1
Charming92
Greece
Introverted boss is the story of a girl whose sister died a tragic death and now wants to take revenge on those who wronged her making her commit suicide. To her surprise, she finds herself caring eventually for the person she was originally set out to destroy. The drama is an aspiring melo comedy romance set in a business PR company centering around 2 polar opposite characters, an introvert and an extrovert. Sounds pretty watchable doesn’t it? Well, I had so many issues with Introverted Boss that I somehow believe they wouldn't bother me but at the end, I’m so infuriated by them they need to be phrased.
However benevolent the show’s meaning is, essentially expressing that everyone should be accepted and we should not judge others merely based on their looks, as a whole the drama just didn’t work. Trying to piece everything together I think I can pinpoint what went wrong. Overall it seems that the drama didn’t know how to draw a line between serious situations and comedy therefore ridiculing things in a bad way.
First and foremost, although I enjoyed how complicated the story was and how (unnecessarily) interconnected the characters were, the backstory which is the base of the whole thing is the weakest backstory I’ve ever witnessed in the almost 100 dramas I’ve watched thus far. The whole thing relies on a girl committing suicide. It’s the first scene of the drama, the driving plot device. It then continues developing this into a mystery “what happened to that girl, why” ect; it is only logical I’d expect an exceptional backstory there to wow me since kdramas specialize in such.
To my disappointment the reasons the girl commits suicide were utter garbage. Not only unimaginably exaggerated, but also utterly stupid – weak writing is the main fault of the drama and I cannot forgive it. However, what made me really angry was that as a plotline it puts women in such, such a bad, naïve, gullible, stupid, weak spot that made me sick to my stomach! Suicide is not a plotline to play with. Either do it right or don’t do it at all. Making a woman commit suicide in 2017 because of… men basically, just feels wrong, doesn’t it?
Moreover, to top it all off, during the last episodes they pulled a complete 180 on those already severely stupid reasons and made it even worse! Was that their idea of a plot twist? The “twist” pretty much disregarded everything that had happened up to that point, and made the backstory not only disappointing but also completely laughable.
Continuing the drama apparently has a thing against women in general, or at least this is my take. I never have a problem with bitchy 2nd female leads, I rather enjoy watching them spiral. However what was that here? The 2nd female lead isn’t bitchy, she is mental. I’ve never witnessed, EVER, such a weak, penis-slave female character before. This the best way I can describe her. I seriously don’t want to even think that in 2017 there are women that act like that, let alone 20something girls who are as excessively beautiful as this young woman here.
Are we really going to accept tv shows that put women in such a bad light nowadays, or even sympathize with one? No, if a bastard doesn’t want you, you don’t forgive his sleeping around and neglecting you because “you can’t live without him”, you kick him in the nuts, you do a hair flip and you move on! This is not the 1800s! Unacceptable writing!
What’s more, another thing that seriously bothered me was the misuse of the terms “introvert” and “extrovert”.
Introverts aren’t people who hide in black hoodies, can barely talk to others, never leave their houses and don’t have any friends acting like creeps. What is this? So an introvert has no fashion sense and only wears black hoodies to cover his face, not being able to cater for himself. He can’t strike a normal conversation with a person to save his life and he overthinks to the point he hurts himself. As I said, over-exaggeration killed this drama.
Somehow this was supposed to be funny but it wasn’t! I agree introverts have difficulty in socializing, but there is a huge difference between an introvert and an anti-social person, which is what the male lead in this drama is.
In the same sense, an extrovert isn’t a crazy person who screams and violates people’s proximity levels. Over-exaggeration made me role my eyes so hard, they were stuck at the back of my head.
Since I mentioned the extrovert part, the female lead, let’s talk about that. Yes, the female lead was awfully annoying in the first 3-4 episodes, but during those episodes the drama had something different to offer, it was somehow original. I was actually enjoying her quirky character giving a unique vibe to the drama. Not every female lead needs to be nice and innocent so as to eventually “change” the male lead. So boring and unreal! After the script changes, yes she became conventional and likeable but also super boring, and along with her the drama reduced itself to a very, very classic and boring rom-com.
Additionally, I would like to mention what was a failed romance for me. No one in this drama had chemistry with one another. Park Hye Soo and Yeon Woo Jin seemed to be having fun in their scenes, but I won’t ship 2 people who just look good together. Everything felt too forced to go down a romantic lane making their scenes cute but also non-inspiring and boring.
Furthermore, broadening my rant to the supporting characters, I’ve never witnessed such uninspired, superficial and machine-like secondary characters. They all had nothing to offer other than comedy which, on the whole, fell completely short in my eyes. I was mainly annoyed at the misuse of Ye Ji Won who is just too good to be treated like that.
All this in combination with the thoroughly tedious and long episodes contributed to the drama’s complete failure. I could have overlooked everything to be honest if it wasn’t for the exceptionally weak backstory. I know this is a drama and i should just relax and enjoy, but when they put serious plot lines and issues in the middle like suicide and emotional abuse, there are lines that should be respected. Not everything can be comedy!
As far as the acting is concerned all the actors did a good enough job but I think all of them were miscasted.
Park Hye Soo was borderline unpleasant to watch and completely forgettable, no charm in this role. I am all for actors trying different roles and testing their limits. She did not do a bad job in this role, she was directed to act like that after all, it is just that the role didn’t suit her at all. Maybe it would be better for some actors to just stay in what they can excel at. I could totally picture Lee Sung Kyung in this role.
Yoon Park is too cute to be playing ungrateful bastards. Good job but I couldn’t dislike him enough to consider him an antagonist or sympathize with him at all to care or root for a character development which left me with a lukewarm taste throughout the drama.
Gong Seung Yeon. Oh my god! This woman is too beautiful to be playing such roles. I understand the directors’ thoughts behind hers and Yoon Park’s casts but it just didn’t work out. When you are beyond beautiful like Seung yeon you know it and you don’t run behind any bastard, and if there are girls like her, no reason to beautify it by presenting it in a tv show!
Yeon Woo Jin was the only actor I actually enjoying watching, still his performance wasn’t memorable to save this thing.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this drama to anyone to be honest, but considering the positive reaction it is getting I think my personal views, principles and values got the best of me. Apparently rom-com lovers, business drama followers and comedy fans will enjoy this but I’m positive there are far better dramas out there.
Was this review helpful to you?
I seriously didn't expect the show to live up to expectations of as high as an overall grade of 9/10, but it freaking did. KMHM has the perfect balance between a super funny rom-com, and a super dramatic and complicated melodrama with a lot of suspense. A HUGE congrats to the writers for pulling this off, i doubted them a lot of times, and each time i was blasted away! Let the endless praise begin:
STORY
The Story talks about psycological traumas, and how the human mind tries to work them out, to help us live better and/or cope with them. The main point of the story is that we need to adress and care about our problems, face them and try to fix them before they become too big, ignoring them isn't the answer, and if sometimes those problems and fears are too huge for us to handle, there are people there who are willing to help us get through them because they love us. Love is basically the answer.
KMHM is such a carefully crafted, beautifully written and brilliantly executed drama, however, the show's main idea about the multiple personality disorder, isn't anything new, it has been done before many times, but that doesn't make this show any less perfect! We basically have the main protagonist with this syndrome who comes back to Korea (without really wanting to) to become the new head CEO of his family's company. He, of course, needs to keep his problem a secret, and since his personalities become too powerful for him to handle, he needs a special private doctor to pay close attention to him and help him, here the female protagonist gets introduced. I am not gonna say anything more, this is your base story. But don't fool yourself, nothing is as simple as it may seem.
Probably the best thing about the show was the way it was developed. First of all, things are complicated everywhere, complicated situations in his life, in his work, in himself, everywhere. In his work, there are people who want to take him out and take the family company for themselves (the family relations are amazing and so real, i have no words!). There is a huge, huge, HUGE, backstory here, and an amazing one that gets explored little by little. Here we don't have the usual 'rom-com for the first 10 episodes, and then 3-4 episodes of shocking revealings', the backstory gets revealed a little by little in every episode, transforming the show into a mystery. And then, when you think you know the story and you are the king of the show, the writers sneak behind your back and they change everything, literally, everything. I sit here appauding the writers for literally twisting everything, leaving me speechless several times over the episodes, and yet pulling everything together in the end without any plot holes or ridiculous plot choices. The plot is really well-thoughts and developed. Congrats to the writers for the flawless job they did!
Moreover, i need to praise,the comedy part of the show. Usually it is easy for the shows to make me burst into tears than make me laugh, i rarely find things i see funny except for a few chuckles here and there. KMHM had me laughing out loud throughout the episodes, i was shocked myself, but the comedy here is extremely on point, the actors and especially the female lead, know their shit when it comes to comedy, you will laugh your heart out and then cry your heart out with the same characters! This is how awesome this show is.
The only, tiny problem i had was that i felt the rom-com part got kind of dragged at some point. It wasn't that i was bored, not even close, but at some point there were some unnecessary things happening just to fill some episodes. I blame the 20 episode order, kdramas rarely can pull off 20 episodes. KMHM wasn't bad and it pulled 20 episodes well, but it could have worked even better if the order was 16. Basically, the first 13 episodes are focusing on the romance and comedy, while they give you hints of the backstory to raise the suspense. Around episode 10-11-12 i was like, 'yeah ok, this is cute, but lets move on to the serious part'. I was afraid the show won't get serious, but in episode 14 it does, and when it decides to go all in, IT FREAKING GOES ALL IN, and it shocks you! I know i was having goosebumbs at what was happening, and most importantly in the WAY it was explained. What happens in KMHM is wonderful and flawless, but the develop of the story, the way the story is told, is what makes this show a masterpiece. As far as the 'boring rom-com' thing i said goes, to be honest, don't pay attention to me, this is me being a needy bitch, lol!
Another thing i loved was how everything is connected. Even the small seemingly unimportant romantic stuff that happen in the beginning aren't in vain, just for the 'awwws' and cute romantic moments. Everything is important. I appreciated that, very nice writting again from the production team! Also, i feel the need to say how amazing the love story was. Apart from the usual aw and cute parts of the romance, i loved how the writers didn't make up silly problems just to keep the couple apart and torment the viewers. The main couple wanted to be together, had serious problems for not being together, and instead of crying around they tried their best to work them through in order to be happy. Happiness is the goal here. I loved that!
I can't understand how anyone can't like this. I also can't understand how this didn't get super high ratings in Korea. I am seriously judging Koreans for letting this gem go semi-unnoticed! *side eyeing koreans* :P
ACTING
The acting was great, almost perfect, but for some reason i can't give it a 10, it doesn't feel right.
