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Where Your Eyes Linger korean drama review
Completed
Where Your Eyes Linger
28 people found this review helpful
by 00vi
Jun 25, 2020
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 3.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 2.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Unoriginal and Problematic

There is nothing in this short Korean web drama that you haven't seen before. It's like every scene is just a rehash of all the bromance/BL scenes you've ever watched.

STORY : The story basically revolves around a rich young heir who has feelings for his best friend who is also his bodyguard. They've been best friends for 15 years, and it's obvious from the get-go that both of them have feelings for each other. A conflict arises when an admirer for one of them appears. This will be their main problem throughout the story.

With an unoriginal premise like that and a total running time of only 1.5 hours, I didn't really expect much. My expectations were already very low, but I was surprised that I still got a bit disappointed in the end.

CHARACTERS : The two main leads are definitely good-looking but so problematic and illogical. Let's start with our main character, Tae Joo. I was initially relieved to learn that even though he's the rich heir, he's not the stereotypical arrogant or condescending bully. Despite his rich looks and upbringing, he's far from being fragile or uptight. The guy is actually pretty laid back and grounded.

But he's such a huuuge flirt. He openly flirts with some other guy's girlfriend (which was the reason why he was getting beat up at the start of the story) and kisses her without much thought at the next episode. And unsurprisingly, we will never hear from her again.

Tae Joo is also very blatant in his show of affections for Kang Gook, the other main lead. Kang Gook is his best friend and bodyguard. Tae Joo is so sure that Kang Gook likes him too that he tries to seduce him every chance he gets - which sometimes disturbingly borders on sexual harrassment. Like the part where he lied about his broken arm to get Kang Gook to wash his hair in the shower while he's butt-naked himself.

And then right in the end, he stands up, faces Kang Gook and orders him to join him. KG is clearly uncomfortable in this situation, and refuses. (This is basically sexual harrassment. It doesn't matter if the other's gay or into you. If he's unwilling, don't push it.)

And he repeats it many times too, initiating unwanted contact every chance he gets.

From this, we can already see that Tae Joo is not only manipulative and bossy, he's a huge hypocrite as well. He gets mad whenever Kang Gook degrades himself by saying he's just Tae Joo's "servant and bodyguard" but then he bosses him around and manipulates him constanty throughout the story. That "hug me like my mom did" was really low. Because he knows that Kang Gook wouldn't be able to refuse that one.

Tae Joo is also the one to give Hye Mi (the female lead) Kang Gook's number. Because according to him, "Kang Gook should learn how to date", but gets seriously mad when the two seemed to be getting along better. This hypocrite gets to flirt with everyone while Kang Gook watches in the sidelines, and then gets mad when KG does the same thing to him.

But Kang Gook is quite problematic too. It's obvious that he's in love with Tae Joo as well. But unlike TJ, he keeps his feelings to himself and always refuses TJ's advances. He agrees to date Hye Mi, despite of his feelings for TJ. His indecisiveness eventually broke the poor girl's heart as she gradually realizes that she never had a chance to begin with. (But we all see that coming anyway.)

ACTING: Mostly decent, but nothing memorable. There is tension there but very few physical touches, and you can really see that both actors are slightly uncomfortable.

MUSIC: Aside from the opening song, I could not remember any background music or soundtrack in here.

FINAL EPISODE: I mostly judge a drama by its last episode. The ability to tie things together in the end and make a satisfying ending is what makes a drama great and unforgettable. Sadly, this drama's finale is as lacklustre as the other previous ones. In the final episode, KG is shown walking with his suitcase, thinking about TJ. He was thinking of giving up on TJ. Seems like this guy couldn't wait anymore.

And I just thought - wow. Are you for real? After that heartful confession three years ago, and pining for your bestfriend for a long time, you're going to give up like that? Did you not communicate for three years? I understand that it's a long distance relationship but how shallow are your feelings for each other that both of you did not find a way to communicate for three years? Like come on, it's 2020. Whatever happened to cellphones or computers? It all seems heartless and dumb at the same time. Like that confession never mattered.

(But he's probably much better without that manipulative guy anyway. Just sayin') ;)

TLDR: The main problem of this drama is that it's not only unoriginal (trust me, you've seen this jazz a hundred times), it lacks depth and intellect too. It's pleasing to the eyes yes, but for a "supposed love story", this one is terribly soulless, dated and unsatisfying. Everything here is half-hearted, like nobody even tried. Decent acting, but not much else.
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