Figgo

Intense Feelings of Hopelessness

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I'll preface this by saying I am not a K-pop fan. I didn't even know a K-pop star was starring in this drama until I got near the end of the drama. And now that I know the lead female is a rookie actress and considering this drama is her first time playing a main role, I am impressed. Also, I will say that my all-time favorite K-drama is White Christmas, which is also a hostage plot, so this type of story is right up my alley.

Acting/Cast: I'd say one of the best things about this drama is the casting of the spies. Perfect casting, especially the male lead spy. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing that character. He has this innocent look about him, but he can also have an intimidating presence, which is essential for the role. His ability to convey emotions through his eyes and facial expressions was vital to the role, as well. I think everyone inside the dorm (for the most part) had good acting. I didn't even have a problem with the rookie female lead's acting. Those outside of the dorm are another story. I think the worst thing about this drama is Park Sung Woong (박성웅). I hated every time he was on screen. His acting was over-the-top obnoxious. My brain's reaction to his presence would be to automatically start tuning him out. I actively had to fight against it. Him, as well as others on the outside of the dorm, really brought an unwanted cheesiness to the drama, which actually has a very serious plot that I think should have been taken more seriously. 7/10

Writing: For the most part, the story is pretty well written. The foundation that was built in the beginning was very solid except for the two important ANSP agent characters. I didn't care about them at all in the beginning. I didn't know exactly what to expect with this story, so once the hostage situation began, I was shocked and hooked. I think the writing begins to get shaky toward the end. I kept thinking "I wish the female lead had more of a role." She was great in the first half. She felt like a realistic, but strong female lead. She was trying to fight back, figure things out, even manipulate others to save her friends. The only thing potentially unrealistic about her behavior would be that if I were in her situation, I would be deathly terrified of the male lead. I wouldn't even have been able to look him in the eyes. I'd be way too traumatized and ashamed about the whole thing. However, toward the end, it's as though the female lead becomes more of a background character who looks sad all the time and is silently hating herself. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had tried to take herself out at some point...I think that would have been realistic. I mean, it's a deeply depressing and traumatizing situation for her specifically. Another reason I thought the writing got shaky toward the end was because of the excessive twists. I don't think it was necessary to put in twists toward the end; the main plot itself is engaging and complex enough and should have been fully embraced as it was. Also, toward the end, the intense feelings of hopelessness that I felt from the whole situation had increased too much to where I was almost unable to see any light at all at the end of the story. I think that's a bit more of a personal taste - I need a certain amount of hope to keep me on the edge of my seat and not lose interest. On a positive note, the political aspect of the drama became more interesting to me as the story went on (usually stuff like that bores me) and the two ANSP agents became much more likeable. I found the politics in this drama to be very thought-provoking. What kinds of events in real life have governments and media worked together on to cover up or spin to win elections? 9/10

Direction/SFX/Music: This drama definitely had a higher quality of production, which I really look for. I will drop a drama 20 minutes in if the production quality isn't doing it for me. There are a lot of guns, bombs, blood, I love the set and the time period. The OST is okay. It didn't stick out too much for me. The only complaint I have here is that sometimes the music didn't fit the situation, especially in the beginning. There's a gun fight and blood and chaos but romantic sounding music is playing. How is this romantic? 9.5/10

Entertainment Value: I was hooked for a majority of the drama. I stopped watching other dramas to binge watch this one. It was only toward the end (maybe episode 14) that I wasn't exactly excited about watching it...more scared to watch it I guess. 9.5/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 9/10. It's rare that I ever rate a drama this high. I think this one won't soon be forgotten. I wish there had been more of a sole focus on the dynamics inside of the dorm, such as relationships between the girls, and how their personal bonds helped them to survive. This person being an ANSP agent or that person being a northern spy or this person doing something bad in the past or that person having some past connection that I don't care about -- to me it was just a bunch of unnecessary Korean drama clichés that didn't really add much to the plot.

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Great Acting, But For What?

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

Although I don’t really like crime dramas, I decided to watch this one because I like both of the male lead actors. I particularly love seeing Ji Chang Wook (지창욱) in action roles. He’s amazing at it and it’s been a long time since I’d seen him do action.

Acting/Cast: Ji Chang Wook (지창욱) did not disappoint. His fighting sequences were not only exciting, but his acting was too real. I could feel all of his emotions throughout the entire drama. I think this could be the best performance that I’ve seen from him. Everyone else did great for the most part. The female lead’s acting was probably on the weaker side as well as the side character cops. 9.5/10

Writing: The psychological aspect of this drama was well written. However, that’s about it. The actual plot was not very interesting and didn’t make much sense realistically. The female lead really didn’t have much of a role. She was just the driving force behind the motivation for the male leads. All she had to do was exist. After finishing this drama, I felt confused as to what the purpose of the drama was. What’s the message? You must become evil to win against evil? Or that you shouldn’t do that? Or that we are the choices we make? If it’s that last one, then, I feel like the heroes are almost worse than the gangsters. The heroes had done something that was so completely heartless and shameful even by the gangsters’ standards. Maybe the mixed messages are intentional. Maybe the characters in the drama are just as confused as I am. 2/10

Direction/SFX/Music: Since this is a genre that I’m not particularly interested in, I didn’t think it would be able to keep my attention. However, the fight scenes would force me to bring my full attention back the screen. This drama definitely has a high production quality. The pacing is good. The OST didn’t stand out to me. 7/10

Entertainment Value: The action scenes were great. That's the only thing that kept me watching. However, the plot just feels pointless to me. I could predict what was going to happen a lot, too. I'm also not a fan of tragedies. This drama reminded me of Heartless City. Except, in Heartless City, the characters grew on me as I watched. The opposite happened for me with The Worst of Evil. 4/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 5.5/10. It might just be due to my own personal tastes - I don't usually like crime dramas nor tragedies. Amazing acting from Ji Chang Wook (지창욱) though.

