It´s good but, as many K-Dramas, unfortunately, it is held back by its overgrown length and the necessity to repeat scenes over and over that do not add anything new and quickly become annoying.
As much as the story is about the love story between the main actors, it´s about the restrictions forced on people, especially women of course, in a patriarchal society that is influenced by men who never really grew up unfortunately, yet constantly try to determine other people´s lives based on their personal wishes. And to punch that point across, the story features several such characters that unfortunately get a lot of screen-time to showcase their behavior, whether it´s the second male lead, who never actually cared for the female lead Jeung-In, but could not deal with "losing" to someone he saw as clearly inferior to himself, hence the constant meddling and trying to force something on the female lead, or the father of the female lead, who is constrained by traditional thinking and what the society might think of his family, coupled with personal interest of course, and of course the husband of the sister, whose actions i think do not think need any commenting. And instead focusing more on the main leads, or actually interesting dynamics of other characters (the parents of Ji-Ho, or the youngest sister Jae-In and her love interest, who had the funniest dynamic really), you get annoying characters over and over, whose main reason for existence is exactly that, to be annoying and unlikeable. That gets very tiring quickly though, which is the main flaw of the drama in my eyes, and i found myself skipping those parts after the tenth episode, which is easily done with Netflix fortunately.
Cut it to ten or twelve episodes (or 20/24) and it works just as well, if not a lot better.
There were a few other minor things i did not like along the way, but they are just that, too small to necessarily mention them, but add them to the main flaw explained above, it additionally decreased the enjoyment.
Topic very good, acting really good (both Han Ji-Min and Jung Hae-In are great, the support cast does not lack compared to them though) but like i said above, it gets old pretty quickly, 7.5/10.
PS: Oh yeah, the OST i agree became repetitive really quickly, and more importantly, it simply did not fit in some scenes at all since they created a different atmosphere than the scene actually required. Probably no budget left anymore.
It´s better than people make it out to be. I actually think the rating on the site is accurate, only in relation to other far more overrated shows it´s too low, so yeah, it´s 7/10.
It tried a lot of new things, a few attempts were admittedly awkward and did not work completely, some worked rather well in my opinion, and the leads actually had chemistry.
Was this drama cut short? It had a really nice pacing, with everything developing credibly, and then episode 10-12 suddenly rushed things exponentially. It was really good until then, but the rushing seemed really weird.
I gave this 6 episodes because Ji Sung is pretty much always great but everything else left me cold really, and most stuff do not make much sense. Maybe i will pick it up again when i have more time. to see if it improves.
I don´t think a non-makjang resolution justifies the mistakes the drama did though
Concentrating on too many characters which resulted in most of them if not all being incomplete in their journey and also characterization. Lee Dong Wook´s hallucinations were never truly addressed within the narrative but he somewhat accepted it in the end, Sun Woo was interestingly introduced but how he got over No Eul makes no sense, President Gu always seemed to have something up his sleeve, at least that´s what the show was going for, yet in the end he had nothing to truly change the personal of the hospital, and the list goes on. Too many things for insufficient time.
You are not wrong, compared to the average KDrama, it is obviously better, but i think most were expecting something that could keep up or at least come close to Stranger, well it did not.
I guess I’m swimming against the tide a little bit here. I found the final eipisode was a missed opportunity…
It is the point with writer Lee Soo Yeon so far, basically focusing on a significant part of society and its problems, whether inherent or not, (first show was Stranger and the problem with bribery and morality of prosecutors within Korean judicial system since they hold a lot of power) and Life was about the ugly truth behind monetizing health care. Stranger still gave somewhat of a resolution though, even if the fight towards corruption and people being susceptible for bribery never really changes. Life on the other hand felt really weird.
Was that Lee Joon Hyuk as the new president? I'm not sure how to feel about this finale. Perhaps a bit underwhelming.…
Rural is basically the opposite of urban, per definition, so it fits. The hospital having a gorgeous location and being relatively modern does not contradict that at all.
Really interesting premise and topic, the cases were exciting and were solved with enough scientific terminology without being too demanding, great interactions within the crew with a right mix of jokes, sad scenes and truths. One or two cases seemed a bit ridiculous but that can be easily overlooked.
It´s a pity that the show did not focus more on Misumi´s past but i reckon that will be kept for a possible season 2.
