michelleoc

Frustrating watch

I liked season 1 well enough, but this season, for me, left a lot to be desired.

Most of the drama was about indecisions of the ML, the FL trying to move on but not wanting to, multiple other potential couples to fill in the spaces. I still liked the acting of the ML and the FL, but the story just kept moving from one person to the next.

There's a girl that has always liked the ML and she uses emotional blackmail on him. I hate that.
FL tries to date someone else, but the actor that was the 2ML was just too "pretty" and the bob hairstyle didn't help at all.

My mantra while watching this was, "Only two more episodes, only one more episode." I will say, though, since it is short, if you've watched the first one and want to feel like you've completed the series, give this a try.

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Blown Away!

Some shows you wonder if you should continue wasting your time watching them, hoping they'll get better. Some shows you are anxious to finish all your chores so you can watch them. I kept vacillating back and forth between wanting to forego my life just so I could watch one more episode, but then being sad in advance, knowing this wonderful ride was coming to an end. I was so thoroughly invested in this show, now that I've finished it, I have to say I'm really sad it's over.

STORY: A new village and a new set of people for our leads to get to know and come to care about. I'll admit, the long hair on Wook in the first few episodes really drove me crazy. But then I realized it really suited his kind of quirky personality. There were some new twists in this season, which brings me to the reasons that I gave this a 9 rather than a 10 - and here are the spoilers:
- Really, the whole thing is a suspension of disbelief, which is what I loved about it, but the reason (or lack thereof) for the captain not being able to leave her village didn't make any sense.
- Too many loose ends at the end. Which is fine, if there ends up being a season 3 (though PLEASE don't make us wait two years!)
- Mentions of other villages. Great concept but again, I didn't like that it was just setting up for another season. Because if it doesn't happen, then we're all just disappointed.
- Main bad guy - he was able to get away?! Please, don't have him in the next season. I don't ever like to feel like the bad guys are untouchable and that nothing can stop them. Plus, one of the things that I appreciated about this show was that the police knew what they were doing - I'd like to feel that they'd plan for any eventuality.
- You had BETTER NOT kill off Detective Shin. A mine field, really!?!
But other than that, I thought that this season was just as good as the first. I'll say again, what I said in my review for season 1, I love found family. Again, it was in the village, with the team, with the detectives, and I loved the addition of Bo Ra, and when Wook was explaining to her what it means to be a family, that summed it up perfectly.
The Oh Il Yong storyline - it was brilliant. I didn't get a good vibe from him in the beginning, which is what was supposed to happen, but his storyline was powerful and surprising. And I loved the relationship between him and Wook.
I loved that Jong A played a more integral role, as well as the fact that she stepped up to make herself more indispensable and figured out how to find more missing children. Gotta be honest, the potential for her to see ghosts is exciting, but there is something to be said for having someone on the team that is a little bit out of the loop. You lose some of the elements of surprise if everyone knows what's going on.
This season, the detectives were starting to figure out that there was something different about this team. I like that Detective Shin knows, but the others don't, but they know that there is absolutely something strange going on. That, to me, was amusing.

ACTING/CAST: Stellar. I was glad to see Thomas, even though it was too brief. I continued to be impressed with everyone in the cast, but this time around I have to give a shout out to Lee Jung Eun as the Captain. She's one of those actresses that I love her in everything she is in. That sweet/beautiful face and smile, her short, round body (I mean that in the best possible way - don't you think that she would give the best hugs?), I'd love her to be my grandma, but then I remember I'm old and she'd have to be my sister, but still. I liked the clothes that the costume designer put her in, Peter Pan collars, knit comfy sweaters, long loose skirts and sensible shoes. She just seemed so approachable. And to have her be the first person you see when you enter the village and have her say that she's made food, come in and she'll explain what's going on - she was the heart of the village. Jung Eun's acting is normally understated, but there were times in this show that her pain, anger and loneliness were almost palpable.

And that was the conundrum for these villagers, especially those that had been there for a long time. You want the children to be able to move on, but it's heartbreaking when they do.

MUSIC: I especially loved the theme song, I found myself humming it - I loved hearing it at the beginning of each episode, but at the end I didn't like it so much because that meant the episode was over.

REWATCH: For me, this isn't the type of show I would rewatch again, because I know what is going to happen.

