GrumpyInsomniac
Enjoyable but fairly forgettable rom com with a side of murder
Suspicious Partner was fun. It combined a murder plot and legal drama with a classic rom com and still maintained a light tone. It clipped along at a good pace and had likeable characters. But a week after watching it I've already forgotten a lot about it, so for me this is an enjoyable but largely forgettable show. Good for when you want to switch your brain off and just have fun with an entertaining plot.
The writing was generally good, though this drama did manage to include practically every trope in existence. The writer did a great job of weaving an ongoing serial killer storyline, weekly legal cases, romance, and side plots together and creating engaging characters. I did get frustrated with some of the writing choices every now and again, especially when they lost some of the momentum in the murder sub plot near the end, but this was a generally well written show. I liked the romance to begin with, but by the time the show neared its conclusion there had been so many obstacles placed in their way that I'd slightly lost interest. The secondary romance didn't really work, largely because they wrote the second female lead to be pretty unlikeable and attempted to remedy it too late.
The performances were great, especially that of Dong Ha and Nam Ji Hyun who played the female lead. I thought Ji Hyun was charming and was really impressed by her, and Dong Ha was so good he stole the show at times. I also really enjoyed a lot of the supporting characters; Choi Tae Joon was very engaging as the second male lead, and I particularly liked the character of Ji Hae. It was a minor part, but I wanted to see more of her, which is a credit to the performance by Kim Ye Won. I know Ji Chang Wook is incredibly popular, but his performance was one of the weaker ones for me. He's good when he's doing action scenes or serious scenes, but I found him less convincing when required to act happily with someone he loved. There was a scene with his mother where he grinned inanely at her in a seeming display of affection and I found it pretty jarring, and I felt the same in some of his scenes with the female lead. He's better at playing darker emotions than happier ones and I'd have preferred his performance if it was more restrained in those lighter moments.
Overall this is an enjoyable show and I'd recommend it, just don't set your expectations too high.
The writing was generally good, though this drama did manage to include practically every trope in existence. The writer did a great job of weaving an ongoing serial killer storyline, weekly legal cases, romance, and side plots together and creating engaging characters. I did get frustrated with some of the writing choices every now and again, especially when they lost some of the momentum in the murder sub plot near the end, but this was a generally well written show. I liked the romance to begin with, but by the time the show neared its conclusion there had been so many obstacles placed in their way that I'd slightly lost interest. The secondary romance didn't really work, largely because they wrote the second female lead to be pretty unlikeable and attempted to remedy it too late.
The performances were great, especially that of Dong Ha and Nam Ji Hyun who played the female lead. I thought Ji Hyun was charming and was really impressed by her, and Dong Ha was so good he stole the show at times. I also really enjoyed a lot of the supporting characters; Choi Tae Joon was very engaging as the second male lead, and I particularly liked the character of Ji Hae. It was a minor part, but I wanted to see more of her, which is a credit to the performance by Kim Ye Won. I know Ji Chang Wook is incredibly popular, but his performance was one of the weaker ones for me. He's good when he's doing action scenes or serious scenes, but I found him less convincing when required to act happily with someone he loved. There was a scene with his mother where he grinned inanely at her in a seeming display of affection and I found it pretty jarring, and I felt the same in some of his scenes with the female lead. He's better at playing darker emotions than happier ones and I'd have preferred his performance if it was more restrained in those lighter moments.
Overall this is an enjoyable show and I'd recommend it, just don't set your expectations too high.
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