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At Least It's an Ending

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I loved the previous seasons. This has been my crack drama - even this season. This review and rating will reflect this season only and not the drama as a whole.

Acting/Cast: One of the major aspects of this drama that had made it so great in the past was its amazing cast. The two leads, the two other leads, and all the side characters had been phenomenal. The acting of the two main leads were undoubtedly top-notch. Watching them as their families are slaughtered and as they're dragged away into slavery was heart-wrenching, but captivating as I rooted for Eun Seom and Tan Ya, on the edge of my seat, to find a way to save everyone. Without their amazing performances (Kim Ji Won 김지원 & Song Joong Ki 송중기), this drama could have easily flopped before it even really began. When I heard that both of these lead actors were being replaced, although the story was already established, I was afraid that it wouldn't be the same without them. Then, when I saw the actors that were taking their places, my heart sank. The female lead was being replaced by one of the worst lead actresses in Korean dramas (actually...she may be the worst in my opinion) and the male lead was being replaced by an actor I've only seen one other time (Moon Lovers). But, I knew just the change in the female lead could single-handedly ruin this season (having seen Shin Se Kyeong (신세경) in many dramas and never liking her performances but continuing to watch her dramas anyway). On top of that, one of my favorite characters was also being replaced - Nun Byeol. Way to kick me while I'm down. At least Yang Cha made it back. That being said, the change in the leads wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be, but that's not saying much since my expectations were basically at nothing. Lee Joon Gi (이준기) was decent as Saya, not as convincing as Eun Seom, but overall he was alright. As for Shin Se Kyeong (신세경) - it wasn't her worst performance; I could tell she gave a little bit of effort, but not enough to warrant too many close up shots of her facial expressions. A comparison could be made between how her scenes were shot versus how Ta Gon's scenes were shot. However, the casting, to my surprise, was not the biggest problem this season… 4.5/10

Writing: While watching, I felt as though the writers were trying to write out the characters whose actors had been replaced because they knew their performances would not nearly be up to par. So, they made Ta Gon and Tae Al Ha the leads this season. Saya’s character in particular changed a lot from the previous seasons. He used to have this alluring, mysterious aura about him. He had been in isolation for most of his life with the intelligence of an Igutu, giving him this innocent vibe which also felt very dangerous at the same time. Sadly, in this season, Saya didn’t feel like a threat at all. He no longer seemed cunning and conniving (which is where he needed to excel in order to compensate for his lack of physical strength and skill). I even thought that he seemed pathetic, which is such a disservice to a once uniquely captivating character. The same thing with Nun Byeol – the previous season had built her up as an amazing swordsman Neanthal sleeper cell badass, but then her actress was changed so the writers said “nevermind” and basically wrote her into a nothing burger. Yang Cha (another favorite of mine) previously had this unique and interesting relationship with Tan Ya - being her protector and the only one who really knows her, as well as the only person he can genuinely communicate with. Unfortunately, this season, the writers immediately threw away this engaging dynamic. In return, they gave him more of a storyline, but it felt cheap or cheesy... They should have just left him alone and let him stay a badass. Overall, the writing had a completely different vibe from previous seasons. It wasn’t dark at all and not as serious. It was even “comical” at times (or at least tried to be), which just felt strange and out-of-place. I would say that the writing started off decently and then worsened as the drama progressed, becoming more predictable and boring. It felt lazy and rushed as if they just wanted to give the audience some sort of conclusion to the story. 2.5/10

Direction/SFX/Music: Not only did the writing have a completely different vibe from previous seasons, but the directing did as well. And just as the writing was, the direction, the special effects, and overall cinematography felt cheap and cheesy. Instead of a dark, gritty, and intense atmosphere, it now had a bright and light-hearted feel. The special effects were so terrible that the only explanation is that the budget for the season must have been drastically reduced. Right away, there’s a scene where Eun Seom jumps into the air and freezes to shoot an arrow. There’s another action scene toward the end that does this same corny freezing in the air technique. They are also apparently unable to fill in crowds with green screens or CGI. There were multiple shots that were laughable, especially in context with the dialogue – characters talking as if there are a multitude of people and then the camara angle showing a crowd of around 50 people at best. The music is definitely one of the stronger aspects this season. 3.5/10

Entertainment Value: Despite all of the disappointment, I still really enjoyed this season. It still had that crack drama vibe for me. Maybe it's because I'm so attached to the characters and invested in their world. I hate how this drama gets me rooting for child murderers. It did in the previous seasons and I still found myself rooting for them this season. I think even the characters in the drama forget that Ta Gon and his people are all child murderers. But, I think that's a testament to how well the character and world building was done from the beginning until now. 8.5/10

Overall, I gave this season a 5 out of 10 stars. It probably deserves an even lower rating objectively speaking, but I still really enjoyed this season. (In order, I had given the previous 3 seasons or parts a 6.5, a 9, and an 8.5.) Although inadequate in many ways, at least this season was able to provide some closure to this epic tale.

A special thanks to the Momo tribe.

I made a short music video for this drama that features what I miss the most. It’s on YouTube and it’s called “Arthdal Chronicles | Paradise” and my channel name is The Enablers (@theenablers3846).

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A Simple and Slow Life Drama

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I’ve been wanting to watch this drama for a while now. I went in blind. For some reason I thought it would be a bit more exciting than it was.