However, if someone asks me for suggestions for well-written shows, with good character development, excellent chemistry between all actors and that have sucked me completely in, to the detriment of my "real" life, I'd definitely suggest Missing: The Other Side, Both Seasons one and two. You could probably watch only season two and figure out what is going on, but season one really does a good job of laying the groundwork for season two. Really, to be honest, I'm afraid that this show has set a bar so high for me that I'm doomed to be disappointed in other shows, especially since, as a romance lover, there has been so little good to choose from.

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I wanted to like this one, I really did

However, after reading all the good reviews, maybe it's just me, but this show really fell short. The script was all over the place and nothing was delved in too deeply. Even considering that, I still fast-forwarded through a lot. Multiple cases in a law drama can work very well, but here they didn't. I didn't find the cases interesting enough to begin with and the stories felt like they were just to get us to the next episode.

I didn't care for the main characters. Lee Seung Gi - I don't believe I've seen him in anything else and I'm going to find something else to watch him in, but here I didn't find him attractive at all, especially in all of the unfortunate "squid games" track suits. His character wasn't especially likeable throughout the first part of the show. I love the idea of having liked someone for years, but you couldn't really tell, he was terrible to her.

Lee Se Young's character yelled and screamed a lot. I found that very off-putting. I did like how they tried to show her growing through the cases she took on, but she continued to be the "damsel in distress". Then there was the "sex contract". Give me a break!

Jo Han Chul, who I LOVE as an actor, WAY overplayed his part. Was he supposed to be crazy, funny, farcical, sociopathic? I don't know, but I couldn't stand to watch him.

Top all that off with the fact that I didn't feel chemistry between the leads. Now I feel like I need to re-watch something I've already loved to cleanse my K-drama palate!

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Talk about chemistry!

D.O. and Nam Ji Hyun both did a wonderful job. Their parts were written so well. D.O., as the crown prince, had the hauteur that you'd expect from royalty. Even when his memories were gone, it was ingrained in him. Yet, there was a loneliness and vulnerability and you could feel his want of family. His facial expression was pretty flat through most of the show, but he has such expressive eyes. Nam Ji Huyn - how can a woman be so beautiful with no visible means of mascara on her eyelashes? Normally, makeup is used to enhance looks, but she doesn't need it. Her character was spunky, industrious and extremely likeable. To be honest, I've loved her in everything I've seen her in. Their chemistry together? Off the charts! I loved the scenes when they shared the screen. Everyone in the show did a good job, but I had to deduct points for two reasons. First, there were just too many evil guys in this drama and they all looked alike (that's my problem with period costumes). Evil men, evil women, evil groups, evil sub-groups. It left a sour taste in my mouth on the heels of the lovely romantic scenes. I had to deduct another point for the last episode and the tie-up of the relationship between the leads. She was strong throughout this show, and she always seemed to have a good sense of self. However, she suddenly did a 180 turn and pulled out the "I'm not worthy of your love" card. It didn't ring true, especially after the heart-wrenching scenes of each of them living separately. And her saying she'd marry that other man? Um, no. It felt to me like they pulled in a separate writer for the last episode and the flow was lost. There was a happy ending, but they waited until about the last five minutes to tie everything up. I was so disappointed after all the time I had invested in watching their relationship develop and unfold.

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There ought to be a law...

If either the word "romance" or "love" are in the title, call me crazy, but I think that should be the focus. This is the first show in a long time that every day I remember that I'm not finished with it yet. It wasn't grabbing me, that's for sure.

Story: Here is where I think the problem was. Instead of romance we get hours' worth of a cautionary tale regarding the Korean education system. It would have been very interesting if it had been interspersed throughout the drama, but it was the focus and it went on too long. The romance was underbaked and felt like more of an afterthought to me. I didn't care for the FL character - she was so condescending to her boyfriend! When she said, "Look at me and listen to what I have to say. Focus." I wanted to smack her. He was so caring toward her, but he was an afterthought to her. There were quite a few scenes in her house or in one of the lecture rooms where it was so dark you couldn't see what was going on. Boring ending (though I did like the proposal, and those are the prettiest rings I've seen in a long time.)

Acting/Cast: The strength was here, that's for sure. The leads were great, I thought the second couple were very cute, and I loved the bar owner and his wife. Standouts for me: Kim Jung Young as the VP and Seo Jung Yeon as the director. I've seen both of these ladies in numerous works, and they played completely different parts here and were so wonderfully unlikeable. And the director's gray hair was fabulous. My favorite was Kim Song Il as Pyo Sang Sub - a world-weary teacher with an unyielding character. Truly, everyone did a great job.

