Start-Up

It's good but it's not for everyone.

I guess I am one of those few people who actually liked this show. It's not the best but it's a good watch. The acting was great and everyone acted their parts really well. However, the lacking thing with this drama comes from the writing of its story. I think I kind of get why a lot of people were frustrated with this drama. Before this show began, it is obvious that if ever there is going to be a love story in this drama it will be about the characters of Nam Joo Hyuk and Suzy and how their characters will end up together. However, when the actual drama started to began, the character of Kim Seon Ho was fleshed out a lot more and better than the character of Joo Hyuk that it became a lot harder for some to digest the romantic couple that was made out of the main characters. Second lead syndrome is real and this drama does that quite well. Additionally, I think another disappointment that some people may have comes from the fact that they expected this drama to be about the business world and yet that became just a setting and a plot device for a love story. Obviously this drama doesn't offer anything new nor it tries to present one. It's a love story that some may find entertaining and some do not. Furthermore for those who finds a love story to be entertaining enough, this drama posed another challenge to be lauded and not panned by giving the second lead guy a lot more opportunities to be beloved by the audiences. As I said earlier I liked this show, it's not perfect but it's entertaining. It's good but it's not for everyone.

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Great drama if you’re not looking for romance

My first review just to give my voice to negate the bad comments.

I am a start-up co-founder, working in the IT area, and I studied computer science, so I am familiar with AI. One review said that this is not about business or AI... well, I disagree with that as I can relate to some stories in the drama. So for me, this is not a romance drama.

They tell us how they create a team, how they come up with an idea, how their products can succeed, how hard it is to find an investor, how you can be conned and mistreated by some big companies. This drama tells us a lot about starting a business from zero, so I would not say this drama focuses on the romance.

I agree that the leads lack in chemistry, but since I don’t watch it for the romance, I don’t mind it. I deduct most of 1.5 points for the chemistry between the leads. But for the story itself, I think it’s a great one.

Of course, I am also that-guy team, and I am sad that he is not the one being with the lead at the end, but hey, as Dal Mi said, you don’t need a reason to love someone; you just found someone that is “clicked” with you. I don’t deduct any point just because my ship doesn’t sail.

As for the characters’ development, I think both FL and ML have their character development. ML was someone with no confidence, but he gains his confidence because of FL. Similarly, FL has this insecurity in her because she always compares herself with his sister, but no more towards the end. Character development does not always about evil side become angel side; the second lead character’s development is more significant, I agree. But it doesn’t mean that the drama lacks character development.

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Youth Inspiring KDrama (Fresh and Informative Concept)

A MUST-WATCH KDRAMA

Story:

Main Plot: Start-Up follows the journey of young innovators who want to make it big in Korea Silicon Valley.
*But to expand its target audiences, other than entrepreneurship, it also tackles life, family relation, love, and friendship.

Start-Up has a fresh concept among KDramas. It incorporated business terminologies in layman's term in each episode for the viewers to easily understand. It is an informative type of drama. It does not solely focuses in business aspect, but also dwells on family, love, dreams, growth and friendship. The relatable main characters make the series inspiring which make the audience root for their growth and success.

Cast/Acting:
Seo Dalmi (Bae Suzy): the main female lead of the story. She is shown to be persistent and confident which is usually propelled by her bluffing. Even without business experience, she dared to enter Sandbox in hopes to make her choice, choosing her father, the right choice.

Nam Dosan (Nam Joo Hyuk) : the main male lead of the story. He is shown to be an aloof, odd, awkward, but genius programmer and initially the founder and CEO of SamSan Tech along with his two friends Yeongsan and Chulsan. He has a low self esteem caused by the undue pressure from his parents and childhood trauma. Samsan Tech entered Sandbox to attract investors.

Han Jipyeong (Kim Seon Ho): the 2nd lead. He is seen as successful investor, business minded, but have a cutting knife frankness. He is seen as empathetic to those he has no interest thereof but caring to the people he liked. He became a mentor in Sandbox.

