michelleoc

Not your typical saeguk

Let me get this out of the way up front - she never met the groom, he supposedly died on their wedding day and she's expected to live as a widow, yet it takes til the end of the show for them to figure out a loophole so she doesn't have to live with the stigma of divorce since they weren't ever actually married?!?!?

That being said, it was so good to see a strong FL, that was nice. Normally, strong FL's need to be a B. Since the FL is actually a martial artist, the fight scenes were well-choreographed and believable.

There was more humor than expected, which I enjoyed. Beautiful costuming.

As for romance/chemistry - I could feel it from the ML, but not the FL. He had very expressive eyes. Not one single kiss. I loved the 2ML and his immediate attraction to 2FL.

There were a couple of rap songs that felt completely out of place, but some of the music was good.

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completely wasted second leads

I enjoyed watching this, with some fast forwarding through some irritating parts.

Liked:
Main leads: An optimist and a pessimist fall in love. Of course, he's the pessimist. I found the FL to be a bit "too much" at the beginning, but then she began to grow on me. She was a ray of sunshine, and I really enjoyed watching his walls come down. There was some very effective comedy from both of them, especially the FL. When they were in the novel and he could read her mind, that cracked me up.
Storyline: I've seen this storyline before, but I liked the clearer delineation in this one between the real world and the novel. I also liked his family difference in the novel. Happy ending. The end was disappointing, after they both told their friends they wanted to get married, we got no proposal and no wedding.

Mid:
The main couple's romance. Some very bad kisses, some good kisses. I liked them as a couple, they really complemented each other. I know that Chinese censorship is a thing, but I got the impression throughout that they were never intimate (someone kept interrupting them), yet suddenly they are both in pajamas and deciding what color sheets to sleep on. It felt like a chunk is missing.
Storyline: it got very convoluted about 3/4 of the way through it, and seemed to be all over the place, with the rules suddenly changing for how to get in and out of the novel. I was irritated by this. Pick a rule and stick with it!

Disliked:
The 2nd couple (the idol/actors). This couple was a complete waste of time. I never bought them as a couple; she seemed so much older than him. It was especially irritating how much screen time they got, considering they never got together in the end.
Acting. The idol/actor was seriously a terrible actor! And what's funny is, he was supposed to look like a terrible actor in some scenes, but he was terrible throughout.
Storyline: The idol's scheming dance teacher that was trying to get him to like her again - suddenly she seemed to just fall out of the story. About midway through it got a lot darker. I thought too much time was spent on the psycho guy. And hello, you know that he's following you around, you're putting on an act to draw him out, but you don't tell the police?!?!

Random questions I had while watching this drama:
1) Do all Chinese people stand really close to people they are gossiping about so they can hear the gossiping?
2) Why does there always seem to be an irritating woman that never gives up on the ML, and feels that he will drop the FL for her? And she'll use whatever means at her disposal to make that happen?
3) Do office workers actually dress like that in short shorts and shirts?
4) Do the people in offices actually do any work, or just spend their days gossiping?
5) Why is the best friend always telling the FL how to get the ML in bed (usually loud enough for others to hear), when she hasn't even decided if she actually likes him yet.

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fun, yet somewhat confusing, show

I only say confusing in the context of there being so many names to keep straight, plus the fact that a few of them had two names. That being said, this was a fun watch. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but there were oh so many cute scenes. I enjoyed trying to figure out who the true villains were.

The standout story lines were the ones involving the roommates of Room 301. Hang Geum Bo (Park Shin Hye) is a 36-year-old that goes undercover at a company, pretending to be 20. This was made more interesting by the fact that she was not a nice person. She was hard to get along with, had no filter for things she would say, and would not suffer fools gladly. Yet the four women (and the darling daughter of one of the women) eventually became fast friends and learned to lean on and protect one another. I loved the found friendship/family trope, so I was all in for this.

The only one I didn't like in this was Go Kyung Pyo (Sin Jeong U). To me, he seemed too stiff and monotone.

This is not a romance. Geum Bo and Jeong U were in a relationship years ago. Then he stabbed her in the back when they worked together. I think part of her plan was to get revenge on him. Cho Han Gyeol as Albert O was wonderful as the young man that gets a crush on her, but it doesn't go anywhere.

