Keeps you guessing, but becomes a bit too much.
This has been on my 'to watch' list for sometime, i tried several times and finally got past the first few episodes and I was HOOKED. It is a rather slow burn story development wise and does become a bit....too much in some aspects but it is well worth the watch.One downfall for me starting out was the length of episodes, this could have been split into more episodes or even a possible second season with how confusing and somewhat unbelieveable the story seems to get, with its many developments and twists. Though it did seem somewhat confusing at times it was easy enough to follow once the "twist" had been explained but characters.
The acting is good, honestly the main baddie "S" I'll call them, amazingly acted and honestly was such a great choice actor wise I'd rewatch for their scenes alone.
I'm really a sucker for anything with Park Shin Hye in it was she was amazing as usual.
I feel they could have expanded the OST just a little, the same few songs were a bit much during the ending credits but the overall music in the show was pretty typical.
In all honesty, give the show a chance, it may seem a bit much and might not be your cup of tea but it is such an interesting show for the k-drama genre that i'd really suggest.
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Acting - Amazing. Cast - Brilliant. OST - Perfect. THE ACTUAL STORY - A HEADACHE
Make sure you have some migraine medicine before watching Sisyphus: The Myth - due to the story, you will need it! While the acting was great, along with the cast and OST, my oh my the story didn't live up to it. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't even bad, but it was confusing, and when comparing it to the acting, cast and OST, it is definitely the weakest part of Sisyphus: The Myth.In all due fairness, I personally do not have the greatest track record with understanding time travel, but eventually I understand it. For whatever reason here, I am more confused instead of less confused, as I should be at the point of completion. I wasn't buying into the romance too much, however, with great acting I finally did. The OST is addictive and I know I will be listening to it for a very long time. Also, if you are used to lots of time travel dramas or movies, you will obviously have a better chance of understanding the story.
All in all, I think I expected more, but due to the phenomenal acting especially, it saved the whole drama for me.
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The Confusing Myth
It's been a while since I’ve been so intrigued by a k-drama, especially one that stars Park Shin Hye. She does a lot of popular series, but I feel like there are some parts where she doesn’t show her full potential therefore, I pass on a lot of her drama. Surprisingly, this is one of the series that I think she did an awesome job on her role!! I like her as a badass strong female lead rather than a timid typical teenage girl in love. I would like to see her do more action roles.
What I like about the series:
The way how this was directed, written, and how it was edit was brilliant. It kept me watching from beginning to end. I typically skip “thriller/mystery” Korean series because they don’t give me the same excitement. To want to see this series to the end was kind of a shock to me.
The characters. Most typical Korean series has this tough acting man who can solve all problems with his fist, his looks, or his money. Han Tae Sul solved everything with his brains and well his money. I like to say he doesn’t have the typical eye candy that most Korean leads have but that is not a bad thing. He is super charming, and I adore his character! Plus, Park Shin Hye is a sassy female lead who knows she can win a (gun) fight with anyone.
The bad:
I still haven’t figure out what with the ending. The ending between the leads felt like a dream. Also, you get this glimpse of Sigma who is a better person but yet he still has a bit of crazy and plans to go after Han Tae Sul as a stalker??
One of the things that K-drama does well is dragging on plots causing confusion, cliffhangers, and excitements to get your peak interest. In Sisyphus, I was close to saying "forget about this" and read the recaps. This was a point in the series, you felt you were just being drag along and you still don’t have a clue about why this all started that it was starting to be upsetting but you kept watching. I’m glad I did because it was a change of pace and it was something that you just have to be patient about. Personally, I would have preferred a little snippet of the “why”.
Again this is personal preference but I don’t think there was a lot that leads to the romance of the lead characters. I know when you’re put into a situation where you’re fighting to survive and you only have each other to depend on, romance can develop but I was expecting a bit more than just that.
Overall I say 8/10 because of the excitement I got from watching a k-drama in a while.
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These journey is way way better than the destination.
This story is one of those where the journey is way way better than the destination.I like the scientific approach they did on the time travel concept, even though there's still some holes on it. I like the actors casted here, they were really good.
I like the adventure they had while trying to save the world. I like that even with all the chaos, they still managed to fall in love. Even though its a love that's "You and me against all odds" kind of thing.
I almost like everything about the this show, except maybe the ending. Which is really typical with this kind of genre. It's a bit underwhelming for me.
