This review may contain spoilers
Seasons Come And Go, But I Will Never Change...
This drama started off pretty promising. A unique premise for kdramas, missed communication, a central conflict capable of in depth character depth and exploration but everything falls short by the midway point where new plot points keep adding with seemingly no resolution and a completely rushed ending with a whole lot of loose ends.
Haran being stuck in eternal winter and Seonu Chan becoming her savior, a fated return of a favor neither saw coming when Haran's boyfriend first told Seonu Chan to message Haran on his behalf and the domino of events that set forth in their lives.
While the story does justice to this thread, the core problem in the theme is that there is no growth in any of the characters beyond simply being dependent on each other even in the end.
The ending being rushed was expected considering how long they dragged the central misunderstanding. It's really frustrating when this happens to an otherwise solid show. In fact they dragged it for so long I frankly stopped caring about what happened at that lab explosion one way or another or what happened to any of these characters except Hayeong and Mr COO who kept my interest but they ended up not even getting enough screentime in the end. It felt like a waste of my time sitting with this show for weeks by the end.
The teen couple (that was in my opinion the most unnecessary and annoying part of this show, no disrespect intended) got way more scenes that felt unnecessary considering their relationship was already established in like ep 1 and it felt like they were only dragging it on for eons just for the sake of an arc. Their overdone aegyo and sickeningly sweet scenes felt like filler with no substance, and the snoozeworthy cardboard cutout green flag gf and bf model made it even more unbearable to watch considering there really was no story left there to explore but they still ended up getting so many scenes!! I murdered my spacebar anytime those two made an appearance, again no disrespect intended. An exploration of unique teenage experiences of first love for example was a possibility with them but their story stays purely surface level.
On the other hand if at least some of that screentime went to the angsty couple of the year with Hayeong and Mr COO, I feel like at least their arc could've been wrapped up way better and would've felt more sincere and complete. That's what frustrated me more than anything else. All that build up over 12 episodes of barely there crumbs for the most anti climactic confession and relationship...both Hayeong and Mr COO deserved way better. A spin off is not likely to happen but I will be waiting regardless like many others who feel the exact same way...
From a narrative perpective, the story sets up expectations for well written complex characters in the beginning but none of these character arcs especially with the Song sisters is complete or even addressed by the end.
Haran learning to heal on her own? Nah, she's still waiting around for a man to come save her day from her boy troubles by ep 12 with no regard to the consequences of her avoidant behavior on her family. No change in that. Hayeong learning to not be everybody's personal therapist and emotional regulator while everyone keeps neglecting her own needs? Nah, nothing changed there either. Hadam learning to live with the grief of not knowing her parents before they left her? Literally isn't even explored 🤦♀️ Instead, they keep feeding more unnecessary bits with her teen bf who has the personality of a simulated green flag robot. Dont even get me started on the golden retriever on steroids aka the ML who had massive scope for in depth character writing. While I liked the complexities in making him make stupid decisions to protect Haran only to end up hurting both of them, Chae Jong Hyeop being a fabulous actor is honestly the only reason Seonu Chan had some redeeming aspects.
Lee Sung Kyung on the other hand was completely stiff and one note for most of the show which was surprising considering I loved her performance in Call It Love (which was also a much more superior show in all aspects). Here on the other hand, there are emotional scenes where she's simply standing there with a blank expression, and it's almost comical to witness the contrast between what Chae Jong Hyeop is giving vs Lee Sung Kyung's robotic reactions. There is a scene in the first half where Haran breaks down in front of her grandma telling her "I know I am weird but this is the only way I know how to live" and that performance alone encompasses LSK's true ability and what I thought I was getting for the rest of the show but it all falls short, plot, pace as well as performance in the latter half of the show.
I want to give points for a happy ending but...
*sigh* Clearly this show was meant to be at least 16 episodes because just what is this disappointing travesty...
Haran being stuck in eternal winter and Seonu Chan becoming her savior, a fated return of a favor neither saw coming when Haran's boyfriend first told Seonu Chan to message Haran on his behalf and the domino of events that set forth in their lives.
While the story does justice to this thread, the core problem in the theme is that there is no growth in any of the characters beyond simply being dependent on each other even in the end.
The ending being rushed was expected considering how long they dragged the central misunderstanding. It's really frustrating when this happens to an otherwise solid show. In fact they dragged it for so long I frankly stopped caring about what happened at that lab explosion one way or another or what happened to any of these characters except Hayeong and Mr COO who kept my interest but they ended up not even getting enough screentime in the end. It felt like a waste of my time sitting with this show for weeks by the end.
The teen couple (that was in my opinion the most unnecessary and annoying part of this show, no disrespect intended) got way more scenes that felt unnecessary considering their relationship was already established in like ep 1 and it felt like they were only dragging it on for eons just for the sake of an arc. Their overdone aegyo and sickeningly sweet scenes felt like filler with no substance, and the snoozeworthy cardboard cutout green flag gf and bf model made it even more unbearable to watch considering there really was no story left there to explore but they still ended up getting so many scenes!! I murdered my spacebar anytime those two made an appearance, again no disrespect intended. An exploration of unique teenage experiences of first love for example was a possibility with them but their story stays purely surface level.
On the other hand if at least some of that screentime went to the angsty couple of the year with Hayeong and Mr COO, I feel like at least their arc could've been wrapped up way better and would've felt more sincere and complete. That's what frustrated me more than anything else. All that build up over 12 episodes of barely there crumbs for the most anti climactic confession and relationship...both Hayeong and Mr COO deserved way better. A spin off is not likely to happen but I will be waiting regardless like many others who feel the exact same way...
From a narrative perpective, the story sets up expectations for well written complex characters in the beginning but none of these character arcs especially with the Song sisters is complete or even addressed by the end.
Haran learning to heal on her own? Nah, she's still waiting around for a man to come save her day from her boy troubles by ep 12 with no regard to the consequences of her avoidant behavior on her family. No change in that. Hayeong learning to not be everybody's personal therapist and emotional regulator while everyone keeps neglecting her own needs? Nah, nothing changed there either. Hadam learning to live with the grief of not knowing her parents before they left her? Literally isn't even explored 🤦♀️ Instead, they keep feeding more unnecessary bits with her teen bf who has the personality of a simulated green flag robot. Dont even get me started on the golden retriever on steroids aka the ML who had massive scope for in depth character writing. While I liked the complexities in making him make stupid decisions to protect Haran only to end up hurting both of them, Chae Jong Hyeop being a fabulous actor is honestly the only reason Seonu Chan had some redeeming aspects.
Lee Sung Kyung on the other hand was completely stiff and one note for most of the show which was surprising considering I loved her performance in Call It Love (which was also a much more superior show in all aspects). Here on the other hand, there are emotional scenes where she's simply standing there with a blank expression, and it's almost comical to witness the contrast between what Chae Jong Hyeop is giving vs Lee Sung Kyung's robotic reactions. There is a scene in the first half where Haran breaks down in front of her grandma telling her "I know I am weird but this is the only way I know how to live" and that performance alone encompasses LSK's true ability and what I thought I was getting for the rest of the show but it all falls short, plot, pace as well as performance in the latter half of the show.
I want to give points for a happy ending but...
*sigh* Clearly this show was meant to be at least 16 episodes because just what is this disappointing travesty...
Was this review helpful to you?