The ending shows her moving on to another undercover case, leaving the door open for a season 2, but I don't think it's necessary, and I would miss the rest of the cast and their interactions.

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What even WAS that?!?

These are just my opinion, please don't come at me. This review might be all over the place, because that's the way the show was.
The good:
-The baby. ABSOLUTELY the high point of the entire show. He was precious. I need to go find behind the scenes footage of how they worked with him.
-The ending was so cute with all the scenes of the baby.
The bad:
-I love Bae In Hyuk, but to me it felt like he was struggling to get through this drama.
-I don't like love triangles to begin with, but this one went on entirely too long. Plus, the FL had more scenes and chemistry with the 2ML than ML. It's not right when they spend more time on that relationship than the main relationship. Plus, the FL acted like she liked the 2ML more, until she suddenly decided to like the ML. Did the writers realize they were running out of episodes and scramble to get them back on track? Because the ML/FL relationship certainly seemed like an afterthought. NOW, I understand why people ask about triangles before watching something.
-FL acting. Bad. It felt like they filmed a bunch of reaction shots of her and then edited them in. I often felt like her scenes were her the only one there, the rest was green screened.
-Tone of the show. So many wonderful opportunities for sweetness lost. They should have focused on trying to figure out how to co-exist and raise a baby, but the baby often seemed like just a prop.
-Unnecessary drama. When the ML's dad showed up, that was a waste.
-To me, the biggest problem was FL's actions. She was trying to become a permanent employee, stayed late all the time, not giving the baby a thought. She didn't supervise him well at all. She lost him, he got injured because she wasn't watching him, she was always pawning him off on someone else to watch him. When he got taken away, I couldn't even get emotional, because that was completely justified. Plus, her extreme reaction was painful to watch because it was so poorly acted.
-They continued to call each other "in-law" even after they were a couple. Granted, the subtitles said their names, but they were definitely saying in-law. That in itself showed the lack in their relationship.

The only reason I even gave it a rating of 4 was because of the baby.

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I'm late to the party!

Goodness, the music was excellent in this! I wish Jinu didn't die, but I'm all about the romance, so there you are. There is a terrific message in this film. We need to be careful of the voices that we listen to, especially in this age of influencers and social media. It's easy to think we aren't good enough, aren't thin enough, aren't smart enough, etc. And once those voices get in our heads, it's hard to tune them out.

This movie spoke to the importance of being truthful, no matter how afraid you are. The friendship aspect was really special. They, rightfully, felt betrayed when they found out about her marks, but they became stronger together. It also addressed sacrifice and what one is willing to do for a friend/loved one.

I think that anyone that didn't know about K-Pop would be interested after watching this.

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It felt like two separate writers each wrote half of the drama

This one started out really fun, and I hoped that I would be in for some light comedy, which is so hard for Koreans to do, apparently. Suspending disbelief had to be suspended early on, and opportunities were missed. When the FL goes into the comic, there were SO many opportunities for laughs, except that she adapted to Joseon life without any apparent problems. It was cute though.

I have to admit that I don't find Ok Taec Yeon very attractive (maybe it's the ears), but I have to give him props for being very charismatic. He's intense, but not emotionless, if that makes any sense. I enjoyed watching him.

I felt that the 2ML and the villain looked too much alike, and the 2nd and 3rd FL looked too much alike, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who was who.

About halfway through the show, the tone changed 180 degrees. It became dark, serious, tons of flashbacks, lots of fighting.
I felt that the ending was pretty anticlimactic.

I thought the chemistry between the leads was cute. Some good kisses. It was a nice change to have the ML be the virgin and the FL to be forward. I just wish it didn't always have to be because she was drunk.

I think if you go into this with very little expectation, you might enjoy it.

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What happens if you are given a second chance at life?

I loved the concept of the ML getting a second chance AND retaining all his memories. Some have said that by doing that it took out any drama. I don't agree. For me, the intrigue came by his thoughts and showing how he was going to manipulate what was supposed to happen. We were given the ML's voice over, explaining what had happened in the future. This whole thing reminded me of a game of chess - the strategy, the attack/counterattack.

The acting was excellent. Ji Sung never disappoints (Why did they spell his name Ji Seong in the credits?). The rest of the cast, as well. I love the actors that played his parents, they were so comforting to watch.

