DaeJangGeumOfficial
This review may contain spoilers
Realistic relationships? Just an overly sugarcoated toxic scandal.
The story was supposed to be about the romantic relationships of four people in the same workplace. I expected so much when I saw the gist, and the character backgrounds.
An average bank clerk who is quickly going up the ranks because of his good performance.
A charismatic young assistant manager who is all about her independence and self-reliance.
A young security officer of the lowest rung trying to achieve his dream of joining the police force.
A high school graduate trying to fight her way up in a discriminatory workplace, to become more than a replaceable labourer.
How did these 4 people's lives turn out to become a romance sob story in the hands of writers and directors?
From the overused OST, locations, art pieces, to the strikingly similar portrayal of the 4 main characters, was extremely off putting. I don't think I have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of scenes with Ahn Su Yeong walking or sitting with that blank lost look with the same OST in the background. I almost lost it when I saw people describe this drama to have portrayed relationships realistically, because I just want to know what kind of rose tinted worlds do you guys live in?
No relationships are like this. This was supposed to be a melodrama, emotions are supposed to run high, conflicts highlighted, with raw feelings and actions dramatised. There was nothing like that in here. Even during a critical scene like the one where Sang Su finds out Ahn Su Yeong slept with his best friend, the same sad romantic music played, and he right afterwards, Sang Su just kept up his lover boy act. Like I get he is supposed to be hopelessly in love, but is it even possible for someone to act that way?
Sang Su likes someone else but is dating his junior from college, and it wasn't like Mi Gyeong and him had no chemistry at all. But he is just shown as hopelessly in love with Su Yeong to the point that he was just wavering everyday. His struggles with Mi Gyeong and the reality of a possible miserable married with her could have been highlighted, and we could have gotten more backstory on him, but nothing connected. His mother was just a character that was there to emphasise his feelings towards Su Yeong.
Su Yeong just ended up buckling to the pressure and discrimination of society and love failure. And like every other character with a failed love life, ends up opening a cafe. The writer gave so much about her background and family, but never explored into her character itself, and the personality was all soft and wrong. She always had this I am depressed about life look, while I imagined someone like her to have a stronger personality. It is no easy feat to become a senior bank clerk without going to college, but everything is focused on the romance. And do you know how expensive it is to run a cafe in a city like Seoul?
Jeong hyun that boyfriend, also could have had a great story coming to terms with finances and the reality of the world and trying to get to his dreams through all that. But it gave me a really bad feeling that his success came from following the instructions of a girl he liked, and had no mind of his own, other than to feel ashamed by his circumstances. In reality, he would have never made it that far with that attitude of his.
Mi Gyeong's relationship with her father could have been the highlight of her storyline, but what was that really sorry conclusion? She just accepted it like that? I had expected her to have a strong personality different from Su Yeong but strong. Someone that understood the privileges she had given how much she preached about independence. In fact, I agreed with that friend of hers who called her out at that wedding banquet. Thought herself as better than others.
Overall, it was consistently slow and boring with such a disappointing storyline. I get this is a romance Melo, but life is not just all romance, rain and tears...honestly disappointing. The only character I liked was that office worker who got pregnant with her third child at the end. There was something so down to earth and straightforward about her character I couldn't help but appreciate.
An average bank clerk who is quickly going up the ranks because of his good performance.
A charismatic young assistant manager who is all about her independence and self-reliance.
A young security officer of the lowest rung trying to achieve his dream of joining the police force.
A high school graduate trying to fight her way up in a discriminatory workplace, to become more than a replaceable labourer.
How did these 4 people's lives turn out to become a romance sob story in the hands of writers and directors?
From the overused OST, locations, art pieces, to the strikingly similar portrayal of the 4 main characters, was extremely off putting. I don't think I have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of scenes with Ahn Su Yeong walking or sitting with that blank lost look with the same OST in the background. I almost lost it when I saw people describe this drama to have portrayed relationships realistically, because I just want to know what kind of rose tinted worlds do you guys live in?
No relationships are like this. This was supposed to be a melodrama, emotions are supposed to run high, conflicts highlighted, with raw feelings and actions dramatised. There was nothing like that in here. Even during a critical scene like the one where Sang Su finds out Ahn Su Yeong slept with his best friend, the same sad romantic music played, and he right afterwards, Sang Su just kept up his lover boy act. Like I get he is supposed to be hopelessly in love, but is it even possible for someone to act that way?
Sang Su likes someone else but is dating his junior from college, and it wasn't like Mi Gyeong and him had no chemistry at all. But he is just shown as hopelessly in love with Su Yeong to the point that he was just wavering everyday. His struggles with Mi Gyeong and the reality of a possible miserable married with her could have been highlighted, and we could have gotten more backstory on him, but nothing connected. His mother was just a character that was there to emphasise his feelings towards Su Yeong.
Su Yeong just ended up buckling to the pressure and discrimination of society and love failure. And like every other character with a failed love life, ends up opening a cafe. The writer gave so much about her background and family, but never explored into her character itself, and the personality was all soft and wrong. She always had this I am depressed about life look, while I imagined someone like her to have a stronger personality. It is no easy feat to become a senior bank clerk without going to college, but everything is focused on the romance. And do you know how expensive it is to run a cafe in a city like Seoul?
Jeong hyun that boyfriend, also could have had a great story coming to terms with finances and the reality of the world and trying to get to his dreams through all that. But it gave me a really bad feeling that his success came from following the instructions of a girl he liked, and had no mind of his own, other than to feel ashamed by his circumstances. In reality, he would have never made it that far with that attitude of his.
Mi Gyeong's relationship with her father could have been the highlight of her storyline, but what was that really sorry conclusion? She just accepted it like that? I had expected her to have a strong personality different from Su Yeong but strong. Someone that understood the privileges she had given how much she preached about independence. In fact, I agreed with that friend of hers who called her out at that wedding banquet. Thought herself as better than others.
Overall, it was consistently slow and boring with such a disappointing storyline. I get this is a romance Melo, but life is not just all romance, rain and tears...honestly disappointing. The only character I liked was that office worker who got pregnant with her third child at the end. There was something so down to earth and straightforward about her character I couldn't help but appreciate.
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