Episode 3 was the best of this tedious drama until now. There is a good scene, during the photo shoot in the car.…
The FL is locked on the balcony and can no longer enter the apartment. This is an exciting situation! Plus, the only person she can call is the ML. Perfect. The result of the scene: the ML comes immediately. He finds the FL. There are two or three lines that are much too quiet. Then he opens the balcony. The end. All the comic potential of the situation is gone before it even weighs in.
Just a few ideas:
Already in contrast to the drama, the characters are in a sustained conflict. Otherwise, the following ideas would be too shocking in the current context. The ML can pressure the FL because she needs the apartment. The FL must also have leverage over the ML (I don't know what, to be determined before in the story).
In the drama, at the first phone call, the ML says nothing. Let's do otherwise. He could tell the FL to fuck off, before she even has time to explain her problem. She calls back? he blows her off again and turns off the phone. Then he thinks. Who knows if the FL will do something stupid? Or go to the second floor of his apartment? (especially since there is a scene where she is about to go up there, which could be used in a flashback now). So the ML has a reason to go to the apartment, and it is not to save the FL!
What does the FL do in the meantime? Stupid things of course! By the bucketful! She decides to call for help, the police or the firemen for example. She manages to contact someone, but explains her situation awkwardly. Absurd dialogue. At the moment when she is going to give the address... No luck: her phone breaks down, no battery.
She calls for help by shouting from the balcony. Then she finds a large plant pot on the balcony. Inside, there are small pebbles. She throws the pebbles so that they land on the sidewalk, 20 floors below. But nobody notices. The FL chooses a stone that is bigger than the others! The ML arrives, he is in the street. And of course, he gets the stone on his head! Something serious, he is bleeding (he will need stitches). He looks up, and sees the FL waving at him, 20 floors up. Just imagine the lines. ML - She brought me here to kill me?! And yes, the ML believes that her phone call was only for the purpose of playing this bad prank on him! Fatal misunderstanding!
His assistant wants to take the ML to the hospital. But he is so angry, he hurries to the apartment. There he sees the FL on the balcony. She asks him to open the door. But here, unlike the scene in the drama, it starts with an argument. A few good punchy lines have to be found. Not the bland dialogue of the drama. Finally, cynically, the ML looks at the door opener. Do we think he'll open it? No. Instead, he closes a second latch. Line: now it's closed properly. He tells the FL that she will spend the night outside, locked on the balcony! She gets angry, knocks on the window. He laughs at her: no need to knock, the glass is resistant. Then, he draws the curtains and makes her disappear from his sight. The FL is also mad with rage. She takes the huge pot of plant, and she throws it in the window. CRASH. The window explodes! The curtain rips off!
Finally, the police or fire department could find the source of the call. They enter the apartment. This may cut short an argument between the ML and the FL. A reporter could also take pictures. The two characters are annoyed with each other to an extreme. But since a reporter is there, they have to pretend that everything is fine, make up a totally stupid excuse. All this while smiling, while inside they are angry.
Here, there are enough unforgettable events to make it exciting and very visual.
Episode 3 was the best of this tedious drama until now. There is a good scene, during the photo shoot in the car. Especially the end of the scene! It's cliché, but it worked well. ;-)
I read some criticism here about the characters doing stupid things. (Driving without a license, or using one person to make another jealous). That's the minimum the drama can do to be enjoyable. Alas, the characters are nowhere near stupid enough to make the comedy good.
That's the main problem I have with this story. Everything is flat and agreed upon. Yet, the pitch is excellent, conducive to lots of funny situations. Only, it is not exploited! There is dynamite that is just waiting to be lit, and on the contrary, the scriptwriter systematically defuses all the conflicting situations.
The FL is a shaky character at the moment. Is she a victim who apologizes all the time, or is she an angry girl who wants revenge? I'm up for both roles, as long as they are pushed to the limit. A victimized FL goes through a lot of setbacks, then asserts her resolve later on. But here, the FL starts out as an angry girl. That's the basis of the pitch. Is she a real anti-fan or not? Obviously, she is not. What happened to her rage? This doesn't work anymore. If the FL isn't more aggressive, there's no conflict between the two leads.
The ML is also very soft. He is initially given a Jerk archetype, but he is a cheap jerk. Not the type to cause clashes and abuse that could shock the audience.
