This review may contain spoilers
If you`re the right audience - You`ll love this
I honestly don`t know why I like this drama so much, I couldn`t give you a definite answer. It is chock-full of tropes, easily solvable misunderstandings, cringy situations...AND YET. I like it a lot. Did I cringe at times, hoping that a scene will end fast?Sure. Did I huff at the "lover from the past appearing again to mess everything up" trope?YUP. As I`ve rated, the story is the weakest link here. It`s nonsensical at times, characters` motivations don`t line up with what they`re supposed to be and it is amateurish at times. Cuts can be abrupt, some scenes are left out, so we don't get the context of what happened, since it was left behind the scene. Be it my damn fascination with older women, younger men trope or something else, this is a good drama. And out of the three that I have watched starring Park Seo-joon(This one, "What`s Wrong with Secretary Kim?" and "Fight My Way")this one is my favorite. He`s great as the dependable, charitable and sweet Yoon Dong Ha and has the best chemistry with Uhm Jung-Hwa, who`s great in this role, when she`s consistent. I do see some cracks in her acting which at times, made it hard for me to buy it as convincing, but these moments were scarce and far apart. The acting of others was serviceable. I was also surprised by the number of certified musical classics used, especially in fishcake bar scenes, which doesn`t happen often, I think.
My one main flaw with this drama is the writing, but not even for how cliché it is, but for how the scenes were written. Sometimes, they don`t flow subsequently, as they should. In fact, Ji-Yeon`s ex boyfriend is the biggest victim of this mistake and his character suffers in a way that could`ve been avoided and I even thought of how. Instead of having a tearjerking reason for why he couldn`t make it to the wedding, it would be more interesting and thematically satisfying to either:have him make up that story and be discovered, or not even make it up and have Ji-Yeon create a revenge plan in which she would leave him at the altar this time and even ruin his reputation with her article. And the second option is that thematically satisfying one. Why?Well, in the second episode of the drama, Yi-Jeon says, multiple times:"You shouldn`t have your blood pressure go up because of idiots?But if you get the chance, you should get a revenge on them."And also, both her and her ex-boyfriend always talked about him taking pictures and her writing the articles, so having her ruin him with her article would be a nice ending and a closing chapter for her. It`s still cliché but it works in the context of her character. In the meantime, she falls in love with Dong Ha, who would also feel betrayed after giving the man an okay. I wish the writers sat on it more, instead of opting for such a farfetched explanation.
Now, like I`ve mentioned before, the chemistry between the leads in this drama is great.It is the best for Seo-yoon especially. It is not as overacted as in "Fight My Way" and nor is it as stereotypical as in "What`s Wrong with Secretary Kim?". There`s a certain overlap between the actors that seems subtle and weirdly appropriate, despite their age difference. And though not spectacular, I do have to give points to the writers on one thing they did for Ji-Yeon:making her a fun, ambitious and confident older woman. In almost all dramas that use this trope, the woman is either shy, self-conscious or elegant and mature, but never openly sexy. And they chose the right actress for that, I`m so glad to see a curvaceous female lead(by Asian standards- don`t get it twisted, everyone is beautiful, but it`s just nice to see) who`s lively and though they screw with her character at times, I never felt that she became weak or defenseless, just in a shitty situation. That is not to say that the whole ex-boyfriend thing doesn`t bother me and the way she reacted is so wrong for what she stands for, but I still like her because of the charisma the actress brings. It is also nice how Dong Ha has a reason for being so giving, not only has he lost his first love at such a young age, but is also connected to an orphanage, which is why he knew how to mellow down Ji-Yeon. Episodes with these two(especially episode 15)are great, and they really have a positive effect on me, I totally see them as a couple. So, even though this drama had all the ingredients to make me drop it immediately, it actually managed to entice me enough to give it this score.
It must be witchcraft.
My one main flaw with this drama is the writing, but not even for how cliché it is, but for how the scenes were written. Sometimes, they don`t flow subsequently, as they should. In fact, Ji-Yeon`s ex boyfriend is the biggest victim of this mistake and his character suffers in a way that could`ve been avoided and I even thought of how. Instead of having a tearjerking reason for why he couldn`t make it to the wedding, it would be more interesting and thematically satisfying to either:have him make up that story and be discovered, or not even make it up and have Ji-Yeon create a revenge plan in which she would leave him at the altar this time and even ruin his reputation with her article. And the second option is that thematically satisfying one. Why?Well, in the second episode of the drama, Yi-Jeon says, multiple times:"You shouldn`t have your blood pressure go up because of idiots?But if you get the chance, you should get a revenge on them."And also, both her and her ex-boyfriend always talked about him taking pictures and her writing the articles, so having her ruin him with her article would be a nice ending and a closing chapter for her. It`s still cliché but it works in the context of her character. In the meantime, she falls in love with Dong Ha, who would also feel betrayed after giving the man an okay. I wish the writers sat on it more, instead of opting for such a farfetched explanation.
Now, like I`ve mentioned before, the chemistry between the leads in this drama is great.It is the best for Seo-yoon especially. It is not as overacted as in "Fight My Way" and nor is it as stereotypical as in "What`s Wrong with Secretary Kim?". There`s a certain overlap between the actors that seems subtle and weirdly appropriate, despite their age difference. And though not spectacular, I do have to give points to the writers on one thing they did for Ji-Yeon:making her a fun, ambitious and confident older woman. In almost all dramas that use this trope, the woman is either shy, self-conscious or elegant and mature, but never openly sexy. And they chose the right actress for that, I`m so glad to see a curvaceous female lead(by Asian standards- don`t get it twisted, everyone is beautiful, but it`s just nice to see) who`s lively and though they screw with her character at times, I never felt that she became weak or defenseless, just in a shitty situation. That is not to say that the whole ex-boyfriend thing doesn`t bother me and the way she reacted is so wrong for what she stands for, but I still like her because of the charisma the actress brings. It is also nice how Dong Ha has a reason for being so giving, not only has he lost his first love at such a young age, but is also connected to an orphanage, which is why he knew how to mellow down Ji-Yeon. Episodes with these two(especially episode 15)are great, and they really have a positive effect on me, I totally see them as a couple. So, even though this drama had all the ingredients to make me drop it immediately, it actually managed to entice me enough to give it this score.
It must be witchcraft.
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