Idol drama. Nothing more, nothing less.

I was so disappointed by this. I really love period dramas (sageuk), but perhaps I had the wrong expectation. I really shouldn't expect too much of 12 episodes. I really wanted to love it - I love both the leads. The plot elements could have been fantastic together: there was a underhanded scheme going on with a mystery. There was a super clever maid. There was a sad king. There was cutesy chemistry between the two leads. There was a second lead romance. There was a brave sidekick. There were hilarious sidekicks. The first few episodes were funny.

Don't get me wrong, I can and do appreciate well crafted sageuk not based on history e.g. Red Sleeve Cuff, Rooftop Prince, and most recently, Bloody Heart.

However, this was an idol drama; nothing more, nothing less. This was a fantastical (ie I'm being sacarstic and rolling my eyes) drama.

The story suddenly introduces new characters and new plot points in the final few episodes.

SPOILERS
She survives attempts to kill her, jail her, etc etc so easily.
She SUDDENLY became eligible to be queen due to her newfound eligible heritage. (not previously mentioned)
The sidekick who was poisoned and his hand whitered away yet SUDDENLY and MIRACULOUSLY he survived and his hand heals.
She was SUDDENLY saved by someone who would become a key ally, in the last 4 episodes. We hadn't seen this person previously.
END SPOILER

I'm going to attribute this to the fact that there were only 12 episodes. No self-respecting sageuk can unfold over just 12 episodes. The writers didn't weave in a backstory (probably not enough episodes to). They simply threw assumed facts in your face to solve key plot points.

My only plus point: precisely because it was only 12 episodes, my pain wasn't prolonged.

In short, have the correct expectations when starting to watch this. Watch it because it's entertaining if viewed from a modern lens, like a fantasy drama. Do not expect an intelligent, authentic, sageuk experience.

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Gritty, raw and messy

I'm reviewing this because the synopsis is sketchy and doesn't explain what the show is about. In short, it's about human sex trafficking set against the seedy drug underbelly. Ji Chang Wook fans will be disappointed because we hardly see him and I'd call him more of a supporting role here than the main lead. He's also very roughed up and not the pretty rom-com boy we're used to, so if that's your thing, look away now. He even looked better in Worst of Evil and that's a similar genre.

Overall, I find the show very messy, but maybe that's to reflect the messiness of life in this tier of society. I can't say it's my favourite genre either but I'd rate Worst of Evil much higher for more coherent editing and storyline. This one has too many time skips back and forth to explain things but the viewer has to go 'huh????' for a while first. And there were a lot of characters introduced in the first episode so it was hard to keep up.

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Very very dense

This will be a quick review as I'm struggling. I want really to like this show because it has a stellar cast. However, it is very very dense and needs your full attention. Even though my grasp of modern Korean history is so-so, it still didn't help me in this show.

The first episode just drops you in and you don't really know what's happening and who everyone is. However, I can see the bones of a good story unfolding. One does need patience. I will update the review again at the end.

Update: It was still very dense at the end. Too many side characters and trying to keep track of each character's dynamic agenda and ever-changing allegiances was tiring.. It felt like the show's writers tried to keep it true to history (interspersed with historical segments), yet it was not meant to be historical (as the beginning caveat clearly states).

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Disappointing frontline responder drama

After watching First Responders, I missed it so much that i thought this would alleviate my longing. Boy was I sorely wrong.

The dramatic started off well enough as it was amusing and action packed but then quickly descended into the usual tropes: three way love stories, corrupt politicians, mafia, rouge hero law enforcers with tragic pasts…

For a drama called the Han River Police, they spend less than 25% of the drama ON said river.

Also for a 6 episoder, it really dragged along. Why is it First Responders can go on for 2 seasons with 12 episodes each yet this is so draggy at a quarter of the episodes? It had better NOT have a season 2!

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Why the ratings?

I don't understand the hype. Was there nothing else better broadcasting in this slot? This show has a great cast and the story and acting are ok. But it's certainly not better than or even near Crash Landing (which it is almost matching in terms of broadcast ratings). The 90 minute episodes definitely don't help - it just makes things draggy.

The only three things refreshing for me are that 1) we have a strong chaebol character who is female, rather than the trope chaebol son who meets a poor girl and loves her against all odds. 2) The story revolves around the value of life (without giving too much away). 3) The couple are married rather than most romcoms depicting courtship.

My top peeve is the relative ages of the cast and the roles they've been cast in. In particular, the actor who acts as the grandfather is in reality less than 10 years older than the actors who play his son and daughters. What is with this ageist casting?

The show is high budget enough for me to want to finish (they film in Europe - lucky Kim Ji Won gets to film in all the most exotic locations!) It also has its entertaining and hilarious moments but certainly not worth the hype.

