Search: WWW (2019)

must-watched 2019 drama

i binge-watched this movie 2 weeks ago, wondering myself why it wasnt high-rating in korean.
love how they combine technology, public relation and politics to make a such good movie.
sometimes, you even find the competition between 2 search companies more interesting than the love story of m/f lead. but i do suppose that their viewpoints and so on in love are so realistic, no unpractical and sugar-coated.

the fashion is so damn coooooool. you can also clearly see the filming technique had nothing to discuss about. angles and colors of any shoot are perfect!!!!

to conclude: a must-watched drama

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Until last year, I lived in Silicon Valley, where I had friends working at Google, Yahoo, and virtually every other tech giant. This drama totally sucked me in by finally being about a group of people I could relate to. The work conflicts they faced were very real to me. The fact that women were shown as the ones in power was a huge plus. I never like the music in dramas, but even the music here was excellent.
The acting was outstanding, and in spite of focusing on the female leads, there was plenty of male eye candy to keep one happy. Overall, this was the most engaging drama I've seen in a long time. Bravo!

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Messy plot with bad romance

This show is everywhere. It’s so messy. It’s has a bit of corporate slice of life, artsy film, rom-com, social commentary, philosophical discussion about internet ethics, government corruption, feminist agenda, corporate greed, terribly spoken English, arranged marriage, terrible parents, and random English names. I know I’ve left some out but you get the point.

Wow. That’s quite a list.

None of it is really offensive except the main couple’s romance and random English names.

First, the romance. There’s no chemistry at all. And you constantly wonder what Morgan sees in Tae-mi. She doesn’t have much going for her except that she’s the main character of the show but Morgan, who is 10 yrs younger, keeps on pursuing her. Why? She keeps rejecting him but he’s persistent. Their time together is the worst part of the show. They spend most of their time together talking about how their relationship can’t happen. On and on and on. It’s slow and ridiculous. But Morgan comes back for more every time. And the romance scenes really messed up the pacing because when they ran out of corporate ideas, they would just interrupt the flow and insert slow and dull romance scenes.

I know Koreans are obsessed with English. But, wow…. Nobody, I mean, nobody wants to see these actors speaking in terribly memorized English. It’s so embarrassing for them. People outside Korea are watching these shows. Please stop. Stick to Korean. There’s no shame in speaking your own language. And the company Tae-mi works for uses random English names instead of titles??!? When the characters call each other in broken English, it is so jarring and disruptive. Sigh. It took me a minute to snap out of these name callings and get back into the show.

I think the three main characters themselves were acted and casted well. Tae-mi and Scarlet played off of each other well and their scenes were funny. I liked the way their relationship progressed from untrusting rivals to love-hate friendship. I wish they showed a bit more about why Director Song became what she is other than she’s married into an evil rich family under an evil mother in law. Especially, how ruthlessly she was treating Tae-mi. And how all three seemed like they were all friends at the end didn’t make sense considering how evil Song had been to Tae-mi. Maybe they made up off screen.

The supporting characters were great, especially, Tae-mi’s team members. I wish they spent more time on them instead of needless romance scenes. I didn’t care for the YouTube girl. She didn’t add much to the show.

I wish the show’s main subject matter of internet ethics was explored more. It was fascinating to me, especially, in the age of big techs with agendas controlling who sees what. But at the end of the day, it was only used as a backdrop and ended up being a black and white issue with the government being the bad guy. Let’s get more creative with bad guys, please.

Another show with an interesting premise that was hurt by trying to be all things to all people. I wish the writers would just stick to their guns and just tell a story they wanted to tell.

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Power to the woman + serious heartache

The idea behind this drama felt quite unique to me. I liked the imagery and the way it was filmed as to make the viewer feel as if they were present in the moment on screen. I liked to see the women in their job at work. All had their own unique love story, and I have to say I fell in love with Song Ga Gyon's character and style. Her love story was definitely the most mysterious one and one which left you longing for more. All actors gorgeous looking and beautifully dressed- kudos to the fashion style team.

I also think it is important to say that this is not a light-heart drama. If you have ever been in a long relationship, being loved and heartbroken, then this drama will hit you hard. It is quite heavy in this sense, with each episode the story evolves and you can truly empathize with the heartache feelings that the actors portray so well. I have found myself numerous time in their shoes, tears hit me hard, almost with each episode. Fortunately the drama ends on a positive and light note - one in which all female triumph both in their careers and in their personal lives.

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Not for me

Story:
Was boring for me. Sometimes it's serious, sometimes it's too much comedy. As a very emotionally intense person, I enjoyed the serious scenes.

Acting:
The actors did a good job on the serious, intense scenes.
The character, Scarlett, stood out the most to me because she is a person that shows great character and great morals. I am really impressed by her morals when it comes to friendship and being civilized at work when she has to work with Bae Ta Mi. Not a fan of her chaotic side, but her soft side & her logical side really got to me.

Music:
I am somewhat a fan of the OST.