Music: Oh, my heavens I hated the song at the beginning and end of every episode (Open to page 64) - it gets into your head like an earwig and takes up residence, and not in a good way. A couple of episodes had overly dramatic music that didn't go at all.

Rewatch value: I barely got through it once!

I will say, as I'm in the minority in my thoughts, give it a try and decide for yourself.

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Uneven but enjoyable

This was a somewhat frustrating watch for me. I vacillated between enjoyment of the characters and anger with the writing. Some of the episodes felt like they were penned by a different writer. One episode would be romance, one episode would be mystery, throw in some comedy every now and then. I do have to admit, I enjoyed it more the further I got into it.

What I liked:
-I enjoyed Lee Hye Ri and Lee Jung Young as the main characters. However, the writing for him was all over the place. His sense of guilt, his dumping the ex-girlfriend after ten years, his leaving a profession that took years to get into (and then falling back into it right at the end like he'd never been gone). The man had a serious martyr complex.
-The main characters
-The resolving of the issues of the dead. Some of them didn't get enough closure and there seemed to be large gap in the middle where they didn't get addressed at all.
-Vincent and Michael. They were both very caring and were fun/funny to watch.
-Tae In Ho as Im II Sub. I loved FINALLY seeing him in something where he wasn't a complete and total jerk.
-The dad.
-The music.
-The couple, once they got together, supported one another.
-No time jump.

Issues for me:
-ML was too much of a "poor me" kind of guy.
-Ex-girlfriend and that whole storyline. It felt like his feelings for her were never resolved, just swept under the rug, which diminished his feelings for the FL as far as I was concerned. And can we just talk about how the ex-girlfriend had absolutely no self-respect? Move on, honey.
-The ex-girlfriend's mother. What a terrible, screechy, woman. Terrible relationship between the two, which made the death and reactions to it so unbelievable.
-Friend whose personality does a 180 shift halfway through the show and becomes a terrible person.
-Too many irons in the fire with unnecessary characters/plots. Im II Sub and the woman/baby that show up, the ML's ex-girlfriend immediately spring to mind.
-Once the couple got together, the romance was forgotten, and the couple became boring.
-Storyline for the dad. REALLY!?!?!?!
-The ending didn't feel satisfying to me.

I was REALLY tempted to drop it early on. I'm glad I watched it, but the writing/editing could have been better.

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Full of unlikable characters

I get that a lot of people praised this show for its originality, but for me it didn't work. The documentary style just took me out of the story too much. I didn't care much for any of the characters in this show, but especially the main couple. I think the actors did okay with what they had to work with, but the way these people were written was lacking. The male lead spent the entire show going on and on about how much he loved this woman, to the detriment of everything and everyone else. Why? Why was he so obsessed with her? She was NOT a nice person! Their relationship seemed toxic to me. A romance needs to make sense to me, I need to be able to empathize with the feelings of SOMEONE in the show that I am watching, and I wasn't able to do so with this show. And the ending was just very abrupt and strange.

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Too short

Each of the 20 episodes is between 9-14 minutes long. However, there is about a two-minute recap at the beginning of each episode and 2-3 minutes of credits at the end of each episode, so these episodes are REALLY short. Unfortunately, this leads to not enough content in this drama.

I was grabbed by the idea. The concept of him remembering everything, and her remembering nothing was a very interesting one to me. But there really wasn't enough time to adequately flesh this out. We saw him living out a tragedy in his past, and we saw repeatedly how he remembered everyone's name, but there was a BIG link to the story that he didn't remember until almost the last episode, so how can you say he remembers everything. She doesn't mention until a few episodes in that she only remembers things for a month and then her memories reset

I would have liked to have seen how she deals with having to reset her memories every month, and how her friends deal with it. That would have been fascinating. This wasn't addressed at all.

The ending is very abrupt. Stay and watch the ending credits on the last episode, it gives a "wrap up" interview with the two leads that is cute and attempts to end the show in a more meaningful way.

I was so disappointed in the execution of this drama, it had such potential. That being said, at least it wasn't a LOT of time wasted.

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Sweet story

This was a cute show without too much angst. However, it took them FOREVER to tell each other they liked each other!(ep 18 when there are only 24 episodes!) Once they admitted their feelings, it was fun to watch them, because they are such a cute couple. And his dimples!! I really like watching shows where the friends are loyal to one another and this show had good examples of that. I felt that, at times, the male lead was too wishy washy about whether he liked her. I would have liked to have had a more visible conclusion for the photographer - I believe he got his happily ever after, but they didn't really show it.

