InspectorMegre

Totally delightful, a true treat, a true HEALING ART

This drama is one of those classic masterpieces, 10 star drama with significant impact. Super great script, acting, camera, music, messages, everything.

=====written after ep 9 =======
This drama is not about two ppl who quickly fell in love and jumped on each other

This drama is about two wounded ppl who ran into each other bc of work, and then started collaborating and helping each other, HEALING, and slowly falling in love.
SO THIS IS SLOW BURN EMOTIONAL WORKOUT
LIKE IN REAL LIFE

YOU SEE THE RELATIONSHIP PROGRESS

So.... This drama has no official dating and relationship, no steamy scenes YET
ML and FL are hanging out in a very close friendship, helping each heal, and slowly falling for each other...
and at this point they got so far that they are already known to the public as "dating" and dedicated to each other and liking each other.
He is already sure he likes her romantically and is already dreaming about it and flirting to self advertise...
She has some issues that perhaps prevent her from dedicating herself but she acts as his advocate and tells ppl she sees something in him...

But they never said I LOVE YOU or kissed yet or spent time in a private place just 2 of them.
BUT it is slowly getting there :)
THE WHOLE DRAMA IS ABOUT GETTING THERE

SO YES THIS IS A SLOW BURN ROM-COM AND PSYCH DRAMA AND EVEN THRILLER ALL ROLLED INTO ONE

====written after ep 1====
I am writing this after ep 1 because the summary writeup in MDL top page and the earlier MDL article for the drama does NOTHNG to convey what this drama is like.
This is absolutely delightful!

What a masterpiece! such a great story and acting, and filming. So creative.

Gods prevented me from bailing out on this drama by sending me an Angel user who wrote that the script writer for this drama also wrote My Mister, which is one of my top favs.

Based on the writeup in the MDL preview article long time ago, I thought this would be a gloomy psychological melodrama - no thanks!!!!!... - but heck no! There is humor, there is depression and hunger and loan sharks, and there is sunlight and fields of flowers and new experiences and love.

Totally charming and delightful. A real art piece :) Very deep, compassionate, painful, funny, such a treat!
I give Thanks to the Great Creator and drama production team that made this kdrama possible.
I trust that this will continue in all episodes :)
Helelujah baby we got a real kdrama to watch!!!!!!!
This is an event to be celebrated - we will be watching a masterpiece being born for the next 6 weeks. Also we will be watching transformation and rebirth of ML and FL, and hopefully all the commercially oriented 8 and their entourage.

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Well done!!! ML should get an award for this role. FL is great too

Ji Sung acting style is to exaggerate ... He acts the inner hidden feelings of his character, he shows what a normal person WOULD behave like if there were no limits, i.e. how they would LIKE to behave if they could, but they cannot so they restrain themselves to honor the social norms... He behaves to show the inner emotional state, so it is always amplified over the top acting and it creates comedy

for example:
I will always remember him sitting on the sofa next to his evil fatjher in law and fidgeting and rolling his eyes in fear... LMAO

====WRITTEN AFTER EP 2: ====
ML is an amazing actor and has lots of time on the screen. He should get an award for this role. FL is written very well and the actress is amazing too. I am looking forward to seeing more of her. So far she was very secondary although her influence was critical.

The script is tight and there are so many nuances, it is worth rewatching this. Let us hope it continues for 14 episodes!
====

This drama (TJR) might look similar to Again My Life (AML) or Lawless Lawyer (LL) or Devil Judge (DJ) dramas , but it is very different.

AML, LL, and DJ are about always-good MLs chasing bad guys.
TJR is about a guy who was both good and bad... He is an ordinary "good" guy who willingly became a bad guy, caused death and destruction, his conscience nagged him, he willingly turned good and went against his former accomplices.
The common thing in all 3 dramas is that a woman helps the ML.

