A drama not bad, but not good either.
This is the kind of drama you watch when you’re bored and undecided of what your next watch should be. The premise of the drama is quite interesting, but the lack of plot really doesn’t help. The characters are cute enough, the romance is adorable, there are a couple of annoying characters as well (I disliked ML’s cousin and the romance with the coach) but other than that there’s really isn’t anything to it. It’s mundane without any depth. The only good take away is the focus on their friendships.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Both of the leads are great hard to miss when they star
This is a 2018 South Korean romantic comedy that has 32, 30 minute, episodes.Yoo Jung-eum (Hwang Jung-eum) was a diving athlete until events in her life caused her to give up the sport. Her friend hires her into her match making agency because Jung-eum was a much better athlete than she is a matchmaker. Kang Hoon-nam (Namkoong Min) seems to be everywhere Jung-dum is and they have a series of encounters. Hoon-nam ghost writes a relationship column and is so successful at helping people groom themselves to be a love interest that he turns his cousin into a player who causes havoc in Jung-eum’s company to the point that she is blamed for her client’s bad behavior and given one last chance to redeem herself by getting dates for a cadre of clients who are deemed undateable. Not having the skill to turn the folks around herself she seeks out the person ghost writing the advice articles that have proven successful. Jung-eum is surprised to siscover the relationship guru is none other than Hoon-nam a man who, based on their earlier not so positive encounters made her agree to never appear in front of him again. Can she convince him to help her? If he helps can they get dates for the Undateables and even find love themselves?
Spoiler 🚨 Jung-eum’s job as a dating consultant or matchmaker is very interesting. I like how sweet yet feisty she is. This is another one where I wish I could split the female lead in two because I liked the second guy a lot. I like all of their friends and the side stories are really cute too. It is funny that the lead guy is supposedly a dating expert yet he has such a hard time figuring out his own relationships.The leads acted this very well as you can see them as a couple and their personalities, in terms of their characters, were very complementary. There was just enough intrigue with a mysterious past that it made you want to discover the whole story. I was surprised I liked this as much as I did. It is very predictable and not very complex but so well acted and overall still entertaining that it is one I would highly recommend.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Sweet
This is a sweet drama.I enjoyed it a lot until ... well, a little bit after the middle, after that it got very boring.
I wish they just dropped it after the main characters got together, because then I would have given it a 10 stars, but they dragged it out for to long after that.
However, I did enjoy the way how the ML was chasing the FL. It was satisfying and fun to watch.
I would recommend this drama, but only until the half way through.
.................................................................
................................................................
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A drama where people deal with their relationship issues with maturity
I'm going to go out and say this right now, I like this drama more than the far more popular "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim" and "Her Private Life", for several reasons.1. Jung Eum as the female protagonist is pretty relatable. She's someone who's just trying to get by at her job; she's not super talented and not super smart. She's been burned by love before, but is willing to open herself up to it again.
2. Every time the main couple ran into an issue with their relationship, they didn't waste time with misunderstandings or lying to each other. Every time I was worried that they were going to follow that stupid trope, I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't happen.
3. The way they resolved the problem of the love rivalry between Joon Soo and Hoon Nam was also very mature. The two men worked it out like two grown adults, resolved their differences, and Joon Soo accepted Jung Eum's choice as well as Hoon Nam's sincerity.
4. The childhood connection backstory wasn't nearly as dramatic as with WWWSK or HPL, nor was it resolved so haphazardly or so corny. One of my major complaints with the aforementioned dramas is the way they chose to resolve those backstory plots. No complaints from me about The Undateables. It was significant, but not overdone, they didn't make a huge deal over their childhood connection.
5. The second female lead was neither super clingy nor a bitch towards the female lead. Both women both made their intentions and feelings clear to each other without being super melodramatic or mean.
6. The Undateables has kept my interest even past episode 12, which is the same point where both WWWSK and HPL both lost their interest for me. I liked each mini-story of the "Undateable" couples, they were very sweet and funny. Maybe it's because I'm single and want meet someone who fits me, but I was really invested in those stories.
I think the main reason why this drama clicked with me where "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim" and "Her Private Life" didn't is because even the characters who are kind of despicable (Hoon Nam's father and cousin) are also somewhat likeable. They feel like real, flawed people. I never got that sense of realism and relatability from WWWSK or HPL, they were almost like watching self-insertion fanfiction.
Was this review helpful to you?
Plot, the plot is where this drama went wrong.
It was a nice and light romance and I really like watching Hoon Nam (Namgoong Min) fall desperately in love with Jang Eum (Hwang Jung Eum). But that was about it unfortunately. I only watched it to the end because of these great leads, I just wish the plot had had more oomph. It seemed to jump all over the place and pick up different plot lines and discard others with no ending (like with Jang Eum's friend Choi Joon-Soo).The ending of the series felt really abrupt and cut short as well.
I probably will not watch this drama again, I'm just still disappointed in the lacklustre plot, just a few tweaks and it could have been amazing. However, if you do like Namgoong Min, I definitely recommend watching this drama just don't expect too much plot wise.
Was this review helpful to you?
Fluff with a Tin Man's Heart
Hwang Jung Eum usually annoys me in the beginning of a drama (too much hysteria and screaming), but she wins me over by the end. Namkoong Min is a favorite; I've enjoyed every one of his performances that I've seen. Put the two together and give them a decent script, and it's a very watchable romcom. I'm surprised by the MDL rating—it seems a point low to me. I'd give that extra star for the philosophies and metaphors sprinkled through out. For a silly romcom, there was a great deal of wisdom involved. And I loved the Toy Museum set.Were there K-drama cliches? Yes, but they were reasonable and easily understood ones, not the silly misunderstandings that take way too long to resolve. There were valid reasons for most of the characters' actions. And, thank goodness, there was no "noble idiocy." Instead, the couple held hands and said they'd get through things together. I can't remember the last time I saw that. Generally, that calls for a trip out of the country and a time skip of five years!
