Love after Divorce Season 4 (2023)

An entertaining watch with decent cast, but editing was horrible and commentary could be better

To me, an interesting and engaging cast of members is the most important aspect to a reality dating show, and this show was better than average in this regard. But the production/editing/pacing is almost as important, and in this area, I thought the show was average or worse. It really pandered to a low-brow audience with the manipulative pacing and storytelling, incredibly annoying repetition of scenes, and artificial melodrama. I much prefer a more natural and relaxed style of editing and pacing that feels more realistic. And the commentators were OK but could have been better. I know I'm a horrible and prejudiced person for mentioning this, but there were way too many close-ups of Lee Hye-young's unpleasantly artificial face (bless her soul though, and please forgive me Hye-young-ssi), and it almost seemed like a metaphor for how fake much of the show felt. But I'm glad that there were at least two relationships in the show that appear to be genuine and potentially long-lasting. As for the relationship that was the show's main focus, Ha-rim and Ricky, I never believed in it. Right when Ha-rim abruptly and rudely said "OK gotta go" in the middle of their first conversation, I knew that they were incompatible. Ricky seems like a very nice but uptight and boring guy who would probably provide a lot of stability and reliability to a woman who valued those qualities above all else. Ha-rim, however, is obviously more of an impulsive, emotionally unstable girl who needs constant stimulation and chaos. The fact that they chose each other and devoted so much time and energy pursuing a hopeless relationship gives me a clue as to why they're divorced in the first place (but much of that effort was probably for the sake of the show). Incidentally, as someone who lives in Irvine, it was interesting to me how 3 of the cast members either worked or lived in Irvine, and it was funny seeing all these familiar streets and sights in and around Orange County. And now here's my last mean and grumpy comment--watching this show is an incredibly effective form of birth control, and makes it very understandable why birthrates are falling like crazy in Korea and just about every other developed country.

Read More