1
1
desperately missing a compelling reason to care
Why are we getting generic dramas all year round? I was done with "my bias, my boss" and we have yet another “rom-com” that makes watching another episode feel like a chore. Is it so hard to make a rom-com where you don’t have to shut off all your senses and revert back to your 12-year-old self to enjoy it?
There’s nothing of importance going on.
Nothing that made me curious. Nothing that I wanted to see unfold.
There's no excitement to watch the leads interact.
There are two things a series can do to be worthwhile - make the plot interesting or make the characters interesting enough to compensate for the underdeveloped plot. "Extraordinary you" perfected the former. "My royal nemesis" perfected the latter. Here, it's somewhere in the middle, failing to succeed at either.
One of the biggest problems here is that there is no central conflict in the story that’s worth caring about. There is no such intrigue that a villain usually brings to the story. But that’s not the biggest thing to worry about, because the leads are nothing extraordinary themselves, as I shall talk about them below.
Here every plotline moves simultaneously, so there is no starting point to follow. It’s not convoluted, thankfully, but it’s not easy on the eye either. Consequently, it makes the pacing and direction another poorly done aspect in the story, even if it's not a big deal in the big picture.
But it’s not ALL bad.
The amnesia plot is well done. The realism is present, even though it’s notorious as an eyesore of a trope.
Now, coming onto the characters in this story. They are... flat, to put it as sweetly as I can.
The ml is supposed to be a contrasting character, intimidating and powerful while being vulnerable and sweet in front of the fl. But to my offence, all he comes across as is a reserved lover boy who happens to be a gangster or whatever he is supposed to be. I can't feel any spark when he is on screen.
And this is where the gangster ml becomes difficult to pull off. If you're going to make your romantic lead a gangster, I think you need to commit to the concept somehow. You either need genuinely compelling writing and characterization, like “Vincenzo”, or you lean completely into satire and make the absurdity itself part of the appeal. What doesn't really work for me is sitting in the middle, where “gangster” feels like an aesthetic.
The FL is better written, imo, so I don't have nearly as many complaints about her. But unfortunately, that isn’t enough to make the dynamic between two people interesting. It takes two to tango or whatever they say.
A nothing-burger drama like this won’t have strong opinions from the public. And that’s where a writer can screw themselves over.
A bad drama can at least give you something to complain about. A great drama can give you something to obsess over.
But a dud drama like this? It doesn't even inspire strong feelings within me, and ironically, that itself is inspiring a really strong feeling: ANNOYANCE.
To make matters ten times worse, there is no chemistry between the leads. Because the writer honestly didn’t even allow for that to happen.
I don’t think ill ever like a writer choosing the easy way out when it comes to forming a real connection between the leads. Relying on hundreds of plot devices all at once to speed up the romance will only result in a romance like this: shallow. When are writers getting over the ml who loves the fl for absolutely no reason other than that she’s the fl?
You can use all kinds of tropes in a romance. I'm not against clichés at all. In fact, I love romantic comedies. I've loved “Extraordinary You”, “My Royal Nemesis”, ”Kill Me, Heal Me”, “Lovely Runner”, and “Mr. Queen” to name a few. All of these shows have their flaws, and all of them rely on familiar tropes. But they compensate for those flaws with something else. Chemistry. And if not that, then they have remarkable characters, they have an interesting premise, they have an addictive plot to back it up. Here, I don’t have anything to latch onto, let alone the chemistry.
And the funny thing is I can tell the writer tried to avoid cliches. The drama seems aware of the trope it’s playing with. It relies on satirical comedy (as we saw in ep 1, the amnesia trope) and twisting the cliches. But being self-aware doesn’t mean the romance will somehow work.
Because you can't make me understand why the leads need each other. infact, they are better off by themselves.
And after two consecutive failed rom-coms from Jung hae in, I think he should prolly stick to action thrillers. Atleast there he has done some justice as an actor.
Now some might say, it’s not that deep.
Well maybe it isn’t, but I don't think asking a drama to be good at what it's trying to sell is asking for too much.
If you're selling me a relaxing, cute romantic comedy, then I want a relaxing, cute romantic comedy. Not a lullaby.
Be something atleast.
Maybe this drama gave exactly what some viewers needed. Maybe they wanted something easy to watch, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But after watching countless dramas and movies, I've reached a point where “it's cute, just don't think about it” isn't enough for me anymore.
