The Real Has Come!

Full on telenovela levels of cheesy melodrama

Wow! I can't quite yet believe I made it to the end of the full 50 episodes.

Was this show good? Not really. The acting was subpar, the main couple exuded this overwhelmingly awkward energy every time they had to get close to each other, the sets were cheap-looking and the outfits most characters wore were some of the ugliest clothes I think I've ever seen. On top of that, the writing wasn't very good either. The character's personalities and motivations were inconsistent and the melodrama was so over the top and ridiculous, at times I found myself laughing my 🍑 off during scenes that were meant to be tense and serious.

But, the sheer cringiness and messiness were what made this show addictive and entertaining. It was so bad, in the end, it was kind of good LOL

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What Could Have Been, but wasn't

I want you to imagine a situation where Writer A gets his concept for a series green-lighted by KBS. Except he learns the network wants to stretch his 16-episode concept to a 50 episode weekender. UGH! He can’t handle that! So he reaches out to his college buddy, Writer B. “Bro, I can’t handle 50 eps! How about I do the first half and you take over the 2nd? I’ll pay you as long as we keep my name on the credits?” “Sure, dude, can do! I can use the cash! Just let me know when I should start, bud.”.

And we’re off and running….
Writer A’s first part of the series is fun, clever, and sweet. And so fast-paced that it was praised by all! We watch our leads progress quickly from enemies to friends to almost-lovers. Our leading man is doing great in his comeback role. Even those bitchy fans on MDL are cheering them on! We’ve got co-parenting while bringing in potential love interests, one couple trying to get back to their glory days of youth, and a growing love plot between 2 unlikely characters! The 2FL's plots to break them up all fail hilariously! And a Shaman giving us crazy scenes of the future!

Except the problem is Writer B isn’t paying that much attention to the first half (Writer A’s work) and has his OWN ideas for the 2nd half. So he begins writing his scripts to fit the show's loose outline he’s been given. He follows his own agenda, anyways, plus, he notices some things in the show so far, that need to be addressed:
• KJH actor is a really good-looking guy with high approval rate among women. Need to emphasize him!
• The lead couple has poor chemistry. Need to reduce situations that exacerbate this.
• The lead actress seems increasingly distracted and cold. Need to minimize her lines.
• There are too many secondary couples. Need to minimize some of these characters.

So writer A taps out…either voluntarily or under pressure from KBS seeking a re-vamp; take your pick of conspiracy theories. And here comes Writer B. He looks at the arcs for the characters he's left with and says, “NAH! This doesn’t fit my vision, so I’ll just write out some of these characters, or simply pretend meaningful events in the first half didn’t happen.” This is HIS show now and he’s going to appeal to the fans by making the 2ML a prime character and bringing some DRAMA to this series, because ratings will spike for sure!!! And he’s got about 20 episodes left to go, so he can take his time, and stop all this fast-paced stuff.

And this, my friends is what we are left with. Two completely different shows featuring the same(ish) characters which are grafted onto each other. The first half is GOLD: A bright new series that promised to make us forget the previous 2 weekenders that ended up failing. And it’s a comeback vehicle for both ML & FL. For 30-ish episodes we bask in the fun we’re having here. The second half unfortunately is MANURE. Slow-paced, filled with a conveyor-belt of angst for the leads, who grow increasingly awkward and characters who suddenly disappear. And the new series revolves around the 2ML – he is the catalyst that moves the script.

It’s almost as if the 2nd half was a spinoff of the first half, which would have been OK, if they had actually made it a separate show that we’d have the option to ignore. Also, if the first half had been given a logical conclusion. But no, we got this hodgepodge.

In prior k-dramas, I’ve loved to go back and watch old episodes and relive some past meaningful scenes. We’ve all done it….it’s FUN. But I can’t do that here. Because every time I try to watch something in Episodes 1-30 I get sad and think ‘what could have been”.

That’s the theme of this show: “What could have been”. This could have been a great series that lived up to its hype of resurrecting the weekend family drama. That could have made the most of its strong cast. That could have held us through 50 episodes, from the beginning of Spring thru the end of Summer. That could have kept us laughing and cheering on our leads as they try to keep up their farce of a fake marriage and the pitfalls of continuously lying to their parents.

