Looks ARE Everything ⛔ Don't Descend Unless You're Down With That °4.7° °Abysmal°
How could a show named Abyss be so shallow?
Sadly, the show created its own Abyss, trying to make -4 = +4, to extract a sample from the feature. Mathematically, 1 negative in the mix only detracts & never adds + too many negatives will bring everything down into the abyss. A successful feature needs enough positives to negate those negatives. Does 🅰 teeter, or does it totter? Let's examine it.
The show has a similar twist to that of Shallow Hal. Hal is given the gift of seeing people as they are on the inside, not the superficial outside. Hal ends up falling in love with a corpulent, plain girl who has devoted her life to others as a volunteer, so to him, she looks like Gwyneth Paltrow. Go Se-yeon (“Sey”) is a prosecutor, and she's a looker. She's been friends with Cha “Min” since college. He's not attractive in the least, but as an heir to a cosmetics empire, his family is. They aren't attractive enough for Sey to accept Min, however. He's never told her, but he loves her, and there's little doubt that she knows this.
Sey wouldn't join Min in life, but she joins him in death: They are both murdered around the same time. Using an "Abyss," which is a beautiful sphere of light that can bring back the dead, Grim Reaper type beings resurrect them into bodies that reflect the beauty of their souls. Sey ends up average looking and Min, well Min ends up looking like Ahn Hyo Seop from Business Proposal-7 & Dr. Romantic. On his worst day he's a 9. They decide to work together to hunt down their killers. This stirs the villains into action and the show proceeds from there, but it's a bumpy and unsatisfying descent into a pitfall of poor dialogue, bad plot points, and general sloppiness. Abyss is abysmal.
Apparently, becoming more beautiful will improve somebody's personality. They made Min look like Super Dork in the opening clips of the show. After his exterior is transformed to match his internal beauty, he becomes intellectual, reasoned, thoughtful, and displaying social intelligence that he clearly didn't have before. It's true, attractive people receive different (better) treatment during the run of their whole lives, even by their own parents. Parents of unattractive kids treat them worse than parents of attractive kids treat their own, studies have shown 😲.
Park Bo-young is an adorable human being. They bring her in to play the dull reincarnated appearance of Sey's soul against the now beautiful Min. She also takes on a brasher, more grating personality. This is what I most hate about 🅰. it kills me to see them do that to Park Bo-young. When her hair and makeup are done right, she's gorgeous. As a ghost possessing her body, she criticizes her appearance in Oh My Ghost-10 as well, but it's played for laughs, and the rest of the show reinforces her attractiveness. She's the type of person who can look many different ways with makeup, wardrobe, and hair changes. She's a superb actress. As 🅰 progresses, her face gets softer. She starts looking a little more comfortable and, consequently, prettier. Ahn Hyo Seop doesn't have a lot to do other than look good. For what he was called to do, he's more than competent. It's just hard to assess his skills from this show.
Lee Sung Jae as the doctor is nothing short of fantastic. His character gets more irritating, though, as the show goes on. Why can't he just put that shaggy hair in a ponytail? It grates the eyes. Han So-hee, as Jang Hee Jin, is annoying in 🅰. She's great in Nevertheless-7.6, playing the quiet tortured type in that, as well. It's unclear if she can do anything else based on these features. Having to put up with her in 🅰 is wearisome.
Though it likely wasn't intended, the theme of the show is: Looks /do/ matter. They actually hammer in that theme ~repeatedly~. This romance is the worst. They're trying to push a narrative that he only ever liked her for her - the woman with the hideous soul. Yes, they had a friendship, but she treated him like doo-doo for 20 years. How could she not show shame? Why didn't she even apologize? She's shameless - so entitled. Small and mediocre; she's shown her soul❕ She even resents having to pose as his secretary, she's so bossy and selfish,. They try to make the case that she was always interested, but that's ridiculous. There's no connection between them that the viewer can feel (and these actors each connect with their co-stars in other dramas, so don't blame them). Sey shunned Min for his looks, and only now that Min looks better, she likes him. I'm probably not the only viewer who wanted him to end up with somebody better.
There are so many issues. Basically, it's people making stupid decisions, doing stupid things, running off stupidly, without asking for help or backup, as the director tries to force certain emotions, situations and plot points. For those of you who skew more logical, don't go near this. I'm half logic / half emotional, and it drove me nuts. Like trying to weed around rose bushes and constantly getting scratched by thorns, it's impossible to enjoy this. The supposedly tense times don't have any effect. The supposed cliffhangers are just big yawners. This show flat-lines.
I literally logged an entire page of problems with the production. Here's a sample:
☄ It's incomprehensible that a prosecutor would leave her door unlocked. If you know anybody in law enforcement, they know too many horror stories to do anything as naive as leaving a door unlocked. In fact, enhanced paranoia is a much more likely condition. We know a state prosecutor who won't let his wife go to the mall alone. Leave the door unlocked? Laughable.
☄ How would the killer know that Mr Park was in the hospital?
☄ Why does Hee Jin look the same after reincarnation? Despite her questionable soul, her face even cleared up. Is it just because the actress is hot?