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Lots of laugh out loud moments

Wonderful show. I spent most of my time thinking how attractive both of the leads were. They were both stunning. I actually liked both of the characters. There was quite a bit of physical humor, which was fun, and his facial expressions were priceless! Yoon Kyun Sang played this part perfectly. He was harsh at the beginning, but he did an excellent job of displaying his vulnerability. When he smiled a partial smile for the first time, what a treat! They did a good job of portraying the OCD. I loved her friendships with the rest of the cleaning crew. Didn't like her dad, HATED his grandfather, and I felt the ending was entirely too rushed after spending all that time trying to get them together. Korean shows use that "going away for years" storyline a lot, I guess. Funny, sweet, romantic, low angst, happy, though rushed, ending.

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My opinion only

I love Shin Min Ah, as well as Kim Young Dae, so I was very excited for this one. I was so disappointed. There were too many storylines going on for 12 episodes, but I'm glad there weren't 16 episodes because it was all I could do to finish this.

What I liked:
The second couple. They were so cute together, as well as in the scenes that they had separately.
Kim Young Dae's character, even with the bad haircuts.

What I didn't care for:
-Hae Yeong (Shin Min Ah's character). I was totally getting narcissist vibes from the character at the beginning, which didn't lessen as the show progressed. She was not nice to the ML throughout. I know some had said that she had a right, because of her mother, but I'm not buying that. Sometimes a character redeems herself. This one didn't, as far as I'm concerned.
-Bad kisses by the leads.
-3FL multiple sexual partners, one of whom wasn't exclusive to her either. The latest catchphrase seems to be polyamorous, but a different word comes to mind. Accidental pregnancy, not knowing who the father is. This whole storyline could have been left out and made the show more cohesive.
-Multiple storylines that went nowhere. What happened to 2ML's mom and dad? They had such a big story at the beginning, and it just fell off. What was the point of the 2ML's secretary? He was just irritating throughout.
-All of the sex chatter by the FL which demonstrates that she's had multiple partners. Personally, that really decreases my enjoyment of a "romance".
-The sex talk, the profanity, the sexual innuendos - for me, this was all very off-putting. I have been watching K-dramas to get away from all this stuff.

Again, this is just my personal preference, but considering that I love to binge-watch shows, I could only manage one episode a day and was reluctant to continue thereafter. I just found too much unlikeable about it.

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It didn't deliver for me

This show had a lot of good moments, but for me they were few and far between. Go Kyung-pyo (Kung-soo) and Chae Soo-bin (Dan-ah) played their parts well, but the script fell short, mostly because of how irritating and unlikeable the character of Dan-ah was. I did, however, love the character of Kung-soo. I was impressed by his strong feeling of right and wrong. I also loved the community he built with all the drivers he'd worked with over the years. That was the strong point of this show, the friendships. The demonstration of how people that are enemies can become friends, how friendships remain even after your geography changes. It was a testament to Kung-soo that he had all the friends he had, because he was genuinely a good and nice person.

Dan-ah was kind of the polar opposite. She was not a nice person, and because of that, didn't really have friends. Everyone was either in awe of her or feared her. She apparently was never taught to use her words, because she is forever hitting or kicking someone, which sometimes worked for the sake of comedy, but certainly didn't endear her to me.

The ending tied things up neatly but wasn't especially memorable.

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My brain hurts...

Don't hate me because I didn't love it. It's a personal taste thing. I liked the acting in this. I also like that this has convinced me not to go back and try to watch Some Day or One Day. I'm apparently a superficial watcher and don't want to have to think too much. It's a shortcoming, I know, but there you have it.

I love me a good destiny show, but this is the first time that I felt like the universe was trying to tell them that they should NOT be together. Together, tragedy, together, tragedy. I guess the ending had to be the way it was, but I was disappointed in the lack of payoff. Though it did border on a happy ending, which I appreciated.

And what was with her telling everyone that she was time traveling?! Her telling the murderer guy was random. I didn't get the impression that they were that close, and just why?

I actually made a flow chart to try to keep up with this while I was watching it, and even that confused me. My biggest problem was when the two versions of the ML met. That just didn't make any sense to me. Also, the random gay storyline (though seeing Rowoon and Ahn Hyo Seop together on screen was a treat!) was confusing, because weren't the two versions of the ML the same in each timeline?

I now need to find me a simple love story to watch. Since I'm WAY in the minority here, you might want to read everyone else's reviews and give the show a try.

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VERY unpopular opinion here...

