I havent seen this writer and director's other works so i was really curious about all the hype about this show and their comeback which is why i started this show but rn all im feeling from ep 1 to 2 is a lot of frustration and confusion lol...idk if this is standard for their work...? Forgive me for being harsh but the leads r insufferable so far and the obvious narrative push towards empathizing with them is a tough sell when they really dont have too many redeeming points to offer so far...
Let me explain my points of frustration:
Idk if it will get better as the show progresses but i think this show suffers a lot from lack of context.
We get the eight club members' reaction to dong man framed through dong man's victimhood lens but the reason why they behave the way they do with him is never shown with the same empathy. The writer/director seems to want the audience to side with dong man from the get go instead of leaving it neutral and allowing the audience to naturally form their own judgements. Showing instead of telling basically.
So then this ends up making actual complex characters like the eight club members look like caricaturish villains. But they dont fit that box completely either coz then they show complexities within these characters too! So what exactly is this drama trying to be? It feels like it lacks a fundamental sense of direction...it feels like a tonal inconsistency which is giving me a hard time with this show...
I might watch a couple more epiaodes before deciding how i really feel about it. Right now, i feel like this is a show with massive potential, all the right ingredients r already in place, everything is perfectly placed, but somehow i just dont feel the taste yet...like no taste at all. It's a strange feeling...
Also what is going on with Eun ha's character? I cringed out of my soul when she went on about being inhumane to her colleagues, like acting holier than thou would get her any brownie points and then seeing their rightful reaction to her gave me even bigger secondhand embarrassment for her🤦♀️ like girlie, just what r u doing?? This isn't high school...
I get that she can relate to Dong Man but she also doesnt know jackshit about the guy, lets be honest here. In fact none of the people defending him including his brother know jackshit about the guy and how he treats his supposed long term friends of 20 years. And this is another instance where the show suffers from lacking context because how did their friendship end up in this dynamic? Was it like this from the beginning? U dont give context to this, then push the viewer to choose Dong Man's side alone when u also show Dong Man being the most toxic insufferable friend one can have, like how is this fair to the viewer?
Also Dong Man's brother is another piece of work oh my god. Why is this show full of frustrating characters?? I feel like this show suffers from characters who r in perpetual victimhood. Coz just what was the need to bring up his dad's benevolent nature and all that talk about hardwork to his father's brother in law in that scene?? As far as I as a viewer is concerned, all i know about this older dude is that his daughter is getting married and he asked Dong Man who he knows has been working in films for 20 years for a celebrity's attendance to the wedding. Tacky request i admit but did it warrant such a conversation with the elderly gentleman from Dong Man's self righteous brother??? It's like Eun ha, Dong Man's brother and Dong Man want everyone else to make Dong Man's problems theirs too, and when they don't, they become the villain 🤦♀️
Also what's up with the scene where it's implied Eunha can bring harm to people who she doesn't like by looking at them? Like the guy that starts choking or the ceo getting hit but he says it wasn't dong man? Is this another psychological metaphor that just completely went over my head or does this show have elements of fantasy now...?
Ughhhh idek anymore, im done, i need sleep and some icecream, ciao✌️
Totally agree with this. The audience is set up to empathize with the main character and see his behavior as understandable…
Yess exactly how I felt! The summary makes sense now coz I think this drama will explore all of the eight club members and their lives and struggles individually
Interesting 1st episode. I think I'll have to wait for more episodes to form a solid opinion but so far the story (or idk if it's my pov) seems to want to set up dong man as someone who should get a pass for his obvious envy and toxicity he brings around to his friends (?) simply because he's struggling, which shouldn't excuse bad behavior. I hope the story handles it in a neutral way without taking sides because i dont blame any of his friends for finding him insufferable because frankly, he is.
I empathize with his situation but again his projection, displacement and general resentful behavior sort of makes it difficult to empathize too...
Anyway i love complex stories with character depth, and this one definitely seems to be just that. A character like dong man would've been the antagonist in any template kdrama so this already has a lot of originality going for it.
Im loving the chemistry between go youn jung's role and dong man already. Looking forward to seeing how everything unfolds...
It highlights the hypocrisy behind the crown. They refuse to change with the times so this will be what will cause…
Exactly. It's looking like the whole core theme of the show beyond just being a fluffy romcom. How suffocating people like Yian, his brother and the little king find it and yet others refuse to evolve and keep them in the boxes assigned to them.
I hope they keep up this pace and continue showing this slow internal rot so it eventually spills over to no return territory and force them to change hopefully...
Sounds like a "she fell first" trope and with lee seyoung this sounds too good to be true!! Tho im worried about the romeo and juliet reference...hoping its not another red sleeve 😭
I don't think it's really that "fast" because they knew each other from school. When the king said that…
True so they definitely have long held feelings of some sort I'm sure...I was talking about the pacing itself tho coz we know what usually happens to couples in dramas where they get together early 😅 but i think they will continue to have a cat and mouse sorta dynamic here which keeps it interesting
Woooahhhh that ending was definitely unexpected for me...I hope it was more of a performance for a sasaeng that caught the crown prince's eye or something, just coz how fast everything's unfolding has me kinda worried ngl...really hope there won't be any tragedies or forced breakups. I mean they aren't even married yet, literally just one day into their "fake relationship" and they're basically already head over heels for each other very obviously hahah!
