This review may contain spoilers
The worst 2nd lead syndrome
Story was decent, so was the female lead and 2nd male lead. However, this is the worst kind of 2nd lead syndrome.. not only does the female lead have much better chemistry with the 2nd male lead, but the male lead she ends up with is a piece of trash, his past does not excuse his actions. Maybe because i skipped a lot of the scenes between the two leads, but I don't even remember when the male lead actually started liking the female lead... I only felt it in the final episode.Kim Goeun really carried this show with her amazing acting
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The actors (especially KGE & PHJ) were amazing and played their parts really well, even in the episodes I didn't really enjoy, I thought almost everyone did a good job, but LSK's character was crazy. I almost had to fast forward thru the scenes with her in them, they were painful. I guess she did a good job portratying a spoiled rotten vengeful crazy person, but still painful.
It all started sliding downhill and fell off my list in a hurry. Ep 10-14 were kind of a mess. There were moments of greatness, that kept me hanging on, but it was a struggle. Then they hit rock bottom with the ending. What kind of ending was that? Anyway, best I can give it is a 3 because the beginning was so good.
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the most frustrating drama i’ve ever seen
when i first started this drama i had high hopes but as i continued watching i couldn’t help but resent and hate some of the characters .jeong gives off a sort of vibe that you like in the beginning and then it slowly fades into a vibe that you can’t stand because and i swear i can’t put this nicely even if i could , a crazy psycho . but not the kind of psycho that makes a scene . his moves are calculated and he knows which buttons to push in order to manipulate people and situations so that he can have his way . he puts people in dangerous situations and then claims he does it because he cares about them and what frustrates me the most is that seol ends up believing that more so after he tells her his story .
he didn’t understand what he did was wrong and he wasn’t willing to understand at all . he claims people always blame others yet he does the same .
another character that absolutely pisses me off is in ho’s sister . she does whatever the hell she wants and shows zero willingness to grow up . i mean yeah she had it tough but how can she have such disregard towards her younger brother who has to do every single thing for her even when she stabs him in the back multiple times . the yelling , the manipulation , the gut tripping just makes her insufferable .
in all my years after having referred to my drama list for something to watch i have never not once agreed with a review but the ones under this drama are spot on . i don’t know if this whole thing is a spoiler or not but i just said what i felt and saw while watching .
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Interesting enough though, this show kept me hooked from start to finish -- for the wrong reasons. I feel like the more I got into the show, the less I cared about the characters because I really just wanted to see justice, because let's face the cold truth here, everyone minus maybe 3 people, did Seol completely wrong and dirty.
The story was really interesting, there is no way I'll say it wasn't. While it was your typical drama, it did have it's uniqueness in it's own way. I also really loved everyone's acting in this show except Sung Kyung (In Ha) don't come at me, I love her acting....in other things but in this show I felt like she was extremely over dramatic and walked like a zombie half the time and when she stood she reminded me of a Monster High doll. Remember how they used to be bent weird like something was wrong with their spines? Lol That is what she reminded me of.
I hated probably 98% of the characters. I loved Seol and her 2 friends, --oh, and her brother. That's it. I wish more friendships where like that though. No matter what she went through they were always there for her... even the small bit when they were mad at each other. Lol Those kinds of friendships are so rare.
Everyone else can fuck off though. For me my most hated characters were probably In Ha, Stalker Boy, and lazy drunk bitch. I don't care enough to remember their names... and I say that with my whole chest. oh and add on that snobby little bitch she had class with. lol Ol crusty musty ass.
ANYWAY!!! back to the review.
Everything about this show was left open and I hate hate hate hate HATE open endings. This took it to a whole new level though. Because everything was left open. Characters were there then suddenly they weren't? People were with others and just nothing was explained? I get that this was adapted from a webtoon, but that doesn't mean you should leave out information. Lol Especially since these characters were there since episode one. By episode 10 you shouldn't be like "okay well.... we just don't need you anymore" that's not how that works. Lol I mean I'm glad to see them gone but because there was no information on how or where they went, It kinda stressed me out always looking for them because I expected them to come and fuck shit up some more. cuz you know.... fuck happiness? Lol
Speaking of happiness... what kind of damn ending was that? What kind of main character treatment was that? You do on and on about people are using her and she needs to put a stop to it -- then you proceed to use her in manipulative ways. and let's not forget any time she was attacked, somehow it was her fault and if it wasn't her fault they made it super clear they she shouldn't hold it against ol-pwoor-pwiddful-widdle *insert someone's name, there's a list to choose from at this point*. Like wow, okay - she ended up physically injured how many times but still, she should forgive them? All while saying she needs to stop putting up with people's bullshit.
