bobby lee
Mars
This review may contain spoilers
CIRCLING THE PLOT HOLES
Circle has a very interesting plot and premise. I love sci-fi shows, but many a times there are always plot holes (no pun intended) and inconsistencies in these types of media and this series is not exempt from it.
One glaring flaw, I think, was how Jung yeon or Byul's origin of species was never expanded or explored on further. Her existence is supposedly a crucial part of the story, and while I understand people were busy trying to save their own loved ones from a heinous neurological experiment, or stopping a corporate entity from taking control of other people's memories noone bothered to ask questions or try to jog her memory about life as a humanoid alien. They just accused her of it, and that was that. Because noone tried to pry into Jung Yeon further I assumed that it would be revealed that she was a clone like Woo Jin in 2037, and that they would operate on the time loop theory which would have made further sense with their title, Circle.
Perhaps they were looking forward to the renewal of a season 2, but knowing how they are aware of their situation and how novel the genre theyre working on is they should have modified the story as such. Following this line of thought, I do agree with a user on here that said they tried to tackle too many genres and too many line of events in 12 episodes.
After finishing the last episode today, I vaguely remember the murder that happened in Smart Earth and Bum Gyun's enemy turned side kick. They all seemed to be so widely dispersed, different adventures within the timeline leading up to the discovery of Woo jin or Circulate 3. Again, I do understand the intent of exploring metaphysical, and moral questions within the show but just like the broadness of philosophy it can be overwhelming without the proper organization of thought and reasoning.
This may also be a personal squick, but it's very funny to me how Jung yeon suddenly turns emo and has the time to put on eyeshadow and lipstick. Her hacking skills came out of nowhere, and was never explained; unless this is stemming from her alien nature? On the topic of character, I believe that many of them are not able to express the sentiment of their younger selves. Min young seemed to shed everything that made her annoying self her, Dong Soo was just a loud mouthed hacker who acted childishly, the Human B sub director was a little off as well. Perhaps it could be a message about growing up in comparison to Woojin or circulate 3 in the latter half, but they did not seem to be themselves. Bum Gyun being a little different made sense because he lost his memories, and its a psychologically valid circumstance; but everything else is telling me that the casting for the older actors isnt as spot on as it was hoped to be.
For what my mind can conjure up, I would like to very much complain about how INFURIATING it is that the show tried to pit familial versus romantic relationships. It may have been all implied, or maybe im just not a fan of having unecessary romantic relationships pop out of nowhere, but there were two instances that pissed me off and implied the aforementioned.
Bum Gyun and Jung Yeon discuss the possibility of Woojin being the chairman. In the middle of the argument Jung Yeon starts out with the phrase "What about me." Woojin and Min young argue on Bum gyun losing his memories, and she says "Do you really know him?" Two instances where twins who have known each other for almost all their lives are undermined in their importance. You can say the girls were only trying to fight some sense into their decisions or thoughts, but if you watched both scenes and copped a feel of their arguments and reasoning it might be more obvious how the show seemingly implies a higher value on romantic relationships and that in itself is fucking ludicrous and just plain nonsensical; especially when the whole plot is hinged on the love and care of two brothers.
With that, I would like to say Jung yeon and Woojin's romantic sense of a relationship was unecessary. This could have been a story about two twin brothers, and an alien they have come to consider as family. Minyeong and Bum Gyun's hint of romance was also veeeeery unecessary and quite frankly just annoying on Min yeong's part.
Lastly, the professor turned chairman villain. While im ok with the decision of him betraying Professor Han and showcasing how greed can turn humans into vile little things, his acting was a little wonky in my opinion. Wonky in the sense that even as the chairman he still hadn't shaken off his nerdy professor vibe. On his character, he also didn't show up as much as his "importance" as the main villain. It would have been good to have him be more exposed since the beginning. The Human B organization was also out of nowhere. The hunky dude in glasses was intimidating and seemed to hold power even over the researchers and yet they easily "submit" to mr professor chairman's orders, then they never apepar again in the "brave new world" segments. The corruption in the police force never even resurfaces or manifests itself in normal earth, and neither even in Smart Earth. So many plot holes, just like what I mentioned before.
In any case.. I came for Yeo Jingoo. Again. And he did really well in my opinion, probably very biased about it but since he had to portray Woojin as his time flows accordingly, there wasn't a problem with his characterization; no gaps to address in his acting. He very much understood what was driving his character, and that was to keep his brother safe, find his brother, protect his brother, and sacrifice for his brother — by the end, this was in extension towards Byul. Funny enough, in one scene where Jung Yeon was attempting to calm Woojin down by grabbing his face, I was expecting him to caress her fingers longer but ended up removing it from his face with a slightly exasperated vibe even (must be me projecting) and perhaps yeo jingoo is also tired of being pushed into nonsensical and unecessary romances? LOL
I like the music very much though! I think it's distinct and very much in theme with the genre of science fiction and adventure.
Overall, I would say that there are many imrpovements that need to be made; Many plot holes to circle about, but it's a fun story you can watch to unwind and have a philosophical crash course on; and if you dont mind inconsistencies and unecessary romance, and you just want an interesting plot to get immersed in I would still recommend this show to others, enough to give it an "Its okay" rating.
