Brogana Sunfrog

rating is skewed. Slow paced takes patience to enjoy. Dated definition of "manly"

This was one of the first K-dramas I ever watched and at the time the genre was unique to me & I said: "I love it, it's sweet & clean" ! Some years later I say: it's different than most the things I now gravitate towards & I'm not sure I have the patience to enjoy it again. It's slow paced with alot of employment union content. The minor character stuff takes up a bit of screen time and was uninteresting to me.
Male lead is very old school definition of "manly" (visually unpolished & bulky compared to Male leads in dramas today. He throws his weight around & is un refined. The kiss at the end is not very romantic & is not actually something you want to watch. If you want all your warm fuzzies intact I say :Stop watching after
airport kiss, because the rest is filler & will leave you with less of a euphoric high.

The female lead looked like she had lip injections.

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Tediously over long with too many resuscitations & escapes

the kisses & Dylan Wang were swoon worthy but this drama is tediously over long. HOW many times should a character die & miraculously return to life ? Few enough so that we care!
Also; People are escaping so often or being set free from prison in the fairy realm that prison seems more like a joke. The series would have been much better if it had 10 less episodes. The ending was anti climatic, brief & suspiciously unexplained( too much like a dream than reality. Sadly, By the time the drama ended I had lost all affection for the characters. It at least should have ended in Ep 32 with The male lead in his dream state ! Too little warmth & fun & too much filler & situation repeats.

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Serious issues were dealt with in such a way that I was engaged not traumatized.

Initially I didn't think that I would like this as it seemed like a melodrama with & family issues & heavy emotional trauma is not interesting to me.
[I don't EVER want to ugly cry over my entertainment ].
So I was shocked at how unexpectedly likeable this drama was !
The serious issues were dealt with in such a way that I was engaged but not traumatized.
It didn't quite hit the 10/10 for me because;

1) I kept wondering : WHY does the male lead like the female lead ?
All I could come up with was that his mother was not extremely warm to him, so he may have interpreted coldness & being treated a certain way as love?

2) There was a bit too much bickering before the happy ending [though the way they ended it soothed it over.]

They made some bold choices with the OST.I didn't' particularly like the style of music (or the fact that it was all (?) in English) , but it added a quirkiness that went well with the theme. Really, though, it's a Korean drama so it should have had more Korean music-but perhaps that's just because English is my 1st language & so it doesn't have the same charm for me.

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Great Ensemble. Great Cast. Some couples relationships are only resolved in season 2

Very SLOW burn romances. Medical drama balanced out with the light hearted relationship between the 5 doctors. All episodes end with a song that they perform together as a band & sometimes with a flashback to when they were all in college/training together. I don't normally watch any kind of medical drama but this was not too heavy on the hospital trauma side . The end left it open for the sequel & teased at a mystery one of the doctor's might have. It was hard to not get a conclusion to all the couple's stories though. I really liked all the characters as an ensemble & might rewatch this-depending on how well season 2 finishes things off.

Note: I did not like Season 2 as much, yes the relationships are "tidied up" but. It was weird & unsatisfying . If you need relationship resolution then I suggest you just fast forward to the end of season 2 !

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Shocking living conditions give way to bonding & an unexpected hero

well "bizarre" is right but it was Kian, not the B&B that was bizarre! From bad hygiene to using his shorts (that he was wearing) as a sort of kangaroo pouch to carry odd things [like an eating bowl ] we get to see him realize that the fun house (s) he imagined are in reality impractical & a pain to navigate, much less live in. He's not actually that funny, yet he laughs off each of his many misstep, while the poor guests plaster on smiles because they are on camera. For his age (40?) he came off childish & not in a cute way. Things get better as the episodes go on, but this is a specific kind of humor that you either enjoy or loath. Ji Ye Eun spends the majority of the show laughing to mask her discomfort & it gets old REAL fast. Her shrieks that are a prelude to a laugh are grating & she does it over & over & over & over again. Thankfully by the last few episodes she's too fatigued to do more than emit a weak chuckle. Netflix (seemingly) chose the guests & they did a decent job, except when they added a chubby guest who must have felt humiliated to find himself needing alot of assistance with climbing a rock wall as well as a fireman's pole. Kian & Ji Ye Eun don't actually have the personalities to pull off a show like this on thier own. What with the bathroom cleaning getting way too much screen time [& supposedly being comedic ???] and people gagging in a smoke filled rooms due to lack of kitchen venting (???? why) this show could have tanked if not for the unexpected blindingly capable Kim Seok Jin. He's rarely shown a mature side (except infrequently in BTS's In the Soop" series) & even though he's the eldest of his group, he's not even the leader of BTS. Seeing him step up & become the "adult" one was not something I anticipated. He really gives it his all here & works hard to give the guests good food & a good time. He's also the one who insists that Kian not cut corners for the sake of comfort, but stay with his original rules for the B&B [as he knows a good bit about what people are interested in watching {from experience!} ] sadly, You get the feeling that this might be a dreadful nightmare for him as he gets a bit of military de ja vu - 24/7 no privacy [even in his sleep] Cooking, cleaning & doing a whole lot of back breaking physical activity . The last few episodes have him rather haggard & clearly pushing himself to the finish line . Really, he is the glue that holds this show together & why the show works. He endearingly underplays his celebrity status & tries hard to make the people around him comfortable. Cooking, cleaning, serving, & putting up with Kian & Ji Ye Eun would test anyone's patience & he comes out looking like a hero .