Ji Sung. New favourite actor to be honest, he really pulled off playing 7 different personalities/characters almost flawlessly. He was badass, he was sweet, he was cute, he was extremely funny, he was emotional, he was handsome, he was everything, i fell for him lol. The only minor complain i had were the moments when he was changing personalities. All his groaning and falling down, i mean,it felt kind of fake or/and overacted. However, i am not familiar with this syndrome, maybe this is the way it actually happens. Nonetheless his acting was brilliant, bravo! I am definately following his other dramas now.
Hwang Jung Eum. Firstly i need to praise the actress on her comedy skills. The woman knows what she is doing. She was extremely funny and cute, but sometimes it did feel a bit over the top. Her reactions, in order to seem funny and cute ended up feeling a bit forced sometimes. The overall feel i got from her acting is certainly positive, and she nailed her dramatic scenes as well, but there were some moments, mostly during the early episodes, her acting felt a bit forced.
Park Seo Joon. He was alright, i kind of disliked his character, he was too pushy for me to handle, but he had some nice, touching scenes with HJE. He was also tough when needed, emotional, and also funny and cute for most of the time. I fell in love with Ji Sung so i seriously have nothing more to say lol.
Outside of the main cast, i need to applaud the kid actors, the kids seemed very young but they did a wonderful job getting their feeling across, especially in such a young age. Furthermore, all the supporting cast was great!
MUSIC
BEST.OST.EVER! No literally, i generally don't pay attention to OSTs. I have like 3 kdrama soundtracks downloaded from the dramas i've watched. But omg, the ost here is flawless, emotional, i liked it from the first moment it played in the 1st episode, it didn't grow on me because of the show. FLAWLESS SONG, FLAWLESS! It won best soundtrack of the year i think, well deserved! It brings tears to my eyes from the beginning to the end, the lyrics are basically a very well-thought summary of the show itself. A dramatic, emotional, yet powerful and angry song.
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
This is a must watch, the 2nd best kdrama i have ever watched. This can be watched by everyone. You like comedy? watch this. You like romance? watch this. You like melodrama? WATCH THIS!! You like great backstories? EFFING WATCH THIS! You like complicated situations? W-A-T-C-H T-H-I-S!!! Did i make myself clear?
The rewatch value is seriously high, the early episodes are huge on comedy and the later huge on drama. People, don't think about it anymore, this show is worth the 20 hours of your life!
STRAIGHT INTO MY FAVES LIST!!
Was this review helpful to you?
As far as the plot is concerned, commendable world building by the writers here. The story is based on a hotel that exists in between of our and the afterworld, in which spirits, with unfinished business, go before moving on. Deities, malevolent spirits, reapers, interesting backstories ect are a given.
With such an interesting premise I gotta mention the main characters who were pretty fun. The drama generally focuses a lot on comedy, which, most of the time, hits the spot. The romance is there and plays a predominal role. I can't say it was particularly memorable, but it sufficed.
Moreover, it should be mentioned that the driving essence of the drama are the back stories of the main two protagonists, particularly IU's character, something that becomes apparent from the very first scene of the drama. The show beautifully connects ancient eras with modern times linking present and past lives in a worthy backstory that is interesting and well-written without ever becoming too serious or heavy. Every prominent character gets their development and their sub story. Everything is fun and well written.
A strong part of the drama is IU's character, her fashion, her facial expressions, her reactions, her sassyness. It could be argued that this is an one woman show written entirely on and for IU, which, in my book, is totally a pro. If you're an IU fan, you'll enjoy it.
My favorite part of the drama was the homage to horror pop culture (references to classic scary movies, ex. The ring), or mentions of other recent horror kdramas (ex. The guest), which made the whole scary context that much more fun and contributed in making this drama feeling like a part of a whole along with the fun recurrent feeling of parodying horror pop culture.
The acting was overall great, but not really memorable. The plot was too light hearted for any of the actors to showcase any actual talent. That being said, everything was executed magnificently.
Overall, this is not a bad watch if you are interested in rom coms with fantasy elements. There are several ghost substories that aren't that important and not scary at all, but pretty interesting and fun to watch, so there is also that. The OST in this one is particularly polished. I'd recommend this to everyone searching for something light and fun to pass time. That being said, there is nothing notable about this drama other than its base premise.
Have a nice day everyone and enjoy!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Temptation is a show you will either love or absolutely hate. There is no in between, and i generally believe that, this is the case with controversial stories like this one. People don't necessarily hate the drama, but what the drama presents. If there is one thing this drama does right, that is that it makes you want to watch, you cannot stop! Take a moment and think, how many people rated this drama with a 1.0. I, for one, when i hate something i drop it, but no, people stuck with it and watched it all, and even bothered to write several hate reviews (big ones). Before you rush to rage-dislike my review, since you hated the drama because of its nature, give my thoughts a go. We live in free countries, don't we?STORY
The story talks about extramarital affairs. It doesn't say that they are good, and everyone should have one, no. It doesn't defend cheaters, no, not at all. Affairs are situations that happen, life isn't about pink rainbows where hot cute chaebol men with abs and hidden psycological issues but big hearts live and wait for a cute girl to love forever. No. Life is shitty and it hurts, and can go from being absolutely perfect to being absolutely hurtful and miserable. The drama also talks about money: 'Money can, indeed, buy everything. How much are you worth for?'. This is an idea that circled my mind many times while watching. Can money make you really happy?. The show generally posses the notion of MONEY VS MORALS. Which one will win? The answer may seem easy, but in reality it may not be! Lastly, the main idea of the show is Happiness. Life's goal should be happiness. What i understood from watching the drama was: 'Do whatever the fuck you need to do in order for you to be happy'. There is no shame in trying to be happy. Have you heard the proverb: 'The end justifies the means'?. Ok now, you can hate me, i kind of hate myself because i know this is wrong, but i believe it and the drama obviously believes it too (no don't rage-dislike the review yet, i talk a lot)
Firstly, i'll judge the shitty description. What an awful description, whoever wrote it hated the show himself lol. What the description says, happens and finishes in the first 2 episodes. The drama wants to show what happens after that. Also the 'submission' part, the description throws in there, doesn't even happen. The description lets everything in the air, give you a very vague and misleading idea of what the drama is about. The affair, barely ever happens, never gets physical and doesn't include any type of 'submission'. I, myself, was expecting some heavy sexual stuff happening, but nothing like that happens, at all!
The show basically has 2 goals: 1. (delivered in the first half) how can a loving marriage break down in a few minutes because of DOUBTS! Yes it can happen, love can't save everything (like rom-coms make us think), love isn't enough, and love isn't forever. Even if the affair never really happened, all it takes for someone's trust to be destroyed are a few moments of doubts, and everything crumbles down like it is nothing! Amazing, yet so true! Goal 2. Can't a person love a different person? No? Because they were married that is it? I am against adultery by all means, of course i am, but everyone is raving about love and how beautiful it is, but love isn't one-sided, like: i love YOU, it's YOU it will always be YOU. Yes, we all want that YOU to be forever, but sometimes, it isn't. Should we be forever depressed if that love with the YOU doesn't work? Or should we try to be happy once again? SECOND CHANCES, thats what i understood from the 2nd half of the show: second chances! Happiness is in our hands, if it didn't work the first time, we can either stay at home cursing our life (what i do every day), or go out there and try again! Is my thinking unrealistic? Do you hate me right now? Yes, i do that to people :P
To be completely and utterly honest, i have nothing bad to say about the show lol (if there was any shred of compassion, i just lost it, didn't i? xD). The drama is heavily based on the characters, it only goes forward based on the character decisions and actions. There is no backstory, no huge revealings, no plot twists. This is about the characters and how they cope with difficult situations like adultery! I am saying this just so you know what kind of show this is. One can argue that the show is boring, i cannot argue with that. Temptation was one of those shows, that had me constantly at the edge of my chair as i wanted to see what the characters will do next. What will they choose, how will they react to what was thrown at them! You need to be a fan of this kind of thing, not everyone is one, thats why i can describe the drama like, more of an elitist show than an inclusive one. The drama targets a select few that like this genre, and if you are a fan you won't be dissapointed!
I want to mention that one thing that shocked me. It was the honesty of the characters. Honesty, as in, their actions, and everything bad or good that comes with that. Example: I want your man, girl, i really want him, i'll come up straight in your face and say it, i don't even care if you are married! Surely this is wrong, but still wow... Another example: I see you have your ex-wife's wedding ring on the counter, you obviously have feelings for her, so i feel bad and leave. I don't keep it inside because i want to torment the viewers. I go straight up to you and ask you, DO YOU HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOUR EX WIFE?! HELL TO THE YES PEOPLE. Yas, thank you writers, thank you for making the characters real ADULTS for once who know how to adress their misunderstandings!
Oh! One last thing! Usually when i see melodramas, i except some heavy crying. The show is bubbed a melodrama, but i barely cried in the 20 episodes (and i cry waaaaaay too easily). So don't worry about this being a tear-jerker, it is not.
CHARACTERS
The show is character driven, so i will give the characters a special section in this review. Potential spoilers ahead, read at your own discretion. (scrap that, heavy spoilers ahead, skip this part if you haven't watched, i just really need to talk about the characters)
CHA SEOK HOON. He is your average hero. He was great and i loved him. I read some cute comments that he is selfish and values money too much. People apparently didn't watch the full show, or didn't understand or were dead set on hating. Let me start by saying, if you were in debt of 1 million dollars, and a nice lady one day said she'd take you to work for her for 3 days and she will pay off your debt, but you just can't contact your wife while doing so, what would you have done? Say, buh bye bitch, i want to take my jail time, i love jail! Shove your money up your *** and jail ftw! If you have such great values, great, good for you, i am a pitiful person that would take the deal, and start fresh without a debt. I don't think his decision was selfish, *other decisions were selfish by other characters, that really wanted us to pity them*!! He believed his wife will understand and not make a fuss of things. Ok he might had been wrong, of course his wife didn't, and ok this is understandable, and he freaking tried like crazy to make this work. It didn't work obviously, his marriage fell apart, but, do i have to hate him for wanting to move on? Really? No, i cannot hate someone who wants to be happy, he never cheated! He tried to make this work, and it didn't so he moves on! 10/10 He was a great character for me, definately someone to look up to, i found myself saying 'Thats my boy' and 'Thats my man' several times during the show. A staightfroward guy, who sees what he wants, he isn't afraid to fight for it! The only minor problem i had with him, was that in the first half, he obviously doesn't want a divorce but he always finds himself on that other woman's steps. Its not that he wanted an affair, he was forward about that, but he cared for her. I cannot really blame him for caring, i do want to believe his feelings were pure, but it did seem that his marriage was over from his part too, even if he wanted to try. Still he adressed everything right and he was noble.
