This review may contain spoilers
Powerful Women Behind the Ambiguity of Internet
Search WWW has a remarkable, contemporary premise that is appealing to me, personally. The show focuses in three spectacular women whom works in search engine company. While the story starts with such a huge buzz and some political flavor added, the whole show itself is rather more laid-back in general, including fairly static romance plot(s).As the story focuses on the three women and their lives, the thing that keeps me invested in this drama is the dynamic in Barro and the problems they are facing. There is something quite endearing in the TF team. Whether it's the contrast characteristics of Tammy and Scarlett (with their growing chemistry), the four other hardworking teammate, or Brian (and the company)'s relaxed attitude, the series did a great job on building Barro. On the contrary, Unicorn (Song Gagyeong)'s life is more dull in comparison. Perhaps the writer is trying to deliver on how boring it is living a desk-job life in a static environment. Regarding the internet (which is the core of this drama), the writers did a great job explaining internet environment in Korea and raising awareness when we're using it. The political plot-line was great (and complicated) at the beginning but it's fading as more episode goes by. Song Gagyeong's mother-in-law story is pretty much expected and come off as annoying at times. The turn point is anti-climatic and we didn't really get a closure on the aftermath, just a win/losing situation. In addition, this drama has quite much enjoyable jokes.
Departing from the office life, Search:WWW also explores the romance life of these three women. Song Gagyeong and her husband has no chemistry at all until the middle (well, it's the purpose of marriage-of-convenience, I guess), their romance basically offers nothing to me. Tammy and Park Morgan made a nice couple. At first I thought they might suffer just because of their decade age gap, but they suffer much more from their values. While they made a good couple, I don't necessarily enjoy them towards the end. There's just not much spark coming out of them as a couple and they rather made me feel like they are just "another" couple of a kdrama. Scarlett and Jihwan's romance is definitely the most interesting one. Everything from their first encounter, buildup, until the end of the drama is so good. I really love the lost & found scene as it not only refers to a thing one of them is missing but it also interprets to how they are lost and they found each other in that room. Arguably my favorite scene.
Moving on from the story, the elements supporting this drama are all great. Starting off from the acting, they all embody their characters perfectly. Neither of them is overdoing or half-assing their acting, it's great. I personally love Scarlett's personality, there's something about her that spices up this drama. There's one downside in the acting though, I don't like the mother-in-law much, she isn't really suitable for that role. The music in this drama is generally great. They caliber the vast and vibrant life of this modern age especially on the ever-growing era of the internet, it's contemporary. Regarding the sets, they choose great locations to shoot although I do have a problem with that one café everyone is using. I'm not sure how Morgan, Tammy, Scarlett always uses the same café for doing business, meeting the online streamer, or others when they live quite much far apart (as proven by the necessity to drive to each other's houses/office). It irks me a bit as they never really explained it as Barro/Unicorn employees regular cafe or something. Cinematography in general is pretty nice. The cameras used, lenses, and filters are pretty good. I love the close-ups scenes especially the tilted ones. For the wider locations, they made the scenes look more cramped at times (well this is just my opinion).
In the end, Search WWW offers a realistic peek on the life of a 30-something successful and powerful women along with their hardships. I wouldn't say it's a slice-of-life or goal-oriented drama but it's a mix in between. One thing that I knew, it tells the story of powerful women behind the ambiguity of the internet.
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I haven't been excited recently about a drama after watching two episodes but this one just got me. The cinematography and shots were framed well and the storyline is fascinating since it involves the world-wide-web that allows us to be connected to each other. Don't you just love the search engines? All praise goes to geniuses who made the web possible and opened up wonders all over the world. I also love this drama as a woman since it's such a treat to watch cool, capable, witty and gorgeous women. They're like role models for modern women who value their careers. Of course, there will be struggles along the way of achieving your dreams but it's a delicate balance between getting that dream job and maintaining a good relationship with loved ones. Im Soo Jung is exhibiting her character really well along with the rest of the strong female cast. Also worth mentioning is Jang Ki Yong's magnetic gaze and disarming smile. The scene of the main female and male leads' first meeting was of a dream-like quality that will set your heart pounding. The scenes they were together were heart-fluttering too. You'll find a gentle, caring and handsome lead in Jang Ki Yong.
This show gets better and better as you watch especially the end of episode 5 which was EPIC! You'll especially see how brazen and strong the main female lead is, along with her coworker. It gives you satisfaction of her winning against the enemy for that time period.
In the end, I gave props to Jeon Hye Jin's character which she played well. She became the heroine at the end and you'll discover her driving force. Not forgetting Lee Da Hee's character who's smart, beautiful, principled and who always believed in the goodness of people. On top of that, she's knows martial arts. Now, that's a great character I can look up to.