Geez the more I go on about about this the more I want to take away stars. So I better stop here.
All in all, yes the acting was good, the story, while hole-y like swiss cheese, was good. i just wanted more justice. I wanted actual ending.
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This drama really brings out the ugliest parts of human nature, which is dark, but okay and fun to watch for some people.
My issue is that nearly no one redeemed themselves till the end of the series. The male lead had nearly no character improvement at all and the female lead only accepted his flaws till the end.
ACTING: 9/10
Everyone played their roles well, minus point because Baek In Ha's character was so annoyingly bad I have no idea why she existed in the story. Her only role was to be a hazard to the main couple all the way to the last minute of the final episode. The way she spoke was very bizarre and loud.
MUSIC: 8/10
Nothing noteworthy but my rating is biased because I love piano music.
Rewatch value: 4/10
Probably not gonna rewatch this at all because of the nonredeemable characters that never get punished properly but just vanish after they're exposed.
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Honestly don't know how people can rate anything more than 3 star for this show.
Story beginning was good. But how could they call MF & FL as main character.
ML is a psychopath.
FL has no character value, no brain, no thought process.
I liked most of the support characters and acting.
Just so you know i watched final 6 episodes in 8x speed, Couldn't bring myself to spend too much time on this.
Finally after 8 months i have completed this drama.
Honestly don't know how people can rate anything more than 3 star for this show.
Story beginning was good. But how could they call MF & FL as main character.
ML is a psychopath.
FL has no character value, no brain, no thought process.
I liked most of the support characters and acting.
Just so you know i watched final 6 episodes in 8x speed, Couldn't bring myself to spend too much time on this.
Finally after 8 months i have completed this drama.
Honestly don't know how people can rate anything more than 3 star for this show.
Story beginning was good. But how could they call MF & FL as main character.
ML is a psychopath.
FL has no character value, no brain, no thought process.
I liked most of the support characters and acting.
Just so you know i watched final 6 episodes in 8x speed, Couldn't bring myself to spend too much time on this.
Finally after 8 months i have completed this drama.
Honestly don't know how people can rate anything more than 3 star for this show.
Story beginning was good. But how could they call MF & FL as main character.
ML is a psychopath.
FL has no character value, no brain, no thought process.
I liked most of the support characters and acting.
Just so you know i watched final 6 episodes in 8x speed, Couldn't bring myself to spend too much time on this.
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So I started 1st episode without any expectation, as I always do with K dramas. Aaannnd I really didnt like it. The plot was boring, predictable. Doesnt work for me. The characters are ok, but not interesting enough. Casts I must say did a good job, although I dont really follow any of the actors. This drama doesnt draw me in the first episode. Cinematography also made me bored. I think everything is slow paced.
However when reading the review people told that they reallllyyy love it! and it was extremely entertaining. So setting aside my desire to dropped this drama, I carry on to the 2nd episode in case it get more interesting. NOPE. I finished the 2nd episode in vain and finalised my decision to drop the drama.
I went to Dramabean and read every episode preview, and Im glad I dropped it.
Well im not saying my opinion is definitely right, it depends on people which drama they prefer. It just doesnt fall under the zone for me, and hope everyone else had fun watching this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Beware...
I don't get how this is still rated so well. For me it's one of the worst dramas I've ever watched. Don't get me wrong, it´s not incredibly boring like some dramas tend to be and neither is it of really low quality or hard to follow. It is however incredibly toxic in my opinion, most of all the 1st male lead is. The guy is seriously twisted in so many ways and I really cannot believe the female lead actually ends up with him. There's more things I found toxic in the drama, I don't wanna go into too much detail though. So while some people might've liked the story and probably didn't think too much of the toxicity and abusive behaviors of some characters, I think this drama should be watched with caution as it might be triggering for some people. I would personally recommend just skipping this one though, there's so many way better dramas out there (hmu if you need some recommendations). The only reason I finished was because I got invested in the 2nd male leads storyline, who was the only person I kind of liked in the drama. But of course like most of the time, the nicer guy doesn't get the girl....(Apart from the male lead, I did like all of the actors btw but that didn't save the drama for me)
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It's nice to see some early roles that are well acted from actors I really enjoy, but if you aren't here for a purpose like that I would honestly avoid this drama unless you like being frustrated and upset and the end of a drama.
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An “ Cheesy” Drama With A Surprising Ending For Getting Out Of The “ Trap”..
