AsleepWatcher

This show must be driving you nuts then. Haha

There are certain shows that may still appeal to people outside of their target audience. I think this isn't one of them though. What's your opinion of this show? Too many annoying characters for you?

This is very much a family drama as it is a romance show. The parents' and children's behaviour are very... Asian. Plot preferences aside, as someone from Asia I understand the theme of family ties and why it's such a big driving force for the relationship story. But I think this is not going to hit for western viewers. Just like how most KBS weekend family dramas have a very strictly local/Asian target audience, non Asians are going to find it hard to relate to this story. That's probably going to result in polarizing reviews when this ends. I see that there actually already are (that may or may not be due to this issue).

I don't think you get it... First of all, being framed for causing someone's suicide and being mass-hated by the whole nation is very traumatic and isn't an ordeal that should be brushed off. There is a very recent real life example involving an actor that shows what such a situation could end in. At this point (episode 12), the FL is already past the stage of depression and is moving on in a healthy way. It's just that the other characters just found out about the abuse she took, which is why they're acting up about it. YP's dad is the opposite. He has been stuck in the initial grief stage since 18 years ago, has been in denial, and coping with it in the unhealthiest way possible. Trying to imply that his actions are not wrong is just ridiculous. FL's mom is also, unhealthily, suffering abuse and guilt that has been unfairly passed on to her. Her daughter's actions have made her come to the realization that she too, needs to step up. The FL's scandal isn't exactly the central plot of the show. The central story is about FL returning to her hometown, rekindling old love, and at the same time, uncovering old wounds in many characters that need to be healed.

Exactly, except I think he knows that deep down. It's just his coping mechanism all these years.

Honestly, this is almost a full fledged family drama. The genres should be changed lol.

I get your points, but honestly it has been established since the start that almost all the characters are flawed and immature in their own ways, and it's an intentional choice. The most mature character is the little girl. When I saw SHS and JCW throwing fits in the first episode, I immediately realized that was going to be the show's tone. In some ways it's frustrating, but imo it's also part of the show's charm. Adults aren't perfect and they act even more like their imperfect selves in a safe/comfortable environment like their hometown. And frankly, Jindal's ex-husband is by far the most frustrating and childish character imo. But at the same time I can't help but like him. That's pretty much how I feel about most of the characters, and this relatability and down-to-earth-ness is part of the show's identity. So rather than feeling frustrated, it's better to just watch how the characters work out their own problems, even if they go about doing so in round-about ways. That's how it works in real life anyway.

I just finished the second part, and your comment seems so true and is making me dislike it even more. I try not to think too deeply about art, it's freedom of expression after all, but the entire story is SO distasteful and has zero empathy. I have an urge to write a long rant on the show and the "message" it's trying to present, but that page has overwhelmingly good comments. So I guess we're in the minority on this.

The wrist grabs are indeed very old-fashioned but I think it's an intentional choice. The FL is still in a state of "I'm just back home temporarily, not to get back with my ex" and being in denial of her feelings, while the ML knows this and is trying to pull her back in. Therefore the deliberate action of him grabbing her whenever she tries to walk away. Anything more romantic or touchy at this stage would seem out of place tbh.

I noticed that the reconciliation between the leads is happening quite late into the show, which can be a good or bad thing. Some shows go downhill when the leads start dating too early because they run out of story and dump filler, or add unnecessary conflict to fill the runtime. But if they drag it too long, they won't be able to flesh out their relationship and it will lose a lot of potential on differentiating mature romance and the puppy love they had at first. Hopefully it finds the right pace to wrap up nicely.

After watching the first part, I'm not sure how to feel about this. It touches on very sensitive topics in a somewhat insensitive manner. It probably wouldn't have bothered me if it were an anime, but I find it disturbing when it's acted by real people. Most of all, I don't agree with and am slightly turned off by the ideology presented here in regard to depression and s**cide. So I thought it would be better if I treated it as a dark comedy. But then there was a serious plotline about child abuse, which was by far the most memorable one. I wasn't as interested in his other lives, and sometimes they end right when I'm starting to get invested. It is good production wise though.

I guess acting is a matter of taste, but both SHS and PEB are objectively good at acting and are like the top 1% of their generation. It's one thing to say you're disappointed in some aspects of their performance, or that you expected better from them, but saying either of them are bad is just ridiculous. And yes, people ARE more critical towards actresses. That's what happens when 80% of watchers are straight females.