The drama is afraid to be outrageous, and turns into a melted custard.
This systematic deactivation also applies to every scene. We hope that something unexpected will happen, that it will go off the rails. But no, everything falls back immediately, as if nothing had happened.
I'll give an example, below, in Spoiler tag. And how it could be made more funny.
Drama does not have a familiar style, it may not appeal to everyone. So you need time to get used to and identify…
No, it's not a problem with this genre. It's just bad. In any acceptable drama, first you connect to the characters from episode 1. Waste more time don't improve this. I'm on episode 5, and it's still the same boring erratic nonsens. The characters are not better liked. It's just that we get used to them. Just like couples without love who got married by mistake and maintain their relationship by force of habit.
A-team is a great serie! Here there this also some elements of Knight rider (solitary fighter but with an assistance),…
Hi! Comment ça va ? ;-) Excellent references, K2000! I had noticed that one of the background music of the drama voluntarily fulfilled a comedy role, suggesting this kind of series from the 80s. For "A-Team", I was not talking about this series itself, but about the concept. Sometimes, it gives conventional and boring stories. Like the kdrama "The player".
This is perhaps the best article that I rarely come across in analysing East Asian cinema ...this is so well researched…
Hello, thank you. The MDL website tries to propose different contents. For example, there were already two opinion articles about this drama, and a third one wouldn't bring anything new. There are some correlations in the article. The John Wick saga has multiple sources of inspiration, including Asian action movies. John Wick 3 contains an action scene that is very inspired by the motorcycle fight in The Villainess. We can say, it's a key movie too, in the domain of action movies. So I found pictures with the same colors. (blue/purple and begin/close effect) I don't know if I will write more articles. Only a lot of unexpected and sufficiently articulate ideas can lead to it, but that's not my primary motivation. However, if you want to read more and if you have the patience, you can click on my profile, which contains a link to my blog and a drama script.
I really don't like episodic storylines and A-Team. Despite that, this drama naturally forced all my misgivings. The screenplay is awesome. And the direction is very good. Almost no filler, and great concentration, usually customary of movie writers.
I’m on episode one and I’ve been watching for 30 minutes but I’m literally forcing myself to watch it. Please…
This drama breaks my record about what I thought was the most boring drama. I was forced to increase my rating of all boring dramas by +0.5 points to be able to place it in the last position.
Not very convincing idol performance and song "I am a pop star"... Only after watching a bit you can tell that…
Nothing is actually convincing. With few hours of sleep, medication for brain disease, soju, and a trickle of drool hanging out, maybe this is the thing to watch?
1 
Also: Choi Jae Joon is a good character, he make me react, he is enough bad for that.
The result of the scene: the ML comes immediately. He finds the FL. There are two or three lines that are much too quiet. Then he opens the balcony. The end.
All the comic potential of the situation is gone before it even weighs in.
Just a few ideas:
Already in contrast to the drama, the characters are in a sustained conflict.
Otherwise, the following ideas would be too shocking in the current context.
The ML can pressure the FL because she needs the apartment. The FL must also have leverage over the ML (I don't know what, to be determined before in the story).
In the drama, at the first phone call, the ML says nothing. Let's do otherwise.
He could tell the FL to fuck off, before she even has time to explain her problem.
She calls back? he blows her off again and turns off the phone.
Then he thinks.
Who knows if the FL will do something stupid? Or go to the second floor of his apartment? (especially since there is a scene where she is about to go up there, which could be used in a flashback now). So the ML has a reason to go to the apartment, and it is not to save the FL!
What does the FL do in the meantime? Stupid things of course! By the bucketful!
She decides to call for help, the police or the firemen for example. She manages to contact someone, but explains her situation awkwardly. Absurd dialogue. At the moment when she is going to give the address... No luck: her phone breaks down, no battery.
She calls for help by shouting from the balcony. Then she finds a large plant pot on the balcony. Inside, there are small pebbles. She throws the pebbles so that they land on the sidewalk, 20 floors below. But nobody notices. The FL chooses a stone that is bigger than the others!
The ML arrives, he is in the street. And of course, he gets the stone on his head! Something serious, he is bleeding (he will need stitches). He looks up, and sees the FL waving at him, 20 floors up. Just imagine the lines.