Won Injae (Kang Hanna): 2nd lead. Seo Dalmi's sister who chose to stay with mother who married a rich businessman. She is independent and experienced businesswoman through the privilege given to her by her stepfather. But the betrayal of her stepfather forced her to enter Sandbox to prove that she can be successful without that privilege.

Seo Dalmi and Nam Dosan 's fate intertwined through the letters written by Han Jipyeong 15 years ago. Jipyeong, who was ordered by Seo Dalmi's grandma to be a pretend penpal with Seo Dalmi to help her cope up from losing her sister, used the name of Nam Dosan, who was a math prodigy. After 15 years, Seo Dalmi and Nam Dosan met and together with Yeongsan and Chulsan, and Saha, formed SamSan Tech in Sandbox. They were face with Won Injae's company as competitor.

This is Bae Suzy's all time high of acting prowess in all of her dramas. She brought to life the character of Dalmi wonderfully. Nam Joo Hyuk also delivered a phenomenal acting skills. Both of them can pull off the crying, funny, and romantic scenes really well. They have a great chemistry. All the supporting artists also did justice to the role they played.

MUSIC
10/10. StartUp has 15+ wonderful OSTs. Each has its own distinct flavor which can uplift you or gets you emotional out of nowhere.

STARTUP IS ONE OF THE BEST KDRAMA THIS 2020 AND IT OPENS A NEW GENRE OF KDRAMAS. IT ALSO HAS THE HIGHEST KDRAMA CPI DAILY POINTS ON NETFLIX WITH A RECORD BREAKING 202. AND HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST MENTIONED KDRAMAS DURING ITS AIRTIME.

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Even though your love is pure, I will choose toxicity.

Right from episode 1, you are given the wrong idea on what the story will stay on. Our female lead Seo Dal-Mi receives letter from her "1st love" who writes her letter by the name of Nam Do San. Later, the real Nam Do San in brought to her adult life and everything that was set up in first episode is lost.

The whole business point of view in the drama is nice but it's such a pity that drama looses that point and becomes too focused on the love triangle.

Won In Jae played by the amazing Kang Ha Na, even though is on the main cover on drama she is lost in the drama. Her importance is so much lost that she isn't even told that her grandma is loosing vision.

I really didn't cared for the friends of NDS and only cared for Sa-Ha's character which I thought had quite a lot of build up as her expressions and acting was enjoyable.

Now the main reason why this drama is not worth it, the way too much focus on love triangle. This drama makes our male lead Nam Do San looks so so so so bad that you automatically lean toward Han Ji-Pyeong. Nam Do san goes through nothing and still earns everyones respect at the end. He had a caring mother, supportive friends and home most importantly, yet his character comes of as whiny and arrogant. He is shown to he someone we are suppose to sympathize with but he even after time lapse shows no growth. His whole image is based of from the letters that HAN JI PYEONG wrote. Even in business deals he is always forcing Dal Mi to make decisions on basis of "why not" which isn't reliable.

Now for Seo Dal Mi played by Bae Suzy, her character has nothing but to choose who shs wants as her bae? Rather then coming of as strong she came out as too much dependant on people around her and it wasn't worth watching. The conversation about the letters that was held between her and HJP shows that those letters and feelings of 15 years weren't real and he wasn't even an option to begin with. She choose NDS cuz he had big hands? And that's it. "I like you cuz it's you" That is what she says to NDS while confessing which to me sounds toxic, like can't you even give one good reason as in to why you love your soulmate.

Han Ji Pyeong will always be the most miserable second lead. He went through so much pain not just as kid who by the way had no shelter, but even as adult goes through so so so so much emotional baggage that even if he was given an IU in the last episode (someone said this and I find it sad rather then funny) nothing could've redeemed him. I'm glad that we were given Kim Seon Ho as our 2nd lead cuz I'm looking forward to him in other shows.

Acting by everyone was average at best, business point was lost in stupid love triangle, music was fine and fashion wasn't interesting either.

Such a waste of star-studded cast. That's it. That's how I'll summarize this drama.

4.5\10 rating just cuz Kim Seon Ho deserves more praise.

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A good drama about finding success and finding love.