Don't hate on me, and please remember that reviews are just the opinions of the reviewers. This reminded me of A Love So Beautiful, which I didn't care for either. I was so looking forward to watching this, based on all the glowing reviews. Part of the problem might have been that I watched this right after Hidden Love and enjoying it so much. Maybe it just couldn't live up to my expectations. I was looking forward to this drama because it was supposedly low angst, and I was drawn to that. That being said -

WHAT I LIKED:
-It was, in fact, low angst
-the storyline of the second couple. I loved how he liked her alone and was always trying to help her in whatever way he could, even though his heart was breaking because she didn't like him.
-no stupid misunderstandings
-when the typical storyline started of a female trying to get the ML showed up, I LOVED how the FL shut that down. She knew her man, had faith in him, and went straight to the woman to resolve the issue.
-a wedding. Though, for me, it didn't work here, I always appreciate a wedding after watching a couple get together.
-ML and his dimples

THE THINGS THAT DISAPPOINTED ME
-FL. Supposedly cute and bubbly, she came across as a stalker (she was sure she liked him after seeing him once, and never tired of telling him that she liked him) and immature. The actress was cute as a button, but between her voice, her mannerisms, her clothes, and her bouncing around all the time, she just reminded me of a hyperactive puppy. Plus, her way of talking was very fast and staccato, like she was blurting out phrases, one after another.
-her calling him "Rang Rang" all the time. It was cute at the beginning, but by episode three I was ready to make a drinking game out of it - hear her say Rang Rang, take a drink!
-why did the ML like her? When did he start liking her? I get that he probably appreciated her energy compared to how repressed he seemed to be, but I didn't see or feel the attraction between them.
-I admit that I wanted low angst, but I also wanted something to move the story along. There really wasn't anything going on. I felt like I was watching a documentary of the life of a teen in China. I was bored.
-the parents fawning all over him was somewhat cute, but I can't believe they would have been fine with their daughter living with a man before they got married.

In conclusion, if you are still reading this, I'd say if you want something mindless to watch that doesn't have a lot of the typical tropes, you might enjoy this. It just didn't have enough going on for me.

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I realize I'm in the minority, but certain aspects of this actually made me angry!

If you watched and loved this drama, please just ignore my review and move on. No need for hateful comments.

There was so much that was out of whack with this drama, but I'll start with what I liked.
1) Main couple had some cute scenes together. There could have been more romance, but since that isn't the focus, I'll give it a pass.
2) Kim Min Jae as Nurse Eun Tak. He's just a cutie and I liked his character.
3) The friendships between the hospital staff. And you gotta love Mr. Goo.

Not so much:
1) Eavesdropping continued from season 2. Everyone was talking about everything out in the open, or the walls were so thin that they could be heard through. Is HIPAA not a thing in Korea?
2) Eun Jae's father is brought on board to run the trauma center. I don't think this would happen for two reasons: 1) the problems between the two of them, and 2) He says that he'll come on board if Dr. Kim leaves? They've just said that Dr. Kim is the reason for the success of Doldam hospital! I know you need "bad guys" to move the story along, but this was implausible to me.
3) Jang Dong Hwa - he was a complete slacker and a danger to patients because of it. There is no way they would have kept him on staff.
4) Ah Reum and Eun Tak. Cute, but in this season, she seemed so much older than him. I don't know if it was makeup or what. I did, however, like their conversation about what they want out of life and getting a house.
5) The character of Jang Gi Tae was still way over the top. What's with the laugh?
6) I don't know if it was due to the script, but I didn't find the acting, in general, to be as good in this season.

The most irritating things for me:
1) The entire staff flew to the North Korean ship!?!?!
2) So, initially there wasn't even going to be a Doldam hospital, but then they got approval for the other and were going to keep BOTH open?! I don't think so.
3) The thing that irritated me most was when the fire was heading toward the hospital. They have evacuated the patients, but they can't find Dr. Kim. He is found by one of the nurses in the OR "contemplating" everything that has gone on in that room, and, according to her, how many patients he has saved. A fire is raging, yet all the medical staff stays in the building looking for a doctor that won't answer his phone, then even though he knows what is going on, he just calmly stands there talking to the nurse. I thought the acting in this section of the show was seriously lacking. Then when the rain comes, the size of that fire wouldn't have been put out that quickly with that amount of rain.
4) Patients come in to be treated. "Oh, our staff is still evacuated until tomorrow". They would have had to let someone know this ahead of time so that patients could be transported elsewhere.

I complete this once I started it, but was sorry for the time I wasted.

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