This review may contain spoilers
What makes a Sociopath? Who knows
Let me start off by saying I have not read the webtoon and when I went to check it, there were only 6 chapters. My whole review is purely based on the drama and also as someone who studied Psychology.
I was fascinated by the idea of this show, a sociopath top actress? I was eager to see how they would show us her world but also interested in seeing her acting in different roles and how her sociopathic traits helped with that....it's not what we got at all.
1. Story: This was the part I was looking forward to the most, it started out really good with the very first scene showing us that she's a top actress then going back to her as a child, not coming from a good childhood and both parents being abusive. More importantly, it shows us that her father is a Psychopath and she had zero experience of what love was. This intrigued me, I found myself nodding along and going "Yeah, if she has literally only seen the worst and violence, also that her father was a Psychopath then it makes sense that due to genetics and her environment she became a Sociopath."
The second part that interested me was when we went to her high school days, we learned that her stepmom was just as bad as her Psychopathic father, she possibly had a step-sibling who could turn into her moral compass (Jun Seo) and she had someone who came from a very similar background to her (Jae-O). I like seeing how she didn't let herself get bullied easily, at first what she does feels questionable and like she's a villain but when we later find out what happens, it made me nod again "Okay, so she uses people to her advantage and attacks only when she gets attacked." More importantly I loved her relationship with Jae-O, she was literally the only one who kept telling him that he had worth and that he should protect himself while everyone else labeled him as trash or a thug. This also did a great job of introducing the dynamic between A-Jin, Jun Seo and Jae-O.
We get re-introduced to her father, he's still a Psychopath that is violent and uses everyone around him, including his daughter. This is also when we get introduced to a character that's the complete opposite of A-Jin's father, he's kindhearted and treat his employees as family, he helps everyone out and doesn't resent others or try to hurt them. Of course A-Jin decided she needed to use him. To her, she did not understand how he could be so 'pure' or 'good' because she's never seen that. She grew up with manipulation, violence and selfishness. I really enjoyed this part of the story and how it contrasted with her as a person and as a Sociopath.
Things happen that is important to the story, we almost think she's going to get caught for manipulating others. Fast forward to her acting career.
Once more she's getting bullied by the top A actress and learning about some shady things. I love how she comes up with a plan to attack and defend herself. This is also the arc where I might call her the happiest, she has what is probably the closest thing to a family. She ends up dating this top actor who is top Actress A ex, of course our girls manipulates him into it and at first it's not that easy, he's suspicious. What I love about this arc is that A-Jin did try to make him get out of his depression and take care of himself, we get to see the 'Good' side of her. I am feeling great about the story so far and think this might be the K-drama of the year! Things happen where the closest person to Top Actor passes away, everyone thinks A-Jin did it because of course she has to be a villainess. Then, due to some harsh words she says, Top Actor depression wins. This is one of the few times I see that she has some type of emotions and the closest thing to mourning in her own way, but then she moves on.
At this point the trio is back but things have changed. Jun-Seo is trying to control her while Jae-O understands her and accepts her for who she is. At this point it's when the story starts to crumble and my hope for the Top K-drama award slowly starts to go in smoke. It's like the writer gave up, forgot about all the build up, introduces some character that at first, I thought was supposed to be like "Here's your match, let's play a game of chess and see who wins." I was excited for Pyschopath vs Sociopath while also hoping they would show how she's grown. We see her sacrifice one of her biggest pawn and we do see her hurting over it, mourning that's pawn loss (I am not saying who so that I don't spoil it). I am sad but can understand why this happens, she literally says why it happens...I think I might see a checkmate and then it's like that plot is forgotten about, Jun-Seo has to act all high and mighty then ruin everything. Honestly, I hated Jun-Seo's character even though I understand they were trying to make him her moral compass, he just came off as a holier-than-thou jerk who never understood her.
The ending was a complete waste of time, a let down, one of the worst endings I've ever seen in my life and honestly one of the biggest reasons I gave such a low score. They basically made her look evil because of course if you are a Sociopath you have to be evil and there's no good quality about you.
Story: 5 or 6 out of 10
Acting: This is where I think the drama did good except for a few characters/actors that felt bland.
