Motel California

Not Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Motel California '' is a melodrama about family, first love, and small communities.

The drama had so many interesting themes to explore, like the main lead's biracial identity and how she was treated by the small community she was raised in, or her relationship with her father and her mother. Alas, everything was only touched upon, were never explored deeper than the surface, and was concentrated on the romance, which wasn't that interesting to begin with, other than the first episode.

At least, the performances were all great by every actor and actress of the cast. The pace, however, of the story was messy and badly handled.

So, overall, four out of ten.

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Had lots of potential and .... turned into a mush

The story makes sense, and actors are not bad, so I am not sure where it went wrong and kinda died before it had a chance to bloom.
Perhaps the story did not flow evenly, or was filmed with the wrong energy

Instead of being more "full of light" the story has suffering notes, needlessly as the FL is a flawed character causing trouble with her egotism and pride and rashness and honestly - cruelty

The story is filmed in this BLAND BLAH energy but also energy of ANIMOSITY AND FIGHTS and it is tiring to watch

ML is a really solid guy and his story is interesting. However, I remember FL more, bc the actress was so full of energy - unfortinately bad energy, she was cronically angry and bitter and prickly towards others

I just did no enjoy this kdrama much Waited for it to get better and it didnt

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Motel California A Warm Healing Drama ?

This drama opens with something interesting and a little surprising that makes us curious.
I enjoyed the novel that inspired this drama (Home Bitter Home), the drama creative team, & the actors (Lee SeYoung & Na InWoo) succeeded in making the characters Ji KangHee & Cheon YeonSoo come to life on the screen.
A story about imperfect humans who has past wounds and struggles to rise to become a better version of himself.
Ji Kanghee becomes a strong woman because of her life & Cheon YeonSoo a man as pure as water who protects his first love may seem cliche, but after we know their past story we will love them. The diverse behavior of Hana-eup's residents will make us feel sweet, bitter, laugh, tear & love. Cinematography that brings a warm & nostalgic experience combined with beautiful music completes the sweetness of this drama.
Can't wait to see the next episode🥰

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An endless circle of loops

People might wonder what I mean by endless circle of loops. What I mean is the unnecessary plots of the main girl and guy constantly refusing to become lovers for nonsensical reasons. This TV shows attempted to try to convey the audiences the complexity of the emotions from the main female character, Gang Hui, as to how her past shaped how she is now and her relationships with those from her home village. But contrary to the complexity that the production team is trying to create, what this all leads to is 8 episodes of illogical and unnecessary plots of Gang Hui refusing to date Yeon Su for no reason.

Let's talk about Gang Hui's motive when rejecting Yeon Su. I genuinely have no idea how dating Yeon Su has anything to do with the discrimination she received from the villagers. The story literally has no explanation or development as to how having a bad life inside the village equates to dating Yeon Su would be problematic. Someone better explain the logic behind her reasoning.

Then it's Gang Hui's actions. This girl literally has no shame at all. For the next few episodes after Gang Hui rejected Yeon Su, she kept stalking around Yeon Su as she heard rumors of him getting a fiance. Okay, first she rejected Yeon Su and now you start caring about him? The contradiction of her actions all the time leave me speechless.

Next up we have this several episodes of the two recurring rejecting each others for various "reasons". When one episode we have Yeon Su confessing, Gang Hui said nah we are just friends. Then on the next episode, we have Gang Hui making her feelings pretty clear but then Yeon Su was angry with what she did and refused to engage further. Then we have this episode of Gang Hui kissing Yeon Su and then on the edge of having sex, which then end up with Gang Hui claiming they are only friends. What the hell is going on in this woman's mind can somebody explain to me? The most ridiculous line comes soon after, with Gang Hui wanted to kiss Yeon Su and then asked him "Can we kiss someone as a friend?". Seriously, watching this until now has been miraculous because of how the writer of this TV show trying to add in countless unnecessary plots and lines to make sure the characters are not dating each others until perhaps episode 9 or 10? Maybe? Just so the story wont be running out too soon.

The chemistry between Yeon Su and Gang Hui is pretty poor aswell. Majority of the development of relationships happen in the flashbacks. For the current timeline, there barely has any meaningful, constructive, and nice interactions between the two that will make you think: damn they are a sweet couple. Most interactions that they had were just those rejections I mentioned above, and pretty emotionless conversations. I genuinely has no emotional attachments to these two at all.

The side characters are just cardboard. Have very minor role in the main story. Feels like they just exist for the sake of trying the make the TV show not seems too poor to pay for more actors.

Here comes the end of my review. Thanks for reading and I wish everyone a very nice day. But don't hate me tho for spitting out facts in this review.

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Impressions of the Korean Drama Motel California (2025)

She (Ji Gang Hui played by Lee Se Young) affectionately calls him (Cheon Yeon Su played by Na In Woo) teddybear. She likes this guy who is overweight, because he is comfy. She likes him to the core. Some may not agree with the first 15 minutes of the Korean Drama Motel California. It is an interesting choice for an opening scene. Our Female Lead whispers to him ‘not to ever lose weight’, affirming to him that she likes him just the way he is. WOW! Nonetheless, he does loose weight. What will this do to their relationship?

