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  • Location: Adorkable Heights, State of Oblivion, Kdramaland
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ElBee

Adorkable Heights, State of Oblivion, Kdramaland

ElBee

Adorkable Heights, State of Oblivion, Kdramaland
Train korean drama review
Completed
Train
6 people found this review helpful
by ElBee
Aug 16, 2020
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 7.0

Rewarding viewing experience, more thoughtful("slow") than OCN's fast paced thrillers

Train was, for me, a rewarding viewing experience. The pace feels more slow than the usual OCN rapid guns firing all around kind of plot (I saw some comments from people who were dropping it early because they took more time than usual setting it up), the script very methodically handled (to me that is good because stories like this are very easy to screw up majorly), but all the actors handled their many 'stages'-Yoon Shi Yoon nothing short of fantastic as usual-incredibly well, the nuances between them making it really clear where they were and what they were thinking/how they were processing information. The last episode's twists are not shouted but murmured at the audience, making it (to me) more convincing and making it sit with me longer than loud OMGOMGOMG shock value ones where everyone in the story is running around in a tizzy. The very end was, as you can hope no matter the story, just beautiful. A tiny bit of humor in an unexpected chase mixed in with the sentiment needed to close the story with both resolve and further curiosity. It left me totally satisfied-emotionally, mentally, stress-level-wise, etc. It closed the story out very well for me.

OCN doesn't use a ton of music, especially not compared to their sister network tvN, but I really LOVE the main song in this drama and never tired of it-it is Joe Won Sun's "I Will Never." The key lyrics that will stay in my head for months go something like this:

I’m gonna find you
Neol nohchiji anheulke
I’m still fighting for you.

I’m gonna find you
Nan meomchuji anheulke
I will never give up on you.

8.5/10 is my rating. I'd probably give it, on a hundred point scale, an 88, but it's not quite "9-enough" to put it in my near-perfect-experience list, mostly because it's both quick in not being very long and slow in some of the story pacing being more like a 16-ep show. Part of me, having been "makjanged" more lately than I'm used to, sometimes wanted even more story though it doesn't actually need it and may have become cluttered with too much else added. I am glad, though, they didn't throw us any of the usual rich sleazy execs and politicians being corrupt and horrible. Those are a dime a dozen and tend to detract from the main story unless it IS the main story. Still, another solid OCN production with perfect acting performances by nearly all if not everyone, great, convincing sets/visual images of the town, beautiful camera work and editing (which are near-guarantees with OCN), and a set up that created enough struggle without being impossible to navigate, intrigue and just enough complexity without being convoluted... and YSY's eyes along with Lee Hang Na's expressions (the police chief) were really key in bringing a rich story out.
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