STORY:

1) The journey to success:
A group of people in their twenties enter the world of start ups. They use their talent, their personality, their friendship and commitment to fight battles that they win sometimes and loose the other times. It takes them through highs and lows, helps them form or improve personal and professional bounds between them. Mishandled situations by themselves and their mentor separate them but they will be reunited again to find success together.

This business oriented plotline is instilled and developed secondary to the romance plotline. Still it was nice and enjoyable despite the fact that the business ideas developed are no innovations. They already exists in reality. Also the mentoring part was not properly done. The idea of mentoring engineers and coding specialits and CEO like yelling at a dishwasher of a restaurant who slacked is just grotesque. But if we accept that, the story stands.

2) The journey of love and lies:
A grandma schemes a plan to lie to comfort her 12yo granddaughter who is left alone. Grandma and a 19yo highschooler play fake pen friend using the name and identity of another kid her age. It has been decided by Destiny. It will be the long journey of these two of a same age finding each other despite the lies and deception.

The love story turns into a toxic situation when adult Han Ji Pyeong the writer of the letters starts to take a liking for Dal Mi and he stops at no means to undermine Do San and tries to make himself look like the real fated lover of Dal Mi. Of course she doesn't care about it but the fake love triangle lasts until ep 15. I found it was too long. But for the main couple, the love story is very natural and realistic. They looked very good together.


CHARACTERS/ACTORS:
- Dal Mi / Bae Suzy: She is the common thread. The anchor point of most of the other characters. She is a nice girl but also outspoken, rebellious, down to earth, motivated and persevering. She is fighter and a leader. I liked her personality and I liked the fact that she faced all her challenges bluntly by believing in herself and in her choices. I have seen 5 dramas with Suzy. This is her best performance for me. She was convincing all the time when she had to be professional or very emotional.

- Nam Do San / Nam Joo Hyuk : He is a bit timid, not confident, not assertive enough but he is a very nice person. He cares for others and has a lot of empathy. Maybe too much. He is people oriented. People are what makes him give his best. His growth is real but not a twist. It is even more credible. First time seeing Nam Joo Hyuk in a lead role. I found him excellent with a range of emotions larger than common actors in Kdrama. His portrayal of an over sensitive Do San but caring of others was great.

- Han Ji Pyeong / Kim Seon Ho : An orphan full of flaws that he turned as his advantage to become a self made man. He is rude, cold, inconsiderate, nagging, bullying and scheming but also knowledgeable, good natured, sometimes goofy. He has a good heart deep inside and a lot of emotions but he doesn't show it. It is his loss.

- Won In Jae / Kang Han Na: A cold older sister but a resolute an ambitious woman who will stick at her choices and prove herself by all means even if it hurts people around her. She has family values deep inside and it will help her slow path to reconciliation. First time seeing Kang Han Na. She was pretty good in that role.

- Grandmother / Kim Hae Sook : A good hearted and caring grandmother who tries her best to help and comfort her granddaughter and young Ji Pyeong but she does not always uses the best mean. Lying is not a good way. Anyway she did her best and it turned out to be effective. She is a warm and loving person. I was sad about how things turned for her with her health but she was always a positive person. Kim Hae Sook great like most usual suspects in Kdrama.

- Yong San and Chul San : The two others of the Three Stooges of the beginning. They are nerds but they have great interactions to bring fun to the drama. I liked Yong San personal story which was no big deal in the drama but contributed to a key moment of the story. Chul San was super annoying at times but ended quite a good guy.

- Sa Ha: Perfect woman with the perfect face and perfect body and perfect education and high standards and a prickly appearance but in fact she is just a nice girl with a romantic side. Did not know that actress Stephanie Lee before but I will be glad to see her again in another drama.

Others Characters brought their share of fun to this drama:

- Do San parents : great comic relief. They really love their kid but also are too demanding especially the father. I liked the mom and her predictions a lot.
- The cousin : Most epic moment in the drama thanks to him.
- Yoon Seon Hak CEO SH Venture Capital : Liked her 15 years earlier as a fair and professional boss and 15 years after, looking for the girl on the swing.
- Dal Mi' s mom: Super annoying at first but life teaches her a lesson. She will finally make good deeds. I liked her evolution.
- Park Dong Chun (Ji Pyung's junior): always bounced here and there by his boss but he was fun despite little screen time.
- Alex Kwon : A very competent guy and professional with his own agenda. Not a good guy. Not a bad guy. But he does his job and gives you smiles.
- Jang Yeong Shil / Yeo Jin Goo : Funny AI which can't tell the weather properly but gives tips to humans about life.

