Great actresses should stop picking bad scripts just because they give them a "dual role" challenge.
Someone said that the actors before choosing a script can only read the first 4 episodes because the rest is not yet written. Don't know if it's true but it would definitely explain that Shin Hye Sun was fooled just the same as us
Unrelated, but are there any dramas that were average while airing, but ended with way higher ratings? Like the…
I think Flex X Cop had a lower rating at the beginning of airing than it has now. Anyway, it's a great drama, one of my personal favourites. Really recommend it!
Many people, including me, were mainly dissapointed by the script which went downhill halfway through the drama.…
I promise I won't π That's alright, English is not my first language too and I think your English is perfectly fine :) BTW I'm positively surprised and grateful that you took the time to read my super-long essay xD and to reply to it, thank you! π Regarding what you said here, I'll think about it and will get back to you :) Cheers!
Yes, gladly! :D I encourage you to check out my "all-time favourites" list. I see from your list that you have already watched some of my favourite dramas. Once you check my list, you will see how our ratings differ so you can better predict which drama will be to your taste :) My personal favourite, "drama that tops all the dramas" is If You Wish Upon Me with Ji Chang Wook and Sooyoung. Best acting, best script, a truly healing journey!
But you asked for interesing dramas: could you maybe specify what you are looking for in such a drama? :)
Oh, also, I haven't watched so many, compared to many other users here, and also I didn't watch many cdramas, so unfortunately I can only recommend kdramas
Many people, including me, were mainly dissapointed by the script which went downhill halfway through the drama.…
Alright, you asked, so brace yourself, because I've written the longest essay that I've ever written on this drama π (and on any drama xd) Disclaimer: sorry for some angry typing xdd, my anger stems from my deep engagement π π
I encourage you to scroll down quite a bit and read the comments of mine and some of my friends here on mdl - we bonded over disappointment over this drama lol. We fleshed out our reasons better than I could rn (update: well, I fleshed them out here too xdd), because I'm a bit tired from all the engagement to the drama that let me down and laying out the reasoning why it is so. But to not keep you hanging completely: the main reason is that our heroine, Eun Ho, was introduced on the span of the first 8 episodes, let's say, as a deeply hurt person, with abandonment issues (her parents passing away; her sister's disappearing; her grandma, who was her only family left, passing away too) and enormous guilt from her sister's disappearance and possibly from how she treated her before sister before (although I think there was not so much to be guilty of but grief can warp our understanding of the past). For so long she was supposed to be the responsible one, with her younger sister being fully dependent on her. Because of all those issues, when she started dating Hyun Oh, she was compensating all those stress of being the responsible one by, in turn, being fully dependent on him. It was not healthy from her side. But we, viewers, soon were discovering that even though the show was trying to paint Hyun Oh in a noble or at least understanding light, for many, it failed miserably. When we were getting to see more and more flashbacks from their dating past we could witness that their relationship was also not healthy from his side. From the start of their relationship (before they even started dating) he was acting hot and cold, guilt-tripping her, and behaving in other ways that would make one question why did she even started dating him. The possible answer is because of all her issues, which some of I stated above.
Many viewers have been feeling betrayed, because the premise promised a healing journey. But instead we got a bunch of very broken characters (which may be a good thing, a kind of cathartic experience) whose issues were swept under the rug. The drama is called "Dear Hyeri", which is the name the FL's sister and the name of FL's other personality. But if you check out the discussion post of a user IM YourOnlyOne, they show that "Hyeri" is an incorrect romanization. The drama was originally called "Dear Haeri", in Korean "λμ ν΄λ¦¬μκ²" while "Haeri" (ν΄λ¦¬) means "dissociative" ans is used in the Korean translation of the Dissociative Personality Disorder. So the title of the drama explicitly shows that it's supposed to be about Eun Ho, her sister and Eun Ho's mental illness. Here's the link to IM YourOnlyOne's post: https://kisskh.at/discussions/to-my-harry/130842-did-you-know Instead, half of the drama was focused on Hyun Oh and his backstory but what it did not address (not in a conscious and mature way) was Hyun Oh's treatment of Eun Ho. She was in a bad mental headspace for most of the drama, and he is also responsible for adding to that. She lost all of her family and he left her around that time be he didn't have guts to face his own issues which some of were really not an issue before. Why didn't he want to marry? Because although his sad past and abandonment by his mother he happened to acquire a loving family after all? Because they were a burden for him so he assumed they would be a burden for her too? What a bullshit reason. Many would say that she was also responsible for her situation but I would agree only to the extent that she entered a relationship with an emotionally unavailable guy (who's not at blame but who's responsibility is to seek help and heal or to not enter relationships). Their relationship was not healthy for either of them but it hurt Eun Ho more. Because Hyun Oh had a family and Eun Ho was really on her own. First, she was supposed to be a responsible one, giving that her grandma also was not getting any younger. Then her sister dissapeared. After years she was presumed dead by law and at the same time her grandma passed away. THEN the ML just leaves her because he can't utter a word. So how are our leads issues comparable?