☄ It's insulting that person would go into a dark & desolate area to meet somebody for a sales transaction, particularly after the trauma she'd been through. It's almost worse than horror movie stupid.
☄/Beyond/ horror movie stupid is the prosecutor running off on her own to rescue her parents at the restaurant. She has no weapon and no plan. She does have the police force at her disposal; she's a prosecutor for God's sake.
☄ They leave a dangerous villain with her phone which she uses to get rescued.
☄ They use an entire convoy - with video cameras - to take a murderer to his crime scene for a reenactment, but only one cop is needed to escort him to the restroom. It doesn't go well.
☄ Next there's a woman who helps out the killer and her reason is utterly ridiculous.
☄ Sey asks Min: ‘Wouldn't it be great to be rich?’ He IS rich. She KNOWS that. How moronic.
☄ Somebody that wealthy would have gotten his teeth fixed, wouldn't he?
Director Ja Won-yu is more than capable as shown with Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2 and Oh My Ghost-10, which is my favorite. This is an excellent director that dropped a dud. It happens. Around episode 12, I thought I could keep going. It got worse. By episode 14, I started sorting through mail and other things, only looking up once in awhile. It was continuing its downhill skid, and I couldn't take it. It isn't junk food. It's moldy food. Even the message it sends is rotten. Therefore, I would say don't let yourself slip and fall in. There's hundreds of more /attractive/ shows to watch first.
Time Better Spent: Here's a short list of lite & wispy, no-tears Kromcom recommendations that require no thinking:
Romance Is A Bonus Book-7.9, Forecasting Love and Weather-6.8 (not that good but not bad enough to trash + it's relaxing), A Witch's Love-8 (Actually great!), Mad For Each Other-7.7 (fun and short), Her Private Life-8 (a surprise winner), Live Up To Your Name-7.6 (solid and enjoyable), My First First Love-8 (simple & cute), & My Only Love Song-8.7 (hilarious), My Roommate Is a Gumiho-7.9 (the 2 leads make it worth it), Oh My Venus-7.4 (Shin Min Ah is great in everything) .
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine, but the ML pulls a stunt that many will find too obnoxious;
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9,
Hidden Love-7.8
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬42 📝51 🎭70 💓54 🦋53 🌞25 🎨43 ⚡45 🎵/🔊67 😅20 😭36 😱45 🤢46 🤔15 💤73 🔚68
Age 15+ Language: b!+ch, sh!+, b@$t@rd. Violence. Serial killings. Domestic abuse. Stabbing. Sex reassignment.
Re-📺? 🆖 That's only for masochists
Sadly, the show created its own Abyss, trying to make -4 = +4, to extract a sample from the feature. Mathematically, 1 negative in the mix only detracts & never adds + too many negatives will bring everything down into the abyss. A successful feature needs enough positives to negate those negatives. Does 🅰 teeter, or does it totter? Let's examine it.
The show has a similar twist to that of Shallow Hal. Hal is given the gift of seeing people as they are on the inside, not the superficial outside. Hal ends up falling in love with a corpulent, plain girl who has devoted her life to others as a volunteer, so to him, she looks like Gwyneth Paltrow. Go Se-yeon (“Sey”) is a prosecutor, and she's a looker. She's been friends with Cha “Min” since college. He's not attractive in the least, but as an heir to a cosmetics empire, his family is. They aren't attractive enough for Sey to accept Min, however. He's never told her, but he loves her, and there's little doubt that she knows this.
Sey wouldn't join Min in life, but she joins him in death: They are both murdered around the same time. Using an "Abyss," which is a beautiful sphere of light that can bring back the dead, Grim Reaper type beings resurrect them into bodies that reflect the beauty of their souls. Sey ends up average looking and Min, well Min ends up looking like Ahn Hyo Seop from Business Proposal-7 & Dr. Romantic. On his worst day he's a 9. They decide to work together to hunt down their killers. This stirs the villains into action and the show proceeds from there, but it's a bumpy and unsatisfying descent into a pitfall of poor dialogue, bad plot points, and general sloppiness. Abyss is abysmal.
Apparently, becoming more beautiful will improve somebody's personality. They made Min look like Super Dork in the opening clips of the show. After his exterior is transformed to match his internal beauty, he becomes intellectual, reasoned, thoughtful, and displaying social intelligence that he clearly didn't have before. It's true, attractive people receive different (better) treatment during the run of their whole lives, even by their own parents. Parents of unattractive kids treat them worse than parents of attractive kids treat their own, studies have shown 😲.
Park Bo-young is an adorable human being. They bring her in to play the dull reincarnated appearance of Sey's soul against the now beautiful Min. She also takes on a brasher, more grating personality. This is what I most hate about 🅰. it kills me to see them do that to Park Bo-young. When her hair and makeup are done right, she's gorgeous. As a ghost possessing her body, she criticizes her appearance in Oh My Ghost-10 as well, but it's played for laughs, and the rest of the show reinforces her attractiveness. She's the type of person who can look many different ways with makeup, wardrobe, and hair changes. She's a superb actress. As 🅰 progresses, her face gets softer. She starts looking a little more comfortable and, consequently, prettier. Ahn Hyo Seop doesn't have a lot to do other than look good. For what he was called to do, he's more than competent. It's just hard to assess his skills from this show.
