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  • Join Date: February 3, 2023
  • Awards Received: Flower Award1

Vicariously

Canada

Vicariously

Canada
Tell Me That You Love Me korean drama review
Completed
Tell Me That You Love Me
23 people found this review helpful
by Vicariously Flower Award1
Jan 16, 2024
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 5
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.5
This review may contain spoilers

An interesting, thought-provoking, but somewhat unsatisfying love story

The writer tries to show us the stages of a relationship, but doesn't go far enough. The first half is beautiful, how it shows the development of the relationship between the two leads. The way their communication is portrayed is relaxing and nice to watch. When signing to each other or writing messages through their phones, it felt like they were completely attentive to what the other was thinking and saying. Those scenes were the most romantic to me. As the FL says, "it feels like we're having a silent conversation that never ends in a quiet world of our own".

But part-way through, that conversation seemed to end, and the relationship unravels. Of course, it's realistic for relationships to change after an initial honeymoon stage. The FL has anxieties that come from a reasonable place, her position is understandable. But the sensible thing to do is to talk those anxieties out, to confront each other, to demand explanations and get everything off of your chest. It feels like the FL unilaterally decides to stop communicating, and that's the death knell for any relationship. There are moments where it feels like she has fallen out of love, although you could see it instead as her being overly melancholic or prone to insecurity.

In other words, we see the honeymoon and uncertainty stages of a relationship, but nothing else. There's no sense of recommitment, or really any solution to the problems raised in this relationship. The leads reunite at the end, but it doesn't feel satisfying, it's unearned because none of the problems were resolved. For a drama that dedicates so much time early on to idealizing communication, this is a big misstep.

Character-wise, I think the FL is the most fascinating character in the show. I think people can debate her motivations, the changes in her feelings, whether she's 'realistic' or not for a long time.
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