One glaring flaw, I think, was how Jung yeon or Byul's origin of species was never expanded or explored on further. Her existence is supposedly a crucial part of the story, and while I understand people were busy trying to save their own loved ones from a heinous neurological experiment, or stopping a corporate entity from taking control of other people's memories noone bothered to ask questions or try to jog her memory about life as a humanoid alien. They just accused her of it, and that was that. Because noone tried to pry into Jung Yeon further I assumed that it would be revealed that she was a clone like Woo Jin in 2037, and that they would operate on the time loop theory which would have made further sense with their title, Circle.
Perhaps they were looking forward to the renewal of a season 2, but knowing how they are aware of their situation and how novel the genre theyre working on is they should have modified the story as such. Following this line of thought, I do agree with a user on here that said they tried to tackle too many genres and too many line of events in 12 episodes.
After finishing the last episode today, I vaguely remember the murder that happened in Smart Earth and Bum Gyun's enemy turned side kick. They all seemed to be so widely dispersed, different adventures within the timeline leading up to the discovery of Woo jin or Circulate 3. Again, I do understand the intent of exploring metaphysical, and moral questions within the show but just like the broadness of philosophy it can be overwhelming without the proper organization of thought and reasoning.
This may also be a personal squick, but it's very funny to me how Jung yeon suddenly turns emo and has the time to put on eyeshadow and lipstick. Her hacking skills came out of nowhere, and was never explained; unless this is stemming from her alien nature? On the topic of character, I believe that many of them are not able to express the sentiment of their younger selves. Min young seemed to shed everything that made her annoying self her, Dong Soo was just a loud mouthed hacker who acted childishly, the Human B sub director was a little off as well. Perhaps it could be a message about growing up in comparison to Woojin or circulate 3 in the latter half, but they did not seem to be themselves. Bum Gyun being a little different made sense because he lost his memories, and its a psychologically valid circumstance; but everything else is telling me that the casting for the older actors isnt as spot on as it was hoped to be.
For what my mind can conjure up, I would like to very much complain about how INFURIATING it is that the show tried to pit familial versus romantic relationships. It may have been all implied, or maybe im just not a fan of having unecessary romantic relationships pop out of nowhere, but there were two instances that pissed me off and implied the aforementioned.
Bum Gyun and Jung Yeon discuss the possibility of Woojin being the chairman. In the middle of the argument Jung Yeon starts out with the phrase "What about me." Woojin and Min young argue on Bum gyun losing his memories, and she says "Do you really know him?" Two instances where twins who have known each other for almost all their lives are undermined in their importance. You can say the girls were only trying to fight some sense into their decisions or thoughts, but if you watched both scenes and copped a feel of their arguments and reasoning it might be more obvious how the show seemingly implies a higher value on romantic relationships and that in itself is fucking ludicrous and just plain nonsensical; especially when the whole plot is hinged on the love and care of two brothers.
With that, I would like to say Jung yeon and Woojin's romantic sense of a relationship was unecessary. This could have been a story about two twin brothers, and an alien they have come to consider as family. Minyeong and Bum Gyun's hint of romance was also veeeeery unecessary and quite frankly just annoying on Min yeong's part.
Lastly, the professor turned chairman villain. While im ok with the decision of him betraying Professor Han and showcasing how greed can turn humans into vile little things, his acting was a little wonky in my opinion. Wonky in the sense that even as the chairman he still hadn't shaken off his nerdy professor vibe. On his character, he also didn't show up as much as his "importance" as the main villain. It would have been good to have him be more exposed since the beginning. The Human B organization was also out of nowhere. The hunky dude in glasses was intimidating and seemed to hold power even over the researchers and yet they easily "submit" to mr professor chairman's orders, then they never apepar again in the "brave new world" segments. The corruption in the police force never even resurfaces or manifests itself in normal earth, and neither even in Smart Earth. So many plot holes, just like what I mentioned before.
In any case.. I came for Yeo Jingoo. Again. And he did really well in my opinion, probably very biased about it but since he had to portray Woojin as his time flows accordingly, there wasn't a problem with his characterization; no gaps to address in his acting. He very much understood what was driving his character, and that was to keep his brother safe, find his brother, protect his brother, and sacrifice for his brother — by the end, this was in extension towards Byul. Funny enough, in one scene where Jung Yeon was attempting to calm Woojin down by grabbing his face, I was expecting him to caress her fingers longer but ended up removing it from his face with a slightly exasperated vibe even (must be me projecting) and perhaps yeo jingoo is also tired of being pushed into nonsensical and unecessary romances? LOL
I like the music very much though! I think it's distinct and very much in theme with the genre of science fiction and adventure.
Overall, I would say that there are many imrpovements that need to be made; Many plot holes to circle about, but it's a fun story you can watch to unwind and have a philosophical crash course on; and if you dont mind inconsistencies and unecessary romance, and you just want an interesting plot to get immersed in I would still recommend this show to others, enough to give it an "Its okay" rating.
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