When the Phone Rings

Not worth the 8.9

When I look at other shows rated around a 9 like Crashlanding On You and Hometown Cha Cha Cha, for example, it becomes clear that this one has been overrated.

My main issue is that I don’t think their love story has been build up properly. They didn’t communicate at all during their marriage as she didn’t speak and he didn’t bother to learn sign language. Before that they vaguely knew each other as kids, so what do they love about each other when they barely know each other? And “he’s always loved her” is not an answer. ML did a 180 from cold to washing her hair within like 2 episodes lol. I just don’t see their romance as being realistic. She should’ve just taken revenge with the burner phone instead of the couple’s counseling we got. Every love scene feels so corny to me, like, you guys don’t even know each other be for real. If it was build up properly and slowly before they went in for the big love confession it would’ve been much better. Now I’m left thinking why and when did you fall in love?

The thriller part of it is okay, better than the romance anyway. I don’t think the doctor and news anchor really add anything to the story though. This would’ve worked better as an 8 episode series I think. ML could’ve realised several times that the FL was behind the calls before he finally did in like episode 8. There’s too much romance filler and angst in between.

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A Tale of Two Families

Somewhere inside this melodrama is an excellent story about two people who have trouble communicating with each other and their journey to overcome all and finally open up to each other honestly. The use of the phone calls, sign language and other motifs help to tell this story in a creative away.

What is more difficult to achieve in this drama, and where I feel things fall apart a bit especially towards the end, are the more classic drama storylines involving two powerful families with dark secrets and the triller/kidnapper psychotic son. The story simultaneously feels over-bloated and too simplistic - something about the story just does not work by episode 12. However, this is primarily a romance tale, and the superb performances of the cast, particularly Yoo Yeon Seok and Chae Soo Bin as the leads carries the drama to a solid ending.

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wtf?

Liked: unique concept, acting

Disliked: writing, wtf ending?

Throughout this show, I just was so frustrated. The original plot line of the show is unique and I imagine that's why other viewers started the show as well. I think they just wasn't sure of the genre of this show and tried doing too many things at once. I felt compelled to finish the series after the first half -- they developed the intrigue of the family mystery and main leads' relationship quite nicely, but I think that fell off in the second half. The second lead's story investigating the missing orphans was interesting, and I wish they had done more to develop their relationship.

They were halfway there with the writing. Such a shame of an interesting plot at the beginning.

Beware of episode 11 and 12! The show just shoved unnecessary plot lines that don't make sense by the end.

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Laughable ending

Was totally hooked on this series. Couldn't wait for the next episode to come. Even rewatched it before the two last episodes aired... and than Korean 'writers, directors I don't know who' strike again. I don't know if it is a culturale thing/preference. But why on earth is 9 out of 10 times the final episode horrible. Seriously don't know what the makers were thinking. Even worse I think this is one of the worst final episodes of all the k-drama's I have seen. And I have seen a lot. It was so laughable and unbelievable that I had to stop several times during watching the last episode. To the point where I doubted I wanted to finish episode.

Ps I think the acting of the 'real' Sa-eon is highly underrated!

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It was okay

This drama has a classic "chaebol" storyline with a refreshing twist. From the first episodes, it hooks you with excitement and high expectations. The pacing is nice, the characters are interesting, and if you don't think too much the conflicts are enough to keep you watching the next episode.
The last episodes were mid. From my understanding, the writers wanted to keep the plotline from the novel (at least for the finale), however the execution was very poor. Episode 12 feels completely out of place and exaggerated. I have seen worse endings but it was still disappointing.
Overall, this drama was a nice watch.

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The ending isn’t good enough

Do I have a high expectation on this drama?
Oh, sure I have, but this drama really has a messed up ending.

The acting of the ML and FL are top notched. But this drama should ended on 11th episode. When the ML succesfully save the FL and then they could happily live ever after.

But that’s what my expectation and surely not the what the director want. So I think the ending seems draggy.

Overall this drama really has a good story and surely the chemistry of the ML and FL is there. Oh don’t forget about the acting of all the people beside the lead, their acting is also top notched.

Will I still wanna watch this the second time? I think I will not. Despite the good story, I think this drama is enough to watch for the first time, but not the second time.

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Marriage of convenience becomes dullsville when turned into a Marriage of love

After an attempted kidnapping and resulting chaos, an arranged marriage couple is forced to communicate when the phone rings.

WHAT I LIKED

- Interesting start and a satisfactory first half.
- Liked the characters diversity in terms of their professions; appreciated the scenes with the sign language.
- The story was entertaining till the couple got together.
- Intriguing thriller elements and an impressive soundtrack.
- Good performance overall, but Chae Soo Bin's expressions felt a bit flat at times.

WHAT I DISLIKED

- Quality declined after the main couple's union with mediocre dialogue.
- Couple interactions felt more artificial in the second half.
- The unnecessary plot points that weren't concluded clearly.
- The final episodes were mostly filler scenes with a climactic conclusion.

Overall, an okayish watch. Recommended if you want to watch more Wattpad-style stories and just for fun with limited brain consumption.

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I loved this kdrama. I actually gave it a shot after my TikTok was just all about it and honestly I don't regret it. It was actually really nice and although the last episode might have had some unnecessary plot I didn't want to read too much into it and chose to enjoy the moment and not criticize it ( I get that it might have hit some sore spots but tbh it is a fictional show so there's no point in being all emotional about it and forgetting the good parts of the drama)
All in all it was a wholesome drama and also my first drama of the year ( just because I refuse to watch any drama before it's fully released??)
I really liked it thanks to the actors, producers and the whole team for this show?

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