MUSIC:
It enhanced greatly the sad moments, successful moments, the nostalgic moments.. Overall it was very good.

REWATCH VALUE:
I would rewatch it to look into the details see if I missed something. Find hidden Easter eggs maybe. Too recent for me to think about rewatching but after some time yes I think it is something I would gladly rewatch.

OVERALL: Not a perfect drama because the SML was too annoying and nagging and scheming for too long without having his own arc in the narration to beef him up so that people can adhere to him. Not only to his smile and dimples and as a sad orphan . But as a real good person deep inside and a competent team leader/director. Overall it is an enjoyable drama.


ADVICES IF YOU DECIDE TO WATCH THIS DRAMA:

- Do not fall for ep1 which makes you see the SML as the most adorable person and pitiful orphan and worthy of your sympathy and he must absolutely be the ML of the drama because destiny chose him. He is not. Destiny is going to play an ugly trick on him.
- Every episode, do not focus on one character or one couple. Put yourself in the shoes of every main characters. This drama is about people. Live things like you are at their place. Do not assume what they should understand or do because you as the viewer you know.
- Pay attention to the connexions and interactions between the people. They are as important as the people themselves.
- Pay attention to the details of what is showed. What people say their words but also what emotion their face expresses .

It is demanding but it will help you understand the real intentions and story of this drama.

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THIS DRAMA IS GOLD

Startup is an amazing drama which will give you a rollercoaster feeling every episode.
It showcases mixed of emotions about life, love, friendship, business, and dreams.

Kudos to Suzy and Nam Joohyuk for brilliantly portraying their roles as Dalmi and Dosan respectively. They shared a relatable picture of young people's struggles and challenges in pursuing their dreams in this modern, and sometimes, cruel world of business.

Topping Netflix charts in different countries just proves how it is well-loved by many people worldwide.
Congratulations for the whole Team Startup for making the best drama of 2020.

Despite all the difficulties we have been facing, this drama is such a breather and it has also inspired many people to take action and go follow those dreams. No matter what it takes.

Enjoy watching!!

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This review may contain a spoilers.

At the first the story went well, everything is good, the acting from actress/actors, the cinematography, the music, the story line but it turns to be messy on the half of full episode.

Lets talk about the love story first;
It doesn't matter the female lead who will end up with (first or second lead), its just about there're so many unrealistic things in their relationship, the writer made the female lead as a strong and optimistic woman, but she's changed since meet the first lead, its only takes several month but she's already fall in love with him that deep, but at the same time forgot about her first love for 15 years. She's live on a fairy tale, meet a random guy for several month but she cant move on 3 year, where is the strong woman from the first episode goes? The writer should make their relationship (female & male first lead) a bit longer, it doesn't make sense to fall in love that quick in their age, they're not a teenager anymore.

Lets talk about the character development side:
the writer want make the first male lead looks realistic but at the same time make the second lead unrealistic.
Is it just me who find the first lead have no character development at all? after the 3 years jump time i thought he would change, but no, he's still unmature guy who cant make a straight line between bussiness and personal thing. I cant get his point of view at all.
and the second lead, the writer made him unrealistic because he is too good to be true, his flaw is only his harsh words. Till the end the writer make him as an emotional punching bag for the whole episode and give nothing.
the samsan tech's team is much better after the 3 years time jump, they learn to be wiser, and solve the problem they had before.
and, startup has 2 female leads but the one is just a cameo, her screen time is so rare, she's will be an impactful character if the writer focus on her too.

Many people complaining about this drama's because shows us more about the love side not the bussiness side, and yes i agree, that was a wasted potential. The writer should end the love triangle earlier if she wouldn't do some plot twist, at the end the female lead will choose the first lead, right? so dont make it waste. If only she end the love triangle earlier, and focusing on the bussiness side i think it would be more interesting than seeing the episode is mostly talk about a love triangle till the end.

