Wasted potential
The male protagonist and the secondary cast carry the kdrama because the female protagonist is UNSUPPORTABLE. It makes no sense when she becomes cold and skittish with the protagonist's love as she is physically, emotionally and professionally dependent on him. That classic dog man cliché that does everything for the female protagonist and she just ages with indifference. I don't know how there are so many women who like to watch this dynamic, it's a very toxic form of relationship. If it weren't for the boring female protagonist it would have been a better kdrama.Was this review helpful to you?
Support characters, Atty. Byun and Atty. Ji Eun-Hyuk, are also effective and lovable. Nara's Cha Yoo Jung leaves a remarkable performance, as well.
The female lead is a big disappointment, lacking maturity as an actress, and lacks more depth as a character; she is supposed to be a black belt in Judo(?) and quite a strong/tough woman and yet she comes off weak and easily shaken.
It is almost painful to watch her acting opposite Ji Chang Wook. Nam Ji-Hyun's take on the character Eun-Bonghee is quite poor. She uses the same character reference for the provincial girl she portrayed in Shopping King Louie; which worked then for that show. Sadly, the same portrayal for a different and more empowered character in Suspicious Partner is flat out failure. She acts all cute with a cutesy voice that is not typical of a supposed confident lawyer / (acquitted) murder-suspect / mature lady, which is disturbing. Could she possibly be a miscast?
Can the writer do something to make character Atty. Eun Bonghee, smarter and more confident please? She is clearly surrounded by danger and yet she goes out alone at night, etc? Gosh, please help this character, writer-nim!
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Much Better Than Predicted
It's been awhile since I've watched this as I just found this website and am currently trying to bang out all these reviews while I'm in between shows so I can start making fresh reviews with the next one. lolBut as far as I remember, this show was great. Another thriller romcom that really did a great job at balancing both and keeping both interesting the entire series.
Another drama where the entire cast is phenomenal. Both in their own roles, and their relationships with each other. It also gives you a little dose of that jealous "bf". The one scene that sticks out in my mind is the male lead about to hose down the female lead and the male she's sitting with. lol
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After watching the first couple of episodes I knew I would love it until the end.
First of all the actors were amazing: I loved our main characters (Bong Hee and Ji Wook) because they were really wonderful and sweet and caring and overall such good people but I also got really attached to the supporting roles and I find them so so important and it would have definitely not been the same without them. Dong Ha (who plays the villain) is extraordinary and he really impressed me in all his scenes.
The plot was great. It had so so much and everything was linked. I know it kinda dragged in the middle and it was painful to watch (in a good way) but I never ever wanted to stop watching. It has never happened to me that I would look so much foward for just a trailer or a few stills, but there I was the whole time suffering.
The ost was really good, I still listen to the songs after a couple of weeks from the end and they all bring back such good memories.
I have re-watched all of the episodes multiple times already and I can't just part myself from it. I can't believe there won't be more episodes coming out.
If you haven't watched this drama yet, watch AT LEAST the first 4-6 episodes (they last like 35 minutes each) because the plot really kicks in and it gets so awesome.
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This review may contain spoilers
Boring and LONG
Gosh, I really wanted to like this drama because the lead actor I like in just about everything. Unfortunately, the main and supporting actors were not well paired in this drama and so the interactions completely lacked chemistry and the whole thing felt very bland. Even the color pallets of the costumes and sets were bland.The story started off really solidly, I was excited for them all to start a law firm together and excited to see how things would play out. This happens very early in the series, so the majority of the series they are in their new shared office/living space. Unfortunately, the writers did not write anything interesting at all into the law firm arc. The cases were boring. The character interactions were contrived and didn't play well off each other at all. The supporting characters weren't well developed and relied heavily on boring overplayed tropes. The romance was boring as well. The courtroom scenes were all so uninspired and often non-sensical.
Basically it was like a good Kdrama with a good plot and ending...but that ending happened in like episode 3 and the rest of the drama was just watching people live out their ordinary lives. I mean they threw in some token plot twists, but it was all relatively banal and uninteresting.
The chemistry between the male and female leads was terrible. I've seen that male actor in many other shows and his chemistry is so incredible he often looks drunk with emotion. In this drama he looked like he was emotionally blunted on Prozac. The romance ended up being so listless that it was barely believable and only then when I really stretched logic. I don't know where the combination of actors went sour, but something was definitely off and it made most of the scenes awkward and void of emotion.
I would not watch this again. It was a SLOG to get through.
