kdrama-fanatic-1984

Some thing to pass the time...

I originally stopped watching this show midway and I wasn't sure why...I think I just got bored and it was at the part the ML almost ate up the FL. You would think I would want to watch more....but I didn't. Funny enough...I kinda wanted the FL with the SML. That dream she had look more lovely and natural than she had with the ML.

I'm not sure what to make of this drama....even the reunion in the last episode was so lacklustre. I finished it because I like to finish dramas. On a side note, I like the secondary couple...they were cute and so much more interesting than the leads.

The OST was okay and the acting was just alright. The obstacles they faced were so minuscule or were made to feel that way after a couple of episodes. I am not actually sure why or how they fell in love which makes their romance not believable.

You can watch it if just for the laughs here and there, surface-level romance and sneak peeks of Go Kyung Pro...Also, with that said, Hye Ri's performance does remind me a bit of Reply 1988.

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A let down in many areas!

This review is a hard one to write. I wanted this series to be good so bad! But I felt like it missed the mark for me in many areas. I know some others have watched it and think it is brilliant...but I'm sorry, It will only get a 7 for me because of it's one saving grace: the acting.

Let's start with that. The acting was by far the best thing about the series. Everyone portrayed their different roles beautifully, especially the ML...and I might have a preference for him. I love me some Junho...and it isn't even because of his singing career. I thought he did such a great job in Just Between Lovers... That was my introduction to him and he took my breath away there so I had to find out more about him and I also saw in in Wok of Love. What I love about him is that he totally embodies his characters and you see a different person in each drama he stars in. This is huge for me...though I appreciate it might not be the same for others. Whatever feeling he was portraying, I was right there along with him, being upset, sad, angry...I felt it. Kudos to all of the actors on this series.

Now...let's get into the not-so-good things that I disliked about the series. The storyline....what was that? I think the biggest disappointment for me was the pacing, the mood, as well as some of the major story elements. For example, the general mood, in the beginning, was a good balance between serious and light-hearted, with some hilarious moments between. Halfway through it was just serious...and sad..and depressing. I do not like that the tone of the series changed so dramatically.

The other thing was the pacing...some things moved SO SLOW and others were rushed. For example, all of the encounters in the library felt like such a slow burn and then all of a sudden, they love each other? Did I miss something? When did that happen? Also, why does she never admit that she loves him...to anyone...even herself?

The first couple of scenes with the tiger killing people was kinda ridiculous...I'm not gonna lie. Like, what was that? It made the show seem like it was pretending to be serious but it really wasn't.

Overall it felt like the writers changed halfway and it because a whole different beast. Also, I feel like they missed showing a few pivotal stuff to progress the storyline. Why did we never see the queen? What? When did the king marry again? We kept hearing about characters that we never saw once!

I'm feeling very let down about this. I can't watch it again and I wouldn't recommend it. I've seen that it's based on a particular story...not interested, more could have been done to make this something great.

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It Was Just Okay

So I JUST finished watching this drama and I had to create an account just so I could talk about it. Sigh...where to begin?

This drama wasn't bad, but it was just okay for me.

THE GOOD
This is a rom-com so let me talk about the romance and the comedy. The comedy was definitely there. I laughed until I cried almost every episode. The main comic relief was delivered by the side characters.

I love the wardrobe.

I liked watching the good-looking men.

THE BAD
The staring into each other eyes for eternity, does not a good drama make. So sick of it. Not to mention the lack-lustre kisses...especially when they haven't seen each other in a long time.

I couldn't believe their love. That's the truth. It happened fast, but it wasn't believable. It's so funny because I felt like the fL was more in love with him...idk... I believed the bond between the housewives more than anyone else. The ML and FL acting felt so stiff at times...especially the ML. I felt like I was watching my dad being awkward with his new girlfriend.

Also, what was that death with the second male lead? What? Why?

There were also so many things that made no sense whatsoever! It makes me mad really and I started to lose interest.