Cheese In The Trap is based on the webtoon of the same name. The drama centralises upon hardworking university student Hong Seol ( Kim Go Eun), who takes a year out of education for a study break partly due to tensions arising between herself and fellow manipulative classmate Jeong ( Park Hae- Jin). After nearly a year, she returns back to school only to find more tension between Jeong and herself. With the support of her friends Jang Bo-ra ( Park Min- Ji) and Kwon Eun-taek ( Nam Joo Hyuk), Seol hopes to guide a sense of normality within her hectic life, however, the arrival of troublemakers Baek In-ho ( Seo Kang- Joon) and In- Ha ( Lee Sung- Kyung), the deceitful natures of her classmates , school life and a strange proposal from Jeong could threaten everything Jeong’s hope for normality and an easy school year.Before I begin my review, I must emphasise that my criticism does not come from like most drama reviewers, from the ending of the series. In fact, it was somewhat refreshing to break out of the escapist cliche of romance dramas in which the female lead and Male lead live happily ever after and never have to worry about anything ever again. Cheese In The Trap instead offered a reflection of reality in the series; a chance for Seol to escape her controlling and toxic relationship with Jeong and to learn a weary lesson of being cautious around those who ask too much , and for the other two main protagonists ( Jeong and In Ho), to continue onwards with their lives.
It may not have been the ending that we entirely wanted as viewers, but even after reading the original webtoon ending; it still rose to my attention that the drama series offered possibly the best outcome for Seol as an individual, rather than a plot device.
On the other hand, I’m not going to say that Cheese In The Trap was a either . Where my criticism really lies is with the events that lead up to the ending and more importantly, the cliche choices by the scriptwriters with dealing with the characters. First of all, I must comment that Kim Go Eun truly matched up to the expectations of Seol. Whilst Go Eun is memorable within her youthful looks in Goblin, Go Eun was perfectly cast not as you’d expect as a glamorous goddess , but your everyday student, something which was refreshingly portrayed by Go Eun’s stylist within her everyday clothing, her slightly roughed hair and Go Eun’s quiet mannerisms as well. Anyone who has experienced being like Seol as a hardworking , introverted or a fairly studious student in higher education at high school, college or university , can probably easily relate to the same experiences as Seol around fellow classmates and teachers .
Park Hae- Jin could seem a lacklustre at times within the show, something , which even before we got into the plot, dragged me into the gnawing suspicion that Hae- Jin had been typcasted again to play the brooding quiet type. Hae- Jin, however, did exceed my expectations at times within the show by his portrayal as Jeong; the cliche “ rich heir” ( thankfully was not induced too much in the plot, until later, however , it’s entire purpose did make me question why it hadn’t been picked up previously apart from dodgy scriptwriting), who is exceedingly disturbing and manipulative. Hae- Jin could truly make the hairs on the back of your neck stick up at time’s within his portrayal as Jeong, during his nearly sociopathic traits and manipulative nature. Undeniably, Jeong was a horrific character on all grounds especially over his control of Seol during their relationship, however, this did not take away the fact that he was additionally intriguing as a result of this.
Park Seo Joon was undeniably top-notch as In- Ho ; fairly parallel to Go Eun as Seol. He was able to portray In Ho with a surprising level of comical brilliance during his moments with Seol and his flirtatious teasing of her “ natural curls”, and levels of sincerity around his complex relationship with his sister and their abusive childhood at the hands of their aunt, Jeong’s actions and giving up the piano as a result. It was fair to say that In- Ho played upon the countless cliches of the “ nice second Male lead” ; yet he was also portrayed as an individual as well, something which was somewhat refreshing as a Korean drama. This is additionally where I point out one defence for the drama not allowing In - Ho and Seol to be together as many fans complained about within the ending of the series. Just as Jeong was manipulative, In- Ho carried a lot of emotional baggage especially in regards to what his sister In- Ha did to Seol at the ending of the series. Whilst I agree it would have been more touching for the either the drama writers to have induced more establishment of In- Ho’s feelings for Seol ( and vice versa) or simply written their relationship as a platonic friendship rather than beating around the bush, In- Ho’s relationship with Seol would have demeaning for both characters as individuals and their ability to move on with their lives, rather than stay weighted to their pasts.