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This wasn't the best drama I've seen. Not even close, but it was good enough for me to keep watching. I was apprehensive about watching a drama that was 40 episodes long. This could have easily been 16-20 episodes because the dragging was real. I found a lot of scenes boring and was tempted to skip a lot of times. Actually I did skip a lot of scenes within the last episodes. Finishing this was a chore, but I trudged through.7/10
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Ji Chang Wook and Nam Ji Hyun had a great chemistry in the drama, whether it's bickering or silent love or romance, they totally made it! Apart from that the villain in this drama, really did a great job.
I love dramas that not only focuses on lead roles but also supporting roles. This one justified it.
Even though it's 40 episodes it's worth watching.
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The actual story line is engaging, we have a tight knit of a main cast working in a law firm together after some major set backs in the career paths/lives of the two mains and an ongoing serial murder case. The law firm scenes provided amazing banter and life to this story, so watching for their office dynamics alone is most deserving to mention. It's one of the consistent parts to this drama that I like. Even when things change within the law firm in the end, it's amusing to see the same characters in the meeting room, and that no meeting is held successfully! The family aspect of the office is my favourite part. You have so many amazing characters in the firm that balance each other out. I love the genuine friendships that are formed, and the revival of lost ones as well as the story progresses.
You also have a main villain who was played expertly and was one of the main reasons I continued this drama. I'm not huge on this legal genre of late, but for me, Jung Hyun Soo was a worthy character that impacts you emotionally. Admittedly, when his scenes die down in the middle of the drama, so does the atmosphere for me. It's almost like whilst he is unable to be used in the storyline, the mains travel down this lacklustre path until he returns. Which, by then seems to be where the drama has lost all of it's steam. It seems to throw out the obvious routes for how it will go from here. All the same, up until the very end, Hyun Soo remains the most interesting character within this drama. I love how well Dong Ha has acted this broken person throughout and will be looking out for his acting pursuits in the future.
Sadly the romance, which started out strongly, with all the right tensions, turns into a hot mess during the second half. I get the reasoning behind the connection of their pasts placing pressure on the relationship, but Eun Bong Hee had been such a breath of fresh air as a character throughout, with her honest way of expressing herself, even when it landed her in hot water. I loved how true she was to herself. Sadly, when the secrets started to build, it was as if her character started to sink. Whilst there were still things in the second half of the drama that made me enjoy her, she lost some of her shine and became like many other female characters that are pining and still attempting to have their independence in a relationship that's been put on hold. I found No Ji Wook to be slightly better in the second half, though most of that probably stemmed from outside of their relationship, and how he wanted to protect all of his office family, and not just Bong Hee. Hyun Soo was really good at bringing out the best in Ji Wook. I must admit the one thing I did like about their romance is that they were grown ups in some respects, and made no hesitations to bring in more intimacy at the right times... nothing worse than watching an adult relationship develop mentally, and emotionally, without physical signs. It was naturally done, and I appreciated that.
Side characters at the prosecution center weren't always needed but I did like the connection within cases it offered. I also liked the friendship of the three girls at the end. It was nice to see even with all the bickering and hostility in the beginning/middle, they could all depend on each other to relax and hang out in the end. Some of the best kinds of dependable friends are the people who have truly seen you at your worst and still haven't truly shoved you away.
The music in this drama was alright, I found a couple of songs to be a bit boring, but otherwise complimented the show. The lighting was a bit off, especially in the romantic scenes, it was generally always aimed at showing the silhouettes, and it was in poor taste at some points in my opinion.
The ending was complete fluff, and whilst I appreciated it's consistency, I was already losing interest in the main couple's relationship by this stage that I found it to be a bit mundane.
8/10.
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Nothing special.
The investigation and the actors were the most enjoyable part but the romance was nothing special. I did not feel chemistry between the 2 leads, their romance was weak. The best performance was the main villain, Jeong Hyeon Su and the support lead, Ji Hae. I wish she had more screen time and a better storyline, I wanted to see more of her.There were things that were left unconclusive unfortunately and some things that dragged on way too long. Ji Chang Wook was great but I did not really believe that he was head over heals for Bong-Hui. The actress is very talented but I just did not really feel any chemistry with JCW. They were doing their best but sometimes it just doesn’t work out! I just finished it because I don’t like leaving things, but probably I will not watch this again.
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I will be honest and say that I've managed to get through this drama because of two big reasons: Ji Chang Wook and Dong Ha. I re-started this series because after witnessing JCW's splendid acting in Healer I've decided to slowly go through his entire body of work. And since I wasn't able to finish this one in the past I decided to start off my journey with Suspicious Partner. Of course he didn't disappoint although I feel his acting capabilities were not really taken advantage of to their fullest in this one.