The FL felt so bipolar. She was presented as this strong woman but then her personality changed so much. SIGH. I'm sorry to be rambling but why is this scored so high? It's not all bad, but it's just okay! This can't see the likes of Goblin, Descendants, Weightlifting Fairy or even the lower budget I Am A Robot.

Don't get me wrong, there were times I teared up and not even over the mains. Kim Jung Hyun...you handsome guy you! You did well! And I believed his story. He's so good.

OMG! The eldest brother and his wife! OMG! I LOVE them!!! I would watch those two all day! They are so cute!

Think my rant is done now. I am glad that I watched it though because I would always be wondering.

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I wasn't ready....

1. For the violence
2. For the great reviews to be entirely right
3. For the emotional rollercoaster this series took me through
4. For the fantastic acting skills
5. For the newfound respect for all of the actors, including the two mains leads
6. To be missing them after the show had ended
7. To be pinning to see more of them
8. For the brutal honesty of this show
9. For the abuse
10. For the ending episodes

No, I would not watch it again...not because it wasn't a great show, but because I don't think my heart can handle it knowing how it plays out, especially at the end. I am a sucker for happy endings...this ending was not one. I do hope for a Season 2! I know many fans usually hope for a season two of their fav shows, but if you watch some of them, it won't make since. For this show, a Season 2 would make sense because it feels like the middle of the story. I'm here wondering what jobs the ML could do with his demeanour and outlook on life. I want to love on him...sigh...

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A Great Premise Haunted by Its Own Inconsistencies

Phantom Lawyer started off strong with an emotional and intriguing premise: a lawyer who can see ghosts connected to mysterious talismans left behind by a shaman. The early episodes were genuinely moving, with heartbreaking stories, unresolved regrets, and just enough supernatural mystery to keep me invested.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the series lost emotional momentum.

The biggest issue for me was the worldbuilding. The show wanted the mythology to feel deep and meaningful, but the rules surrounding the ghosts, possession, and talismans became increasingly inconsistent. We’re initially led to believe the main character is somehow “special” because he can see ghosts, only to later discover it’s mostly tied to incense left behind by the former tenant. Which immediately raises the question: if anyone can burn the incense, then what actually makes him unique?

The talisman setup also started to fall apart under scrutiny. There were dozens of talismans on the wall, each supposedly connected to a dead person drawn there by regret, yet ghosts conveniently appeared one at a time in neat storytelling order. Some had died recently, others decades ago, and the show never properly explains why certain spirits appear when they do. Instead of the mythology getting richer, it began feeling more like a weekly emotional formula.

The possession rules were another frustration. Early on, the show establishes clear conditions for ghosts taking over bodies, but later certain characters, especially the ML’s father, seem able to bend or ignore those rules whenever the plot requires it.

Emotionally, the drama also started running out of steam. By the time the story reached the father arc near the end, I found myself fast-forwarding through scenes that should have been the emotional climax of the series. The romance didn’t help much either. It never fully landed for me, and at one point I found myself more invested in the second male lead.

That said, the drama isn’t bad at all. Yoo Yeon-seok carries a lot of the show with charm and sincerity, and there are genuinely touching moments throughout. The premise itself is excellent. I just wish the writers had committed to deeper mythology, clearer supernatural logic, and stronger emotional escalation.

In the end, Phantom Lawyer felt less like a deeply haunting supernatural drama and more like a cozy emotional procedural that occasionally hints at greatness without ever fully reaching it.

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It was okay

I'm really not into older dramas. They really grate on me. I started watching Full House and had to stop. Decided to watch this one because it's so highly rated. I like Gong Yoo. I loved him in Goblin, but haven't watched him in anything else. Tried to watch Big and didn't feel it either. I even tried watching Princess Hours and had no luck.

This drama kept me mostly all the way through. However, was this even a romance? Yes, there were some cute moments here and there but the 'romance' felt more like a friendship and I am not sure how these two fell in love in the first place. Like what? I'm still waiting for it. I am not sure why the FL was mad most of the time and she annoyed me to no end. She was such a self, confused character. I would have preferred if she was actually a boy or a lesbian...would have made for a better story...like someone who is actually struggling.