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Time To Defend The ⏰ Or Regret Tomorrow °8.5° °Outstanding°
[Any spoliers are are the very end and clearly marked]Sisyphus is the show that escorted me through the looking glass into the wonderland of Korean programming, and Asian dramas, in general. It explores the claim: "Just because you could do something doesn't mean you should." It's got action, fantastic romance, time travel, & a brainiac that can Macgyver anything. Though not issue free, Sisyphus is an insightful commentary on humanity: We make the wrong choices & then we live with regret the rest of our lives once we are finally honest with ourselves.
Themes explored are selfishness (if we only care about ourselves & what we want, it's radiation poisoning that will destroy society). Also featured are corruption, hate, revenge, & pride - forms of selfishness, all. Messianic imagery is a major player, as are regrets - they follow selfishness. Kindness to those less fortunate is critical, or we will create the monsters that rip into us. Hatred against immigrants & xenophobia is depicted. Sisyphus also examines the False Dilemma argument: Just because someone (especially a bad guy) says you have two choices, doesn't mean it's true.
The title is based on the Greek God Sisyphus. Per Wiki: he "was punished for cheating death twice by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean."
The question of whether the future is static is very much alive in the show, Asia Mart's Mr. Park says: "Do you believe you can change things?" He laughs. "You know you can't change anything, right? You can try all you want, but nothing will change." At the same time, Sigma & his minions make references to alternate timelines, hinting at the many times the end-of-the-world drama has played out.
The main protags are the time machine inventing genius, Han Tae-sul (HTsul), & Gang Seo-hae (SHae), who travels back in time to save HTsul & thus, the world. The world needs saving because the time machine will usher in nuclear destruction of the Korean Peninsula.
By the time SHae travels back to present day Korea, the country has been taken over by thieves from the future. They were in prison when war broke out, which served as a bomb shelter and ensured their survival. Volunteering as the 1st test-group that travels to the past, they accumulate massive wealth due to their prescience of lottery, sports & stock outcomes. Soon, they take over all the power positions in the country & set up the Control Bureau, an immigration enforcement agency that prevents others in the future from gaining the advantages they themselves enjoy. CB officers have very few restrictions & are allowed to kill on sight. All of this was crafted by the mysterious Sigma, traveler & villain #1, who is rumored to be the person that starts the war. Everyone in Sigma's circle is controlled by a desire to protect loved ones, or a desire for power and selfish gain.
Don't give up! S takes off to a confusing start. Ep1 is a tough one to get through, but watching HTsul save a plane that's going down is the biggest reward for watching it. Kdramas often begin by methodically setting the dials & levers that will operate the rest of the show. I first saw Sisyphus before I was doing reviews, so I decided to watch it again before writing about it. The beginning is entirely different in the 2nd go-round.
Both leads are on the Crazy Train, but they each have their talents. When we meet SHae & follow her trail, we see that she's a cool customer. From age 7 she rode out the apocalypse with her policeman father. He trained her in all kinds of combat as hunting for scarce food & water is very dangerous in the anarchy of the future. When we meet HTsul we see that he's pretty cool, too. Pretty bada$$ cool. HTsul does something amazingly clever in most eps. HTsul is also a pathetic pill-popper, ridden with guilt over the way he treated his brother, HTsan, the last time they met, just prior to HTsan's passing. HTsul's ex is his psychiatrist. She dumped him, but only after he cheated on her. What could go wrong here?
Trains & train stations are featured frequently, & appear to represent fate. Right from jump when SHae arrives in the past she sees a bright light & hears a bell. There's a train coming down the tracks right at her: Foreshadowing. Later, HTsul & SHae see each other at the train station while a fast train screeches between them. It's a metaphor for the onslaught of events headed their way that could separate them. HTsul hears the train on the way to the Control Bureau, which helps him locate it later. A train station is where the seat of power is in the future. There's also constant foreshadowing broadcasting HTsul's end of show options, like a train coming at the audience. They are always brought to the forefront.
Almost everybody we meet in Sisyphus is selfish, even SHae's father. Exceptions are SHae & HTsan. They will bring about change to those around them. Early on SHae tells HTsul: "You're really selfish. You'll do what you want & not care how many people died because of it. You selfish jerk." HTsan said it first to SHae: "You just care about saving the world, not my brother. I'm just the opposite."