Lee Sung Jae as the doctor is nothing short of fantastic. His character gets more irritating, though, as the show goes on. Why can't he just put that shaggy hair in a ponytail? It grates the eyes. Han So-hee, as Jang Hee Jin, is annoying in 🅰. She's great in Nevertheless-7.6, playing the quiet tortured type in that, as well. It's unclear if she can do anything else based on these features. Having to put up with her in 🅰 is wearisome.
Though it likely wasn't intended, the theme of the show is: Looks /do/ matter. They actually hammer in that theme ~repeatedly~. This romance is the worst. They're trying to push a narrative that he only ever liked her for her - the woman with the hideous soul. Yes, they had a friendship, but she treated him like doo-doo for 20 years. How could she not show shame? Why didn't she even apologize? She's shameless - so entitled. Small and mediocre; she's shown her soul❕ She even resents having to pose as his secretary, she's so bossy and selfish,. They try to make the case that she was always interested, but that's ridiculous. There's no connection between them that the viewer can feel (and these actors each connect with their co-stars in other dramas, so don't blame them). Sey shunned Min for his looks, and only now that Min looks better, she likes him. I'm probably not the only viewer who wanted him to end up with somebody better.
There are so many issues. Basically, it's people making stupid decisions, doing stupid things, running off stupidly, without asking for help or backup, as the director tries to force certain emotions, situations and plot points. For those of you who skew more logical, don't go near this. I'm half logic / half emotional, and it drove me nuts. Like trying to weed around rose bushes and constantly getting scratched by thorns, it's impossible to enjoy this. The supposedly tense times don't have any effect. The supposed cliffhangers are just big yawners. This show flat-lines.
I literally logged an entire page of problems with the production. Here's a sample:
☄ It's incomprehensible that a prosecutor would leave her door unlocked. If you know anybody in law enforcement, they know too many horror stories to do anything as naive as leaving a door unlocked. In fact, enhanced paranoia is a much more likely condition. We know a state prosecutor who won't let his wife go to the mall alone. Leave the door unlocked? Laughable.
☄ How would the killer know that Mr Park was in the hospital?
☄ Why does Hee Jin look the same after reincarnation? Despite her questionable soul, her face even cleared up. Is it just because the actress is hot?
☄ It's insulting that person would go into a dark & desolate area to meet somebody for a sales transaction, particularly after the trauma she'd been through. It's almost worse than horror movie stupid.
☄/Beyond/ horror movie stupid is the prosecutor running off on her own to rescue her parents at the restaurant. She has no weapon and no plan. She does have the police force at her disposal; she's a prosecutor for God's sake.
☄ They leave a dangerous villain with her phone which she uses to get rescued.
☄ They use an entire convoy - with video cameras - to take a murderer to his crime scene for a reenactment, but only one cop is needed to escort him to the restroom. It doesn't go well.
☄ Next there's a woman who helps out the killer and her reason is utterly ridiculous.
☄ Sey asks Min: ‘Wouldn't it be great to be rich?’ He IS rich. She KNOWS that. How moronic.
☄ Somebody that wealthy would have gotten his teeth fixed, wouldn't he?
Director Ja Won-yu is more than capable as shown with Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2 and Oh My Ghost-10, which is my favorite. This is an excellent director that dropped a dud. It happens. Around episode 12, I thought I could keep going. It got worse. By episode 14, I started sorting through mail and other things, only looking up once in awhile. It was continuing its downhill skid, and I couldn't take it. It isn't junk food. It's moldy food. Even the message it sends is rotten. Therefore, I would say don't let yourself slip and fall in. There's hundreds of more /attractive/ shows to watch first.
Time Better Spent: Here's a short list of lite & wispy, no-tears Kromcom recommendations that require no thinking:
Romance Is A Bonus Book-7.9, Forecasting Love and Weather-6.8 (not that good but not bad enough to trash + it's relaxing), A Witch's Love-8 (Actually great!), Mad For Each Other-7.7 (fun and short), Her Private Life-8 (a surprise winner), Live Up To Your Name-7.6 (solid and enjoyable), My First First Love-8 (simple & cute), & My Only Love Song-8.7 (hilarious), My Roommate Is a Gumiho-7.9 (the 2 leads make it worth it), Oh My Venus-7.4 (Shin Min Ah is great in everything) .
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine, but the ML pulls a stunt that many will find too obnoxious;
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9,
Hidden Love-7.8
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬42 📝51 🎭70 💓54 🦋53 🌞25 🎨43 ⚡45 🎵/🔊67 😅20 😭36 😱45 🤢46 🤔15 💤73 🔚68
Age 15+ Language: b!+ch, sh!+, b@$t@rd. Violence. Serial killings. Domestic abuse. Stabbing. Sex reassignment.
Re-📺? 🆖 That's only for masochists
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