>>>> Again My Life and Lawless Lawyer are revenge dramas about low status, righteous lawyer/prosecutor without power connections, going against high ranking officials who run crime to keep climbing up to the top government positions.
In AML, ML is naive, and he is given a chance to try it again. In LL, he is not naive LOL he was raised by thugs and uses all kinds of dirty tricks to revenge his mother.
TJR resembles AML bc an inherently good person has a chance to come back to life with all memories intact and do it right the second time around; and resembles LL bc this "good person" uses dirty tricks to win.

But:
TJR ML intentionally became a high ranking government official - a judge - who helped major evil do significant damages, so he is a deep, self-made crook. AML and LL heroes are always good guys. They use dirty tricks but never too dirty, they never were crooks, never did major bad stuff, never harmed anyone; they are just slightly mean
You can say that all three male leads somewhat resemble each other after TJR ep 2 :) But TJR hero is a LOT meaner and more criminal LOL if the running over the criminal at the end of ep 2 is not a fantasy. AML and LL heroes would never do that. They resolve everything legally.

>>>>Devil Judge is a thriller about fighting and exposing a well-camouflaged evil elite who is loved by the public but runs a crime ring and has grandiose evil goals about seizing control (like the villains in Lawless Lawyer and Again My Life, who are sooo well camouflaged sociopaths/psychopaths, it is chilling to meet them on the screen. Judge Cha and assemblyman are sooo creepy, esp. Judge Cha is a villain whom you will remember... !!!!! totally horrifying yet always 100% polite).

In comparison, TJR ML is an amateur... he tries to look good but his corruption is very obvious and known by everyone for a long time...... .... You can say that TJR ML resembles LL and AML villains in ep 1 bc he pretends to be good but is doing bad :) but TJR ML has conscience and is a lot smaller scale crook that those three.

>>>>The Judge Returns drama is about cleaning up bad karma, about the redemption arc of a basically good ordinary person who succumbed to greed and INTENTIONALLY AND WILLINGLY became the slave of the corrupt power circles. His only intent was to gain a cushy life, but it came with a price he was not willing to pay.... As he climbed high and went far .... too far... .... did sooooooooooo much bad... he WILLINGLY experienced remorse and WILLINGLY started anew in good way .... but he was naive... and was given a chance to came back to fix his misdeeds and do the good stuff.

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Ah what a treat!!!! A real script with real acting!!!!

I love this!!!! so real... !!!! I give 10 to the stay-at-mom story, 5 to blunt sister and maybe 6 to the third one?
This is such an interesting script, complex characters, and such interesting ACTING by female actors embodying those COMPLEX characters
IT IS SUCH A TREAT TO WATCH THESE AMAZING ACTRESSES BRING THESE COMPLEX CHARACTERS TO LIFE!!!! FINALLY!!!! ABLE TO SEE GREAT FEMALE ACTING!!!!

such a nice RELIEF from the typical dramas esp rom coms with anxious weak snowflakey young women who are so boringly FLAT - always anxious or worried or sad, ... soooo flat... boring... the only interesting scenes are flirting with cute guys but there is practically nothing related to interesting character, good acting or interesting plot

YAY this drama is a gem!!!!

And also it is nice to see true friendship between women. That is the adult part :)

And unfortunately we also get to see women stabbing each other. That is the reality :(

I am sorry to say that their men are such doozies... from ep 1, I am 99.99999% sure one is either gay or cheating, the other one is very likely cheating, and the young one is definitely cheating - all confirmed in ep 2...

But I think it is put in here to show that men have not caught up to the female equality and it is not easy for women to find and maintain loyal husbands. So I am looking forward to see how the drama will resolve it.
All the pairs lack communication... and effort ......

The women in this drama have to change too.... . Honestly, those two married ones are not doing much to maintain their marriage and I myself would leave them if I were their husband, and the third woman is just liking a gigolo so of course she will never find a real man.

