and character development. Kudos to Dai Yun Fan for pulling off the adult decisions his character made in a completely believable manner, and to Vivi Yue for bringing patience and kindness into her role in a thoroughly professional manner.

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Great Production

Many other reviews have mentioned how terrific the production was, how talented the actors were, and how erratic attention to science was throughout. I agree. I think the female lead was not particularly sparkling and, despite having survived and thrived in a horrible dystopian future, she often behaved like a spoiled teenager in interpersonal relationships.

I have one major issue with Sisyphus - TOO MANY FLASHBACKS, MANY OF WHICH ARE STUPIFYINGLY LONG. Quite a few are unnecessary and/or boring. Otherwise, it's an above average series, and you can watch it without having to warm up your thinky bits much.

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Hollywood Level Gore

There was a whole lot of violence and a huge amount of gore for a Korean movie , which surprised me. It suited the plot, however.

A definite action movie, which could have been formulaic but wasn't because it was extremely well-paced, crisply written, and outstandingly cast. This was a high quality cast which lifted the story far above where it would have been with lesser talent. Even when actors were portraying stereotypes, they were skilled, nuanced, and sardonic; those roles which could have been trite were made amusing and believable by superior acting. I thought the settings were well-chosen and some quite beautiful. I can't say much about the Bechdel test, since there was only one woman in the movie, and she was terrific in her part.

I have to give special credit for the lead male character who managed to make all other mobsters look like pansies in comparison to his sheer, unstoppable, relentless determination in his final scene.

I might watch it again to pick up things I missed during the first go-round, and I would still enjoy it just as much.

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High Quality Across the Board

What a wonderful series! Everything about it was excellently done, entertaining, and engaging.

Story: Nicely written with well-timed plot development. It was a complicated story to tell and each new aspect was revealed with enough time to digest it and incorporate it into the preceding events. There was' very good continuity of logical progression and a skillful, smooth meshing of plot and character development. Very good dialogue - appropriate to each character, and there were nuances and details in the wording that were placed naturally - which can be tricky to do.

Acting/Cast: Almost every role was cast perfectly and acted with accuracy, depth, and skill. If there was a flaw, it was in the sister of the main character, but for me, not being intimately familiar with Korean culture, she seemed overly dramatic and shallow - not up to par with the rest of the company. I truly enjoyed watching the characters come to know each other better, to start trusting one another first with a little trepidation and then unhesitatingly. Each had normal human flaws - another breath of fresh air.

Music: The only time I pay attention to the music is if it annoys me - otherwise the best I can do is say it was OK.

Rewatch value: I'm giving it a 10 because there were twists and turns and layers to how the plot played out that merit a rewatch to better appreciate the intricacy of the story development and how smoothly the actors handled it.

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Wonderful

This a rare, masterfully crafted story. It touches on people's lives in a delicate, respectful manner, using the medium of a hole-in-the-wall diner as a gathering spot for folks to talk about everything or nothing. It's got humor, compassion, misunderstanding/understanding, pathos, happiness and so on -- all handled gently, so that the viewer feels like they are drifting down the stream of this story rather than being paddled along or riding rapids.

Rather than being action-packed or dramatic, this is a chance to observe normal, occasionally mildly quirky people unwinding after a long day in a convivial atmosphere. Can't say enough good about it!

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Small Disappointments Add Up

I am having to take a significant pause in watching the rest of this series for several reasons:

1. Stop petting her head: given the age/status difference, this seems wildly inappropriate even if meant affectionately. It minimizes her and what she is saying and never seems to really fit the scene.

2. Epic/profound fail on the Bechdel test: So far, 15 episodes in, there has not been one single conversation between women that is not about men -- getting one, keeping one, separating from one, marrying one -- they don't talk about work, family, pets, hobbies, dreams, hopes, or anything else without the overriding theme of "get man". Revolting.

3. Not by any stretch of the imagination, not even in remote, small villages, is any 32 year old woman that naive, oblivious, and unable to make logical inferences and sensible conclusions; this is like watching fruit rot -- it just gets worse and worse. If she's that stupid, she's certainly too stupid to earn a living, so doing this to a woman who is a senior administrator is beyond ridiculous and highly insulting. Let alone that it ignores the endless series of conversations about men, which in and of themselves would have given her a great deal of information.

4. Slapstick bits and hammy acting don't help: it's not frequent in most cases, but it is jarring and does not serve to advance the story.

5. College girls behaving like elementary school children with their dumb pranks, theatrics for attention, and outright doofy clothing in many instances.

That's it. If I can finish the series, I will because there some elements in other people's reviews that make me think it gets better.

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Best thing about this series is how it looks, Serious money was spent on costumes, makeup, locations, settings, props, and special effects Very slick, smooth and real eye candy -- probably too much product placement, at least that's what it looked like. I could be wrong.

The actors were clearly buffed, polished, brushed, waxed, and well-dressed - also easy on the eyes, even the villains. I think they did they job they were told to do to the best of their abilities, which is considerable.

After that, this show becomes a trainwreck. I am a lifelong SciFi fan, and I appreciate fantasy as well. This gave token -- beautiful visually, but token attention to any kind of fidelity to either genre or even with a blend of it. It was sad -- all of it was either garbed in fake, unconvincing jargon, or truncated when they forgot where that idea was going. Bad. Dumb.

And, here's the spoiler: The ending was identical to that of "Crash Landing on You" with the exception of period costumes and props. I was disappointed in CLoY, but this, coming out so soon afterward, was a real letdown.

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