cry0nic
This review may contain spoilers
Lamest revenge in the history of makjang revenge plans
Expectation: Makjang drama about rich people and their arranged marriage woes
Reality: A scorned woman's half baked attempt at revenge set in the backdrop of a dating agency for rich people
Honestly, I would barely even consider the FL's revenge as revenge, because it just involved a. telling anyone who would listen how much of a bitch Yoo Hui is. b. Trying to stop Yoo Hui from getting a man. Both of which would have failed SPECTACULARLY if not for the 2 rich MLs. Revenge was never her goal in the first place; running into Yoo Hui at the dating agency somehow reminded her that she ought to embark on the most ambitious plan of ruining someone's life with virtually no plan in place at all! Compared to the other makjang revenge drama next door (Eve), the "revenge plans" in this drama were like child's play. Thankfully, this drama is only 8 eps long so FL's idiocy and helplessness wasn't dragged on. HOWEVER, this show tried to be overly ambitious by throwing in a multitude of kdrama tropes that were sufficient to last several dramas: 1. Illegitimate child trope, 2. white truck of doom, 3.childhood sweethearts trope, 4.corrupt politicians, 5.chaebols, 6.disapproving parents 7.Getting backstabbed by your BFF and more. In particular, the politician trope was so unnecessarily convoluted and illogical and the show could have done without it. The antagonist (Yoo Hui) was portrayed fairly realistically and wasn't omnipotent like in other makjangs but her motivations were so poorly explained it was like the writers forgot halfway why they made her bad in the first place. The only bright spot in the plot was the CEO of the dating agency (Choi Yoo Sun) who was extremely charismatic and manipulative. Her backstory was never fully fleshed out but it still intrigued me more than whatever the hell Hye Sung wanted to do to get "revenge". As a whole, the whole "dating agency for rich people" premise had a lot of potential and for it to just devolve into a cliched kdrama revenge story is just sad.
Acting wise, I had higher expectations from Kim Hee Sun considering how experienced she is. She looked like she was phoning it in the whole time and her "romance" with the 2 ML could barely be considered as romance, just like her half-baked revenge plans. No intimacy AT ALL (not that you need intimacy to show romantic feelings... but still?) and barely any chemistry. Her scenes with the 2 ML just looked like she was hanging out with friends and when she got married to one of them it was like oh? okay then. She had a perpetual damsel in distress look which isn't a good thing in a revenge kdrama at all. Yoo Hui (Jung Eugene) was great and I actually found her despicable. The 2 ML's acted well, bonus points for their good looks lol.
Cinematography and music were good, and I find that in this regard Netflix always maintains a high standard. Still, the rewatch value is 0 due to the lame ass revenge plot and the low entertainment value.
Conclusion: watch only if you are a die hard fan of one of the actors. Else, don't waste your time. For a makjang that is more over the top and entertaining, watch Eve or Penthouse instead.
Reality: A scorned woman's half baked attempt at revenge set in the backdrop of a dating agency for rich people
Honestly, I would barely even consider the FL's revenge as revenge, because it just involved a. telling anyone who would listen how much of a bitch Yoo Hui is. b. Trying to stop Yoo Hui from getting a man. Both of which would have failed SPECTACULARLY if not for the 2 rich MLs. Revenge was never her goal in the first place; running into Yoo Hui at the dating agency somehow reminded her that she ought to embark on the most ambitious plan of ruining someone's life with virtually no plan in place at all! Compared to the other makjang revenge drama next door (Eve), the "revenge plans" in this drama were like child's play. Thankfully, this drama is only 8 eps long so FL's idiocy and helplessness wasn't dragged on. HOWEVER, this show tried to be overly ambitious by throwing in a multitude of kdrama tropes that were sufficient to last several dramas: 1. Illegitimate child trope, 2. white truck of doom, 3.childhood sweethearts trope, 4.corrupt politicians, 5.chaebols, 6.disapproving parents 7.Getting backstabbed by your BFF and more. In particular, the politician trope was so unnecessarily convoluted and illogical and the show could have done without it. The antagonist (Yoo Hui) was portrayed fairly realistically and wasn't omnipotent like in other makjangs but her motivations were so poorly explained it was like the writers forgot halfway why they made her bad in the first place. The only bright spot in the plot was the CEO of the dating agency (Choi Yoo Sun) who was extremely charismatic and manipulative. Her backstory was never fully fleshed out but it still intrigued me more than whatever the hell Hye Sung wanted to do to get "revenge". As a whole, the whole "dating agency for rich people" premise had a lot of potential and for it to just devolve into a cliched kdrama revenge story is just sad.
Acting wise, I had higher expectations from Kim Hee Sun considering how experienced she is. She looked like she was phoning it in the whole time and her "romance" with the 2 ML could barely be considered as romance, just like her half-baked revenge plans. No intimacy AT ALL (not that you need intimacy to show romantic feelings... but still?) and barely any chemistry. Her scenes with the 2 ML just looked like she was hanging out with friends and when she got married to one of them it was like oh? okay then. She had a perpetual damsel in distress look which isn't a good thing in a revenge kdrama at all. Yoo Hui (Jung Eugene) was great and I actually found her despicable. The 2 ML's acted well, bonus points for their good looks lol.
Cinematography and music were good, and I find that in this regard Netflix always maintains a high standard. Still, the rewatch value is 0 due to the lame ass revenge plot and the low entertainment value.
Conclusion: watch only if you are a die hard fan of one of the actors. Else, don't waste your time. For a makjang that is more over the top and entertaining, watch Eve or Penthouse instead.
Was this review helpful to you?
