Isabitcliche

A good storyline ruined

This drama is one of those dramas which show one of the most intriguing synopsis and when you start watching the same with that high expectations you are bound to feel disappointed. And this drama is no different.
Having seen the negative reviews beforehand, I went to watch the drama with little to no expectations and thanks to which I found it a nice watch .
Starting off with the oh so average acting , you can feel at few scenes the actors including main leads either exaggerated the the required emotion or didn't show any . Which is why I think the casting of main leads was not satisfactory. I mean at some point the supporting actors were more compelling than the leads (no offence).Hence, the acting was one of those reasons which ruined the drama with so much potential .
Even if I have watched or prefer watching high production shows, but here personally I had no complaints about the productions or the cinematography. Nonetheless the storyline really sucked . The show started showing potential from the start itself by the gripping side plots and I was waiting for the neat execution related to the same . In spite of that you end up with loads of plot holes all thanks to the poor writing .
All in all what I've got to say is you can definitely watch the drama as I did with no expectations and I'm sure you'll like it because no matter what the drama was a good watch and I didn't feel it like a waste of time ( or the efforts my eyes put to stay up throughout). Well then I'll take my leave and hope you guys like watching it and have a wonderful day ahead.
XOXO

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Same title, different show

Having loved the season 1, season 2 was a huge let down(atleast for me).
Starting off with the irrelevant side characters & their storylines, of which I personally was bored of ,adding fuel to the fire was the given screentime to them which really pissed me off. Even with Hyun soo, idk why they made him disappear for the entire 3 episodes for goodness sake. I started to wonder who exactly was the main character ( Hyun soo or that Yi kyeong's child ). Bluntly speaking the show lacked the main storyline to focus on, it was just bunch of random side plots which will start to make sense in season 3( that's what they say).

For me , I only liked the scenes of original characters from S1 and chan young ngl and spare me with that soldiers bs we could've done it with few less of 'em.

Well that was that from me , and hope the review resonated with yours and if not that's even better.
Till then bbye..

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A WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE!

At first I thought of this drama as any other highly hyped drama but even then I had high hopes for the show after watching the thrilling synopsis and trailer which is quite hard to find at atleast something which is to my liking.. bu oh lord ! this drama actually disregarded every little doubts that I had, leaving me astonished at such a masterpiece..I would prefer calling it an experience more than a drama given that I enjoyed every moment of it.
Well ngl I was quite contemplated towards the casting of the main characters, not doubting their acting skills but more like them fitting their respective roles perfectly or not and to my pleasant surprise they totally served it!! that I can't even imagine anyone else playing their roles... And ofc I don't need to mention the side characters and the guest roles, as we all know what they are capable of after being such renowned actors and actresses and we totally acknowledge it..
overall everything about the show was fav.. but what needs special mentioning is the exceptional story and the enlightening message ( though I found ridiculing the choices made by Yi jae were rather passive aggressive and demeaning which can demoralize the person suffering from the same )(to which we all know the increasing suicide rates in not only Korea but in the world as a whole).
This drama removes the dark tinted glasses of hopelessness from people who view the world and the god as someone biased towards some privileged people and ultimately gives up on living through the inevitable hardships of life..but this drama makes them see the world through a different perspective where there are both 'sunny and rainy days', where no one is endlessly happy or sad where giving up on life out of extreme stress and hopelessness is not an answer . This show shows us that life is beautiful as it is with its flaws and scars, we just need to learn to accept it.

This show for me was like an affirmation to my beliefs towards life and god and I absolutely loved it!!
Hope you guess will find something positive within, too till then bye-bye
XOXO

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Putting everything to their rightful place

I had this drama in my watchlist for God knows how long, but I somehow managed to force myself to watch it and thank goodness I did.

First off, let's talk about the thing that caught my eye from the very beginning and i.e the CINEMATOGRAPHY. And oh god! I can't tell you guys how blessed my eyes were after watching this angelic mixture of insane camera shots and that ethereal lighting placement. And to continue it throughout the entire show must not have been an easy feat.
Well the second thing on my list would be the story. And let's be honest the story wasn't something record breaking or exceptional. I have watched many dramas with more complex and dramatic plots but what rather makes this drama really phenomenal is its execution. But hey ! Don't get me wrong I'm not saying the story isn't interesting but rather that the show follows a single stem of main plot and gives us with a constant branched flowers of entertainment which I personally couldn't get over with.

But if this still isn't enough for you to spare some time for this show then trust me the acting of this army of good-looking cast (yeah you heard me right hehe) has it all of what you'll ever need. But what really had me in awe was the acting of Kim Hye soo and oh lord !! where were her other other dramas ,where was she till now . She really has my respect for her acting .Every little scenes of her were admirable but fav ones were those crying scenes yes those crying scenes(heh funny).

Tbh , there is still a lot more to write but I really am a busy person (I'm not) so I'll stop . Well then, I'll take my leave and hope you guys have a wonderful day ahead ..
XOXO

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everyone needs therapy

Dare I say I don't like Mun Oh at all?