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Fresh angle to a school bully drama

This drama is so refreshing! Going into it, I expected the usual bullying-revenge drama or bully-turned-good drama. I was wrong on both counts.

I am not a fan of high school dramas, in fact, I often avoid them. However, after watching Twinkling Watermelon and Lovely Runner recently, I decided to give this a try because I enjoyed them so much. I wasn't disappointed.

Give this a try! It's only 8 episodes and absolutely worth it! There's not a dull moment or a wasted episode or plot hole. It's too short for that! The main actors are top notch too, even the supporting baddies are a hoot.

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Good wuxia drama

I'm not sure why this drama rates so highly. I like that it's a wuxia rather than xianxia as I prefer the former genre. The story was very fast moving and interesting initially. There was mystery and a whodunnit (or rather who's the real assassin) in the first 10 episodes However, it became really slow moving and draggy in the middle when they were expounding the love stories and back stories of each character.

Since I was already halfway through, I gritted my teeth to finish it. The fact that the show only has 24 episodes in total is the reason that I gave it a better rating - at least I didn't feel that I was (overly) wasting my life watching this! All the main characters were also eye candy - that certainly helped.

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Quirky sitcom

I like that this drama is a sitcom. It comprises short 30 to 35 minute episodes, easy to watch and not very heavy. There are some cute and funny moments so it's light entertainment. Don't take it too seriously. I binge watched it in around 2 hours (at 1.5x speed) during a public holiday break.

Meant to depict the training of wannabe idols, it doesn't delve too deeply into the more 'meaty' issues of such trainees such as the stress and exploitation rife and endemic in the whole toxic industry. Instead, it is a cutesy drama about friendship and camaraderie with hints of the darker issues looming in the background. .... Or at least this is where the show SHOULD have stopped.

I'm deducting 1.5 stars because the drama did attempt to introduce these issues in the last half of episode 4, but such a short drama doesn't allow the proper exploration and resolution of such issues. What emerged was a half-baked attempt that went no where and achieved nothing. Watching this drama just 1 week since the suicide of Moon Bin has made me view this drama in a whole new light spotlighting the dark undertones of the industry.

Pity that this drama was filmed in 2017 before it was fashionable to splice dramas into 2 (ie part 1 with say 6 episodes to test the market and then part 2 a few months later). Having a follow-up part 2 would really have allowed this drama to go into the depths it attempted to explore but could only touch on.

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Was a great healing drama ... until it wasn't

This was a great drama. It was a healing drama about how broken souls met up in the countryside and found renewed purpose and a new family.

All up to near the end when they suddenly had to make it a murder mystery and rushed through the final episodes to complete everything in 12 episodes. Why is there a need to ruin a perfectly beautiful human drama? Not everything has to be a murder mystery.

The drama couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. In the midst of tragedy, suddenly it turned light hearted. It's as if there are two writers and they couldn't agree with each other.

Nonetheless, I'd still recommend watching up till episode 9 where it's a beautiful drama. Drop it right after that. However the only reason I'm watched it to the end is because I had fallen in love with the characters by then. Not a great reason to continue on but curiosity got the better of me.

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Unlikely blend of romance and mystery

I'll admit I gave up on this show twice when it first aired. That's because I didn't even get through the first episode. I only returned to it 3 years later when it was on Netflix and I had run out of things to watch.

First off, the synopses found online for the show really don't do it justice. The drama is an unlikely mix of romance, underdog, and murder mystery. The real hook (for me) is the serial murder angle, which only appears right at the end of episode 1. Just based on the dongseng-noona romance alone, it's not my type of show even though I really like both Gong Hyo Jin and Kang Ha Neul. They're both excellent actors. However, the unlikely pairing of the romance with the undercurrent of a serial murder hooked me because the killer isn't revealed right until very nearly the end. I hate similar cop-serial murder mysteries of late where you know exactly who the serial killer is and part of the appeal of those dramas involves seeing it through their eyes.

All the characters in the village are loveable even though they don't start off that way. I like the folksy vibe and country-side setting of this and similar shows such as Hometown Cha Cha Cha and Our Blues . If you enjoy serial killer shows, suspend your skepticism and give this a try because it's not a straight cat-and-mouse show but also has romance and underdog drama, with a small slice of comedy thrown in. This show has something for everyone!

I deducted 1.5 stars because I felt the last 4 episodes were unnecessary. They dragged the show out beyond 16 episodes and went in a ridiculous direction.

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A live manga or 1990s Kdrama?

I've watched a lot of J-drama in my life but haven't for many years now. I now watch far more K-drama which is plentiful and accessible in terms of speed of subtitling. Thank goodness for Netflix. To be honest, I only watched this because it was on Netflix but I'm glad I did.

