Reviews

Modern family

It’s a story about two gay men, their son, and how they navigate their private married life while slowly being embraced by the warmth and love of the people around them. I may be late to watching this show, but I’m thankful to have seen another side of Mike Lin’s beautiful acting. He is so handsome!

One major scene filmed during an actual Taiwan Pride parade made the story feel even more authentic. I also loved how the series consistently represented rainbows and their significance in every episode. It was especially heartwarming to see how they explained to Kai Kai why he doesn’t have a mother.

Gratefully, we also got to see how Jerry’s parents eventually accepted him for who he is, along with the people he cherishes, after episodes filled with fear and guilt. Overall, the drama highlights several important issues surrounding the gay community. Having a platform that both educates and delivers an uplifting story to the masses is truly commendable.

The only thing that made me sad was the way the season ended. The revelation that Damian had a child with his ex-girlfriend and kept it from Jerry all those years was painful to watch. I honestly felt betrayed on Jerry’s behalf.

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Not the most original premise, but the leads make it worth every minute so far.

Someone mentioned it had the same energy as Mr. Queen, and that was enough. I loved Mr. Queen — the sharp humor, the body-swap chaos, the way it somehow managed to be ridiculous and genuinely moving at the same time. That drama set a high bar for the genre, and I have been chasing that feeling ever since.

I will be honest — Lim Ji-yeon was not the reason I clicked play. But Heo Nam-jun was. After Perfect Crown wrapped and left a quiet gap in my watch list, I needed something to fill the space. This felt like the right kind of gamble.

The cast
Lim Ji-yeon (Shin Seo-ri / Kang Dan-sim): She was not on my radar coming in, but she carries the dual role with more confidence than I expected. There is something in the way she shifts between the modern Seo-ri and the Joseon Dan-sim — a stillness in one, a controlled ferocity in the other — that makes the possession premise feel less gimmicky than it has any right to be.

Heo Nam-jun (Cha Se-gye): This is the performance I came for, and so far he has not disappointed. He plays arrogance without making it exhausting, which is a harder balance than it looks. There is something quietly watchable about him — a restrained quality that makes you lean in rather than tune out.

Episodes 1–4
The first four episodes move fast, almost defiantly so, and the comedy lands more often than it misses. The Joseon villainess adjusting to modern Seoul is the kind of premise that could easily tip into tired repetition, but the writing keeps finding new angles — a binged drama series here, a confrontation that goes sideways there. It does not take itself too seriously, and that lightness carries it through the moments where the plot feels familiar.

The premise is not new. Spirit possession, time displacement, enemies circling each other until something shifts — we have seen this shape before. But familiarity is not always a flaw. Sometimes it is simply the container, and what matters is what gets poured into it.

The love story has not fully bloomed yet. But there is something there — a tension in the early scenes between the leads that feels earned rather than manufactured. I am watching for what happens when the walls start coming down.

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Execrable!

I refuse to sugar-coat any pretense about this series. It is one of the worst I have ever seen. Hands down. Period. Not only in terms of storytelling and script, but also in acting, directing, and production. It has one of the most nonsensical stories I have ever seen. It had no point. The plot was witless, illogical, and utterly stupid. I could not simulate what was happening at all. The horror of horrors is that there are aliens swarming all over our planet who are going to do something to us, but I never could quite understand exactly what they were going to do. Most, if not all, were dastardly people out to either profit (but how I am not sure as their form of money was useless here) by taking things from this planet or using us for nefarious reasons. Oh my! But all that is unimportant. Seriously, there are not enough adjectives to describe how truly bad this series is. I am guessing this was supposed to be a comedy, but it is overall not funny or even has much humor or fun to it. Was this series a spoof? Or maybe nothing more than sarcasm? Perhaps it was done tongue-in-cheek, right? No, it is just bad. It looked like a clown show with costumes borrowed as hand-me-downs from a high school performance of the Wizard of Oz. There is really no coherent story. It is a jumbled mess with little thought in making the story flow with consistency. The acting between these two rather seasoned performers was not even at a mediocre level. They were flatly and unequivocally uninvolved in their personifications and had no connection with who they were supposedly representing. Their acting was pedestrian.