Not much else to say except for the fact that it was long.

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Weak Hero Class 2: These Boys Need Parents, Therapy... and Apparently Another Fight — 8.5/10

I loved Weak Hero Class 2, but I do think this season assumes that you either just watched Class 1 or have a much better memory than I do. 😂 There are several callbacks to the first season that are emotionally important, but very little is done to remind you of exactly what happened. I watched Class 1 a while ago, so there were moments when I genuinely thought, Wait...should I have rewatched it before starting this?

A few carefully placed flashbacks would have helped enormously, especially because Si-eun's entire emotional state in Class 2 is shaped by what happened to Su-ho and Beom-seok.

That brings me to the dream sequence with Beom-seok. I genuinely thought they were telling me that Beom-seok had died! Si-eun is unconscious, Beom-seok appears, they talk, and then Si-eun says he has to leave, he can't say here with him. It had that very specific K-drama “I'm actually a ghost and it's time for me to go now” energy. 😂

I understand what they were probably trying to do. Beom-seok represents a huge part of Si-eun's trauma, anger and guilt, so perhaps that moment was supposed to represent Si-eun finally beginning to let that part of his past go. Emotionally, I get it. But the execution confused me more than it moved me.

One thing I absolutely loved, though, was Si-eun continuing to message Su-ho while Su-ho was in a coma. It was such a small thing, but it showed how much Si-eun still needed his friend. He would tell him what was happening, what he was struggling with, and eventually try to follow Su-ho's advice: don't fight, make friends, live your life.

That's why I REALLY wish the finale had given us Su-ho reading those messages after waking up.

Imagine him scrolling through everything Si-eun had sent while he was unconscious, realising just how much his friend had gone through without him, maybe tearing up at some messages and smiling at others. It would also have been the perfect opportunity to flash back to some of their conversations from Class 1 and show how Si-eun had finally started doing what Su-ho wanted for him.

I wanted more of that reunion in general. After everything Class 1 put those two through, Su-ho waking up was one of the most satisfying moments of the season, but I wanted more time with them together.

Class 2 also felt less brutal to me than Class 1. That's not a complaint, the violence is still very much there, but this season felt more emotionally focused on Si-eun allowing himself to form friendships again. Class 1 left him completely traumatised by what happened when he let people into his life. Class 2 is really about him slowly taking that risk again.
And I loved his new group.

Baku especially was fantastic. Ryeoun gave him so much warmth underneath all that physical strength, and I completely believed that people would follow him. The friendship between these boys became the heart of the season for me.

I do wish, however, that Si-eun had retained more of that Equalizer-style fighting intelligence from Class 1. He was never physically strong—that was the entire appeal. He observed people, calculated movement, used his surroundings and figured out how to beat people who were much stronger than him. We get glimpses of that Si-eun here, but I wanted more. Sometimes Class 2 had him fighting too conventionally when his brain was always his most interesting weapon.

I also have an issue with the final Baku/Baek-jin fight.

Baku challenged Baek-jin with clear stakes: if Baku's side won, Baek-jin would dissolve the Union and leave them alone; if Baek-jin's side won, Eunjang would join the Union. Baku and Baek-jin fought one-on-one—and Baek-jin beat him fair and square.

Then Si-eun stepped in. And I'm sorry...that felt like moving the goalposts. 😂

Si-eun kept Baek-jin fighting long enough for Baku to recover, and then Baku was able to get back into the fight. At that point, Baek-jin had essentially had to defeat TWO people. I was rooting for our boys, obviously, but fair is fair! I would much rather have seen Baku dig deep and eventually defeat Baek-jin himself. That would have made his victory feel completely earned.
And then Baek-jin dies.

For all the ridiculous gang politics, that ending reminded me of something the show occasionally makes very easy to forget:
These are children.

They're not even seniors! They're organising alliances, territories and power structures, beating each other half to death and behaving like grown men involved in organised crime. These boys haven't even had time to get girlfriends yet. 😭

Which leads me to my recurring question throughout BOTH seasons:

WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS?!

