This review may contain spoilers
So many questions…
Yoo Yeong-ah’s ability to write engaging friendships with witty dialogue is unquestioned. Thirty-Nine is one of my favourite series.
The entire cast here turns in spot-on performances. I seriously loved this show right up to the last episode, which left me feeling frustrated and angry.
So, I am left with questions **spoilers coming**.
Why was the main character given so little growth? Sure he achieved his goal but the next thing we know he’s back out getting drunk with his (incredibly endearing) buddies, despite the new responsibilities he has fought so hard to obtain.
What was the point of the Lee Seo-jin character? I know not all shows can or should have a romantic relationship foremost but with two characters - single parents of somewhat troubled boys of similar ages - all the groundwork was there for a wonderful friendship- romance or not. But she just fell into a third-string cameo by the end. How did the writer lose sight of what she herself had set up so well?
And, lastly, how was this written by a woman, when it celebrates men behaving like boys (well, at least Jung Hyeong-geun grew up) and reduces the female lead to someone who, seemingly without a will of her own, allows herself to be bunted around like a pinball. Just as she decides to support Shin Sung-han during his struggle, her bestie turns on the waterworks because she misses working with her.
Some may say regaining her career is a win for feminism but, if so, why have her develop through her work helping others using the law.
This had so much potential, only to fall flat at the end. Such a shame.
The entire cast here turns in spot-on performances. I seriously loved this show right up to the last episode, which left me feeling frustrated and angry.
So, I am left with questions **spoilers coming**.
Why was the main character given so little growth? Sure he achieved his goal but the next thing we know he’s back out getting drunk with his (incredibly endearing) buddies, despite the new responsibilities he has fought so hard to obtain.
What was the point of the Lee Seo-jin character? I know not all shows can or should have a romantic relationship foremost but with two characters - single parents of somewhat troubled boys of similar ages - all the groundwork was there for a wonderful friendship- romance or not. But she just fell into a third-string cameo by the end. How did the writer lose sight of what she herself had set up so well?
And, lastly, how was this written by a woman, when it celebrates men behaving like boys (well, at least Jung Hyeong-geun grew up) and reduces the female lead to someone who, seemingly without a will of her own, allows herself to be bunted around like a pinball. Just as she decides to support Shin Sung-han during his struggle, her bestie turns on the waterworks because she misses working with her.
Some may say regaining her career is a win for feminism but, if so, why have her develop through her work helping others using the law.
This had so much potential, only to fall flat at the end. Such a shame.
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