When the Phone Rings

Came for the cast, stayed for the chemistry ❤️‍?

Some dramas have a way of keeping you tethered, even when you’re navigating the agony of waiting for weekly episode drops—and 지금 거신 전화는 managed that rare feat. Its pacing was consistently commendable, which is no small achievement in a world of binge-friendly storytelling. However, similar to the likes of Marry My Husband (for those who have seen it), the drama couldn’t resist a detour into illogical territory as it neared its finale. Episode 12’s “Argan” trope? Let’s just say it stretched the limits of suspension of disbelief—enough to make me pause mid-episode and chuckle at its absurdity.

But if logic faltered, chemistry soared. Yoo Yeon-seok as Baek Sa-eon and Chae Soo-bin as Hong Hee-joo didn’t just sell their characters’ connection—they redefined it, giving us a portrayal of husband and wife dynamics that felt fresh and heart-fluttering in the best way. While both leads were exceptional, Yoo Yeon-seok’s performance truly took the cake. Every expression was intricate, every emotional beat carefully measured—he gave his all to playing Baek Sa-eon, elevating the character into something unforgettable.

That said, the finale left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, I appreciated that all the characters, including Heo Nam-jun’s Ji Sang-u and Jang Gyu-ri’s Na Yu-ri, got closure. On the other, the overly soapy tone of the final episodes dampened the emotional resonance the show had built up until then. Still, the ending wasn’t unsatisfying—just not quite the finish I was hoping for.

The OST deserves a special mention, as it beautifully underscored the series’ emotional beats and has firmly earned its spot on my repeat playlist. And while all the characters delivered solid performances, it’s clear the writer poured the most effort into crafting scenes between Yoo Yeon-seok and Chae Soo-bin. Thankfully, this worked in the drama’s favor, as their interactions were undeniably the highlight.

Overall, I’d say this drama is an 8/10 for me. If I were rating it solely on the electrifying chemistry between the leads, it’d be a solid 9.5. But the last two episodes—and their logic-defying moments—bring it down a notch. Still, 8 feels pretty generous, considering!

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Started out well but...

I enjoyed first 6 episodes despite of lot of cliche filled scenes and unrealistic story line because the actors carried it out well but then I did not care anymore.. There is a limit to unbelievability after which it becomes exhausting.

1. How can a spokesperson of a president hide his wife for years. Anyone during three years would have spied on him and within few days would find out Hong Hee Ju coming out of his apartment daily. At one point he also challenges press to find dirt on him and still the press did not find about his wife. That too when his wedding became mysteriously private and his wife was not seen with him for years. First thing any journalist heck even an intern would do is check about his wife. Thats ridiculous that they did not till ML reveals.
2. How is the kidnapper able to so easily kidnap her in the temple so easily. Both FL and ML and the whole world knows about the kidnapping, they are roaming around without a security even after FL and ML get hurt one after another in different incidents clearly executed by the same kidnapper. ML keeps talking big about protecting FL and all she does is run around alone multiple times and ML does not care. where was the body guards he employed who were shown for one episode!
3. He is the spokes person to the president and he uses all his time and resource to work on personal matters. President is not in the picture. Only time he comes is when he literally gives his vehicle to ML. Only when romance is needed they remember about some speech of his so that FL can also be with him. And again using the same platform to announce his missing wife. I see everyone commenting that they were crying seeing ML cry but I am sorry at this point i did not feel any damn thing for ML or FL .
4. What was the point of FL sending pictures of her leg ? what was she thinking. It was obvious that ML will either suspect her (which he did not somehow that makes him stupid) or suspect an affair with the caller and if ML had really no feelings for her as she thought, he might have come back with a vengeance for having an affair behind his back. Did she really think he will give divorce immediately knowing she is having an affair?

Overall still a good one time watch may be if we watch at one go and all the actors including ML and FL did so well . But i lost interest after watching 10 episodes. Definitely not worth 8..9 .

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LOVED it, but the ending ??

i loved this drama for what it was, the leads were amazing. i give props to the director for choosing the ml and fml for this drama because it was lovely. i liked the story of her being mute and the first few episodes really drew me into the whole drama. it got crazy here and there but it kept my interest luckily up until the end though ..

the ending was a mess and could of been way better. there were a lot of things the ml and gml did which could be avoided and those actions were ridiculous. i’m happy they are together but in this way i didn’t like, but anyways this is a nice romo drama for anyone looking for a romantic drama with a interesting storyline. i definitely recommend this one.

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hear me out

first of all, the ending was not good but it wasnt THAT bad for me atleast. this drama was really good up until the 11th episode so naturally i was expecting a much better ending compared to what went down. way too many disappearances in one drama that made the story repetitive. the story couldve wrapped up much better if only he didnt ran away at the end. they shouldve just talked, talked about how they will work their relationship out despite their extremely complicated pasts which would've been simpler and some hard to please people wouldve called it boring but for me that wouldve been much better compared to the whole punishing myself so im gonna go to a war stricken country or whatever that was. the chemistry of the leads was amazing, even their behind the scenes moments had me giggling which is probably the reason why i cant find it in me to wholeheartedly say that this is a bad drama.

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Got me hooked, but also let me go.

Note: This is solely my opinion, and yes, I'm not that good at writing. Sorry if it's kinda redundant or doesn't make sense at all.