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This review may contain spoilers
Now that I have completed this series I took some time to evaluate my feelings about the top three amazing women of WWW. This is mostly a character review vs. plot. I must say the main three female characters represented parts of me that I understood and sympathized with. Did anyone else feel the same?Bae Ta-mi (Tammy) was played beautifully by Im Soo-jung I am a big fan of Im Soo-jung and her acting never disappoints! As the plot developed I became very invested in her character. Her story line was very similar to my life experience. My significant other is quite a bit younger than I. At the time we met (over 10+ years ago) I, like Tammy, had the same fears of our age difference and how that would impact his life/future. Also, like Tammy, I was/am a professional working woman with no desire to marry. This is not a statement that professional working women tend to stay clear of marriage just what my personal feelings have been. In today's society I believe no matter what country you reside in there is still the basic premise that women are expected to marry in order to gain/obtain their identify. If not married than what are you as a women and what is your place in society? To me, it's an old concept that thankfully is gradually changing. Marriage IS a wonderful institution but I believe it's not an exclusive state to be in in order to be with 'your person'. A lot of what Tammy struggled through really ran true to me. In my case I broke the relationship up as well suggesting he needed to experience life and other relationships to truly decide what was best for him. Happily we realized that we truly loved each other and wanted to be in this world as a couple! If Tammy appeared cold and unaffected by her relationship with Park Morgan I believe she held back her love for what she saw as the greater good ... seeing him happy and not disappointed in his choices. Morgan had his own trauma with the most important woman of his life his "mom" and the abandonment he felt by her. Tammy was very sensitive to that and I truly believe her character wanted the best for him even knowing how much she grew to love him. To me, the way in which their story developed was very real and truthful. Sometimes love means letting someone go to search for their happiness and sometimes they never return ... and that is a very frightening risk.
Cha Hyeon (Scarlett) reminded me of my younger self. Bold in so many ways yet hesitant and shy when uncertain. Loyal to a fault and a champion of all champions! Her character reminds me a what a true friendship should be .. even when you know that person may be making a terrible mistake you give them your opinion but you still stand by their side. Her utter fierceness mixed with vulnerability was beautiful played by Lee Da-hee. I must say De-hess is an absolutely beautiful woman and every time she was on the screen I found myself fan-girling! Luckily it was not too distracting because she played her character ON POINT! I love the fact even if she did not understand the circumstances of her friend's decisions she STUCK BY THEIR SIDE. That is how my true friends have been in my life and I'm very lucky to have found them.
Song Ga-kyeong was a very complicated character for me mostly due to my frustration regarding the choices she kept making. Part of me wanted to strangle her and I found myself yelling out "WHAT ARE DOING?!" many times to her behavior. That subtle, restrained, outwardly tough character acted out by Jeon Hye-jin was brilliant. Ga-kyeong is that women faced with formidable decisions which she does not shy away from. For me she represented the difficult choices working women still face today especially the issue of loyalty to work, family or self. Sometimes they seem mutually exclusive. Tough choices but ultimately decided by her so in the end her choices her responsibility.
Overall to me the one one word that came to mind in regards to this drama .... 'decisions'. Decisions for yourself, your life as well as your loves. Processional work place decisions as well as personal ones. Both highly impacting your life and those in your life.
Wonderful drama I highly recommend it!
SHOW STOPPER. Ok the lead up to and including the car smashing screen was EPIC! A great homage to "Goblin".. power women version. LUV'D IT!!! It was refreshing to see that yes we women blow up as well and want physical release. We want to smash things too!! Love the satisfaction that scene brought me... no regret, remorse or apologies. EPIC!!
FINAL THOUGHT: Yes I only focused on the women of this drama but it was so refreshing to see women strong/soft, complex and united. It reminds me of my GF squad. I hope the Kdrama industry picks up on this theme and runs with it!!!
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Another letdown
Episode 1 was OK, and from then on, it felt like meaningless junk.I appreciate the fact that the plot was based on the interactions of three FL, which makes for a very unusual and potentially creative series. However, I couldn't find almost anything interesting.
I didn't like almost everything. I didn't like the clothing. I didn't like the sets where people "lived", "worked", "walked", "ate", etc. I didn't like the imposition that titles were replaced by English names at Barro. I found a lot of events (e.g. the smashing of the car and the owner and wife showing up) only being fillers.
One thing I liked was the short violence scene in the elevator. A cad touches the derrière of the FL, who then massacres him. As the elevator stopped at a floor, the FL tells another woman who wanted to take the elevator that it was broken. The FL then proceeded to press the button for the 33rd and last floor ... I wonder whether that came from a real event.
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This review may contain spoilers
search: www, is not your typical kdrama with flowers and cliche story line. its more realistic in terms of dealing with relationship and company politics. I got goosebumps when some script in this drama matches the current situation on the internet in korea ( scandals, bribery, prostitution, politics). Give it a try! You will be amazed on how the characters deal with their problems. .
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I love the directing, the story line, the chemistry of the characters. This kdrama shows how women can also have place in the company.
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Mature Adult Problems in a Mature Adult World!
