Cheese in the Trap

When I first came across the drama I thought, that the plot sounded interesting and that I should watch it asap. And then I read some reviews, many about how the ending wasn't great. And as I'm a sucker for happy endings, I didn't watch the drama right away. It took me some time, but after watching some other dramas I kept coming back to this one and I finally started watching.

And what should I say? I really really really liked it! And I think that the ending is perfect as it is because it fits the drama AND leaves the possibility for a sequel (I would really love that).

I liked the cast and characters, although the character of Hong Seol could have been a little braver and have more confidence (I know it's based on the webtoon and that's how she is). And Lee Sung Kyung showed her acting skills by being the ultimate crazy bitch - damn annoying but really hilarious at times.

So overall it was a pleasant drama with the right wrap up in the end. I would really like a sequel!

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Messy ending, but characters are intriguing

So yep, I really don't think this drama should be thought of a romance. But if we do see it that way, then yep — SECOND LEAD SYNDROME IS REAL. I've always been a bigger fan of the playful, comfortable, easy-to-talk relationship and how comfortable Baek Inho and Seol were with each other and how she made her laugh and how he actually had such good advice about how to live life...I LOVE him to death.

Everyone who says that the ending of this drama is a mess...they're pretty much right, but if we DON'T think of the drama as a romance, I actually loved all the characters on their own:

Yoo Jung: I've always wanted to see a main lead like Yoo Jung — cunning, resourceful, with a thirst for justice and yet he goes about it in the coldest, cruelest way. Slytherin to the core. Loved it, and honestly the end of the drama felt more about his way of thinking than anything else.

Seol: So relatable in how endlessly hardworking she was and I loved how chill she could be with her friends. It was frustrating to see who she had to deal with, but I felt like the ending scene with her in the office and seeing colleagues who mirrored her college classmates...it tied everything up nicely.

Baek Inho: I've already said I loved him and he's one of my fave character archetypes — the estranged bad boy with a temper who goes WAY soft for the girl. His character was way complex and the backstory was heartbreaking, and there was so much tension between all his emotional turmoil vs. the emotions he wore on his sleeve.

Baek Inha: If I knew someone like this in real life, I'd be endlessly frustrated with them and hate them, but in this drama she was both annoying and hilarious. I can't help but feel like her character development was way out-of-the-blue and she got the short end of the stick with how crazy the drama's plot went, but ultimately she was still interesting.

Bora + Euntaek: Loved them. I wish they got a little more screentime but they gave me the friends-to-lovers that I always crave.

With that being said, the plot definitely went crazy, but since I watched this years after it aired, I was mentally prepared for it and it turned out to not be as bad as I expected. As a romance, it was problematic because I don't think the leads were good for one another, even from the very start, but if we're looking at the characters individually, I felt like this drama had a lot there.

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For anyone who reads this know that I haven't read the webcomic so I'm just judging on what I saw in the show. I had high expectations for this drama because of its cast and attractive synopsis, which I think was detrimental to it in the end. I thought the story was alright although I could not at any point feel any attachment for the male lead, he wasn't relatable, borderline sociopathic and downright unlikeable in my opinion. Although I also get that he was written this way, as a kind of creepy persona that you get to know a little bit more with each episode, but his personality did not redeem itself at any point to me. I really liked Heong Sol, a polar opposite from her love interest, which is another thing, I did not feel any chemistry between those two. I had strong second lead syndrom with this one, Baek In Ho's personality and backstory is what made me hang on to this drama. Storywise, his was the most interesting and his bond with his sister, although she was very unlikeable, touched me. He also had a lot of chemistry with the female lead, which really frustrated me. Aesthetic wise the show is very pleasant, the soundtrack is fitting and the characters, although their unlikeable factor do change from other dramas standard characters which was refreshing. The drama also deals with relatable issues for students and the constant pressure in an ever moving world to be successul in life, I found the message important to depict, so I still liked this dimension of the show.  I might go back to this drama, because the characters' complexity did stand out, and I could see myself wanting to look more into Yoo Jung, see if I can see what some people might have seen in him.

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Everyone should watch it at least once tbh

This drama isn’t exactly the greatest drama but it’s not the worst. This tends to happen a lot with kdramas that were webtoons before. The story tend to be pretty repetitive, predictable and even cringy at times. Back when this drama came out, it was REALLY popular. I had just started to watch kdramas and this one was EVERY where. I ended up watching it in later 2016/early 2017 and it was fine. It’s never been one of my favorite but it’s not terrible. There are moments that I loved and moments that I hated. There were characters I hated too (*cough* the male lead *cough*) but it was still a pretty good show. Honestly, I’ve always said that this was one of those essential dramas ppl should check out when you first get into kdramas. I just feel like it’s essential viewing, kinda like Weightlifting Fairy KBJ and Strong Woman DBS. Either you’re gonna really love them or be like “eh…at least I watched it.”