The acting on part of the cast is good and there are some really heartfelt moments. But the show stealers for me are definitely those two. This was my first drama with Dong Ha and I was really impressed with his acting! He was fantastic as the killer and I think his character had the most depth out of the entire lot. I definitely anticipated the scenes he was going to be in with great interest! I truly look forward to seeing him again.
The romance aspect of the drama was so so. I felt the leads had more chemistry as very good friends rather than romantic partners.
I think the real issue with this drama is its length. It was too long and there were many scenes that I felt had no relevance to moving the plot forward. It really felt like fillers. If this would have been a 16/32 or even less episode drama I believe it would have tightened up the story a lot more. As it is now the story just meanders through some seemingly established plot points and doesn't make use of its screen time to develop the characters or build the tension of the action scenes that inevitably happen in this type of series.
Overall a so so drama. Not too bad but not the greatest either. Will probably not rewatch it
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The cast were amazing and the plot was close to perfect which is why I gave it a ten. I still think about it frequently even though I watched it a month ago
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To be honest it took me about three month to finish this drama. I don't know why, but I watched a bunch of episodes all together and then stoped because I get tired,but then, after a while away I would comeback for more, by the middle of the series I would find myself a bit bored from watching it and I would stop again. I think that the drama should had just 32 episodes, they stretched the story line to much so in the middle it just got bored. But at least the ending was quite good.
The premise for this drama is interesting. We follow the lovably and naive (and a bit crazy too) Eun Bong-Hee as she becames a trainee prosecutor under Noh Ji-Wook our other main character. As the story moves foward Bong-hee ends up becoming a suspect of a murder and it's when the mystery part of the show starts, as both Ji-Wook and Bong-Hee try to find the real culprit.
During the drama we have other small cases to fill the holes and a whole character's backstory wich makes everything connect or disconnect (when you watch the show you will understand). Something that made me a bit sad it's how poorly, in my opinion, the second couple story was handled and how they let to the very end to tie up everything, which made everyting look rushed. I really liked Eun-Hyuk and Yoo-Jung chemistry during the whole show and I think their story deserved better.
Hyun-Soo divide me, because I really hated him, but by the middle of the drama I was in love, I just wanted to know how everyting would turned out. In the end I think I felt a bit sad for him. I also loved all the support cast from Mr. Byun to Mr. Bang and his amazing personality, but the one I loved the most was Ji-Hae, she might not have a big role in the drama, but that girl is kinda of amazing, I love how sassy she is and the all love-hate relation she has with Bong-Hee, simply amazing. (But in the first half of the drama I hated her a lot, but she gets much better after that).
Cast / Acting: The acting was amazing, Ji Chang Wook and Nam Ji-Hyun were amazing together, and I just loved the way Chang-Wook portrayed his character, I just fell in love. Nam Ji-Hyun did also a good job even though at some point in the middle of the drama I felt that her character was a bit to naive and to innocent for her age, but that's not the actress fault, it's more the writer fault. She did a great job despite that. Choi Tae Joon and Nara were great too even though I think the writers didn't do a good job with her character, Yoo-Jung was there, sometimes, not as much as I expect from a main role, but she was there doing her job, and I kinda liked her character more when she was drunk.
Dong-Ha, I don't have words to describe the mix of feelings for his character, like I said before I really hated his character but for some reason I also liked it a lot so I'm confuse. But overall his portrayed of Hyun-Soo was simply brilliant I really want to see more of him in the future.
The cast was brilliant and I really could feel the overall chemistry between them!
Now let's talk abou the whole romantic comedy mystery thing. I mean it wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. I think they weren't able to blend well the two genres together, so sometimes we had a lot of romance and lack of mystery, other times we had to much mystery a lack of romance. So it wasn't well balance principally by the beginning of the second half of the drama, the romance and the murder mystery were unbalenced which originated a regular romance and a regular mystery, it didn't outstanded and I felt a bit disappointed.
I liked the OST, was not the best ever, but it really suited the moments. I liked the cinematography, the light thing they did in the kiss scenes looked kinda pretty and it was like a sign that something romantic was about to happen.
Will I watch this drama again? Maybe, but like any other mystery or suspense drama, it is intriguing just the first time, because you don't know what to expect, but when you have already watched, it kinda lost the fun, but when I forget about the plot I'll maybe give it a shot again, maybe. I recommend this drama if you like cute couples being cute and brutal villains. It's not the best in this new trend of mixing romantic comedy and death but it's not the worst and definitely deserves a shot at least once.
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