Eve

There's such a thing as trying too hard

I found out about this show from my mother who I got into Kdramas, she hadn't finished watching it. I watched from beginning to end....now I wish I could get my time back.

At first it was rather interesting for me, I was curious about Rael family, how she was going to get revenge and why that family specifically. This was a let down, we barely see anything about her past with her family, we are told that Rael's father was the next Bill Gate but aren't shown any proof of it, they just keep repeating the same scene of him getting beaten up, of him dead, one with her last birthday and toward the end, we see one where she asks about following her heart. Her mother is supposed to be this really beautiful woman but the actress looked rather plain and by that I mean they didn't bother dressing FL's mother nicely, they have her looking like some broke maid, when we find out what happens to her mother it feels like "Really, that's what you went for?" Overall, we aren't led to care or learn about Rael's family. Then we have the lawyer who is the second ML, he sends FL away to keep her safe but then suddenly when they meet 13 years later he's in love with her but we are not told how he fell in love with her or why, it feels honestly creepy. I will say that I love this quote of second ML "My love for her is sacrifice." Talking about how he was willing to sacrifice everything, including himself, for FL.

FL befriends So Ra who is supposed to be perfect and have everything, we quickly find out that she's rather unstable and that her life isn't as perfect as we thought with a psychotic father and uncle, we also find out her mother was locked away and beaten, why? No idea. I gotta admit I was more interested in So Ra than I was in Rael. She made me laugh sometimes and other time made me angry, I also felt pity realizing that there was no way So Ra could be anything less than unstable when she grew up with so many crazy people around her.

After befriending So Ra, FL is seducing ML who is much older and married with 2 daughters (we never see the eldest and I honestly wonder why she's even written because we get zero information on her), Rael and ML keep talking about tango and she keeps doing tango, honestly, I was freaking tired of the atrocious tango being shown with the screechy music, I forgot the name of the instrument.

After seducing ML, while being a married woman to some guy that was part of her revenge plot and had helped beat her up, and using his kid to get close to ML, she goes on to tell So Ra that she's sleeping with ML...okay, sure. We also get a bunch of psychotic breaks and self harm from FL which I thought was interesting along with how one moment she does a crazy smile and the next she has a flat face, it made her feel rather unstable and I was drawn to it, but then it just gets too chaotic.

There didn't seem to be any actual chemistry between the leads, whoever was doing the make up should be fired and whoever was dressing up FL and So Ra should get banned from the industry because it was so ugly. Da Bi who was ML young daughter, was honestly annoying, all they had the kid do was pee herself and cry like a toddler, it got old very quickly. Most of the scenes consisted of annoying Tango or some lame church that I am not even gonna get into since this review is already pretty long.

After suffering through a bunch of plot holes but hoping at least for a happy ending, we get some BS where ML finds out her secret room that's covered in camera which makes me wonder how he even made it there, every villain starts falling and I actually like what they got. One ends up disfigured, one ends up starving to death and one ends up getting killed by one of the main characters. What I was not okay with and what ruined this drama completely was this BS where ML decides he's gonna drive his car down a rather small hill with his crazy wife So Ra but somehow only ML dies and So Ra doesn't...okay, sure, why not? Its already bad.

I kept hoping until literally the last second that we were gonna get a "Just kidding, he's alive!" But nope, we didn't get to see the crash, we didn't see a death scene and they didn't really explore that too much, just FL wakes up after getting stab and be told by second ML that the first ML died in the car crash and got cremated, because I, as a viewer am just supposed to believe that. FL is such a crappy step mother that she just gives her daughter in law back once she's done using the kid, she's supposed to love ML so much but Da Bi is just left an orphan and FL goes back to Argentina to play more annoying Tango music, that's the end.

I like that they dub Rael voice when she spoke Spanish but to me it sounded Spaniard and not Argentinian, the other characters that were supposed to be native Argentinian spoke terrible, broken Spanish.

This was just a massive let down.