Thinking about it... A Dream Life of Mr Kim is actually a continuation of this drama.. what would happen with those married women IF they stayed with their no-good husbands.... I hope this drama resolves their issues so that Dream Life of Mr. Kim never happens to them :) THe wife in that drama wasted like 30 years on a very bad marriage...

Seems like these women are going to resolve their lives quite soon :)

So this looks like a very promising drama to address the issue of new era relationships and marraige. I totally love the scenes with lots of kids, that was soooo cute!!!! the kids of one of the women are too spoiled, seems like, it is clear their father did not help much. A woman who lies to her mother about her marriage and lets her husband skip her bday is a woman who is having a bad marriage and a bad life... Let's see how she solves it!!!!

The one with the impotent husband is so aggressive, and he plays her like a kid with his mommy.... I am not sure WHICH man could do well in bed with her, she is just scary nasty.... nothing appealing about that... and the third one loves to be in control and own her man, and wants only fun, so finding an equal man will be interesting.

All three have potential and ideas and I am sure they will work it out!!! I am looking forward to it!

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A real gem, amazing star actors, great plot, fanstastically matching music

This is so fun
The star studded cast, amazing rich detailed creative fun acting, amazing plot, acting, and music. So great.
There is comedy and there is depth
it is realistic, it is paradoxical,...
the acting is sooooo detailed masterful

One of my fav actors is the ex N Korean spy and then an amnesiac meekling in this drama lnao just watching him act his role in so much detail is worth watching the drama

I can't help it but laugh bc I cannot remember Bulgae name and so I keep grabbing for similar words, and I keep calling him BULGOGI lmao bc that is the word that comes to my mind first that sounds the closest lmao

The music is totally hilariously matching the scenes

================
I love how the smooth handsome charismatic socially suave and popular Han is the main villain, cruel and 100% evil well camouflaged sociopath/psychopath liar swindler murderer thief

An EVIL MONSTER, a well camouflaged polite suave handsome EVIL MONSTER

yet LOOKING so acceptable and dignified, and commanding respect from the public. LOOKING like a perfect leader

That role is one of the major contributions of this drama, bc it debunks sociopaths, gaslighters, chronic liars and swindlers and thieves

============
Many women in this drama are amazing. The home-brewn neighborhood team is so synced up and so effective, and led by an old man and women - and then finally that super cool female prosecutor
while the "professionals" are fighting like cats and dogs, so full of pride lmao

I love how the motley team of "professionals" are not together then sleezing up together and coming off as a team lmao
and the insistence on old life by the thugs is understandable and realistic and it is super fun to see how it is challenged and melting - and to wonder IF it is really going to melt?

And I love how the small neighborhood team is so together and synced up and women-led

Also, I like the balance in portraying women - policewoman, persecutor, wife, are very smart and capable women and they take no sh.t from their husbands but also do not make stupid decisions. Then we have the Kim politician's wife who is super dumb esp during a political campaign and she harassed her husband to give in to her - and caused major falling

I love how the music totally perfectly matches the scenes in this drama lmao

I love all the paradoxes and twists in this drama lmao
Like the nephew - bc he was so off the cuff, he accepted the washed out stranger as an uncle - but then - he is still like that at the age of 20 and basically a criminal
The uncle has a loving caring side and he instantly took to .. well ... how to explain it in one word.... dedicated admiration and care - clearly he is smitten too - caring for the prosecutor, yet he is the ex-spy from N Korea. I totally love the acting of that actor, it is masterful, small details that are just wow very rich creative acting.
The prosecutor is so smart and tough fighting woman but she fell for the ex-spy almost instantly bc of his caring for her.... And ON THE OTHER hand, she was never fooled by him, she carefully investigated him. Same for policewoman and older thug.
The NIS agent's wife has interrogation skills worthy of NIS lmao

So all pairs/relationships are perfectly matched

All our fighters fell for women, and women reeled them into "ordinary proper life"
I am soooo waiting to see what will reel in Ma Bok into proper life bc he is such a die hard thug out of conviction lmao :( It is comical and also tragic that he is so delusional

===============
This is so fun
The star studded cast, amazing plot, acting, and music. So great.

