Beesuto

Solid show, lots of drawbacks.

Decent story, but doesn't tap into anything serious in terms of world building or depth, just a simple royalty woes and Queen/King being an angry power hungry person, as it deviates from the romance towards the royalty/politics side it loses its original charm and early selling points.

Doesn't delve that far into royalty, just the King's family, the Crown Prince and that one irrelevant evil dude who is the Queen's father. Makes me question if the royalty part was even necessary to the story, especially when it just becomes dissolved in the end.

The plotline of the fire is kinda iffy, they make it too vague on what really happened for far too long, you can guess what happens but they don't make it clear enough on time. Her motivations for doing so aren't fully revealed till way later as well, and even then I'm not convinced given her character development. They didn't really get into the daughter-father relationship of the Queen too and didn't let us digest it, alongside the Queen and future King. The Queen doesn't face any reparations for what she did, which makes the whole set up kind of pointless. They try to lean into the empathetic side after having her appear as angry and power driven the whole time, and kind of making her one-dimensional in terms of that. Seungyeon does an amazing job portraying this one dimension, but they could've done way more to develop her character, instead of just making her an opposition to the Crown Prince for the sake of it.

The relationship between IU and The Crown Prince is solid, classic contract marriage trope, nothing out of the ordinary. Their chemistry isn't that crazy, especially with the sudden "let's break up" trope appearing, despite less than an episode later reversing it, then what was the point? Why not just tell him your plan? Kind of an annoying trope with kdramas but nonetheless something you have to accept. IU truly proves herself as one of the greatest actresses with her subtle actions selling you more and more upon her character, to where you are convinced they are two separate people altogether. This further highlights BWS's shortcomings, where he remains far too stoic and unfased alongside lackluster acting and facial expressions throughout. A combination of weak direction and acting make all these characters far too simple or one-dimensional, lacking that true depth and mutli-facetedness to create memorable characters. The other characters are forgettable, such as the Prime Minister, where they just spam the Queen and PM yelling over things and being angry, and not getting further into their inspirations and motivations really besides "love" and "power/sacrifice".

For the PM, they take far too long to properly reveal his intentions, when it is so easily predictable since early on. Late villains will always be poor as they do not have time to marinate, and his demise is decent. He teeters between trying to be good and bad too much and it makes his evilness convoluted, and it is far too obvious that he will lose.

The royalty/monarchy in modern times is very underutilised, for such an intriguing concept its barely delved into, once again making me question if it was even necessary, or if it was to just draw in audiences through a novel concept.

The final four episode stretch firmly deviates from the original ambience of the show, of a more light hearted romance brewing from an originally contract marriage, and their relationship is poorly done throughout the final episodes. This kdrama utilises a lot of common tropes and doesn't really add anything new towards them, or present them within the unique setting well enough to properly overlook them.

The music isn't really prevalent bar the main OST, which is amazing, but is used far too often with leads to a lack of additional immersion and emotional investment towards the drama. This is a simple drama for beginners or people looking for feel-good romances without too much melancholy, but there is definitely other romances I would recommend.

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Surprisingly great drama.

Saw the ratings and having seen Oh My Ghost Clients (although a good show as well) didn't have insane expectations other than a feel good show similar to Oh My Ghost Clients, however I was pleasantly surprised at how the legal battles and power struggles were represented in this show.

Cool concept of a judge being turned into a pro-bono lawyer, done really well with the corruption scandal, leaves you wondering who was behind it and WHY they were behind it. The show sets up the MC as a scummy person vying for power and fame, prioritizing them over achieving justice - however with his backstory it adds an extra layer to his actions and provides further depth on to why he acts this way.

Thought it would just be a case to case show where they look into certain injustices going on, and solve them however he faces numerous obstacles on his path to success. It presents his high level of legal intelligence through the lens of the judge, whilst presenting challenges due to his inexperience as a pro-bono lawyer. It presents him as competent, but still needing room for growth and development, and someone who realizes the worth of his team and role. His character is very funny, someone who is very "arrogant" but fails a lot, however doesn't let it waver them and continues to keep trying to win. His competitiveness truly shines against his opposing defendant lawyer, who truly has no morals and will do anything for money, testing the MC's ability to overcome even the most outrageous of circumstances within a courtroom.

Each case is explored well and presents a new angle and challenge for the MC, and the pro bono team around him challenges him and assists him well to provide a new angle to each and one of them, making them individually stand out. They all have their own motivations, issues and personality, and they mesh well to form a singular team. Nothing is easy for them, and they bond through facing adversity throughout, without mindlessly believing in the MC. They don't rush to conclusions either, and are willing to hear other sides and commit their own research to find the truth, which is very refreshing to see.

The law firm CEO is just kinda an asshole, for no reason too, even to his own daughter. Like I don't really even get his character he's just evil and powerful, but I guess the main focus was how his evilness impacted his daughter growing up. The evil in this show are kind of just evil for the sake of it, for power or money, no real depth towards them. Although the daughter being greedy for power made sense since early on, her character is still kind of dull, alongside the defendant lawyer who simply hates the MC because he stole his love for a bit, which was just kind of a weak explanation for everything. At the very least, the MC didn't submit and left of his own terms, but their arc is kind of disappointing.