Si-eun gets hit by a TRUCK, wakes up, goes looking for his friends and essentially heads straight back into battle.
Excuse me?!

If my child was routinely coming home looking like he'd just completed a UFC title fight, we would not simply be seeing how tomorrow goes. Transfer schools. Homeschool. Move districts. Move COUNTRY. 😂 SOMETHING.

And the physical recovery time in this universe is hilarious. These boys take blows that would leave the average grown man in hospital for three days and show up at school the following morning with a Band-Aid and a slight limp.

Still, I loved this season.

Class 1 was devastating because it showed Si-eun discovering friendship and then having it ripped away from him. Class 2 gives him the courage to try again. He doesn't replace Su-ho, he expands his world. And by the time Su-ho finally wakes up, Si-eun isn't that completely isolated boy anymore.

The ending clearly leaves room for another chapter, with the Union potentially being rebuilt under new leadership and Su-ho finally awake.

If we get Class 3, there is one thing I NEED: Give me Si-eun and Su-ho together again.

And please, somebody call these children's parents.

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? A Sweet Romance That Lost Itself in Familiar Tropes

Dynamite Kiss started off with all the ingredients of a classic Cinderella romance. An ordinary woman unexpectedly catches the attention of a wealthy, handsome CEO, and before long, they're swept up in a whirlwind romance. The chemistry between the leads was good, and once they finally got together, they were genuinely fun to watch. Those happy moments were easily my favorite part of the series.
Unfortunately, that's also where the drama peaked.
As soon as the relationship became stable, the writers reached into the K-drama trope bag and started pulling out one cliché after another. First came the noble breakup. Instead of communicating honestly and facing their problems together, the female lead decided to lie to the man she supposedly loved "for his own good." It's one of my least favorite tropes because it manufactures conflict that could have been avoided with one honest conversation.
What frustrated me even more was that the lying was never really addressed. She repeatedly deceived him, pushed him away, and let him believe things that simply weren't true. Then, once everything was revealed, everyone just... moved on. No real accountability. No meaningful conversation about the hurt that was caused. The drama seemed to expect the audience to accept that love automatically erases dishonesty, and I just don't buy that.
The memory-loss storyline in the final episodes only added to my frustration. It felt like another unnecessary obstacle thrown in simply because the writers wanted more drama before the inevitable happy ending. By that point, I found myself rolling my eyes more than feeling emotionally invested.
I also struggled with the male lead's character. While his devotion was undeniably sweet, it eventually crossed into unbelievable territory. He became so completely consumed by the relationship that he almost stopped functioning as the capable businessman the drama initially introduced him as. I like romance where love adds another dimension to a character, not where it replaces their entire personality.
Ironically, I found myself feeling sorrier for him than rooting for the relationship. He spent much of the series being lied to, manipulated by circumstances, and emotionally hurt, all while remaining hopelessly devoted. The female lead, despite being kind and caring, never felt equally invested or particularly romantic to me. Even during the memory-loss arc, I kept wishing she'd fight harder and do more to help him remember instead of simply hoping things would fall back into place.
The ending itself was exactly what you'd expect: a proposal, a time jump, children, and a neat happy-ever-after. It wrapped everything up, but it didn't leave a lasting emotional impact.
Overall, Dynamite Kiss is an enjoyable romance with a strong first half and good chemistry between its leads, but it ultimately leans too heavily on familiar tropes instead of trusting the relationship it had already built. I finished it, but I couldn't help feeling that the drama's happiest moments came before the writers decided the couple needed to suffer for the sake of the plot.