YOO SE YOUNG. Such a complicated character, and what a character development as well! She starts as the main 'evil' of the show, and ends up as the anti-hero. I never hated her, i mostly tried to understand why she did what she did, but i ended up rooting for her SO much, i was shocked at my self! A very closed-shut down person, that has never been loved, never loved anyone, a workaholic that hates lovey dovey couples. Is that unrealistic? I have met people like that in real life, and i am afraid i am turning into one! What she wanted was to test their seemingly perfect love. Did she have a right to do that? No, but she did. Why she did? Because she was a cord hearted rich bitch! Yeah why not? Why can people accept hot chaebol guys falling for poor girls, but not this? Anyway, what she did was wrong, but i wasn't ready to hate her.To be honest what she really wanted was the other woman's life. She wanted to be loved deep inside. So she did what she did in order to prove to herself that her way of living is the right way... that hateful and resenting way. However she found herself falling in love. Yes she was selfish and evil... Yet, she grows up so much, she opens up, she gets loved and she loves back for the first time in her life, and understands how wrong she was. I rooted for her i loved her, i hope that she is happy right now, and i am not even sorry that i loved her that much! I can understand how rooting for her is wrong somehow, but still i don't regret it.
NA HONG JOO. Probably the most important character in the show. She actually reminded of the main evil guy in Secret. The way she devolves, and then realises what she has become.... I read some very very cute comments about how the writers hated her and how they apparently hated women, lol. Secret will forever be the most shovinistic kdrama, temptation has no shit on secret in that department (yes i want some hate, i reaaaaaly want some hate)! She started as a nice woman, seemingly sefless, ready to die for her husband, but from the starting point, she was so selfish! She decides she can't trust her husband after everything. Yes, of course girl, i am 100% with you. And then she wants a divorce, YAS GIRL, I WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME!!! And then she wants him to sit on his couch, and cry his life away, as she does the same... lol... no! And on top of that, she blames him when he tries to be happy again, and makes her life's goal to destroy him... why? Why do you want to victimize yourself girl? because you cannot accept that he is happy again? Girl, my sweet, sweet, selfish girl! YOU kicked him out! YOU decided your marriage was over, and oh! he fought for you! Now, go your separate ways. Live your life for YOU! The 2nd half of the show made me hate her, while i was rooting for her in the 1st half. She was selfish, she made her bed for what happened in her life, and i couldn't feel bad for her! However, her character felt amazing, she was very emotionally driven, and yet all her actions felt so damn realistic! I loved how even at the end, she decided to grow up, even a little!
KANG MIN WOO. I still haven't figured out if he was an evil or a good person. I guess the answer is somewhere in between. He wasn't either of that, he was just selfish. I mean every character was selfish as people are selfish in real life, but he was exceptionally selfish, the type that makes you wanna vomit, you definately know the type. He was your average cheater, he was so full of himself, so over-confident, it made me wanna puke. He said at some point: 'if i wanted you, i would have made you want me first!'. I mean where do they teach that? Is there a school that teaches that? I really need to enroll there. Or is it something, like a prilivege that only hot rich guys have?! I was so amazed at how he had some moments, where i felt like: 'aw there is hope for him' and then he literally turned them all around, and there was nothing left but hate. He got exactly what he deserved, he wasn't even evil, but believe me between absolute selfishness and evilness, i vote evilness!
As i already said the drama was very character driven, all the decisions and actions made sense, to me at least, i loved all the characters in their own way, with their flaws, even Min Woo, i liked him and hated him with his weird personality! The characters here could have been better, a little more *deep* maybe, but overall the characterization was good.
ACTING
KWON SANG WOO. He was great, he was a great leading man, i loved him, he was emotional, very charming, he has great expressions, especially with his eyes!
CHOI JIN WOO. Whoah! Girl, knows her shit! I loved her, she pulled off the bitchy attidute greatly, and her character development felt very real. She never lost that independency that she had, she just became more humane by the time as she fell in love. She expressed that perfectly. The 2 actors' chemistly is possibly the best i've seen in kdramas thus far. Like WOAH!!
PARK HA SUN. As i already said, her character maybe was the most important, and while she was good, she could have been better. her role could have renevated the drama a lot, and she wasn't good enough, she left most of that part to CJW whose character has to be hated. She was alright, she just felt small, not only in front of the older actors, but in her role overall, she felt small. She definately needs to work on her crying, i felt nothing while she was crying.
LEE JUNG JIN. He was great, and completely on par with KSS's performance, which is commendable, usually 2nd leading males fall short in front of the leading males. He was great, and he made me doubt about whether he was evil or not, a lot, when he would have been easily hated!
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
Would i recommend it? Well, no! Because i cannot accept any more 1.0s lol! :P
In all honesty, however, this is a show to be watched by open minded people (no offence to anyone), and also by people who like character driven shows, to avoid the boring thing i said earlier. If you like watching people handle difficult situations, potentialy love, hate, get angry and bare with the characters, root for them, want them dead ect and don't expect backstories and plot twists, you will most definately enjoy this!
This is definately not a show for everyone, so i wouldn't recommend it easily, no!
Would i rewatch it? Yes, and no. While the first part was slightly slower (it had to be, a marriage doesn't break up in 2 episodes), the 2nd was a roller coaster imo. Still the show was kind of difficult to watch. I wouldn't rewatch it myself alone, but i'd definately rewatch it with someone else, mostly to discuss what happens here!
I'd like to end this, rather long review, by laughing in everyone's, who said that 'This drama is for the home wreckers and the cheaters', face. Lol People, really? Am i a home wrecker now that i liked this drama? Lol, i will definately add this to my resume!
I am not sure who was superficial and shallow in the very end, the show itself, or the people who watched it?!
Ok, now you can rage-dislike this review all you want! Kisses from cheater's hell!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I know my rating seems unrealistic, especially with so many bad reviews running around. However, I love this show with passion, it is the best drama i have ever seen, but it is definately not a show for everyone... You will need to like melodramatic shows to like this one. My eyes literally hurt from crying. If you want something light, and funny, this is definately not the show for you. This is the heaviest drama i have ever watched. But please don't bash it because you don't like the type or concept of the show. It was the best thing of this genre i have ever watched.STORY
First of all, the show is based on the ideas of true love, soulmates and timing. What happens if your true love and your soulmate isn't the same person? What happens when you meet one after you've married the other. Which one would you choose if you met them at the same time? And in the end how can family can complicate those choices, or sometimes mislead you from the truth...
I feel the need to say the description of the show is misleading. I, for one, i was expecting something more suggesting, even sexual. But no, there is nothing filthy about this show, the way everything is presented ends up focusing on the family more than the affair. This is a drama about how family gets in a way of life, or, to put it better, how life gets in the way of people's hopes and dreams...
The main premise of the show isn't the adultery, adultery is the result. Adultery is presented here in a different way, in somes eyes it might not even be adultery (mini-spoiler ahead), since it never got physical, but in my eyes it was even worse since physical connection can be broken, emotional connection is the worst kind. THIS is what happens here... And the show wants you to understand HOW they got here, and THAT is where family gets sucked in...
The story is crafted perfectly, its extremely dramatic, more than i could handle most of the times. The characters' reactions were so real, but not predictable. The story developed extremely fast in my opinion (another difference i felt from all the reviews and comments about the show), so many things happening, i found myself saying this can't be happening at this right moment... But all the script choices could have actually happened, its highly unlikely that all those things could happen to a single person, but in the very end, why not? Because they are a good person? Because they never did anything wrong? Life sucks, and this show knows it, and expresses it in the best way possible...
The only thing i could ask more about this perfectly created scenario and plot is that i'd liked the show to explore some characters, and things more. Like Why Hee Soo was sick, and how that happened, we get nothing. In the same way the way Kim Joon's character ends, it should have been introduced before so we could get to know him better. It felt like an easy way out for him so everyone can be happy. I guess the main purpose of the show was to show the problems of the main couple and the flawed main characters. Everything else was explored to the point needed to explore the main couple deeper. I respect that
ACTING
I have no words to explain how amazing the acting was.
Uhm Tae Woong is the first person narrator of the show. His acting was incredible, he was amazing in every way. My english skills aren't enough to explain how good he was. Especially when he finds out his wife is cheating... His acting was top notch. I felt everything he said, every single word he said as a narrator, every single choice he made as a character in the show. I can't find the words... I can't...
Lee Shi Young... I mean... can someone give her an oscar an emmy? Something... There wasn't a single scene she was in that wasn't incredible. She was amazing and perfect. Even though the whole show was presented by the husband's point of view she made her reasons and her feelings clear. Her break down moments were perfect, sincere and dramatic.
Lee Soo Hyuk. I should say i am a fan of his, i liked his acting a lot in other dramas i've seen him, but here, next to UTW and LSY, he felt like a child actor. To be honest the show doesn't care about him much. I just felt like he held back, he was emotionless most of the time, maybe he was asked to act this way. He was quite good nonetheless he didn't bring the show down, he held up with the other actors well.
Choi Yeo Jin. Beautiful actress and very nice deliverance in a role that was quite difficult in my opinion. Maybe her role was the most important in the show, everything was based upon her character in the very end. She did a wonderful job.
The supporting cast was quite big, and all i can do is praise every single one of them for the great performance. Especially the mother of Hee Tae, she was WONDERFUL!
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
I'll try not to make any spoilers, and say beforehand if i do.
In this story of adultery noone is to blame but everyone is at fault too...
Jang Hee Tae. He is the biggest sweetheart of the show for me. I loved the character development. The way he loved his wife, their love story, the way he talked about her in the early episodes, he liretally had sparkly eyes when his wife's name was in his mouth. He was saying her name and he was smiling with the biggest smile ever. All this love and happiness turned so dark halfway the show. It is understandable, something happened to his seemingly perfect life that he couldn't even imagine... I loved his reactions, when he learned the truth, i found the way he handled everything completely real. In my opinion, the best character in the show. Of course he is to blame too, he should have stayed closer to his wife and watch what is happening. His reaction might seem very selfish to some, and it really was, but people... people are selfish beings. In the very end he ended up being the most selfless person on the show, because that was who he was... He was willing to trade his happiness for his wife's....
