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suzy steals the show!
if I were scoring based on the plot, I would have given 7.5. because to be frank, the plot was a bit haphazard. but my overall score goes to a 9 because of Susie Bae. wow, not only was her acting fantastic whether comedy or tragedy, whether speaking or not, but she was absolutely gorgeous. from innocent pretty to sexy hot. easily the best performance I have seen from her. anyway back to the show. the side characters were great. The locations were also excellent. in most kdramas I fast forward quite a bit, but in this one I did not. also, the cameo by Song Hye- Kyu was fantastic. You want chemistry? her and Suzy's scenes together were brilliant. more please.Was this review helpful to you?
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one of my top 5 kdramas
It seems quite a few people didn't like the ending. i thought it - and the show - were great. for me there has never been any filmed entertainment (movie or tv show) that has so perfectly explored and explained the phrase "it's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all". I have no idea if this was in fact the goal of the writers, but that is what I took from this series - and I thought it was brilliant. the bottom line is that both of their lives were better for their relationship, even if that relationship ultimately ended.Was this review helpful to you?
Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly,..... Song Hye-kyo
I loved this film. sometimes K-drama can have too much drama. this was romance. and what a romance! Song Hye-Kyo made me add one person to my most beautiful women ever list. Classic, elegant, eternal beauty. I saw The Glory, which was brilliant. but the way she was shot for Encounter was special. and yes, I am just about to watch descendants of the sun. regarding the movie itself. I loved the Cuba location, I wish more kdramas had some international locations. The rest of the story was standard, but great because of execution and the chemistry between the 2 leads. biggest downside was the rushed completion of the secondary romances. The characters in relationships were too well set up for them to conclude so abruptly.Was this review helpful to you?
light. fun. entertainment. very well executed.
flaws? you betcha. logic gaps? yep. dropped story lines? uh huh. do I care? nope. I loved this. the flaws above were minor and did not impact my enjoyment at all. I am still recovering from the trauma of The Glory and Castaway Diva, so I loved that the "drama" here is light and resolves itself quickly. to me this show delivers what it is meant to deliver. fun. romance. mild drama. mild sad bits. I giggled, and my eyes watered, and I simply enjoyed the heck out of it. I have watched about 70 kdramas and have not seen any if these lead actors so bonus - I get to add a bunch to my queue.Was this review helpful to you?
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Perfect Meta Drama
I did not realize how much I should have enjoyed this drama - until it told me. I was watching in mild confusion thinking "what's the story here?". then I'm one area the screenwriter character explains her concept to someone. "most dramas rely on plot to keep viewers coming back for the next episode. I want them to be so interested in the characters, they want to come back just to see more of them". click! it suddenly made sense. as well as being entertained, I am extremely impressed with this drama. it is simply smarter than most.Was this review helpful to you?
oh dear, the worst kdrama I have actually completed.
interestingly, 2 of my other worst dramas, that I dropped, each starred the same male lead as this one. those were killer paradox, and our beloved summer. of course this is subjective, but has he ever been in a production where he does not spend 50% of the time being morose/full of sadness? at least this drama had him do some comedy and laugh a bit. perhaps that's why I did finish it. My biggest problem was the thing I love about kdramas is that they focus purely on entertaining the viewer, and they do that by invoking emotion. I love this versus Western shows where they're all about demonstrating the director's vision, the writer's metaphors, and the actors range. to me, this drama seemed too, well, Western.Was this review helpful to you?
fantastic comedy with drama as a seasoning.
wow. if you told me I would have watched a show with 20 episodes and no romance - and loved it, I would have said you were crazy. this was great. why? characters and chemistry. the characters were great, and they all worked together. btw, the accounting focus was a draw to me, as I am an accountant. only show I have seen with accounting at the center. they did it great. last point, while a comedy, the underlying message was powerful: corporations can be bigger gangsters, than, well, gangsters. it's a shame the FL seems to have retired, she was brilliant.Was this review helpful to you?
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the tropes were just too much.
revenge is always good. but it can be executed in different ways. to me the best revenge k-drama is easily the glory. this one, just had too many familiar and annoying tropes. first was the completely separate set of legal rules for good people versus bad people. example: on a couple of occasions the bad people confessed, but the law could do nothing because there was no evidence. In the last couple of episodes a good person was locked up because of a forced confession, and the evidence was irrelevant. second trope, the ridiculous amount of exposition. In other words, taking four minutes to show something that could have been done 30 seconds. as I said I understand these tropes and put up with them because I love k-dramas so much, but for me it was just too much in this one. they were more examples but you get my drift.Was this review helpful to you?
everything good except main male character
thank God for all the supporting cast and the FL! otherwise I would have stopped watching. as it was I fast forwarded every scene when the ML was alone. I have never seen a more morose, self absorbed, and ultimately odious character in any K-drama. and the "explanation" at the end was lame. all imho of course. many others disagree with me. vive la difference! and as I mentioned, worth a watch as every other character was great, and fast forward on Netflix is fantastic. btw, no problems with the lead actor. the writing was the problem.Was this review helpful to you?
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one character spoiled it
this would have been an easy 9 rating. great laughs. the food - wow, the food. brilliant female lead. and only 10 episodes!! Also executed most of the stuff I want to see in a rom com. but..... I took off 2 whole points for the single most pathetic male lead I have seen in the 80 or so kdramas I have watched. whenever there was an opportunity to do the right thing vs the wimpy thing, he chose wimpy. perhaps there is a fine line between sensitivity and strength, but this character was annoyingly never close to that line. it's a shame.Was this review helpful to you?