Song Naree (2019)

Surprisingly enjoyable! I started watching this out of boredom and ended up finishing within a few days. For me, it has just the right amount of makjang to make me wanna keep watching without it being absolutely crazy. I didn't have any expectations going in, but I felt pretty impressed/satisfied by the end.

Like a lot of other commenters have said, there isn't a ton of romance in this show. I would say the family melodrama has a bigger/more prominent role than the romantic bits.

STORY:
This lakorn has a bit of a slow start, as all the pieces of the story fall into place. Once the twins meet, which I think is about halfway through, things definitely get spicier. Most of the characters (except Pa, Neung's stepdad) are rather sympathetic. I appreciated that (most) of the 'evil' characters had some dimension, they weren't just raeng for no reason.
I liked the way they dealt with Neung's character. She does a lot of deplorable things, but she also very clearly has a mental problem and a conscience. I think they did a nice job of making her a sympathetic character, even as she spirals out of control. Song isn't as compelling, since she's already a good, nice person, her character doesn't have a whole lot of room to grow. However, she's still likeable and she's one of those rare nice-girl characters who isn't super weak. Her relationship with Ard is quite cute, I wish we got to see more of them together.

Also, Ying Yuot is an absolute saint. Seriously.

ACTING/CAST:
Everyone did a pretty good job here, I think! Min especially impressed me; she did a really great job differentiating Song and Neung. I think she did an especially good job with Neung's unhinged moments. Oftentimes, I feel like those scenes can get kinda cringey, but I think Min sold them pretty well.

MUSIC:
Just your normal lakorn music here, I think. Nothing special, but nothing bad.

REWATCH:
Honestly, this show doesn't have a lot of twists. It's pretty straight-forward, so I think it should be easy to rewatch it without losing too much enjoyment.

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The romance seem to get lost while they were trying to tell this story and I can definitely understand why/how that happened.

Our main couple, Song and Ard were sweet. Ard seems to like Song very early on even when he thinks she sleeps around and commits crimes but doesn’t pursue her until the last couple of episodes and they don’t even become an official couple until the very last episode and even then it’s a pretty lack luster moment for me personally. However, I like how Ard looks at Song, worries and cares for her, and how well he knows her personality compared to Neung’s.

Acting was PHENOMENAL from literally everyone.

Story was so interesting and unlike anything I’ve seen in other dramas or television anywhere. Very well done.

I didn’t give this a 10 simply because the romance seemed so rushed at the end. Like the writers forgot about it so they crammed it in at the last second and it was kind of off. Also I cannot fathom marrying someone because a bunch of people tell me to, KNOWING I’m in love with someone else. Gross.

Bottom line, if you care more about an interesting storyline and great acting more than you do romance, then it is a definite must watch.

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