So, for the new viewers asking if this show is worth watching, be forewarned. You can approach it as a limited edition series and watch from 1-32. But you’ll have to accept the fact that the show is essentially unfinished. 33-49 is basically No Mans Land: DO NOT WATCH. If you wish, you can watch Ep 50 for the finale. But be warned that the FL does not act as you expected her to from the first 20 episodes or so. And that some characters are missing.

But really, there are better options for you. If you’re looking for a romantic series, this ain’t it. And it loses it on the comedy front at Ep 33. Sure, there are some funny moments, but they are awkwardly placed amongst the angst prevalent in the balance of each episode. There really isn’t a niche the entire series fits into, because it’s 2 series back to back.

Finally, there is a reason there are over 17,000 comments here. YLAG, one of the most polarizing weekenders that REALLY pissed off its audience generated 8,800 comments. Think about that for TRHC: Seventeen THOUSAND! Since a high comment counts equals an aggrieved audience, this series 17K can give you an idea of what’s going on with the fans here.

When you clicked on this page, you saw the comment count. It stands as a silent warning: BEWARE TO ALL WHO WATCH THIS.

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The Writers Gave Up

To be honest, I have no clue what happened. I started out very excited and hopeful, but all of that was snuffed out very quickly.


There is so much to be frustrated about in this drama, but the most notable for me personally is being able to physically see the writers giving up.
Based on what I was presented with early on, Yeon Doo’s dedication to her job, Tae Kyung’s absolutely horrid family, etc., I was expecting to see a drama where Yeon Doo tried to stay on top despite being a single mother in the workplace and Tae Kyung to break free from his very toxic family environment. Instead, I got Yeon Doo basically giving up without a fight (until the very end) and Tae Kyung continuing to take his family’s bullshit. The writers began with a very clear view and presentation of the type of person each character was, but they ultimately gave up on portraying them in a way that made sense considering what had already been established.

In all honesty, everything after episode 30 was a fever dream, and it was very frustrating to see.

Characters such as Tae Kyung and Yeon Doo’s mothers faced zero consequences for the horrible things they said and tried to do, ( alienating and demonizing their own children, being horrible people, playing victim) and they both suddenly had changes of heart and decided to become mother of the year overnight ( seriously, I almost got whiplash and I one hundred percent thought it was a ploy to get their trust and try and break them up).

The writers just decided that they were going to ignore any previously established characters traits, flaws, misdeeds and otherwise unforgivable actions or words in order to have a big happy family at the end.

We got Tae Kyung’s father, (who stared him dead in his eyes as he knelt before him crying and begging for him to let him and Yeon Doo stay together, and told him he was a horrible son [for wanting to be happy I guess]), suddenly claiming Yeon Doo as his daughter in law and Ha Neul as his granddaughter.

Grandmother, (who orchestrated much of the mistreatment of Tae Kyung, who routinely referred to Yeon Doo as a thing), was suddenly the poster child for doting grandparents.

All of these family members who had said and done unforgivable things were all of a sudden a big happy family that loved Yeon Doo and Tae Kyung and wanted to see them happy.

This isn’t even mentioning the mishandling of the absolute dumpster fires that were Se Jin and Jun Ha’s storylines. This drama fell so completely and utterly flat because no one thought to see things through. There was much that was left unresolved and much that was skipped over, and the only reason I watched all 50 episodes was out of spite. At least they tried, but I could have written a better drama in my sleep.

(Tae Kyung and Yeon Doo, tired of the mistreatment and abuse, leave, only staying in contact with the sensible family members. - This would have cut the drama in half)

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Chemistry

Great story and great actor's, the only thing that I cept disliking throughout the whole drama is the chemistry between the two Lead actors. The scenes they had separately ware great but when they got together they were more like brother and sister instead of lovers. I really couldn't get into the scene because of it. I cept hoping it would get better after they were acting with each other for a while, but it didn't get any better.

The rest of the cast was amazing I really could get into there scenes.

It is an amazing story, I finished watching it because the story was so well written.

I would love to watch it again when it's refilmed with other leading actors.