Amazing acting, cases were a fresh wind compared to other crime dramas, but after a while the jokes were too repetitive and the last two episodes did not really grip me, 7.5
It´s a good drama, but not as good as the rating might suggest. Obviously this is complaining on a high level, since there is really interesting stuff in here and also great acting, first and foremost from Park Sung Woong and Jung Kyung Ho, but a few things were missing for me to regard it as a favorite, let alone a masterpiece.
Like i said, acting was really good, the premise is really interesting as well, especially the vagueness and several possibilities of what is actually happening, from afterlife, to construct of your subconsciousness to a more philosophical approach but what it lacked for me:
-Credibility that the bonds between the characters are actually getting developed. I can somewhat believe the captain and Tae Joo, everything else does not really stimulate any investment from the audience, and consequently, the final decision seems ridiculous
- The cases were too often way too simple and boring, while also relying on rather dumb decisions by the investigators. And the cases took up most of the time really with the overarching plot and Tae Joo´s current state being unknown playing a sub role until the last two episodes really.
- Regardless of whether it´s the afterlife, a comatose state or whatever, it promotes escapism, because that´s ultimately the decision and also what the doctor pretty much promotes in the end, reality is what makes you smile.
It´s good but not great as the rating suggests. It´s a realistic and non-clichéd drama in terms of the main couple, everything else is as clichéd as it gets. In addition, some scenes are really acted out awkwardly, the ex boyfriend, the brother and mother are extremely annoying.
I get the motivations behind the manga, especially with the current metoo-wave that is going through many countries, especially South Korea, so i guess them serving a cliché of the oppressed female fits, but entertainment-wise it´s really a bad choice.
They are taking their time to build up the relationships and story. Are you seriously expecting everything to…
That´s not the issue, 260 minutes, which were the first two episodes, is a lot of time to at least establish a basis for your main characters beyond "they have problems in their lives".
A lot of time was wasted on the money thing with side characters talking about it over and over, or Dong Hoon trying to entrap Ji An and her non-chalantly ignoring him, or on the gangsters, or on the mother, or on his brothers, and the worst a lot of talking of business scheming instead of using the time to highlight your main characters more, that´s the issue.
Couldn't agree more. For sure, the cinematography and acting are impressive so far but as you said, there is no…
Yep exactly. Dong Hoon pretty much stumbled from one situation into next while being clueless, and Ji An kept on screwing people over.
So far there is no basis for likeability or empathy, even if they have a shitty life.
I like Lee Sun Gyun, i like IU, i like the bigger brother from Prison Playbook, hence why i am willing to give it a chance in the first place, coupled with it it being a tvN production and they have done several non-clichéd dramas, but the first two episodes left me cold.
Don´t feel it yet. I get they have shitty lives but only showing misery is not building a connection for me. There is no likeable or rootable character yet. Park Dong Hoon seems pretty stupid, he got played over and over in the first two episodes. And Lee Ji An is smart but is scrupulous and scheming.
It´s too early to judge though, especially considering the slow pace, hence i am gonna give it to episode 6 to see if it´s worth it.
It´s basically a worse City Hunter with a better ending. The similarities are at hand, last but not least Park…
What´s there to understand? Supercool, mysterious guy with secret identity who never received love and is indifferent towards the world, stumbles upon a mystery connected to a girl, then he has to play a role in front of her and get close to her and of course he falls in love and becomes brighter and more positive towards the world. It´s City Hunter all over again, at least that had the satisfying revenge story to it from the get-go and you could enjoy his plans about how to beat those guys.
It´s basically a worse City Hunter with a better ending. The similarities are at hand, last but not least Park Min Young in exactly the same role, only this time more convincing and entertaining, but the story was not as satisfying and the chemistry not as good. At least they had the opportunity to finish it well, unlike City Hunter which was cut short.
As much as the story is about the love story between the main actors, it´s about the restrictions forced on people, especially women of course, in a patriarchal society that is influenced by men who never really grew up unfortunately, yet constantly try to determine other people´s lives based on their personal wishes.
And to punch that point across, the story features several such characters that unfortunately get a lot of screen-time to showcase their behavior, whether it´s the second male lead, who never actually cared for the female lead Jeung-In, but could not deal with "losing" to someone he saw as clearly inferior to himself, hence the constant meddling and trying to force something on the female lead,
or the father of the female lead, who is constrained by traditional thinking and what the society might think of his family, coupled with personal interest of course,
and of course the husband of the sister, whose actions i think do not think need any commenting.