The hilarious part is that the older thug and policewoman chasing that gang fell in love, and the N Korean ex-spy and the prosecutor investigating him fall in love lmao and the wife of NIS agent is already of a caliber of NIS agent lmao and their kid is already wired for that kind of family :)

====
Imo the young thug actor is so cute, because he EXPRESSES - his face, his body, he smiles, he moves, and he has piercing clear eyes, he has a personality, interests, he is active, and he has energy. It is so cute to see someone VIBRANTLY ALIVE AND ENERGETIC AND ACTIVE and yeah a guy who looks like he has been eating

In this role, he is young, immature, impatient and just bouncing around and yapping like a little doggie lmao but he is super cute :) Still that role is the kind of guy "look, dont touch" but the ACTOR is so fun to watch in that role

The recent trend is some super skinny and super tired lifeless male and female actors with poker faces who look and behave as if they are half dead and just about to collapse if they move away from the couch where they just sit all day long. Women's legs look like chopsticks in a mini skirt, like clunking bones on a skeleton. And guys have muscles but they are so .... thin, clearly just for a show, that kind of dude would die if they had to move a sofa or something.
Those fashion-models impersonating actors, i.e. FAKE actors, are B O R I N G to death, it is like watching the modeling agency list of photographs, faces frozen in time. When those act, they have personality of cardboard. I would just quickly get rid of them all asap, and I would FEED all actors and make them act like real life, moving, expressing, smiling. LIKE KDRAMA ACTORS USED TO BE. Watching an older drama is so much more fun bc actors are so much more alive and energetic and expressive and so much more fun.

That Kim politician is NOT suitable for a leader when he gives up major issues just so that his wife will not nag him around the dinner table ...

and his wife is 1000% unsuitable for a leader's wife when she does such stupid things and won't listen even when she is clearly explained how dangerous her actions are... THEN she acts even more stupid and goes to kill herself

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Unfortunately, this is real :) the drama is frilly but ep 8 from min 31 has THE message

This is so ... well... I dont know how to say it - so revealing of Chinese culture, this very strong belief that this is real. And in fact... it is :)

The filming and topic totally reminds me of Stephen Chow movies, such as Kung Fu Hustle and its dark poor and/or underground hoods. And It has this wickedly twisted dark humor, such as Third Crown Prince looking like a hippie-biker with a lollypop...

The movie has all this glitz special effects
but the value of the movie is the very rare but powerful dialogue, such as Buffy's dying message towards the end of ep 8, starting at min 31.

She asked him to love the world for her, whether it is messy and even the gods cannot do anything about it.
She said: "I that the ones who might really change the world for the better are just ordinary people like us. "

She asked him to wish for world peace. Bc -
An old man told her once:

magic cannot defeat spiritual power,
spiritual power cannot defeat karma,
and karma cannot defeat a wish.
So a person with a wish is strongest of all.

So actually the drama should be rated 10 for the messages
I gave it 8 bc of all the frills :) I watched ep 1,2 and then fast forwarded through all the special effects etc
and watched ep 8

Buffy Chen is an amazing actress, really.
ML actor is ... meh...

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Delulu plot but you get watch ML who looks like a real man!!!! not a skinny gilrl.. !

I watched this in April 2026...
1. The drama is a delulu dream of some spoiled immature chick
the only value of this drama is:
2. to enjoy looking at the ML actor. WOW WHAT A GREAT LOOKING ***MAN***!!!!! shoulders, chest, legs, face... of a MAN... not a skinny teenage girl.... the way that all modern actors look!!!!! WHAT HAPPENED IN JUST A FEW YEARS THAT ALL ACTORS LOOK LIKE SKELETONS??? so U G L Y !!!!

