This drama started out very strongly. The cast is terrific and the chemistry between the 1st and 2nd leads was excellent. The romance element evolved steadily through episode 8, where things took a dramatic and unexpected turn. Unfortunately, after weathering the fallout from that, the drama gradually lost steam before fizzling out to a somewhat trite conclusion.

This drama ran concurrently with the 12-episode drama “No Gain, No Love.” Both dramas had stellar casts, strong production values, and a reasonably good premise. But where NGNL felt tight and refined, Love Next Door felt loose, repetitive, and messy. There just wasn’t enough of a story to stretch it out to 16 episodes. It was kind of disappointing actually. Save this one for a rainy day when you’ve already seen everything else on your list, or you need a Jung So Min or Jung Hae In fix.