9
roddib
Dramaland
Serious drama about early onset Alzheimer's
I liked the topic of this drama. The drama is for someone who prefers more serious topics. It also portrays individuals' ethical struggles, which is also interesting. The drama portrays very well the experiences and behavior of someone getting Alzheimer's in their 40s. The subplot about the mystery around the male lead son's death and the changes in his attitudes toward his law cases are also interesting.
ML is a great actor, and it's good to see him even in a bigger role than in Misaeng. The problem in this drama is that there are just too many flashbacks and scenes centered around the painful moments of confusion and distress caused by the disease. We would have got it with much less time spent in those moments and the endless repetition of them. Also the family theme gets too much space. It's more central even than the law cases, understandable, but not something that could well carry a drama and keep it interesting. Yes, discovering the importance of family is basically a nice theme but I just ended up skipping almost half of the scenes in the latter half of the drama.
Junho in the role of the junior lawyer doesn't get much screen time and slowly advancing relationship between the secretary and Junho also gets very little screen time. Junho is just in a balancing support role as the ML's wingman, he brings some fun and relief into the drama within its overall darker theme. There's not much there for him to show his talents (although he's very good in the drama nevertheless), since we get no background story about Junho or the secretary. That's an opportunity lost, as they were basically the most interesting characters and knowing more about them would have been nice. The two female leads, the ML's current and ex-wife, get a lot of individual time, but also nothing much to work on, so the time spent on them is too much compared to the law cases.
Overall, I'm still glad I watched the drama. Because of the poignancy of the topic I give it an 8, although the drama obviously has severe flaws - the worst is that there is too much empty time, just background music playing and nothing happening or advancing plotwise.
ML is a great actor, and it's good to see him even in a bigger role than in Misaeng. The problem in this drama is that there are just too many flashbacks and scenes centered around the painful moments of confusion and distress caused by the disease. We would have got it with much less time spent in those moments and the endless repetition of them. Also the family theme gets too much space. It's more central even than the law cases, understandable, but not something that could well carry a drama and keep it interesting. Yes, discovering the importance of family is basically a nice theme but I just ended up skipping almost half of the scenes in the latter half of the drama.
Junho in the role of the junior lawyer doesn't get much screen time and slowly advancing relationship between the secretary and Junho also gets very little screen time. Junho is just in a balancing support role as the ML's wingman, he brings some fun and relief into the drama within its overall darker theme. There's not much there for him to show his talents (although he's very good in the drama nevertheless), since we get no background story about Junho or the secretary. That's an opportunity lost, as they were basically the most interesting characters and knowing more about them would have been nice. The two female leads, the ML's current and ex-wife, get a lot of individual time, but also nothing much to work on, so the time spent on them is too much compared to the law cases.
Overall, I'm still glad I watched the drama. Because of the poignancy of the topic I give it an 8, although the drama obviously has severe flaws - the worst is that there is too much empty time, just background music playing and nothing happening or advancing plotwise.
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