A big part of this show is the flashbacks whenever the leads are reminded of the past, and some of them are very intense with a lot of crying. Intense scenes usually have the emotional build up for audiences to be immersed in them, but the flashbacks pop up with almost zero context. If the leads couldn't act, it would make these scenes look ridiculous. The fact that the acting can still make these scenes convincing is enough to show that both SHS and JCW are good imo.

Now that the first half has finished, the information load has spiked. Having backstories come to light definitely puts a lot more into perspective. YP's relationship with his dad looked fine on the outside, even if they didn't look particularly close. But it's actually a ticking time bomb that's about to explode in the next episode. YP's main reason for not wanting to leave Jeju seems pretty clear now. SD's family gets along well but there's a severe lack of communication between the parents and children. SD's mom's slight detachment from her daughter, and pushing away her help, stems from a sense of guilt towards her.

I'm not a fan of the slow pacing in some episodes, but I think the use of flashbacks and slowly letting the audience know the characters' history and emotions through details is very well done. After some time, the depths of the relationships start to show and you see how most characters have sacrificed something for another. And there's still quite a lot of questions to be answered.

Wait, were people criticizing her acting? This is far from her most challenging character and it feels almost effortless for her. It's quite apparent that she's the central character of the show and is pulling the most weight in terms of acting.

Verdict: This drama is entertaining enough, and it should have been good, but it isn't. It had its shortcomings, but the biggest problem is that it's lacking of its own colour.

Imo, the ML is not a well written character. His motivations to enter the hospital were for his fortune and pride, which are almost reasonable, but the show tries to make it look like some noble decision which just baffles me and it came across as pretentious. His scenes that were meant to be emotional did not hit. He is enamored by the FL from the first episode, because... she was hot when her hair was let down. Fair enough. You can play the most grand music and portray him as a knight in shining armor with fireworks in the background, but shallow writing is shallow writing. I couldn't connect to him and even found some of his goofiness off-putting in the beginning.

The FL on the other hand is much more likeable as a character, but the lack of chemistry between her and the ML and the lack of depth of their relationship makes it hard to feel anything during their intimate scenes. The biggest selling point of the show was the main leads' journey as partners, but since I didn't even like them as partners, that greatly hindered my viewing experience.

The plot - there isn't much to talk about. It's a very standard premise for its genre but decently executed visual wise. The lack of a mystery since they revealed most of the background early on made the show feel like it was dragging its feet. I was just waiting for the leads to find out what we already knew. I don't know if the last 3 episodes will be a significant improvement, but I don't think I'll end up rating this above a 7/10.

Iirc, JTBC had a ratings slump before Reborn Rich where they had critically acclaimed and more creative productions, like MLN as you mentioned, but they all fell short in ratings whereas tvN ratings were blooming. This year is the opposite and JTBC is consistently outperforming tvN in ratings, by going the safe route. I wouldn't mind if they maintained the quality of their shows, but SGNS was horrendous and really didn't deserve its ratings. WTS is 100x more watchable in comparison. But I would have much preferred if they went bolder with the plot.

Verdict after 6 episodes: This is a family-friendly, easy watch kind of show that is clearly aiming for the domestic ratings. JTBC found their formula in maintaining decent to good ratings for their weekend dramas; simplistic storyline with some slapstick humour and bickering leads. Behind Your Touch, SGNS, Doctor Cha etc all fit the bill and maintained good ratings, even if one of them had horrendous writing. It's an unambitious strategy that works.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not how the world works. Going by your logic, we can only say good things about every single drama production.

As anyone can tell, she's a flawed character with some unlikable traits. You can call her stubborn, sensitive, naive or insecure, but yeah she isn't exactly selfish. She's shown to have treated her staff well even if she wasn't the most communicative boss and thanked her employees for cleaning up her mess (which she couldn't because she would get swarmed by reporters). If it's about the breakup, there's not enough context. And imo ending a relationship because of different aspirations isn't selfish. I'm just waiting for her character to get it together a bit so we can see some story development.

I get your point and I kind of agree, because the lack of context of their history makes it hard to understand their relationship. So far I'm enjoying the friendship and family bits more, I think the bickering of the leads is quite humorous but there's zero room for romantic chemistry, yet. Obviously there will be a turning point where their feelings start coming back, but now it's like watching two people who know each other a lot more than we know about them, and you don't get to relate to their feelings about each other. And it will remain that way until they start showing exactly what happened in the old days. It works for the show in the sense that it make you curious about their relationship in the past, but doing that sacrifices your enjoyment of watching them in the present. That's just how it is for most ex-es to lovers plots I guess.