Great actors, bad writing!
I thoroughly enjoyed the Jeju scenery and the photography in this series. Some of the support roles were excellently played, and for me Kim Mi-kyung stood out, together with the other Haenyeo women. I found their interactions very believable.Unfortunately, the lead actors were dealt a different card: Shin Hye-sun, excelling in Mr. Queen and JCW, absolutely great in Healer and Empress Ki, were cast as a couple that (to me) had no chemistry at all. But that would be hard in the first place if you are dealing with a bunch of rather misogynist writers who live in the past century. In that case the 'love' story becomes a rather ridiculous and non-entertaining spiel between two 40-year old "Never Been Kissed' virgins. Because they have been pining for each other for 30 years.... The repetitive whining, 'misunderstandings', temper tantrums, the sentimental look-backs: I found it all unromantic, unrealistic and...boring.
It made the series quite unwatchable for me. All of the actors deserved better writing. Because they are all great actors!
Jeju Island is a wonderful location, and in well-written series like Our Blues or Legend of the Blue Sea, the scenic beauty adds great value. Here it was the main attraction...
Let's hope that these SK drama writers will revert to writing strong female lead-stories, and treat their cast to well written dialogues and realistic story lines. It makes or breaks a series!
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Nothing really vibrates in this show...
I so wanted to like this show, but after 4 episodes the whole thing imploded. The 'naughty' business of selling sex toys is nowhere naughty, nor are the characters. Which are not well-developed and sometimes just dropped halfway through the show (like the unfaithful husband and his lover).Whereas I loved Kim So-yeon in Sky Castle, she is acting like a robot in this series. Her facial features are frozen (too much Botox, my dear?) and she plays such a demure and subservient character that she ends up being as interesting as an empty sheet of paper. Which is the case with many of the characters. Not sure what the writer wanted to bring across: Whereas the story is supposedly about the growth and characters of the 4 leading female actors, it feels like domestic bliss and traditional role division is more important. It could have been written in 1992 as well. The pace of the show, where nothing much really ever happens is such, that I managed to read my digital newspapers throughout the series and still found the pace too slow.
And last but not least: the music is sugar-sweet. So much, that it becomes an additional annoying feature. Every unfolding and overly dramatic close-up is accompanied by pinging the piano. Pfff...
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