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Male lead shines in this modern Snow White/Maid Marion mash up of a plot

I took off points from a perfect score because of 3 things:
1) Prosecutor's obsession with female lead felt creepy.
2) Female lead promises multiple times to stay safe by staying put & she doesn't, which puts her in danger (this trope MUST die!)
3) Female Lead's best friend's storyline was jarring, 1 dimensional & detracted from main story. What she has with her guy is not a relationship & not romantic !
Now for the positive:
All those car accident, kidnapping & torture tropes; where the music sets you up to be scared? Well here you get the scary music, but those tropes don't happen. No One dies & relationships that matter are mended by the end, (AND you get your warm fuzzies!). Issues are resolved quickly, (though I am getting sick of the clueless male & female serenely navigating the world with a superior air trope). At least it wasn't heavy handed here. Leads are great in this. I wasn't really sold on thier chemistry, but the male lead sells it, so I let it slide. A very enjoyable Rom Com. The female lead was a kind of Snow White/maid Marion mash up living with her menagerie of merry men dwarves , but also get's her "prince"/hero!

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Plot revolves are suicide & reincarnation> Good Main character chemistry

Family & historical/period dramas are not something I ever watch, so I passed on this series for a few months, but eventually the good reviews & the promise of a happy ending got me curious enough to give this series a try. The first episode almost made me quit because it dealt with suicide & reincarnation which put me off. The whole plot hinges on these 2 things so in order to watch this I had to treat them simply as fantasy elements. The stories of the individuals that were being "helped" in every episode were unpleasantly heart wrenching & unbearably tragic. The over arching story was also extremely sad. What sold it for me & kept me going was not only the acting, but the the chemistry between the 3 main characters. Yook Sung-jae's character was particularly compelling, (like a stray lost puppy). I was satisfied to get an old fashioned happy ending for all 3 main characters. So, although loathed many elements of this series, I really found the family element & the premise of odd people finding their match, & redemption enough to give this a high rating. I typically purchase a series if I rate it highly, but this series is not one that I will watch again, just too much tragedy & heavy drama

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Unexpectedly serious tone doesn't weigh it down. but also enjoyable & smile inducing

Park Eun Bin's perkiness & smile are infectious. Many times she believably radiates joy, which adds a great deal to the appeal of this drama. Considering that she did not train as an idol, It's impossible to be unimpressed by her singing. If you saw her in Extraordinary Attorney Woo, you will feel some similarity in the characters, but she was probably cast in this drama because of her ability to portray innocent yet scrappy. I had some annoyance at how there seemed to be storyline gaps, but the answers were doled out in little bits here & there as the drama progressed. It was unexpected & sad to see Kim Joo Heon & Lee Seung Joon as antagonists. The series has a happy ending in ep.11 but continues on with another episode , over coming the "hitch" in the happiness to give us a fully satisfying ending, with enough time to actually feel completely engulfed in warm fuzzies. The series was a lot more serious than I expected, yet the somber themes did not weigh it down. overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable & smile inducing it was.

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Seo In Guk shines. Leads bicker.Good premise. unbalanced humor with suspense/horror

18 Episodes is an interesting length for a series. The male lead ,Seo In Guk,shines ( in a role that is not that different from ones he has played before). I really had a hard time looking at the female lead Oh Yeon Seo, as she looked like she had lip injections that had not gone well ( it was distracting from her performance) (if you look at older pictures of her she looks very nice & normal !). The romance was a hard sell for me as I don't find an abundance of bickering & physical abuse romantic. Plus, they didn't give a good reason for why the male lead liked the female lead. Overly goofy acting & helped alleviate some of the tension from the suspense & horror of the often too graphic murders , but the balance of extreme humor & extreme grisly stuff did not work for me. All in all, though, Seo In Guk & head cop Jung Man Shik (who have been in dramas together before) really made this great. I was surprised at the very clever reveal of who the head bad guy turned out to be. this is very rewatchable because the premise is very good & well executed and the male lead really sells it.