Acting/Cast: The cast is good as well as the acting. I guess my big issue here is just that the main character played by Bae Suzy [배수지] is a stoic character. I usually don’t like those types of leads. It’s rare that an actor can pull off a stoic character well, as it’s difficult to play it in a way that keeps the stoicism from boring me. I would say that this stoicism was more on the boring side for my taste. I had a hard time connecting with her character; she felt distant and robotic. I watched this drama after watching Genie, Make A Wish (another drama in which Bae Suzy plays a stoic character). I much more preferred her performance in Genie, Make A Wish. 5.5/10

Writing: The message behind this drama seems to be about the problems regarding nepotism and classism in South Korean society. Although I understand that, the story itself isn’t very interesting. Nothing really crazy happens except maybe at the end, but even that wasn’t too dramatic. Whenever I thought the drama was going to go in an interesting direction, it didn’t. It’s just a story about a girl’s life...a really depressing life where nothing ever goes her way. The side characters weren’t fleshed out, especially the real Anna. I was surprised by how little she actually appeared in the drama. The main villain of the drama arrived a little late to the party. I didn’t feel as though I knew him well enough to fully appreciate his ultimate fate. 2.5/10         

Direction/SFX/Music: Something exciting was finally happening at the end of the drama. It was as though the build up throughout the entire drama was about to explode. But my anticipation was met with bad CGI. Even worse, it was completely unnecessary CGI. Why? Why was The Hunchback of Notre Dame suddenly being used as an allegory for the drama? It seemed to come out of nowhere. From what I understand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has more religious connotations—gypsies and witchcraft versus a corrupt government/church. This drama has no religious connotations or even lust towards the female lead (aside from the very beginning). The story seems pretty simple to me, so trying to attach a deep meaning felt futile. 5/10       

Entertainment Value: This drama had a hard time holding my attention. I was hoping for a twist or a dramatic climax, but the drama just kind of fizzled out. 1.5/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 3.5/10 which puts it in the “Probably a waste of time” category on my scale. It’s a very simple story of an unfortunate woman’s life. Even though the drama centers around her, I still felt like I wasn’t able to really get to know her. Also, the ending wasn’t cathartic enough for the long build up.

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How Not To Stretch Out a 5 Hour Drama

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I think this is the worst directing I’ve ever seen regarding pacing and story telling. I’m awestruck.

Acting/Cast: It’s okay. This drama is really slow with a focus on aesthetics. There isn’t much ‘acting’ going on. The female lead is the emotionless, stoic one. The male lead’s character is a little different than what I’ve seen before. He’s super nerdy but also really happy and energetic. It felt forced, though, as if he’s playing it up to lift the moods of those around him. I don’t know if this was the director’s intention or not. Well...maybe it is a problem with his acting. There’s a scene where he gets angry and that felt forced, too. The second male lead is also a stoic character with a small role. The second female lead actually has to do some acting. She does well. Her personality doesn’t feel forced. I like the male lead’s mom played by Jang Hye Jin (장혜진), but she’s not in the drama much. 4.5/10

Writing: The concept of this drama is really interesting. I like the idea of approaching something supernatural with scientific experimentation. However, it takes a bit of time to actually get to that part of the story. Unfortunately, this is the only good aspect of the writing…Let’s start at the beginning...After 3 hours, barely anything has happened. It shouldn’t have taken 3 hours to set up such a simple drama. That’s not the worst part though...every other episode seems to be a replay of the episode before it, but from another character’s perspective...sort of. I say ‘sort of’ because these new perspectives actually don’t add any new information to the story...so what’s the point? The set up takes 3 hours because episode 2 is episode 1 all over again. It’s the strangest shit I’ve seen in a long time. Literally, at least half of this drama is just replaying scenes we’ve already seen and have gotten thorough information from. But that’s not all...It gets even dumber at the end. We spend the entire drama following the male lead around and seeing everything that he’s doing and hearing everything he’s thinking. Then, suddenly at the end, we follow a different character who has no idea what the male lead has been doing. So this character has to do some detective work to figure it out. But the audience already knows everything, so there’s no mystery here for us. We are then made to suffer through a rewatch of the entire drama in flashback fashion as this character is learning everything that we already know. I’m just completely dumbfounded…Also, why was the male lead going back and forth about whether or not the female lead is a witch? That was really confusing. Was he lying to her to encourage her to live her life and not care about who gets hurt? Anyway, the ending is okay. It’s not the worst I’ve seen but it’s definitely not good. There’s not enough relationship development for any of the characters for the ending to be satisfying. It felt like it wasn’t over, as if an episode is missing. Also, I have to talk about the male lead being a stalker. It actually is mentioned in the drama, which surprised me. But, the male lead really is a legit stalker and it’s pretty scary at times. If someone has been a victim of stalking, I would not recommend watching this drama. The male lead can get away with it because he’s doing it to save people who are cursed as well as save the people around them. However, there is still the fact that he’s in love with the female lead to an obsessive point. From what I gather, witches seem to have something mystical about them that draws people to them (they’re basically all Mary Sues). So, guys fall in love with the female lead for no reason and that seems to be the case with the male lead, too. So does he genuinely love her or is he just drawn to her because she’s a witch? His stalking/data collection on her is extremely detailed. Why does he need to record that she takes a break from working and stretches at 2 pm? He has all the books that she’s translated just because she translated them. It’s things that have nothing to do with trying to free her from her curse and it feels like it’s going way too far. 1.5/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The pacing is terrible. The first 3 episodes barely set up the plot. A lot of this drama is just replaying previous scenes without even adding anything important to the plot. I feel like most of the issues with this drama could be fixed by shortening it to 5 or 6 episodes and changing the point-of-view to be strictly from the male lead throughout the entire drama. If we are only able to see things from his perspective, the story would be a much more engaging mystery for the audience. The cinematography style is actually pretty nice. I could tell they were trying to be artsy with this drama. Although I do hate the intro that plays at the beginning of every episode. It was just random scenes from various episodes put together in a montage. It felt low-effort. The OST is nothing special, but the music scores are decent. 1.5/10