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It started well but never met its full potential

Things I loved

1 The premise. A bit different than most dramas and although I dislike stories involving a divorce this sounded interesting and went into it with high hopes. The hotel setting is also one of my favorites so I was looking forward to it.

2 The FL. I loved her in Why is He Still Single and wanted to see her in another role and this one seemed perfect for her. I'll leave her in the love list, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the end with her character and her acting. But she's gorgeous and had some great outfits and some great scenes. All in all, though, I was expecting so much more. I thought it was her character in Why is He Still Single that left a bit to be desired but I realize now that it's her way of acting in general and it doesn't speak to me.
It's fine to play the decent, reserved woman, but when you can't connect when she's mad or sad or anything there is a problem. That said, I was so invested in her arc I wanted her to be happy and get rid of all riff raff around her, aka her family and that stupid 2FL. She was good in some scenes with the stuff and her friend, but she wasn't that good with her family and the ML. Something was missing and left me unsatisfied in the end. I even dropped her from my favorite actors list. I found her acting monotone and I wish she had more range. Tat said she'0s so gorgeous I will seek her next drama to see if her acting is better or rather different.

3 I loved the ML friend. The actor did a good to convey things and his character was decent and I was rooting for him. I didn't like the ending and I wish he found happiness in his personal life, although not necessarily with the chef.

4 The jazz orchestra and Daniel's father. He was a character and I loved the way he found his place among the rest of the hotel residents and stuff. He was good to the FL and fair de spite his son's feelings for her.

Things I liked

1 The ML. It's my first drama with the actor and I won't look for his dramas but he did a good job. Not great, but good enough. My problem with his character is the same as with the FL. Not engaging enough. Yes, they are mature and they can't act impulsively all the time, but it'd be great to see a little more sparks between them. To be honest, his confession was at least believable and I wanted him to be happy. It's just that for the most part of the series he didn't show any strong feelings about anything and that bothers me. I'm older than them and I'm passionate about life and everything all the while being reserved. So something fell off. Also, I didn't find there was tons of chemistry between him and the FL. Not enough to make the romance shine. Last thing, his character was a little off-putting at first with the whole cheating fiasco, but I think he redeemed himself in the end.

2 Most of the stuff, even those who were against the FL at first. If you ask me their short arcs were much more interesting than some parts related to the main leads. I liked the camaraderie and even the pettiness between them. It made for something real we all encountered in our jobs.

3 The chef. I just liked her but nothing more. I don't think I really cared about her and at first I felt like her character was too childish for a professional. I just liked how supportive of the FL was. The rest was meh.

4 Duan. I know he got on the nerves of many viewers and I get why but to me he was funny and to be honest kept my interest all along. If they had taken a bit if time to develop his character better he could be one of the best characters in the series. It's a shame they stayed on the surface, he had potential. The actor did a great job.

5 Tan. Contrary to others I found his character the most believable. I know people like him and he never did anything wrong. He was honest about his feelings and I'm irritated when I read that the FL misled him. No she didn't. If you are an adult you know there are periods in your life you get confused and yes you can be confused about your feelings. She apologized if he got the wrong message and he understood. He also made a few faux pas insisting she comes with him, but this is the human nature.
He didn't force anything and she didn't do anything reprehensible. Grow up all of you who think she was in the wrong. I liked his character and his relationship with the FL is the most sensible in the whole drama. Only in my circle I know three couples who had similar experiences. People have the right to fall in love and to fight for that love as long as they don't harm the other person. You have the right to think of kissing someone even if it's for the wrong reasons. It doesn't make you a bad person and the list goes on.

