3
2
Salatheel
Scored well until it started kicking own goals.
As the famous football quote says: this is a game of two halves and it’s not over until it’s over.
This perennially loved theme has always found an audience, from “Shirley Valentine” onwards; the dutiful, middle-aged woman waking up from the self-imposed drudgery and finding she has no-one to blame but herself, then kicking over the traces and fighting back.
In the first half, it takes some standard comedy tropes and situations and gives them a refreshing twist. It’s not outstanding in any way, there’s no spectacular cinematography, or deep, complex characterisations, or an innovative script or striking editing, yet the first half ticks every box as a great, enjoyable watch. It’s funny without being obvious, observant without being self-conscious, clever without being pretentious. It’s a great all-round show that slides seamlessly from comedy to drama to melo and back again, maintaining exactly the right degree to remain balanced and credible.
Then after half time, the team comes back and who knows what happened in the locker rooms in those fifteen minutes? Because things start to go pear shaped during the obligatory away-from-home scenes in episodes 9 & 10 after which they pretty well fall apart in episode 11 and continue on kicking own goals from there.
The plot really got pushed way beyond its limits. It went hunting for bottomless pits to fall into and whenever it couldn’t find one wheeled in an excavator and dug it out until, by the end, the pitch looked like a opal mine site at Coober Pedy. The overblown comedy and melo burrowed deeper and deeper until the whole thing pretty much collapsed into a sink hole.
The team managed to scramble up to the surface again for the last twenty minutes, but by that time, it really was all over.
There was absolutely no real need to keep upping the ante, there was already plenty to work with in the relationships laid down at the start. But everyone was literally dragged through the operating room for emergency surgery that singularly failed to revive a show gasping for air.
Having said that, in amongst all the manufactured chaos were some nice performances.
Although Uhm Jung Hwa gives a convincing performance as the unconfident and self-doubting Dr Cha, I feel she was somewhat overshadowed by Kim Byung Chul as her scheming husband, who has fantastic comic timing and plays in to all the “total bastard husband” expectations that you may have. Another actor who stood out for me was Song Ji Ho who beautifully captured the conflicted son.
What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.
This perennially loved theme has always found an audience, from “Shirley Valentine” onwards; the dutiful, middle-aged woman waking up from the self-imposed drudgery and finding she has no-one to blame but herself, then kicking over the traces and fighting back.
In the first half, it takes some standard comedy tropes and situations and gives them a refreshing twist. It’s not outstanding in any way, there’s no spectacular cinematography, or deep, complex characterisations, or an innovative script or striking editing, yet the first half ticks every box as a great, enjoyable watch. It’s funny without being obvious, observant without being self-conscious, clever without being pretentious. It’s a great all-round show that slides seamlessly from comedy to drama to melo and back again, maintaining exactly the right degree to remain balanced and credible.
Then after half time, the team comes back and who knows what happened in the locker rooms in those fifteen minutes? Because things start to go pear shaped during the obligatory away-from-home scenes in episodes 9 & 10 after which they pretty well fall apart in episode 11 and continue on kicking own goals from there.
The plot really got pushed way beyond its limits. It went hunting for bottomless pits to fall into and whenever it couldn’t find one wheeled in an excavator and dug it out until, by the end, the pitch looked like a opal mine site at Coober Pedy. The overblown comedy and melo burrowed deeper and deeper until the whole thing pretty much collapsed into a sink hole.
The team managed to scramble up to the surface again for the last twenty minutes, but by that time, it really was all over.
There was absolutely no real need to keep upping the ante, there was already plenty to work with in the relationships laid down at the start. But everyone was literally dragged through the operating room for emergency surgery that singularly failed to revive a show gasping for air.
Having said that, in amongst all the manufactured chaos were some nice performances.
Although Uhm Jung Hwa gives a convincing performance as the unconfident and self-doubting Dr Cha, I feel she was somewhat overshadowed by Kim Byung Chul as her scheming husband, who has fantastic comic timing and plays in to all the “total bastard husband” expectations that you may have. Another actor who stood out for me was Song Ji Ho who beautifully captured the conflicted son.
What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.
Was this review helpful to you?
