All good except the end
They're adding unnecessary things, and if that wasn't enough, it's something sensitive. And just to include that sensitive topic, they’re willing to ruin the plot. It’s getting ridiculous.The plot was fine before, but they’re the ones ruining their own reputation. I've never seen anyone sabotage their own drama before.
But you did a great job placing that scene at the end of the story. If they had put it at the beginning, I would never have watched all the episodes. So disappointing.
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It is overall good. I love it. I love their chemistry, it gives me goosebumps, butterflies at nakakakilig siya. I like how they lift up their character. Especially the episode 6 part, that give me emotionally and I cried on that part. Saeon really love Heejoo. 🫶"When the Phone Rings" is a delightful rom-com! The ensemble cast shines, delivering hilarious performances. Witty dialogue and charming storylines make for a fun, lighthearted watch. Perfect for a cozy night in. Was this review helpful to you?
Marriage of convenience becomes dullsville when turned into a Marriage of love
After an attempted kidnapping and resulting chaos, an arranged marriage couple is forced to communicate when the phone rings.WHAT I LIKED
- Interesting start and a satisfactory first half.
- Liked the characters diversity in terms of their professions; appreciated the scenes with the sign language.
- The story was entertaining till the couple got together.
- Intriguing thriller elements and an impressive soundtrack.
- Good performance overall, but Chae Soo Bin's expressions felt a bit flat at times.
WHAT I DISLIKED
- Quality declined after the main couple's union with mediocre dialogue.
- Couple interactions felt more artificial in the second half.
- The unnecessary plot points that weren't concluded clearly.
- The final episodes were mostly filler scenes with a climactic conclusion.
Overall, an okayish watch. Recommended if you want to watch more Wattpad-style stories and just for fun with limited brain consumption.
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wtf?
Liked: unique concept, actingDisliked: writing, wtf ending?
Throughout this show, I just was so frustrated. The original plot line of the show is unique and I imagine that's why other viewers started the show as well. I think they just wasn't sure of the genre of this show and tried doing too many things at once. I felt compelled to finish the series after the first half -- they developed the intrigue of the family mystery and main leads' relationship quite nicely, but I think that fell off in the second half. The second lead's story investigating the missing orphans was interesting, and I wish they had done more to develop their relationship.
They were halfway there with the writing. Such a shame of an interesting plot at the beginning.
Beware of episode 11 and 12! The show just shoved unnecessary plot lines that don't make sense by the end.
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very disappointing
it was quite disappointing to me cause it started of really well but then it just went down the hill especially the last two episodes like so many things happened one after the other. Like finding heejoo wasn’t anything that important after all cause the moment he found her he himself disappeared 💀which didn’t make sense to me. I am actually really disappointed cause the show had so much potential. and the only love scenes were either them kissing or imaginary like I was expecting better.Was this review helpful to you?
An Old Vibe in a Youthful Tale:From Promise to Disappointment
While the show had a promising start, several elements detracted from its overall potential. The storyline was engaging and captivating from episodes 1 to 8, but unfortunately, it lost its grip as the plot progressed. The final arc involving Argan completely killed the vibe, leaving a sour note to what could have been a memorable conclusion.A major issue was the casting of the male lead. While he is undoubtedly talented, he simply did not suit the role. His older appearance clashed with the youthful "hubby" energy the character demanded, making it difficult to root for him.
In fact, his pairing with the actress playing his mother-in-law felt more natural, as she has aged so gracefully that they would have looked better together as a couple. This miscast undermined the chemistry between the leads and disrupted the tone of the show.It's not about age,it's his appearance. He looks almost as old as his mother-in-law, while Heejoo looks like a kid.
Moreover, the final bed scene between the two main characters was deeply uncomfortable to watch. It lacked emotional connection and felt forced amidst of kidnapping and war.
Despite its flaws, the show had a strong premise and delivered some great moments early on. However, the combination of miscasting, a faltering storyline, and an underwhelming finale left much to be desired.I still like it because of the early episodes.
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An Overrated Balloon
This drama was decent, especially the first three episodes, but after that, it gradually declined. I got so bored while watching the episodes that I ended up watching almost all of them at 2x speed. I usually watch dramas at their normal speed, but this one was so slow that even with the gazes and music sped up, nothing was lost.Once the main mystery in the story disappeared, the drama's appeal faded even more. Character development and plot depth were very superficial.
I think it might be a nice and different drama for those who are new to Kdramas, but for people who have been watching dramas for a long time, especially since most of the characters were cliché.
The relationship between the main couple also progressed very quickly and without meaning. It was all over the place. Especially the last five episodes felt like a waste of time.
I like Yoo Yeon Seok, but I especially didn’t like his role here. However, you can still give it a chance and watch it.
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Hot ML could not save writing crumbling apart and annoying/badly acted FL
What started at first as a hot thriller with an enemies-to-lovers married couple and some mystery, fell quickly apart as the writing crumbled with no proper characterization and a lot of plot armor for the characters.Even if I cannot deny the fact that the male lead was very attractive despite (or thanks to) all his caveman manners and possessiveness, he got less interesting as his motivations and choices became more absurd with some noble idiocy move that I disliked a lot. The female lead was an even worse main protagonist, that had almost no character growth. She felt like a carpet for most of the series, being dragged by the events with very little agency, wanting to help but concretely being carried by others all along the drama.