Initially, HTsul displays corrupted values, thinking he can solve any conflict by throwing money at it. He founded his company, Quantum & Time with grad-school friend, Eddy Kim. Eddy does all the work. HTsul does whatever he feels like, and completely takes his friend for granted. Throughout the course of the show, jealousy & resentment, cause conflict in Eddy, due to HTsul's neglect.
Sigma & HTsul are contrasted. The series delves into the concept of families, struggles, abuse, & ostracism. HTsul lost his parents to an accident, but he had his brother, HTsan, to care & provide for him. Growing up, Sigma suffers severe abuse at home, underscoring that no parent is better than an abusive one. Sigma clearly isn't stupid, but almost nobody in the world is on HTsul's level: His perception that HTsul had it easy in life introduces jealousy.
Sigma's descent leads to madness. He falls in love with fire & death. He's smart, but a sociopath, arsonist, narcissist, & likely a fetal alcohol syndrome sufferer. Killing 50 million people with a nuclear bomb is just a game for him. He brags incessantly about what he truly cares about: Outsmarting HTsul. He loves to taunt him, beckoning: "C'mon out and play," to him.
The backdrop for all of this is the thrills, action, & the wonderful romance between SHae & HTsul. There's a GREAT scene showing how she looks out for him. He's desperately trying to call by rigging a trashpicked office phone into the phone lines. He's shocked when she says she's a little busy. She next yells: "Duck!" He does so quickly while she eliminates the threat right behind him. In shock, he steps away & sees more than 15 bodies on the ground between him & the overpass, where she's standing with her rifle. He hadn't noticed any of it, to the viewer's amusement.
"The girl or the world." He is constantly threatened that he'll have to choose the girl or the world. HTsul will figure out for himself what options he has. He knows he must outsmart Sigma or lose everything.
Some people don't have the capacity to enjoy fantasy. It can be too intellectual for some, or not logical or real enough for others. Sisyphus is fantasy based on an intelligent script, & it's directed smashingly well. The condescending "1" ratings have no basis whatsoever. If one hates some of the logical quagmires or the pacing, a rating of 5-7 is fair, but Sisyphus, in any timeline, doesn't deserve a rating under "5." So leave Sisyphus alone!
We get a clear sense that it's not over yet. Hopefully they won't take their ~time~ putting out season 2.
~Quote~
Gibson: The future is already here. It just hasn't been evenly distributed yet.
IMHO〰🖍
Directing 9
Acting 8
Romance 7
Flutters 6
Art 8
Sound & music 7
Action 8
Thought provocation 7
Ending 9
🎬9 🎭8 🤔9⚡8 💓8 🦋7 🎨8 🎵7 🔚9
Age 14+.
⛔️SPOILERS FOLLOW❗️
I prefer to not give away many spoilers, but some things are worthy of noting as follows:
Resentment festers in Eddy until all he can think about is destroying HTsul. Sigma, who went to grade school with HTsul, has a similar arc. They each have an obsessive hatred for him.
At the same time, HTsul has been in deep emotional pain over mistreating his brother, HTsan, who raised him after their parents died. Under SHae's influence, HTsul evolves into a better human. There's a Scrooge-like sequence where they look at themselves earlier in life. HTsul watches himself w/ commentary: "What a crazy Jerk. It's not Sigma's fault. This jerk caused the war," speaking of himself. He's growing. The thinking pattern that leads to his messianic sacrifice has sprouted. What's funny is how people will, w/o self-reflection, watch & think: Good for #him. I've learned the hard way that none of us can see our own stuff unless we have a major wake-up call.
HTsul had defended Sigma from bullies at school a couple times. As a result, Sigma is happier for a brief period. He claims that all the pictures he draws come true. (Hmmm...). He colored a picture of HTsul floating over the earth (is it HTsul or the world?). After HTsul rejects a friendship, Sigma hates him, like he hates everyone else - Perhaps more. HTsul's journey leads him in the opposite direction of Sigma. Insufferably arrogant HTsul is bolts loose at the show's start. Love for SHae makes him sane(ish) & enables him to make a selfless decision.
S's biggest flaw is a failure to sufficiently explain how saving HTSul will save the world. There's frequent foreshadowing of his final solution, like a train coming at the audience. Mr. Park asks SHae why she doesn't just kill HTsul? That would fix everything... "You're making it too difficult on yourself," he points out. Jae-sun, SHae's first present day contact, declares to Bing-bing that if HTSul doesn't exist, the war won't happen b/c the uploader hasn't been invented yet... They reference it over & over again. HTsul says: "I'm going to find Sigma. I don't care if I die.”