ML - She brought me here to kill me?!
And yes, the ML believes that her phone call was only for the purpose of playing this bad prank on him! Fatal misunderstanding!
His assistant wants to take the ML to the hospital. But he is so angry, he hurries to the apartment. There he sees the FL on the balcony. She asks him to open the door. But here, unlike the scene in the drama, it starts with an argument. A few good punchy lines have to be found. Not the bland dialogue of the drama. Finally, cynically, the ML looks at the door opener. Do we think he'll open it? No. Instead, he closes a second latch. Line: now it's closed properly. He tells the FL that she will spend the night outside, locked on the balcony! She gets angry, knocks on the window. He laughs at her: no need to knock, the glass is resistant. Then, he draws the curtains and makes her disappear from his sight.
The FL is also mad with rage. She takes the huge pot of plant, and she throws it in the window. CRASH. The window explodes! The curtain rips off!
Finally, the police or fire department could find the source of the call. They enter the apartment. This may cut short an argument between the ML and the FL. A reporter could also take pictures.
The two characters are annoyed with each other to an extreme. But since a reporter is there, they have to pretend that everything is fine, make up a totally stupid excuse. All this while smiling, while inside they are angry.
Here, there are enough unforgettable events to make it exciting and very visual.
There is a good scene, during the photo shoot in the car.
Especially the end of the scene! It's cliché, but it worked well. ;-)
I read some criticism here about the characters doing stupid things.
(Driving without a license, or using one person to make another jealous).
That's the minimum the drama can do to be enjoyable.
Alas, the characters are nowhere near stupid enough to make the comedy good.
That's the main problem I have with this story. Everything is flat and agreed upon.
Yet, the pitch is excellent, conducive to lots of funny situations. Only, it is not exploited!
There is dynamite that is just waiting to be lit, and on the contrary, the scriptwriter systematically defuses all the conflicting situations.
The FL is a shaky character at the moment.
Is she a victim who apologizes all the time, or is she an angry girl who wants revenge?
I'm up for both roles, as long as they are pushed to the limit.
A victimized FL goes through a lot of setbacks, then asserts her resolve later on.
But here, the FL starts out as an angry girl. That's the basis of the pitch. Is she a real anti-fan or not? Obviously, she is not. What happened to her rage? This doesn't work anymore. If the FL isn't more aggressive, there's no conflict between the two leads.
The ML is also very soft. He is initially given a Jerk archetype, but he is a cheap jerk. Not the type to cause clashes and abuse that could shock the audience.
The drama is afraid to be outrageous, and turns into a melted custard.
This systematic deactivation also applies to every scene. We hope that something unexpected will happen, that it will go off the rails. But no, everything falls back immediately, as if nothing had happened.
I'll give an example, below, in Spoiler tag.
And how it could be made more funny.
In any acceptable drama, first you connect to the characters from episode 1.
Waste more time don't improve this.
I'm on episode 5, and it's still the same boring erratic nonsens. The characters are not better liked. It's just that we get used to them. Just like couples without love who got married by mistake and maintain their relationship by force of habit.
Excellent references, K2000! I had noticed that one of the background music of the drama voluntarily fulfilled a comedy role, suggesting this kind of series from the 80s.
For "A-Team", I was not talking about this series itself, but about the concept. Sometimes, it gives conventional and boring stories. Like the kdrama "The player".
For fun and information, if some people don't know the reference, here the opening credits of Knight Rider / K2000 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNyXYPhnUIs
There are some correlations in the article. The John Wick saga has multiple sources of inspiration, including Asian action movies. John Wick 3 contains an action scene that is very inspired by the motorcycle fight in The Villainess. We can say, it's a key movie too, in the domain of action movies. So I found pictures with the same colors. (blue/purple and begin/close effect)
I don't know if I will write more articles. Only a lot of unexpected and sufficiently articulate ideas can lead to it, but that's not my primary motivation. However, if you want to read more and if you have the patience, you can click on my profile, which contains a link to my blog and a drama script.
Despite that, this drama naturally forced all my misgivings.
The screenplay is awesome. And the direction is very good.
Almost no filler, and great concentration, usually customary of movie writers.
You were drowned in the mass. :-)
Neither does the guy by the way. Two birds with one stone.