Kim Il Ri. I've read so many hateful comments about her character and i was expecting to see a slut on screen but no. The most troubled character on the show, i think a lot of women could relate to her... She was sad for the most part of her life and she wasn't even aware of it. She blamed herself for something that happened and had nothing to do with her, she knew it, but some people do feel that way, it can't be helped. Her development from her school years to her adult years is so sad, but also so real. From the craziness and innocence to regret and sadness... Is adultery the answer to a sad life you can't escape from? No its not, but what she saw in him was a window to be free for a few minutes, a few moments not to hold an entire family on her shoulders. What she did was wrong, and she is at fault for sure, but she shouldn't be the only one to blame... She definately shouldn't...
Kim Joon. Ok, i disliked him. I'm sorry i just couldn't with his selfish and pushy personality. Everyone was trying their best all through the show, everyone was trying to make the best choices for themselves and everyone else (and failing) and there was him, acting like a 12 yeard old who wants something and he wants it now.. Life is messy, you can't demand something or leave a place because you don't like it. The fact that you lived that way doesn't mean its the right way to live, and you can't force other people to live your way!
Would i recommend this you ask? No matter how much i loved it, honestly, no. Unless you love extremely depressing melodramas or you are into a phase where you need to seriously cry. This is NOT a show about ships. I was never shipping anyone with anyone. This show makes you realise how unimportant ships are and all that people need is someone to lean on and love. I wanted them to be happy, the most happy they can be after everything that happened.
Was this review helpful to you?
STORY
Your very basic romantic comedy. The story is pretty straightforward. The story is set in the late 90s, we have a band of friends and we see their everyday life. The story has two goals. Goal 1: 90s nostalgia: teenage problems/school/ dreams for the future ect, kpop's first years of success and blooming. Goal 2: First Love.
In terms of story that was it. Pretty plain isn't it? I mean i've watched complicated-enough-to-keep-things-interesting rom-coms, and this definately wasn't it. Yes, i like complicated and deep things. Here, the characters felt superficial and childish, there was no effort to scratch the surface and get deeper with feelings (and the fact that they are teenagers doesn't feel like an enough excuse to give it a pass), and that bothered me. Yes, the comedy was on point, but that couldn't save anything.
The plot was heavily based on the multiple love triangles. In this band of friends, everyone is in love with the other one, so you understand what is happening here. Yes, this is a kdrama love triangles are to be expected, but they were overused here. They are nice, but the whole plot was based on them, and driven by them, enough is enough... It got old very fast. They tried to make things interesting when they fastforward to 2012 and they keep us guessing who the female protagonist ends up with, but it was extremely obvious who she would end up with in the end.
They tried to complicate it with some questionable couple options. Like love triangle between brothers, intergenerational loves, same-sex relationships. Even though all these are interesting, and they could have made the story 10x more interesting, the show chooses to go the easiest way make the safest choices and becomes predictable... Sadly....
Generally, the story wasn't that bad, it was just predictable, and done before many many times. The plot was too straightforward, no ups and downs, kinda boring a lot of times.
ACTING
Great, especially if you consider that 90% of the cast consisted of idols or ex-idols.
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
Would i recommend it? If you are a kpop fan, you like romantic comedies about first love and you don't want to watch anything deep, then sure, go ahead. Don't expect to get blown away by it, i don't understand how people got so invested in it, it was good for what it was, but there have been better rom coms out there, definately!
Would i rewatch it? No, it was possibly the most boring kdrama i've watched to this day.
Was this review helpful to you?
STORY
The show revolves around a cold case police team. One of the members finds an old school walkie talkie and somehow, through it, he contacts the detective that was originally involved with them, but failed to solve. However (plot twist), this detective lives in the past, in a different timeline thus the show’s main premise is the what-is-know-as-the Butterfly Effect (= when you change the past, the future changes as a result). I know it sounds messy, and fake, and possibly stupid for people not fan of this genre, but trust me when I say, it is flawlessly executed! Together the two of them start solving several cold cases.
Every 2-3 episodes we get a new case to solve, but, this isn’t your average police procedural show. All the cases were somehow connected to the 3 main characters, and all of them were somehow linked to each other. All the cases are amazing and shocking, and they will keep you at the edge of your seat! There really wasn't a dull moment throughout all the (quite huge) episodes, while the suspence levels were always kept to high rate, making you grind your teeth about what's next and also giving you an ominus feelings about whats to happen.
The main message this show wanted to express, apparently, is the corruption of the task police force, and generally the corruption of people in high places. The drama constantly talks about corrupted cops, and what people would do to climb that society ladder as fast as possible. It generally felt like a huge *Screw You* to every person using unethical means to achieve a goal,and passes the message that they need to be punished. At the same time, it gives wonderful and meaningful life advice, about the significance of being a decent and lawful person and also the notion that you will achieve whatever goal you have set if you try hard enough!
Romance is present here, but it is kept in a minor level, don't come in this expecting to watch romance. Still I thoroughly enjoyed the vague chemistry between the characters.
ACTING
The acting was unbealievably good, possibly the most well-deserved 10/10 i have never given to a kdrama.
Lee Je Hoon. An amazing an emotional performance by this wonderful actor. His acting was tip-top by the first moment of the first episode and stays up there throughout the show! He expressed a diverse range of feelings perfectly, he was strong, he was emotional, he was interesting, he was smart, he was everything you need your main lead to be without being unrealistic or fake.
Jo Jin Woong. Words aren't enough, luscious and exquisite performance. A very strong character, kinda rough on the edges, but with a wonderful, lawful soul, a true, true hero, you will love! The actor did total justice to the character expressing every single emotion of frustration, anger, hope and everything that came along with them!
Kim Hye Soo. As someone who loves female actresses, i love shows that have a lot of them. KHS, in a show about the police which obviously was filled with males, managed to have the strongest character i have ever seen, i never felt the need to watch another actress perform. She was more than exquisite, she enhanced the drama with her acting, she was sensuous, she was sweet when she needed to, she was tough when she had to, she was emotional, and great doing everything! She exceeded my expectations. I loved the way she portrayed her younger and older self, very realistic!
At this point, i do feel the need to applaud every supporting and guest actor that appeared on this, because everyone was amazing and kept up the excitement of the show, and lived up to the main cast's brilliant acting. Congratulations!
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
Signal is one of those shows that HAS to be watched by everyone. It is a show that has no real flaws, it is a show that can be enjoyed by everyone no matter their preferences. In my list of the must watch kdramas this is #1. Even if you don't like this genre, or the fantasy concept sets you off, don't turn a blind eye to this drama, no, this is a VERY well spent 16 hours. Signal is one of the most memorable tv shows i have ever watched! Definately recommended to everyone!
Even if i am not a fan of rewatching tv series, signal definately earns the rewatch ticket for me. It is my personal belief that a 2nd rewatch would help understanding and digesting what it depicted even better. Definately worth watching!
Was this review helpful to you?
STORY
The base idea of the story is the constant struggle of average everyday people, against the higher, powerful, rich people who think they can get away with anything. We have a kind, average man who is being framed for a crime he didn't commit. Of course, he gets convicted as he is up against those people who have consealed their crimes with their wealth. In this story, his son decides to take action and seek revenge on behalf of his parent's innocence. Hence we get the base concept of the story which is revenge. The base concept isn't anything groundbreaking imo, i mean, how many revenge dramas are out there, but the idea behind it of the rich people and the power of truth was unique indeed and flawlessly delivered!
I found the first 4 episodes really amazing and thrilling. Sadly the pace of story, even if it was always interesting, it felt rather slow, and this is the main reason i cannot give this a higher score than 8.5 even if it actually deserves it. We get several law cases, that are linked somehow to the base story, but serve little to no purpose most of the time, and they could have been avoided. At the same time, the constant struggle of the main character who has all the right in the world, but still is treated like a germ, and was constantly the losing party of the story can make anyone angry and frustrated at what is happening. However, the writters took a realistic decision here, i mean it is public knowledge that rich and powerful run this world, and this was perfectly depicted here. The drama was a perfect reflection of our fucked up society and gave a great life lessons like 'The truth will shine in the end if you fight hard enough'.
Whenever i was watching the drama i had the same though circling around my head 'MONEY vs CONSCIENCE', which one is more important to you? Which one will win? What type of person are you? Can you be bought? Is money really worth it?
I saw people asking if this involved any romance, i don't understand the question, there is no 'romance' tab added in the main page, but anyway. Yes, there is romance but it is way in the back, insignificant really, and that was a good thing because sadly, the main actors, even if they did a wonderful job acting-wise, they had no romantic chemistry.
ACTING
The acting was, most-definately, the best part of the drama, by far!
I came here originally for Yoo Seung Ho, and he was as amazing as expected. I think his crying is the best crying i've seen in kdramaland, he looks great while crying, it comes naturally to him, effortless really. His strong scenes were really something, his emotional scenes were even better, and he delivered every time! He was an exquisite leading actor, he did justice to his character, and lived up to all the expectations. I am looking forward to seeing him the future.
However, even if i came for YSH, Man Gung Min stole my heart completely. He exceeded my expectations, his character was the most essential and important one for the story to make sense and not be ridiculous. He blew me away many times. His acting sent shivers down my spine. He was a complete lunatic, amazing facial expressions, to the point of overacting but still a person this crazy tend to over-do everything! His body expressions were also flawless. Luscious performance, heavenly acting! Really, my words aren't enough to express how great he was, best actor in this! The drama is basically worth watching to watch him. Amazing performance in every way.
Another surprise was Park Sung Woong. I am not sure why i was surprised by him, i didn't know him before this, his performance was amazing, sensuous, emotional. I don't know Korean, but i was taken away because of his rather peculiar pronnounciation, or the way he spoke, i don't know how to explain it, maybe it was just me. His acting felt rather unique to me. An overall great performance, and another actor i will follow from now on.
Park Mi Young. I read a lot of people had problems with her performance, i didn't. She wasn't amazing, but her character was so insignificant, she felt like the groupie of the main hero character. She was there just to support, nothing else. The story could have worked without her. I understand the importance and power of support in situations like this, but still. I guess every story needs a female lead, and for the purpose she was placed in the story, she did great!
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
I've seen many people dropping this, i don't understand the reason. I mean, this is a melo, what do you expect? Happy people running in corn fields with their hair untagled...? o.O This is a revenge melo, frustration and anger are a given. If you are a melo fan i think you will appreciate this a lot. It wasn't the excessive tear-jerker i was expecting it to be. I get sentimental with dramas very easily and i didn't shed a tear here. Borderline, this is definately recommended to melo fans, and definately worth a watch.
