Frankly Speaking

Why I Finished Frankly Speaking in One Day

I finished Frankly Speaking in one day — that’s how addictive it was! It’s definitely a good watch. Although some parts could be improved, I really enjoyed the story, acting, and overall vibe.

The acting was great! Go Kyung-pyo was so cute in his role, and Kang Han-na was actually the reason I watched this drama — I like her a lot. Their chemistry felt natural and sweet. I especially loved how two total strangers, both just average people, slowly fell in love. It’s refreshing that it wasn’t the usual “rich CEO and poor girl” story. Instead, it focused on real people trying to succeed in their jobs.

The drama also showed the struggles of working life, including bullying in the workplace, which made me think about what it might be like when I work in the future. I really admired how the male lead tried to recover after failing as an announcer. The love line between the main characters was so beautiful and heartwarming.

I also learned a lot about how Korean variety shows work — especially how important the scriptwriters are, and how viewer ratings affect everything. This was my first K-drama after switching to Chinese dramas, and I honestly loved the acting and the chemistry here.

If the drama had 16 episodes, I think it would’ve been even better. I wish we got more about the side characters too, like the male lead’s father — he was really cute! And I think the male lead’s mother was played by the same actress who appeared in Squid Game Season 2? I remembered her face.

I also wanted to see what happened to the villain in the end — they didn’t really show that clearly. And the second male lead reminded me of my idol. There was one scene where he refused to take a photo with fans, and they treated him so badly. It was sad but very realistic, especially the part where he had to take the photo at the hospital.

The cinematography was beautiful, with a lot of fresh, summer-like scenes. It gave the drama a light and warm feeling. Overall, Frankly Speaking was fun, fresh, and touching. It just needed a little improvement, but it’s still a wonderful drama that I really enjoyed.

☀️ This drama feels like summer — light, honest, and heartwarming. Loved it!

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CHAOS, COMEDY AND LOVE

Frankly Speaking kept me immersed in a whirlwind of emotions and unexpected twists. The story revolves around Ki Baek, a news announcer from a seemingly wealthy background, who suddenly finds himself trending for the wrong reasons after a bizarre on-air incident. His life takes a wild turn when, after an accident, he begins blurting out his thoughts uncontrollably, leading to some hilarious, yet chaotic moments. I loved the premise—it was refreshing to see a protagonist struggle with the inability to lie, especially in a world where everyone constantly puts on a façade.


One of the highlights was the dynamic between Song Ki Baek and On Woo Ju, a variety show writer who initially tries to use Ki Baek’s newfound fame for her own show, only to develop a genuine connection with him. Their budding camaraderie, and later romance, added a heartfelt layer to the chaos surrounding Ki Baek’s life.


I appreciated how the drama tackled deeper issues beneath the comedic exterior—Ki Baek’s real financial struggles and the pressure to maintain an image at work resonated deeply. The drama revealed that beneath his polished surface, Ki Baek was just as vulnerable and flawed as anyone else, which made his journey all the more compelling.

The supporting cast was a mixed bag for me. Characters like Jeong-heon, Ki Baek’s high school friend turned rival, added tension, especially with their unresolved issues from the past. On the other hand, Min Cho Hui’s manipulative behavior and constant need for attention grated on my nerves. Her emotional blackmail tactics toward Ki Baek were frustrating, but I was relieved when he finally set boundaries.


I won’t lie—there were moments when the story’s direction left me confused, especially with the constant back-and-forth between characters’ motivations. However, it all came together toward the end, especially with Ki Baek’s unexpected recovery from his disinhibition, which was a bit of a head-scratcher but ultimately served to show his growth.



The ending was sweet, though somewhat predictable. The romance between Ki Baek and Woo Ju felt satisfying, especially with that final proposal on stage. It was a full-circle moment, considering how much they’d been through together.


Overall, Frankly Speaking was an enjoyable ride with its mix of comedy, drama, and heartfelt moments. Although it had a few pacing issues and underdeveloped subplots, the main storyline kept me engaged. It’s definitely worth a watch if you enjoy quirky dramas with a unique premise and character growth.

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Overall, it's a "good" watch. 

The drama started strong!

The first few episodes hooked me with their (insert specific elements you enjoyed, e.g., captivating plot, engaging characters). However, the momentum slowed in the middle. While the plot remained watchable ("not bad" might be a bit dismissive), it didn't hold the same spark. The final episodes continued this downward trend, leaving me wanting more (or feeling a little let down).

Overall, it's a "good" watch. While the ending wasn't the strongest, the initial pull and the decent middle section make it worthwhile. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate it a 7.

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Messy writing, started good and gets worse the more you watch

What happened here????? I'm so baffled by this drama, how it managed to destroy or not develop properly anything that it started, everything is introduced and dropped. This drama was either a writing exercise using a dart board with random words and they hit some random ones and had to connect them in the story somehow or a "pass the story" game the writer had with their family one Saturday evening after a couple of drinks where each person was trying to add any absurdity to the plot they could.
If you read the premise of this show above please just completely ignore it because that's just about the beginning of it and it's dropped very quickly.