Things I disliked

1 The ex-husband of course. Although I didn't hate him and he proved to be somewhat decent by helping her. I hate cheating with all my being but I think he paid enough for a stupid mistake and with all that happened to him I can't say I hated his character. I think the actor sold well the arc and that's also another reason I only dislike him.

2 The owner of the hotel, the aunt. I don't know why but although she did some good things for the hotel, I found her character underwhelming and her long support of her nephew got on my nerves.

3 Some of the cases the FL had to deal with. They were badly written and over the top. To be fair I didn't like the hotel at all. Not the style and not the vibe. I've seen other dramas where the hotel shines, here it was bland and whatever action they took to improve the sales didn't work for me. That they claimed having results was ridiculous at the best.

4 The lack of romance. Except for a few kisses where was the romance? No sparks between them and although I get that romance wasn't the focus if you have it even as a second or third component you have to deliver nevertheless. Another reason I was disappointed from the whole drama.

5 The ending. I could even out it on the hate list so much I disliked it, but because I get what they wanted to convey I leave it here. But, and here me out why, I hated the ending when I think of the FL's behavior. I'm someone who refused to move to another country because my boyfriend wanted to, someone who put my job before my relationship quite a few times and never regretted. Someone who chose to study later in life instead of getting married and never regretted either. So it's not like I don't get where the FL is coming from.
I support her move to Switzerland, which was funny to me since I live close to EHL where she's supposed to go to, and of course I'm with the ML and his decision to wait for her. That's the adult and decent thing to do. You respect her goals and you trust your relationship. But when the FL said she made the decision alone without even talking to him, that's where I draw the line. If you are in a mature and honest relationship you talk with the other person even if your mind is made. You don't decide alone and then show not remorse at all, that's a lack of respect toward someone you claim to love. If you are strong you give the other person the chance to weigh on your decision. It's an implicit right and it takes nothing away from your independence. When you don't even mention something that big to him, you are weak, tactless and to be honest not in love. You don't deserve someone like him who supported you all along and is ready to wait for you.
That's where my disliking for the FL character comes. She never showed true feeling for the ML. he was always the one to support her and to show his feelings. I know she was cheated and she was cautious but she's a grown up adult who indulgent her stupid family and she can't have the common courtesy to talk with her boyfriend about something that big? You don't respect less alone love him. A miss that ruined the drama for me.

Things I hated

1 The nephew. I wish I could see him suffer more. What an arrogant little jerk who never worked a day in his life and only learned how to manipulate people and things to his advantage. At least he got some kind of punishment.

2 The despicable 2FL. She did a great job for me to hate her and that I found her ugly didn't help. I think she was awfully dressed and her make up was appalling. All in all one of the ugliest characters inside and outside. The baby twist was also stupid and worthy of a teenager first draft. I hate that kind of predictable clichés when they aren't funny or moving. She got what she deserved but the baby story was left without an outcome and that was also something that irritated me.

3 The sister. Such a leech and until the end she was a stupid, unworthy character who the FL should cut ties without a second thought. That's another reason I didn't like as much as I thought the FL. She was spineless a lot of times and she never was up to the challenge if you ask me regarding her family.

4 The father if you can call this. With a father like him you better not having one. A stupid, manipulative, horrible person. The FL should cut ties with him as well and be a bit more honest with him and with how they made her feel. Every time he appeared on the screen I wanted to slap him.

5 The mother. I think I hated her even more than the sister and the father. The FL was her daughter and she treated her a source of money for her husband's whims. The whole arc with the mother was stupid to be honest and I didn't care what happened to her. I'd love it if she stayed away from her daughter instead of the comme il faut ending we had. Shameless the whole family.

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This is no Season 2

I was so excited for this show, OF being one of my fav show and AouBoom my fav ship. First ep got me crazy, but then it kept going down and down until I had to survive through the hell of last ep.

S1 was a bunch of lost kids acting on impulse and ending up hurting themselves. This show on the other hand, presents a bunch of lost kids overthinking, scheming against each other and ending up hurting everyone. It has nothing of the refreshing spontaneous messiness of s1. Only Rome did follow that vibe but it didn’t save the show.