Regarding casting, Yoo Yeon Seok delivered a solid and hot performance. Despite the cringy lines he had to say and the writing sinking deeper and deeper, his acting skills shined through the screen. I unfortunately cannot say the same for his counterpart Chae Soo Bin. I was super disappointed and even irked by her acting. She had a vacant / empty expression or a sad kicked puppy look for almost the total duration of the series. Her character is written as passive and quite timid, so maybe she is not the only one to be blame for it...But she did not manage to insufflate any life into her performance making it I feel even worse than what was written in the scenario.
The production value was quite good. Nothing extraordinary in terms of directing and making but good enough for the story to be told. In addition to some support characters that I wish we had seen more, the soundtrack was the saving grace of the drama, I enjoyed it a lot overall.
I would not recommend this to people as I feel there are better thrilling romance out there. Some of the more steamy scenes are good but all that surround them is clearly not worth it. At first it was entertaining but very quickly it fell apart because of the crazy writing and insipid heroine.
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Disappointing
This drama had the potential to be a thrilling romance story but it totally failed. I really enjoy the arranged marriage and secret identity tropes but I can't get past how boring and full of cliches this drama is. I don't like how the FL seems so incompetent too. I don't want to sound too mean and I did enjoy the casting of this drama but there's many things that could have been better.What I'm truly disappointed about is the disability representation. I can see how they wanted to be all progressive by using sign language, deafness and mutism as part of the plot but it didn't work out how they intended.
Some spoilers ahead:
It's so boring how the ML is supposedly in love with a woman that uses sign language but doesn't even bother to learn it during the first years of their marriage. (I hope the upcoming episodes prove me wrong) And when he does show the smallest effort to learn it they try to make it seem like something great when in reality it's normal to learn your partner's language. The couple does not really even communicate until the FL starts talking which makes it seem like sign language is not a proper and functional language like any others. Their relationship sparks off after they can talk by using words..
Then the selective mutism. These characters do not understand what selective mutism is. While that is the reality for the people who really have it, this drama does not point it out at all or try to explain what selective mutism is to the viewers. The ML does not understand this condition and tries to coax the FL into speaking which pisses me off.
The bad guy's evilness is of course shown with his tic disorder and heterochromia. Really? In a drama that's supposed to be progressive about these things you use them to make someone seem off putting and weird.. How original. These different disabilies are constantly shown as something negative and I'm done with it.
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Not worth the 8.9
When I look at other shows rated around a 9 like Crashlanding On You and Hometown Cha Cha Cha, for example, it becomes clear that this one has been overrated.My main issue is that I don’t think their love story has been build up properly. They didn’t communicate at all during their marriage as she didn’t speak and he didn’t bother to learn sign language. Before that they vaguely knew each other as kids, so what do they love about each other when they barely know each other? And “he’s always loved her” is not an answer. ML did a 180 from cold to washing her hair within like 2 episodes lol. I just don’t see their romance as being realistic. She should’ve just taken revenge with the burner phone instead of the couple’s counseling we got. Every love scene feels so corny to me, like, you guys don’t even know each other be for real. If it was build up properly and slowly before they went in for the big love confession it would’ve been much better. Now I’m left thinking why and when did you fall in love?
The thriller part of it is okay, better than the romance anyway. I don’t think the doctor and news anchor really add anything to the story though. This would’ve worked better as an 8 episode series I think. ML could’ve realised several times that the FL was behind the calls before he finally did in like episode 8. There’s too much romance filler and angst in between.
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Not worth watching
The drama started great and was kinda refreshing given the two leads were both from rich families, not poor girl meets rich man kind of, but the drama fell off especially with the last two episodes, what's wrong with karma, having a good beginning but a terrible ending. Their drama is also increasingly toxic, once someone is adopted into a rich family, it's impossible to find love because every rich parent and siblings in kdrama is horrible, while the only people capable of loving their family are the poor ones. I thought they had left this troupe behind in 2012, but here we are. Then the unnecessary plot twist at the end made me like the female lead when she was mute and not talking, I disliked the character so much in episode 12. Chinese drama are better with world building and telling wholesome stories, I hope Chinese pop culture catches on soon and they start taking themselves seriously to kick off kdrama off the global obsession. At least thankfully they didn't portray any African "Aprika" country as a worn torn zone that needed the generosity of South Korea yet again. I'm beginning to think these people are just really toxic in real life like their dramas.Was this review helpful to you?
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A good first few episodes and really bad one at the end
I really liked the beginning of the drama with the originality of the script and the fact that Hee Joo is mute. Her dual personality was also very interesting.However, after that, the script became empty... Total inconsistencies at the end. The last episode was nonsense: how can we go in heels in a country at war ? Aspects without explanations: the past of the parents of the "good" paik seon ?
Also quite sad that the music in the drama was almost nonexistent.
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