Entertainment Value: Despite the very slow start, all of the flashbacks, boring characters, and terrible story telling, I actually enjoyed watching this drama. The mystery aspect was interesting. There was a style change up midway through the drama where it felt more like a suspense/thriller drama. That was cool. I wish they really leaned into that though. 5/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 3/10. Although I liked The Witch a lot more than The Trunk I gave them both the same overall score (both dramas suffer from pacing issues). Even though I wanted to drop it, The Trunk earned a 3 from me for its cast and production value. The Witch, although the execution was terrible, earned a 3 for its interesting premise and entertainment value.

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Accidentally Developed An Obsession

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I was excited for this one. Lee Dong Wook (이동욱) is one of my favorite Korean actors because of his ability to play all kinds of characters. I loved his role as a villain in Strangers From Hell. In A Shop For Killers, he's playing a darker role too, although not exactly a villain.

Acting/Cast: I love the cast and their acting. I think Ji An, the main character, has become one of my all time favorite K-drama characters. Min Hye is badass, too. I also like Brother, Pasin, and of course Jin Man. The only casting I didn't like was Ji An's childhood friend. I'm glad he didn't have much screen time. 9/10

Writing: I love the plot and the characters. I like the way that the story unfolded using the "잘 들어 정지안" (Listen well, Jeong Ji An) pattern. It gave the drama a certain kind of charm. I normally hate flashbacks, but these flashbacks were done in a way that felt artistic -at least the Ji An flashbacks did. There was a portion of the drama that had long flashbacks that I felt were unnecessary. They were scenes that the audience had already experienced, but more detail was being added in. I didn't need the extra detail. I liked the mysterious vibe that the scenes originally had. It was as though we were in the same boat with Ji An not knowing what the hell was going on and we were uncovering the mystery with her. But, because of these 'retracing our steps' scenes, I felt like I was watching the same scenes twice and I got bored. 8/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The best thing about the drama... This is how I accidentally developed an obsession. The camera work, the production value, the weapons, the choreography, the MUSIC - it's all so good. It was a bit reminiscent of John Wick (and John Wick is one of the greatest things to exist in the world of artful cinematography). I finally got all the songs I wanted from this drama on my mp3 player. I haven't been this into a soundtrack since...maybe Strangers From Hell? Well, the Doona! soundtrack was pretty good, too. By the way, the music played during the gas mask scene is called Minhye Action. I was looking for that one for a while. 10/10

Entertainment Value: This obsession really snuck up on me. I didn't think I was enjoying it that much. It was because of those repeated scenes that I mentioned earlier. I just wanted to get back to the action with everyone at the house. Don't keep me holding my breath. After the drama ended, I couldn't get it out of my head. I liked it more and more as time passed. This is the same thing that happened to me years back with Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. I gave it a 6 or a 7 upon finishing the drama, but I missed it so much once it was gone that I ended up putting that drama in my top 10 and increasing its score to 9.5. Anyway, I'm not usually one for sequels, but this drama needs one. I actually think that not having a second season will hurt this drama in the long run (unless the second season is terrible of course...Sweet Home...Strong Girl...send help. 8/10

Overall, I ended up increasing this drama's score from a 7.5 to a 9/10.
See, this is why I don't write reviews immediately after completing a drama. I have to give it some time to sink in so I can sort out my feelings.

By the way, I made 3 YouTube Shorts related to this drama - one features Ji An, one features Jin Man, and one features Min Hye. The titles are "Ji An | A Shop For Killers | Little Girl Gone", "Jin Man | A Shop For Killers | YUNGBLUD", "Min Hye | A Shop For Killers | Black Betty" and my channel name is The Enablers (@theenablers3846).

murthehelp

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Over-The-Top Style Ruins The Horror Aspect

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I don’t like the horror genre, but I’ll watch it every once in a while.

Acting/Cast: Easily the best part of this drama – the cast and their acting is great. I especially liked the two older characters played by No Jae Won (노재원) and Jeon So Ni (전소니). No Jae Won’s character quickly became my favorite. This is a very emotionally intensive drama, and everyone excels at portraying those emotions. 9/10

Writing: Initially, the concept of the drama seemed kind of dumb, but the way it was written actually made it pretty interesting and entertaining. The backstory behind the curse made the story much more believable and emotional. Although I did really like all of the characters, unfortunately, I think they weren’t as developed as well as they could have been. For example, I didn’t quite understand the psychology and motives of Kang Ha Jun and Im Na Ri (Two of the friends in the main friend group). Also, I have to mention that there is no subtlety in this drama when it comes to evil ghosts and shaman powers. It is portrayed as being so obviously real, that it’s just idiotic for a character to not believe in it. Since the occult powers were so blatantly on display, it bothered me that characters were acting like it wasn’t real. I chalked that up to a writing issue. Instead of a character being annoyed when another character believes in it, they should be disgusted or ashamed of those practicing it, as it could easily be seen as partnering with demonic powers or something. Anyway, the story progresses very fast and goes from 0 to 100 right away. It definitely kept me from looking away, but it also ruined any opportunities for good suspense building. I’ll elaborate on this more in the next section. 6/10     
   
