Soula
I'm not really sure what got me interested in My Golden Life, but man oh man am I disappointed in how it turned out. I knew some people who watched it and said they enjoyed it, there were a majority of good reviews, and it was available on Viki, so I decided to give it a shot.
So many regrets. I wish I had listened to my gut and dropped it around episode 35-38 - I wasn't fond of where I saw the plot going. My mother, who started watching My Golden Life with me around episode 25 was thoroughly hooked and convinced me to continue watching it with her because she wanted to see how it turned out. *sigh* I really should have dropped it.
Honestly, there's too much wrong with this drama to be able to explain them all here. In a summary, the biggest issue was that there were too many sub-plots that weren't concluded by the end of the series (the relationship between the grandfather and grandson of HaeSung, the relationship between Ji Soo and her biological parents, the relationship between Ji Ho and Seo Hyeon, the relationship between Ji Soo and the Baker, the relationship between Ji Soo and the Baker's wife, how Do Gyeong's secretary's mother/family were doing now that he was successful, how Ji Tae and Soo Ah were doing with their careers now that they "moved", the relationship between Ji An and Do Gyeong's mother, the relationship between Ji An and Do Gyeong, all the stories for the friends who lived in the sharehouse, such as, Yong Gook. These loose ends might seem unnecessary to wrap up, and while there were *some* glimpses of slight implications as to how SOME of these characters turned out, there wasn't nearly enough wrap up. They jump ahead a year and just expect us to swallow that all these characters have moved on and are "fine". Well, I'm sorry, but I can't just accept that. For a 52 episode drama, when you're investing so much time and emotion into it, the directors should have most definitely dedicated more energy into making sure each introduced character was given closure due to them to help leave the viewers with some satisfaction after finishing the last episode. The ending felt incomplete.
Another thing worth noting that bothered me the most in regards to plot development/characterization was that the father, Seo Tae Soo had an extremely poorly written character. I adored him in the beginning (first 25-30 episodes), but after Ji An moved back to Seoul and he found her and went into his depression and became bitter because he felt "betrayed" was nonsense. Sure, after shit hit the fan with everything that happened with the HaeSung family, their family being chaotic and having marital problems makes sense and would be reasonable. But dragging out his nastiness was absolutely OUT OF CHARACTER, distasteful, and unnecessary (it goes on for about 10-15 episodes!). With everything learned about him prior to that point, he was a very understanding, supportive, and loving man. His character shift didn't make logical sense, especially to the extreme and length of time it lasted. Additionally, his tragic end was just insulting. Dangling hope but still having a sad ending for him was insulting and all I could do was shake my head.
The only other thing that I really feel worth mentioning is the fact that Ji Ho and Seo Hyeon not ending up together is really upsetting and unfair. They should have been a happy couple. They were really my favorite characters to watch and they complimented each other so well. And Seo Hyeon really was looking like she'd rebel because of the lack of attention and affection she was receiving, but NOTHING. She went forgotten, by both her parents AND the writers of this drama. It was a disservice to such a sweet and capable character.
The OST *was* particularly note-worthy and will likely make it onto my playlist.
I would NOT recommend this drama to anyone, unless they've seen ALL the other long family dramas and are absolutely bored and have nothing but time on their hands. For me, it was a waste of time - the drama loses control, direction, timing, and organization around episode 35. They tried to refocus in the end, but it was already too late. Please note, there WERE some good times and there were things that I enjoyed seeing, but the poor resolutions written in this drama outweigh the drama's good points.
In the future, before starting a terribly long drama, I will give more attention to reading the reviews and spoilers to determine if I want to invest myself into such a drama. Unfortunately, it's dramas like this one that give a bad reputation to long family dramas and cause so many people to be weary and hesitant/intimated by them. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a better one in the future...
So many regrets. I wish I had listened to my gut and dropped it around episode 35-38 - I wasn't fond of where I saw the plot going. My mother, who started watching My Golden Life with me around episode 25 was thoroughly hooked and convinced me to continue watching it with her because she wanted to see how it turned out. *sigh* I really should have dropped it.
Honestly, there's too much wrong with this drama to be able to explain them all here. In a summary, the biggest issue was that there were too many sub-plots that weren't concluded by the end of the series (the relationship between the grandfather and grandson of HaeSung, the relationship between Ji Soo and her biological parents, the relationship between Ji Ho and Seo Hyeon, the relationship between Ji Soo and the Baker, the relationship between Ji Soo and the Baker's wife, how Do Gyeong's secretary's mother/family were doing now that he was successful, how Ji Tae and Soo Ah were doing with their careers now that they "moved", the relationship between Ji An and Do Gyeong's mother, the relationship between Ji An and Do Gyeong, all the stories for the friends who lived in the sharehouse, such as, Yong Gook. These loose ends might seem unnecessary to wrap up, and while there were *some* glimpses of slight implications as to how SOME of these characters turned out, there wasn't nearly enough wrap up. They jump ahead a year and just expect us to swallow that all these characters have moved on and are "fine". Well, I'm sorry, but I can't just accept that. For a 52 episode drama, when you're investing so much time and emotion into it, the directors should have most definitely dedicated more energy into making sure each introduced character was given closure due to them to help leave the viewers with some satisfaction after finishing the last episode. The ending felt incomplete.
Another thing worth noting that bothered me the most in regards to plot development/characterization was that the father, Seo Tae Soo had an extremely poorly written character. I adored him in the beginning (first 25-30 episodes), but after Ji An moved back to Seoul and he found her and went into his depression and became bitter because he felt "betrayed" was nonsense. Sure, after shit hit the fan with everything that happened with the HaeSung family, their family being chaotic and having marital problems makes sense and would be reasonable. But dragging out his nastiness was absolutely OUT OF CHARACTER, distasteful, and unnecessary (it goes on for about 10-15 episodes!). With everything learned about him prior to that point, he was a very understanding, supportive, and loving man. His character shift didn't make logical sense, especially to the extreme and length of time it lasted. Additionally, his tragic end was just insulting. Dangling hope but still having a sad ending for him was insulting and all I could do was shake my head.
The only other thing that I really feel worth mentioning is the fact that Ji Ho and Seo Hyeon not ending up together is really upsetting and unfair. They should have been a happy couple. They were really my favorite characters to watch and they complimented each other so well. And Seo Hyeon really was looking like she'd rebel because of the lack of attention and affection she was receiving, but NOTHING. She went forgotten, by both her parents AND the writers of this drama. It was a disservice to such a sweet and capable character.
The OST *was* particularly note-worthy and will likely make it onto my playlist.
I would NOT recommend this drama to anyone, unless they've seen ALL the other long family dramas and are absolutely bored and have nothing but time on their hands. For me, it was a waste of time - the drama loses control, direction, timing, and organization around episode 35. They tried to refocus in the end, but it was already too late. Please note, there WERE some good times and there were things that I enjoyed seeing, but the poor resolutions written in this drama outweigh the drama's good points.
In the future, before starting a terribly long drama, I will give more attention to reading the reviews and spoilers to determine if I want to invest myself into such a drama. Unfortunately, it's dramas like this one that give a bad reputation to long family dramas and cause so many people to be weary and hesitant/intimated by them. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a better one in the future...
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