Kim You Jung: I think she did a phenomenal job, she had a way of acting with her eyes even when her face was void of emotions, then switching to a state of madness with just small gestures and having me believe when A-Jin was being the 'Sweet, Kind, angel girl' that A-Jin truly was the kindest girl in the world, then she would switch to A-Jin sociopathic, manipulative side and made me feel like "Ah, there is someone I don't want to mess with." she deserves her flowers. 10/10
Kim Young Dae: I wanted soooo badly to like him because he's so my type. The nerdy, depressive rich boy. Sadly, his acting felt flat and one dimensional. I felt like I was looking at a blank board, couldn't feel anything. I don't know if it was him or if it's because his character, Jun-Seo is such an unlikeable character that has the White Knight Syndrome but as someone who never really experienced difficulty he had a high morality and never bothered to understand A-Jin. Either way he gets a 2/10
Kim Do Hoon: (They all have Kim in their names, I found that interesting). He stole the show for me and honestly I was more invested in his story, also wished he had been the ML. I felt like he could hold his own with Kim You-Jung and looked forward to their scenes. He made me laugh, cry, want to throw things and is a big reason why I kept watching the drama. He is someone else that I feel can act with their eyes. I am looking forward in seeing him in more dramas. He gained a fan! 10/10
Lee Yeol Eum : I loved her and feel like she has the face for the character she was playing. A queen B mean girl that can have a soft spot. At first, I hated her character, I love how she played Re-Na as this mean, manipulative brat who grew famous and let it get to her head...then we were shown more gentle moments. I found myself liking Re-Na more and even thinking she might get a redemption arc. Lee Yeol-Eum in my opinion did a really good job of making me forget that she was acting and fall for her character. 10/10
The other actors and actresses also did a really good job but sadly their characters were written so bland that it didn't make the performance as strong.
Music: I think they did a good job, it wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst. If I heard it in the radio or youtube I'd probably listen to it but I wouldn't go out of my way to search for it.
Rewatch value: Would I recommend anyone to watch this and would I re-watch this drama? NO, I feel like this started out strong but the last few episodes were so terrible that it ruined the whole drama. This could have been at the level of "Marry My Husband" or "The Glory" if they had continued doing a great job. The ending alone is good enough reason to never watch this drama again.
Overall I'd give it 5.5 out of 10.
I was fascinated by the idea of this show, a sociopath top actress? I was eager to see how they would show us her world but also interested in seeing her acting in different roles and how her sociopathic traits helped with that....it's not what we got at all.
1. Story: This was the part I was looking forward to the most, it started out really good with the very first scene showing us that she's a top actress then going back to her as a child, not coming from a good childhood and both parents being abusive. More importantly, it shows us that her father is a Psychopath and she had zero experience of what love was. This intrigued me, I found myself nodding along and going "Yeah, if she has literally only seen the worst and violence, also that her father was a Psychopath then it makes sense that due to genetics and her environment she became a Sociopath."
The second part that interested me was when we went to her high school days, we learned that her stepmom was just as bad as her Psychopathic father, she possibly had a step-sibling who could turn into her moral compass (Jun Seo) and she had someone who came from a very similar background to her (Jae-O). I like seeing how she didn't let herself get bullied easily, at first what she does feels questionable and like she's a villain but when we later find out what happens, it made me nod again "Okay, so she uses people to her advantage and attacks only when she gets attacked." More importantly I loved her relationship with Jae-O, she was literally the only one who kept telling him that he had worth and that he should protect himself while everyone else labeled him as trash or a thug. This also did a great job of introducing the dynamic between A-Jin, Jun Seo and Jae-O.
We get re-introduced to her father, he's still a Psychopath that is violent and uses everyone around him, including his daughter. This is also when we get introduced to a character that's the complete opposite of A-Jin's father, he's kindhearted and treat his employees as family, he helps everyone out and doesn't resent others or try to hurt them. Of course A-Jin decided she needed to use him. To her, she did not understand how he could be so 'pure' or 'good' because she's never seen that. She grew up with manipulation, violence and selfishness. I really enjoyed this part of the story and how it contrasted with her as a person and as a Sociopath.
Things happen that is important to the story, we almost think she's going to get caught for manipulating others. Fast forward to her acting career.