Rewatch Value:
I am a person selfish with my time, so I rarely rewatch shows. If I were to recommend people to watch it though, I would highly not recommend others to watch it.

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Traditionalist/romantics may not like - those that like "woman power"/don't need a man might

7.5/10 is my rating. What has become apparent in the modern world is how information can be manipulated to suit the agenda of powerful businesses and political figures. Bae Ta Mi (Im Soo Jung) finds herself caught between the ethics of a free public domain and the pressures brought to bear on the companies that provide Internet search services. After dedicating her youth to a company she helped to build to the top search engine, she is chosen as the fall person in a high stakes political inroad. She ouththinks/outsmarts the political players only to lose her job.
Distraught over being stabbed in the back by someone she thought of as a friend and mentor she goes to play a video game to burn off some steam. She is very competitive and used to winning at everything so when she loses the game to Park Mo Gun/Park Morgan (Jang Ki Yong), she finds the younger man intersting enough that their encounter develops into a one night stand. Park Morgan sees things differently, he has for once encountered someone he find unforgettable and decides to pursue this elusive woman whose life focus is on her career.
Park Morgan is the CEO of a company that composes music for Video Games, a part of the industry Tae Mi is involved in, so they encounter each other frequently. Meanwhile, the top competitior knows that Bae Ta Mi has the skills they need to beat Bae Ta Mi's former copany in ranking, after all she is the one that has kept the edge over them all these years. Theyg recruit her to help their company surpass and finally come out on top. This is a slice of life in the high stakes world of internet search engines with three women determined to make their mark in the industry. Can modern women really have it all?

Spoilers* I liked this but did not love it. I learned a lof in the slice of life of internet search engine industry - things I had never thought of. I really enjoyed that aspect. What I was watching it for though was the romance and that fell a bit flat. I thought the Park Morgan character was literally the perfect boyfriend/romantic partner but Bae Ta Mi was somewhat flat and cold as a character. He showered her with love and affection and I felt like she spent more time closing herself off emotionally than returning the love he so freely gave her. Others have commented, and I have to agree, that her constant emotional distancing became tiresome and it made me feel sorry for Park Morgan and feel he might be better off without her. I might have felt more sympathy for her character if they had revealed what happened to make her emotionally distant but they never did - she just was. I found the side romances more interesting than the main romance. But even those would get irritating at times. Scarlet (Lee Da Hee) was so insistant she was only a fan of Sul Ji Hwan (Lee Jae Wook) who was a rising actor, but that luckily turned the corner before it became annoying. However, when they finally came together and it turned out he was up for mandatory military service her fatalistic attitude about their relationtship was excessive. Bae Ta Mi's former mentor and major rival, Song Ga Kyung (Jeon Hye Jin), was living a miserable life in an arranged marriage under the thumb of her "evil" mother-in-law. It was apparent though, that her husband, Oh Jin Woo (Ji Seung Hyun), was in love with her and that she was with him. They were actually well suited for each other. He took responsibility for all the heartbreak and bad treatment she suffered and was willing to do nearly anything for her. I really wanted to see the two of them figure it out and reconcile sooner. None of the relationships resolved in anything that was long term. The main leads basically agreed to disagree and just let's see what happens in the future. But they broke up over that before so there was no feeling that anything resolved. Scarlet's boyfriend was still in the military and there were no promises made that she would wait for him. And CEO Song divorced her husband and was traveling and had "disappeared" from public life. There was a Thelma and Louis type ending where all three ride off into the sunset together in a show of strong women/solidarity so I suppose if you were more for the strong business woman element you might find that ending satisfying. I am a more traditional romance/happily ever after ending so I did not find that rah rah go women moment rewarding.

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Mediocre Mess

I have tried to watch this drama several times since it aired, but always found myself dropping it around episode 2 or 3.

I managed to stick with it this time around and finished all episodes, skipping portions toward the end.

The story was okay, but we were left with several loose ends, almost like they wanted to cram as many scenarios into this show as possible and then only resolved a handful.

The actresses and actors were okay .. I was not impressed by most as they either over exaggerated their roles or under exaggerated them.

I did not care for the FL or ML, especially their 'romance'.

She was a toxic hot mess with the EQ of -10 and he was overly eager for no good reason.

I kept hoping they would break up and stay broken up.

I did not root for them, I was not invested at all in their romance, and would often skip scenes toward the end when they were on screen together.

They had no chemistry and she often looked constipated.

Song and her husband / ex husband were a couple I started to like in the last few episodes.

I did not like them much; they were both broken, used up punching bags of the old lady, but you could tell that is what brought them closer.

My favorite characters(and couple) were Scarlett and her 'actor'.

The way they met had me kicking my heels like a fan girl "Eeeeek!"

Their chemistry seemed natural and they were both great in their roles.

The whole "Girl Power", feminism, or whatever edge this show was going for was over done.

Almost to the point of being ludicrous.

I have many unanswered questions pertaining to the loopholes, but those clearly will reman unanswered.