This moves us onto our next female lead; Lee Sung- Kyung as In-Ha, the materialistic sister of In Ho and head over heels with a crush on Jeong. I’ve always admired Sung- Kyung as an actress after her ability to break out of the “ pretty girl role” in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo as the titular protagonist ( not forgetting the irony here that Joo- Hyuk is also in this drama) , however, I’m not going to hide that Sung- Kyung’s acting was unbearable at times within the show from overreacting and yelling moments . Of course, this is also on part of her character as well, who became questionably despicable over the course of the series. Whilst there’s no doubt that In- Ha has some moments of genuine emotional vulnerability such as her abuse at the hands of her aunt, her actions upon leeching on her brother, manipulating Seol and of course being able to walk on a light sentence despite her crimes in the series, seemed untrustworthy cruel by both the scriptwriters and the lacking lessons given to In- Ha’s characterisation. Although the show delivers a great casting selection and plot themes of relationships, education and youth problems ( including a refreshing portrayal of a gay couple), the show is often too lost certainly near the middle-point of the series upon the characters as plot devices rather than individuals and the drama between Seol and her classmates at times, grows to the point of stupidness especially in regards to some students such as Kim Sang-cheol ( Moon Ji- Yoon), who would have undeniably been a raise of concern by the teachers over some of his actions . Whilst this is naturally to add drama more than anything else, it did devalue a lot of the show as we soon became lost within tropes of trauma and romance which took away a lot of the possibility of how the drama could’ve built up this good ending without falling onto the cliches.
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Where should i start? The whole story was so dispersed and non-sense. Let's start from the main lead yo jung. The only main lead whom i disliked and eventually hated from the very first episode to last. His personality was so disturbing and so problematic. I just hated him throughout and skipped his scenes. I just didn't want to see him anymore.
Baek in Ho was such a good character. His acting was awesome too. He was the kind of person who was so loveable but i don't understand the logic why he had to go through so much for no reason. He was enduring everything even his love like a one man army. He was a perfect person,friend and brother.
Baek In Ha's acting was just too good. I felt pity for both siblings. They were used by yo jung and his father and then thrown away like a tissue paper.
The most useless thing was their love story. I couldn't understand this love story tbh. The chemistry was so weak and i just couldn't get why they was LOVE out of nowhere. It felt like a forced and dragged lovestory. Hong seol kept on being with him even after his wrong doings and she was like i get you why you did that don't worry. Like what the hell. Honestly i wanted seol to be with baek in ho.
Lastly, the story was so dispersed that i wasn't able to get what was the story actually and why there was baek in ho actually and why he had to go through so much. I don't recommend it to anyone. It's just waste of time and mood
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This review may contain spoilers
There is so much about this show I need to talk about, let me air my feelings out in this not strictly review but review-ish rant about this show. I have a fair bit to say about the main characters so bare with me.
Yoo Jung
Yoo Jung is the 1st male lead, he is manipulative, cold and distant at best of times, a clear psycopath at worst. He is selfish and petty to the point of cruelty and I don't know why anyone would ever fall for him or why the first female lead would find him interesting at all (unless she was studying his case for criminal profiling). He comes off as the kind of guy who would kill someone because they inconvenienced him.
I mean he actually had some guys beat his best friend up (Baek In Ho) because he told some half-hearted lie about him when he was momentarily jealous of his relationship with another friend. Those guys broke Baek In Ho's hand - thereby ruining his future as a pianist, and Yoo Jung just stood by and did nothing.
I bothers me so much that he not only ruined his relationship with his best friend forever, but he also ruined his best friend's life for a very long time.
He's continually set people up for failure and manipulated his surroundings. One of the most disturbing flashbacks from when he was a kid was when he let a little girl drink alcohol to pacify her and manipulate her into being docile and then he maliciously broke her toy - look I'm no psycologist but that screams psycopath to me.
He constantly hurts people around him and he should NOT be the romantic lead. Or at least, he's not a good rolemodel for what a romantic lead should be. The kindest thing he ever did in the entire show was to break up with Seol.
Baek In Ho
He is the second male lead and the most wonderful guy to ever exist. He's warm, kind, genuinley a good person, he's super handsome and honest. It eludes me why he isn't the 1st male lead. It genuinely astonishes me that he isn't treated better. Now, I like a punky lookin' dude with angsty problems, but it's kind of ONLY suffering for him. I feel so sorry for him that I cry almost every episode. And the real question is; why isn't this story about him?? He clearly has the most interesting backstory, certainly main protagonist-worthy.
Fuck Seol and her school problems and crush on a psycopath. I want a good happy-ever after for my boy Baek In Ho. He's so perfect, bless actor Seo Kang Joon who played him with such sensibility! My heart was stolen by him and I am just 100% watching this JUST to see if Baek In Ho will ever have a happily ever after.