STORY:
Okay, starting with the story/plot of the series. Nowadays, cliches are quite common (this sounds funny tbh). But I can say for this drama— it has quite a fresh approach in some parts of the plot, it got me hooked with the first episodes after all.
Starting with the romance side; the chemistry was good, the cold vibe to warm between them was typical of course, but the thing is the way they "got to the warm era" was a little fast and subtle (but for me tho, I think I would prefer the cold vibe hehehe).
On the thriller and mystery side, it was nice, it was what kept me watching. It had a bunch of mini plot twists, the first twists were good, but the coming to an end twists weren't: like the fact that it was his father (real real father: the chairman) was the one who arranged the accident was something you can just guess and the fact that he was in Argan😭, I think it would have been better if they put more characters so that the audience can take more hunches of who's behind it— just like how I had my own theories wether Ji Sang-Woo (Hee-joo's sunbae) and the guy (the real Sa eon) were twins, or the two of them and Park Do jae were working together (Sang woo was kinda sus, yeah), it's usually in dramas where they put characters to make your brain work for hunches and theories. And I can say WTPR executed that part well, also the contract between their father and the chairman, and the best ones were: she's not mute, and it was him who requested for Hee-joo to be his wife— the worst was the accident part. If there was a greater twist than just using the same when the guy whispered to Sa-Eon it would've been better (but sometimes too much can be too much indeed, unless with great execution). But they did well and much better on the mysterious side of the plot rather than romance. I also don't like the part where Sa-Eon was at "Argan," although they mentioned why, it still feels far from the plot, it felt as if they just created it clumsily to find a reason why (but I know it was also part of building the romance and more tension), it would have been better for me if the plot just killed him or somebody at least hehehehh (but I guess, either way would've disappointed me).
At In-ah's arrival, I thought at first that she would be that mean, jealous sister, but glad she isn't.
Right. One thing I don't like about the deal/contract of the chairman and her father was that the agreement/content was quite weak.

CAST& ACTING:
The casts we're great with acting. Sa-eon is a great character executed well by the actor, and Hee-jo as well, although she was good at it, I think I would also love to see other actresses try her role, it's like she fitted into Cinderella's shoes but had a little more space left.
The in-laws were good too, their characters' personality were delivered clearly.
Their friends and colleagues, too. But I think Kang yeong-u and the spokesperson needed a deeper chemistry.
Park Do-jae was a good character, but I think he just needs a little more work.

CINEMATOGRAPHY&SCENE IMPACT:
The cinematography was great, the scenes as well, it really brought the mysterious and thriller vibes. Romantic vibe as well, but kinda failed a little, for me.

OST:
The OST's greattttt. See the Light nananantantananneunnnn. (Especially since it's BTOB's Eunsik!!!

FURTHER COMMENT:
To be honest, I fell off the drama. I couldn't help watching the first two episodes, so I ended up waiting for DAYSS AND WEEKS which was sad. That's why you should binge this kind of drama. So that the thrill doesn't get cut off. Each episodes ending were a cliff hanger which is good for attracting viewers into finishing it.
The ending was nice and warm, but what happened before it doesn't really fit the plot well, I mean it was actually so random that Hee-joo goes to a war zone to find him, and there he is rescuing hostages. I also think that the plot just needed a deeper relationship with each twists and scenes, and the execution can be better.

OVERALL:
It's a good drama for beginners, since I think I kinda dislike it because I've watched a whole lot of kdrama and is looking for a good one, but my definition of "good" is kinda hard to fulfill. Yeah overall, it just needs a little work and some changes. But good enough to please viewers that doesn't really think deeper about dramas, or just looking for something to use their time with.

P.S: This type of drama is the one that kinda fails a little when reaching the end. In other words, it's going on a descending order in terms of interest.

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HANDS DOWN RN FOR THE BEST OF 2024

I mean, for me it's a big surprise to still exists a well written and well made K-drama in 2024, since most of them were boring and I couldn't even finish the 1 episode, now I come across this one and I found a new top 10 favorite forever.
It's an absolute 10/10 for me.
ost is perfect.
actores were perfect
story was perfect.
ending was perfect.
I have nothing bad to say about this show, the only thing sad about it is that I came to a ending 😭
hahaha
anyway, I liked the story a lot, it wasn't full of light romance with nothing interesting at all, beside seeing the couple falling for each other, the story was good alone! The past of the family and the past of the characters all of them, it was so interesting to watch, I kept wanting to know more. I also liked the way the main "villain" was created, it wasn't a lazy excuse for me, like some drama out there that they put a random serial killer that doesn't have meaning at all, in this show the "bad guy" actually did have a reason besides being crazy. Also, I like how the show suddenly show us random enemies all of sudden, like, anyone in this show can be a potential threat. I love it!
Now let's talk about the FL. I loved her! She was so cool, not the kind of "damsel in distress" even in dangerous situations she nailed it! If you like cool and strong FL you'll surely like this one, she isn't a hero or the strongest, but she def won my heart here

Anyway! I love stories with mystery, action, secrets, romance, enemies to Lovers, and stuff like that, so this drama def got my heart. Totally recommend it to anyone!

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A near perfect drama

If there was any big plot holes or things that did not make sense it was Senior Mr. and Mrs. Hong, what did Chairman Hong really gain from supporting the family that murdered his son (if it was all about money/power this did not come across well) and worst is Mrs Hong this woman had no redeeming qualities yet they tried to gaslight us into thinking noooooo she does love her daughter, lets call FUBAR on this.
Paik Sa Eon is an excellently written character, everything he did/said was in line with the psychology of this character that was well developed and presented with nuance. The final action of fleeing does make sense if you understood his trauma. YYS gets full marks on his performance.
Hong Hee Joo had a tough challenge to hold her own against a very charismatic ML and give full credit to CSB for able to portray HHJ with silent strength. She was not just a romantic tool, or a mere plot device, she was her own interesting person and her character had a fully evolving journey in the plot.
Final acknowledgement of excellence to the entire production team director/editor/writer, especially the screen writer for this superior adaptation.

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