61
118
2
5
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8
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11
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18
3
Is the Devil as Evil as She Is Painted?
A glamorous and flashy journey full of tragedy, pity, and pure self-destruction.
Baek Ah Jin is called a monster by those around her - a devil in disguise who creates a world where others end up destroyed and feeling like trash. And sure, that's true to some extent, but the drama gives us something much deeper.
You see why she acts the way she does and what shaped her into who she is. Throughout the drama, I felt constantly conflicted. Sometimes I was rooting for her because of how much she suffered, and even when she finally managed to start living a relatively peaceful life, she still kept getting attacked by others. Sometimes I felt bad for the people who had to deal with her, because she really did make their lives miserable when they absolutely didn't deserve it. And sometimes... I just wanted to see her downfall - a really impactful and spectacular one.
It's not that she enjoys hurting others - she just doesn't want to be the one who gets hurt. Her actions can seem impulsive or not very smart, but that actually fits her character perfectly. She takes what she needs from others without hesitation. If she sees someone who can help her get ahead, she'll use them. And if something goes wrong for that person, it might seem like she feels sorry - but really, she's just frustrated she lost someone useful to her. Ah Jin manipulates everyone around her, and us viewers as well.
What I really appreciate is that, in my opinion, the drama never tries to force you to either sympathize with Ah Jin or hate her. It just shows her life, all its ugliness, and lets the viewer decide. That's why this drama will always be polarizing. Not everyone will enjoy following a character who just keeps spiraling deeper and deeper into her own madness.
We also see how Ah Jin affects everyone around her. Yun Jun Seo and Kim Jae Oh are always there for her, but their approaches couldn't be more different. I really liked that dynamic - both want to help her, both want her to be happy, but neither truly understands what "happiness" even means to someone who was never meant to have it in the first place.
I was honestly surprised at first by how slow-paced this drama was. The first episodes don't give that impression, but later on you can definitely feel it - and I ended up liking it. I enjoy when a story just unfolds naturally and doesn't rush anywhere. Whenever I see Lee Eung Bok listed as a director, I kind of expect slower pacing, melodrama, and lots of random character encounters - but somehow he always makes it work. And let's be real - whenever Ah Jin was on screen, whether she ran into someone she'd ruined or a completely new person, it was always interesting to see what would happen.
What really made this drama work for me were the directing and the performances. To say Kim Yoo Jung was great would be like saying nothing - she was absolutely mesmerizing. I bought everything she was selling. Her expressions, her voice, the empty, despair-filled look in her eyes - she nailed it all. The whole cast did a really good job, I honestly don't think there was a single weak link. Even though I was initially skeptical about Kim Young Dae, he quickly proved me wrong - he fit his character pretty well.
I loved the directing, even though at times the continuity of some scenes felt a bit messy. It didn't bother me much, but I think it's worth mentioning in case there was actually more of it and I just didn't catch it. The soundtrack had some really great tracks and atmospheric background music, and some shots were to die for. I especially loved the close-ups of Kim Yoo Jung's face - there were some expressions we haven't really had the chance to see from her before.
Overall, it was far from perfect, but personally I had such a great time that listing all its flaws would just feel like nitpicking - very few dramas this year pulled me into their world the way Dear X did. I kept thinking about it and genuinely looked forward to every new episode. I feel like I didn't even write half of what I want to say about this drama. It was an extremely interesting character study of a truly tragic person - the kind of story that will leave some viewers completely mesmerized and others completely turned off. Some will love it, and some won't.
Baek Ah Jin is called a monster by those around her - a devil in disguise who creates a world where others end up destroyed and feeling like trash. And sure, that's true to some extent, but the drama gives us something much deeper.
You see why she acts the way she does and what shaped her into who she is. Throughout the drama, I felt constantly conflicted. Sometimes I was rooting for her because of how much she suffered, and even when she finally managed to start living a relatively peaceful life, she still kept getting attacked by others. Sometimes I felt bad for the people who had to deal with her, because she really did make their lives miserable when they absolutely didn't deserve it. And sometimes... I just wanted to see her downfall - a really impactful and spectacular one.
It's not that she enjoys hurting others - she just doesn't want to be the one who gets hurt. Her actions can seem impulsive or not very smart, but that actually fits her character perfectly. She takes what she needs from others without hesitation. If she sees someone who can help her get ahead, she'll use them. And if something goes wrong for that person, it might seem like she feels sorry - but really, she's just frustrated she lost someone useful to her. Ah Jin manipulates everyone around her, and us viewers as well.
What I really appreciate is that, in my opinion, the drama never tries to force you to either sympathize with Ah Jin or hate her. It just shows her life, all its ugliness, and lets the viewer decide. That's why this drama will always be polarizing. Not everyone will enjoy following a character who just keeps spiraling deeper and deeper into her own madness.
We also see how Ah Jin affects everyone around her. Yun Jun Seo and Kim Jae Oh are always there for her, but their approaches couldn't be more different. I really liked that dynamic - both want to help her, both want her to be happy, but neither truly understands what "happiness" even means to someone who was never meant to have it in the first place.
I was honestly surprised at first by how slow-paced this drama was. The first episodes don't give that impression, but later on you can definitely feel it - and I ended up liking it. I enjoy when a story just unfolds naturally and doesn't rush anywhere. Whenever I see Lee Eung Bok listed as a director, I kind of expect slower pacing, melodrama, and lots of random character encounters - but somehow he always makes it work. And let's be real - whenever Ah Jin was on screen, whether she ran into someone she'd ruined or a completely new person, it was always interesting to see what would happen.
What really made this drama work for me were the directing and the performances. To say Kim Yoo Jung was great would be like saying nothing - she was absolutely mesmerizing. I bought everything she was selling. Her expressions, her voice, the empty, despair-filled look in her eyes - she nailed it all. The whole cast did a really good job, I honestly don't think there was a single weak link. Even though I was initially skeptical about Kim Young Dae, he quickly proved me wrong - he fit his character pretty well.
I loved the directing, even though at times the continuity of some scenes felt a bit messy. It didn't bother me much, but I think it's worth mentioning in case there was actually more of it and I just didn't catch it. The soundtrack had some really great tracks and atmospheric background music, and some shots were to die for. I especially loved the close-ups of Kim Yoo Jung's face - there were some expressions we haven't really had the chance to see from her before.
Overall, it was far from perfect, but personally I had such a great time that listing all its flaws would just feel like nitpicking - very few dramas this year pulled me into their world the way Dear X did. I kept thinking about it and genuinely looked forward to every new episode. I feel like I didn't even write half of what I want to say about this drama. It was an extremely interesting character study of a truly tragic person - the kind of story that will leave some viewers completely mesmerized and others completely turned off. Some will love it, and some won't.
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