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Love of Eve

The drama was visually appealing with sleek fashion yet shallow, drawing viewers in with its polished aesthetics and grand production, but failing to deliver on beyond its initial entertaining value. Speaking of production, whoever handled the post production processing and edit did a poor job with Seo Yea Ji scenes. They over softened her skin too much to an artificial level of smoothness. Despite knowing what's coming, the plot was initially as enjoyable as having a fast food meal after a late night. The entire plot was structured around heavily dramatized drawn out scenarios. This is the type of plot that other shows usually make a parody of it when mocking makjangs. The constant bombardment of flashy visuals and exaggerated emotions overshadowed everything. I admit I enjoyed that aspect of it but only for the first 5-6 episodes before it lost its appeal. Waiting for the revenge to finalize is what kept me going, however, I can't say I'm satisfied with the resolution of the revenge. I was hoping for something different and maybe a bit harsher. Moreover, If I'm not mistaken, we didn't know what happened to any of the children at the end. On another note, the drama came out around the same time as Seo Yea Ji was going through a controversy. I'm not well versed on the subject, but I couldn't help myself to draw some parallels with her character in the drama.

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An uncomfortable watch, for all the worst reasons.

Abysmal. Just Awful. Plot holes. Terrible acting/pairing. Needless tropes. Eyesore makeup, across the board. There wasn't one scene where I could forget the weird and glaring transitions from matt and cakey to oily and blotchy foundation, distracting eyelash extensions that never came off, even after a near fatal injury, and endless eyeshadow abominations long, long after the momentary dance scenes (that were the only justifications) where over. I've never seen a k-drama so afraid of the fresh-skin-natural-look (as natural as k actors can look). I also never seen a k-drama where the makeup is distracting in every episode. When it was glimpsed that the lead was reapply MAC lipstick, it all made sense. Why oh why did they think making her visual theme at matt lip, was worth sticking with until the end. Horribly chapped, made her deliver even harder to take seriously. Dry. Dry acting. Dry lips. Why?

She wasn't even the richest character in the show, yet somehow needed the most lavish unjustified wardrobe changes every other scene. Made no sense at all. It was predictable at some point, just waiting to see what monstruous outfit she'd have applied to her sickly frail frame next. The green mini dress and blocky platforms at the child's birthday party reveal was just embarrassing. It made her 'other woman' reveal all the more desperate looking. Aside from youth, the cheating husband downgrade was the weakest point of the story, no chemistry, no depth, you couldn't even buy the lust. I can't recall a moment they appear happy or comfortable in each other's presence. It was like watching strangers who had been paid to act sexually interested in each other, but had no experience to draw from.

I'm not sure what work the male lead had done to his face, but is was the show's cringiest casting, by a mile. Between his and the female lead's acting, it was impossible to root for either of them, separately or as a winning couple. Only a Romeo & Juliet tragic ending may have saved their bizarre performance.

The only saving grace was the actress who delivered a bearable Han So Ra. The sole performance worth enduring, through a alarmingly weak plot and shambolic writing. Aside from her, every other character appeared perpetually emotionally stunted, for what reason, I can't fathom. At least Han So Ra had a believable OTT arc into madness. Every other performance was either forced or timid.

The boredom set in so early, it was a pain to finish, with an ending that didn't simply fall short, it was a sheer insult to watch, though not at all surprising after episode 7, you could see the trainwreck no matter what.

An uncomfortable watch, for all the worst reasons.

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Acting and Music

Seo Yeaji has been through so much this year, and her acting is amazing for this comeback. I can feel the character's emotions, and I just think her acting is so well that it draws you in.
The OST at the end is perfect. The lyrics are extremely representative of Ms.Seo's character.
I also want to say that the woman who plays Han SoRa is also an amazing actress. She shows her character's anxiety and anger so well.
The men and husband's also act well, especially the actors that play Yoon Gyeom and EunPyeong. Them and Han SoRa's actress play obsession amazingly.
This story is almost the perfect revenge plot (so far).

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Eve is first and foremost the revenge story of Lee Ra El (LRE) who witnessed her family being trampled on and killed by more powerful people. This trauma causes her to spend the following 13 years of her life etching on a revenge to take these people down and make them pay for their crime.


What Works :
The lead actress Seo Ye Ji of course. As LRE, she was perfect. This role enabled her to showcase different ranges from calm and classy to erratic and cruel. I hope this role will mark her comeback and enable her to work in great projects.

