YepThatsMe

The who-did-it portion of the plot was fairly well done; but for the rest, I lost count of how many times the main characters laid in bed recovering from a near-death experience. (With lipstick. And perfect posture.) Also, I'm thinking a lot of the 'wooden acting' problems could be traced to the director's choices. When the scene called for tension, he'd zoom in for an over-lit close up of the actor (hard to brew emotions in the eyes when you're damn-well blinded), followed with a swift intercut of a close up of the actor's hands. (The director has a fascination for hands and obviously believes clenched fingers deliver a bigger emotional punch than clenched jaws,). Result? I.U. is wooden in this--appearing frozen whenever she should be reacting. None of that parses with the talent she displayed in My Mister and Tangerines. I can't compare Byeon Woo Seuk's performance because I haven't watched Lovely Runner. But in this series, the director's choices reduce him to being a vase. He's not allowed to be ugly; he's only allowed micro-bursts of anger with no lead up. And he's given way too many runway walks, which pulls him out of the narrative. So, my vote for this is a 7. The who-did-it was well done; the rest was visually pretty.