3. to realize how handsome actors and actresses ARE and WERE before it became fashionable to look like a skeleton.
ENOUGH OF STARVING THE ACTORS!!!! LET THEM EAT AND LOOK GOOD!!!! NUFF OF SKELETONS ALREADY!!!! it is **** U G L Y ****

PHS looks sooooo handsome and sooooo manly here and also the actress!!!!! and all actors SHOULD have their normal weight.

wow Park Huyn Shin the ML actor - wow he looks awesome! and FL too!!!!! Just in 2022, nobody was too skinny yet!!!!

This is the best ever I saw PHS!!!! He is so atttactive!!! he is bulky enough and he looks like a MAN. Shoulders, chest, legs, face. HE IS A MAN!!!!!

These days, male actors dont look like a MAN but like a starved stray cat. And they all got dark circles under their eyes from all that starving. They are NOT attractive, there i snothing STRONG and masculine about them. No energy, vibrancy, etc.
The only one is Bon Appetit Your Majesty ML, and also Haunted Palace ML. They are the only ones who really looked like energetic men. in the entire 2024-present. Hm this is incorrect. I can think of some others. But too many!!!!

I WISH WE GO BACK TO OLD TIMES STANDARDS, BC TODAY ACTORS LOOK LIKE SKELETONS and it is not so cool at all

PHS here looks like a MAN
adn the lady loooks like a WOMAN - a real woman, not a piece of plastic sugery...

The lady too, has a little bit crooked nose. These days, plastic surgery is so severe, nobody would let her live free like that!!!!!

ML and FL both got muscles on them and they are lively and energetic

Wow this little drama is good enough to just to look at PHS and admire his looks!!!!!

======= AS FOR THE CONTENT: =======
The drama is soooo cheesy.... one of those delulu chick baits "the flawed chick has a perfect guy doting on her FOREVER waiting for her to say yes and being totally loyal only to her. Not even s.x with anyone else for 20 yrs he waits for her."
WOW CAPOOL lol FL script is annoying and unrealistic :) The actress is doing a good job at it and yes she is pretty but... the character is like a little girl :) UNTIL THE VERY LAST SCENE, when she confesses - wow that is one skilled actress!!!! ...

so PHS is a main draw to watch the drama :( to be honest.... The drama is a clickbait for little girls :) and I think PHS knows it, based on how he is acting and clearly pretending and forcing himself.

It seemed to me that PHS is a little bored with this role. This is too cliche and too simple, and not interesting to him. IT IS CLEAR HE KNOWS IT IS A FAKE PLOT lol and that he is used as the eye candy.... And .... Perhaps his real life is not like this so this "quiet good boy" is too ... simple. He looked more interested in Burried Hearts. Well that was a lot more important drama...

The music is AMAZING!!!! it is all classical piano music similar to
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
translates to "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" landmark 1894 symphonic poem by Claude Debussy. It is inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé's poem L'après-midi d'un faune (The Afternoon of a Faun), portraying a faun's sensuous dreams of nymphs

And I am so happy to see the main villain from The Nice Guy!!!! that drama was worth watching just for his performance. Wow that actor has PRESENCE!!!! some real skillZ!!!! even in this little drama, he shines, he is super memorable. Wow great acting skillZ!t acting skillZ!

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Flashy catchy bombastic story but mostly without meaning

I watched ep 1-7, 14 of Judge from hell and it was mostly a waste of time, I had to fast forward through most of it, it is not a masterpiece drama in my opinion. It is a little too ... cheesy and gory. It lacks good dialogues. It is flashy catchy stuff but not so ... meaningful. It raises some good questions but the way is too bombastic and sensationalistic. Yeah, FL and ML nailed their roles, but still, ML role does not show him off as well. The drama is made for FL to have fun acting LOL

When I watch something, I ask myself: what am I learning?
and for this drama, I cannot say that I learned anything

It is "fun story" drama without much if any meaning

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Delightful *masterpiece*

This drama is so DELIGHTFUL!!!! FL actress is one of my favs. She is a master actor for sure. R * E * S * P * E * C * T!!!! I totally hated ML in 100 Memories and I was convinced back then that he cannot act.... but here - omg he is such a great actor. A very great handsome lunatic lmao Such talent for comedy lmao

I am so much enjoying this show!!!!!!