Direction/SFX/Music: This drama is shot well with a high value of production. It’s just that the style is not really my cup of tea. It reminds me of Evil Dead without the comedic quality. The horror style is very over-the-top with a strong focus on blood in particular. They used so much fake blood in this drama it became ridiculous. The way some scenes were shot, too, made it not very scary—it was either just gross or it felt like they were trying too hard to make us squirm and therefore failed. Throat cutting is a common occurrence, as well, and so much so that it ceases to have any emotional impact for the viewer. Basically, this drama’s style of horror quickly desensitizes the viewer to it, which is definitely not what you want. 3.5/10 

Entertainment Value: This drama held my attention pretty well because the characters were likable and the action starts right away. It was only when there was a change of pace to show the backstory of the curse that my attention began to waver. Also, trying too hard to creep the viewers out with all the fake blood and “eye gore” left me rolling my eyes. It got to the point where seeing blood triggered a response in me to mentally check out. But I got through it and wasn’t disappointed in the ending. Although they did set it up for a season 2, which I doubt I would watch. 6/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 6/10 (6 or higher is ‘would recommend’ on my scale). It’s fast paced, action filled, with an interesting concept and cast of characters. The horror style isn’t for me—a little more subtlety would have been nice.

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Terrible Character Writing, Dull

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I'm a fan of the School series, with School 2013 being my favorite. That's why I watched this one even though I didn't have high hopes for it.

Acting/Cast: A big reason why I figured this drama wouldn't be good is because of the cast. I haven't heard of most of the actors. The second male lead plays in The Tale of Lady Ok, but in that drama, he seems much more experienced. Jeon Seok Ho (전석호) plays support characters in a ton of dramas, so I knew he'd be good at least. In any case, I was right. The acting wasn't good for the most part. The two leads didn't have chemistry together, but to be fair, I can't see either of them having chemistry with anyone. This drama gave me Sweet Revenge vibes in regards to acting ability and overall quality, but both seasons of that drama are immensely better than School 2021 because it has charm. There's a really annoying character in this drama, too (the best friend of the male lead). He gets worse over the course of the drama. I literally felt like I was purposefully being tortured. 1/10

Writing: So boring...pretty much everything about this drama is incredibly boring. The character writing is terrible...the worst set of characters I've ever seen. Although, I did kind of like Kang Seo Young (the 2nd female lead), but she wasn't developed enough. The female lead is obsessed with the male lead for no reason. The male lead doesn't even seem like he likes her. Well, most of the characters aren't likeable anyway. The only decently written character is the woodshop teacher played by Jeon Seok Ho (전석호). The only plot point of the drama that has a shred of entertainment value is the court case surrounding the workplace injury. Other plot points are really weird and not fleshed out properly...like the random baby? That's actually when I would have dropped drama if it wasn't a part of the School series. 1/10

Direction/SFX/Music: This drama seems like it has a low production quality. At times, I got School 2013 vibes...but 95% of the time the drama just seemed like it was low budget. Dream on~ Dream on~ Dream on~ it's annoying at first, but it starts to become funny. The rest of the OST is a bunch of slow romance type songs. There is a good, upbeat musical score that plays when they're banding together to protest. That's about it. 1/10

Entertainment Value: I forced myself to watch this drama because it's part of the School series. It was torturous to watch this at times, it was cringey at other times, and it nearly puts you to sleep the rest of the time. 1/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 1/10. This drama takes the prize as being one of the worst dramas I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot. I think this is the only time I've given a drama a 1-star rating in every category. It's just watching a bunch of annoying children (and amateur actors) do very uninteresting things.

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Not My Style, But Has Good Moments

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I don’t think I’m the targeted demographic for this drama. It seems to be more suited for teen boys. I watched it anyway.

Acting/Cast: I like the cast. This drama does have some good characters. There wasn’t enough time to really develop any of them though. The male lead was probably the worst along with the main villain. The male lead is that stoic type that I can’t stand, but I’ve seen worse...he did have a hint of personality. The main villain is scary but not developed at all. It really ruined that aspect of the story for me. My favorite character was Strawberry/Lee Jun. He was fun. I liked the student with the white hair, too. He was probably one of the more developed characters, which is sad because he’s hardly even in the drama. 7/10

Writing: This drama has a good start - the humor, the action scenes, the dilemmas that they had to overcome. Even though the plot is kind of dumb (kids that want to study but can’t because...I don’t really know why), I was still entertained. However, once the male lead stops pretending to be oblivious or whatever was going on with him, the drama becomes focused on fight scenes. When I think that the story is going to get some more development, it doesn’t...it just turns into another fight scene. I got bored. This drama does have some good quotes though. I like what the old man in the hospital said about why he continues to study - "When I stop learning, that’s when my life stops.” I could relate. This drama has a positive message about the importance of education, which I appreciated. I also like how violence wasn’t treated as being evil, but necessary for self-defense and to protect others. 4/10

Direction/SFX/Music: This drama is basically a live action anime, so it’s very crazy. It’s production value looks high. The SFX is well done. The soundtrack is memorable and fit the vibe of the drama well (although not my style). The injuries and blood looked good. 7.5/10

Entertainment Value: The first half of the drama seemed promising. It felt like it was going in a good direction where we’d get a developed story and characters. I’m not going to lie though...even then I wasn’t too interested in continuing to watch this drama. Like I said, I’m not the demographic and I don’t like anime. Also, the stoic male lead trope is not my thing. I stuck with it though, which rewarded me with some characters that I did end up liking. The story line with the old man in the hospital was nice, too. Those things got me through the drama. I was bored with all the anime fighting though. Don't get me wrong - I normally love action and well done action choreography...just not this type of action.4/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 5.5/10. There just isn’t enough story for me and not nearly enough character development. I would recommend this drama to those who enjoy anime style fight scenes. That’s about it.