I'm loving the character development with Huiju tho. The way she's softened to everybody including the Crown prince is adorable. Clearly someone's in love and doesn't know it yet ^^
Also also the crown prince has obvious moments of protectiveness throughout the show for huiju, but the moment huiju becomes a suspect for the palace fire and she remembers the crown prince was with her but doesn't give him away...was that a moment of protectiveness on huiju's part too?? Wanting to protect the prince from being framed or something like that?
Idk they basically already feel like a team, defending each other against anybody who is out to get them lol...looove a mutually reciprocal relationship haha
Also also the Subway ad couldn't have been more obvious lmao, the bright green against the natural filter of the show?? Damn mbc and subway r also an inseparable team atp huh...🫠
I really want to watch this but they just uploaded 4 episodes all at once??! What in the cdrama ongoing schedule is this lol...does anyone know what the airing schedule for this show is going to be like? Is it two episodes a day?
This is one of the more unique premises in recent times tho...villain x villain is not a common trope at all...im tired of time travelling dramas tho but hopefully the premise saves it
Let me explain my points of frustration:
Idk if it will get better as the show progresses but i think this show suffers a lot from lack of context.
We get the eight club members' reaction to dong man framed through dong man's victimhood lens but the reason why they behave the way they do with him is never shown with the same empathy. The writer/director seems to want the audience to side with dong man from the get go instead of leaving it neutral and allowing the audience to naturally form their own judgements. Showing instead of telling basically.
So then this ends up making actual complex characters like the eight club members look like caricaturish villains. But they dont fit that box completely either coz then they show complexities within these characters too! So what exactly is this drama trying to be? It feels like it lacks a fundamental sense of direction...it feels like a tonal inconsistency which is giving me a hard time with this show...
I might watch a couple more epiaodes before deciding how i really feel about it. Right now, i feel like this is a show with massive potential, all the right ingredients r already in place, everything is perfectly placed, but somehow i just dont feel the taste yet...like no taste at all. It's a strange feeling...
Also what is going on with Eun ha's character? I cringed out of my soul when she went on about being inhumane to her colleagues, like acting holier than thou would get her any brownie points and then seeing their rightful reaction to her gave me even bigger secondhand embarrassment for her🤦♀️ like girlie, just what r u doing?? This isn't high school...
I get that she can relate to Dong Man but she also doesnt know jackshit about the guy, lets be honest here. In fact none of the people defending him including his brother know jackshit about the guy and how he treats his supposed long term friends of 20 years. And this is another instance where the show suffers from lacking context because how did their friendship end up in this dynamic? Was it like this from the beginning? U dont give context to this, then push the viewer to choose Dong Man's side alone when u also show Dong Man being the most toxic insufferable friend one can have, like how is this fair to the viewer?
Also Dong Man's brother is another piece of work oh my god. Why is this show full of frustrating characters?? I feel like this show suffers from characters who r in perpetual victimhood. Coz just what was the need to bring up his dad's benevolent nature and all that talk about hardwork to his father's brother in law in that scene?? As far as I as a viewer is concerned, all i know about this older dude is that his daughter is getting married and he asked Dong Man who he knows has been working in films for 20 years for a celebrity's attendance to the wedding. Tacky request i admit but did it warrant such a conversation with the elderly gentleman from Dong Man's self righteous brother??? It's like Eun ha, Dong Man's brother and Dong Man want everyone else to make Dong Man's problems theirs too, and when they don't, they become the villain 🤦♀️
Also what's up with the scene where it's implied Eunha can bring harm to people who she doesn't like by looking at them? Like the guy that starts choking or the ceo getting hit but he says it wasn't dong man? Is this another psychological metaphor that just completely went over my head or does this show have elements of fantasy now...?
Ughhhh idek anymore, im done, i need sleep and some icecream, ciao✌️
I empathize with his situation but again his projection, displacement and general resentful behavior sort of makes it difficult to empathize too...
Anyway i love complex stories with character depth, and this one definitely seems to be just that. A character like dong man would've been the antagonist in any template kdrama so this already has a lot of originality going for it.
Im loving the chemistry between go youn jung's role and dong man already. Looking forward to seeing how everything unfolds...
I hope they keep up this pace and continue showing this slow internal rot so it eventually spills over to no return territory and force them to change hopefully...
I'm loving the character development with Huiju tho. The way she's softened to everybody including the Crown prince is adorable. Clearly someone's in love and doesn't know it yet ^^
Also also the crown prince has obvious moments of protectiveness throughout the show for huiju, but the moment huiju becomes a suspect for the palace fire and she remembers the crown prince was with her but doesn't give him away...was that a moment of protectiveness on huiju's part too?? Wanting to protect the prince from being framed or something like that?
Idk they basically already feel like a team, defending each other against anybody who is out to get them lol...looove a mutually reciprocal relationship haha
Also also the Subway ad couldn't have been more obvious lmao, the bright green against the natural filter of the show?? Damn mbc and subway r also an inseparable team atp huh...🫠