Yoo Jung's dad
I will refer to him as ajusshi from now on. Yoo Jung's dad is as much of a psycopath as Yoo Jung. He's just better at hiding it. He pretty much raised the Baek siblings since their teens, them being orphans were thrilled their best friend's dad wanted them to be his kids. Turns out he never loved them at all and just used them as tools to "normalize" his son's behavior. As opposed to say, actually TALKING to his son about good moral behavior. No, he's leaving it up to a pair of grief-stricken orphans to raise his kid for him!
Again people: HE USED ORPHANS FOR HIS OWN SELFISH MEANS!!
Meanwhile he's pretending he wanted to take them in because he cared about their father as a friend. The notion that he ever cared is superficial at best. When In Ha (Baek In Ho's sister) is publicly humiliated, courtesy of Yoo Jung) he treats her less like a daughter and more like some trash in the streets.
Yes she is loud and obnoxious, but to humiliate someone like that is beyond me, and allow it to happen in front of your eyes with less consideration than a stranger when you were supposed to adopt them is unspeakably cruel.
Him telling both In Ha and In Ho at separate occations that their usefulness has reached an end and that he wants nothing more to do with them is heartbreaking.
Seol
This is supposed to be the main character, but honesly her story isn't that engaging as the people around her. She's not nearly as good a character as I thought she'd be. Yes she tells Yoo Jung off for his psycopathic behavior at first, but as soon as she turns her back he goes and does despicable things anyway - but then half way through the drama she kind of just gives up??
When Yoo Jung sets his overbearing clasmate up for failure at an interview for a job (as retaliation for pestering Seol) she hugs him and says it's ok. Like, what?? It was this kind of behavior that made her break up with him in the first place. But because it happened to someone else it's "ok"??
No to mention that his manipulations in the past led to her being stalked by a guy. And she is mad at him to the point that she puts their relationship on a break. But then eventually forgives him. I'm sorry but being stalked by a guy isn't something a woman should forgive, actually if you meet a guy who had another guy stalk you for ANY REASON, run far, far away! It's not up to him who approaches you, that's a matter that is only up to you. So, for Seol to take him back like that was really disappointing, especially since she seemed to have more moxy in the first episodes.
What really gets me though is as soon as she's back with Yoo Jung she avoids Baek In Ho (who is by now her loyal friend) - like they can't even be friends just because her boyfriend (who should have no say in the matter after the things he's done) disapproves. The look on In Ho's face when he overhears Seol say "I won't spend ANY time with him outside of studying" is frankly soul-shattering, and at that moment I was so angry and disappointed. Why can't she hang out with Baek In Ho as friends just because her boyfriend is a jealous asshole? So yeah, Seol -our supposed heroine has some problems of her own.
Baek In Ha
In Ho's sister may be vapid, inconsiderate and a drama-queen, but she's not evil. She's been treated with as much disrespect as her brother by the foul Yoo Jung and his asshole father.
All she wanted was to be ajusshi's daughter, to have a family (and yeah brag about being rich and spending money) but who doesn't, lol. She's a bit rash and her emotions tend to run hot like her brother's, but she could probably be easily directed in the right path if she had someone with a firm hand to show her he really cares, like say ajusshi. So it breaks my heart that ajusshi just used her like that and he was the one who treated her the worst. He even had her committed into an insane asylum for crying out loud!! My heart breaks for the Baek siblings. They continually face injustice and I just can't..
Summary:
My final thoughts on Cheese In The Trap are that Yoo Jung the first male lead treats Seol the first female lead like shit and she's in love with him for it??
This one is a hard abusive relationship warning!
Main romantic lead is a stalker and a psycopath and possibly a sadist and I just don't get why someone would choose him over a passionate friendly guy (like Baek In Ho) who would treat you well and respect you and love you sincerely. Seriously? What is up with that??
The ONLY reason to watch this drama is because Seo Kang Joon's performance as Baek In Ho is F A N T A S T I C <3 - honestly he's the only reason to watch this show! His character is amazing! In Ho is unfailingly kind, so freaking gorgeous, has this deeply intriguing backstory and I would have been so much happier if this entire story was just a Baek In Ho revenge story of how he got his hand back to playing piano and his road to success.
I mean, I'll give Cheese In The Trap that it at least wasn't boring. But to put a psycopath as a romantic lead is so wrong on so many levels, and then have the girl he's pursuing constantly be hurt physically or emotionally over him is a very damaging depiction of a romantic relationship.
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