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This review may contain spoilers
Please Reconsider
It's a shame that the creators--with material that rewards repeat viewing--bundled in so many annoyances that most viewers won't give their work a second chance.
I've found successive viewings increasingly rewarding. I'll always be frustrated that the writer and director conspired to keep the characters one-dimensional until the series was half over, but for me, the acting triumphed.
Jun.Q (Woo Jae) may be the better actor, but he had some advantages: He was allowed interior monologues showing the turmoil beneath his d*ckishness; He could explain himself through Mi So (the female character in his novel); We're shown another side of him in the flashbacks. Foremost, he has that face: To my taste, his face is beautiful but not cute, he does doleful really well and he somehow conveys multiple emotions with one expression. So it's all the more unfortunate that the writer reverts him to type a couple more times after the semi-breakthrough in episode 5.
Whereas Han Jung Wan (Yeon Woo) for far, far too long is forced to grin foolishly while his heart hurts.
As I've rewatched it--admittedly making liberal use of fast-forward--these scenes have grown on me. (It's interesting to note that--until the climax--the best writing is in Woo Jae's novel rather than in dialog.):
Episode 3+06:25 “During the four years Mi So was gone, Hyo Jae never searched for her. Mi So thought she was not as important to Hyo Jae. Mi So misunderstood."
3+14:40 Woo Jae: "We need to talk." Yeon Woo fails to say what Woo Jae has been waiting to hear.
5+02:30 Yeon Woo: "I can understand how Hyo Jae feels. . .. Hyo Jae is just scared. . .. He is afraid that everything will end once he puts it into words” Woo Jae ponders this until Episode 6. He begins to struggle a little with keeping up his hostile façade.
5+12:15 Yeon Woo: "I spread her ashes over here." Woo Jae, who had started to walk away, returns to Yeon Woo's side.
6+02:10 Yeon Woo: "You just smiled." "No, I didn't."
6+06:45 Woo Jae has banished Yeon Woo, but his characters' dialog shows the strength of Yeon Woo's hold over him.
7+04:33 Three-way conversation; major shift in dynamic.
7+09:15 Yeon Woo: "Let's write it again together." The beginning of the end of the slow burn; the air is thick with metaphors.
. . . Through . . .
14:16 Jun.Q aces the waterworks test: "Mi So also had no intention of hiding it anymore. But . . . Hyo Jae was already gone by then."
BUT THEN
15:37 Yeon Woo: "Is this story about us?" Aieee! The writer is determined to make Yeon Woo a dunce. If only he had said, "This story must end well, because it's our story. And if our story doesn’t end well, I . . . [both cry]"
8+11:25 Yeon Woo reads Woo Jae's script: "You can see Hyo Jae brightly smiling, looking at Mi So sitting under the Love Tree."
Cha Shi Hyuk (Bak Seong Joon, Woo Jae's manager) also deserves praise--and more roles--for his acting. I enjoy his bashful smile at 8+06:45 when it dawns on him why Woo Jae is anxiously looking at the street.
I've found successive viewings increasingly rewarding. I'll always be frustrated that the writer and director conspired to keep the characters one-dimensional until the series was half over, but for me, the acting triumphed.
Jun.Q (Woo Jae) may be the better actor, but he had some advantages: He was allowed interior monologues showing the turmoil beneath his d*ckishness; He could explain himself through Mi So (the female character in his novel); We're shown another side of him in the flashbacks. Foremost, he has that face: To my taste, his face is beautiful but not cute, he does doleful really well and he somehow conveys multiple emotions with one expression. So it's all the more unfortunate that the writer reverts him to type a couple more times after the semi-breakthrough in episode 5.
Whereas Han Jung Wan (Yeon Woo) for far, far too long is forced to grin foolishly while his heart hurts.
As I've rewatched it--admittedly making liberal use of fast-forward--these scenes have grown on me. (It's interesting to note that--until the climax--the best writing is in Woo Jae's novel rather than in dialog.):
Episode 3+06:25 “During the four years Mi So was gone, Hyo Jae never searched for her. Mi So thought she was not as important to Hyo Jae. Mi So misunderstood."
3+14:40 Woo Jae: "We need to talk." Yeon Woo fails to say what Woo Jae has been waiting to hear.
5+02:30 Yeon Woo: "I can understand how Hyo Jae feels. . .. Hyo Jae is just scared. . .. He is afraid that everything will end once he puts it into words” Woo Jae ponders this until Episode 6. He begins to struggle a little with keeping up his hostile façade.
5+12:15 Yeon Woo: "I spread her ashes over here." Woo Jae, who had started to walk away, returns to Yeon Woo's side.
6+02:10 Yeon Woo: "You just smiled." "No, I didn't."
6+06:45 Woo Jae has banished Yeon Woo, but his characters' dialog shows the strength of Yeon Woo's hold over him.
7+04:33 Three-way conversation; major shift in dynamic.
7+09:15 Yeon Woo: "Let's write it again together." The beginning of the end of the slow burn; the air is thick with metaphors.
. . . Through . . .
14:16 Jun.Q aces the waterworks test: "Mi So also had no intention of hiding it anymore. But . . . Hyo Jae was already gone by then."
BUT THEN
15:37 Yeon Woo: "Is this story about us?" Aieee! The writer is determined to make Yeon Woo a dunce. If only he had said, "This story must end well, because it's our story. And if our story doesn’t end well, I . . . [both cry]"
8+11:25 Yeon Woo reads Woo Jae's script: "You can see Hyo Jae brightly smiling, looking at Mi So sitting under the Love Tree."
Cha Shi Hyuk (Bak Seong Joon, Woo Jae's manager) also deserves praise--and more roles--for his acting. I enjoy his bashful smile at 8+06:45 when it dawns on him why Woo Jae is anxiously looking at the street.
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