Beneficial Fraud (2023)

Better than you think

I've read some of the other reviews and I think some people don't enjoy this show because it's not relatable to them. The story is intricate and well written, a rare combination. And the acting and production do the writing justice. The story is concerned with themes of empathy (or lackthereof), revenge, and ethics. If these themes do not relate to you, you likely won't enjoy this show. If they do, you're in for a good time.

The only complaints I have are: (1) the blatant product placements (it's not too annoying though) and (2) the explanations of the various plots of the characters are sometimes delayed to the detriment of the story. However, do not let this deter you from watching it, I still highly recommend it to anyone interested.

Stories of romance sometimes revel in sentimentality a little too much but this one is an exception.
In the interest of brevity, I'll end my review with this: give it a shot.

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Immensely dull in between

When the series started, it was great... for about 4 episodes. I loved the comedy, the breaking of the fourth wall, the genius straight-faced confident female lead and the idea that it was the male lawyer who was the emotional one was also a great change of pace. I also liked the involvement of the SML cop character. But the story sharply declined after that with nothing happening and everything like I was enjoying about the series had turned into the most dull plot to the point that I kept falling asleep while watching it. There was no chance of me speeding up the show because there was a lot of complicated points being discussed which I would have then missed.

It's only from the 12th episode that the story really picked up again. It was funny again. The breaking of the fourth wall was back and the story was FINALLY moving forward. And even though I loved the last four episodes as well, I was just annoyed the entire time before this because I couldn't recognise the show. I really wanted to see things through and I'm glad I persevered because it has a satisfying ending.

I get that they wanted to build up the story, the suspense and the drama but from episode 5 - 10, it was a struggle. 11 th was good at first and then had a boring second half again. This caused me to avoid watching the drama and I fell back and only when I read that the show finally picked up did I finally binge the remaining 6 episodes. So the team basically is struggling throughout this time and it feels like there is no momentum to the show. I feel like many episodes can even be skipped as you won't miss too much.

This drama would have been better as a 10 - 12 episode series rather than a 16 episode one and then my rating for it would also be far higher but considering how difficult it became for me to continue, 7 is fair on my part.

Some additional points to help you make your decision - I liked the mystery element despite the overcomplicated story; there isn't any romance but there is a some good teamwork and friendships established; the actors did a good job and there was no character that I hated though one of the "kids" was slightly annoying.

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