News 
Not for me...
I know I'm going to get pounded for this, but I try to tell the truth (at least my truth).
The camera work and the quality of the photography are good. The details really help make it come alive. I especially liked the folk wisdom and the superstitions that the older people repeat.
But the worn plot device of "I'm going to hurt you for your own good because I've decided that you're better off without me..." which is a big part of the first three episodes, has been overdone here. Also, the death of a small child can always pull at the heartstrings. Other sentimental cliches appear throughout.
Everyone in the village comments about this couple in the first several episodes- their children, their relatives, their past, the FL's mother, their prospects, etc. I thought it was a little much.
Even when she's dying, Ae-sun's Mom looks robust and healthy. Watch THE GOOD-BAD MOTHER to see a more relistic death of a parent.
I had trouble figuring out how some of the minor characters were related to each other-and to the two leads-but I just went with it. Also, this is another drama where step-parents are horrible to their stepkids. You can skip episode 12 altogether-absolutely nothing happens to move the plot along in that one.
The continual whining, crying, shrieking of the women didn't seem believable. I come from a family that struggled financially--people who live in poverty just don't carry on to that extent. They mostly bear their troubles in silence.
The ML isn't too interesting. OK, I get that he's always loved the FL dearly. But he's shown as someone who has absolutely no other interests in life than to be with her. I liked him better in the second half of the series.
In fact this series improved considerably in the second half, although it was still too sentimental for my taste. I like the way they showed some of the real burdens of aging, which gets a full treatment here.
IU is a phenomenal actress and she displayed the full range of her abilities in MY MISTER and HOTEL DEL LUNA, but her talent is wasted here due to an imperfect script.
In some ways the best comparison of this series is with OUR BLUES, which has believable stories and believable characters-all of whom live and work on Jeju Island. Every one of those stories seemed heart-stoppingly real.
The camera work and the quality of the photography are good. The details really help make it come alive. I especially liked the folk wisdom and the superstitions that the older people repeat.
But the worn plot device of "I'm going to hurt you for your own good because I've decided that you're better off without me..." which is a big part of the first three episodes, has been overdone here. Also, the death of a small child can always pull at the heartstrings. Other sentimental cliches appear throughout.
Everyone in the village comments about this couple in the first several episodes- their children, their relatives, their past, the FL's mother, their prospects, etc. I thought it was a little much.
Even when she's dying, Ae-sun's Mom looks robust and healthy. Watch THE GOOD-BAD MOTHER to see a more relistic death of a parent.
I had trouble figuring out how some of the minor characters were related to each other-and to the two leads-but I just went with it. Also, this is another drama where step-parents are horrible to their stepkids. You can skip episode 12 altogether-absolutely nothing happens to move the plot along in that one.
The continual whining, crying, shrieking of the women didn't seem believable. I come from a family that struggled financially--people who live in poverty just don't carry on to that extent. They mostly bear their troubles in silence.
The ML isn't too interesting. OK, I get that he's always loved the FL dearly. But he's shown as someone who has absolutely no other interests in life than to be with her. I liked him better in the second half of the series.
In fact this series improved considerably in the second half, although it was still too sentimental for my taste. I like the way they showed some of the real burdens of aging, which gets a full treatment here.
IU is a phenomenal actress and she displayed the full range of her abilities in MY MISTER and HOTEL DEL LUNA, but her talent is wasted here due to an imperfect script.
In some ways the best comparison of this series is with OUR BLUES, which has believable stories and believable characters-all of whom live and work on Jeju Island. Every one of those stories seemed heart-stoppingly real.
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