At the start I thought it was interesting as a concept, not necessarily new but I welcomed to see what they would do with it. Clearly they didn't know what to do with it. After a couple of episodes with more comedy (although some quite juvenile for my liking), they completely dropped it and moved to the couple dating show. At this point I already started wondering what was the point of it. ML's issue is put to the background so quickly and at times even forgotten. At points there were some better moments but many others I started feeling I was watching paint dry.
What was the point of the time jump after the dating show? I really don't know. I don't like when I'm invested in a story, or trying to be like in this case, and there is an unjustifiable time jump, doesn't matter how small. It felt very "ok that's done now, let's do something else". But the "something else" they do it's just going in circles achieving nothing. The romance falls short, the friendship between ML and SML falls short and it's never explored in depth other than showing some past disagreement. Everything is pretty much left half baked and you keep watching hoping something comes that makes you change your mind, but then it slowly creeps into melodrama territory with the adopted trope and the bio mother appearing (what was the point again? it doesn't add anything to the story or personality of FL) and then proceeds to do what happens at the end of episode 9, what was the cherry on top and by that point I was simply done with it. Then somehow not only they managed to introduce even more melodrama with the father getting scammed and then having an out of the blue action bit at the end with him and the three sons but also somehow they tried to evolve a bit the story of FL's mother last minute mentioning the engagement but actually nothing happens? And then to top it all off we have 15 minutes at the end with a children's play with a similar plot to the original premise of this show with flashbacks I don't need to see because I've already seen them.

Why are there so many characters? Somehow there are so many but they make me care about none. FL at times felt like background character because she was so plain I just didn't see the point. Her whole personality was just trying to write the next show and not much else. As I already said introducing the bio mother was cliché and boring, but also very annoying that once again they're trying to excuse or forgive abandonment. I have seen only a few dramas where this is tackled in a more realistic and correct way. Most times it's just forgiven because "blood" and it's a trope I highly despise. In this case while there wasn't complete forgiveness it wasn't really tackled in any engaging way, it's not even discussed why. It was very pointless.
ML had personality and there is more in-depth to his character but his issue as mentioned previously was massively underutilized and we're only told about his thought process as an afterthought, like for example when at the end he decides he doesn't want to do news anymore. We were not taken for the ride of his development, we're just told later. At this point I do have to mention Go Kyung Pyo's acting because I've seen him in other stuff and I liked him but here I just don't know what they were going for. I say "they" because I can imagine that's what the director wanted but the moments when he couldn't lie were bad, and he would just become an expressionless statue. Only when he would have an outburst he would be more human. So he spent most of the drama being a robot and it wasn't engaging, nor funny or entertaining, it was just awkward. The "issue" shouldn't even have been there anyway as mentioned previously because it was only used in the beginning.
About the SML, who cares? I just couldn't care about his character. He was introduced as the second love interest to make the cliché love triangle but after, why follow his story further? Sure, they do tackle some issues with his character but it all felt very superficial and the outcome is not fireworks worthy to spend that much screen time on him.
Secondary characters on the FL side are a big what's the point? and on ML side are plain annoying. FL's friend with the kid only there in the beginning to make you think the kid is FL's and then after she's just there so she can be the love interest of ML's brother. The kid is only there for the same reason, and I still don't understand the point of his "power", not explored, you don't even know if real and overall added nothing to the mess.
ML's parents had an interesting background and story with their struggles but even at the end I didn't feel like there was much consideration to the fact ML had been used for a long time and their parents took it for granted and they spoiled the two younger ones big time. They're trying to sell me at the end because of the pity party that was the accident that they're great parents but they're not? And it has everything to do with their attitude and nothing else.
ML's brothers were pretty awful spoiled people and again, they try make them better by the end but I felt nothing, nor did the "romance" of the middle one with FL's friend. No chemistry and I feel bad for her since he gives the vibes of man-baby.
Talking about chemistry, the one of the main leads is not quite there either. At some points I thought they were cute together but most of the time I felt nothing. I did like at points their romance was a bit more mature and straightforward but overall even though it's one of the supposed main plot points of the show it felt background many times.

Personally I can't recommend. I know already when I start skipping scenes that this is not going to be a pass for me and in this case I used it so much especially in the last two episodes. It's a complete mess writing wise and I can't think of any element that would justify wasting the time since everything else like music, characters... are either just passable or mediocre.

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Run away, run away

Yet another mental health educational video masquerading as a romcom in the same vein as Doctor Slump and Daily Dose of Sunshine, which were also terrible. The two leads and main love interests have no discernable chemistry. The plot was all over the place before settling in to its preachy mental health message. As if that weren't enough, the producers even had the temerity to finish the drama with an allegory in the form of a children's play so that even a 5-year-old could get the message. (I wish I were joking.) This one was as bad as the other two. Hopefully , this is the last of them. Skip.