After he breaks up with her without an explanation, she slowly falls ill. So even if the DID presented in the drama was a fictional one, up to some point in the drama, it was logically and psychologically consistent. For me even the dissapearence of Eun Ho's Haeri personality was believable because it was a consequence of her finding out and mental and emotional turmoil. After that she's edging on giving her life (as Eun Ho) up but terrified after harming herself she escapes the forest. Up to that point even her dissapearence, her staying in the forest cottage and her escaping was believable for me thanks to Shin Hye Sun's tremendous acting. It was one of the most relatable, raw and true-to-life depiction of mental health problems as I've seen in a drama so far.
But then, the script went downhill. Maybe not exactly then. When Hyun Oh found her and a while after Ju Yeon showed up, it was good. She hugged Ju Yeon out of gratitude for the words that she was possibly starving to hear her whole life. And THEN it went downhill. I'm not mad that she didn't choose him romantically speaking. She was desperately needing psychiatric and psychological help then, not a boyfriend. But I think she would make a good choice if she kept him in his life (and he seemed fine to do so for her: be im her life in a way she needed). And also maybe becoming true friends with Hye Yeon. Then she would have two people to have her back, liking her for her in whatever state she was in. With their support and proper psychiatric and psychological help, she could heal, even though it would be a long process. Instead, she chose an unhealthy relationship with a man who hurt her many times in many ways. Do you remember what he said to her after she was found with a DEAD man in a refrigerator truck because of the neglect of his colleagues who were on the side with her? After he broke up with her without an explanation or a conversation like adults (should) do? He said that she EMBARRASSES him. And she made a right decision in a couple episodes after that: after he told her to GET SICK (again, what the heck?!!) so he can take care of her (we witness an unhealthy pattern in full force here. She was always fully dependent on him and he, consciously or unconsciously, grew dependent on her dependcy of him). Who in their right mind would want their partner to suffer? And he explicitly told her that he wants her to be sick, for purely selfish reasons. We then saw that he doesn't want her to be healthy, because he then doesn't feel needed. I know men need to feel needed. I don't see anything wrong with that. They need to feel needed, and we, women, need to feel loved. (Which is not to say that vice versa is not true. Of course it is but in a different way). The thing is, he was only tending to her physical needs, not showing a slightest awareness that she has emotional needs too (even though she was always nagging him to say if he loved her, if he would save her, etc which was screaming emotional neeeds). In that episodes she finally realized that he couldn't ever satisfy her emotional needs. And she said him "goodbye". That was a very healthy decision for a suffering and struggling person. But the writers chose to go for a ""love" cures all" route instead. If it was even love, they would be forgiven easier. But what was between the FL and ML was not love. It was co-dependecy due to emotional scars, emptiness and needs that were unmet for too long.
So my final conclusion is this: the drama's low ratings stem from the writer's broken promises and the drama's potential of addressing mental health problems in a mature, profound and hopeful way, which we instead saw crashing down, burning.
I hadnβt plan on watching this because itβs not my genre, but after so many negative comments I decided to…
Many people, including me, were mainly dissapointed by the script which went downhill halfway through the drama. But some other things (Shin Hye Sun's acting, cinematography) are edging to a masterpiece so I think it's a drama worth watching anyway. And because of that, it was a tough one to rate for me too. If the script was better (in what ways, many people wrote down in the comments), it would stay in my all time favorites
For me it's not a waste exactly, her depiction of a person struggling with mental health issues was one of the most relatable FL I've ever seen (up to a point where the script went downhill...). Because of that, I'm glad she chose to star in this drama. Other than that, I agree
I even haven't been able to make myself watch the last two episodes yet. I'll probably watch them in some time, out of pure curiosity and maybe to laugh at how ridiculous the plot has gotten xd ://
Great review, I agree wholeheartedly. I would even have Eun Ho not ending up with anyone but the way her Hyeri side just disappeared to never show up anymore (for some time, I thought it was believable, given the turmoil Eun Ho was going through after finding out about everything. But then it just stayed that way...) was a nasty thing from the writers to do. I also was ready to love this drama, heck, half way through it I added it to my all time favorites list, only to take it down after a couple more episodes...