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Light on the tropes, but alot of crying, Some romance. Good Character growth

I watched it & I bought the dvds (which is rare for me.) Awkward, unimpressive start that was heavy on the drama.
I was pleasantly surprised that the story had the characters showing depth, introspection & evolvement. There was just enough romance ( & a happy ending) & I was glad to see that the side characters didn't create extremely uncomfortable love triangles (or leave you conflicted about them not being chosen by the leads.) There also was not a load of K-drama tropes. Nor did they throw an endless pile of set backs to keep the story going. A few times I felt boredom setting in but the story mostly progressed at a good rate & I really liked the resolution they gave the characters. The soundtrack did not stand out. The acting was decent. The actor's chemistry was OK. You will want a few boxes of tissues nearby....when the guys cried it was more convincing than when the girls cried. (and there is alot of crying !)
the soundtrack really could have been better.
the ending was too abrupt.

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Underwhelming Bro-mance/Family dynamics centric story with alot of crying

I'll just admit it; there are popular actors & actresses that inexplicably I just don't like. Park Bo Gum is one such actor. With that in mind; this series was a boring waste of time for me. It was a great showcase for Park Bo-gum to try out being a villain, a historical prince, a runway model & the boy next door acting abilities. This is a Bro-mance/Family dynamics centric story, with a bland romance & a half hearted loved triangle. All 3 main leads had endless in-family fighting, which led to those characters crying. ALOT. This was an unambitious laid back series, free of most K-drama tropes, almost. Then you are confronted with my most hated trope : the break up and the multi year time lapse before the ending. After putting up with a plodding plot & constant family stress, you get an ending with the 2 leads teasing each other as they walk towards the horizon, which actually only leaves you with the hope that they will get back together. Wow. Underwhelming & not worth the investment.

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Handsome men. Overstuffed convoluted plot that deserves a better ending

Overstuffed convoluted plot & overly long series-would be much better with 10 less episodes. Cast boasts alot of handsome males & a very perky attractive female lead (who seems a bit limited in expressiveness), but then again her character is written a bit flat & narrowly business focused. Ding Yu Xi plays a very similar character as he had in many other dramas & if you're not tired of seeing him cast that way, then settle in & enjoy. The romance makes little to no sense except from the point of view that the male lead's character has a bad judge of character when it comes to women & is married to 2 harpies making anyone less like a harpy more attractive ! Romances of secondary characters start out interesting but their stories end up unsatisfyingly bland or abrupt . Male lead's character is both very hardy ( survives 3 stabbings & yet somehow is also extremely fragile ( suffers nightmares, phobias, fevers, weakness when it comes to physical labor. ) On the other hand, the female lead is stronger mentally & physically.

Spoiler:
there is a 1 year time skip at end (which "steamed my clams")
During which male lead pines away, (not knowing if she is dead-while female lead does not even let him know she's alive as pragmatically decides to keep her distance, even after she meets up with him again.) The trope of singularly job/career/ focused female leads and male leads who are the more emotionally invested is getting extremely tiresome.

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Unpleasant Female lead & love story doesn't work

This bite size drama series was just the right length, but the way the female lead was written made me dislike her. Her attitude of; " I'm pretty & entitled & give me, give me " made me not care. Likewise, it was hard to feel much sympathy for the male lead as really, he fell in love with her 8 years prior & hasn't she changed since then (I mean you HOPE so!)? it kind of boiled down to a comfortable, we know each other better than anyone else thing & I can't say that it felt like either of them was in love. Male lead was too easy going & puts up with everything because he's afraid to make waves that float him away from his crush ? Ultimately this romance did not work for me. Plus-there is a time skip...AGH! !! {oh & At first I tried to watch on Disney+ and it was dubbed which totally ruins it. I did figure out, though, that I can change the language setting on Disney + so yay for that !. }

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Satisfying romance with nightmare scary side story

my rating is a bit high considering that the series has a a huge spectrum that swings from silliness to violence.
Thugs act like the 3 stooges in so many scenes that it got on my nerves. Then you have a serial kidnapper on the loose & he is nightmare scary. End is happy & romance is satisfying. You know you've got the right guy when it's the one who appreciates & loves you as a whole person, fully accepting your quirks & talent.(AND isn't intimidated by either), letting you be herself. I will rewatch, but not the very end as family life they depict is so silly it dampens the romantic happy ending they already served up.

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