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Great Leads, Disappointing Writing

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I decided to watch this drama because I saw a clip from the opening scene. Dramas that start with a “jumper” scene get me hooked. Don’t ask...I like depressing shit.

Acting/Cast: A solid cast with good acting. Too bad most of the characters aren't likable at all. Easily, the best thing about this drama is the leads. Actually, it may be the only thing I liked about this drama. Uh oh... Well, there were two other characters that I really liked...but apparently the writers didn’t. Their stories didn’t play out so well… 7.5/10

Writing: This isn’t really a zombie plot. They’re more like vampires. And the story is more about the psychology of the people in the apartment building rather than the infected, vampire people. So this drama is not very scary and the infected people aren’t much of a threat. I was only scared once, which was during “The Thing” scene (if you know, you know). I did like that they were more like vampires that struggle to curb their thirst for blood and are able to stay human if their willpower is strong enough. I thought that was an interesting concept because there’s still a chance for that character to survive and continue to interact with healthy characters while creating different dynamics between characters. I also like how the relationship between the two leads developed. They had a really sweet best friendship that slowly turns into something more. Seriously, it is relationship goals for me…I’m jealous. Okay, now for the bad, which is everything else. I really like “trapped in a building” plots and “hostage plots” because I like seeing a group of various characters develop through the course of the drama and learn to work together to survive (My favorite K-drama is White Christmas if that tells you anything.) This drama has that kind of plot, but instead of getting well-developed characters that grow on me as I watch, I got mostly unlikable characters that get worse over time and a couple likable characters that get neglected or completely ruined. It was so disappointing for me. The two leads are the only decently written characters that stay that way throughout the entire drama. The “villains” in this drama aren’t typical either. Is there really a true villain? There’s so many characters in the drama that are terrible people. It’s to the point where I really don’t give a shit about the security of the building. Let them all get infected. They deserve it. It reminded me of that movie The Mist (I hated that movie). There’s this stupid twist toward the end of the drama...that’s when the drama really lost me. We already have so many “everyday people” turning into murderers, we don’t need any more thrown into the mix. Just...why?? I guess you would call that an “overkill”. The writers killed the story with that stupidity. I mean, the cops letting a known murderer run loose around the building from the beginning was stupid enough. Oh yeah, they also kept referencing COVID in the drama, which really annoyed me. As if COVID is anywhere near comparable to this infection. 2/10

Direction/SFX/Music: This drama is well-produced. The SFX is well done. I was also pleasantly surprised to see some cool actions scenes from the male lead, Park Young Sik (박형식). The soundtrack is so good. It’s rare for me to say that. It has a fun, action-y vibe to it. Maybe the soundtrack is the reason why I enjoyed this drama as much as I did. 8/10

Entertainment Value: Despite the lack of likable characters, it was entertaining. I binged this drama. I got pissed off by the end though, which drastically lowered its score for me. It was like a beam that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. After all that work I did overlooking a lot of smaller irritations here and there, the writers rewarded me by punching me in the face. Thanks for that… 5/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 5.5/10. Even though the writing was bad, I really liked the leads and their chemistry together. Their relationship was so sweet. But, are the leads alone enough for me to recommend this drama? I don’t think so.

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Stress-Free Watch But It's Missing Something

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I had been putting this one off, but I finally got around to watching it. I needed something calm to watch while I was sick.

Acting/Cast: The little kids were perfectly cast. They were great. The little girl in particular is such a good actress (Oh Eun Seo; 오은서). It's kind of embarrassing that the child actors outshined their older counterparts... Really, I would have preferred to watch the entire drama with just them. It's not that the older actors were terrible...it's that the younger ones were just so much better and more enjoyable to watch. Well, I really didn't like Kim San Ha's actor, Hwang In Youp (황인엽). He was great in True Beauty, but anything I've seen him in since, I haven't like him at all. In this drama, he had this odd way of speaking...like a certain cadence to his voice as if he's constantly trying to be soothing. It's annoying and real people don't talk like that. The female lead was okay...not as bad as I thought she might be. The brother was a little much. The chemistry was lacking between everyone (except the child actors of course). The dad was likeable most of the time, but he had reactions sometimes that didn't make sense. His blank stare face is too still, by the way. Whenever he would do that, I would think the video had frozen. 4.5/10

Writing: I wish they would have gone back and forth between the present and the past throughout the course of the drama. I thought they were going to do that since the child actors were so good. Apparently, that's done in the original...at least that's what I've heard. The writing keeps the characters as angelic as possible, which makes them feel inauthentic. It makes for a stress-free watch, however. The storyline is interesting, it's just that it feels like something is missing. Someone had said that this version has been stripped of the charm that the original has. Maybe that is what's missing - the charm. On a positive note, I'm glad that the writers didn't try to redeem all of the "antagonists". That was nice. I have an issue with feel-good dramas giving redemption arcs to people that don't deserve it. This drama handled it well. 5/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The OST is actually pretty decent. There is a song on it by Kim Feel that I like. The pacing of the drama is good. The vibe of the drama felt nice in the beginning, but it quickly lost that along the way. 5/10

Entertainment Value: I was kept entertained throughout the entire drama and the ending was satisfying. However, I've found that the drama is not memorable for me. Maybe it's because the characters didn't feel genuine or maybe it's because the drama was too smooth-sailing - no crazy conflicts. The beginning of the drama, though, was really good because of the child actors. I love the scene of them getting into a street brawl. That was the best scene in the drama. I'm sad because the rest of the drama wasn't like that. It was a bit when the female lead was trying to get people to think she was crazy in high school, but it was short-lived. 4/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 4.5/10. I compared it with Welcome To Samdal-Ri, which I had scored a 5.5/10. Both dramas are family dramas with so-so conflicts. However, I really loved Welcome to Samdal-Ri's cast of characters. They had a ton of charm and chemistry. Therefore, Family By Choice has scored a little bit lower for me.