I don't want to shut my brain off for a drama with no substance. And I don't want to shut my heart off for a romance with no chemistry.
Give me one or the other. Ideally, give me both.
But the god-awful average is hurting my eyes.
There’s nothing of importance going on.
Nothing that made me curious. Nothing that I wanted to see unfold.
There's no excitement to watch the leads interact.
There are two things a series can do to be worthwhile - make the plot interesting or make the characters interesting enough to compensate for the underdeveloped plot. "Extraordinary you" perfected the former. "My royal nemesis" perfected the latter. Here, it's somewhere in the middle, failing to succeed at either.
One of the biggest problems here is that there is no central conflict in the story that’s worth caring about. There is no such intrigue that a villain usually brings to the story. But that’s not the biggest thing to worry about, because the leads are nothing extraordinary themselves, as I shall talk about them below.
Here every plotline moves simultaneously, so there is no starting point to follow. It’s not convoluted, thankfully, but it’s not easy on the eye either. Consequently, it makes the pacing and direction another poorly done aspect in the story, even if it's not a big deal in the big picture.
But it’s not ALL bad.
The amnesia plot is well done. The realism is present, even though it’s notorious as an eyesore of a trope.
Now, coming onto the characters in this story. They are... flat, to put it as sweetly as I can.
The ml is supposed to be a contrasting character, intimidating and powerful while being vulnerable and sweet in front of the fl. But to my offence, all he comes across as is a reserved lover boy who happens to be a gangster or whatever he is supposed to be. I can't feel any spark when he is on screen.
And this is where the gangster ml becomes difficult to pull off. If you're going to make your romantic lead a gangster, I think you need to commit to the concept somehow. You either need genuinely compelling writing and characterization, like “Vincenzo”, or you lean completely into satire and make the absurdity itself part of the appeal. What doesn't really work for me is sitting in the middle, where “gangster” feels like an aesthetic.
The FL is better written, imo, so I don't have nearly as many complaints about her. But unfortunately, that isn’t enough to make the dynamic between two people interesting. It takes two to tango or whatever they say.
A nothing-burger drama like this won’t have strong opinions from the public. And that’s where a writer can screw themselves over.
A bad drama can at least give you something to complain about. A great drama can give you something to obsess over.
But a dud drama like this? It doesn't even inspire strong feelings within me, and ironically, that itself is inspiring a really strong feeling: ANNOYANCE.
To make matters ten times worse, there is no chemistry between the leads. Because the writer honestly didn’t even allow for that to happen.
I don’t think ill ever like a writer choosing the easy way out when it comes to forming a real connection between the leads. Relying on hundreds of plot devices all at once to speed up the romance will only result in a romance like this: shallow. When are writers getting over the ml who loves the fl for absolutely no reason other than that she’s the fl?
You can use all kinds of tropes in a romance. I'm not against clichés at all. In fact, I love romantic comedies. I've loved “Extraordinary You”, “My Royal Nemesis”, ”Kill Me, Heal Me”, “Lovely Runner”, and “Mr. Queen” to name a few. All of these shows have their flaws, and all of them rely on familiar tropes. But they compensate for those flaws with something else. Chemistry. And if not that, then they have remarkable characters, they have an interesting premise, they have an addictive plot to back it up. Here, I don’t have anything to latch onto, let alone the chemistry.
And the funny thing is I can tell the writer tried to avoid cliches. The drama seems aware of the trope it’s playing with. It relies on satirical comedy (as we saw in ep 1, the amnesia trope) and twisting the cliches. But being self-aware doesn’t mean the romance will somehow work.
Because you can't make me understand why the leads need each other. infact, they are better off by themselves.
And after two consecutive failed rom-coms from Jung hae in, I think he should prolly stick to action thrillers. Atleast there he has done some justice as an actor.
Now some might say, it’s not that deep.
Well maybe it isn’t, but I don't think asking a drama to be good at what it's trying to sell is asking for too much.
If you're selling me a relaxing, cute romantic comedy, then I want a relaxing, cute romantic comedy. Not a lullaby.
Be something atleast.
Maybe this drama gave exactly what some viewers needed. Maybe they wanted something easy to watch, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But after watching countless dramas and movies, I've reached a point where “it's cute, just don't think about it” isn't enough for me anymore.
I don't want to shut my brain off for a drama with no substance. And I don't want to shut my heart off for a romance with no chemistry.
Give me one or the other. Ideally, give me both.
But the god-awful average is hurting my eyes.
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