The Color of a Woman (2011)

If I had to describe this drama in one word I would use DISAPPOINTING. I watched the first four episodes, and became absolutely hooked. I thought Byun So Ra, and Yoon Joon Soo's romantic backstory was hilarious. I liked how Hwang Jin Joo, and Kang Chan Jin completed the dramas love square. The show was a lot of fun in the beginning, but it suddenly lost all of it's charm.

The main issue? There was zero romantic chemistry between any of the four lead characters. There seemed to be lots of sexual tension in the earlier episodes, but once it was time for more romantic scenes, they just fell flat. I understand that Yoon So Yi & Jae Hee were both playing socially awkward characters, but that doesn't mean that their relationship should come across as stiff. Yoon So Yi never showed any emotion, and it's hard to root for a emotionally repressed romantic lead. Jae Hee relied too much on making cute Johnny Depp-like faces, which often made me not take him seriously.

The rivals were often more interesting than the main leads. Lee Soo Kyung did a good job of playing a competitive rival, but I still never felt like she had any genuine feelings, just a bruised ego. She did play selfish perfectly, and I hated her character because of it. Shim Ji Ho was the only cast member who made me feel anything close to real emotion. I fell for the longing looks Kang Chan Jin would give to So-Ra. I wanted him to win the girl simply because he was the best actor of the bunch. Sometimes it felt like he was in a romantic drama all by himself. He definitely held the romantic part of the story together.

I think this drama didn't know how to find the right balance between romantic comedy, and office drama. The workers at L'aura were fun to watch, but they eventually took up way too much focus. I soon felt like I was watching the Korean version of "Ugly Betty". Jun Soo Kyung role was so cliché, and her scheming soon took over the whole show. All the romance was soon reduced to misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and stubborn characters making frustrating choices. The only redeeming original moments were with Park Sang Myun. I loved the randomness of his all knowing character. All the rest has been done before, and much better.

I reserved the highest marks for the music. No matter how bored I became, the music started to become a pep talk that kept me watching. I wish I could blame it all on waiting for translated subs, but If I had watched it marathon style I would have been tempted to skip through a lot of it. I might rewatch some of the cute earlier scenes again, but I wouldn't ever make it through all 20 episodes again.

My main goal for even finishing this was to see who So-Ra ends up with. The end is anticlimactic, and it fails at giving the grand romantic conclusion it was aiming for. I'd recommend asking someone, if you're curious, rather than sitting through the frustrating last two episodes. Then again, I would recommend skipping the whole thing.

This review is long, I know, but after sticking with this drama for so long I had to vent! : )

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Honestly, I really liked the first several episodes of this show. I thought Jae Hee was seriously cute, and even though the chemistry between him and Yoon So Yi wasn't that great, it was fun to watch him and his ridiculously adorable smile. Not to mention Shim Ji Ho is just amazingly good looking! But then the jealousy just got out of control and the situations between the characters became more and more implausible. It got to the point where it became painful to watch! I will admit, I mostly pressed fast forward through the last 5 or 6 episodes, just cause I wanted to know who Byun So Ra chose in the end. So as not to get spoilery, I will just say that the ending was so contrived and forced. By episode 20, it was really difficult to care about any of the characters at all. Throughout, Shim Ji Ho is the only thing that made this drama even kind of watchable!

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