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Anti-Climax

It started well, it was fun and engaging and it had a good starting point.
The main problem I believe is the storytelling. The notion of show not tell is completely lost on this K-drama. The last episode, with the children's play, is a true representation of that. They show us the story we just watched and include the story we just watched again. It's like saying the audience isn't smart enough to take a hint.

A lot of the plot points were too forced. Everything was conveniently placed or things conveniently happened, like FL having to enter the dating show. I didn't mind that if it continued to be fun but it wasn't.

There seemed to be no romance outside of the love triangle. Once the love triangle stopped, the romance turned into a friendship.

The most important part was the emphasis on mental health and the importance of being honest with oneself.
I believe it was mostly a story about how harmful stoicism is and its implications for our mental health and our relationships with ourselves and the ones around us. So, don't bottle it up and don't go through hardships alone. We can be trees but we're also a forest.

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The multiverse concept has gotten out of hand

The story starts as a slapstick comedy then turns in to a dating show soap opera and then a slice-of-life melodrama before a spin through a family healing journey and wraps up as everyone gets a happy ending fairy tale.

It would have worked better, more coherently, if it actually was a multiverse vehicle and every time it switched to a new parallel dimension, there were some Star Wars lightspeed cgi effects and some electronic beeps and bloops and throw in an alien or a dinosaur and switch up the background from Korea to a space station or a ancient wizard fortress so it's transparent that the show has switched modes.

Seriously.

Go Kyung Po and Kang Han Na can be effortlessly funny and thrive on energy and chaos. Just see Go Kyung Po's guest spot in episode 1 of "D.P." and Kang Han Na's tour de force in "My Roommate is a Gumiho". But they spend eighty percent of this misguided mess being angtsy and mopey. It's inexplicably bad design by the writer. And unforgivably poor execution by the director.

There's a long list of talented supporting cast members too and, given moments, they bring a bit of a pulse to the action, but it's all recycled, aimless storylines.

[beep beep boop whoosh] Punch it, Chewie. Maybe there's better dramas on the other side of this jump through hyperspace...

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Drama which could've been way better

So, when this drama was first announced, I was pretty excited because it had one of my fav actress, Kang Han-na.
When the first episode aired, I had high hoped from this drama. The idea felt new and the pairing also felt fresh.
But as we ventured into the second half, it became evidently clear that the writer had no clue of how to proceed with this drama. Some of the things that made this drama interesting were gradually faded out in an effort to make it more "romantic".

1. The idea of a person suddenly developing ability to speak truth is a already used in Hollywood, but I guess this was pretty fresh in Kdrama universe. So, yeah the plot appeared to be nice.

2. But this was the only good thing about that plot. Halfway through it felt like the writes have altogether forgotten that they have a ML who is incapable of telling lies because in no shape or form he looked "very uncomfortable".
This lying thing could've been churned more to induce more laughter. But after 2 or 3 episodes, that laughter vanished. It went from a romcom to a seriously romantic drama.

3. Another interesting thing about this drama was that fictional variety program. It made mid episodes very interesting. But this barely went for 4 episodes and then we were slapped back to slice-of-life romance. This thing should've been explore mode and perhaps should've been central plot along with lying thing.

4. Second Male Lead was a pretty boring character and there was no "strong antagonist". While I am love dramas where there are no villains, but the thing about this drama was that they introduced a vamp kind of SFL and she just disappeared after 4 episodes. It was a pretty dumb move. If you are introducing a villainous character, make it a stronger one.

5. Drama is 12 episode long which felt way too less for the story to fully develop and end satisfactorily. This is ongoing problem in kdrama. Drama that require 12 episodes are being somehow stretched into 16 and dramas that deserved to be long are cut short.
This same problem was with NKM starrer The Veil.

6. The cast was good. As said, I'm fan of Kang Hanna. I found her very cute and charming in this drama. ML was also fine but need some polishing.

Overall, this drama isn't bad, per se. But it could've been so much better. The cast and the audience is let down by some seriously ridiculous writing.

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I won't lie, it's average!

The concept is fantastic, and the comedy part of the show is great, but I felt, they wanted too much in a short time. The first half of the season was basically all about him and his problem, but after that, I don't know what happened. So many things happened at the same in the last couple of episodes.

Honestly, I loved the story about Kibaek and Woojoo's family, not to mention the story about being a celeb, but the biggest problem with the show is that they didn't really do anything with these important topics. All of these came out of nowhere, and were finished in a second, basically.

The romance was good, the two main lead were good together, but I think they could've done more.

Also, sometimes it was over the top, and cringe, but other than that, it's a good show, with a meaningful message, but I'm a bit disappointed.

It's still worth to watch, tho.

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