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Mixed Feelings

I have watched a lot of dramas over my life time, and Cheese In the Trap was the most... peculiar one yet.
To this day, I do not completely understand the ending or completely satisfied with the ending either because there was MAJOR second-lead syndrome through the drama. If you ask all of the viewers of this drama, at least 70% will agree that the second lead, Seo Kang-joon was DEFINITELY better for the main female lead, Kim Go-eun.
Putting that aside, the story overall was cute, sometimes a little confusing on what the main male lead is thinking about and to this day, I am still having second-thoughts on whether or not the main male lead, Park Hae-jin, really liked Kim Go-eun :\\\ But the cute awkward moments between them were adorable and the moments when Park Hae-jin and Kang-joon would protect Kim Go-eun were the classic "damsel in distress", but still made my heart flutter <3 :))
After Park Hae-jin and Kim Go-eun broke up and went their separate ways, it kind of left me at a loss. When the drama ended, I never completely understood what REALLY happened and what the read messages at the end really meant. But... oh well.
I did like how Seo Kang-joon and his sister, Lee Sung-kyung, came together and Kang-joon was able to make his dreams come true of playing the piano.
The first part was very mysterious and it pulled me in on who each of these characters are, especially Park Hae-jin. Then during the last part of the drama, it kind of... dragged? I could say? I don't know for sure.
What I DO know for sure is that: SEO KANG-JOON DESERVED KIM GO-EUN!!! I realllyyyy wanted them to be together because they are PERFECT for each other, but I guess Park Hae-jin's okay :\\\
I did rewatch this drama multiple times since the plot wasn't very memorable and I wasn't able to remember every single plot line.
OVERALL: I would recommend the dramas to only specific people, but to the ones who want a sturdy plot, I think it's best to stay away from this drama, or just watch quick clips of it :)

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Did not enjoy and would not re-watch. It's iconic so perhaps worth the watch for that

7.5/10 is my rating. This is 2016 South Korean TV series with
16, 60 minute, episodes. Hong Seol (Kim Go Eun) is a university student who wants to make it through college with as little drama as possible. That all changes when she notices that her Sunbae, senior, Yoo Jung (Park Hae-Jin) does things that are psychotic in nature. Those around her do not see it and she seems to be alone in noticing his dark actions. Ironically the fact that Hong Seol can see through him causes Yoo Jung to be strangely attracted to her. Yoo Jung is wealthy and used to those around him using him for his money.

spoiler 🚨 I liked elements of this. I found the side romances a lot cuter than the main one. I like the friendships a lot. Now it’s a bit of a spoiler. I found it hard to believe with him as cold and vindictive as he could be that someone with a personality that started out as sweet as Seol would find him attractive. The things he did would fall under a sociopath. I think they were trying to sell that someone with those attributes could change. I really liked the second guy. At first I thought I would be disappointed that she didn’t end up with him but in the long run I decided she changed so much that she became a lot like the main male lead. I understood that he’d been hurt by those closest to him as a child but still could not excuse things like watching as his essentially younger brother was beat up and his hand injured. I know he said some things that weren’t exactly nice but kids say things like that sometimes. And I was really shocked later on when he would do things to get back at somebody that was way beyond what they had actually deserved and Seol seemed OK with it. And after all of that for it to end not really knowing for sure if he ever came back into her life felt like a real waste of time. I mainly just felt sorry for the siblings and the way that they were used and the fact that the father never really loved them as children but was simply using them as playmates for his son. It was a very twisted story way too much for me to like it very much. I probably rate this a lot lower than some others because I’m not super sympathetic with people that treat other people poorly so I couldn’t feel sympathy for some of the characters like I think they expected and that lessened my enjoyment a lot. I also got to where I did not like Seol a lot anymore because the way that she changed and became very cold towards the people in her life was very off putting to me it was almost as if they wanted you to believe she had become a sociopath herself. This is not one I would watch again nor recommend.

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I was really excited to watch this drama after watching some of the romantic scenes. I grew very excited and finished the drama in two days! But I was very disappointed with the ending... I'm really sorry to say, but it could have been better. I thought that the drama was good and all, but that ending really hit my heart and made me mad, and my heart was crushed.... Overall, the beginning of the drama + the romantic lovey dovey scenes were perfect, (I totally fangirled over every scene) but I really hated the ending. Right now I'm very sad...... I had such high hopes for this drama...

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I watched this show because I’ve become a pretty big fan of both Kim Go Eun and Nam Joo Hyuk and they’re both in this show. I had really high hopes for this one since I’ve had a good running streak of really great Korean dramas set in college. I really enjoyed Weightlifting Fairy, Kim Bok Joo and so I was riding that high when I started this one.