The writing is clearly lacking. Having three couples in parallel usually creates a good show dynamic. But in this, the storylines often mirror each other (for example, fighting and getting back on good terms happen almost at the same time in the three storylines) which completely misses the point of having 3couples and just makes the whole thing repetitive, and thus boring.

The whole show includes very weak/cliché plot ideas (video leaking used twice (and being a reused of the leaked recording of S1), useless filling idea, the RomeRaffy interview in the last ep,...). I kept asking myself “WHY?” . I'm not saying everything should have a purpose, but when it's half of the episod, there's a problem.

But most importantly imo, is that this show is an apology to redflag behaviours. Yeah, I know, Season 1 is full of red flag behaviours and that’s why we love it. BUT they are being called out for it and hit by karma. Here, they are all forgiven or even rewarded: For example, asking someone out using social pressure, Tua being the worst “friend” ever but still got Dean (who’d done nothing wrong) to apologise to him, Pete stealing half of the play budget and still being around and well afterward, like nothing happened,.... Anyway, you’ve got my point. I’m not necessarily watching shows for the morality but those kind of sneaky redflag apology is really not to my liking. I want karma to hit the bitches.

Final beef with the writing is... I don’t have anything against no cross-pair kissing. That’s a choice (a bad one imo, but still a choice). But then DON’T SET IT UP LIKE IT’S GONNA HAPPEN. Every time, the whole plot would have made more sense if the kiss had happen. Do it so that your script makes sense or change your script. Don’t just go halfway.

Now a quick word on each couple:

JackDean : The trope is not what I usually like but EarthMix chemistry and Mix’s INSANE acting skills makes it totally worth the watch. Also they are the only couple going through actual character growth (although sadly not really well pictured), so that’s also good point for them. But IMO there are too many underused potential in their storyline.

RomeRaffy : They gave one of my fav tropes to my fav ship and still managed to get me bored at some point. I guess that can count as a skill. But how was impressed at how Boom has improved his acting so fucking much. I love him to death. I could spend hours praising that guy so better I stop here.

Arnold/Tua : I can’t say much cause I didn’t watch enough. JG’s acting skills are weak and cringe the hell out of me. But from what I saw, half of their scenes are useless fillers and Tua is the worst character of the whole serie. This guy shouldn’t even have a happy ending before serious character growth.

Boston : who ? Cause that was no Boston. Not even a more mature version of Boston. It feels like they needed someone to have some talk with Tua and they wanted to bring back all the characters from S1, just for the show, so they picked Boston.


Overall, EarthMix and AouBoom did their ultimate best considering the lousy writing their were given.

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would've been better without sexism and sa

Even though there are some things I really didn't like about this show, I did genuinely enjoy the main part of the story. It's mostly just fluff, which I love.
BUT like with many other bls, they treated consent as a thing that will come if you just keep going. There were many forced kiss scenes where Yao Shun Yu clearly looked uncomfortable. Xia Shang Zhou consistently ignored when Yao Shun Yu explicitly said no.

When portraying a employer/employee relationship, it can very easily get into the teratory of being predatory, where one of the people has all the power and the other person has to do whatever they say and cannot say no even if they want to.
This show very much crosses that line, and it feels very icky.

For some completely unnecessary reasons, the show decided to be really sexist. Thankfully it was mostly just in the first episode... but still... it was so unnecessary and I hated it.
They call women fragile little creatures, who can't handle criticism, and men are strong minded, and even the weakest man can handle more tha any woman.
I am definitely paraphrasing, but I am not twisting the words. They did straight up say that woman are weak, and everyone (including the women) treated it like it was a fact.
I wouldn't say that the characters are sexist, but the writers definitely are.

I was so close to dropping this show because of the writers views on women and consent, but the cuteness kept me watching.

