irmar

I am exactly halfway and I am not impressed. One cliché after another. Forget the amnesia... We've seen so many times an uppity city girl resent a rural place and ruffle feathers but then make friends, in the latest fashion of "healing by the countryside" dramas starting with Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (still the best of them), but it was done many times even before that trend.
(And of course she never thought of googling her usual legal name once she found out about it: as a prosecutor she would find lots of mentions)
The village people? The colourful ajummas? Yes, cute, but they are just the same "painting by numbers" characters. We've seen them literally more than 20 times in the past ten years, and that's only counting the dramas I've watched, there are possibly many more. Yawn! 7-8
The FL actress is very mediocre, resorts to overacting and doesn't feel natural at all. I understand it's her first main role. She's pretty and they will keep giving her roles even if her acting sucks, so I sincerely hope she works at it and gets better soon.
Has Jung Hae In done something to his face? I keep scrutinizing him to find the features that I know so well from many other dramas. Don't tell me it's because he's older, I know what getting older looks; no, he's different. Only the rare times when he smiles do I get a glimpse of his old self and say "oh yes, that's him". It's okay for actors to do small aesthetic improvements to stop time and keep looking fresh, but not to the point that it will change your features and you look like someone else!
I didn't feel much spark between them, to be honest. Maybe if there were, even a mediocre plot would feel more alive. But if the chemistry is absent or bland. I don't know, let's wait for the next episodes, if I have the patience to go on with it.

Also, it pisses me immensely that because it's a Netflix drama and not a Korean TV drama, they show people smoking. The Mafia boss is more or less okay, but we're shown the male lead chain smoking. When you then see him kissing, you cannot help but think "Oh, the actor is probably a smoker too, since he did it so naturally. His mouth must stink!" And it ruins the romantic atmosphere. (Yes, I know that in real life everyone and their aunt smokes in Korea. But since when an amnesia romance needs to stick to such precise realism?)

I don't think she's a good actress, her acting was very mediocre in this series. But of course this has nothing to do with the controversy: she shouldn't be harrassed for what her ancestor did.

Not only that. But he knows he's lying about being her boyfriend. When she regains her memories, she might say that he took advantage of her, and he doesn't want that.

But I like romance dramas, it's not that I don't. A romance drama can be rooted in reality too. It doesn't have to be absurd like this one and tick all of the cliché boxes of sensationalist stuff.
Out of modern dramas, "Lighter and Princess" was perfect, I loved it. I also loved "Meet Yourself" although it wasn't only about romance and, as period dramas go, "The Double".

Cookie cutter screenplays. They are all the same, they start as young lovers, then the girl leaves the boy for a stupid reason and then they meet again after they are established adults.
The Love You Give Me, Sweet Games, Dazzling, First Frost ... It gets really tiring because you know exactly how it will go.
Here we have a weak screenplay too, with all the elements of makjang. Concubines, suicide, death by sacrifice, bankrupcy, illness, several hospitalisations, abandonment, the ruthless father, the strict grandfather, the anguished illegitimate son, loan sharks and goons, a stabbing, all the over-the-top scenes. It seems written by a 12-year old. And the scenes where the lovers just look at each other are sooooo bland and boring! They don't seem to have anything interesting or intelligent to say but a string of clichés.
Then there are the unwitting fantasy elements that are just sloppy continuity and lack of logic. First the abandoned empty pool that becomes a clean boundless ocean, full of goldfish (they would have instantly died either in salt water or in chlorinated pool water). And now the magic wand clothes. You know the French fairy tale of Peau d'âne, Donkey Skin? A princess who travels incognito. Her fairy godmother gave her a wand, so her clothes travel underground in a nice big chest, and wherever she wants, she touches the ground and the chest full of wonderful clothes appears and she can dress up. The two people in this drama escape running away from people who pursue them and arrive breathlessly to the railway station to take the first train. They're wearing summer clothes, not even carrying a bag. And next thing, when they arrive at their destination, you see them with several changes of high-quality winter outfits including coats, gloves and hats. He also has his credit cards (even if they have been deactivated) and she happened to have enough cash in her magically appeared purse to survive for weeks "with good management". Better than Donkey Skin, better than Mary Poppins.
Then they say "Let's go home to take lots of things, everything we will need, because we didn't pack enough". You didn't pack ANYTHING, darling. (Did the drama change writer and the second one didn't bother to read or watch the previous episodes?) And when they do pack, hers is a small suitcase barely enough for a 2-3 day excursion, LOL!
And don't tell me "but it's a drama". Unless it's a fantasy, I want at least some semblance of realism. Not that the rest of the plot is strong on realism anyway.

The last one third was less boring, it had a refreshing pace, although things were fixed much too easily on all fronts as if the writer couldn't be bothered to deal with them and find realistic paths to solutions. Solutions just magically appeared out of nowhere so that everything could be resolved quickly.
But I'm glad someone finally fixed those desks and chairs neatly.

I am in episode 19. The last 3-4 episodes have been so absurd and draggy and makjang. (What's the Chinese equivalent of makjang?) The rest in the reply, as not to spoil.
UPDATE: I just finished it.

Sorry I don't buy noble idiot plots. It has been proved ineffective since La Traviata.

Exactly! Some people may take dramas a bit too literally, you never know.

Swimming Pools are Deadly for Goldfish
Gill destruction: Chlorine burns and destroys their delicate gill tissues.
Suffocation: Damaged gills prevent them from absorbing oxygen from the water.
Chemical burns: The chemical strips away their protective mucus slime coat.
Skin irritation: Unprotected skin suffers severe chemical burns and lesions.
Improper pH: Pool water pH is kept too high for goldfish survival.
No filtration: Pools lack the biological filters needed to process fish waste.
Toxic shock: Rapid exposure to pool chemicals causes immediate deadly shock.

SO DON'T IMITATE THE TERRIBLE SCRIPT IN THAT EPISODE OF THE DRAMA. DON'T EVER PUT GOLDFISH IN A SWIMMING POOL, NOT EVEN FOR 2 MINUTES.

Plus... we were told that was an abandoned swimming pool. The water must have been there since who knows when, it must have been totally filthy and toxic even for people. And why did it have water anyway?

All the c-dramas that show a love story in young years that ends in separation will show them meeting again as adults and somehow making up. It's a rule, and no one is surprised. At this point, all the plots are more or less similar, the only pleasure is seeing how they will be developed, the small details, the acting etc. Otherwise, we all know what is going to happen.

YES, definitely!

I just found it a bit too much, more than the usual standards.

Not always. Only when he's in his office, not when he's on the scene with her.
Also, I'm no expert, but if one wants the police to come to a crime scene, shouldn't he or she call the police station number and not the prosecutors' office?

I am enjoying it very much, but there are some things that bother me. For instance, the police always gets tip-offs, they rush to the scene, find a body and they always see that prosecutor and that red-haired lady. They never take them to the police station to question them, they never question the fact that every single time those two people are present in the middle of nowhere having found a body? Sometimes there is mention in the media of who tipped off, and a picture of her. Wouldn't that always be the case, normally?
Instead, we see the pair go away undisturbed and nobody asks a single question.

Oh, then I shouldn't spoil it for you. It's an excellent drama, you should watch it!

Do you remember Phantom Lawyer? He also died but then came back in the next episode.

And her singing in Castaway Diva was very good!

Excellent drama. Completely crazy and incredibly funny, and with a heartwarming message.
I used it as my treat at the end of the day to calm me and get me in a good mood. Ten out of ten in its category.

Yes, you're right!

Look at your messages.