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Drearily dull drama

I gave a sigh of relief when finally Ep50 landed on our screen . No more of this family saga of cardboard characters with no backbones and with insipid smiles . I did not like it but wanted to see if it improved with the development of the story but it never did . It dragged on and on . There was no chemistry between the two main characters . Heavens know why they fell in love ! They stand apart and look at each other with languor , or sit side by side in their matching pyjamas pretending to be a couple ! Baek Jin Hee as Yeon-doo spends her time apologising right left and centre to everyone ! False humility becomes sickening . He , as Tae Kyung , lacks not only charisma , but clout and resolve to escape from the control of his family. Only the older characters as mothers and grandmother have a bit of fire in them . As to the villains of the play , they are so unlikable , you can't wait to see the back of them . A waste of time . Not re watchable .

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Writer is misogynistic

I tried to hold myself from calling this writer as such, especially when he wrote one of the best sageuk "The Princess Man" and I am aware he might not has fully control over his writing. But I still need to say what I want.

This drama used most of female characters as his tools, and he wrote them as the most annoying and bad characters in the whole series. But he wrote the male lead as the most greenest character, other male characters while not perfect but not written in the worst ways.

Let's not forget how he made Inok as the "villain" in several ep 🤦 and suddenly resolved it in just simplest way lmao.

The lead actress hard carried this drama but the ones benefiting the most are both male leads - one is loved for playing the greenest character (viewers are easy to be pleased lol) and other one is hated for this role but he also became more popular. Both of them are truly "The Real Has Come".

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Wasted potential

I watched this drama completely and I still don't know how I didn't drop on the way. I think I had faith that the potential he had could still be exploited, but in vain.

The theme was really interesting and offered several issues to explore.

She was pregnant but looked like a normal woman, even though we were moving forward in time (I'm talking months). They did a time jump straight to birth (botched).

The drama started well but ended up revolving around something that could have been resolved more quickly and more logically (for me). Any other issues or plotlines presented at the beginning were completely thrown into the trash. Looks like the writer forgot.

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My first time writing a review it was an amazing drama

I was wandering why people are not talking more about the drama because it was so good, it make me remember MFIS(my father is strange, and honestly is was skeptical about it because of the 50 episode and the F lead I have not wach any of her drama before but she did not disappoin me am glad I wach it after waching episode 1 I was glue to my phone so far I have wach28 episode and waiting for the rest to be uploaded.
The acting and the chemistry between both the F lead and the M lead is just super fantastic I like how the writer developed it gradually and I just hope they would still be together at the end, and for the 2nd female lead from the start I dislike her character but after realizing that she was really in love with the M lead before he was taking away from her because of her family e situation changes I feel bad for her but she should know when to stop because she is loosing herself and the love as become obsession and for the 2nd male lead he is just a prick dapunnum, all there acting was great the Gramma really tried this is my first time watching her drama and she nail it she remembers me of the gramma in The King Eternal monarch

anyways there is still 22 episode left I hope the writer would not disappointed me and I don't know why they change the dad but the drama did not change because of that,

it was a very funny every episode got me cracking

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Get Bored & Annoyed - What a Waste?!!

Wow! Ahn first return after cheating scandal & divorce is to fight to marry some dude's ex and become father to his child by getting his whole abnoxious family bully the guy to no end! 50 episodes for this!!!! The extended families are over bearing; the story lines are annoying and unnecessary! The script is badly written and badly delivered! Actors literary stand next to each other, recite what they memorized as if filming occurs during rehearsal while they still have scripts in their hands. The rooms are so staged as if a big wearhouse divided into rooms where scenes occur! Ahn who used to be a model is now fat and his wardrobe is sad, his face is swallen, and the female actress is short and suffering from anorexia rather than being pregnant! The contrast in visuals look like a fat tall male obsessing over a short starved middle age woman! The side stories literary fall to the side and remain unfinished by the end of 50 episodes! The best thing about the drama is the ex-boyfriend and the father of the child. He literary saved 20 episodes. He is handsome, energetic, has great delivery despite the poorly written script. He needs to get more main roles! Anyhow, there are numerous Chinese and Korean dramas that are worth watching. Skip this one and you won't miss much!

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