The Messiah, HTsul, cryptically asks SHae to come find him in the future, and then sacrifices his life to prevent the doom that's steaming towards them. This time, Sigma never saw what was rambling his way. Everyone from the future disappears, including SHae. Why is HTsul around at the end of the show? They had time-slipped, so right before the end, there were 2 of them. 1 HTsul dies, 1 survives; future SHae disappears, current day SHae lives. She's 7 yrs old.
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I mean it was a okay kinda mystery show, but I just didn't get it at all. - I tended to skip a lot of the episodes because I felt like there was a lot of scenes that were the same. There' wasn't much things going on, it felt like one of those like rewind things and the story was soo confusing. And the ending confused me soo I don't know if I really liked this
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Must watching
The cast, cinematography good. I need rewatch it twice for knowing the plot, but it was good drama. Both of Cho Seungwoo and Park Shinhye chemistry soooo balance and that's look beautiful with so many conflict between them. Idk about the ending, but i will say the ending was good and it really suit for the plot.You must understand about time travel and parallel concept bcs you should think twice to understand the plot if you dont know it. Overall this drama was good and i will rewatch it again later. 8.2/10
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DRAMA JUST FINISHED, IM CONFUSED
DID FINISH THE DRAMA! I RATE IT 8/10 . ABOUT THE ENDING, DID THEY BOTH MEET ON DIFFERENT REALITY OR TIMELINE. OR THEY ALL JUST STUCK IN A NEW LOOP, WHERE THEY SACRIFICE THEMSELVES AND WATCH THE NEW TYPE OF SIGMA TO ARRISE AFTER RECIEVING THE NOTE BOOK IN REGARDS ABOUT THE THINGS HAPPEN IN THE PAST SUPER CONFUSE ABOUT THAT PART. IM STARTING TO REALIZE THAT THEY ALREADY CHANGE THE REALITY WHERE SIGMA ON THAT REALITY HAVEN'T SUCCESFULLY INITIATED A WAR BUT NOW SEEING THE NEW SIGMA GUY. DOES HE HAS A NEW PERSON TO CONTROL? LIKE THE GUY ON THE FORBES MAGAZINE ... GUSH I DO HOPE HAN TAE SUL AND SEO HAE BEEN TOGETHER ON OTHER REALITY. AAHHH GUSH EXPLAIN TO ME I'M OUT OF BRAINCELLS :CWas this review helpful to you?
Actually really entertaining.
A fine mixture of science fiction, big brother, great actors and a tempting sound track.The story itself was new to me in the genres and this alone makes a great plot (its not that easy to develop new stories after 100+ years of motion pictures).
Some hickkups might have been needed to correct tho. An aircraft flying in 5000 KM(!) height is more a case for NASA than for a Korean airline. A small tip to those creating stories: although its science fiction, the parts in the "here and now" should be at least a bit realistic. And this flight level is simply reserved fo satellites. (or simply: as realistic as a real world hospital movie in which the main actress would wear highheels during station duty...)
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Action scene strong female lead
Best action show bcz femalenlead is doing action scene and evertime i saw female lead is saving male lead it's so exciting and cool . Really worth to watch . I don't know why People giving lower ratings if you don't like it then don't give lower ratings . Please give your precious ratings to your favorite show don't spread hate and malicious comment hereBest action show bcz femalenlead is doing action scene and evertime i saw female lead is saving male lead it's so exciting and cool . Really worth to watch . I
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Much potential but ruins itself
I won’t lie, the beginning of this drama really got me hooked, I was very interested in the plot and the characters seemed intriguing and likeable, I was ready to dive into the world of this drama and be immersed the story, but then they started doing too much. I really didn’t like the extended flashbacks. It’s like something interesting is happening in the present and now you choose to plug in a 30 minute flashback? Wtf? I legit skipped most the flashbacks because the content was so obvious. So for me this 16 episode drama was more like 12. The characters were cool but the plot was unrealistic at times. When I say that I mean that it felt the writer was trying to hit the 16 episode deadline so started filling in gaps with a whole lot of CAP. The story didn’t make sense at times like why would you do that in this situation? Overall… cool drama I guess, the beginning gave me Vagabond vibes but definitely not as good as Vagabond I guess the only thing we need to see is if the ending is as shitty as vagabond but knowing the CAP in this show it’ll probably be shittier.Was this review helpful to you?