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Pretty decent

First off...this is the shortest C-Drama I've ever watched...that being said, it wasn't drawn out or overdone! I think it was well presented, and the stories were explicit. I loved it. I loved how they took the time to tell almost everyone's story who was on the bus...at least the ones who they suspected. When the leads found out who the culprit was, I was like...why are there so many episodes left? Get the bomb off the bus, and you're good to go. However, it developed into so much more once the real culprits were discovered, and I loved how the story was written in such a way that you cared for every passenger by the end of the series. It is a must-watch for sure. I don't think it needed a romantic line, but they didn't dwell on it too much for it to be awkward. To me, it came out of nowhere, and it felt a bit out of place. I'm glad they started the romance off with a hug and not a kiss. As a romance fan, I would've been okay with a deep connection at the end because the drama didn't need it, in my opinion. Still a good watch. I love this kind of drama.

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Happiness is NOT what the Drama makes me feel!

Even though I rated this drama an 8, this is mainly because of the great acting. Boy can these people be scary as zombies....absolute terrors.

Let me start with the storyline...which is the major let down for me. I have no regard for any of these characters because even though they acted their socks off, writernim refused to tell their story properly. Hardly any back story...enough for me to care about what happens to them. I believe this was a disservice to what could have been a great drama.

There were a few plot holes and even updates that left me like: what? e.g. the cashier from the supermarket was already infected, why then did the creepy infected dude go after her when she went to get the guy's phone from outside? They allowed us to know that the infected know each other because their blood smells disgusting. bSo why?

Also, we already know that once you're infected you can't die unless you get shot in the brain...so why did they ML collapse as if he died? Now if the story told us he really died, I would've rated this show a 1 for breaking its own rules.

The acting was pretty phenomenal and I really enjoyed the OST.

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WOW! Just WOW!

I've watched so many dramas already. I always go for the usual romcom but I started watching the top-rated dramas recently regardless of genre. My Mister....wow... I laughed, I cried, I got angry and even depressed at times. I went through all sorts of emotion. There was no real romance per se but the love the two leads have for each other can not be denied. It wasn't a romantic love, but it was so much deeper, transcending time. I admire it and am also in awe of it. Beautifully portrayed through the actors, the music and the cinematography. It's a must-see for drama lovers even if you don't like this kind of genre. It's finished now and I am sad because I want to see more. I want more of the characters. I would gladly just watch them living their daily lives out because I've become so invested in them. To me this is what makes drama great to me.

Prepare your hearts and give it a watch. the ending is truly satisfying.

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Better than The King Eternal Monarch

You may be wondering why I am comparing this lower budget series to the big-budget, star-studded cast of The King Eternal Monarch. The main reason is that I was watching TKEM and good so incredibly bored and upset that I needed something to cleanse my palate. I'm not even sure what episode I stopped at? 11 maybe? I also do not know if I will be going back to it any time soon, but enough about that show.

I loved this 12-episode long series. It was the perfect length! Nothing seemed drawn out! In fact, I thought some things might have happened a bit too quickly.

The story wasn't original but I love a bit of sci-fi in my rom-coms. Some of the scenes did call for you to suspend belief. Like I know Holo is an AI but does that mean he can interact with anything digital? I don't believe that. The ending was great and realistic. A nice wrap up to the storyline. I had a issues with the storyline. Though minor, I couldn't get over how quickly the ML fell in love with the FL. I also was so annoyed with the FL acting like she had some sort of right to the glasses and making demands. THE GLASSES ARE NOT YOURS MA'AM! Lol. Also, was the AI that good that she couldn't tell the difference between the AI and a person? Sometimes they were so close together. No smell? No breath? You want me to believe that lady? Like, please!

The acting was great! I felt emotional when they wanted me to be and I believed the story all of the actors were telling. There wasn't any overacting and some of the scenes were really gripping. Be warned! You might shed a tear or two. Some of the scenes were hard.

The music didn't stand out for me but it was appropriate. I don't watch dramas for music anyways but I do note when the OST is great, annoying or just fitting into the background as it should be.

Would I rewatch? I don't think so. Even though it was a good show, I didn't get that invested in the different characters that I would miss them and want to watch again.

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“What if love didn’t end when life did?”

