Ann
This review may contain spoilers
Only the first 8 episodes were worth watching.. Overall, lots of wasted potential.
(This review has lots of rants and is full of spoilers. So don't read this if you insist on watching and don't wanna be spoiled.)
Why you should watch this drama:
- Good OST, cast, cinematography.
- To some extent, it challenged gender stereotypes (Gun-woo as a manly LGBT character, the nurse being male, the CEO of a media company being a woman, Do-hee not being afraid to speak her mind)
Why you shouldn't watch this drama:
- Poor portrayal of psychotherapies and people with mental illnesses. I didn't like that this drama demonised Jae-hyuk and made him out to be such a despicable person. Even at the end, I couldn't really sympathise with him. It's almost as though the drama is trying to say that he deserves to be hated because of his mental illness. Furthermore, some things that Hae-kyung says as a psychiatrist are unethical and/or unrealistic (though I understand it is supposed to make the drama funny). As a psychology major, such poor representations are huge red flags for me. They just show that the writer didn't do her research properly. Many scenes in the show reflect a lack of sensitivity with regards to mental issues. Psychiatrists don't just say "You must have ____ disorder" without doing a thorough assessment, and eating disorders don't magically disappear after having a delicious meal. So disappointing as this was supposed to be a show about food, with one of the main characters being a psychiatrist. Many times I find myself wondering if the writer had some prejudice against people with mental illnesses.
- Poor/inconsistent characterization. I was excited to see so many quirky characters but most of them just end up being plot devices. Byung-jin (the nurse) was there to bring Hae-kyung home, Ah-yeong (the CEO unnie) was there to get Do-hee to come to the office or force her to go home, Gun-woo (the gay stylist) was there to bring Jae-hyuk home. Lol. They had so much potential for character development. Literally every main character and important side character had something that could've been developed in a wholesome manner. So it's a huge pity that all of them just ended up being such flat characters. Also, Jae-hyuk's BPD is being unrealistically portrayed here. It's just impossible for Do-hee to not know about his disorder during the times they were dating. At the very least, Do-hee should've been very emotionally affected while dating him, but her flashbacks suggested that she was happy and blissful. It's just... unrealistic. It's not possible to hide your BPD since it is part of your personality.
- Plot holes. I'm looking at you, homeless guy Keanu. It wasn't explained where/how he got his new clothes and had a chance to shave or shower before appearing at Hae-kyung's clinic to warn him about Jae-hyuk. LOL I guess that's a minor thing but yeah it really bugged me. And it wasn't explained how he was allowed to start practising as a psychiatrist again. (Like, what in the world.) I'd assumed that his license got revoked after Jae-hyuk reported about him committing medical malpractice - which became plothole number 2. Shouldn't there have been some form of official investigation? And with a proper investigation done, the hospital and/or the public would have realised that Jae-hyuk was lying in his articles about Keanu's medical malpractice. Plus the ending where he became travel buddies with Jae Hyuk is just meh. In real life psychiatrists/psychologists/therapists are supposed to establish clear boundaries with their clients/patients.
- Many things that the characters do and say just don't make sense to me. Some examples that come to mind:
(1) Do-hee telling Hae-kyung to go away when Jae-hyuk broke into her house. Someone trespassed into your home because of his mental illness and you're telling your psychiatrist boyfriend, who's probably experienced in dealing with such situations, to go home?
(2) Ah-yeong trying to set Do-hee and Jae-hyuk up in the beginning even though she is her best friend/unnie and knew about how Do-hee got dumped? Who does that!?
(3) Ah-yeong and homeless Keanu falling in love was funny but again, unrealistic. I can understand why Keanu would fall for her but not the other way round.
(4) When No-eul revealed on-air that Hae-kyung was her ex-boyfriend, Hae-kyung didn't even get mad. He and Do-hee didn't even talk about what happened. If I were him, I would be mad at not just No-eul, but at Do-hee for allowing this to happen on her show. I thought he had pride? After all, he did try to track down Do-hee to give her a piece of his mind when she insulted him at the start. (Again, inconsistent characterisation).
- Felt like the writer just had CLOY fever, as evident in all the CLOY references and the whole Jeju-island arc/meeting-you-was-destiny theme at the start. Honestly, now that I've watched all the episodes, the first 8 episodes before the exes appeared were totally irrelevant to the main storyline. Ironically though, they were the episodes I enjoyed the most. It seemed to me that the writer could not decide how to develop this drama and added the front part and all the CLOY references for the likes. Even Do-hee reminded me of Yoon Seri lol.
- A lot of parts in the drama felt very anti-climactic.
(1) The part in which Hae-kyung's mom died, I could not decide whether I was supposed to feel sad for him...
(2) The car accident was very wtf for me?
(3) The scene in which Do-hee broke down in front of the police station with Jae-hyuk behind her. I think I was supposed to feel sad but I couldn't sympathise with her at all because she made so many weird decisions that normal people in distress won't make.
(4) Jin No-eul's storyline. She cried, she lost, she gave up. Why include her in the story when she's not even important lol.
[Sorry I can go on and on but I will stop here.]
Final comments:
The drama tricked me into thinking that Do-hee and Hae-kyung were the main characters but the real main character is Jae-hyuk. Every major event in this drama revolved around him. Yes he is annoying, but he is also the person who grew the most. Furthermore, the actor who portrayed him really shined in this drama. I was very very impressed by how he portrayed Jae-hyuk's mental breakdowns. So that's a plus point. Other than that, this is a very disappointing and cringey drama. You won't learn anything new about life/ food/ psychotherapy. Instead, you may gain more negative stereotypes of mental illnesses and false impressions of how therapy is carried out. So I won't recommend it unless there are actors in the cast that you're a huge fan of and want to support no matter what.