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Different Than Expected, Entertaining, Light

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I was in the mood to watch some marital drama. I was hoping for abusive husbands. I just like depressing shit.

Acting/Cast: A decent cast with decent acting. Actually, I'm only familiar with three of the actors. The ones that I'm not familiar with did a great job. I would say that Lee Sang Yeob (이상엽 - the male lead who is a teacher), Park Ha Sun (박하선 - the female lead), Choi Byung Mo (최병모 - the husband of the second female lead), and Shim Hye Yun (심혜연 - the little girl) were the actors that stood out to me the most. The two leads in particular, had really good chemistry together. 7.5/10

Writing: Contrary to the drama's title, this drama isn't very risqué...at all. This is either a good or bad depending on the reason for watching. This drama was less about the cheating and more about the psychology behind the reasons for ending up in an affair, losing themselves, and trying to find freedom. I liked the use of the birds and the bird cage as symbols throughout the drama. Right when I saw birds in cages I knew what was going on. I had some issues with the writing, however. I don't like how horrible they made the female lead's husband seem in the beginning. I would have been fine with it if they had kept him horrible, but he becomes a nice, normal person very quickly. They kind of did the same thing with the second female lead's husband, but at least he was horrible for a longer period of time. Also, the male lead's story bothered me a bit. I think he has the least justification for cheating. He could have easily left his "wife". So, it just made him look really bad. Another issue I had was with the second female lead's affair. I didn't understand how they fell in love. It was left ambiguous from what I could gather. Also, the second female lead seemed to change pretty drastically because she fell in love with this guy, but I don't understand why. She's a morally gray character (maybe even more of a villain) who proudly and regularly cheats and encourages the female lead (and even manipulates her) to cheat on her husband as well. Suddenly, it's like she becomes a hero and I guess we're supposed to just forgive her. Despite all of these issues, I think I enjoyed this drama as much as I did because of the dialogue writing and the pacing. The ending is also good. 4/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The SFX and the music is fine; nothing special. The direction, however, was very well done. I liked the vibe of the drama, the pacing, the shots. It had a nice feel to it that made it easy to watch. 5.5/10

Entertainment Value: I binged this drama. I would say that none of the relationships in this drama are enviable or desirable in any capacity, but it was still entertaining to watch. I was scared for the women because in the beginning there's a house fire that was started due to an affair. I was rooting for them to find freedom without any bloodshed because none of the characters really deserve that. They all just seem like relatively normal people that found themselves in depressing situations. Another reason I found this drama so entertaining was because of the focus on the psychology of the characters. I was interested to see how each of the spouses would react once they found out about the affairs. 7/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 6/10. A 6 or higher is in my recommended zone. I was really surprised I liked this as much as I did. No abusive husbands though. I would compare this drama to My Liberation Notes (which I had also rated a 6/10). Although, this drama isn't as dialogue heavy, which was nice. If you like life dramas and aren't looking for something too adult, then you might like this.

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Surprisingly Cute and Wholesome

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I picked this drama up while waiting for more episodes of The Judge From Hell to air. They’re pretty similar in style and both involve supernatural concepts such as demons. Actually, Kim Ah Young (김아영) who plays Gremory in The Judge From Hell is also in this drama. I usually try to avoid watching similar dramas simultaneously so that I won’t get confused...woops...

Acting/Cast: I had my doubts, especially in the very beginning, but they all did great. They created charming and memorable characters. The leads were both well done and likable. They also had chemistry together. The male lead’s strong, quirky personality remained consistent throughout the entire drama. I’m highly impressed. Usually, when you have a lead with an over-the-top personality, they fizzle out half-way through and become very basic. I think the cast and the acting was by far the best thing about this drama. I have to give a shout out to Ye Ji Won (예지원) as well; she did a great job. She only had a small role in this drama, but I really liked her character. 10/10

Writing: The acting and the characters really made this drama because the plot is pretty ridiculous. But, I can say that this plot still makes more sense than The Judge From Hell. The character development in My Heavenly Idol was well done. This drama really is like a family healing drama except it’s a k-pop idol group healing drama. It’s actually pretty sweet and wholesome. It’s funny as well. It pokes fun at the whole k-pop idol industry without being too offensive for fans. This drama also doesn’t drag; there’s always something crazy going on from beginning to end. Speaking of the end...it was well done. Fantasy dramas can be really hit or miss with endings and I think they pulled it off nicely. The lowest score will be in the writing category, but it's only because of the craziness of the plot. I think the character writing was very well done. 3.5/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The music isn’t my style. I prefer The Judge From Hell’s soundtrack much more than this one. The special effects are well done. The pacing is good. 5.5/10

Entertainment Value: Entertaining from beginning to end. I watched this at the same time as The Judge From Hell and I found this drama to be much more entertaining. Some may find this drama too cutesy or too crazy or even too religious/sacrilegious, but for me, it worked. 7/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 6/10. A 6 or higher is in my recommended zone. I was so surprised at how much I liked this drama. Great characters and never a dull moment.

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A Waste of Time...Not Cute

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

It was only 10 episodes, so why not? I tend to be draw to sci-fi k-dramas, but I usually don’t end up liking them very much.