I wouldn't rewatch it though, the fact that it was infuriating combined with the fact that it was slow, doesn't make this essential for re-watching, at least not to me. Definately worth a watch though.
Was this review helpful to you?
STORY
The story has been done before, many times, in many different ways, but that doesn't mean it is any less interesting here. The description that is given, pretty much sums the very base idea, without spoiling anything,i just want to add that he doesn't JUST start living with her, there is a reason. I feel that the description should have made that reason clear to attract more viewers. The description, certainly, didn't make me curious about the show, the diverse reviews did (and the lead actors).
The drama revolves around the ideas of life, death, love and loneliness (with emphasis on the life and death part). Why should someone live? Is something or someone worth living for? Should people just die because their life has no meaning? Should someone live for himself, or find someone worth living for? All those ideas and many more are getting depicted in this drama. I loved the fact that the show adresses certain questions about living and dying. I am not sure if they can be appreciated by everyone, or you may, possibly, need to suffer by chronic depression or manic-depression to understand and appreciate them. However, i, myself, have quite a few times over the years troubled myself with such questions, and i found it refreshing that a show assesses such notions in such a wonderful and unique way i may add.
Love is obviously used here as the reason that someone should live and not give up. How can someone should live because someone else loves them, and you can learn to live and love yourself through that someone's eyes. Wonderful in every way. This is what this show does best, and it is basically the main reason i rated it with a high grade!
Since i started talking about the positive things of the show, i'll continue by saying that another thing this drama got right was the character development. The characters grew in 16 episodes so much. They went from being selfish, closed up, self-hating and cynical to accepting theirselves, forgiving theirselves, and learning from each other how to love themselves. Wonderful once again how they start and how they end up.
The drama is very character driven. Pretty much, nothing happens plot wise.... ever... If you are expecting a melodrama that will keep you at the edge of your seat with plot twists and backstory developments, this is not the show for you. The show is good at what it does and that is to show how the 2 main leads grow closer together. If you like romance, you'll like this since their moments are officially the most romantic moments i've seen in any melodrama ever!
And this brings me to another great thing of the show and that was the fact that it wasn't the excessive tear-jerker i was expecting it to be. Did i cry? Yes. Did i cry a lot? At the beginning yes. Was my cry justified? Totally. I couldn't help but compare this to Missing you which was a total and absolute tear jerker. I remember the leads poored buckets of tears. Here, yes you will cry, but the cry is because of happy moments. I was crying with a smile on my face and i liked that. I also appreciated the fact that the most sad moments were the ones that weren't told. I mean, they both have sad and sentimental stories, but they are never told in our faces, we see them in flashbacks, but they aren't thrown at us in order to force us to cry. I'll give an example, the main actress has mommy issues because she was abandoned by her mother when she was young. You can feel her pain and how she feels without ever telling us she misses her mom. You can tell she still hurts and you can tell she cries herself to sleep every night and she cannot trust anyone because of it. The actess and the writting made me feel that without ever being told. I appreciated that a lot!
This pretty much, sums up what this show got right. The drama, however, sadly, had quite a few drawbacks, that really made me angry along the way. Firstly, the show starts wonderfully, and it keeps it up for 5 episodes. Sadly after that it loses steam little by little, to the point of getting slow and borderling boring. Even if the episodes were easy to watch and didn't really drag, the drama was too character driven and some episodes felt too slow. Episodes 2-11 pretty much focuses on how the 2 main leads grow closer together. I loved it at first, then i bared with it, and at some point i was done. Still, all their moments (and they were many) were flawless, absolutely romantic, and unforgettable. (I praise the romantic soul who wrote them)
The main problem i had with the show, and the one that forced me to give it a 7.5 were the stupid and inexplicable character decisions... A drama that is character driven, relies on the characters and the way they act almost completely. Their actions, reactions and decisions should be rational, so the viewers could understand and relate. Here, i seriously had to force myself to let go of any shred of rationality i had in order to continue watching. There are some super ridiculous missunderstandings happening here for no reason, and on top of that (even when you let them go and you accept them even if it feels wrong), they get forgotten and never mentioned again in the next episode, like they never happened. On top of that, the characters' attidute was changing faster that the wind, making their actions even more inexplicable, stupid and unrealistic.
Overall, the story isn't anything groundbreaking, but it is indeed wonderful to watch them grow closer together, but not being able to be together for serious reasons. This combined with great character development and amazing romantic moments, made the show for me. The only drawback was those stupid irrational moments that made me angry.
ACTING
Almost flawless
Jo In Sung gave the performance of his career. I liked him in its ok thats love, but he outdid himself here. His emotional moments were the best i've seen in a kdrama thus far. He made me believe he was actually crying, the way he was desperately trying to keep his tears from dropping in a lot of the scenes, broke my heart. He was great and wonderful.
Song Hye Kyo. My first time watching the actress and she was great. She pulled off what i thought it wasn't possible, she made me believe she was blind. She wasn't flawless, but she was good at what she did.
Jung Eunji. I am not a fan of eunji as an idol, but omg the girl is talented. She can obviously sing, but her acting is good too! I wouldn't have guessed she is an idol originally if i hadn't already known. I've seen her in Reply1997, but there was no competition there, most of the actors were idols. Here she showed what she can really do, even if her character felt a lot like her reply1997 character. What i loved the most were the moments of mixed feelings she really got through to me. Her character was conviniently used to tie loose ends of the story, and was underdeveloped in general. She did good.
Kim Bum. I feel he was overshadowed by JIS. He was good, but in front of JIS he felt small, if you understand what i mean. However, he definately didn't bring the show down. The 2nd male and female leads were underused and underdeveloped in general, it probably wasn't even the actor's fault i feel this way.
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
To be honest i'd recommend it only if you a melo fan. I think melo fans are ready to sit back and watch slow episodes with only romantic and dramatic scenes between the 2 leads. Nothing *wowing* happens here in terms of story, so this is definately not for everyone.
Would i rewatch this? Probably not, it was alright, but it did feel slow after a while, and infuriated me at some point, so no.
THE ENDING
I'll give the ending a special part, of this rather huge review that noone will read, since i saw that most people hated the ending. It is true that the drama gets dragged after episode 12 (interestingly, i enjoyed the last 4 episodes more than the middle of the drama). Episode 14 felt like a very logical and nice ending that flew normally out of the show. The writters, apparently, wanted a happy ending though. Episode 14 ends in a rather pessimistic way, but not necessarily sad. However, the last episode was the best episode of the show imo. It exceeded expectations, and it was another reason that i rated the drama with a 7.5. Up to episode 15 i was getting ready to give it a much lower score, but the ending was wonderful. It keeps you guessing on whether what you see is real or not, but this is not your typical ending on a cliffhanger. Here, the ending basically depends on how you comprehend what happened up to that point, and what you want to believe but in any case, without it being too unrealistic and without letting more loose ends that they absolutely had to (that were unimportant from where i stand), they gave us a happy ending (no matter how you choose you see it) that really healed my soul after a roller coaster finale episode filled with emotions! I'd be so angry if it had finished any other way.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I feel very passionate towards Secret. I passionately hated it and passionately loved it while watching. It is the first drama that gave me such diverse feelings, and i am thankful and regretful because of that. Secret was the first drama that i thought of dropping, and one of the very least dramas that made me cry so much i actually hurt.STORY
You basically got the main premise of the show by the description: 'This drama will depict how a man falls in love with a woman who killed his lover' this is actually it. However even if it seems like a very straightforward show from the description this definately isn't the case. The base story here is about a hit and run incident in which the lead protagonist takes the fall and goes to jail. The hit and run incident ended up with a dead woman who is the love of the male protagonist. The two of them (the 2 leads) are meant to be together. The show starts so dramatically, the two of them have nothing to link them whatsoever, and this incident made their love even more unlikely. This was probably one of the main reasons i watched, in order to see if the writters can pull it off or it will be ridiculous. Well, they did pull it off, believe me!
Sadly, the main problem i had with the drama was the fact that it was boring beyond imagination, especially the first 5-6 episodes. People argued that the story progresses fast, and comments saying that none of the conversations are skippable. I disagree. The first 3 episodes were slow and super boring. The show tries harder after episode 4, it picks up in episode 7 and gets really enjoyable after episode 11. Episodes 11-16 were very good, and the last episode was F-L-A-W-L-E-S-S! But can one flawless episodes and a few GREAT plot twists in the end save a show? Yes they obviously can, since the overall rating i was planning on giving this was 7 and it went up to a 8.5, still even though i want to give it a higher rating, the first 5-6 episodes were almost unbearable to watch.
Another problem i had with the show was the fact that it wasn't obvious from the beginning what the drama was actually about. Was it the struggle of a woman who gets accused for a crime she didn't commit? Was it how she got through jail? No, to be honest it was about the aftermath of all this, and the romance that comes from revenge. The point of the show becomes apparent in episode 8 or so.
I will continue talking about the problems i had, saying that they overdramatized the female protagonist. I understand this is a melodrama, and the female lead needs to be vulnerable, and we need to feel sorry for her, yes, i get that; but, at some point i started thinking, what else can this woman (who has never done anything wrong in her life) go through?! I wanted to make this into a drinking game, i would do a shot whenever something sad happens to her (100% drunk rate in a few hours believe me). The show generally adresses, revenge, selfless people, selfish people and love, but in the first 6 episodes it mostly felt like: 'why bad things happen to good people?'.
These were pretty much the problems i had, with huge emphasis on the 'the first 6 episodes were dead boring'.
However, the show when it desides to pick up it does. It becomes very shocking, very emotional, until the last 2 episodes when it pretty much changes everything, and it exceeds expectations. The thing i need to praise the most is how they showed that love can come from revenge. The male protagonist is dead set on tormenting the female lead forever for killing his love, and yet, their love comes slowly and feels normal, it feels right, it feels natural. They showed how from hate comes doubts (doubts about if she is actually guilty), from doubts comes care and from care comes love. A huge applause to the writers for pulling this off without forcing it, and to the actors for making us believe in such an, otherwise, completely unrealistic thing. Probably this was the best and redeeming quality of the show along with the acting and the brilliant character development.
Overall, i had a difficulty rating the story. The base idea while it is interesting, i believe it is weak. The fact that the first episodes were dead boring didn't help either. Later on, the show rewards your (really huge) patience with amazing plot twists and couple swaps and shocking revealing moments. All of them felt very natural. Borderline, the fact that everything 'clicked' so perfectly made me give the story an actual 9. The writters took a somewhat weak idea, and crafted something definately worth watching. Congrats.
ACTING
Let's continue to the absolute BEST thing of the show, which is the acting. Possibly, the main reason i kept watching during the early episodes.