FL actress is a chameleon, she is always THE character she is acting..... every time.... here it is so funny to see her all meek and subservient.. lmao And I love her street smarts :) XXX OOO XXX
She was the most amazing villain in The Glory.... Great in Nice to Not Meet you but her ML was acting too cheesy and kinda killed it. Here, the ML/FL pair is ***perfect**.
and ML actor and his eyes moving around, e.g. start of ep 3 holding her ... that was soooo hilarious. I am so glad I got to see him in a real role. He is great!

THIS DRAMA IS A MASTERPIECE CLASSIC
and the rating should be a lot higher
i am so grateful we get to watch this. Bravo to the MRN team!!!!

As for rewatch: I think it would be great to rewatch as there are so many nuances in acting

That scene on the roof top at the start of ep 3 was so hilarious and so showing their acting skillZ
and then all the other scenes ... too many to mention... it is totally totally HILARIOUS and deep ... such great acting... and is getting scary as we get to meet the SML/King more and more.. bc he is ... a PSYCHO SOCIOPATHIC MONSTER and seems like harmed FL/ML in the past and now is the chance for them to self defend. I am sure they can, FL can certainly take care of anything lmao Fighting!!!!!

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AMAZING! so well done.... until ... ep 6... then you realize this was a collywood delusion

It is really a horror movie in disguise. It is scary and has quite some gory parts. Luckily not tooooo toooooo gory, you can easily skip the gory parts. It is hard though bc they are shown quite fast. Be ready with the fast forward button.

I really like use of makjang acting to act scenes about topics that do not matter, and "acting like in real life" to show topics that DO matter. It makes the drama go fast.

The movie plays on some Chinese / Taiwanese stereotypes that I am not familiar with. Clearly, it is a culture steeped in superstition. There must be some delulu in this drama based on some play on what is true, but I am not familiar to say exactly what.

Like in Western movies, where families are broken and everyone is separate and single and lonely, isolated, depressed; and it is a consumer society where everlasting personal satisfaction happens super fast without any effort, there is this delulu idea of getting all happy bc you found the right person who loves you - and then INSTANTLY AND FOREVER your life becomes supper happy and everything is great for you. This delulu consumerism plot manipulates the true, genuine human need to love and be loved by others.

A good movie might showcase true things that are now considered mystical, like the kung fu powers etc.

So what Chinese delulu AND / OR truth card(s) is this drama playing....?. I dont know. It seems to emphasize the magical power of caligraphy. Which... is true :) and I am not sure about delulus. Perhaps - the power of beer to unite ppl... ? the "masters" are all grumpy... ?

For the first 5 episodes, I thought it was a great drama. Then ep 6 was super cheesy copy of kdramas - going to an amusement park and playing on the claw machine (to claw out a prize out of a glass box full of prizes). I ALSO NOTICED THEY ADVERTISED THE BEER... the dad and son and mother and son drink beer together...

And the story got pretty cheesy... All "help me cases" were obsessions of live people...

Soooo at the end of ep 6, I fast forwarded to ep 12 and found the (dead) dad encouraging the son to drink beer... THAT was a sure sign this drama was totally a trap...

And then I quit. I got tired of ML actor ONLY grumpy face, of drinking beer by manipulation, etc and I quit this as Collywood.

Written after ep 1: this drama uses makjang exaggerated acting to show things that are not important, and "like real life" acting to show what is important. It saves so much time!!!!
Only one half of episode 1 was enough to totally set the background story of ML's life.

The story is well done and the acting is well done for the first 5 episodes. ML is young but that actor is excellent.

But he never smiles and stays super grumpy or the entire drama. One time he smiles, it is visible he has bad teeth. Too bad. He is a handsome guy and a phenomenal actor, he needs to fix his teeth so that he act roles with smiling too. And of course, for his own health.