I knew Mun-oh was a jackass the moment he scribbled "trash" on someone's writing. That single scene told me almost everything I needed to know about him.
As a teacher, you have no right, neither ethically nor morally, to crush a student's confidence like that. If you want to criticise someone's writing, do it properly. Explain what's wrong, point out what can be improved, and help them grow. There's absolutely no need for crude, dismissive remarks that serve no purpose other than humiliating the person in front of you.
Bad writing is still writing. Every writer starts somewhere, and your role as a teacher is to guide them, not belittle them just because you think you're above them. That scene immediately soured me on Mun oh, and everything that followed only reinforced my first impression.

I didn't like either of these characters from the very beginning, and I'm glad I didn't. Otherwise, I would've been pulling my hair out from all the second-hand embarrassment later on.
Even then, I like Lee Kang way more than him. That's saying something because Lee Kang is also a terrible human being. The bar is already in hell, so he isn't exactly reaching far above the threshold of being decent. He's a creep. Spying, eavesdropping, leeching off people, exploiting them, manipulating them, voyeuristically peeping into their lives, stalking, and constantly invading everyone's privacy. That definitely doesn't help his case.

But Mun oh? Somehow, he's even more unlikable.
He's hypocritical, hot-tempered, emotionally stunted, insecure, manipulative, exploitative, deranged, selfish, dismissive, and constantly imposes himself on others. I'm just sitting here watching one guy who's years away from death act less mature than someone who's barely beginning adulthood.

The acting was great. Nothing extraordinary, but it was consistently convincing, and I was more than satisfied with the performances.

I also couldn't pay much attention to the technical aspects of the show because the plot completely carried my attention. It was intense, immersive, and constantly kept me engaged, which is exactly what I want from a thriller. That alone makes it a great watch.

One thing the show absolutely got right was its length. Six episodes were the perfect choice. Any longer and I think the tension would've started to wear off. The pacing remained consistently strong throughout, and I was impressed that it never felt like it was dragging or rushing.

My biggest issue with the writing is Lee Kang's characterisation. I still don't know what kind of person he is outside of this entire situation.
With Mun Oh, I at least have some idea of who he is as a person, even though his character wasn't explored much beyond the central conflict. Lee Kang, on the other hand, remains a mystery until the very end. I understand that the writers wanted to focus on a single plotline. Still, because so much of the story was built on deception and fabricated narratives, I never got a genuine sense of who Lee Kang actually was.
I know his motives. He's deceptive, resentful, obsessive, manipulative, and eventually deranged. But who is he when those motives are stripped away? What kind of person is he in ordinary life?

The only meaningful interaction we get that isn't directly tied to Mun Oh is his brief conversation with the director. Beyond that, his entire existence revolves around orchestrating Mun Oh's downfall. He remains so mysterious throughout the series that, by the end, I found it more frustrating than intriguing.
Because of that, I also hesitate to label either of them as morally grey. One extraordinary situation isn't enough for me to judge someone's entire character. People are capable of doing incredibly irrational and horrifying things under certain circumstances without necessarily being monsters in every aspect of their lives. Human beings are far more complicated than a single incident can capture, so I don't feel comfortable making a definitive judgment about either of them.

One thing I absolutely loved was Mun Oh's wife. She's soft spoken, elegant, intelligent, and emotionally perceptive. Imagine being trapped in a marriage with someone like Mun Oh. I'd be livid. It helps that she's a therapist and figures things out fairly quickly. I would've hated it if she had remained completely in the dark the entire time.
Which brings me to Mun Oh himself.
Why is this man so unnecessarily aggressive toward his wife? She remains calm, polite, and composed even when she's hurt and furious, yet he's the one throwing tantrums like a toddler. For someone who's supposedly emotionally sensitive, he's incredibly emotionally unavailable.

The woman is literally in pain, and instead of asking what's wrong or suggesting they see a doctor, he wants her to stay home. Why? So he can continue obsessing over someone else's wife? If that isn't emotional cheating, I don't know what is.

The only peeping I support in this show is his wife secretly observing all of his ridiculous shenanigans.

Another thing that drove me insane: how does nobody suspect the random guy who's been sneaking around the house and peeping through every corner for weeks? OH, wait, that was fabricated lol.

And why would you even let a stranger stay in your house like that in the first place? I understand they were close, but treating him like family and letting him practically live there felt incredibly unrealistic.

Why didn’t Mun Oh question even once about these stories when everything seemed so idealistic and cinematic? Why didn't he question that even after Se Hyun’s dad committed some crime, he never sent Lee Kang away, after all the serious crimes he committed? The man had so much to lose and still kept him around. Do I admire the audacity or laugh at the sheer stupidity?
The thing that frustrates me most about Mun Oh is how completely oblivious he is to his own hypocrisy.

He exploits Lee Kang, barely seems to care about him as a person, and only becomes invested when their conversations or his own work are affected. What did I expect from a man who can't even be bothered to care about his own wife's health?
The show clearly wanted him to be morally grey, but he just comes across as deeply unlikeable.