Watching this show however you first have to suspend belief. The acting is over the top and the characters are very one-dimensional, and the plot is so stereotypically straight out of a 1990s Kdrama. The antagonists are evil and scheming without any redemption, the supporting characters are around to provide comic relief, and the tortured Tsubaki and Nao who have to grow and learn, are so tortured by their past that they can't function as normal human beings. You have to suspend belief and treat it like a manga with all its cliques. The relationship between Tsubaki and Nao is farcical and almost borders on abuse. In true manga style, Tsubaki has a one sided smile and hair covering one eye. The show has also taken Kdrama cliques and one-upped them. For instance, the signature guy slams fist into wall next to girl to make a point was borrowed straight out of the K-drama clique playbook, and similarly, the K-drama back hug clique. I have not seen these cliques in other Jdramas.

However, something about the show is strangely enticing and watchable precisely because it's so retro. It is very fast moving as there are only 8 episodes so easily bingeable in a weekend. If you have a spare weekend, it's worth a watch!

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Good premise but too long

This drama was unnecessarily long. It could have ended after a maximum of 25 episodes. The premise was great but unlike other second chance shows where the protagonist has a second chance in life and goes back in time to change life and make it better for himself or his loved ones, this one didn't really achieve that. Halfway through, it suddenly introduced new characters as if just to prolong the drama. The overarching mystery was interesting but too drawn out. The high school friends had a good thing going and their chemistry was great, but they were very single dimensional. Far more could have been achieved with them given that it was a 40 episode drama. In short, watch it only if you are out of dramas to watch, otherwise other second chance dramas such as Still 17, Go Back Couple, and 18 Again, are far better.

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Wasted potential

I don't know how people are saying that they've completed all 12 episodes when there are only 10 episodes broadcasted till today.

Anyhow, I don't understand the high rating. This show has so much wasted potential. It could have been a mindf**k show with the time travel theme, it could have been the exploration of parent-child relationships, it could have been a show about an elaborate fraud scheme, it could have been a super-hero show, or it could been about mental health and healing. Or it could have been about an epic love story. Even Jang Ki Young was a disappointment if I was wanting to watch an 'idol' drama.

It has been NONE of these. At most I would class it as a somewhat interesting love story, sans romance. I keep watching and waiting for any one of these to emerge, but none has. The only reason I'm continuing is because I just want to see how bad it is at the end.

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Great crime drama

This is a fantastic fantasy crime drama - great pacing and no wasted moments. The story is a bit predictable in the first few episodes when they are crime solving but thereafter when the reach the main plot point (the body swap), the plot development is solid.

There are subtle social issues touched upon such as the strong chauvinism in a male-dominated workforce and vocation. For that, I give Ayase Haraku a thumbs up for a solid performance not only in acting as a suppressed feminist but also as a neurotic detective and then an over-confident killer. To begin with, I only watched the drama because of her and I wasn't disappointed! Issei Takahashi however is prone to overacting. I cringed every time he came on.

I've also deducted points for the hackneyed work of the music supervisor/editor. For goodness sakes, stop playing sound effects to emphasise a certain look the killer gives or inconsistencies in his testimony. We're not idiots. It's the equivalent of putting emojis to highlight clues the writers want us to take note of. Yes we get it, he's the one. That's childish and takes away any enjoyment I had in trying to figure out the clues myself.

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Interesting premise

I am not going to wade into the "which is better, the original Chinese drama or this" controversy. I have never watched the Chinese original (and don't intend to) so I can't comment.

The only thing I want to touch on is the mental and social commentary stemming from this drama. First, I find it interesting that this 'alternative' family arrangement has been highlighted, perhaps as the writer's hope that single-parent families and alternative family arrangements will one day become normalised in Korea. It is often not their fault that such families end up the way they are, and they shouldn't face discrimination because of it. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a happy 'standard' family and as society, we shouldn't comment on what makes another family happy.

Second, what really bugs me is the lack of acknowledgement of mental health. San Ha's mom clearly has narcissistic personality disorder in the way that she manipulates everyone around her and never admits her responsibility for her own situation. Threatening suicide is one such example of manipulation. She needs psychiatric care. This in turn has caused San Ha untold mental anguish as manifested through his constant anxiety and insomnia. Just 'talking it out' won't make either sets of symptoms go away. This is unrealistic and I wished the drama could have handled it better.

Especially in a high pressure society like SK where there is already such a high incidence of suicide and other undiagnosed mental health ailments, this is the best opportunity to normalise help-seeking. As a doctor, Sanha really should have known better than to play to manipulation. There isn't even a need to make a big deal out of it - him putting his mom in a psychiatric ward would have made me feel so much better about her ending rather than letting her run away again!

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