Alochiii

Shouldn't have put this off for this long.

I had put off watching Start Up for a long time because of what my friend said about it. Disregarding his comments, this was a really solid show. The writing was great. And this premise of a person in love with someone even though they are two different people, in a more mature setting would have given us a more robust and voluptuous story. In this playful and colourful show it served its role well.

The first few episodes where slow, but I can see that the writer had trust in the viewer that they will stay, even tho I felt like this wasn't a story that really could foster that trust.

The story was nothing revolutionary, the premise is interesting for sure, but the story itself is no great white horse.

The music was amazing. It's probably the first time i have actually enjoyed some OSTs and liked the songs.

Solid show. Whatever this storyline could have given us, I think they give it all.
Ciao.

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I Cried, But Probably Not For What I Imagine.

I can't say that I went into this show blind, I had seen tidbits of it elsewhere at different times, and that had piqued my interest for a long time until I finally decided to watch it. Considering I was already privy to the story, and considering how I already knew that Somi was Hae-sook, the show still kept me plenty suspended. I got to give that to the writers, before this the show I had seen was Behind Your Touch, and now seeing two shows made by the same director and same writer, I can see the writer's quirks well. The writer is really good at building atmospheric comedy—where every factor needed is working together to create a well crafted comedy scene. Although it doesn’t have rolling on the floor laughing, it's generously funny enough. Apart from that I really like that the writer(s) are good at sustaining the suspense, like I said even though I already knew the major spoilers of the story the writing was solid enough to keep me hooked. I noticed that in Behind Your Touch as well, the writer(s) set up the anagnorisis of the protagonists—usually—right at the end of the episode and reverse that in the subsequent one. Which keeps the suspense alive, but gets a bit repetitive.

My major criticism of this show would be about how they handled episode eleven. I understand that the climax had to be put somewhere and that had to be done within a 12 episode structure. I also understand that for the writer that must have been tough and having to restrain yourself so as to fit the story into only 12 episodes is a hard task, especially if you have established a world. With that said, episode eleven was handled like a hot mess. Somi really needed her emotional liberation from that guilt and shame of losing her son, by extension Hae-sook needed that more, yet, the characters were betrayed from rushed writing and from that the viewers were too. Somi disappeared too abruptly, we needed dialogues there, big laughs and tears of joy, but poof Somi vanished without any of that. If Somi was established as Hae-sook’s guilt of losing her son, then Somi had to be the one to get that catharsis by meeting her son. However that tearful reunion ended before it even properly began. Somi’s catharsis would have been Hae-sook’s catharsis, and that relief of suppressed emotions should have been what brought them peace. Yet, that entire sequence was written in such a way that everything was there on the scene at the same time. If I had to write that scene I would have let Somi have her moment, her rightful moment that she was denied.

We, the audience, were also denied our catharsis about Eun-ho’s death. We need at least one scene where we saw that corrupt keseki of a cop get his punishment. Of course Somi was denied that too.

There were also something that I quite didn't get, maybe I might have missed it while watching. I had a question as to why Hae-sook didn't realize that Somi looked exactly like her yonger self, especially since she is her younger self. I know that if a thought was ever proposed in Hae-sook's head, she wouldn't have cofused Somi for being Young-e, but this remains a question still.

Also, I think rather than Nak-joon saving somi because of some instinctual reaction, him saving her delibrately because he mistook her for being Hae-sook would have been a better choice. That would have also added to his intial confusion in the first episode, because his thought process could have been much more robust than what it was. Particularly since we find out that he always knew what and who Somi looked like.

Apart from that, I enjoyed all the other little vignettes. I really enjoyed the last episode, but I am unsure —or better put still unaware as to why. I cried by the end, when they met again in their new lives, but I suspect it was less about how good the show was and more because of my innate desire for a partner… as a Mo-tae-sol-lo myself, the desire for a partner and the fomo of their absence in my life must have accumulated into those moments and must have made its way into my eyes. Hehe (￣ω￣).

It was a good show, and my criticisms are few. The acting was great, and the premise was interesting. I can see that this writer is good at coming up with quirky stories.

( ´ ꒳ ` ) Ciao.

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Wish the unwritten story kept continuing.

Being a Park Bo Young fan, I watched it for her and it did not dissapoint.

The show handled all the sub stories with maturity.

Park Bo Young as usual was stunning in her performance, and I loved the awkward and cute romance a lot. Would have surely loved a bit more affection from Mi-Rae too, but that was cute too.

I think if this was a sixteen episode show, they could have dived in and explored the mother daughter dynamic more. Be it the realationship between the Mi-Ji's mother and grandmother or Mi-ji and Mi-Rae's realtionship with their mother. Their emotional turmoil in a longer show could have been a more robust feature to explore, but in this show it was done well. Rather than a single outburt of raw emotion, Mi Ji deserved a more substantiated resolution for her relationship with her mother. Her mother's shame, and disinterest that Mi Ji felt all those years need to be resolved with multiple different attempts. Her mother's character was sort of justified, but I felt that she needed to have that-longer-talk with her mother, because she carried for probably fifty years the pain of being born a woman/daughter. Which extended onto her daughters, even though she might not have wanted that.

I might have missed it, but how did se-jin realize it was Mi-Rae who worked with him? Depite my confusion, it was a nice touch that he got her name right only when called her by her actual name. Meaning alike Ho Su he too can differentiate between the twins.

When a show satisfies me, I tend to not have much to say. I was interested in the story enough that I may have missed out on its flaws but that is for another watch. I do wish it was a longer show, but I wish everyshow I watch is a longer show.

Ciao ╰(▔∀▔)╯.

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