I got tired of watching his grumpy face all the time. He needs to change facial expressions... imo.

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Has so much potential but is ruined by bad directing and script

The "core" of the script plot is great and the actors are very capable - and then all that was just thrown out.... , Some moron made the capable actors act cringe.
ML is made to act poker-faced, 99% limited in his acting and extremely boring cardboard character;
FL is made into a stupid petty damsel in distress in ep 2 in the village /with ML - but she was confident and smart in ep 1 in the city;
and SML is made into a very ... simple fangirl/idol type character. And Ep 2 is filmed in a super simplistic and rather choppy way, and nothing is funny.

To save the drama, ML actor has to be allowed to express as much as possible - make him human!, FL has to STILL have those creative, confident, smart qualities she had in ep 1, and SML needs to be more than just a pretty boy.

To me, ep 1 was so enjoyable bc ML had only comedic scenes in the village, FL had amazing professional success scenes, informative personal scenes, and the villagers provided the energetic, warm scenes.

Then it all fell apart in ep 2.... FL came to the village and behaved like a total loser moron - ah so CRINGE,
ML was grumpy poker faced the entire time - ah so ugly and BORING -
and SML was used as a decorative object for most part. Ep 2 was filmed in a very choppy way and there was nothing funny about it. Even chickens flying around was not funny.

Someone said FL actress was in Doubt. That is a top notch drama. Whoever just turned off her acting capabilities in this drama and made her act the classic sexist "stupid FL" cringe, is a total and complete moron.

I have never seen ML actor before but I highly suspect he can act and wants to act, bc he looks so bored and forced in his overly simplistic poker-faced role, and his only good scene is 1 second of him being a gangster and smiling.

This drama is just throwing great actors to trash. The director is the most at fault, I think, then the script writer.

So I dropped. it is too bad, I wanted to watch this, but life is too short to waste on trash dramas

Even shorter:
Bon Appetit Your Majesty was a super hit bc the open-minded director let ML actor act as much as he wanted, with enthusiasm and energy. That Director was a genius who saw talent and let it shine.

Unlike the director here who is either a caked old geezer without any creativity OR playing it safe and staying commercial mainstream OR totally out of touch with the drama and the actors OR someone with $$$$ told him to make a cliche trash to sell -
in any case;

SOME MORON DIRECTOR IS KILLING THIS DRAMA BY FORCING ACTORS INTO CRINGE ACTING

And the audience is guilty bc Ep 1 was all about strong FL and the audience found it boring - bc audience is sexist as usual -

and audience was shallow as usual, finding villagers boring, finding old people boring, wanting young pretty faces as rich characters in a sleek urban setting - basically their own fantasy about themselves -

and the audience LIKED Ep 2, ML as cold and shut down and FL as stupidly dumb loser who keeps making mistakes and ML saves her - the cliche plot of all trash dramas - and it WORKS - Dynamite Kiss, etc are all such dinosaur cliche sexist trash dramas with huge following -

the Director served in ep 2 what he is sure will work and turned ep 2 into a cliche sexist obsolete trash-drama

the FL is an accomplished actress from a top drama Doubt and her performance in ep 1 of this drama is STELLAR. Whoever throws that talent away is a moron to the max

But the AUDIENCE is driving this drama into mediocrity at best
So the audience needs to cajole the director to let this drama go the way of Bon Appettit Your Majesty
ML actor is energetic, dynamic and I suspect he CAN act, FL actress is a masterful actress, and SML i am sure can act. SO IT IS POSSIBLE TO MAKE A GREAT DRAMA

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Wonderful uplifting inspirational story; true friendship of women; some sexism

I have mixed feelings about this drama after all. At first, I loved it. Then, it got too sexist for my taste. Then it got very deep and insightful. ANd then it got super idealisitcally rosey... So...