So this show follows our main female lead, Hong Seol. She’s a struggling college student that is trying her best to stay afloat. She’s working, she’s studying, and she’s trying to figure out how she’s going to pay for next year’s tuition because she doesn’t have a lot of parental support. Plus, her family isn’t well off and whatever money they have was used to send her younger brother abroad to study in the states. So yeah, Seol’s on her own. She doesn’t have a lot of free time but the free time that she does have, she spends with her two best friends. When she meets Yoo Jung, a rich guy that all the girls love, Seol isn’t that interested. They have nothing in common and she keeps catching him doing weird things. Things that she’s not a fan of and because of that, she tries to steer clear of him…but he keeps showing up wherever she is, and…he’s interested in her. Getting to know him wasn’t in her plans but because they keep bumping into each other, she gives him a chance.

This show started off really strong. The main character, Hong Seol did a great job of hooking me into what she had going on. Between her and her two best friends, I was really rooting for this show to be a huge success and it almost was. The lengths that the hero went to get shit done was low-key a turn-off. He had a God complex that didn’t sit right with me throughout the entire show and even in the end, I wanted to knee him in the balls because ugh. There are only so many times that I can forgive someone for doing some creepy shit and letting it slide. Even after understanding the way that he thought and the way that he was, I still didn’t like it. Or him for that matter. I was much more invested in Hong Seol’s relationship with Baek In Ho (the second lead) and that almost never happens. I’m usually a stickler for the main couple no matter how much I like the second lead but this is the first show where that wasn’t the case.

I wanted to like this show because of Kim Eun Go and Nam Joo Hyuk but even with that strong start, the middle and the ending didn’t do anything for me and that bummed me out.

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OMG... But not in a good way

First of all, this is solely my opinion and I do not judge anyone who liked it.

Personally, for me, Cheese in the trap gives off the same vibes as Nevertheless. (But not as steamy as Nevertheless, if you know what I mean ;) )

Same moody, angry-ish, scary-ish ML, but IMHO unlike Park Jae Eon (Song Kang's character in Nevertheless), Yoo Jung really is a manipulative and very scary character, who only got interested in Hong Seol just because he thought she was like him. He is mostly emotionless, cold and brutal.
Even though Hong Seol is a pretty good character, who developed throughout the series, I still think that her choice of staying with Yoo Jung was just plain stupid.

Baek In Ho (SKJ) - I admit, I suffer from SML syndrome, but choosing Yoo Jung instead of Baek In Ho was worse than in True Beauty (I mean Hwang In Youp <3 lord have mercy).

Most of the characters in this drama are just trash
Hong Jin Tak (Hong Seol's dad) - incompetent, arrogant, childish, abusive
Kim Yeong Hee (Hong Seol's mom) - just meh... putting all her worries on her daughter, without giving it a second thought. She didn't even new her daughter's friend's number to call them. All they cared about was the younger brother.
Hong Joon (Song Seol's brother) - well.... not too bad.

But the worst of them all - Baek In Ha. Just her name makes me cringe, I mean she takes the cake, of all the K-dramas that I have watched, THIS is the most horrific character of them all and no disrespect to Lee Sung Kyung, her acting skills are improving from one dorama to another.

THE ONLY light in this horrible group of people is Kwon Eun Taek (Nam Joo Hyuk) - Lovable, goofy, caring, sweet, charming, friendly, loyal... all the good qualities that a person could have <3


Overall, I gave the score of 3, even though the plot is kind of interesting throughout the whole drama, they just killed it and made it just trash... again, IMHO <3

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Cheese In The Trap was a drama I was looking forward to since reading the webtoon but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. The story was good if it wasn't for the ugly way it unfolded. There was no chemistry between the main characters and what? They expected me to ship Seol and Jung. Come on! Or is it okay to be with someone who makes you smile and/or happy once in a blue moon. Thanks but no thanks. Plus, was shipping these two the main idea of the story? I hope not.

I really liked the cast but the screenwriters ruined the main characters and I couldn't even catch a glimpse of the webtoon's Seol and Jung. It got on my nerves but differently than all the people I've seen so far I don't blame the actors. (Yes, some people blame the actors for reading their lines!) After all they just portray what's given to them.

I love piano. Say whatever you want but those parts didn't bother me at all. On the contrary, Baek In Ho was a nice character that I really enjoyed watching. I hardly ever jump on ships by the way, but I jumped on this one. I would have liked this ship to sail simply to have something different once in a while, not always the usual fighting-hating-blindy in love thing.

After losing my interest completely because in my opinion not even Baek In Ho could have saved this drama (or could he?) I dropped it and haven't seen a drama since because it put me in a slump. So annoyed!

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