The plot is so juvenile, and honestly so is the direction; no wonder the ratings are low. You can't expect people to stay invested when your protagonist is this painfully boring to watch. i got annoyed by the complete lack of body language from the protagonist. I don't think i've ever seen a character this passive. He barely reacts when he talks, barely moves when he walks. Like I get it, dude, you're very calm and composed, but that's so caricatured. The video call scene in the first ep is absolutely abysmal. I was cringing at the acting, which is surprising because i absolutely loved "the dearest". i'm worried people are going to notice the lack of versatility in his characters because, out of the three shows i have watched of him, the acting is very formulaic. The dialogue is also painfully one dimensional. there's a serious lack of overlap or spontaneity in the dialogues. I can't even pinpoint everything wrong because it's the entire execution. I don't see how this show recovers with direction this bad, even if the plot somehow magically turns interesting later on. so i for one second the ratings, if i'm being uncharacteristically generous.
it was definitely more thrilling and binge-worthy than season 1. just the finale was a bit lacklustre compared to s1. the cases themselves were more dramatic. my favorite was the second case fs. s1's submarine case is still the benchmark for me.
Nooooo!!! So Hui, why would you concede at the last moment??? I'm so pissed!! I think the winner deserved to win, but so did So Hui!! Honestly, I think she deserved it even more. She literally had her answer, and both of them were at a stalemate!!! Ughhh, I'm so frustrated. I wanted her to win. She literally stood there for days while in pain and still beat him in every match in the finale, but goddamn, luck just wasn't on her side. She needs to believe in herself and be more assertive. I seriously think she backed down at the end because she knew he wouldn't, so she thought the only way to end it was for her to back down. But why??!!!!
This is living proof that we don't care about the plot as long as the romance is carrying. The second the romance gets stagnant, it becomes boring. Yes, I'm looking at you, last two episodes.
i lowkey think six eps is the sweet spot for shows like this. it's long enough for you to connect with the characters in a way a movie often can't, but short enough that the writers don't have to stretch the story with unnecessary plotlines just to fill sixteen eps. it feels intentional, which i like.
honestly, i get why a lot of viewers aren't liking the last two eps. the main reasons people liked this drama in the first place were the chemistry, the comedy, and the romantic moments. most of them never cared much about the plot to begin with. paint me guilty too. now, has the drama taken a less exciting turn? yeah, it has icl. but i also think some of the negative reception comes from the story developing in a direction people didn't want, which doesn't take a genius to figure out. the thing is, if the leads had just stayed their usual lovable selves with zero problems coming their way, that would've been unrealistic too. ironically, i'm talking about realism in a completely fictional drama, but you get my point. the show basically had two options, either stay stagnant or take a turn that would make some viewers roll their eyes. it clearly chose the latter. and honestly, i'm not convinced the response would've been drastically different if it had chosen the former. i remember plenty of dramas where i'd stop watching the moment the couple got together or made up. at that point, i had no reason to continue. in contrast, i'm actually going to keep watching this one precisely bcz idk what's going to happen next, even though we all know they'll end up together. that's the difference. i think the show is trying to keep viewers invested beyond the usual "guy chases girl, they fall in love, and everything is rainbows and sunshine" formula. whether it's working is another discussion, but i can at least see what it's trying to do. honestly, i'm also conflicted because i don't love the direction the show took either. i just don't think the alternative would've been nearly as engaging in the long run. that said, people are obviously allowed to dislike it. i'm just not surprised that the backlash started the moment the drama stopped giving viewers exactly what they had signed up for.
finished four episodes, and i genuinely don't know what you guys are seeing that i'm not, bcz this is mid as hell. it's super funny at times, but the novelty of the comic timing wears off once it becomes repetitive. i can almost always guess what's about to happen, to the point where it stops being funny. kdramas have always relied on the same type of comedy. The difference here is that the character dynamics are far messier and more grounded, which i do appreciate. i love choi dae hoon's character (had to look up his name, lol) more than anyone else in the cast for that exact reason. if you ask me what i like about the show besides the comedy, tho... crickets. i can't seem to care about the plot at all. most of the time, it feels like the cast (only a few of them actually) is doing all the heavy lifting for an unexciting plot. i couldn't care less about the villains either. Somehow they're all less interesting than the NPCs. i'll keep watching for the sake of that one scene that went viral tho. that shit is funny as hell. edit: surprisingly enough, i wasn't impressed by eun bin either. idk maybe the character wasn't finely tuned. but it felt more flat than it looked in the trailer. i love that woman's acting but this wasn't it man.
i got annoyed by the complete lack of body language from the protagonist. I don't think i've ever seen a character this passive. He barely reacts when he talks, barely moves when he walks. Like I get it, dude, you're very calm and composed, but that's so caricatured. The video call scene in the first ep is absolutely abysmal. I was cringing at the acting, which is surprising because i absolutely loved "the dearest". i'm worried people are going to notice the lack of versatility in his characters because, out of the three shows i have watched of him, the acting is very formulaic.
The dialogue is also painfully one dimensional. there's a serious lack of overlap or spontaneity in the dialogues. I can't even pinpoint everything wrong because it's the entire execution. I don't see how this show recovers with direction this bad, even if the plot somehow magically turns interesting later on.
so i for one second the ratings, if i'm being uncharacteristically generous.
now, has the drama taken a less exciting turn? yeah, it has icl. but i also think some of the negative reception comes from the story developing in a direction people didn't want, which doesn't take a genius to figure out.
the thing is, if the leads had just stayed their usual lovable selves with zero problems coming their way, that would've been unrealistic too. ironically, i'm talking about realism in a completely fictional drama, but you get my point.
the show basically had two options, either stay stagnant or take a turn that would make some viewers roll their eyes. it clearly chose the latter. and honestly, i'm not convinced the response would've been drastically different if it had chosen the former.
i remember plenty of dramas where i'd stop watching the moment the couple got together or made up. at that point, i had no reason to continue. in contrast, i'm actually going to keep watching this one precisely bcz idk what's going to happen next, even though we all know they'll end up together.
that's the difference. i think the show is trying to keep viewers invested beyond the usual "guy chases girl, they fall in love, and everything is rainbows and sunshine" formula. whether it's working is another discussion, but i can at least see what it's trying to do.
honestly, i'm also conflicted because i don't love the direction the show took either. i just don't think the alternative would've been nearly as engaging in the long run.
that said, people are obviously allowed to dislike it. i'm just not surprised that the backlash started the moment the drama stopped giving viewers exactly what they had signed up for.
it's super funny at times, but the novelty of the comic timing wears off once it becomes repetitive. i can almost always guess what's about to happen, to the point where it stops being funny. kdramas have always relied on the same type of comedy. The difference here is that the character dynamics are far messier and more grounded, which i do appreciate.
i love choi dae hoon's character (had to look up his name, lol) more than anyone else in the cast for that exact reason. if you ask me what i like about the show besides the comedy, tho... crickets. i can't seem to care about the plot at all. most of the time, it feels like the cast (only a few of them actually) is doing all the heavy lifting for an unexciting plot. i couldn't care less about the villains either. Somehow they're all less interesting than the NPCs.
i'll keep watching for the sake of that one scene that went viral tho. that shit is funny as hell.
edit: surprisingly enough, i wasn't impressed by eun bin either. idk maybe the character wasn't finely tuned. but it felt more flat than it looked in the trailer. i love that woman's acting but this wasn't it man.