Honestly, I enjoyed watching him get deceived. He deserved it. Watching him make a fool of himself was incredibly satisfying.
And the ending? I loved it.

Lee Kang did the dirty work. He wrote practically everything, while Mun Oh fabricated a few things toward the end and suddenly acted like the novel was his. That's not how authorship works.

Sure, Lee Kang manipulated the story to suit himself and ultimately betrayed Mun Oh. But their relationship never had trust to begin with. They were exploiting each other from the very start.
Even on the forum, Lee Kang wasn't completely lying. He took liberties with the truth, just like Mun Oh had done with Se Hyun’s dad. Karma really is a bitch.

If I had to define hypocrisy using a fictional character, I'd point to Mun Oh.

Lee Kang was the mastermind all along. Both of them used each other. The only difference is that Lee Kang took things far beyond what anyone could justify.

Watching Mun Oh also reminded me that maturity doesn't automatically come with age. How can someone be so revoltingly clueless about their own actions while constantly acting betrayed whenever the consequences catch up to them?
His resentment is so one-sided that it genuinely feels like he believes the entire world wronged him while he's the only victim.
Even though what Lee Kang did in the end was undeniably more deranged, I still couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for Mun-oh at all.

The final episode especially delivered. Everything unravelled in a way that genuinely felt worthy of a finale. The storytelling served what it promised, and I couldn’t have been more satisfied.
In the end, both seemed to enjoy the thrill of it, so it's a "happy ending" ig?

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Shallow romance 101

I really didn't want to do this but I expected no less from a romance drama with Song Kang as the lead (cause I didn't like any of them so far). This drama really met my expectations
...
...
as another bad romance drama of 2023.

And honestly , I've grown quite accustomed to it knowing that it's either me who don't like kdrama romance anymore or them who aren't able to fill the gaps of romance in their 'single' fan's hearts.

Well I kinda knew the type of romance they were going to show after watching the lack of chemistry between the leads being shoved to my face just from the trailer.
Uhm but.. I've got to give it to the visuals by the way, cause everything was just so beautiful . I mean the leads alone were breathtakingly beautiful and that's it ...or maybe I liked the comedy too but that's it..that's it nothing more.

Rest all of it looked really bleak to me. I could not feel the connection with leads, it was not gripping at all as I tried to skip through episodes. Forget the romance part but the entire plot alone was messed up by emotion lacking tropes and cliches.

All in all I think the show was really shallow to me and idk how the heck people are actually liking it, well good for them, anyway I'm not going to wait for the rest of the episodes as they are really predictable and I can't bear to see my eyes suffer. Well then I'll take my leave and hope you have a wonderful day ahead~
XOXO

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Yet another "psychological thriller"

I'm afraid I expected too much for better or for worse. The synopsis was interesting enough to reel me in, and so I went in with higher expectations than I probably should have.

I wasn’t utterly disappointed, to my relief, though, I must say the movie was nothing groundbreaking.

I have a personal beef with someone who labels a show psychological when it doesn’t have the content to back it up. That’s exactly what I felt while watching this. It’s not a psychological drama; it’s just a drama. But a decent one.

When it comes to the acting, it was fine overall, but inconsistent at times. I can’t say I hated the FL’s performance, but I definitely wasn’t impressed. I could, unfortunately, tell when she was acting. In the scene where the ml reveals the mystery behind her daughter’s change in behaviour, she didn’t seem fully in her zone. The reaction felt underwhelming, to be euphemistic. To be blunt, the scene felt poorly acted. Another instance is in the final scene, where she has a long back and forth with the detective; it felt unnatural and a little awkward to watch. As for the ml, his performance was consistent throughout. His role wasn’t particularly demanding, but he handled microexpressions well and did a solid job overall.

As for the story, the concept is intriguing, but this is my issue with screenplays with intriguing storylines: they often fail to execute it. A serial killer wanting a one on one interview with a journalist? What a compelling start! But did the movie sustain the intrigue throughout? Arguably, no. It ends up following the same thriller tropes of a benevolent psychopath. I'm afraid writers aren’t audacious enough to fully commit to portraying a true psychopath as a protagonist. Then again, you can argue that this isn’t that kind of story. Fair enough. Not everything needs to reinvent the wheel.

I have criticised the movie enough that my review is starting to feel biased. Can’t have that, can we? On the bright side, the cinematography was one of the film’s strongest aspects. There was enough interesting camera work to keep me engaged, and the use of multiple TVs to create tension was handled smoothly. It did a lot of the heavy lifting in otherwise dull scenes.
The consistent pacing was another good aspect of the movie, but that’s also its downside. For a psychological thriller that you claim to be, I didn’t feel that rush of adrenaline in the climax. Or can it be called a climax? The experience ended up feeling somewhat anticlimactic.

By the end, though, I didn’t feel like I had wasted my time. It’s a solid project, and I would still recommend watching it, especially if you don’t have any other psychological thrillers lined up. Just lower your expectations a bit, and you should be good to go.

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