Acting/Cast: Not terrible. I did like the three main girls. I didn’t have a problem with them or their acting. The male lead on the other hand…so boring and unlikeable. Also, the doctor love interest is super boring. The male lead’s firefighter friend is really the only male character that has some personality. 4/10

Writing: I don’t know what is happening with this story/character writing. It doesn’t make any sense. All the male characters are terrible, but it’s okay?? No character growth. No consequences for bad behavior. And even though I didn’t have a problem with three female friends as characters, they really weren’t much better than the men regarding maturity or morality. The male lead pissed me off the most as a character. He’s very self-righteous and wimpy…and that doesn’t really make sense for a firefighter. The way his story line played out was just so lame…Actually, I’m reminded of how I felt watching the second half of Marry My Husband. The drama became super cheesy and dumb. What they did with the ex boyfriend also pissed me off. He was committing crimes against the female lead -- really bad crimes…disgusting crimes…and what? We’re supposed to just laugh it off? Well, that’s what the writers did. The conflicts that persist throughout the drama are all lame. You can’t have storylines with bad people doing horrible, repulsive things, but then the main conflict is that the female lead is bad because she looked at some loser’s DMs. WHO CARES. My FBI guy does that shit in his sleep. 1/10

Direction/SFX/Music: Nothing special. Very basic. I can’t say that this drama has anything special or charming about it. The pacing is messed up. The Noble Idiocy happens too late and too random and is resolved so fast that I don’t even know how it happened. Noble Idiocy is a bad trope anyway. 1.5/10

Entertainment Value: The first half of the drama was interesting to me. The evil ex / stalker plot quickly drew me in. Everything fell apart in the second half of the drama. It’s as though the writers weren’t sure what they wanted to say with this drama. It’s just all over the place. Toxic characters are basically redeemed or brushed over for no reason. It left such a bad taste in my mouth. As entertained as I was in the first half, by the end of the drama I was left rolling my eyes. Apparently, people thought this drama was funny and that’s where a lot of its charm comes from. I don’t remember laughing once. Actually, it has very serious subject matter (stalking, sexual harassment, extreme dating violence, death, trauma, infidelity, infertility), so I didn’t find anything funny about it. 1/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 2/10. I wish I didn’t waste my time watching it. Some of the actors were decent and the first half was entertaining enough, but that’s about it.

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A Fun Ride With A Likeable Cast

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I normally don't like heist plots , but I love hostage plots. I finally decided to give this one a shot. By the way, I haven't seen the original, so I can't compare them. Also, I'm reviewing both parts of this drama as a whole.

Acting/Cast: Overall, I love the casting choices. Park Hae Soo (박해수), who plays Berlin, is an especially strong actor. I've seen him previously as the lead role in Prison Playbook and I loved him in that, so I knew he'd kill this role, too. Right when Berlin was introduced, I knew he'd be my favorite character; he has such a powerful presence about him. The rest of the crew was great, as well. Even the team members that didn't get as much screen time really grew on me. I'd say the only character I really had an issue with was the main female hostage, Yun Mi Seon played by Lee Joo Bin (이주빈). She has this "deer in headlights" look the entire time. Her character was pretty badass technically, but I don't think the actress conveyed that very well. 9/10

Writing: The plot was engaging. I liked the way that they laid the story out so that the audience wouldn't be sure as to what was really going on until it was revealed. I'd say the narration was unnecessary though. Maybe that's just me - I tend to dislike narration. The first half of the drama had red herrings that I think worked very well for the story and made it more exciting. However, in the second half of the drama, the red herrings came to be expected. In consequence, they lost their effectiveness in garnering strong emotions from the audience. Again, the hostage Yun Mi Seon played by Lee Joo Bin (이주빈) nagged at me in this category, too. Her character was strange - it just didn't make sense to me how she was so hung up on gross ass Peter Pettigrew and then she quickly screws another guy she just met. In my opinion, sex scenes never help a drama (and by sex scene, I mean the full-bodied, lingering sex scenes) and that's what happened in this drama. It came across as trashy, not romantic, and it just made me dislike her character even more. Actually, her entire plotline was annoying to me. There's one more sex scene in this drama, but it's not quite as risqué (although I still think it goes on for a little too long). The ending was good - I just wish there was a bit more closure for some of the characters. Throughout the drama, there were some scenes and dialogue that felt a bit cheesy, but whatever, I had fun. That being said, I couldn't help but compare this drama to Snowdrop. There are plot points that are eerily similar. However, Snowdrop has a much more dark and serious tone. I will say that overall, Snowdrop is the stronger drama out of the two and it was able to leave a lasting impression on me as opposed to Money Heist: Korea. 7/10

Direction/SFX/Music: I love the music, the costumes, the mask designs. The drama looks well-produced - good special effects, good camera work. The 'director of the mint' hostage...they did him so dirty with the camera angles. It was hilarious. I will bring up the cheese factor again in this category: There were some really cheesy and unrealistic scenes. I'm particularly referring to the scenes with a lot of gunfire and nobody is getting shot. Then, there was one scene where someone was shot, but instead of dragging the person away from the firefight, they just stayed there and cried. It caused a bit of disconnect for me because it was so contrary to how someone would actually react in a situation like that. 7.5/10

Entertainment Value: Binge worthy for sure. I stopped watching my other dramas so I could binge this one. To be fair though, the other dramas that I was watching aren't an exciting genre like this one. In any case, with this drama, I was dialed in the entire time and I did have a smile on my face a lot while watching. I definitely had fun. However, like I said previously, I would have liked less of an open ending for some of the characters. 9/10

Overall, I gave this drama an 8/10 mainly due to some cheesiness, my issue with the sex scenes, and my issues with the Yun Mi Seon character in general.

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