What stood out most to me was the concept of "found family". He finally appreciates his parents. He reconnects with a friend that he lost in his old life. He got to know the prosecutors and the reporter. When that group was together, they were the Scooby Gang! However, once they became friends, I spend the rest of the drama hoping that one of them wouldn't get killed off. I was especially drawn to his old friend. He works in gray areas but has a heart of gold. He and the ML taking the teenager under their wings and employing her and keeping her safe was a joy to watch. I was sad to see the outcome with wife, especially since they spent so much time leading us to believe that their story could change.

The only reason I didn't rate it higher was due to the plethora of bad guys. If he was a middle-aged man in a suit, he was a bad guy. It was so hard to keep the names and faces straight.

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So much to enjoy in the dramedy

SPOILERS!!!!!

I'll start by saying that I think you have to leave your expectations as the door. This isn't Shakespeare. The plot sometimes has holes so big you could drive a bus through them. But, even with that, I really enjoyed this one, for numerous reasons:

1) Seo Kang Jun - I find him very attractive, and not in a "pretty" way, if that makes sense. His intermittent smiles were wonderful. The last scene in the last episode - gold! When he gets emotional, it's very well restrained and not over the top. My heart broke when he found his father.

Also, I love how they included his father and that he had conversations with him. That was a chapter for him that wasn't closed yet.

2) Jin Ki Joo - She is fascinating to me. She has a different look about her and I find her beautiful. She always portrays characters that you want to be friends with. I wish they would have delved deeper into a back story for her.

3) The comedy was comedy-ing! There were so many laugh out loud moments, and I was impressed by Seo Kang Jun's comedic timing.

4) At the beginning, I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to stick with it because of the bullying (of students AND teachers), but I LOVED how he developed friendships with the other students. When he went to say goodbye to the students and was leaving the building, the paper airplanes made me cry.

5) The ML and FL were cute together, but the romance was definitely secondary. I loved watching them together.

6) Happy ending, though a five-year time jump seemed excessive.

7) Finally, Kim Shin Rok. Wow!! Watching her progress from a run-of-the-mill baddie to seriously unhinged was so compelling to watch. Does she always play a villain? I'm going to have to check out her filmography.

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A must-see for action fans

I'll admit, I struggle with excessive violence and fighting. That said, if you are a true action fan, I can almost guarantee that you will love Taxi Driver 3.

I love the cohesiveness of the cast, after three seasons, we can really feel their love and respect for one another (thank you again for not adding romance). The humor in this show is spot on and not over the top. The group has funny conversations that you would hear in real life. The actors are all terrific. The ML, especially. He's stoic, but you can tell that he deeply feels things.

The cases were pretty interesting and I always enjoy seeing how their plans come to fruition.

The last two episodes were especially intense. I was glued to the TV. I think it was so engrossing because that's a reality that South Koreans have to live with. All it takes is one power-hungry crazy person to start a war.

SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
The only question I had was, at the end, there's no sign of the ML. All the Rainbow Taxi people seem to be depressed. The FL is at her desk crying. I was thinking that they killed him off. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. So, I still don't know why she was crying.

I loved the concert at the end when they had the people from all the cases there. That was very special. And, after mentioning how Lee Je Hoon was so stoic throughout, I loved the very last scene with his longer hair and beautiful smile directed toward the camera (and the no shirt thing was an added bonus!). I thought that was the perfect ending.

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Funny, yet often heartbreaking

I love Jung Hyung Ho as an actor, and that's what brought me here. There seem to be so many "ghost" shows these days, and I was getting tired of them.

Jung Hyung Ho as Mu Jin was excellent. I hated his character for the first couple of episodes. His life was such a mess. But he really matured through all the experiences he went through and became so much less egocentric. He has wonderful comedic timing, but he's also able to wring other emotions out of you. I cried more than once during this show.

Loved:
- the stories, especially the young man that actually wanted to die
- the three main characters (Cha Hak Yeon reminds me so much of Seo In Guk, I had a hard time getting past that)
- the pacing was pretty good

Things that didn't hit the mark for me:
-Mu Jin and Hui Ju - haircuts. Were they trying for a mullet look or what?
-Hui Ju and her "boyfriend" - they were more like brother and sister.
-The thing that bothered me the most was Mu Jin's "marriage". There was no point to that at all, and them getting back together at the end was a waste.

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