Search: WWW is a great drama with a lot of different themes. Personally, I feel that this drama is not really my style due to my age and my interests but there were a few things that I felt intrigued by. Firstly, if feminism and friendship are what you like to watch, then you definitely cannot miss out on this drama. The three female leads are just so, sooooo good and the interactions between them are partially what made this show so fun to watch. The next element to look out for is probably the interactions between the FLs and their male counterparts. We see three very distinct love stories unfold as the drama progresses. One toxic one that ended up being resolved, an unlikely one with an age gap and problems to be resolved in the future, and a funny, heartwarming one that involves helping the other grow. In the end, I would say that Search: WWW is worth it to watch and should be more widespread. Cheers to another great one.Was this review helpful to you?
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Perfect balance of career-focused & noona romance
Noona romance is one of my favourite tropes. Highly recommended for those who want female-led series with balanced stories about their personal and professional lives. Makes me think of (i) ethics - what is right or wrong, (ii) believing in your own principles or just go along with corporate decisions, (iii) dealbreaker in relationshipsWhat I like
1) Writing - this show portrays female characters as strong, capable but flawed (not Mary Sue). Kudos to Kwon Do-eun for writing a brilliant series.
2) Acting - brilliant acting by the cast in particularly Lim Soo Jung & Lee Da Hee,
3) Portrayal of female friendship - how one started while another one disintegrate,
4) The score - Millenial Love was magical upon first listen while Heart Shape on Ankle makes me giddy whenever I listen to it,
5) Park Morgan characterisation - as a music fan and someone who's Ta Mi's age now, I wish I had a boyfriend like him. He was confident, empathetic, supporting
6) Jang Ki Yong & Lee Jae Wook were devilishly good looking
7) What's Wrong with My Mother-in-Law
8) This series makes me think of (i) ethics what is right or wrong, (ii) believing in your own principles or just go along with corporate decisions, (iii) dealbreaker in relationships
What I dislike
1) The conflict between Ta Mi and Morgan - in real life, I wouldn't reconnect because that's a dealbreaker
Favourite scene
When Ta Mi was distracted by Park Morgan's presence in her office. That dialogue is what I imagine a progressive western series would write about. That foreplay is so sexy.
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It could have been so great
Firstly, I started watching because of 3 reasons : Lee Jaewook, mamamoo's OST and Netflix's cute thumbnail for the drama.The drama as a whole was actually very good, but don't expect a great romance between the main couple you'll be highly disappointed. They're both quite boring and kind of toxic for each other. Them being together doesn't even make sense tbh. Meanwhile Scarlett and Jihwan are just as cute and simple and sincere as a couple inlove can be. Nobody talks about Ga-Gyeong's husband but i think they're cute too, in their own way.
The plot inviting you to the world of navigation and its stakes, which seems boring at first, is actually so interesting and you can grow very attached to the characters being part of this system. Although it's clear that the writers wanted to depict powerful "women of the 21st century", it didn't seem forced to me and felt quite natural to see women as the main asset of a company.
The last 2 episodes were really thrilling and couldn't have been better (except for 1 thing but no spoil) !!
P.s : shoutout to Lee Dahee (Scarlett), Lee Jaewook (Jihwan), Kwon Haehyo (Brian), Ye Soojung (chairwoman Jang) and Jo Hyejoo (the influencer) 's perfomance. They really brought their character to life.
P.s 2 : if you want to see the best of Lee Jaewook, just watch episode 10. I almost died of heart attack...
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We are being played with and it's actually very enjoyable. The subjects covered are very broad, relatable and current both as far as business and people go. On the top of that the cinematography and script are really well executed and I'm hoping they continue to be till the end. I strongly recommend this drama to those that like being invested emotionally in the story, because that's how you end up already after episode 1. A really good show!
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This review may contain spoilers
I watched the first few episodes. I thought that the drama might be a keeper for me due to the relatively strong women characters and despite my ambivalence about the Chang Ki Yong character, who seemed always to be filmed in a misty light. But then Episode 4 came along and he did that thing with her pantyhose and that made me cringe. Was it meant to be cute and sexy? Were we all supposed to say, “Awwww, he’s sweet,” not “Ewwww, he’s weird?” It was the latter for me and now I can’t continue with this show because under Korean drama law, she’s going to end up with him. Was this review helpful to you?
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Absolute no chemistry and boring love life
This drama might get turned well if they omitted the main leads love part, especially the ML is sooo annoying. I am dropping this drama because of the ML, I have seen his few dramas most of them his character is same only the FL’s are different, he will become fully obsessed to FL after the first meet and he keeps on begging FL to love him even after got rejected so many times brutally. In most of the drama his character is same only like shameless, obsessed without any bottom line (won’t feel bad for brutal rejections, I was thinking FL to spit to his face to know at least at that time he may feel little bad or not) he can go down to any level to get the FL. The same type of characters I have seen in most of the Chinese dramas and I hate the most.Was this review helpful to you?
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