Yoo Sun as Han So Ra: She was really good and managed to make us feel sympathy for the horrible woman that was Han So Ra. She managed to show that this bratty tantrum-throwing woman also had another side to her that could make us temporarily root for her character.

The music: I loved it! Especially the title song "Hold Me Tight" which was daunting and really suitable to the atmosphere of the drama.

The story : Who doesn't like seeing rich and beautiful people showing us their ugliest side ? Hahaha
The premise was really good especially the seduction period between Seo Ye Ji and Kang Yoon Gyeom.



What doesn't Work :
The writing : We are promised a story about a 1.6 trillion won divorce battle but sadly, this was barely touched on by the author. The story is about the seduction of a married man leading to his obsession and subsequent divorce sure but it's first and foremost the story of a revenge.
Also, why have Kang Yoon Gyem and Han So Ra have two daughters when the eldest didn't have any role in the story ? She was never mentioned even when her parents were in a much publicized divorce and tearing each other apart.

The direction : I felt it might have added to the story if the audience discovered LRE's motive and background afterward. Wouldn't it have been more intriguing to see a newly arrived young mother who sets her eyes on the The CEO Kang Yoon Gyeom (KYG) while also befriending his wife Han So Ra ?
I feel it would have prevented the show to become repetitive at one point.

The camera work : I feel the Rated 19 scenes were wasted. It should have been filmed more sensually as it was about KYG letting loose and finally getting the object of his obsession.
Also the tango scene in which SYJ danced solo could have been better filmed imo. I think the aim was to show her sensuality and make her desirable but it fell flat because of the way it was filmed.

The characters : My problem lays with the assemblyman. Many shipped him with LRE but I personally thought he was cringy and borderline creepy. I understood the intent. He was supposed to be LRE's rock unwavering and sturdy in his support but the way they made him fall him love this desperately only after seeing her dance was cringy.
First because he knew her as a young girl when she was at her lowest and was thus her only support system now that they back in each other's lives.
Then because he kept referring to her father as family and thus giving off brotherly vibes
Finally because the way he fell for LRE could have been presented better. He was supposed to be perfect and want LRE for who she was and not for what she looked like.


As for the CEO, I know what they were aiming for by making him emotionless for 90% of the drama. He was someone who couldn't show his feeling as they could be used as a weapon against him. He was someone who never felt warmth from his family and despised his wife.
BUT! I feel they could have written him another way and insisted more on his being ambitious and wanting to be the real king and not a mere puppet.
I'll admit that I enjoyed his pairing with LRE though. It's a pity the writer didn't make it more of a psychological game between the two as they were both masterminds who put themselves and their personal goals first.




OVERRAL :
It was a nice watch. I'll personally won't rewatch it but I'll watch some scenes that I really enjoyed. This drama did have some highs and started off great but it was let down by the writing toward the end though there were still some great moments.

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What a Sh-t Show

Oh, man. What can I say about this drama? Well, first off, it’s definitely not one of my favorites. Don’t get me wrong, I love the actress who played the FL, but the writers didn’t do much of a great job with this one. It’s like they threw in all the ingredients of what they think what makes a great drama. The synopsis doesn’t even match the whole thing. Where is the legal battle? All I saw was her seducing the ML. Why does she need to use sex to get back? Why him? She needs to target the old man Han-Pa ro and the other people who were involved in the death of her father. You could get revenge in other ways, you know. Not just sex. I don’t understand, tbh. Then she falls in love with him. A married man. Great. Idk about you, but after watching that scene when he pushed her down on the floor and told her to wait like a dog waiting for its master. Like dude, what dafuq are you doing?? No. Just no. I will never fall for a guy like him, no matter how much of a sappy background he had. Every time they had a love scene, I just skipped it. I just couldn’t see the chemistry between them. Now, let’s move on to the second male lead who has a great heart and had cared for her for years. I really wished he was the male lead here, like come on. I felt so bad for his character. Poor thing. Then of course, the ML decided to drive the car at the edge of the road but he got killed instead and his bratty wife survived. As much as I love the actress, I couldn’t sympathize with her character. What a dumpster fire. I’m sorry. I’m hoping she would get another great story like “It’s Okay Not to Be Okay”.