This is not one I would re-watch unless I fast forwarded through all scenes and only focused on Scarlett and her 'actor'.

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Glad I watched until the end

When I first started watching Search: WWW I thoroughly enjoyed it. Towards the middle the romances that were developing were somewhat frustrating. However, once I let go of wanting the leads to stop with their angst and get together I was okay.

I loved the surprise ending. Seeing three strong career minded women able come out on top without compromising their integrity was a win win for me. The best payoff was getting back at the mother in law. It was difficult as I watched the daughter in law be treated as the MIL’s dog; and satisfying to also watch the dog bite its master.

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it is good

we got 3 headstrong FL's and each one is awesome i swear i lowkey wish this was GL because the girls understand each other even when they are against each other. Heck when Cha Hyun / "Scarlett"(Lee Da Hee) , Bae Ta Mi / "Tammy" (Im Soo Jung in)and Song Ga Kyung (Jeon Hye Jin) are on screen together they make my heart flutter. i may have wished for it to be GL but i don't mind the straight path either but i didn't like the ML's except for the male character Seol Ji Hwan (Lee Jae Wook) honestly he was cute the other 2 made me feel like they FL's should have just broke up with them and never makeup back honestly like it would have been better for them to split than to be together and cause harm to each other. Don't get me wrong i don't hate the actors, Park Morgan(Jang Ki Yong ) and Oh Jin Woo(Ji Seung Hyun), i hate the character like really why can't Park Morgan(Jang Ki Yong ) be in a relationship without having to be married like i get at the end everything worked out but we all know these type of relationship where one wants to marry and one doesn't want to marry will eventually lead to a dead end of the relationship or either one is gonna have to cave this is why i like the FL Bae Ta Mi / "Tammy" (Im Soo Jung in) her character has her head screwed on properly cause she knows there is an end to their relationship and she knows the cause too. i didn't like this ship they stretched the problem too long so i kind of give up on FL Bae Ta Mi / "Tammy" and Park Morgan ship. the other ML that i don't like Oh Jin Woo(Ji Seung Hyun) man this dude took too long to help his wife out like really he couldn't stand up to his mother. Like he could have stopped Song Ga Kyung (Jeon Hye Jin) from taking the crooked path if he had just left with her when her family had become bankrupt it would have been better. Song Ga Kyung (Jeon Hye Jin) did everything that a perfect daughter and daughter-in-law need to do but by doing so she abandon herself which made me sad the girl literally became her mother in law minion and a sacrificial pawn to her parents to help them out. i truly felt bad for her. although i'm criticizing this show it doesn't mean the character ships didn't make my heart flutter they did but to be honest Cha Hyun / "Scarlett"(Lee Da Hee) and Seol Ji Hwan (Lee Jae Wook) ship made my heart flutter more like these 2 are were the only nontoxic ship in this whole drama that was wholesome to me. In the end, the show as a whole wasn't so bad i like it.

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Where do relationships evolve over time?

I really liked the female lead characters in the series. I also liked the men who were their partners. There was a somewhat serious relationship between the leads, and it portrayed how people's thought patterns influence their relationships and their effects. I think it was very well done in that regard. I appreciated how it conveyed a serious concept without being indirect, showing the arguments between people. I don't think many people would enjoy it, but a thirty-eight-year-old woman should, of course, have certain thought patterns about marriage by that age. And breaking those patterns must be very difficult. It's the same for a twenty-eight-year-old. Especially for someone who wants to get married at twenty-eight, they will likely still want it ten years later, when one person is thirty-eight and the other is forty-eight, and they will struggle with it. This situation brings about the issue of one person's desires being fulfilled while the other's are not. If they do get married, it won't be a relationship that the woman enjoys much, and if they don't, the man won't be too happy. So, we can conclude that finding a middle ground is the most important thing in relationships.

Aside from that, the love between the secondary lead characters was very sincere. I found it very cute how they were torn between admiration and love. The woman fell in love in such a sweet way. At first, she thought it was just admiration, but it wasn't. Seeing this unfold and how the guy was also thinking the same things was really heartwarming. His innocence and his lack of interest in things like phones were very funny and entertaining. On the other hand, the third character, the short-haired woman named Ga Gyong, was a bit overwhelming, but she was good. Her mother-in-law was so annoying that it was impossible not to get angry while watching. If you agree with me, feel free to leave your comments too.

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Very Nice! Worth the Watch.

I enjoyed this series. ML and FL were both strong and the storyline was nice in how it weaved both work and personal dynamics together. The war between companies reminded me of the old Google/Yahoo/AOL days :) which made it not only relatable but even more interesting. The behind-the-scenes deals trying to skew the big picture seemed more plausible than forced. I can understand the hesitation of the FL towards the ML to a point however the lack of communication skills towards the ML was lacking which caused conflict with the character balance of the FL. The support cast was solid. Showing the female relationship dynamic of smart and capable women was nice. The OST was very good. This is worth the watch.

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