My favorite twisted cliche was when the FL fell, and the ML grabbed her on the steps. She told him to let go, because she had good balance, and he did! She floundered down the steps, but landed triumphantly. And that seems an apt description for this drama: it may have floundered in spots, but it landed well.
Was this review helpful to you?
Unnecessarily draggy
I felt that this show dragged on needlessly. I don't think it's a rule that a certain number of episodes are required, so why not get a good editor and cut all the unnecessary stuff out? Just sayin'. I also found myself rooting for the second male lead, rather than the lead. He was a lovely person, and always wanted what was best for her. The male lead was a little too one-dimensional for me. So many side stories I was having difficulties keeping up with the names, that all sound alike. It was a pretty good show to watch, but I don't feel the need to watch it again, which, to me, is a sign of a show worthy of a 9-10.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Tedious amount of quickly resolved tropes & happy endings. But leads: meh
Short review : The lead female's character is incredibly irritating & U hate the way they have written her. She's a slob unless she's dating & even then they put her in some unappealing outfits. Once she stops being super annoying, the series is better, but then they throw in SO many tropes ! It's mostly a tease though because the parents give in rather easily, the misunderstandings are met pretty much head on & resolved quickly, but just the fact that they threw in a bunch of tropes is tedious. This series was a dud for me because of the lead female character.Long review:
I was going to pass this series up but then gave it a try. I do not like the female lead and the character she plays so I disliked the first 7 episodes. With episode 8 [with the help of a classy outfit for the female lead AND a very swoon worthy kiss] it seemed like the tone of the series was heading in a different direction & finally getting worth watching ,but that happy hope only lasted briefly. By episode 10, I was back to disliking it because they had started to make the male lead act idiotic & mean. a pleasant side character declared that love was nice but playing around was better & the female lead suddenly takes a bath & stops wearing sweats-getting her girly side on when she starts crushing on a guy. Why did I think this would be fun ? I persevered to ep.30 & was just so happy to be done when all seems all wrapped up & we have happy endings for 2 couples. I saw that the last 2 episodes had the cast split up by gender with the men all having trouble understanding thier women & honestly I was happy & done with this series, dunno why they had to spoil it but I was not going to watch those episodes & ruin the few warm fuzzies that I had already.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Friendship & Love
First part so-so, from the 14th episode it became more interesting.However, the plot isn't exactly the best. What did I like about this series? When the main woman lead breaks up with her boyfriend and manages to make him feel some of the suffering she felt. I also liked Namkoong Min's acting, at the beginning of the 25th episode when he prepares the speech for his father-in-law, it's an amazing moment. I follow this actor because he is a great performer.
Some tears around the 22nd episode.
No word for the cousin and his relationships with women, especially with the poor coach. He too, after being left, became a better man and made amends.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good, interesting premise
Things I liked:1 Both leads were great. The actress is one of my favorites and the actor although this is the first series I watch with him was great.
2 I liked the relationship of the heroine with her father.
3 I liked the premise, it was fun and intriguing.
4 Some funny scenes.
Things I disliked:
1 Not enough romantic scenes for me.
2 I don't like romantic triangles and this one was painful for me since I like the actor.
3 I didn't care about the second couple. I didn't think they were interesting characters.
4 The premise was great but I think the execution could be better. The script wasn't up to par with the idea.
Was this review helpful to you?
What a cute drama!
I watched because of the handsome guy Nam Koong Min. Started from 12 Years Promise, The Girl Who Can see Smells, Beautiful Gong Shim and now Undateable. All because of him. He is absolutely gorgeous.Personally, I think this drama is simple, but it has a lot of mixed feelings. And it is a meaningful also. This drama really makes me laugh a lot. It's just I don't really like the ending. Why Choi Tae Koon don't have love partner in this story?
Nice storyline, nice acting. I can see Nam Koong Min has improve when he play the role as a romantic guy compare when he was in 12 Years Promise.
Nam Koong Min has a new fans now and that was me. I really want to see him again in rom-com drama. Oppa! I'll be waiting!
Was this review helpful to you?
NO.
This show is one of the biggest disappointments I have ever watched in my entire life.I'm not even sure how you mess up a concept this easy to make entertaining? But somehow the writer and director managed to do that. The beginning of the show had so much potential and they squandered all of it for absolutely no discernible reason whatsoever.
Despite the bad reviews I decided to go in mostly blind, and I found myself actually enjoying the beginning of the show. I thought it was going to be simple, the two leads work in close proximity to help the FL in her job while the ML gets something he needs from the FL in exchange for helping her. Over time they become closer, they learn more about how their lives intersected and eventually they will fall in love.
Every 2 episodes should be about working on a new task while the leads slowly get closer and work on themselves as well. They both have trauma and issues that are introduced but tells me why nothing seemed to have been worked on the entire show? The writers are in such a hurry to have these two make out that they forgot how to write a STORY. At the time those two people had barely even known anything about each other and you're already having them kiss?
I had to drop it after their second? kiss. I could not physically continue watching. Sometimes you just have to choose happiness before the frustration kills you.
Don't talk to me about these boring a** annoying side characters.
Terrible. I hate it. I might never give a low rated drama a chance again…
Was this review helpful to you?