But i want to respected all actors/actresess, their acting are amazing, they deliver the emotions very well. The cinematography too, i love the color grading they use. and last the osts are beautiful! especially day & night and one day, it just suits with the cinematography mood.

I edited this after startup ends.
In twitter a lot of people missunderstanding about "sailing without the map is marvelous", they said its okay to do that in business things because in the end many of poeple still get the goals (as you can see on the ending), this drama's romanticizing it so much, but in real life it is 1 out of 10000000 people who can suffer with that sailing without the map, there's will no business consultant/analyst if sailing without the map is good enough.

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Very predictable. Drama can be done in 10 episodes but it keeps going in circle

The first few episodes kept me going. But as you keep watching, it’s as though the writer ran out of ideas. Predictable who the female lead will end up with but for the sake of dragging the drama to 16 episodes, they break up, get confused and when the other party wants to patch up, it’s another party’s turn to get confused. Very typical and predictable. What kept me watching was Han Ji Pyeong’s character. He would be an amazing lead, but sad to see that he’s always the one cleaning up shit made by the other two. The relationship between him and grandmother is very heartwarming and their scenes are my favourite.

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Chemistry between Bae Suzy and Nam Joo hyuk is just amazing

One of the best Kdrama in 2020. Just finished watching this Kdrama and I've really loved this series from the start to the end. Not only for its cast members but the simple story itself. I don't know why others are bashing this series but I believe that Start-Up is a must see drama. And who says that NJH & BS have no chemistry as Nam Do San & Seo Dal-mi? You can see their emotions in their eyes. Both are good actor and actress. All characters have contributed and certainly clarifies the significance of each to one another. Congratulations to all the Cast of Start-up, you deserve the high ratings. Hope to have more kdrama like this soon.. Amazing job done by Nam Joo Hyuk Suzy and all actors.

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Likely won't be my favorite drama, but has aspects that I like

I feel like I am a bit in the minority here, but I am decently enjoying Start-Up. Let me list all the things I dislike first to get them out of the way, before I explain why I actually enjoy and look forward to watching this drama every week.

Yes, I think that the love triangle has been dragged on too long. There are other character that have so much potential to be explored, instead of the love triangle being the focus. (For example, I see Won Injae's story having much potential to be explored, as well as character development for Seo Dalmi's mom since it's gotten slightly annoying that she is always being presented as helpless, constantly sorry, and lowkey useless.) Yes, I also think that it is a bit unreasonable and unrealistic that Dalmi could forgive Nam Dosan (and Han Jipyeong) so easily when the letters were such a significant part of her life. At the end of the day, though, this is a kdrama after all so it's still within the bounds of an Unrealistic Kdrama World for me lol.

BUT, here is what I do like about the drama. While I can see why some people would call Dosan childish or annoying, I actually relate to him on many aspects. I relate to how Dosan tried so hard in the beginning and kept failing because sometimes, people won't make it no matter how passionate they are about something. It seemed to me that he was feeling something like imposter syndrome due to his glamorous achievements (being the youngest math olympiad winner and going to college so early). I totally understand what imposter syndrome feels like, so I don't think he was being whiny. I also both relate to and admire Dalmi. Dalmi was portrayed as someone who wasn't very competent in the beginning as she didn't have a long list of achievements nor a high rank in a large company. However, her determination and fire to succeed is clear from the beginning, which I feel is admirable so I like how strong her character is being portrayed. Lastly, I think that Dosan and Dalmi make a cute couple (although maybe I am biased since I liked Suzy and Nam Joohyuk before this drama haha).

Regarding the casting, it was unexpectedly good in my opinion. Honestly, I was not a huge fan of Suzy's acting (although I am a fan of her, as a person) before this, but I think she did an amazing job. I can't imagine Seo Dalmi as someone else other than Suzy. I liked Nam Joohyuk before I watched this drama since I've watched a few of his better dramas before (though he was far from being my favorite actor), but the quality of his acting here was also better than I expected. Kim Seonho was the only one who I had never watched a drama of before, although I have seen him in 1N2D before. I completely understand why people are falling for him haha.