Once more she's getting bullied by the top A actress and learning about some shady things. I love how she comes up with a plan to attack and defend herself. This is also the arc where I might call her the happiest, she has what is probably the closest thing to a family. She ends up dating this top actor who is top Actress A ex, of course our girls manipulates him into it and at first it's not that easy, he's suspicious. What I love about this arc is that A-Jin did try to make him get out of his depression and take care of himself, we get to see the 'Good' side of her. I am feeling great about the story so far and think this might be the K-drama of the year! Things happen where the closest person to Top Actor passes away, everyone thinks A-Jin did it because of course she has to be a villainess. Then, due to some harsh words she says, Top Actor depression wins. This is one of the few times I see that she has some type of emotions and the closest thing to mourning in her own way, but then she moves on.
At this point the trio is back but things have changed. Jun-Seo is trying to control her while Jae-O understands her and accepts her for who she is. At this point it's when the story starts to crumble and my hope for the Top K-drama award slowly starts to go in smoke. It's like the writer gave up, forgot about all the build up, introduces some character that at first, I thought was supposed to be like "Here's your match, let's play a game of chess and see who wins." I was excited for Pyschopath vs Sociopath while also hoping they would show how she's grown. We see her sacrifice one of her biggest pawn and we do see her hurting over it, mourning that's pawn loss (I am not saying who so that I don't spoil it). I am sad but can understand why this happens, she literally says why it happens...I think I might see a checkmate and then it's like that plot is forgotten about, Jun-Seo has to act all high and mighty then ruin everything. Honestly, I hated Jun-Seo's character even though I understand they were trying to make him her moral compass, he just came off as a holier-than-thou jerk who never understood her.
The ending was a complete waste of time, a let down, one of the worst endings I've ever seen in my life and honestly one of the biggest reasons I gave such a low score. They basically made her look evil because of course if you are a Sociopath you have to be evil and there's no good quality about you.
Story: 5 or 6 out of 10
Acting: This is where I think the drama did good except for a few characters/actors that felt bland.
Kim You Jung: I think she did a phenomenal job, she had a way of acting with her eyes even when her face was void of emotions, then switching to a state of madness with just small gestures and having me believe when A-Jin was being the 'Sweet, Kind, angel girl' that A-Jin truly was the kindest girl in the world, then she would switch to A-Jin sociopathic, manipulative side and made me feel like "Ah, there is someone I don't want to mess with." she deserves her flowers. 10/10
Kim Young Dae: I wanted soooo badly to like him because he's so my type. The nerdy, depressive rich boy. Sadly, his acting felt flat and one dimensional. I felt like I was looking at a blank board, couldn't feel anything. I don't know if it was him or if it's because his character, Jun-Seo is such an unlikeable character that has the White Knight Syndrome but as someone who never really experienced difficulty he had a high morality and never bothered to understand A-Jin. Either way he gets a 2/10
Kim Do Hoon: (They all have Kim in their names, I found that interesting). He stole the show for me and honestly I was more invested in his story, also wished he had been the ML. I felt like he could hold his own with Kim You-Jung and looked forward to their scenes. He made me laugh, cry, want to throw things and is a big reason why I kept watching the drama. He is someone else that I feel can act with their eyes. I am looking forward in seeing him in more dramas. He gained a fan! 10/10
Lee Yeol Eum : I loved her and feel like she has the face for the character she was playing. A queen B mean girl that can have a soft spot. At first, I hated her character, I love how she played Re-Na as this mean, manipulative brat who grew famous and let it get to her head...then we were shown more gentle moments. I found myself liking Re-Na more and even thinking she might get a redemption arc. Lee Yeol-Eum in my opinion did a really good job of making me forget that she was acting and fall for her character. 10/10
The other actors and actresses also did a really good job but sadly their characters were written so bland that it didn't make the performance as strong.
Music: I think they did a good job, it wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst. If I heard it in the radio or youtube I'd probably listen to it but I wouldn't go out of my way to search for it.
Rewatch value: Would I recommend anyone to watch this and would I re-watch this drama? NO, I feel like this started out strong but the last few episodes were so terrible that it ruined the whole drama. This could have been at the level of "Marry My Husband" or "The Glory" if they had continued doing a great job. The ending alone is good enough reason to never watch this drama again.
Overall I'd give it 5.5 out of 10.
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