This review may contain spoilers
The Trauma Olympics
My 2nd review here on MDL, and I just felt I needed to write down my thoughts. It is supposed to be short and sweet (unlike my 1st review lol, which was supposed to be short) but who knows
Disclaimer: These are my opinions, so don't take anything personally. We don't have to agree, and I'm not here to argue with anyone. Just dropping my honest thoughts on something I very much like.
First off, I just want to say Namkoong Min is a fantastic actor; his chilling performance in this drama is reminiscent of King Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones. I have never hated a main villain the way I hated Nam Gyu-man in this drama since Joffrey; he literally carried this entire drama on his back. Oh my, I wanted the nastiest death to happen to him. That's how much I hated these characters. What that shows is how perfectly they acted their roles and immersed themselves in them, so credit where it's due to them. Now that's out of the way, let's get to the chicken.
Why I called this the "trauma Olympics" is because the show is just a collection of "How much can we traumatize the main character as well as the viewers rooting for him?" Every episode was just me waiting for the inevitable "string of misfortunes." It's not for people that want happy things each episode because we don't get those till the last five episodes. So it's 15 episodes of constant "string of misfortunes" for our ML, Seo Jin Woo. The writer didn't hold anything back and poured every misfortune in the kdrama book on him, lol, but he persevered and got his lick back.
The drama is a revenge drama, where Seo Jin Woo tries to get revenge on the people in Inho's group, namely Nam Gyu-man, for framing his father. Initially while watching this, I thought it was going to be him trying to get his father off death row as well as putting the actual criminals behind bars, but when his father died, I quickly understood the route the writer wanted to take the show in. Our ML suffering on his way to vengeance, which he did get, and OH, it was very satisfying.
I've been a fan of Park Min Young since Healer, and I did like her performance in this, but I don't get the people that said she wasn't needed in this drama. I vehemently disagree because, without her, I don't think he would've accomplished his mission. She was his rock and emotional support throughout, especially with his Alzheimer's disease. YES, like I said earlier, they poured every misfortune playbook at our ML.
After watching Park Sung Woong in Man to Man, I took interest in his dramas because he is a very good actor as well. He didn't disappoint in this; it was very good, and I liked his character arc in this one. Also liked the good cop bad cop vibe he had going with Jin Woo; he seems to like bromance to be a thing in his drama (2 for 2 now in his dramas i've watched.)
Then we come to our man of the hour, Nam Gyu Man, an insufferable prick with anger issues. Just wanted to punch him in the face anytime he got on screen 😅 but he was fantastic as the main villain because I absolutely loathed him. He did get his just reward after he was sentenced to death. I also liked the way his final arc was handled because it was fitting the way he went out, a coward's way, because of the way he was portrayed throughout the entire show. A coward that hid behind Daddy and his money/power. A fitting end for such a character. I was a fan after watching The Veil, where he played a good character, but I didn't think I'd enjoy him more as the villain, a nice and welcome surprise.
The rest of the cast aren't worth mentioning like that; nothing noteworthy. Nam Gyu-man's sister was just a spoiled brat airhead till the latter part of the show; the dad was a typical Korean archetype business-before-family type character. Then the Outskirt Law Firm members, the typical supporting cast, literally. They all played their roles very well.
All in all a very good show, an 8.5/10 for me all because of Nam Gyu-man, by the way. So if you're going into this because you came here to see Yoo Seung Ho as Jin Woo, then prepare to be slightly disappointed because the one that carried it was Namkoong Min. This is not me saying his was bad or anything; his performance was good as a lead, but he didn't carry the show for me; that was all Gyu-man. So, prepare to enjoy his performance as the villain. Also if you're into—as my friend would call it—"suffer porn," then this is the drama for you.
Thank you for reading my long-winded review (which was supposed to be short 😅 again), but I hope this was able to help you.
Disclaimer: These are my opinions, so don't take anything personally. We don't have to agree, and I'm not here to argue with anyone. Just dropping my honest thoughts on something I very much like.
First off, I just want to say Namkoong Min is a fantastic actor; his chilling performance in this drama is reminiscent of King Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones. I have never hated a main villain the way I hated Nam Gyu-man in this drama since Joffrey; he literally carried this entire drama on his back. Oh my, I wanted the nastiest death to happen to him. That's how much I hated these characters. What that shows is how perfectly they acted their roles and immersed themselves in them, so credit where it's due to them. Now that's out of the way, let's get to the chicken.
Why I called this the "trauma Olympics" is because the show is just a collection of "How much can we traumatize the main character as well as the viewers rooting for him?" Every episode was just me waiting for the inevitable "string of misfortunes." It's not for people that want happy things each episode because we don't get those till the last five episodes. So it's 15 episodes of constant "string of misfortunes" for our ML, Seo Jin Woo. The writer didn't hold anything back and poured every misfortune in the kdrama book on him, lol, but he persevered and got his lick back.
The drama is a revenge drama, where Seo Jin Woo tries to get revenge on the people in Inho's group, namely Nam Gyu-man, for framing his father. Initially while watching this, I thought it was going to be him trying to get his father off death row as well as putting the actual criminals behind bars, but when his father died, I quickly understood the route the writer wanted to take the show in. Our ML suffering on his way to vengeance, which he did get, and OH, it was very satisfying.
I've been a fan of Park Min Young since Healer, and I did like her performance in this, but I don't get the people that said she wasn't needed in this drama. I vehemently disagree because, without her, I don't think he would've accomplished his mission. She was his rock and emotional support throughout, especially with his Alzheimer's disease. YES, like I said earlier, they poured every misfortune playbook at our ML.
After watching Park Sung Woong in Man to Man, I took interest in his dramas because he is a very good actor as well. He didn't disappoint in this; it was very good, and I liked his character arc in this one. Also liked the good cop bad cop vibe he had going with Jin Woo; he seems to like bromance to be a thing in his drama (2 for 2 now in his dramas i've watched.)
Then we come to our man of the hour, Nam Gyu Man, an insufferable prick with anger issues. Just wanted to punch him in the face anytime he got on screen 😅 but he was fantastic as the main villain because I absolutely loathed him. He did get his just reward after he was sentenced to death. I also liked the way his final arc was handled because it was fitting the way he went out, a coward's way, because of the way he was portrayed throughout the entire show. A coward that hid behind Daddy and his money/power. A fitting end for such a character. I was a fan after watching The Veil, where he played a good character, but I didn't think I'd enjoy him more as the villain, a nice and welcome surprise.
The rest of the cast aren't worth mentioning like that; nothing noteworthy. Nam Gyu-man's sister was just a spoiled brat airhead till the latter part of the show; the dad was a typical Korean archetype business-before-family type character. Then the Outskirt Law Firm members, the typical supporting cast, literally. They all played their roles very well.
All in all a very good show, an 8.5/10 for me all because of Nam Gyu-man, by the way. So if you're going into this because you came here to see Yoo Seung Ho as Jin Woo, then prepare to be slightly disappointed because the one that carried it was Namkoong Min. This is not me saying his was bad or anything; his performance was good as a lead, but he didn't carry the show for me; that was all Gyu-man. So, prepare to enjoy his performance as the villain. Also if you're into—as my friend would call it—"suffer porn," then this is the drama for you.
Thank you for reading my long-winded review (which was supposed to be short 😅 again), but I hope this was able to help you.
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