See You in My 19th Life takes one of the most romantic ideas in storytelling...reincarnation, and delivers it with humour, heart, and a beautiful twist on destiny. Shin Hye Sun shines as Ban Ji-eum, a woman who remembers every one of her past lives and is determined to reconnect with the boy she loved in her 18th one. Her performance is fearless, witty, emotionally layered, and completely magnetic. This is one of those roles only she could play.

The drama balances fantasy and reality brilliantly, yes, the premise asks you to believe in centuries of memories, but it roots everything in very human emotion: grief, longing, healing, and choosing love even when it hurts. It shows the beauty and the burden of remembering everything… especially when trauma follows from one life into the next.

What truly sets this drama apart is how cleverly interconnected every character is. The show crafts a web of fate that spans lifetimes: family, friendship, loyalty, love, all intertwined for reasons that slowly unfold in the most satisfying way. The emotional reveals? Perfectly executed.

The romance builds exactly the way I love Korean dramas to build: slow, meaningful, intentional. No childish behaviour from the female lead, no random misunderstandings dragged out for episodes. Instead, we get adults who actually talk and grow through their feelings. And the male lead? Such a soft, loyal, protective baby once he opens up.

The ending is one of the sweetest I’ve seen in a long time. There’s no unnecessary tragedy, just healing, destiny reset, and a love that gets to start fresh in a peaceful way. Even though she forgets her past, the people who love her are still right there, gently making their way back into her life. That final sentiment?

“Even if the memories disappear… our souls will still recognize each other.”

Is it absolutely perfect? Goblin and Mr. Queen still hold the crown for me, but See You in My 19th Life comes beautifully close. A couple small tropes here and there, but nothing that ruins the ride. Honestly, it’s the first drama in a very long time that had me completely hooked....I binged it in 2 days and got zero work done. Zero regrets.

If you love:
• fantasy mixed with fate
• slow-burn soulmate romance
• emotionally satisfying storytelling
• charming comedy without ridiculous characters
• and a FL who is bold, hilarious, and impossible not to love…

…this is your next obsession.

Final Verdict:
A beautiful, healing, and deeply romantic tale about souls meant to find each other—again and again and again.
A definite must-watch.

Score: 9/10 — Nearly perfect, and 100% unforgettable.

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Fishbowl Wives: Sometimes an Affair Isn't Really About Sex