Why you should watch this drama:
- Good OST, cast, cinematography.
- To some extent, it challenged gender stereotypes (Gun-woo as a manly LGBT character, the nurse being male, the CEO of a media company being a woman, Do-hee not being afraid to speak her mind)
Why you shouldn't watch this drama:
- Poor portrayal of psychotherapies and people with mental illnesses. I didn't like that this drama demonised Jae-hyuk and made him out to be such a despicable person. Even at the end, I couldn't really sympathise with him. It's almost as though the drama is trying to say that he deserves to be hated because of his mental illness. Furthermore, some things that Hae-kyung says as a psychiatrist are unethical and/or unrealistic (though I understand it is supposed to make the drama funny). As a psychology major, such poor representations are huge red flags for me. They just show that the writer didn't do her research properly. Many scenes in the show reflect a lack of sensitivity with regards to mental issues. Psychiatrists don't just say "You must have ____ disorder" without doing a thorough assessment, and eating disorders don't magically disappear after having a delicious meal. So disappointing as this was supposed to be a show about food, with one of the main characters being a psychiatrist. Many times I find myself wondering if the writer had some prejudice against people with mental illnesses.
- Poor/inconsistent characterization. I was excited to see so many quirky characters but most of them just end up being plot devices. Byung-jin (the nurse) was there to bring Hae-kyung home, Ah-yeong (the CEO unnie) was there to get Do-hee to come to the office or force her to go home, Gun-woo (the gay stylist) was there to bring Jae-hyuk home. Lol. They had so much potential for character development. Literally every main character and important side character had something that could've been developed in a wholesome manner. So it's a huge pity that all of them just ended up being such flat characters. Also, Jae-hyuk's BPD is being unrealistically portrayed here. It's just impossible for Do-hee to not know about his disorder during the times they were dating. At the very least, Do-hee should've been very emotionally affected while dating him, but her flashbacks suggested that she was happy and blissful. It's just... unrealistic. It's not possible to hide your BPD since it is part of your personality.
- Plot holes. I'm looking at you, homeless guy Keanu. It wasn't explained where/how he got his new clothes and had a chance to shave or shower before appearing at Hae-kyung's clinic to warn him about Jae-hyuk. LOL I guess that's a minor thing but yeah it really bugged me. And it wasn't explained how he was allowed to start practising as a psychiatrist again. (Like, what in the world.) I'd assumed that his license got revoked after Jae-hyuk reported about him committing medical malpractice - which became plothole number 2. Shouldn't there have been some form of official investigation? And with a proper investigation done, the hospital and/or the public would have realised that Jae-hyuk was lying in his articles about Keanu's medical malpractice. Plus the ending where he became travel buddies with Jae Hyuk is just meh. In real life psychiatrists/psychologists/therapists are supposed to establish clear boundaries with their clients/patients.
- Many things that the characters do and say just don't make sense to me. Some examples that come to mind:
(1) Do-hee telling Hae-kyung to go away when Jae-hyuk broke into her house. Someone trespassed into your home because of his mental illness and you're telling your psychiatrist boyfriend, who's probably experienced in dealing with such situations, to go home?
(2) Ah-yeong trying to set Do-hee and Jae-hyuk up in the beginning even though she is her best friend/unnie and knew about how Do-hee got dumped? Who does that!?
(3) Ah-yeong and homeless Keanu falling in love was funny but again, unrealistic. I can understand why Keanu would fall for her but not the other way round.
(4) When No-eul revealed on-air that Hae-kyung was her ex-boyfriend, Hae-kyung didn't even get mad. He and Do-hee didn't even talk about what happened. If I were him, I would be mad at not just No-eul, but at Do-hee for allowing this to happen on her show. I thought he had pride? After all, he did try to track down Do-hee to give her a piece of his mind when she insulted him at the start. (Again, inconsistent characterisation).
- Felt like the writer just had CLOY fever, as evident in all the CLOY references and the whole Jeju-island arc/meeting-you-was-destiny theme at the start. Honestly, now that I've watched all the episodes, the first 8 episodes before the exes appeared were totally irrelevant to the main storyline. Ironically though, they were the episodes I enjoyed the most. It seemed to me that the writer could not decide how to develop this drama and added the front part and all the CLOY references for the likes. Even Do-hee reminded me of Yoon Seri lol.
- A lot of parts in the drama felt very anti-climactic.
(1) The part in which Hae-kyung's mom died, I could not decide whether I was supposed to feel sad for him...
(2) The car accident was very wtf for me?
(3) The scene in which Do-hee broke down in front of the police station with Jae-hyuk behind her. I think I was supposed to feel sad but I couldn't sympathise with her at all because she made so many weird decisions that normal people in distress won't make.
(4) Jin No-eul's storyline. She cried, she lost, she gave up. Why include her in the story when she's not even important lol.
[Sorry I can go on and on but I will stop here.]
Final comments:
The drama tricked me into thinking that Do-hee and Hae-kyung were the main characters but the real main character is Jae-hyuk. Every major event in this drama revolved around him. Yes he is annoying, but he is also the person who grew the most. Furthermore, the actor who portrayed him really shined in this drama. I was very very impressed by how he portrayed Jae-hyuk's mental breakdowns. So that's a plus point. Other than that, this is a very disappointing and cringey drama. You won't learn anything new about life/ food/ psychotherapy. Instead, you may gain more negative stereotypes of mental illnesses and false impressions of how therapy is carried out. So I won't recommend it unless there are actors in the cast that you're a huge fan of and want to support no matter what.
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