The MC achieves revenge and justice whilst developing as a character and enveloping layers with each new case, and the actor is truly one of the better for law related dramas. From Oh My Ghost Clients, Pro Bono and Prison Playbook he has shown his ability and versatility to stand out. The romance between him and the main female of the Pro Bono team is pointless, because it never even is close to developing. Were they trying to tease it, or was it just a simple soulmates situation? It's kinda unclear the intention between the two, why they're the closest of all, and her character is definitely the more disappointing of the Pro Bono team, since it is barely developed or focused on.

Overall a surprisingly great show, typically shows can't balance these aspects very well, however Pro Bono does it well bar a few hiccups near the end surrounding the villains (and how easy it was to take them down).

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6 episodes too long, reveal 12 episodes late.

I love the psychic concept, reminds me a lot of the show Psych, however the MC and his crew just blatantly gets away with breaking the law numerous times to get what they want, even when pairing with cops. Can the evidence they use even be admissible in court? Show kind of relies on the Shaman being seen as insanely popular and foreseeing, and a large wave of shamanism in Korea, which I guess isn't as prevalent in other countries.

The final villain sucks, simply put. His motivation is terrible and extremely flawed, tries too hard at the psychopath and diversion angle by trying to hide who the villain is, but it's so so predictable and they point to it so obviously since early on. However, they have him remain the same until the very end for no reason, not even show a hint of crack or showing his true nature at all, until the very end. For an 18 episode show, waiting over 15+ episodes for the villain to finally reveal himself, what were you doing all that time before?

The side characters such as the FL and best friend are very powerful, and thankfully they aren't powerless when the plot requires it. FL is interesting but very confusing, she has no real common sense or logic and is just stupid for no reason. I still like her though, a powerful and independent person, but why make her a complete moron as a detective when things are laid out clearly, just throw out any form of logic when needed. That auntie character is also useless and kind of stupid, didn't even need to waste any time introducing her really.

18 episodes is just far too long for almost any show, especially when you don't really get into developing your characters as much. It was nice watching them do cases utilizing the shamanism, but they ditch that when they get into the main arc, which is kind of disappointing.

Solid concept, but runs far FAR too long. At least the cast is solid and enjoyable to watch.

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Interesting look into juvenile cases, doesn't shy away from having good endings or depicting things as they are, bit too passive in terms of message/moral within cases.

Judge is a great character, however her backstory is kinda lackluster and is done as a mess in terms of the final trial. Lot of power abuse, and is right far too much and doesn't really face any repercussions for her aggressive nature. Acts a lot more like a prosecutor than a judge, but I guess the title of the show acknowledges that. Great acting and chemistry between the two main judges, the Head Judge both teams are just kind of annoying for the sake of being annoying to prop up the MC.

The final arc is very messy, and really could've been done better. I don't really get the main villain of the final trial, and trying to tie the whole story towards this trial really sours things and makes it messier than it needs to be. Show takes too long with these things and for a short show you need to do better. Great overall look into juvenile cases and a refreshing concept within dramas copying the same ideas with slight changes.

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Solid show, but predictable and little to no tension.

I really like the main character, very easy to root for, simple redemption arc but nice that he attempts to achieve justice whilst taking care of those around him. However, does he really need to be a judge? Most of the time he acts as a prosecutor, why not just make him one? Him being a judge isn't really a focal point, bar him losing his life for a sentence, however being a prosecutor or investigator can achieve the same effect whilst being able to make more sense. Pro Bono presents this concept in a really nice fashion, a former judge to pro bono lawyer, allowing him to utilise his judge's knowledge whilst struggling as a pro-bono lawyer due to his lack of expertise, I believe Judge Returns could've done a similar concept given the lack of overall struggle within this show.

Throughout the show, the tension and struggle is near non-existent. If you enjoy revenge drama where the protagonist simply gets his revenge, then this is stellar. However, the MC has far too much of an upperhand with his knowledge of the future, and the main antagonists simply sit and watch, at most attempt to attack him but he is able to fight back now and at most leaves with a slice on the neck, which of course he will survive.

The actions of the MC felt kinda pointless when they just re-organised the group after he took down the main antagonist, with the justice friend he made now joining the group. I get they were trying to set up a sequel, but to leave this many things open is not needed, and just leaves season one as kinda pointless. You could've explored other avenues of justice, the group as a whole kinda of had their time already and should've been done. He already knows all the members too, what's stopping him from taking them down with ease? Just odd sequel bait, especially for an industry that is known for rarely doing season 2s.

The romance in this show is pointless to even get invested in. The MC's romance is unclear, does he like the prosecutor or the daughter of the law firm? The daughter of the law firm literally testified against him in the original timeline, and was barely actually interested in him bar for his power, so why do they pretend like it was different now? Her character as a whole is kinda just useless, she just comes and goes as she pleases and is too hesitant towards everything. As for the Prosecutor, they allude to them having ties together since the past, but nothing ever is even close to materialising. Even with her prosecutor buddy, its tame at best, why even bother with trying to develop romance if it won't happen, just use that time to further the story. Even the given layup, with the Angel and Reporter was barely done until the very end, and wasn't even confirmed confirmed or given any solid scenes together, very dissappointing overall.

The characters are nice though, not that multi-faceted but still very nice acting and easy to like characters, but nothing crazy.

Being reborn, especially as a judge, to enact revenge or justice, is a commonly done concept in dramas, and this one is just a solid getting revenge show, but doesn't really go deep into anything. It is a bit too tame and scared of action tension and loss, so if you want a feel good revenge show, this is the perfect show. However there is definitely better reborn/reincarnation/time travel shows present.

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