Hwang Jung Eum. ABSOLUTE QUEEN! I love her comedy skills, but i feel like she is overacting sometimes trying to be funny. After watching Secret, she needs to focus on melodramas. The woman has IT! She can pass her feelings on to you through a screen. I felt every scream, every cry, even when she was smiling, i felt her pain behind that smile. She was FLAWLESS in every way, she was luscious, we aren't worthy of her acting to be honest. A huge applaud to her, i will definately watch her other projects and looking forward to seeing her in the future.
Ji Sung. I already liked him but i LOVED him here. Official new fave actor. KMHM was more ON him, he was the star, secret is based more HJE's character, but Ji Sung really does a great job portraying a kid that evolves into a man. He had wonderful angry scenes, emotional scenes, his acting was real, spontaneous, sincere, truthful and emotional. The two leads shared a shivering chemistry, they need to act again together. Their chemistry really shines here!
Bae Su Bin deserves some special mention for his definitely memorable performance. For what he was given to do he was great, i hated his character with passion! This was his role's goal, and he delivered!
CHARACTERS
I'll need to dedicate a special part of this review to the characters. I need to talk about them. (If you haven't watched the drama already feel free to skip this part since it will, most probably, include spoilers). This drama has quite a few questionable character choices, that i need to talk about. Some dramas that deside to go in a controversial route don't have deep enough characters for the viewers to feel the need to excuse them or at least get in the mood to think what the characters are thinking, and generally understand them. However Secret, thankfully, does a great job making you think the reason why the characters do what they do.
Kang Yoo Jung. I'll start with the most difficult one. Here we have the selfless person. A person who will give up their own life for someone they love. KYJ suffered from the 'self-punishment' syndrome. She believed that she doesn't deserve anything good in her life, she believed she deserved the worst, and she kept hurting herself. I kind of understand why she did what she did in the beginning. It was her love, her one true love (or so she thought), and she probably thought it wouldn't end up with her going to jail and all that shit, so she took the fall ok. She gets out, and she breaks up, and omfg she keeps taking the blame, WHY GIRL WHY? You aren't with that (excuse of a) person anymore, you are free, stop accepting others treating you like a piece of shit, tell the truth, IT WAS HIS FAULT. But no, she still lies. She did things that made me believe that she actually believed she did it. Was she crazy? I couldn't keep watching if i couldn't enter her mind and understand what she was thinking. KYJ suffered from, what i said, self-punishment. How that happened? She was blaming herself for losing her kid, and that was it for her. She never deserved anything in her mind. I understand that, i get it. Up to a certain point i identified with her after this. I, myself, believe we need to be punished for the wrongs we have done. Sometimes the punishment you get from others isn't enough. KYJ kept and kept blaming herself for everything. She wasn't crazy she was depressed. Shocking character development to be honest, i appreciated her complicated character a lot.
Jo Min Hyuk. A selfish person. A spoiled playboy brat who only knows how to order people around and has never done anything in his life. Thankfully, the character development here is major. He went from being a spoiled brat into choosing others and not himself. Obviously you can understand that one of the best qualities of the show was the development of the characters! The way he stops hating her, and understands that a woman like that couldn't have done what she was accused of. He feels sorry for his mistakes, and he slowly begins to care. I appreciated the fact that when he confessed his feelings, he was shocked as well. He said what he said, and then he glared at her, like 'wtf did i just say? Do i really feel these things?' The actor did an amazing job getting these messages across just through his eyes. Amazing character, i loved him. Someone who can learn from the female lead how to care about others, and someone who can teach the female lead how to love herself. Seriously shivering couple dynamics, a perfect match. This couple was very well though. So much potential hidden, i couldn't possibly believe they could make them happen, but they did!
Ahn Do Hoon. Have you ever felt like punching a tv character in the throat? Or putting his house on fire? Wishing he would rot in hell for good? Yeah me neither, but it happened here. Here we get another selfish person. He is the exact opposite of JMH, while JMH evolves, ADH devolves. He is also the exact opposite of KYJ, while she puts all the blame for everything on herself, he places all the blame on others, saying this is his way to 'climb the ladder, and become a powerful person' Bitch, die! I hated him with passion what he did was fucked up, his excuses were shit, he was an official sociopath and a scary one! His ending was too lenient if you ask me
Shin Se Yeon. A self-centered rich spoiled girl, who wants something and she wants it now! Well girl, we all loved someone and we were rejected, grow up! A manipulator who does what she does using the excuse of having pushy parents. WE ALL DO, GROW THE FUCK UP! I can't say i really hated her, she was an unnecessary character imo. Her personality was very childish, and she never grew up.
MUSIC
We get another great OST here. Navi's song Incurable desease is flawless, you can hear the pain in the singer's voice.
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
Would i recommend it? Yes, even though i wasn't expecting me to say it. If you like melodramas you will love this one. Most people found it amazing from the beginning, which i really don't get but it says something. If you find the first episodes boring like me, don't drop it just yet, maybe you can fastforward the first episodes, read what happens online, and watch the interesting stuff. Believe me, i wanted to drop it more than 5 times, and in the end i am happy i didn't. However, please know, this isn't an easy watch!
Would i rewatch it? Honestly, no, the first episodes were boring, the later episodes were too dramatic, once is enough. Maybe, just to watch HJE act like aboss again, just for her!
Was this review helpful to you?
So what was so extraordinary about Ho Goo's love? The drama without straying away too far from the usual kdrama cliches, like archetype characters, or absurd coinsidences and ridiculous comedy, manages to deliver something unique, be different and adress specific issues that not only are taboo when it comes to the dramaland but also ignored and overlooked in reality as well.
Ho Goo's love doesn't shy away from several problems that are incriminated by society like unexpected pregnancy, different sexual orientation, plastic beauty, single mothers working and taking care of their family simultaneously. As well as adressing several society issues like domestic psychological abuse, sexual assault, bullying, dating-sexual abuse, suiside - i can seriously go on. Sounds pretty heavy already?
Well, you can rest assured, it's not. It centers around Ho Goo, an adorkable character and his crazy life full of coincidence and absurd situations. His first love reappears after 6 years but this time she has a secret and everything just keeps getting more and more tangled from there.
The drama actually comes off as way too cute, even fluffy. It relies a lot on comedy but this is exactly what i loved so much about it. The perfect blend of absurd and hilarious coincidences that might make you raise your eyebrow a bit, together with the severity and intensity of all those society issues that people tend to turn a blind to. The drama is a perfect mixture of melodrama and comedy, one of the best i've watched. It starts focusing on comedy and it gradually turns to darker themes without losing its funny spark.
I have to admit that the characters were a little difficult to warm up to. The whole drama actually was hard to get used to. The characters are ridiculous, the situations are bizarre and they take some time to become likeable and feel real/acceptable. The drama gets drastically better after the midway point and it gets seriously addicting too. The main reason i don't rate it higher besides the warming-up-to-the-characters and the unreal coincidences parts, is that i felt that they over-ridiculed a few very serious matters and it felt borderline offensive. However, this was the best way to showcase them without making it too sad, appeal to a larger audience and still send a few messages along the way.
I have only positive things to say about the acting. It wasn't exceptional but it was satisfying.
Choi Woo Sik, exceeded my expections, but i doubt i even had any coming in. He was hilarious and absolutely adorable. A perfect fit for this role. Uee's performance was spectacular, she aced her dramatic scenes, more than anything else. Lee Soo Kyung needs more roles. She was entertaining beyond imagination. Im Seul Ong was another pleasant surprise, his performance was realistic in a questionable character, and always amusing. The whole supporting cast was amazing.
Overall the drama is not the masterpiece of our time, but it's definitely worth checking out. It brings something old and something new together and the results are commendable! I'd recommend this to everyone feeling like watching a significant but still light rom com. Rom com fans will enjoy this immensely, while melodrama fans if you ever feel like something more light-hearted than usual, this is a great choice.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
One Warm Word falls into the relationship/marriage drama category of the kdrama genre. It depicts the life of marriage, its ups and downs, its problems and ways to get through them. It was a rather heavy drama, difficult to digest, certainly not for everyone, but quite good at what it wanted to present.STORY
I will start by introducing the ideas and meanings of the drama. It doesn't talk about the affair at all. We vaguely get the reasons behind the affair. The drama basically wants to present what happens AFTER an affair. What happens to the person who commited the adultery, him/her and their family, as well as on a more social level. The description made me think that we get to see how it started and why it started, like other dramas with similar premises but this isn't the case here. The show wanted to express the repercussion of such an act. On a second level the drama wants to pass the message of 'Work on your marriage' No matter how broken it may be, and seemingly dead, it might not be, don't throw your marriage away because something happened (it doesn't have to be cheating), work on it with your spouse, divorce isn't always the answer.
The drama is character driven, nothing happens here in terms of backstory and secrets ect, just 2 couples who are working things out in different (or quite similar) ways. I can understand people calling it boring, and i won't argue with that, the show does get dragged quite a lot, especially in the middle where it felt like it was going around in circles. I do believe that in a marriage after adultery people don't just *choose* what's best, so the writters took a more realistic turn here and i appreciated that, but that didn't stop the show from becoming boring, and i've seen other dramas with similar premises that didn't get boring.
The overall experience of the drama was great, but i did have 3 quite sizeable problems with it:
1. Exaggerated situations. I will not elaborate on this because i will have to post spoilers. It is basically that in order to establish how bad adultery is the situations they introduced felt far fetched. I kind of felt like when i was a kid and my parents were scolding me like: 'This is what will happen to you when you cheat, so don't do it, ever'. Some of the situations were shocking and gave me chills, and sometimes they felt exaggerated and laughable.
2. Unreasonable character choices. This was my biggest problem and the main reason the show got an 8 and not some higher grade. I basically had problems with Ji Jin Hee's and Kim Jee Soo's characters. Their choices were unreasonable just to please the idea of 'work on your marriage', what they chose to do, felt forced and wrong in my opinion, and that made a question pop into my mind: 'Should we always work on something that is dead? Is it always worth it'
3. Overall the drama doesn't depict the concept of infidelity right in my opinion. It rather felt like a one-sided presentation of why you shouldn't do it. I know they wanted to focus on the repercussions of this, but how can we evaluate what happened if we don't know the whole story. We only vaguely were told the reasons of the adulterers, and they only had 1(!) scene together. This is one sided imo, to force us not ship them at all. I am not dead set on shipping adulterous couples, but i want to see the whole story, i want to see what each couple has to offer and then choose on my own who should be with who and for which reasons.