This could have been great. It felt like the writers were too lazy to develop the plot properly.
Yeah, it honestly feels as if the screenwriter wrote good first episodes, then took a sick leave and someone incompetent was forced to finish her work, not knowing what the message of the drama was really supposed to be... I mean, I'm obviously joking here, but it for sure feels this way, especially when we notice that in the first episode it was said "this is not a love story", while the last episodes pushed the "love conquers all" message that doesn't make any sense regarding all the build ups of the plot...
also, like so many people are like "you just don't get it. maybe it's too deep." nah that aint it. the writing…
I mean, I'm stil glad this drama was produced in the sense that I've got to enjoy Shin Hye Sun's stellar acting and captivating cinematography. But if it wasn't for her, I don't think even the cinematography would keep me... No, I think it wouldn't. The drama would go to the pile of "unsatisfactory writing, doesn't make sense". But because of Shin Hye Sun (I think it's my favorite role of hers so far!) I have a dilemma of how to really rate this drama...
Wow, I've never connected the dots. Was he really the one who was pushing to giving those offers to Eun Ho, even…
Yeah, I get it, I've done it too π«£ But recently someone posted a comment saying that they got spoiled because none of recent comments were checked as spoilers and they were all discussing recent episodes. So I made sure to check my "essay comments" xD as spoilers. I mean, I tend not to go to comments of a drama that is airing and I'm just starting it but I get it that there's a button (a button! that's the word for "thingy"! π) for it for a reason π
Regarding what you said here, I'll think about it and will get back to you :) Cheers!
But you asked for interesing dramas: could you maybe specify what you are looking for in such a drama? :)
Oh, also, I haven't watched so many, compared to many other users here, and also I didn't watch many cdramas, so unfortunately I can only recommend kdramas
I encourage you to scroll down quite a bit and read the comments of mine and some of my friends here on mdl - we bonded over disappointment over this drama lol. We fleshed out our reasons better than I could rn (update: well, I fleshed them out here too xdd), because I'm a bit tired from all the engagement to the drama that let me down and laying out the reasoning why it is so. But to not keep you hanging completely: the main reason is that our heroine, Eun Ho, was introduced on the span of the first 8 episodes, let's say, as a deeply hurt person, with abandonment issues (her parents passing away; her sister's disappearing; her grandma, who was her only family left, passing away too) and enormous guilt from her sister's disappearance and possibly from how she treated her before sister before (although I think there was not so much to be guilty of but grief can warp our understanding of the past). For so long she was supposed to be the responsible one, with her younger sister being fully dependent on her. Because of all those issues, when she started dating Hyun Oh, she was compensating all those stress of being the responsible one by, in turn, being fully dependent on him. It was not healthy from her side. But we, viewers, soon were discovering that even though the show was trying to paint Hyun Oh in a noble or at least understanding light, for many, it failed miserably. When we were getting to see more and more flashbacks from their dating past we could witness that their relationship was also not healthy from his side. From the start of their relationship (before they even started dating) he was acting hot and cold, guilt-tripping her, and behaving in other ways that would make one question why did she even started dating him. The possible answer is because of all her issues, which some of I stated above.
