theromanamputee
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Robert Durst voice....what a disaster.
I will never understand how this show fumbled the bag so badly down the stretch. I forgave this show a lot because I liked the leads so much and their romance worked for me. I tolerated the thin, slowly paced (non)plot, the potentially compelling but ultimately uninteresting supporting characters, the half assed fantasy world building, all because I was confident at the very least that the show would deliver a well earned and emotionally satisfying happily ever after, a baseline expectation for the genre. How did anyone think audiences would want to see a cute, silly comedy devolve into boring, mopey dreck and then end with a poorly executed unhappy ending. The writers should be ashamed of themselves.Was this review helpful to you?
I was initially skeptical but the payoff is great
This didn't grab me right away and I was feeling a little nervous about whether or not I'd like it but thankfully once the story is set up this short special did a good job of hooking me emotionally and keeping me guessing as to what the fate of our star crossed lovers would be. Both these actors are so strong, and play off each other so well, that they're able to do a lot with a little. Really strong final scene. Mostly somber with flashes of sweetness, this effectively tugged at my heartstrings and left me wanting more.Was this review helpful to you?
In my husband's words: this was inept yet adorable
This show is cheesy and ridiculous in so many ways. The characters are cartoonish, the plot is nonsensical, the production values are student film quality. The "romance" has a few really cute moments but is mostly comprised of childish tantrums, miscommunications, and contrived separations. And yet, I can't deny this had a certain charm to it and I did (usually) enjoy watching it. I came into this with a strong pre-existing fondness for Jang Na Ra and Jang Hyuk and I loved watching these early career performances of theirs. Even at this early stage they both had such a star quality about them. It's amusing how the show ping pongs between the lightest fluff and hackneyed attempts at gritty intensity. Sometimes the show would get flat but thankfully I never had to wait too long for it to pick back up again.Was this review helpful to you?
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What a great show. The high quality and brutal intensity of the action scenes, the production design, the colorful and compelling supporting characters and flashily demented villains were reminiscent of John Wick in the best way. They did a great job building tension and suspense in each episode, I was on the edge of my seat no matter what timeline I was in, equally captivated by the flashbacks and the present day scenes. The centerpiece of the show, the devoted yet unconventional uncle/niece relationship, was beautifully done. In addition to all the high octane spectacle this show had a lot of emotional weight to it. I simp so hard for Lee Dong Wook his own mother would tell me to take it down a notch so I really enjoyed watching him play a character that was so simultaneously reserved yet charismatic and he did a great job being deadpan yet still expressive and dryly funny. The acting was excellent across the board.
I do wish the show had shown us what Uncle Jin Man was up to while Ji An was battling for her life. I can intuit how/why he faked his death and that he was fighting Bale (who was MIA from the protracted showdown at the house) but I would have actually liked to see some of it. Since it felt like they recycled some previously seen footage in episode 7 I think they could have used that time to wrap that subplot up more definitively.
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Excellent thriller but needed more time travel
This show certainly keeps you on your toes. It's fast paced, unpredictable, and exciting. Very bingeable. Some of the 10 "resetters," who start getting killed off after they travel back in time one year to fix their lives, are just cannon fodder, but the majority of characters still manage to make an impression even when the busy plot doesn't leave a ton of time for character development. Deceptively crazy Se Rin was my favorite, loved her. The actual time travel element of the plot was underwhelming though. 90% of this just feels like a regular murder mystery, the time travel shaped the plot less than I expected and we spend too little time learning about how time travel works in this universe.Was this review helpful to you?
Flawed but worthwhile watch
This show has its flaws for sure: the first few episodes have so many flashbacks the narrative feels choppy, the pace is too slow from episodes 4-14 or so (this would have been great at 16 episodes), the actress playing the FL stays a bit too placid and quietly weepy to sell the desperation and longing and pathos of her character in the final third of the drama. Yet for all these issues when this show is in the groove, it works really well, well enough to justify the 24+ hour time commitment. There are a lot of poignant moments in this drama that will stick with me. The best thing this drama has going for it is Lee Dong Wook's incredible performance as Joon Soo. This character, and his performance, are the highlight of the drama and the glue holding everything together. Joon Soo is so complex and volatile that LDW needs to switch on a dime from the ardent lover to the menacing sleazebag to the suicidal depressive to almost child like innocence and vulnerability and he nails it every single time.Was this review helpful to you?
"Marriage is war without guns"
Angsty domestic drama doesn't get any better than this. I loved how this was able to deliver jaw dropping twists and capital D drama while also providing the audience nuanced characters and enthrallingly thorny, complex relationships. You also get excellent SKY Castle-esque social commentary about how soul destroying it can be to have to constantly maintain the facade of perfection, the "show window" life.I would feel shock and excitement but at the same time each character's behavior was always understandable given their psychological make up and background. Since the characters remain in constant forced proximity at home and work and can't just switch off their emotional and logistical ties to each other no matter how badly things go awry, so many scenes crackle with tension. The dialogue is sophisticated and clever but what remains unsaid as the leads try to retain some element of public decorum is also powerful. Even the corporate maneuvering is riveting.
I loved everything about this and can't recommend it highly enough.
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Will You Be a Dog or a Pig?