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Misleading advertising

This is not a revenge drama. It's a highly contrived romance that uses revenge as it's major pretext. So let's get that out of the way first.

Eve is a deeply frustrating watch. Just when you think you might be able to get somewhere interesting, the next episode makes you feel like you've been taken out on a bad date and forced to pay the bill. Hands down, I 100% agree with bad lilies' review and will add three things:

1) Our FL is understandably a bit upset about her dad being violently murdered in front of her as a child and therefore decides to take revenge on the perpetrators. I, on the other hand, am not upset.

The dad is a CEO killed by another CEO-type. And as someone who is very much Team Luigi Mangione, I honestly don't see her dad's death as a great loss. I feel no sense of injustice. I therefore have no investment in the emotional thrust of the revenge.

However, I would've liked to have heard more from her fellow partner in revenge - whose ire seemed to be rooted in workers' struggle rather than purely interpersonal issues - but that would've required good writing and the producers didn't seem to want that.

2) For some reason, our ML was only allowed a quota of ONE facial expression for the entire series except for the last couple of episodes where I counted THREE whole facial expressions. I had no emotional investment in him as the love interest because he was a CEO (ick), dull (ick), and wayyyyy older than the FL (ick, unless you play your cards right).

Also let middle aged people be normal middle aged people?? There's no need for such a heavy handed face filter or to insist on your actor being SUPER jacked. Plz just let him have a normal dad bod! It's ok!

3) The kids were the best part of this drama. I hope they had a fun time. The end.

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From Revenge to Love and Freedom

This is a fantastic drama about how avengers get healed by love and obtain freedom.
The story centred on a revenge plan meticulously and ruthlessly carried out by Lee Ra El, who was determined to take down the LY Group led by Kang Yoon Gyeom. LY illegally bought Ra El's father's company and technology, and caused the tragic death of her parents and left trauma on her as a young girl of fifteen.
Love cannot be hidden. While targeting Yoon Gyeom, Ra El fell in love with him, for they shared much in common: living a lonely, abused and loveless life, and yearning for healing by music especially played by Piazzola's Bandoneon. While Yoon Gyeom was kept captive by wealth and power, Ra El was living in the prison of hatred. As revenge became bloodier, their love got deeper.
Throughout the revenge, beautiful romance and redemptive love stood out. Ra El had to admit her true feelings towards Yoon Gyeom, and Yoon Gyeom must face the consequences of his greed and evil connections. Yoon Gyeom died a heroic death in the end so that Ra El would live in peace as she aspired.
Both Yoon Gyoem and Ra El gained freedom, the former from the control of the evil and guilt of his own, and the latter from hatred and fury.
The theme of the drama is significant. The acting is amazing, including that of the FL, ML, SFL and SML, as well as nearly everybody. The music is impressive, especially I Want to Be Your Everyday and Hold Me Tight. The wardrobe of the actresses was astonishing. The character development of Kang Yoon Gyeom was most impressive.
The story definitely cannot avoid loopholes, and has aroused much controversy among viewers. However, it is a great drama.
My overall rating goes to 9.5/10.

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Painful to watch, over the top acting

The premise is promising. Unfortunately, the acting (plus the make up and the wardrobe department) is over the top, specially Seo Yea Ji, who act like she is an airdoll and everytime she showed anger, she looked constipated.

Most of the time, the conversation between characters sounded like they were whispering all the time. It's a bit too much to hear. Why the can't just talk normally?

What's more annoying, the lack of chemistry between the leads. The exagerating make up and customs of female lead (she was wearing Prada level dress while cooking in the kitchen, unbelievable) makes her look like a Barby doll robot and that makes her look intimidating her male lead. And the acting, this is the worst of Seo Yea Ji.

I think, the biggest problem with this is the script and the direction. The production is gorgeous but the script and direction are awful. The script is going wild halfway... This is the worst kdrama I've ever watched

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What a mess!