. It is not perfect ... Quite often - but not nearly as much in many other asian dramas - FL is shown as clumzy clutz naive and does not communicate... but at least it is less than in most other asian dramas.... FL has some common sense. 2FL is shown as a typical kdrama female, totally at the 6-yr old level... until the very very end.... and even then.... FL is not a very intelligent .... she is not a common sense and capable woman... She tries... from her position of poverty, inadequate upbringing, insecurity, and LACK of social skills, thinking skills, physical skills, common sense, and connections....

So I feel pity for Korean women to be portrayed still in ways that show blatant sexism. At least there is some progress and this drama shows it.
There are very deep insightful moments in this drama and it is overall very inspirational, taking us from the bleak sexist corporate situation today to a better future.
SO LET US GO WITH THAT....

I didnt watch it while it was airing bc the writeup made me think it was about some teenagers starting up and that it was too fluffy :(
My loss...

The drama is super cute in many ways. In some ways it made me cringe bc of clutzy loser female leads... and in some ways, it was very deeply insighghtful as "self help" advice for women who want to become more independent, happy and fullfilled and standing on their two feet.

A very valuable thing was to see women helping other women and being true friends. That is rare for women, since women are conditioned to fight for attention, status and MEN who will bring then that status and presitige and privileges. "A woman is nothing without a man" forces women to fight for male attention and it gets really really ugly in real life...
And in this drama, there is ONE snake like that. That was great, the snake is 10000% realistic ....

The FL was the FL in Potato Lab. but this drama is not mostly mindless stupid stuff like Potato Lab. FL in this drama is still somewhat clumzy and stupid though... but not as much as in Potato Lab. Episodes 9-11 are quite stupid, for most part... hiding her dating, etc... Especially when FL does not communicate about the sociopath bully.... That is UTTERLY DUMB.

It is not funny to see an adult woman so clumzy and stupid, like ... pushing a cart uphil with her friend on it and then letting go of handle and letting her friend roll downhill - and DIE. Seeing mindless stuff like that is NOT cute. It is utterly DUMB and horrifying. Qualifies FL for a psych ward for being mentally disabled. And for some kind of award for being physically disabled, not able to move without tripping and breaking something...

Luckily that kind of stuff does not happen all the time in this drama :) FL still has some common sense and more on her feet. ANd still very cute and pretty and charming :) She is a great actress. Well for this kind of role though :) Potato Lab and this are same acting :)

The plot is overall just ... uplifting
Very realistic work situations...

and a wonderful true mature friendship between 3 women

The ending is ... hm... I would want to see another 1 yr out... how did she work it out with a singer who works mostly in the West.... and makes drunk mistakes with fans... with his good looks and veins popping in his forearms and his lovely dovey love songs.... and fans sending flowers etc. Musicans are known for promiscuity... So .. how did this story go ... ? She was seen in Korea afterward, so what happened.... ML was a little overly goody goody LOL it is very rare to find a man - young or old - who will be that dedicated...

So the story is a little bit of fantasy, to think that a woman can get all that attention and totally dedicated guy even if she keeps pushing him away, even though there is NO communication or very little at best. etc.

Mr. Oh story is also a little bit of fantasy :) esp the way that "little 6 yr old girl" was ... Doting on her for a year and a few before that with Wei Lin... ?

So I take this drama as a little bit of hollywood, a little bit too rosey and WHAT YOU WISH HAPPENED

but it is ok, it is a good start in the right direction

THe thing is not to overdo the fantasy and thus make it seem like something bittersweet and actually feeling hopeless because it IS a fairy tale :) All Hollywood leaves that taste - you feel like you were drunk or something, dreaming about something totally unreachable bc everything happens by "luck" and without real effort, it is clearly a mind-fogging brainswashing lull-to-sleep addictive material

There SHOULD BE dramas that talk about solving problems for real.

Many kdramas have at least some of that flavor and that is why they are so popular
But if they become too... roesy cheesy soapy then.... it is not worth watching

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