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It is overall good. I love it. I love their chemistry, it gives me goosebumps, butterflies at nakakakilig siya. I like how they lift up their character. Especially the episode 6 part, that give me emotionally and I cried on that part. Saeon really love Heejoo. 🫶"When the Phone Rings" is a delightful rom-com! The ensemble cast shines, delivering hilarious performances. Witty dialogue and charming storylines make for a fun, lighthearted watch. Perfect for a cozy night in. Was this review helpful to you?
Truly one of the best Kdramas of 2024
When the Phone Rings has everything in it: sadness, Happiness, and a Thriller. It is a complete package. The acting of the entire cast was top-notch. From the start, the show gave the Wattpad-coded vibes. Yet the last episode was a little boring, especially the Argan part, which I felt was really unnecessary. Instead of that, if we had been shown a little story of the Second lead's love, it would have been better. Nonetheless, the show gave everything and had a very good pacing. Neither too slow to become boring nor too fast to leave many loopholes.The OST was beautiful and catchy. I will give a little less on the rewatch value because for me it was a one-time watch as there were many plot twists and not many couple scenes of the main leads.
To anyone wishing to start it, do watch it without hesitation. Hands off it was a very good show.
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Best show ever for the first 10 episodes
I was absolutely hooked on this show from the first episode. Even my husband who doesn’t care for Korean shows was hooked. The actors were phenomenal. The story was thrilling, fast paced and kept you guessing. It was so intense that it was almost stressful to watch. Loved everything about it. I’d say it’s the best show I’ve seen in a long time.And then.. the ending just got weird. It’s like the writers of episode 12 didn’t even read the scripts for the first 10 episodes. Episode 11 was a bit out there, but they could have saved it. Episode 12 seemed to change the original story line and none of it made sense. Major cliffhanger events from episode 11 were completely ignored in episode 12. The events in episode 12 referenced a history that was never really mentioned in the previous episodes. Who got shot? Who died? How the hell did they end up THERE?!?! How is he involved with those groups? None of it made any sense. This would have been an easy 10/10 until the very end.
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it a nice movie
This Drama is the savior of those failed to capture the heart of many kdrama fan like me. The turns and twist can makes you want more of it, the casting I mean the undeniable chemistry of the leads is quite amazing, before it aires some says it will fail as the leads age gap is huge but they prove it wrong. I watched 3 episodes, and I am already waiting for the next, there is a mystery from the past that connects the leads, and crazy how my intuition saying that the leads college friend is the mystery guy.This drama challenge the power of my intuition. Let see after more eps revealed. I hope the prod and director handle it well and not over cooked it. Kudos! we also feel the sparks between the two, it’s nice to be in love, much nicer if secretly.Was this review helpful to you?
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Junk food but somewhat tasty
The base plot of marriage of convenience and male lead having a secret crush on his wife was good. Chasing a serial killer along with ongoing development of romance between them, didn't make story boring. Some scene were idiotic that you can just laugh them off like him going to Argan so he can punish himself, i really laughed a lot at this one. It was also idiotic that how he has a crush on her but acted like a sworn enemy with her in those 3 years. The things he said to her were really mean, I don't think I would ever develop feelings for someone like him. I couldn't empathize with the male lead, so kiss scenes and any any other romantic scenes between them felt boring too. Maybe they should have explained more of his side or his feelings for her or some secret acts which shows his true feelings to make us sympathies for him.The supporting cast was really good and none of the character from their was annoying. I managed to watch it till the end on binge and by fast forwarding some scenes that felt boring. Don't regret watching it but won't regret not watching it too.
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Feels like three different dramas in one
I seriously don’t understand the hype around this drama! I watched it because it got such good reviews! It looked like it would be an exciting drama and yes in some parts it was quite exciting (which is the main reason for getting any points).First of all, I really disliked all the phone calls. It was so ridiculous after a while and sorry but it was not exciting at all! It was quite boring and lame tbh…
After Paik Sa-Eon finally finds out that the caller is his wife the drama starts picking up pace. They now team up to find the culprit and the back story with the Childcare Center and the missing children is being thematized now. Here I also wanna mention that Sangwoo and Yuri were my favorite couple and I really liked how we were fooled into thinking that Sangwoo was gonna be a bad guy but in the end he was so cool and smart and I wish we found out more about his past and the missing children case…
Park Do Jae was my favorite character from episode one and after a while I was getting a hunch that he was the accomplice. I feel like the drama gave a lot of clues for that and tbh if you were surprised by that then you are not paying enough attention to the scenes.
However I also thought that his missing twin brother was gonna be Paik Sa-Eon which he wasnt and I thought that was lame!!! How much MORE exciting and shocking it would have been!!!! In the end he was just the son of the old guy which I didn’t quite understand how it was not further explained!!! Like who is the mother?? What happened to her?? How?? Also, strange but in the end he is the brother of the man who was his fake father??? So many questions that I was hoping to get answers for in the Final Episode.