An intense, gut wrenching look at what trauma does to a person and how some wounds are just too severe to ever heal. All the childhood flashback scenes are harrowing, every scene is thick with dread and suffering and the violence has such an unsettling visceral power. As dark as this gets the brutality never feels forced or like gratuitous misery porn, we get a good sense of the how and why the bullies are allowed to run rampant. I also appreciated this show's nuanced take on justice and revenge. Kim Dong Wook and Kim Sung Gyu both gave excellent performances playing compelling characters, though I was frustrated by Dong Wook's lack of screen time. He absolutely killed it (pun intended?) in every single scene so I wanted more time with him. I think the show should have spent more time following him and less time following the cops investigating him.Was this review helpful to you?
Not enough meat on the bone
This was an enjoyable watch for a while. It had a warmth and heart to it I responded positively to and I was curious to see how the story and the characters were going to develop. However, I eventually became bored with it. The story is thin and cliched and the characters are two dimensional at best. The actors playing the boys in the band had an appealing natural chemistry with each other but that wasn't enough to compensate for how uninteresting they ultimately turned out to be as individuals and how rote their personal journeys were. This probably would have been a perfectly pleasant movie or miniseries but it was too shallow to sustain itself as a 16 episode drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Twisty as a pretzel factory
At its best this show is pure adrenaline. The first half maintained such a breakneck pace that kept me glued to the screen. Since the show burned through so much plot so quickly parts of the second half dragged for me though because everyone gained or lost power or changed allegiances so much that the impact of some of the twists was lessened. The love line between the leads was forced as well. I did love the complicated, passionate, toxic relationship between the second leads. It has a satisfying conclusion which is important for a show like this. I also never stopped getting a kick out of the bombastic score/power walk/hallway standoff scenes.Was this review helpful to you?
Well executed weepy
Sometimes I love being shamelessly emotionally manipulated. This show has its flaws for sure (such as the ML's improbable transformation from random angsty teen to powerful gangster that is never required to actually do on screen gangster business, paper thin secondary characters with inscrutable motivations) but I was so swept up in the central romance that I could forgive these things. I loved how the show juxtaposed the brutality of the characters' circumstances and the forbidden nature of their love (they're briefly step siblings) with the sweet wholesome innocence of many of their interactions. Park Shin Hye and Lee Wan gave such raw, powerful performances and they have a naturalistic yet potent chemistry with each other that gave the narrative a feeling of authenticity no matter how overwrought some of the story beats were. Even when their relationship was dysfunctional, I yearned so badly for them to be able to be together despite all the obstacles put up against them. Also, the 10 episode length ensures this is all killer, no filler. I was really moved by this.Was this review helpful to you?
Ok Thriller, Fun Soap Opera
At its best, this was diet Penthouse. If you like watching rich people behaving badly this show certainly delivers. Bong Tae Kyu and Shin Sung Rok were so good at being so bad. While I enjoyed the big soapy personalities in this one, the plot was a mixed bag for me. The core story is good, and I'm glad they didn't shy away from making the villains depraved and the revenge harsh, but I also felt like this show spent a lot of time spinning its wheels. The runtime felt padded. The casting change was a positive development, I preferred the second lead actress.Was this review helpful to you?
Great spin on a time travel story
This one is a real mind bender. Plot-wise this show was consistently excellent. The story was creative, well paced, and expertly balanced its substantive existential concerns with the borderline soapy family drama. I liked how the writers handled the logistics of time travel. Even with the limited screen time afforded to it I was able to buy into into the romance. I read the ending as ambiguous enough to support multiple possible interpretations, which suits the vibe of the show well. The one downside was the acting was a bit patchy at times. Lee Jin Wook was generally good in this but there were also times when he was too stiff and expressionless. Jung Dong Hwan's performance as the villain was fine initially but got so bad in the later episodes of the show it was hard to watch. His constant slack jawed/bug eyed mugging was embarrassing. I can enjoy hammy overwrought acting under the right circumstances but his clownish performance just annoyed me and was out of sync with the rest of the show.Was this review helpful to you?
Excellent show
A delight. The build up to the romance is subtle and slow burn, it's not the kind of show that got my heart fluttering right away, but here slow and steady wins the race because the leads are such lovable characters and watching their chemistry build was fun. Their dynamic is so wholesome, sweet, and funny. No dumb tropes to deal with either. No noble idiocy break ups, no sudden trips abroad, no contrived miscommunications, just lots of cuteness and mutual growth and supportiveness.Thankfully the plot is accessible even if you don't know know anything about Korean politics. The practical and emotional stakes of the various issues that come before the district council are clear, and the show does a good job depicting the small victories and petty corruption of life in local politics with a lot of heart. The only thing I wish the show had dove deeper on was the relationship between the ML and his father.
The heavy use of fish eyes lenses and extreme wide angle shots were bold creative choices that paid off well. The director did a good job of visually emphasizing to the audience the offbeat nature Goo Se Ra's personality and the distorted perspective made comedic scenes funnier and office scenes more intense. I also love the super vivid color palette and how many close ups we get of the main actors' faces, allowing them to really shine as performers. Watching this makes me lament Nana hasn't done more rom coms because she's obviously extremely well suited to the genre. She's such a force of nature here.
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