CHARACTERS
Spoilers ahead, feel free to skip this part if you haven't watched.
Yoo Jae Hak. I can understand people hating him, he deserved to be hated, but i didn't hate him for the apparent reasons. Yes he cheated and he is guilty, but i didn't hate him for this. I didn't hate him when he had literally no remorse over what his did (this rather shocked me), i didn't even hate him when he tried to turn all the situation around and blame his wife. And no, i didn't even hate him when he stated stupid excuses for having the affair. He basically said he was unhappy, since everything that he ever did weren't his own choices, but things dictated by others, his parents ect. Yes, i understand where you are coming from, but noone forced you to marry, you should have standed up in front of your parents and spoke your mind. I don't know what the appropriate thing to do is in Korea, but saying no to marrying someone you don't want isn't a trangression to any set of unwritten good manners rules, right? What actually made me hate his guts was the fact that he clinged to a loveless marriage. And hence what i said about unreasonable character decisions before. What was that? You never loved your wife, you loved the fact that she gave you 2 sons, you loved the fact that she was there, and you loved your family, NOT HER! You said you were unhappy and you did say you LOVE the other woman. OK THEN, LIVE UP TO WHAT YOU SAID AND LEAVE!! Divorce man, divorce yes! Why cling to something that, it isn't only dead now, it was NEVER ALIVE TO BEGIN WITH! He apparently felt obligated to be with her because his dead daddy dictated him to. Unhappiness is right there saying hello to you....
Song Mi Kyung. Ew, what a character, i hated her even more. She was borderline crazy for me. It was so obvious she had the 'good person' syndrome. She entered a loveless marriage, she was in love, but never recieved love, she did everything by herself in this marriage, bring up children, pleasing a bitch of a mother-in-law, convincing herself that she is happy with the grains of love her husband gave to her. She was the best possible wife so he would have nothing to nag about, and then convinced herself, that she is happy. What is that? The fact that in this loveless marriage it took him 20 years to cheat once, is unrealistic to begin with! Consider yourself lucky. She argued that she loved him a lot, and that she can accept him the way he is. Ok then, he is a cheater, accept it! Oh no? You can't? Then leave! And there she was being a total bitch saying i hate you and i cannot forgive you, but i don't want a divorce either... o.O This made no sense to me. I couldn't root for them to be together, there was literally NOTHING there for them to work out. Their marriage was sickening and wrong, they had formed a very weird siblings-like relationship or a mother-son/father-daughter relationship and then had 2 kids...
Both characters were unreasonable. This was the worst and best part of the show at the same time. Life's goals must be happiness. What this show showed was that, if you are married you aren't allowed to divorce, stay there and if you love your spouse you get to have a second chance, if you don't you have to stay unhappy forever. This is wrong for me, the fact that the show had a happy ending was also unrealistic, especially in the case of these 2. At the same time, however, how can we expect 2 people who have never savoured happiness in their lives, who always were pressured into things, never loved, to suddenly man-up and leave a dysfunctional relationship? How can we expect 2 people in such an unreasonable situation to act... reasonable. The only way i can excuse and understand them is thinking this: Couples who are on the verge of a break down will clutch at straws, and those straws are each other, even if they aren't each other's best option, they are their only, and it is safer that starting over with someone new. Now this is REALITY! Reality isn't always reasonable, is it?
Kim Sung Woo. The most loveable character! The show forced you to root for him, and they put a great actor in this role, you just couldn't resist! The most important lesson about his character was that people deserve a second chance, the usual saying of 'once a cheater, always a cheater' isn't always true (oh, but it is!). I did feel his character was rather too good to be true, but he was the most reasonable one.
Na Eun Jin. I base what i said about exaggerated situations on her. Yes, she cheated and she is to blame, but omg, come on, 3 of the 4 leads here cheated, none of them got through all the hate and left-loathing and self-panishing she got through. I guess it is because she is a woman, this is a reality not only in korea but world-wide, but i guess it is even worse there. I didn't hate her, i couldn't to be honest, i was mostly angry at her for not knowing what she wanted for 20 episodes, and in the very end i do believe she settled for the most ensuring choice.
What i loved is that the drama told us that a broken marriage isn't a result of infidelity but infidelity is a result of a broken marriage. Still the first couple had NOTHING going on for them, while the 2nd one had communication problems, love was there, and if love is there everything can be overpassed! Love isn't something that can be pushed though, it has to come naturally. The overall compalsive meaning of 'stay inside your marriage no matter what' bugged me. Maybe i am a home wrecker i don't know, i just believe that happiness should be our goal, marrying someone doesn't mean they are the right choice 100%.
ACTING
I am not sure how i feel about the acting here. Special thanks to Ji Jin Hee and Lee Sang Woo for saving it to be honest.
Ji Jin Hee. His character was very straightforward and serious, he did feel like he had no feelings, but his character was like that. He had a few scenes that there were tips of his feelings being let out, and JJH express them perfectly, as a man who has learned to surpress his feelings deep inside and at the same time as a person who just hurts.
Kim Jee Soo. I am not sure lol. Some of her scenes were dramatic and sincere and amazing in every way, and some others were all over the place. What was that? Her character was borderline crazy so i blame that. I couldn't emotionally connect with her or understand her at all, and she was supposed to be the 'good' guy so for me she failed.
Lee Sang Woo. He was great, he was amazing, he was sensuous, he was almost flawless. I loved his character development, i loved his dramatic moments, they were sincere, he made me feel all his second thoughts, all his doubts and his dreams and his hopes. Wonderful actor.
Han Hye Jin. Nope, she didn't do what she was supposed to do. She was overacting most of the time, and in all those moments she fell short. I'm sorry girl, but no.
Special mention to Han Groo, she was great and especially to Park Seo Joon. This is comes from someone who doesn't really like him, he was very good here, another case of an actor's talent being wasted in fluffy rom-coms when he has so much more to offer than that!
REWATCH/RECOMMEND
I would recommend it only to people who enjoy character driven shows. People who want a backstory and rapid plot developments this is not for you!
I wouldn't rewatch this, firstly because it was difficult to watch and understand and secondly because it got dragged in the middle.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Pff, Missing you made me really sad, not because of the melodrama, or the plot, or the acting, or the situations, but because of what this drama COULD have been, and what it was in the end... If you want me to describe this drama in 1 word, that would definately be: DISSAPOINTING!STORY
The description of the show tries to get you in the mood of the plot without spoiling anything, i won't try to make it more accurate in fear of spoiling something. Firstly, the drama's main concept is revenge, and how noone should live his life trying to take revenge. The 2nd lesson i got was that people shouldn't just care for money that much, money destroys you, money is just a means to an end and nothing more, it shouldn't be your life's goal. Apart from these, the show adresses other everyday social issues, like domestic abuse, bullying at school among other things, but (spoiler ahead) most importantly, rape. This issue gets explored several times during the show. These notions are basically one of the best (if not the best) things that this show has to offer.
Talking about the plot, the base idea/plot/story is amazing in every way, the writers had an amazing idea in their heads, but they never made it work, it never worked out, they never thought it through, so we got a very, VERY bad development. I am gonna start by saying the first 4 episodes are flashbacks basically, they are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Words aren't enough, one of the best things i have seen, ever, in kdramas, it is very obvious that the show will have a difficult time living up to THESE expectations. After episode 5 we go to the future to see what our characters are doing today, and thats when the story gets bad a little by little. The writers tried to keep up the drama and they succeeded for merely 3-4 episodes, but it wasn't possible after that....
The main problems i had with the show are just 2:
Problem 1: TOO MUCH CRYING. I understand this is a melodrama, and i understand the actors are expected to cry. But, give me some reasons to cry for them. I feel for the characters, i understand what they have gone through, i get their problems, their thoughts, everything. BUT OH GAWD, PUHLEASE, LETS CONTINUE THE STORY! The actors were literally forced to cry in every episode, the lead actress had red eyes constantly, it started being ridiculous at some point. I swear to god, they must had a problem with dehydration!
Problem 2: The show focuses too much on the love story hence there isn't enough time for the backround story to develop. Don't get me wrong, i loved the couple, i shiped them since moment 1, i felt for them, i cried for them; but, at some point, their love became the same repetitive shit over and over again. Enough is enough. They could have resolved everything that needed to be resolved faster, or at least, at the same time as the backround story develops.
Overall, the show spends too much time on the love story, and at first you bare with it, then it gets boring, then it gets dragged, then it gets ridiculous, and at some point you will get angry, and in the end when the show tries to wrap up but leaves like 10 plot holes you will be furious for the 21 hours of your life you spent watching it. I've watched dramas that wrap up everything, even characters that noone cared about in 16 episodes, and they had 21 and they couldn't make it? COME ON! This is just lazy writing. The main mystery/backstory doesn't even get explained, like it didn't matter. The reason that all this happened, never gets explored, not to mention that towards the end they introduce such stupid new things while not adressing the older ones.
All in all, the writers had an idea in their minds, but they lost it on the way, i guess. The show had a direction a reason and an end game that was obvious from the beginning, but towards the end they stray away from their end game, they change everything for no reason, and you just feel betrayed. Dissapointment in the one word that can describe my feeling right at this moment.
ACTING
Best part of the show. Amazing acting from pretty much everyone, including the supporting cast.
Firstly, i seriously need to congratulate the kid actors. They were better than the grown actors to be honest!
Kim So Hyun, i read she won a best young actress award for her role here, yes she deserved it 100%. She was flawless, amazing, charismatic, dramatic, pretty, sentimental, emotional. Flawless in every way, girl you got a bright future! A revealation of an actress!
Yeo Jin Goo. He was extremely good as well, especially when he was playing opposed to KSH, he kept up well with her, amazing acting.
As for the grown actors, Park Yoo Chun was amazing, he was loveable, cute, nice, polite, kind, and tough when he needed to be. I really liked all his emotional scenes, they were touching, he was great in every way, especially when you think he is originally an idol.
Yoo Seung Ho, even if i didn't like his character, his acting was no joke, best actor out of the main cast. He was literally scary. He was twisted, and at the same time, in need of love, he was scary and at the same time kindhearted, h was everything. His acting was amazing and he was like 19 here. Another young actor with a great future.
The only reason i didn't give the acting part a 10 was because of Yoon Eun Hye's acting. I mean yes, she was ok, but for a leading lady, and especially after Kim So Hyun and her flawless acting, YEH couldn't possibly fill in those shoes. The kid was flawless and emotional in ways YEH wasn't.
