Marshmallow-Chocoholic
Europe
A “ Bloodcurdingly” Dire Drama...
Upon paper, Blood actually has quite a good plot premise; vampires created in a “ I am Legend” - style way by infection (rather than the traditional manner in most vampire shows) , a protagonist infected since birth who wants to defy his fate and help others by becoming a doctor , as well as a female lead who actually had the potential to be a strong and independent asset within the show rather than just a mere love interest .
Instead, there is a sense of discordance within the overall drama between Ahn Jae- Sung’s moping upon screen for nearly half the series around a hospital (which after the first few episodes no longer seem to have something called “ A and E” or a regular flow of surgery operations )and Gu Hye Seon raising her voice as she flouts about the hospital stalking Jae-Sung as Yoo Ri Ta, without a second glance at the fact she’s in a senior position and in reality would be inundated in a pool of work requests and submissions.
It isn’t that Jae-Sung is a bad actor as he’s proven his talents before in shows like The Beauty Inside (2018) as one of the suave Male leads who was comically charismatic . Yet there’s no sugarcoating that Jae-Sung ‘s performance as Park Ji Sang was not one of his best and for a major proportion of the show, Jae- Sung came off as rigid and tight. Similarly whilst Gu Hye Seon is renowned for her performance in Boys Over Flowers (2009), she channelled her character, Yoo Ri Ta through a mixture of a deliverance of yelling her lines and stoic expressions as well.
Admittedly this also a fault of the director, the story writing and characterisation of the overall drama as well. Rather than directors Lee Jae Hoon and Ki Min Soo pulling up Hye Seon and Jae- Sung’s performances over minor errors in earlier episodes to improve their performances and avoid later mistakes, they seemed to be too obsessed with the thought of trying to deliver a contemporary drama which they thought that Korean audiences would lap up after recent waves of western vampire franchises in Korea.
Yet the scriptwriters must also be put under the interrogation light here for their part as well in regards to the lack of characterisation and plot as well. Rather than Park Jae Bum actually allowing us to see Ji Sang’s own personal struggles as well as a sense of attachment towards Ri Ta’s own experiences as a development within their relationship, the scenes that viewers do see ‘ moments of the past’ are neither talked about or mentioned again leading to a very rigid “ romantic’’ ( if you can call it that ) relationship between both characters for a major proportion of the show. Perhaps the one saving performance of the show was Jin Hee who was actually fairly good within his performance, however, the same cannot be said for his character Lee Jae Wook who had the potentially to be possibly one of the most intriguing characters of the drama, yet typical to the cliches he was forced into a lacking sense of depth and purpose within the show.
For most of Blood, Jae Bum seems obsessed with trying to cram in a myriad of useless plot points amongst only a couple of useful ones before rushing to the action and ending by the finale. Rather than building or progressing the show over a course of sixteen episodes, there’s little explanation or reasoning behind a lot of the events of Blood; presumably Ji- sang not ageing at the same rate of humans ( and if this applies to all vampires in the show), the actual motives behind our antagonist and of course what was up with the ending as well.
It is wrong to say that Blood is entirely unwatchable as it did actually have some good points such as Kwon Hyung Sang as the much needed comical relief of the series ( for most of it at least) and an intriguing plot premise, yet rather than Blood being one of the best cult classic Korean dramas of all time, it’s a farce of itself with dire acting, directing and writing. Overall it’s fair to say that Blood is a perfect drama to binge watch if you’re bored and looking for something to watch, but it is certainly not worth investing time and effort towards.
Instead, there is a sense of discordance within the overall drama between Ahn Jae- Sung’s moping upon screen for nearly half the series around a hospital (which after the first few episodes no longer seem to have something called “ A and E” or a regular flow of surgery operations )and Gu Hye Seon raising her voice as she flouts about the hospital stalking Jae-Sung as Yoo Ri Ta, without a second glance at the fact she’s in a senior position and in reality would be inundated in a pool of work requests and submissions.
It isn’t that Jae-Sung is a bad actor as he’s proven his talents before in shows like The Beauty Inside (2018) as one of the suave Male leads who was comically charismatic . Yet there’s no sugarcoating that Jae-Sung ‘s performance as Park Ji Sang was not one of his best and for a major proportion of the show, Jae- Sung came off as rigid and tight. Similarly whilst Gu Hye Seon is renowned for her performance in Boys Over Flowers (2009), she channelled her character, Yoo Ri Ta through a mixture of a deliverance of yelling her lines and stoic expressions as well.
Admittedly this also a fault of the director, the story writing and characterisation of the overall drama as well. Rather than directors Lee Jae Hoon and Ki Min Soo pulling up Hye Seon and Jae- Sung’s performances over minor errors in earlier episodes to improve their performances and avoid later mistakes, they seemed to be too obsessed with the thought of trying to deliver a contemporary drama which they thought that Korean audiences would lap up after recent waves of western vampire franchises in Korea.
Yet the scriptwriters must also be put under the interrogation light here for their part as well in regards to the lack of characterisation and plot as well. Rather than Park Jae Bum actually allowing us to see Ji Sang’s own personal struggles as well as a sense of attachment towards Ri Ta’s own experiences as a development within their relationship, the scenes that viewers do see ‘ moments of the past’ are neither talked about or mentioned again leading to a very rigid “ romantic’’ ( if you can call it that ) relationship between both characters for a major proportion of the show. Perhaps the one saving performance of the show was Jin Hee who was actually fairly good within his performance, however, the same cannot be said for his character Lee Jae Wook who had the potentially to be possibly one of the most intriguing characters of the drama, yet typical to the cliches he was forced into a lacking sense of depth and purpose within the show.
For most of Blood, Jae Bum seems obsessed with trying to cram in a myriad of useless plot points amongst only a couple of useful ones before rushing to the action and ending by the finale. Rather than building or progressing the show over a course of sixteen episodes, there’s little explanation or reasoning behind a lot of the events of Blood; presumably Ji- sang not ageing at the same rate of humans ( and if this applies to all vampires in the show), the actual motives behind our antagonist and of course what was up with the ending as well.
It is wrong to say that Blood is entirely unwatchable as it did actually have some good points such as Kwon Hyung Sang as the much needed comical relief of the series ( for most of it at least) and an intriguing plot premise, yet rather than Blood being one of the best cult classic Korean dramas of all time, it’s a farce of itself with dire acting, directing and writing. Overall it’s fair to say that Blood is a perfect drama to binge watch if you’re bored and looking for something to watch, but it is certainly not worth investing time and effort towards.
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