Motel California is a drama about discrimination, and many types of discriminations are addressed. This drama is a very raw drama. I don’t know how Motel California will play in Korea, but it should play well in the States. Powerful. Two social outcasts, according to societal acceptability, are brought together. He is overweight and she is an ethnic minority of mixed race in conservative Korea. The two misfits fight for each other in a small town in Nowheresville, Korea. Cheon Yeon Su reads Ji Gang Hui like a book, knowing her every emotions by reading her body language. Even when he is not present, he is her emotional rock, as she contemplates what he would tell her to do. The world is steadied when she thinks of him. I don’t know what others will get from this Korean Drama Motel California, but there is huge depth to these characters. The two become separated for ten years when she decides to leave Nowheresville. She just can’t face the pressure.

I don’t know what to tell you. I am so impressed by the performances of Lee Se Young and Na In Woo thus far. These two actors are drawing tears from me in the first 33 minutes. Their plights are so relatable, on so many different levels. You don’t have to be Black to be discriminated against. You could be a woman. You could be fat. You just could be yourself. However, you cannot let others control your destiny. Don’t get stuck on other people’s planet. Create your own universe.

Na In Woo is giving such a great performance. I am in love with his character. I love the way the Director is using his body language in silent screen moments, to make impactful statements. The use of dark lighting in odd moments adds such an oddity, which I like as well. The screen content visuals are through the roof. These kinds of visuals really elevate this drama to above ordinary. I am so excited about this drama. Motel California is my ‘Atypical Family’ for this year of 2025. The rating thus far for Motel California is 10/10 on the Internet and that is my rating too.

Quote: “Can someone with prejudices really evaluate ability without bias?” Lead Female.

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Complex

It seems that the female lead is consistently cast in these kinds of roles. Stubborn, unwilling to listen to anyone, lacks staying power, feisty. Its almost as if she is stereotype cast in her roles. I wish we could see her play something else for a change. It’s not that a show can’t have a lead with that personality- and it fit the story that was written but it tends to get old fast.

I was looking forward to this show, being a fan of both leads, and had high hopes. However I ended up skipping at times when we got stuck record repeats of the same dialogues and behavior. To the point where she was coming across obnoxious and our male lead was just being used or abused by her. I got to thinking even if she softens up and decides to love him back - it didn’t feel like a hea type relationship I’d want to be in or something that couod past long term. You kind of need that in a drama for a feel good ending.

That aside, I enjoyed the other actors in this show. They were well written and fun. I really wanted to see the two seconds Esther and the guy who liked FL (can’t remember his name) come together because the chemistry was there. The friend group was solid, and through their anxiousness for ML it was clear they knew ge had loved her unconditionally the years she was gone and were not on board for her abusive way she came back in to his life.

For our male lead he was styled and acted perfectly- he came across younger than his role in Marry My Husband (which was brilliant) and extremely kind and quiet. Sadly though, amd maybe thats what they were going for, he acts like a doormat for most the show. Constantly at the mercy of what FL wants or doesn’t want. Its a turn off and why I took off a couple of stars.

Much better than Melo Movie though fpr sure.

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Quit watching after episode three

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2025 South Korean coming of age romance with 12, ~ 70 minute episodes. Based on a novel Home, Bitter Home by Shim Yoon-seo.

First, I provide a unique synopsis then review. I provide the synopsis because I find, when I’m looking for a show to watch, some of the synopses do not describe the series very well. So, unique synopsis is intended to provide another perspective. If you aren’t interested in the synopsis scroll down, the review is labeled.


Synopsis


Ji Kang-hee (Lee Se-young) grew up in a motel and was an outcast among her peers. Her best friend and first love, Cheon Yeon-soo (Na In-woo) was already in good with her father, Ji Chun-pil (Choi Min-soo) who counted on him to bridge the gap with his daughter who resented him for the way she was brought up. Kang-hee leaves her town and he love to strike out on her own to get an education and improve her life. Twelve years later she returns to find her friend, Chun-pil has changed in physical appearance and is now a very busy and much loved local veterinarian.

Review

I stopped watching this after episode three. Other reviewers that said the FL character was annoying. At first I was like I don’t thinks so. She is just defensive because she has a lot of emotional baggage. But then as I watched it, I realize they were right. She was extremely annoying in that she so hung up on things that happened to her in the past that she was really unkind to other people. Maybe it gets better later on. But for the portion of it that I watched I wouldn’t recommend it unless you like really deeply, dramatic plots, and really flawed characters.

Spoilers

I could tell it was gonna be another one where I would have a hard time understanding why the main guy was so hung up on her. I was not seeing anything so spectacular about her character. I mean she did protect him a bit from bullying when he was young and they were really good friends; even friends with benefits at one point, but she grew up to be such an angry person. She was emotionally hurtful to him to drive him away. So it just felt abusive his time with her. I don’t know, but it was just a very dark and heavy kind of set up and I wasn’t really down for something that emotionally heavy so my impression is only of the first few episodes. I’ve watched enough dramas now that I don’t like to waste my time on those that are not good enough to draw me in early. I found that those that have a slow start rarely get better from that point. I also feel like they waited too long to let us know why she had so many problems with her father and growing up in the motel. It did show her being bullied as a kid about being raised in a motel, but that alone did not seem like enough to make her like she was as an adult. I might’ve continued watching it if I could understand more anoit why she had so many emotional problems. But, I may not have agreed with her reasons then I still would not have liked it. But I feel by episode three we should’ve known why she was running around with such a huge chip on her shoulder



#MotelCalifornia #LeeSeYoung #NaInWoo #ChoiMinSoo #KimTaeHyung #ChoiHeeJin

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