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A Shoulder to Cry On korean drama review
Completed
A Shoulder to Cry On
2 people found this review helpful
by jreviews
May 17, 2023
7 of 7 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 6.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 2.5
This review may contain spoilers

I would've needed a shoulder to cry on if this was executed better

I went into this show with pretty low expectations. Knowing that the leads are members of a K-pop group had me really worried about both their acting abilities as well as how far they'd be willing to go to showcase physical intimacy. And I have to say that I was positively surprised!

In my opinion, Jae Han and Ye Chan were really solid in the roles of Da Yeol and Tae Hyun. I thought they both fit the roles they were playing really well, especially Ye Chan as Tae Hyun. His winking, the cheeky smiles and the puppy eyes fit the role so well and really brought a lot of charisma to the character. They aren't the best actors in the world, but they were good enough to carry their roles, and with a bit more practice, they could become really great, I think. I enjoyed watching them both and they had solid chemistry. This may not come as a surprise, given the fact that they've been part of the same k-pop group for a while now, but it really could've gone either way. It could've felt awkward since they're close friends in real life, but it didn't. I mean, it did sometimes, but that was because the characters were supposed to be kinda awkward around each other sometimes.

If you're looking for romantic kiss scenes and a lot of physical intimacy, you're not gonna find it in this show. I assume that is because the actors, as mentioned, are part of the same group, so maybe they just didn't want to kiss. Or - and more likely - their company wouldn't let them, since sadly there's still a lot of homophobia in the industry. Knowing this, it didn't really bother me that we didn't get a kiss. But I know that it would bother some people, so I figured I'd mention it.

As for the story, I really liked it up to a certain point. And even after that, the story wasn't the issue, but the execution. Tae Hyun feeling like he's responsible for his adoptive mother's (and unborn sibling's) death is a very interesting concept. Especially exploring his fear of abandonment that resulted from being given up for adoption in the first place and from the accident, as well as the idea that he brings bad things to the people he loves, sound very intriguing on paper. The issue is that the story never really did much with them. Instead, they chose to go with a time-skip at the exact moment when things would've gotten interesting. Da Yeol confessing his feelings to Tae Hyun, and Tae Hyun's fears getting the best of him, thus pushing Da Yeol away was really solid in my opinion. Tae Hyun then realizing that he actually does like Da Yeol too, but Da Yeol being too hurt to be with him would've made for an interesting conflict. In my opinion, this should've happened half-way through the series. Then, the second half should've explored the conflict. It should've shown how Tae Hyun gets over his fear of abandonment and open himself up to the idea of loving and being loved again. It should've shown Da Yeol being severely hurt and finding it hard to open up to Tae Hyun again. It should've spent several episodes on the characters growing as individuals to then slowly find their way back to each other, and finally being ready to be together. Sadly, none of that happened. Right after the conflict happened, the show chose to skip ahead in time, showing the characters get back together, but sadly not showing any of their character development in the process. It was very frustrating since this show actually had characters that had actual traits and fears, and didn't just exist to be in love with each other. But they didn't really do much with them in the end, which was a let-down. If executed properly, I would've probably shed tears as these two characters are dealing with their issues. But my eyes remained dry.

Because the ending was handled so poorly, I don't think I'd ever re-watch the show. It's simply not satisfying, and the start isn't incredible enough to warrant sitting through the disappointing ending. Only rewatching the first part of the show wouldn't be satisfying either, since you'd stop watching at the point of a break up (not that they really were together before that anyway). I would recommend giving this a watch, because it had a lot of potential. But you're most likely not gonna take away a lot from it. Unless you're an OMEGA X fan, of course, then you're probably gonna really enjoy seeing Jae Han and Ye Chan on the screen together. Even if you aren't an OMEGA X fan, you might find yourself liking the actors. That happened to me, at least. All in all, it had a lot of great potential, but sadly potential alone doesn't make for a satisfying watching experience.
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