Boring, Weird, Deceptively Basic Plot
My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.
I wasn't sure about watching this. I'm not really into contract romances. However, psychological is my favorite K-drama genre... so I do like darker stuff.
Acting/Cast: A good cast with good acting. Although, two of the characters, I think, looked too similar. It may be confusing for people who are new to K-dramas. It was Jo Yi Geon (조이건), who for some reason isn't listed in the cast (the second female lead's new husband) and Kim Dong Won (김동원), who plays the stalker. When I was half paying attention to this drama I would get them mixed up. There's also some characters in this drama that I'm not sure why they're there. But, to be fair, I'm not sure why this drama is doing anything it's doing. 7/10
Writing: This drama is so overdramatic. They tease the hell out of us like it's such a crazy murder mystery and it's not. Literally, it's nothing. It's all a gimmick. This drama is more like a life drama that's trying to trick us into thinking it's a scary mystery drama. The villains are non-threatening and the motives are weak. Actually, the real villains are the cops because they refuse to lock up a psycho murderer until after he kills someone, but they have to catch him doing it on camera with his face showing clearly. So if the cops aren't going to do anything about this dude, then someone else will...naturally. The story is just very predictable and way overdramatic for what the plot actually is. By the end...well I wasn't really surprised by how dull the "revelations" were because I could see it coming, but it was pretty strange that there wasn't really anything to the story and that the contract marriage aspect to it was really just a gimmick. They could have told the same story without that and I think it would have been much better, too - there would be more at stake. The female lead doesn't make much sense. Even the whole thing with her and her ex was overdramatic and weird. The male lead was a decent character, though. I think he was the only decently written aspect of this drama (except if I had his trauma, I'd have a device on me at all times that detects hidden cameras). The ending...I haven't seen such a sudden dramatic change in a character before. It only made this whole drama feel even more pointless. 1/10
Direction/SFX/Music: The SFX is fine. The music is good, but it doesn't fit the drama. It just feels so dramatic for no reason. I wanted to say that this drama feels "over-produced", but when I looked up exactly what that word means, people said either it means you can't explain why you don't like a film or that there's too much meaning behind every little thing. But, I mean it in the sense that it feels really flashy (the music, camera work, direction, etc.) as if the story is going to be something really badass or scary or intricate, but it's really not. The production is gaslighting me. The direction is also confusing for no reason - making scenes appear as if they're dreams when they're not? Right? 4/10
Entertainment Value: I binged this drama, but not because I was liking it. It was because it's only 8 episodes and I just wanted to get it over with. I wish I didn't though. I feel like I wasted my time. Nothing cool happens; it just gets more dumb and confusing as it goes. 1/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 3.5/10. The production of it felt a lot like The Glory, but the writing was more like...Please Don't Date Him...yeah that's a good reference. That's another overdramatic drama that was really just a life drama that used sci-fi and mystery elements to make it seem like it was going to be something more interesting.
I wasn't sure about watching this. I'm not really into contract romances. However, psychological is my favorite K-drama genre... so I do like darker stuff.
Acting/Cast: A good cast with good acting. Although, two of the characters, I think, looked too similar. It may be confusing for people who are new to K-dramas. It was Jo Yi Geon (조이건), who for some reason isn't listed in the cast (the second female lead's new husband) and Kim Dong Won (김동원), who plays the stalker. When I was half paying attention to this drama I would get them mixed up. There's also some characters in this drama that I'm not sure why they're there. But, to be fair, I'm not sure why this drama is doing anything it's doing. 7/10
Writing: This drama is so overdramatic. They tease the hell out of us like it's such a crazy murder mystery and it's not. Literally, it's nothing. It's all a gimmick. This drama is more like a life drama that's trying to trick us into thinking it's a scary mystery drama. The villains are non-threatening and the motives are weak. Actually, the real villains are the cops because they refuse to lock up a psycho murderer until after he kills someone, but they have to catch him doing it on camera with his face showing clearly. So if the cops aren't going to do anything about this dude, then someone else will...naturally. The story is just very predictable and way overdramatic for what the plot actually is. By the end...well I wasn't really surprised by how dull the "revelations" were because I could see it coming, but it was pretty strange that there wasn't really anything to the story and that the contract marriage aspect to it was really just a gimmick. They could have told the same story without that and I think it would have been much better, too - there would be more at stake. The female lead doesn't make much sense. Even the whole thing with her and her ex was overdramatic and weird. The male lead was a decent character, though. I think he was the only decently written aspect of this drama (except if I had his trauma, I'd have a device on me at all times that detects hidden cameras). The ending...I haven't seen such a sudden dramatic change in a character before. It only made this whole drama feel even more pointless. 1/10
Direction/SFX/Music: The SFX is fine. The music is good, but it doesn't fit the drama. It just feels so dramatic for no reason. I wanted to say that this drama feels "over-produced", but when I looked up exactly what that word means, people said either it means you can't explain why you don't like a film or that there's too much meaning behind every little thing. But, I mean it in the sense that it feels really flashy (the music, camera work, direction, etc.) as if the story is going to be something really badass or scary or intricate, but it's really not. The production is gaslighting me. The direction is also confusing for no reason - making scenes appear as if they're dreams when they're not? Right? 4/10
Entertainment Value: I binged this drama, but not because I was liking it. It was because it's only 8 episodes and I just wanted to get it over with. I wish I didn't though. I feel like I wasted my time. Nothing cool happens; it just gets more dumb and confusing as it goes. 1/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 3.5/10. The production of it felt a lot like The Glory, but the writing was more like...Please Don't Date Him...yeah that's a good reference. That's another overdramatic drama that was really just a life drama that used sci-fi and mystery elements to make it seem like it was going to be something more interesting.
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