Ok first of all I had a huge expectation since I found out Seo Yea Ji and Sang Yeob would be there in the drama. I loved their acting in their earlier dramas so much. Save me and While you were sleeping are the best one among them. However this show...how should I put it...it had everything yet it was just so unsatisfactory that it was completely unbearable towards the end. My ques is what happened to the revenge part???? It became so weird in between that most of the time I was questioning the ultimate goal of Ra El and her fake mother. Unnecessary bickering, yelling, seducing and flashy outfits doesn't make the story compelling to viewers.
Even the dialogues felt so boring...I mean who talks like that in real world? So much poetry! Ok I get it...its a drama it cant be real and blah blah blah...but it was so over the top that it was not making any sense. I was expecting more thrill and Revenge twist. What about her family? Just few flashbacks!! Thats it?? It was just Seo ye ji and park Byung Eun and his childhood trauma. So what!! Why should we care when he never really raised his voice against all the atrocities of his in laws and wife?? I must say it was pretty much ok till ep.10 but afterwards it was a pure mess. To all the people who really enjoyed this show I must say you guys really have a different taste altogether. I won't even bother to recommend this drama to anyone. Seo Yea Ji can do much better without this kind of scripts. Sigh! We really needed our queen back but not in these kind of stories.😑 Lee Sang Yeob's acting prowess was not even shown properly

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I am loooooovvvvveee with This show

I so much love this show so yea ji has actually outdone herself again. All this cast and crews acted perfectly I give this show 10 as it’s the best so far. I like the thrill and psychopathic vibes. It’s absolutely superb. Don’t mind watching over and over again. I love the love story and her determination despite her emotions which is what you rarely see in Asian dramas. Though it was sad that her lover died at the end but I felt he actually deserved it despite home did not directly hurt her or her family but he is as guilty as the others as he was aware of the situation and he decided to keep quite in other to acquire her fathers company.

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MAGNIFICENT START BUT MESSY END

THE PLOT - I’m always down for a revenge drama. Especially if it’s a makjang show. The premise is definitely enough to suck you in. What kept me watching was finding out exactly who Ra El was going after because it isn’t clear in the beginning. The whole revenge plan was really strategic and had me questioning how far a person would go to avenge the death of a loved one. There were times throughout the show where I thought Ra El went too far, but I think it was decided from the beginning that nothing would stand in the way of her revenge.

THE CHARACTERS - I have to agree with the majority here and state that Han So Ra is the best one out of the bunch. What a character she was! The times she made me laugh out loud lmao.Not to excuse her unacceptable behavior but she had no real guidance. From what I observed it seems like she is a tool used by her father when it’s beneficial to him. Otherwise he can't be bothered with her. He is so cold to her and dismisses her even when she genuinely needs ya know, her father. Yes she is a miserable wretched woman but I do think it's sad how the only men in her life don't give her genuine love. Even the assistant she was sleeping with doesn't actually love her, he's just there to boost her ego, but there were times I felt he was genuinely concerned for her. It’s unfortunate that her henchman cared for her more than her own father. She is a tragic case but she was merely a product of her environment. Han Pan Ro was a good villain. He was very cruel and that was established with that dog scene in the first episode. The contrast with him being an old man was done well. Yoon Gyum was probably the worst in terms of acting. It was excruciating to watch him during certain scenes, especially the intimate ones. Like bro fix your face! The age difference between his and Ra El’s character threw me off when they had certain scenes together. Gye Young was good. Eun Pyung was a sweet character with a good backstory. The romance between him and LE should’ve been dealt with but the writers chose to leave it open ended.. And last but not least Seo Yeji. I watched this for her and I was not disappointed in her performance. She is excellent at portraying such heavy emotions. You really felt her dedication to the role. I hope she gets more projects after this.

Overall I’d say this show started off great and then lost me towards the end. The first 8 episodes are def the strongest. The last act felt rushed and there were quite a few plot holes. Like what happened to Han So Ra’s kids? I liked how Yoon Gyum chose to help LE in the end. However rather than having him commit suicide I think he should’ve been killed another way. I get that he was done but I don’t think suicide was the answer. Anyways I’d def recommend this show if you like revenge and chaebol family mess, but mind the inconsistencies as you watch.

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