Which brings me to the main reason why I bumped the drama from initially 7 to finally 4 points… Not only were so many of my questions unanswered, but also we suddenly have the Final Episode of a seemingly completely different drama here!!!! 🤯 This last episode made absolutely NO SENSE to me whatsoever!!!! Like ok he is punishing himself but for what??? He didn’t kill the brother!!! And then why did he have to go to Argan? And omg all those ridiculous scenes with the rebels and her being kidnapped ughhh cringe!!! And him punishing himself for his “sins”??? What sins??? he is acting as if he was the one who wanted to kill the brother!!! Ughhh so much drama for nothing! No sorry but the last episode made me so angry!!!! AND it made me cringe!!! in general there were a lot of cringe-worthy scenes in the whole drama but the final episode just took the crown!!!!
That’s basically it!!! The only good points about this drama is the big secret that the Paik family was hiding with the switched out sons and the missing children case. In general that part of the drama kinda took the main spotlight and turned into the main plot for me so that we soon forgot about those anonymous phone calls, which in the end leads me to the drama title being a bad match for this story…
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Amazing show
This show was immensly enjoyable and had me on the edge of my seat.I love a thriller that plays with your emotions and keeps you guessing. I love a romance that makes you laugh and cry and makes your heart clench. The show delivered that in spades.
The acting was wonderful. All of the cast members outdid themselves.
The soundtrack was one of the best ever. Instant download to my music library.
The plot: Wonderful
The ML is the stereotypical "cold CEO" as well as a somewhat morally-grey, handsome, rich and influencal person. He is completey in love with the FL but is unable to show it. We, the viewers, pick up on it much before the FL does.
The FL is strong, smart, kind, and very beautiful. It's beautiful to see her journey. While she is strong from the start, she holds herself back and only begins testing her boundries as the show goes on. The progression is beautiful.
The story combines elements of thriller, mystery, politics, secrets, family intrigue, and childhood trauma.
The main couple's chemistry is on fire. (The second couple is also a joy to watch.)
The evolution of the main couple from cold and adversarial with charged chemistry, to warm and open with blazing chemistry is portrayed to perfection.
Some of the plot twists are predictable while others are not. But all of the elemets of the story come together seemlesly. There are no filler scenes. The action, romance, and adventure are cobmined into a wonderful whole. I sat back and watched without blinking, entranced throughout the entire show.
What a wonderful journey.
My one complaint and the reason why I rated 9.5 is the final episode.
The happy ending was wonderful. But the leadup seemed out of place to the reaminder of the show. While the story line did follow the original novel in the majority of its aspects, somehow it was not incorporated into the show to my satisfaction.
Altogether, a terrific show and an immensly enjoyable watch.
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Pretty solid drama
It was full of dramatic twists and turns, a well-acted and compelling set of characters, and it was just a bunch of fun. It's not a show where you turn your brain on to think about how "logical" things are; it's a drama, intended to have dramatic moments, regardless of how much sense they make. While some plot elements were repeated (plenty of hurt/comfort for those who are fans), they made them slightly different each time which made it not feel repetitive. I think the two main leads really made the show. Both actors did a great job, and I think they had good chemistry. Some of my favorite scenes were when Hong Hee-joo was speaking on the phone to Paik Sa-eon, as they had great banter during those scenes. I think the length of the show was appropriate, as it didn't drag on and overstay its welcome. Nor did it feel like they cut the show short or rushed the ending. Overall, it's a pretty solid show.Was this review helpful to you?
amazing kdrama not so amazing final episode
we dont talk about that last episode😶other than that a 10/10
the suspense was great. it kept you at the top of your seat the whole time and the ending of every episode left you wanting more. but i think what really stands out and makes this a great kdrama is the leads. they had phenomenal chemistry and just amazing acting overall. honestly they had some of the best kissing scenes in kdrama. loved yoo yeon seok since dr. romantic so i was already aware of his game but chae soo bin impressed me very much. BUT the last episode (and more importantly the whole argan thing) were really unnecessary and distasteful for me. following the source material so closely really was not it. i think that kdramas can really make a great show out of a not so amazing source material and honestly it was like that until episode 12. but atleast they were happy. 🤷♀️overall the other 11 were so good i can forget it. will definitely rewatch it (maybe skip a certain 10 minutes in ep12😗). but yeah really great kdrama exited to see whats next for both yoo yeon seok and chae soo bin🫰🎀
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This review may contain spoilers
I love it I'll totally rewatch. My only complaint is that I wish that they made the entire episode 12 of happy ending instead of nonsense that was not necessary.What about the SL relationship it was barely there,
And why would the ML punish himself for his "useless father who he does not accept" mistakes, he never even met them FL when it everything happen, he could have just curse him out or spit on his grave instead of punishing himself by leaving the FL. Anyways totally rewatch.
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loved this drama
Well until I got to episode 12 and then it all went a bit.... well... strange.But still, this drama had it all, the crazy back story, suspense and action and then this really interesting love story. I just totally hooked on this drama so despite what happened in episode 12 I would recommend watching it
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Best couple of the year
superb chemistry, the couple of the year 2024 for me and loved the OST, I really liked it and I was glad that I saw it all at once. I love the kisses scene, finally a FL that know yo kiss and be in a lovely, mature scene.The last episode seemed to be from another kdrama. They need to rewrite it. I liked the beauty of it but Argan place... why when you had so many things to unfold and to show to have a great finale.
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