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
Guys, i never thought i'd say that, but no, avoid this drama, it is a tear-jerker, and not a good one. As i said the show forces you to cry for the same things over and over again. Plus it focuses too much on the love story it loses its way, and all these combined with the plot holes and unexplained plot lines and backstory at the end, make this a huge no.
I won't rewatch it, ever, but i'd definately rewatch the first 4 episodes because they were mind blowing.
Was this review helpful to you?
STORY
The base story is rather complicated and the description does it no justice. To be honest, the description sparked no interest in me at all, the overall rating and people recommending it made me watch it. So how can i make things simple in this one? We basically have 2 stories that collide. Story 1: The male lead, Park Soo Ha, his father gets brutally murdered in front of him and he obviously wants the murderer to rot in jail. Story 2: We have 2 girls, Jang Hye Sung and Seo Do Yeon, they have a missunderstanding (... of some shorts, you'll get what i mean when you watch it) and they get involved in the murder case as in, they are witnesses of the murder. This is your very base story, i don't think i spoiled anything, more like i made that confusing description make sense. This is the first 10 minutes of the pilot... interested yet?
After that we go 10 years in the future to see what our leads are doing today. Soo Ha is in high school, Hye Sung is a public lawyer and Do Yeon is a prosecutor. It is fairly obvious that we have a legal drama in our hands. The 2 girls are enemies for... reasons, and Soo Ha has been in love with Hye Sung ever since his father's trial because she gave the decisive testimony that threw his father's murderer in jail. So the show starts from here and develops.
I feel the need to establish the main meaning of the show, or at least what i got while watching it, from now. REVENGE ISN'T GOOD! The whole show revolves around the idea of revenge, and it tells you that revenge has nothing to give you, revenge brings nothing good to the table it just brings more and more pain. Moreover, it says that there is no need to spend time hating someone for something he did to you, you gain nothing from hating, just keep moving and life itself will get in the way of that someone's life. If you try to do something to get revenge, that bad action will come back at you, so there is no reason to push it. Seriously wonderful food for thought, amazing moral standards that we all should follow (especially me who have/had quite a different take on revenge)
Apart from the idea of revenge, the show, being a legal drama, adresses several moral questions of the law, how it works, and what it means to be a lawyer. Example: Should a lawyer believe his client no matter what? What if the client is lying? If they are a murderer should the lawyer try their best to keep them out of jail, or they deserve to be locked up? Even if they did murder someone, what about their reasons? Do they justify what they did? You get the idea... The legal part is like the 40% of the show. Basically we see Hye Sung deal with several separate legal cases where each case wants to make a point about law and all the questions i mentioned above, and at the same time we get some relationship and love triangle development.
The rest 60% of the show revolves around the backstory of the murder i mentioned in the beginning. The murderer gets out of jail and he wants revenge on everyone and everything. At the same time we get several backstory reveals on all the characters which was refreshing and great.
Now that i mentioned everything this show did right, time to discuss what this show got wrong, at least in my opinion. I basically had 3 very simple problems with the development of the show.
Problem 1: Boring legal cases. Episodes 2-7 are filled with 3, quite interesting, but unrelated to the main plot, legal cases. Yes they were interesting, but this isn't a procedural show, i hate when they do that. Episode 1 was AMAZEBALLS, like at-the-edge-of-your-sit, mind-blowing, screen-punching amazing and then we get 6 episodes of basically nothing. Yes, i liked them, but what i would have liked more? Episode 8 as episode 2 or 3....
Problem 2: Something i have faced before in other kdramas. Silly reasons for the main couple to not be together. C'mon who likes that? We all know they will end up together, if the writers can't find some serious reasons to have them apart, then don't play with out nerves and hearts and let them be happy as soon as possible! This really, really got on my nerves when the show started pushing us to cry because of the silly conversations that lead to the main couple to keep breaking up and hurt each other. Unnecessary as.... you get the idea....
Problem 3: Ok, halfway through the show, on episode 9 happens a huge game changer. I won't spoil what it is. Anyway, some people might love it, i was in two minds about it at first, but in the end i ended up to the conclusion that it was unnecessary and brought nothing to the show but unnecessary couple drama, and it basically served as a plot-slower (does this word even exist? I mean they wanted to slow down the plot since the show got extended because of high ratings). Many people argued that this 'game changer' was used to establish that the main couple really loved each other. Guys, c'mon i understand you wanting to defend your favourite show, i've been there, but this is not the way. It was well established that the couple was crazy in love almost from the beginning, this was purely unnecessary. Anyway, at least, it gets resolved fast -thank god-. Lastly, since i didn't want to give this a separate 'problem' mention, there were some minor but very obvious plot holes to conviniently help the story develop. Example: it is said that the male protagonist needs to look in someone's eyes to read his thoughts, but there are quite a few times he suddenly hears thoughts without looking at someone's eyes. Stupid plot hole that could have been avoided, but this isn't enough to kill the overall vibe of the show.
Taking problem 3 out, i have faced the 2 other problems in other kdramas, and i need to accept that this is how kdramas are written, so i need to stop whinying, but i won't! :P Other from these 3, everything else was completely on point, apart from some boring conversations here and there (i have to confess there were some episodes that nothing really happened, i will dub these episodes 'filler episodes', there weren't many but they were there).
One more thing i feel the need to mention is the supernatural element. I generally like when dramas give a supernatural twist in their stories, but they still keep them real. However, i know there are people who feel reluctant about watching a drama because of these supernatural twists. Here the supernatural element doesn't bother the development of the show, it doesn't feel fake or forced at all (ok maybe during the middle because of problem 3), in the contrary it helps the show develop and move forward and it is sweet most of the time too!
Giving the show an overall look, what i possibly liked the most was the incredible character development, all of the characters mature, i mean we get a bitchy shut down prosecutor with daddy issues who grows into a woman who owns who she is in the end. We get a shut down bitchy lawyer who only does her job for the money and sucks at it, and in the end we have a great woman who values people and their opinion. You get the idea. Another thing i loved, and i will stop there because noone will read this long ass review, is the fact that almost all plot insidents are important and are connected. I liked how every action of the characters had a reaction of some kind. I won't say anything more because i don't want to spoil anything. What you need to understand is that the writing and backstory here is perfection, possibly the best backstory i've ever seen in a kdrama thus far.
ACTING
I felt like acting was the weakest part of the show. it wasn't bad in any way, but to be honest i was expecting better.
Lee Jong Suk, looked great and i appreciated it, but i wasn't there for the eye candy, his acting was weak imo. He was alright, but i know korean actors can do more than alright.
Lee Bo Young, was great, especially her mother-daughter scenes were perfect (you'll get what i say when you see her)
Lee Da Hee, in my opinion she was the true star of the show, at least acting wise. I loved her acting from head to toe, she was flawless, especially the way her acting changed along with her character development. Wonderful actress
Yoon Sang Hyun, even though i disliked the character there is nothing bad to be said about the actor, he was the 'funny' one, but serious and emotional when he was supposed to be.
The supporting cast wasn't excuisite, but they were above average. Overall a great job.
MUSIC
I only have a separate music part in my reviews when the music is very good, here it was very good, i loved the OST!
RECOMMEND/REWATCH
Definately a must watch, to be honest normal people wouldn't even care about the 3 problems i named, i know most people like those silly problems that keep the couple apart, and a lot of people like separate cases that keep things interesting. I don't, it is a matter of preference, what was supposed to be great was here, so definately watch it!
Would i rewatch it? Yeah, why not, if there was an episode on tv i'd definately would rewatch it. I doubt i'd watch it on purpose alone again though
Was this review helpful to you?
Let's start with the plot. The drama is quite ingenious. The story centers the crazy life of a webtoon character, and how, in order to complete his story, he needs the help of real life people. You can guess what is happening between real life and webtoon characters... Crazy right? The show is a fantasy romance drama so get ready for a high ride cause the plot is so unpredictable that it touches the side of nonsensical many times. The CGI was beautifully made and it made my jaw drop many times.
Best thing about this: unpredictability and singularity.
The drama fluctuates in a constant climax, the suspense is kept at high rates throughout the show, it never stops being funny, it never stops being interesting, it is always fulfilling and the most important, not a tedious moment. The romance has a very relevant role (while it didn't have to), and you won't miss your fluffy rom-com scenes in midst of all the craziness of the main plot.
However, even if, i thoroughly enjoyed W and its wonderful idea and writing, there were 2 things that kept me from giving it a 10, and the more i watched, sadly, the more discontented i felt.
1. The failed and forced romance. Not that the main leads shared no chemistry, on the contrary, i enjoyed their moments quite a lot; it's just the romance, in such an erratic script felt like it didn't belong. It felt utterly forced to the point that i started asking myself, 'do they really need to be together?', 'Just move on with the plot.', 'They aren't working together, it's all in vain.' W proved that while a good romance and chemistry is essential for a drama to work, it definitelly isn't necessary if the plot is strong enough.
2. The convenient writing to the point or ridiculousness and irrationality. First half, everything's makes sense, there is a continuation, a reason, an end-game. I won't stay at how the plot had some convenient back and forth, at least every time it went back it tried to stay original and not repeat same patterns. The main problem came in the 2nd half. In order to close potential plot-holes, and to make everything work out in such a messy and abnormal plot, the writing started being incosistent and making no sense. Conducive situations, newly introduced plot twists that were totally illogical just to make the script work. Were they bad? No, not at all, they were all surprising and thrilling. Did they bug me? Yes, and that is why the overall rating goes down to 8.5. This is apparently a drama that you need to switch your logic off, sit back and get ready for the wonderful ride without asking too many questions. If i could sum the writing up in a phrase i would say 'Too ambitious for its own good'.
Moving on to the acting, the outcome was overall satisfying but not perfect.
I'm no fan of Lee Jong Suk, but he was pretty charming here, his acting was almost excellent, even if he overplayed his 'look at my cute smile' card a lot.
Han Hyo Joo gave a wonderful performance, she was in charge of comedy and drama, and her character was very essential to the plot. I can't deny that she overacted a little during her comedy scenes, not that it was cringy but it was obvious. Stiil, she aced all her dramatic scenes, which makes me want to see her in a melodrama soon.
However, the performance that was the most memorable and i would like to call impeccable is Kim Eui Seong's. His character was completely indispensable to the plot and his performance was spectacular.
My personal favourite was Lee Shi Eon, who was absolutely adorable and funny in every scene he appeared.
Even if this wasn't the perfect gem that i expected, i would really recommend this to every drama fan. It is innovative and unpredictable. Such combinations are rare in kdramaland, so do not turn a blind eye on this one, it's definitely not brilliant but it came really close, certainly worth a watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
