This review may contain spoilers
Pain and more pain.
What is My Country but a fairly mixed bag of a beautifully heartwenching story at its core, a bittersweet taste from beginning to end, a hugely cinematographic production with nice shots, wonderful OST, powerful and breathtaking acting, some of the best and most layered characters I've seen in fiction, very deep brotherhood/friendships (as well as an awful lot of toxic dynamics...), an OK romance on the side, good comedy sometimes... and a decidedly less than great writing that REALLY sours the soup ? I've seen this drama some time ago, as it was one of my first ever k-dramas. I got obsessed with it, watched 3 or 4 times, loved it, hated it at the same time, then buried it in my memory. Lately, I decided to rewatch it and see if it was as I remembered it to be and if I loved it or hated it.
Somehow, I still don't know exactly.
Honestly, this won't be a spoiler to say that this is extremely sad. Almost every glimpse of happiness, of hope, of light that can arise sometime will be blown away by more sadness, despair and disappointment every time and you'll see this right from the start. I guess it's true to life and I would say don't really watch it if you're depressed... but for some reason, while I am already a fairly sad person, this didn't really worsen my emotional health. Somehow, it almost helps me cope with some things better. So do with it what you want. That's neither a good nor a bad point. It's just that.
Now, although I would simply love to love it without excuse, there are just too many things that miss the spot in this drama. To be fair, I'd say from episode 1 to episode 9-10, it was fantastic. This could have secured its place among my favourite shows, without any big 'buts'. But then... something happened. Was it the EXTREME redundancy that started to appear in writing, plot, dialogues, set up, everything ? The sometime overly dramatic tone just to keep the tension going that kind of gets old at some point ? The one too many unsurvivable-wound-they-still-somehow-magically-managed-to-survive-from ? The constant hate/love chase between the MLs that began to really feel too much like an excuse and got to the point that it was kind of pathetic and seriously cringe ? *sigh*
It's like it could have been grandiose. But it was not. And that's so frustrating to me. This is not a terrible drama. When it's good, it's very good. There are some awesome ideas and it's never boring. It cannot leave you indifferent, unless you simply don't care at all about these characters and the plot. If you do, even just a little, it IS entertaining and gripping.
But when it's bad... well. There are some terrible writing, some terrible moments, even some terrible episode parts entirely. And that's too bad. I'm also a bit disappointed by the ending in some regards, because the emotional tension rose so HIGH on so many levels and it felt a bit underwhelming to me, like it still needed some more wrap up. Particularly regarding Bang Won and his father and all that. The last scene with Bang Won should have been more... intense ? After everything that happened. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. At least we had this last scene with him (I think I've read somewhere Jang Hyuk himself asked to make this scene as he felt it was necessary - he definitely was right). And I'm complaining but the last two or three episodes are basically what made it feel all worthwhile to me. So contrary to some dramas where the ending ruined the show for me, here it didn't, at all. That's a great thing.
In clear, if you're not too bothered by quality dropping midway, inconsistent and sometimes cringeworthy writing, unrealistic wounds survivability (but hey, at least they don't fly in the air like in some sageuk), dramatic, draggy and repetitive dialogues, extreme sadness as well as frustration, and you love '''''''historical''''''' fiction, great acting, beautiful OST, emotional rollercoaster and complex characters, I think you could love this show. It's not the most perfect in the world. But it's alright, especially the first half and the last episodes that are very good. And it will not leave you indifferent.
If I live long enough to forget about it again, I would probably watch it once more. Just to be sure.
Somehow, I still don't know exactly.
Honestly, this won't be a spoiler to say that this is extremely sad. Almost every glimpse of happiness, of hope, of light that can arise sometime will be blown away by more sadness, despair and disappointment every time and you'll see this right from the start. I guess it's true to life and I would say don't really watch it if you're depressed... but for some reason, while I am already a fairly sad person, this didn't really worsen my emotional health. Somehow, it almost helps me cope with some things better. So do with it what you want. That's neither a good nor a bad point. It's just that.
Now, although I would simply love to love it without excuse, there are just too many things that miss the spot in this drama. To be fair, I'd say from episode 1 to episode 9-10, it was fantastic. This could have secured its place among my favourite shows, without any big 'buts'. But then... something happened. Was it the EXTREME redundancy that started to appear in writing, plot, dialogues, set up, everything ? The sometime overly dramatic tone just to keep the tension going that kind of gets old at some point ? The one too many unsurvivable-wound-they-still-somehow-magically-managed-to-survive-from ? The constant hate/love chase between the MLs that began to really feel too much like an excuse and got to the point that it was kind of pathetic and seriously cringe ? *sigh*
It's like it could have been grandiose. But it was not. And that's so frustrating to me. This is not a terrible drama. When it's good, it's very good. There are some awesome ideas and it's never boring. It cannot leave you indifferent, unless you simply don't care at all about these characters and the plot. If you do, even just a little, it IS entertaining and gripping.
But when it's bad... well. There are some terrible writing, some terrible moments, even some terrible episode parts entirely. And that's too bad. I'm also a bit disappointed by the ending in some regards, because the emotional tension rose so HIGH on so many levels and it felt a bit underwhelming to me, like it still needed some more wrap up. Particularly regarding Bang Won and his father and all that. The last scene with Bang Won should have been more... intense ? After everything that happened. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. At least we had this last scene with him (I think I've read somewhere Jang Hyuk himself asked to make this scene as he felt it was necessary - he definitely was right). And I'm complaining but the last two or three episodes are basically what made it feel all worthwhile to me. So contrary to some dramas where the ending ruined the show for me, here it didn't, at all. That's a great thing.
In clear, if you're not too bothered by quality dropping midway, inconsistent and sometimes cringeworthy writing, unrealistic wounds survivability (but hey, at least they don't fly in the air like in some sageuk), dramatic, draggy and repetitive dialogues, extreme sadness as well as frustration, and you love '''''''historical''''''' fiction, great acting, beautiful OST, emotional rollercoaster and complex characters, I think you could love this show. It's not the most perfect in the world. But it's alright, especially the first half and the last episodes that are very good. And it will not leave you indifferent.
If I live long enough to forget about it again, I would probably watch it once more. Just to be sure.
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