The Title Should be “Metro Mediocrity”
Writing reviews is difficult if you want to reward the hard workers that tried to create something of quality, but failed. Unfortunately this was so poorly done, it was almost painful to watch. Although I watched 20 out of 24 episodes, I’m not sure I can finish. I can’t even summarize the basic plot. I barely understood it because the production was so mediocre. It seemed to be “female acupuncture doctor from the past arrives in present time, miraculously cures patients, falls in love, and so on, and so forth. Of course, there were a couple of mildly interesting plot twists…I think. But the story was difficult to follow because of problems I’ll describe as I continue the review.I’ll start with the acting because things like music, sets, lighting, etc. are irrelevant if the acting isn’t reasonably good. I can forgive a talented actor almost anything, but I get very critical if an actor doesn’t understand or practice their craft. And, I don’t care about appearance as much as ability. Don’t get me wrong, in an industry that’s a visual medium, aesthetics are important, but professional actors don’t depend only on attractive faces or bodies. They study, practice, learn, study some more, and grow into their talent.
Too many of these actors seemed amateurish. The ML, and maybe the 2nd ML, might be exceptions. They had good visuals, and if given another chance in smaller roles, they could improve their skills. I wasn’t fond of the FL. Her acting wasn’t good and there was something about her appearance that was not appealing. It bothers me to be so critical of something as shallow as whether or not someone is pretty, but she didn’t feel right for the part.
For example, I couldn’t focus on her performance in one of the “two-shots” with the ML because she looked at him cross-eyed, one eye seemed to wander, and the pupil appeared to be overly-dilated. I wouldn’t care if she were a character actress and her appearance was appropriate for the role. In fact, I applaud productions that employ actors with non-traditional appearance, disabilities, or who have to overcome some other problem. But she was supposed to be the pretty, romantic, female lead. I suppose it might have been faulty lighting or a bad camera angle. She may be lovely in person and they didn’t do her justice. The other possibility is that she has Mydriasis, which is an uncomfortable medical condition. I absolutely support her choice of career, however, I then question why she was the FL and not a different character. It also bothered me that her chemistry with the ML was almost non-existent. As I said, my principal objection was she didn’t feel right for the role.
Many of the other actors either didn’t have good skills, or they were just inexperienced and couldn’t overcome the questionable directing and the “it didn’t make sense” script. The editing was abysmal. At first, I thought my T.V. was on the blink. Scenes jumped around in no particular order. They were sliced, diced; and, in Humpty Dumpty fashion, couldn’t be put back together again. I swear two of the episodes were reversed, but maybe they were so badly edited, I just couldn’t follow the plot.
Another annoyance, that was not the fault of the production, but was distracting, were the subs, or lack thereof. The streaming service I was watching was IQIYI. (I hope we’re allowed to mention that.) It’s important because the subs were there and then they were gone. Then, in another episode they would return. It became a game of “ catch me if you can.” Like the editing, the inconsistency was a cruel joke on the audience. This is the worst review I’ve ever written. I didn’t enjoy writing it. But, it’s my POV and I can’t recommend watching this drama.
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