This review may contain spoilers
A textbook example for future K-dramas on what NOT to do with popular cast members
This one was rough. I absolutely love the male lead, and I'm fully aware of how popular the female lead actress is, too. I haven't watched The Heirs yet, but it's on my list. So, to put it short, I do understand why some people had such high hopes for this drama. Good-looking cast members with impressive resumes, what could go wrong? Here? Absolutely everything went wrong.
I'll keep it short, everything about the drama was dull. The story made very little sense in reality. Two characters with boring lives. They had very few human interactions. Few friends. Few dating, if any. They then reconnect at 33 or around there, and yet they still act like adolescents. For a show about two doctors, I never once felt they were full-fledged doctors. It uses hack writing to gloss over the real-world aspects of the medical field. In fact, there's less than 35 minutes in total where they use medical terminology or extensive hospital etiquette we're used to in television. Now, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. The problem is how they're portrayed in their personal lives. They don't act like mature adults. The horrible flashbacks put an already large strain on the list of problems the show has. They don't even bother to change their hairstyles, the leads, or even the secondary characters. It's kinda insulting, and even the lowest budget dramas do a better job of flashbacks. But the biggest blunder about the show is the half-hearted effort everyone seems to bring. There is zero chemistry among the characters. The closest thing I can think of is the second leads; they have a somewhat more mature relationship, but even they barely show up. It's so hard to describe. It doesn't feel like they showed up just for a paycheck, it's not THAT bad. But it feels like everyone is just half-assing it. You'll understand what I mean by the first few episodes.
The next biggest thing is how absolutely useless and annoying the female leads family are. The overbearing mother who puts her daughter in a blind date without telling her. She doesn't act like a mom, more like a sister. She's not as bad as the mother from "Something in the Rain," but holy hell is she close. Then there's the brother, who openly admits to stealing from every family member. Jobless, but still somehow dating here and there. All while stealing 50k won often from his uncle or his sister. The show and the characters just gloss over this like it's normal or something. The entire drama would have benefited from removing all of them, but sadly, they are in almost all of the most important scenes. It's infuriating.
The cherry on top? No kiss scenes until 10 episodes later. Maybe more, I couldn't care to remember anymore, honestly. And for leads that have such big fan bases, this is not how you want your viewers to feel. I forced myself to finish this because of the male lead. None of the charm he possesses and uses in Strong Girl Bong-soon is used here. The leads weren't saving this mess. So why did I give it a higher score than a 2? For what it's worth, the show is very predictable, and if you want a show that you KNOW where it's going to go, this is probably meant for you. A comfort show, with almost zero effort, is perhaps better than an even worse show. Unless you like the leads, avoid like the plague.
I'll keep it short, everything about the drama was dull. The story made very little sense in reality. Two characters with boring lives. They had very few human interactions. Few friends. Few dating, if any. They then reconnect at 33 or around there, and yet they still act like adolescents. For a show about two doctors, I never once felt they were full-fledged doctors. It uses hack writing to gloss over the real-world aspects of the medical field. In fact, there's less than 35 minutes in total where they use medical terminology or extensive hospital etiquette we're used to in television. Now, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. The problem is how they're portrayed in their personal lives. They don't act like mature adults. The horrible flashbacks put an already large strain on the list of problems the show has. They don't even bother to change their hairstyles, the leads, or even the secondary characters. It's kinda insulting, and even the lowest budget dramas do a better job of flashbacks. But the biggest blunder about the show is the half-hearted effort everyone seems to bring. There is zero chemistry among the characters. The closest thing I can think of is the second leads; they have a somewhat more mature relationship, but even they barely show up. It's so hard to describe. It doesn't feel like they showed up just for a paycheck, it's not THAT bad. But it feels like everyone is just half-assing it. You'll understand what I mean by the first few episodes.
The next biggest thing is how absolutely useless and annoying the female leads family are. The overbearing mother who puts her daughter in a blind date without telling her. She doesn't act like a mom, more like a sister. She's not as bad as the mother from "Something in the Rain," but holy hell is she close. Then there's the brother, who openly admits to stealing from every family member. Jobless, but still somehow dating here and there. All while stealing 50k won often from his uncle or his sister. The show and the characters just gloss over this like it's normal or something. The entire drama would have benefited from removing all of them, but sadly, they are in almost all of the most important scenes. It's infuriating.
The cherry on top? No kiss scenes until 10 episodes later. Maybe more, I couldn't care to remember anymore, honestly. And for leads that have such big fan bases, this is not how you want your viewers to feel. I forced myself to finish this because of the male lead. None of the charm he possesses and uses in Strong Girl Bong-soon is used here. The leads weren't saving this mess. So why did I give it a higher score than a 2? For what it's worth, the show is very predictable, and if you want a show that you KNOW where it's going to go, this is probably meant for you. A comfort show, with almost zero effort, is perhaps better than an even worse show. Unless you like the leads, avoid like the plague.
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