I watched Fishbowl Wives some time ago and recently found myself going back to rewatch some of my favourite stories.
And I think I finally understand why this series stayed with me.
On the surface, Fishbowl Wives is easy to describe:
Six married women have affairs.
And yes, this is a very adult Japanese drama. There is sex. There is nudity. There are relationships that very clearly cross the line.
But surprisingly, I never felt like the sex was the point.
The longing was.
Each woman is missing something in her marriage, and what fascinated me was how different that “something” could be.
Sometimes it's safety.
Sometimes it's affection.
Sometimes it's being desired.
Sometimes it's being seen.
And sometimes, apparently, it's just having somebody genuinely appreciate your damn lunchbox. 😂
The Lunchbox Wife remains one of my favourite stories for exactly that reason.
This woman becomes almost ridiculously turned on by a man simply enjoying the food she prepares.
And watching it again, I realised there is something both hilarious and strangely believable about it.
Cooking is clearly one of the ways she expresses herself and shows love. Her husband doesn't particularly value it.
Then another man comes along and LOVES her food.
Not politely.
He genuinely enjoys this thing she creates.
And she practically short-circuits. 😂
It becomes erotic because it isn't really about the lunchbox.
It's about appreciation.
This man is enthusiastically receiving something she has been giving without feeling valued for it.
And suddenly you understand how something that seems incredibly small from the outside can become enormous inside a marriage.
I kept thinking:
Girl, if your husband had just eaten your lunch and told you it was delicious, we might not be here.
😂
And that's one of the things Fishbowl Wives does particularly well.
It doesn't necessarily excuse infidelity, but it explores the emotional conditions that can make somebody susceptible to it.
There's a difference.
The Headache Wife was another favourite, although for completely different reasons.
At first, her story appears to be giving us another forbidden romance.
There's this man. She's drawn to him. She's supposedly married. Her husband is always somewhere else.
So naturally you're thinking:
Oh boy. Here we go again.
Except...
THAT'S HER HUSBAND.
And suddenly the entire story changes.
Her trauma has affected her memory so profoundly that she doesn't consciously recognise her own husband, despite still believing herself to be married.
Yet she's drawn to him again.
There's something incredibly sad about that, but also incredibly romantic.
Her brain has lost him.
Somehow, her heart hasn't.
Of all the stories in Fishbowl Wives, that may actually be the sweetest interpretation of the show's central question: what draws us to another person?
Because remove the history.
Remove the marriage certificate.
Remove her conscious memory of their relationship.
And somehow...
she chooses him again.
Then, of course, there's Sakura.
Her story is the emotional backbone of the series, and hers is the affair I found easiest to understand.
She's trapped in an abusive marriage. Her husband humiliates her, controls her and cheats on her, while she has gradually lost the independent woman she used to be.
Then Haruto enters her life.
And what he gives her isn't merely sex or excitement.
He gives her tenderness.
Safety.
Attention.
A place where she doesn't have to make herself smaller.
So yes, technically we're watching a married woman fall for another man.
But emotionally, I spent most of the drama thinking:
Sakura, GET OUT OF THAT HOUSE.
And I desperately wanted her and Haruto to have their happy ending.
Which is why their eventual separation frustrated me.
I understand what the story was trying to do. Sakura needed to reclaim herself rather than simply move directly from one man into a life with another.
She needed to become Sakura again.
I actually respect that.
But I am ALSO a romance watcher.
So after everything these two put me through, I wanted my reunion! 😂
The final fireworks moment leaves that possibility open, but I would have happily accepted considerably less ambiguity.
What I appreciate most about Fishbowl Wives, though, is that it doesn't tell one story about infidelity six times.
The women aren't all cheating because they're bored and somebody hotter walked past.
Their circumstances are different.
Their marriages are different.
Their needs are different.
And therefore their affairs mean different things.
Some are romantic.
Some are sexual.
Some are escapes.
Some reveal how profoundly lonely someone has become inside a relationship that technically still exists.
And one of them isn't even quite the affair you thought you were watching.
That's why, despite the provocative premise and mature content, Fishbowl Wives never felt to me like a show that was simply trying to be scandalous.
It's much more interested in desire:
What do we need from the person we've chosen?
What happens when we stop receiving it?
And how enormous can one tiny act of attention become when you've been starved of it for long enough?
Apparently enormous enough that enjoying a woman's bento can have her ready to risk it ALL.
And somehow?
I get it. 😂
8.5/10.
Sexy, messy, surprisingly thoughtful and far more emotionally interesting than its premise initially suggests.
Come for the forbidden affairs.
Stay for the unexpected realisation that sometimes the thing threatening a marriage isn't some irresistible sex god.
Sometimes somebody just ate the damn lunch and said it was delicious. 😂

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Satisfying Revenge… But Was This Really an 18-Year Plan?

Well. I said at the end of Part 1 that I needed to see whether The Glory could land all the pieces it had placed on the chessboard.

And... Kind of? 😂

Let me start by saying that I still enjoyed The Glory Part 2. I binged all 16 episodes of this drama in basically two days, so clearly the series had me.

The performances remained fantastic. I wanted to see these horrible people get what was coming to them, and there was absolutely satisfaction in watching their lives unravel.

But by the end, I had one major problem: I don't believe this was an 18-year revenge plan.

I believe Dong-eun spent 18 years preparing herself to pursue revenge. That's different.

Because so much of what eventually brings these people down depends on circumstances that Dong-eun couldn't possibly have predicted.

She couldn't have known 18 years ago that Yeon-jin would marry a wealthy, successful man.
She couldn't have known she'd have a daughter with Jae-jun.
She couldn't have known what relationships, addictions, jealousies and secrets would develop among the group as adults.