If you love fluff, then you should consider watching, otherwise the writers views shining through definitely isn't worth it.

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good

start- Got me hooked from start really like it

what I like-
comedy
romance
all characters
no 2nd couple
no unnecessary drama


what I dislike -
1. could've have been a little slow burn even though they get together in remaining last eps after 15 + , it felt fast for me and they already kiss many times because they switch because of it
Romance - they already kiss before dating because that's their way of switching back to normal, for me I prefer slow burn and even if kiss scene are few or just 1-2 It doesn't matter there should be romantic interaction , but this one they already kiss too many times before dating, I have seen similar drama that FML has some issue and ml has to kiss her because of that ,but that couple had enough interactions and it was slow burn
2. the switched body parts was way too long , they were normal less and switched body more ? that doesn't show their real interactions then ? i was really annoyed when around the confession they switched because it was important part and finally they were normal ,but they switched again and too long and author would bring FML back exactly at time of confession, which ruined everything for me ? there's was no slow burn ,no real interactions, more falling in love in other persons body ? so I lost interest after they started dating so decided to drop at 20 and skipped after confession
because I enjoyed so i give it a 8 even though I'm dropping this, because still better than many drama.
3. start and middle is good but I started to dislike the plot of switching souls because they stay in that way too long ? and when they're finally normal started to like eachother I wanted to see more but it ruined by switching them again so dislike last part

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Some short series are more worth watching then long ass movies/dramas.

I actually loved the series plot. The way they showed the emotions of heartbroken chenxi felt too real and emotional. The acting of both the actors was great. Story was well executed too. Just felt a little more details could have been added about the debt collector and his background. His expressing kf emotions should have also been detailed more. Watched a nice series after so long. Felt warm,soft and connected to the actors and the story.Also with only two actors they have completed the whole series yet it's short but have been done in a way that keeps the audiences engaging. Very well done. Definitely worth a watch!.

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The best couple, acting, cast and storytelling!

At first, I watched this drama purely for Zhang Linghe, but stayed for a whole lot of reasons, and of course, one of them is still Zhang Linghe. Aside from him, I stayed for Tian Xiwei, which is the first time I have watched her in this drama. Deng Kai, Kong Xuer, all Lin'an people, Aunt Zhao, Uncle Zhao, Xie Wu, Gong SuYin, Lin Muran, Yan Yi Kuan, and even Bao'er and Chang Ning. I have never watched dramas, Western or otherwise, where even the background characters give such a strong impression that adds so much flavor, angst, and longing. I rewatched POJ 4x now, and I'm still finding details that warm my heart. My only regret is the last two episodes; I can honestly say that it's rushed, which causes some confusion. However, I mentioned earlier that I can forgive that since even in the novel, it's kinda confusing. I only understood it when I read it again and read local reviews explaining the political side. As we live in modern times, we often cannot fathom that seemingly small things can cause an astronomical blood bath. The storytelling, the cinematography, and the idyllic feel as if you are living inside it, which makes this drama unforgettable. Not to mention the strong chemistry between Zhang Linghe and Tian Xiwei, I cannot believe that I am dreaming of them getting married. hahaha. Even the villain's love story is very strong. I have been watching C drama since 2018, but it's hard during that time, the subs and platforms offering cdrama were very scarce. My point is, this is beyond entertainment, this drama, while watching it feels like you're living inside it. Peak cinema!

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Boring

Was looking for a modern Cdrama to watch and this came highly recommended with very high ratings. I also like Li Landi but not really a Lin Yi fan. I'm glad that it's not his usual cold stiff guy role and he's actually warm and sweet here. LinLandi's hair keeps getting to me though. It really looks like a stiff wig especially at the back. I wish they could've made her character prettier and better dressed even if she's supposed to be poor. It's not a bad drama but I just found it so boring. It makes for a nice background while doing something else because not keeping your eyes glued to the screen won't make you miss anything. Chemistry-wise, there were no sparks for me. So decided to drop it after six episodes.

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