Many viewers have been feeling betrayed, because the premise promised a healing journey. But instead we got a bunch of very broken characters (which may be a good thing, a kind of cathartic experience) whose issues were swept under the rug. The drama is called "Dear Hyeri", which is the name the FL's sister and the name of FL's other personality. But if you check out the discussion post of a user IM YourOnlyOne, they show that "Hyeri" is an incorrect romanization. The drama was originally called "Dear Haeri", in Korean "λμ ν΄λ¦¬μκ²" while "Haeri" (ν΄λ¦¬) means "dissociative" ans is used in the Korean translation of the Dissociative Personality Disorder. So the title of the drama explicitly shows that it's supposed to be about Eun Ho, her sister and Eun Ho's mental illness. Here's the link to IM YourOnlyOne's post: https://kisskh.at/discussions/to-my-harry/130842-did-you-know
Instead, half of the drama was focused on Hyun Oh and his backstory but what it did not address (not in a conscious and mature way) was Hyun Oh's treatment of Eun Ho. She was in a bad mental headspace for most of the drama, and he is also responsible for adding to that. She lost all of her family and he left her around that time be he didn't have guts to face his own issues which some of were really not an issue before. Why didn't he want to marry? Because although his sad past and abandonment by his mother he happened to acquire a loving family after all? Because they were a burden for him so he assumed they would be a burden for her too? What a bullshit reason. Many would say that she was also responsible for her situation but I would agree only to the extent that she entered a relationship with an emotionally unavailable guy (who's not at blame but who's responsibility is to seek help and heal or to not enter relationships). Their relationship was not healthy for either of them but it hurt Eun Ho more. Because Hyun Oh had a family and Eun Ho was really on her own. First, she was supposed to be a responsible one, giving that her grandma also was not getting any younger. Then her sister dissapeared. After years she was presumed dead by law and at the same time her grandma passed away. THEN the ML just leaves her because he can't utter a word. So how are our leads issues comparable?
After he breaks up with her without an explanation, she slowly falls ill. So even if the DID presented in the drama was a fictional one, up to some point in the drama, it was logically and psychologically consistent. For me even the dissapearence of Eun Ho's Haeri personality was believable because it was a consequence of her finding out and mental and emotional turmoil. After that she's edging on giving her life (as Eun Ho) up but terrified after harming herself she escapes the forest. Up to that point even her dissapearence, her staying in the forest cottage and her escaping was believable for me thanks to Shin Hye Sun's tremendous acting. It was one of the most relatable, raw and true-to-life depiction of mental health problems as I've seen in a drama so far.
But then, the script went downhill. Maybe not exactly then. When Hyun Oh found her and a while after Ju Yeon showed up, it was good. She hugged Ju Yeon out of gratitude for the words that she was possibly starving to hear her whole life. And THEN it went downhill.
I'm not mad that she didn't choose him romantically speaking. She was desperately needing psychiatric and psychological help then, not a boyfriend. But I think she would make a good choice if she kept him in his life (and he seemed fine to do so for her: be im her life in a way she needed). And also maybe becoming true friends with Hye Yeon. Then she would have two people to have her back, liking her for her in whatever state she was in. With their support and proper psychiatric and psychological help, she could heal, even though it would be a long process. Instead, she chose an unhealthy relationship with a man who hurt her many times in many ways. Do you remember what he said to her after she was found with a DEAD man in a refrigerator truck because of the neglect of his colleagues who were on the side with her? After he broke up with her without an explanation or a conversation like adults (should) do? He said that she EMBARRASSES him.
And she made a right decision in a couple episodes after that: after he told her to GET SICK (again, what the heck?!!) so he can take care of her (we witness an unhealthy pattern in full force here. She was always fully dependent on him and he, consciously or unconsciously, grew dependent on her dependcy of him). Who in their right mind would want their partner to suffer? And he explicitly told her that he wants her to be sick, for purely selfish reasons. We then saw that he doesn't want her to be healthy, because he then doesn't feel needed. I know men need to feel needed. I don't see anything wrong with that. They need to feel needed, and we, women, need to feel loved. (Which is not to say that vice versa is not true. Of course it is but in a different way). The thing is, he was only tending to her physical needs, not showing a slightest awareness that she has emotional needs too (even though she was always nagging him to say if he loved her, if he would save her, etc which was screaming emotional neeeds). In that episodes she finally realized that he couldn't ever satisfy her emotional needs. And she said him "goodbye". That was a very healthy decision for a suffering and struggling person.
But the writers chose to go for a ""love" cures all" route instead. If it was even love, they would be forgiven easier. But what was between the FL and ML was not love. It was co-dependecy due to emotional scars, emptiness and needs that were unmet for too long.
So my final conclusion is this: the drama's low ratings stem from the writer's broken promises and the drama's potential of addressing mental health problems in a mature, profound and hopeful way, which we instead saw crashing down, burning.