a female gazing
USA
A Swing And A Miss
I wanted to love this drama so much. It has so much going for it. How can you really go wrong with a cute fantasy romcom full of tropey forced cohabitation goodness? And on top of that, throw in two talented and capable lead actors--Jang Ki Yong & Hyeri--who have proven their chops in multiple other projects. I was expecting something a little light-hearted, with lots of skinship, misunderstandings and pining, and to an extent, all of that was there.
So why did this drama feel so utterly empty and forgettable? What was missing?
I'll tell you: proper characterization. This show totally failed to create two lead characters who the viewer could both empathize with and fall in love with. We have to really care about who they are, what their desires are, the struggles they're facing. And if the lead couple lacks fiery chemistry, they at least need to have a well-written buildup for their feelings for one another. These two had neither chemistry nor well-written buildup. Not even a smidge. I found myself wanting to skip through their scenes, which is unacceptable for this genre. Gumiho Shin Woo Yeo is beautiful, refined and cold...and boring. We get nothing from him. He is essentially flawless--and perfect characters don't hold your attention for long. He yearns to be human, but why does this character want to be human so bad? He has no relationships with the people around him. He has no drive or ambition besides finally becoming human, and it's not addressed why he even desires that. He extracts no pleasure from living in the human world, experiencing human pleasures or being around other humans. So what is the audience even rooting for?
Lee Dam, the human college student he falls for, is immature, totally out of touch with herself, and childish to the extreme. She is nothing special--the Every Woman Character. She feels more like a cardboard cutout than a person because the script doesn't adjust to her character. Rather, the character adjusts to the script's needs. She always reacts too much or too little. You can never pin down what kind of person the writers want her to be. The writing fails this character in a myriad of ways, and it's exhausting. Thus, Lee Dam comes off extremely inconsistent: sometimes she finds herself in upsetting situations with her peers and she shows real wisdom for her age. Just as often, she comes off as a loud obnoxious teen with no self-awareness. It's impossible that this 999-year old mythical creature could fall for this annoying human child without any growth, right? RIGHT?
Wrong. Of course he falls for her, out of nowhere. By episode 6, we are already embroiled in their romantic feelings coming to light. This kind of relationship deserves a far slower burn, especially in the context of all these flaws. But those 6 episodes feel like eons. Truly, it was an effort to get through them. This episode is also when the villain seems to be introduced (some sort of serial killer gumiho I think, but didn't really care enough to find out). It is baffling to watch, as a viewer, because I don't really want to spend time with them, so why do they want to spend time with each other? They don't have great chemistry, which is forgivable with the right script. I asked myself, do I even want to see them in each other's arms? And I realized I don't really care either way. So the show, for me, is dead in the water.
The arcs occurring within the secondary characters feel more fleshed out than in the leads. Narratively, there is no recovery for a start like this, and I'll be abandoning it at 6 episodes. I'm sad because Jang Ki Yong and Hyeri's talents are wasted here, and they are really doing their best, but it's simply not enough to save a script that reads like a first draft.
So why did this drama feel so utterly empty and forgettable? What was missing?
I'll tell you: proper characterization. This show totally failed to create two lead characters who the viewer could both empathize with and fall in love with. We have to really care about who they are, what their desires are, the struggles they're facing. And if the lead couple lacks fiery chemistry, they at least need to have a well-written buildup for their feelings for one another. These two had neither chemistry nor well-written buildup. Not even a smidge. I found myself wanting to skip through their scenes, which is unacceptable for this genre. Gumiho Shin Woo Yeo is beautiful, refined and cold...and boring. We get nothing from him. He is essentially flawless--and perfect characters don't hold your attention for long. He yearns to be human, but why does this character want to be human so bad? He has no relationships with the people around him. He has no drive or ambition besides finally becoming human, and it's not addressed why he even desires that. He extracts no pleasure from living in the human world, experiencing human pleasures or being around other humans. So what is the audience even rooting for?
Lee Dam, the human college student he falls for, is immature, totally out of touch with herself, and childish to the extreme. She is nothing special--the Every Woman Character. She feels more like a cardboard cutout than a person because the script doesn't adjust to her character. Rather, the character adjusts to the script's needs. She always reacts too much or too little. You can never pin down what kind of person the writers want her to be. The writing fails this character in a myriad of ways, and it's exhausting. Thus, Lee Dam comes off extremely inconsistent: sometimes she finds herself in upsetting situations with her peers and she shows real wisdom for her age. Just as often, she comes off as a loud obnoxious teen with no self-awareness. It's impossible that this 999-year old mythical creature could fall for this annoying human child without any growth, right? RIGHT?
Wrong. Of course he falls for her, out of nowhere. By episode 6, we are already embroiled in their romantic feelings coming to light. This kind of relationship deserves a far slower burn, especially in the context of all these flaws. But those 6 episodes feel like eons. Truly, it was an effort to get through them. This episode is also when the villain seems to be introduced (some sort of serial killer gumiho I think, but didn't really care enough to find out). It is baffling to watch, as a viewer, because I don't really want to spend time with them, so why do they want to spend time with each other? They don't have great chemistry, which is forgivable with the right script. I asked myself, do I even want to see them in each other's arms? And I realized I don't really care either way. So the show, for me, is dead in the water.
The arcs occurring within the secondary characters feel more fleshed out than in the leads. Narratively, there is no recovery for a start like this, and I'll be abandoning it at 6 episodes. I'm sad because Jang Ki Yong and Hyeri's talents are wasted here, and they are really doing their best, but it's simply not enough to save a script that reads like a first draft.
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