The line-up for the OSTs were impressive. I was surprised at every name, since they are all big names in their own way and I was/am anticipating every release. I think that the OSTs were also well suited to the drama, like how Gaho's OST makes me want to go and start my own start-up (despite the fact that I am science student) or how Kim Feel's OST has me reflecting on old memories.

Final note regarding some other aspects of the drama: I think that it was shot beautifully as there were many scenes with pretty backgrounds and nice shot composition. There have also been moments that I laughed at and found funny, so it's enjoyable to watch. Suzy, Nam Joohyuk, and Kim Seonho also look good in every scene (even when they're crying), which is unsurprising but impressive :")

Overall, I can understand some of the criticisms towards the plot and the characters, but personally I think it had enough redeeming factors for me to rate it an 8 out of 10 (as of ep 13, at least). I started watching this drama because I was looking to relieve stress by watching something rather light hearted and romantic, which I think I've found in Start-Up, so I am decently satisfied.

Edit: I just finished the last episode and overall, Start Up was a drama I enjoyed! Less unnecessary romantic conflict and more sweet Seo Dalmi and Nam Dosan scenes would've been nice and there were some cliche scenes in the last few episodes that I wasn't the biggest fan of. However, all the story lines were wrapped up nicely and it was clear to me how each character grew so much, which was nice to see. The ending was honestly quite motivating, seeing how far Samsan Tech and Dalmi got. Some of my friends felt that the business/start up aspect was basically a subplot and wished there was more on those aspects. But as someone has no knowledge (nor deep interest :")) on businesses/start ups, I felt that the plot was quite sufficient in conveying the goals and passions of the characters, along with the various challenges they had to go through. Anyways, to finish up this overly long review, I'm glad I watched this drama as it ended up being quite sweet and motivating, and was something that got me through most of my semester at school haha

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your writing can KILL everyone

Y'all need to remember

everyone has their own type, hopefully all the bad reviews you write are not just carried away by the visuals of the characters, even though the visuals are actually your main attraction.
but for us viewers who have really been in their position in terms of storytelling, this drama is very meaningful to us, and I strongly disagree with your review which gives a value of 1.0 point,
remember if you have been carried away with this story and drama, means that the author has got 5-7 points for them.
I really understand where the story is going, episode by episode, the meaning of the meaning, the good message about the meaning of a truth family in this drama.

Besides the love affairs of the 3 people, other values ​​matter more, not just the love story of the 3 main players.

Please show your respect, and stop making the chances of someone getting killed. learn to be mature.

do not mess up other people's work, but start to tidy up ourselves, take the good and make the lessons that are not according to your expectations.

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Not as bad as they say! DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM

I'm actually very dumbfounded by the amount of low reviews on here. Though the show had its faults, i don't think the show warranted any 1/10 reviews. I would describe it as a perfect escapist drama, with no complicated storylines or characters- not much thought is required to watch this, something i personally appreciated. With loveable characters (HAN JI PYEONG), amazing cinematography and good storyline, you cannot go wrong. I would definitely recommend this.

However, there were times i was actually very much frustrated. With one entire episode dedicated to HAN JI PYEONG i was resolute that he'd be the main lead. He's charming, charismatic, smart, and self-less (i could go on), so imagine my dismay when he ends up as the second lead and given the short end of the stick - he certainly deserved better.

I know MANY viewers (including myself) wanted him to get the girl at end- and this is was probably what justified their 1* reviews, but after watching the finale, i've come to a realisation that HJP didn't truly love her. As you probably recall, he mentioned how he never searched for SDM in the 15 years of sending letters to each other, so after finally reuniting with her and granny, he was no longer alone. HJP was a somewhat hero to SDM, running to her aid anytime anything went wrong, he was finally wanted and needed and ¿maybe? latched onto that and confused it with love? In the finale, he understood that SDM can fight her own battles and he wasn't needed as a hero. And though he may not have gotten the girl at the end, he got a new family and friends, which is what he TRULY deserved.

If you're thinking of watching this drama, GO FOR IT. Don't let the bad reviews sway you. WATCH IT.

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