And instead focusing more on the main leads, or actually interesting dynamics of other characters (the parents of Ji-Ho, or the youngest sister Jae-In and her love interest, who had the funniest dynamic really), you get annoying characters over and over, whose main reason for existence is exactly that, to be annoying and unlikeable.
That gets very tiring quickly though, which is the main flaw of the drama in my eyes, and i found myself skipping those parts after the tenth episode, which is easily done with Netflix fortunately.
Cut it to ten or twelve episodes (or 20/24) and it works just as well, if not a lot better.
There were a few other minor things i did not like along the way, but they are just that, too small to necessarily mention them, but add them to the main flaw explained above, it additionally decreased the enjoyment.
Topic very good, acting really good (both Han Ji-Min and Jung Hae-In are great, the support cast does not lack compared to them though) but like i said above, it gets old pretty quickly, 7.5/10.
PS: Oh yeah, the OST i agree became repetitive really quickly, and more importantly, it simply did not fit in some scenes at all since they created a different atmosphere than the scene actually required.
Probably no budget left anymore.
It tried a lot of new things, a few attempts were admittedly awkward and did not work completely, some worked rather well in my opinion, and the leads actually had chemistry.
Maybe i will pick it up again when i have more time. to see if it improves.
Lee Dong Wook´s hallucinations were never truly addressed within the narrative but he somewhat accepted it in the end, Sun Woo was interestingly introduced but how he got over No Eul makes no sense, President Gu always seemed to have something up his sleeve, at least that´s what the show was going for, yet in the end he had nothing to truly change the personal of the hospital, and the list goes on.
Too many things for insufficient time.
You are not wrong, compared to the average KDrama, it is obviously better, but i think most were expecting something that could keep up or at least come close to Stranger, well it did not.
Stranger still gave somewhat of a resolution though, even if the fight towards corruption and people being susceptible for bribery never really changes.
Life on the other hand felt really weird.
The hospital having a gorgeous location and being relatively modern does not contradict that at all.
Having said that, ep 19 and 20 were on point.
One or two cases seemed a bit ridiculous but that can be easily overlooked.
It´s a pity that the show did not focus more on Misumi´s past but i reckon that will be kept for a possible season 2.
9/10
Obviously this is complaining on a high level, since there is really interesting stuff in here and also great acting, first and foremost from Park Sung Woong and Jung Kyung Ho, but a few things were missing for me to regard it as a favorite, let alone a masterpiece.
Like i said, acting was really good, the premise is really interesting as well, especially the vagueness and several possibilities of what is actually happening, from afterlife, to construct of your subconsciousness to a more philosophical approach but what it lacked for me:
-Credibility that the bonds between the characters are actually getting developed. I can somewhat believe the captain and Tae Joo, everything else does not really stimulate any investment from the audience, and consequently, the final decision seems ridiculous
- The cases were too often way too simple and boring, while also relying on rather dumb decisions by the investigators. And the cases took up most of the time really with the overarching plot and Tae Joo´s current state being unknown playing a sub role until the last two episodes really.
- Regardless of whether it´s the afterlife, a comatose state or whatever, it promotes escapism, because that´s ultimately the decision and also what the doctor pretty much promotes in the end, reality is what makes you smile.
In addition, some scenes are really acted out awkwardly, the ex boyfriend, the brother and mother are extremely annoying.
I get the motivations behind the manga, especially with the current metoo-wave that is going through many countries, especially South Korea, so i guess them serving a cliché of the oppressed female fits, but entertainment-wise it´s really a bad choice.
A lot of time was wasted on the money thing with side characters talking about it over and over, or Dong Hoon trying to entrap Ji An and her non-chalantly ignoring him, or on the gangsters, or on the mother, or on his brothers, and the worst a lot of talking of business scheming instead of using the time to highlight your main characters more, that´s the issue.
So far there is no basis for likeability or empathy, even if they have a shitty life.
I like Lee Sun Gyun, i like IU, i like the bigger brother from Prison Playbook, hence why i am willing to give it a chance in the first place, coupled with it it being a tvN production and they have done several non-clichéd dramas, but the first two episodes left me cold.
Park Dong Hoon seems pretty stupid, he got played over and over in the first two episodes.
And Lee Ji An is smart but is scrupulous and scheming.
It´s too early to judge though, especially considering the slow pace, hence i am gonna give it to episode 6 to see if it´s worth it.
Pity, was pretty hyped based on the main actors.