Some of the most useful information Dong-eun gets isn't the result of some meticulously constructed master plan either. Hyeon-nam suggests stealing a phone. They discover information. Dong-eun adapts.
And to be fair, Dong-eun is excellent at adapting.
Give that woman a new piece of information and she'll find a way to weaponise it.

But that's excellent improvisation.

It's not an 18-year plan.

And I think Part 1 had made me expect something much more meticulous. I wanted REVENGE CHESS.

I wanted Yeon-jin to discover Dong-eun's plan, try to counter it and then realise: Oh shit. She knew I'd do that too.

I wanted reveals that showed Dong-eun had been ten moves ahead of everyone.

Instead, once she put enough pressure on this already dysfunctional group of terrible people, they largely began destroying each other.

That's still satisfying.

It's just not the revenge story I thought the first half was setting up.

Some of the punishments also felt downright haphazard.

Jae-jun's ending is probably the best example. Hye-jeong puts something in his eye drops that affects his vision. He uses them while driving. He crashes. He survives. Then he somehow ends up at a construction site, where someone...apparently Ha Do-yeong...pushes him into wet concrete. WHAT?! 😂
That's not Dong-eun executing an intricate revenge plan. That's a man having the worst day imaginable.

And strangely enough, Jae-jun was probably the only one of the original group I felt even a tiny bit sorry for. He was still an awful person. But discovering that Ye-sol was his daughter seemed to awaken something genuinely human in him. He was HAPPY to have a daughter. He wanted her. He was proud of her.

It didn't redeem him, but it made him more complicated than simply “horrible rich bully,” which made his ending hit differently for me.

I also expected the revenge itself to be a little more brutal.

Listen. I KNOW how this sounds. 😂

But after watching what these people did to Dong-eun as a teenager, I expected a little more poetic justice.

Nobody gets burned?! Not even a LITTLE curling iron?! COME ON.

Then there's Yeo-jeong. Sir. YOU SHOWED ME A DRAWER FULL OF KNIVES. You told this woman you'd be her executioner.
You had that slightly unhinged little smile while helping her carry out her revenge. I was READY for this man to reveal that underneath the sweet doctor exterior was somebody you absolutely did not want as an enemy.

And then...
Not enough psycho!
😂

I didn't necessarily need him to become a murderer. Dong-eun herself doesn't cross that line, so it would have been strange for her partner to suddenly start stacking bodies.

But I wanted something a little more deranged from him while still keeping him on the safe side of the line.
The darkness was THERE. Lee Do-hyun sold it. I just don't think the story did enough with it.

Which brings me to my biggest structural issue with the ending.

For me, Dong-eun reaching the rooftop after completing her revenge felt like the natural endpoint of her story.
I didn't want her to die.
But everything after that felt like the beginning of another season.

Yeo-jeong's mother appears and stops her. Dong-eun learns more about his suffering. Suddenly we're moving into HIS revenge story. There's another plan. Dong-eun and Yeo-jeong reunite. Their relationship finally moves forward. We get the kiss, the “I love you,” and the two of them heading into the prison to begin another revenge mission.
And I kept thinking: This should have been the next story.

Yeo-jeong's trauma was interesting enough that I wish the series had either woven it more substantially throughout the main revenge plot or saved it for a proper continuation.

Instead, his story felt comparatively underdeveloped until the end.

So Part 2 didn't quite deliver the mastermind revenge fantasy that Part 1 had me expecting.

But I still enjoyed the hell out of watching it.

Lim Ji-yeon was phenomenal.
Song Hye-kyo was perfectly suited to Dong-eun.
Lee Do-hyun made me desperately want approximately 15% more psycho from an otherwise lovely man. 😂
And the entire cast made these characters compelling enough that I flew through sixteen episodes.

7.5/10.

Very good. Very satisfying in places. Still addictive.

But Part 1 made me believe I was watching an 18-year master plan unfold.

Part 2 made me realise I was watching an incredibly determined woman who had prepared for 18 years—and then became very, very good at working with whatever opportunities presented themselves.

There's a difference.

And unfortunately for The Glory, I wanted the chessmaster.

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