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A Quiet Look at Life's End
Honestly, if you told Ji Chang-Wook to play a snail, I'm pretty sure he'd nail it. That's how good he is, and it's tough to find fault when you've got two seasoned pros like him and Sung Dong-il on screen. Sung Dong-il, bless his heart, has been gracing our screens for what feels like centuries.
I went into "If You Wish Upon Me" ready for an emotional downpour, tissues at the ready. But to my surprise, it wasn't quite the tearjerker I anticipated. Oddly, with each passing, it felt more like, "Okay, at least they're not suffering anymore." Maybe it's because many of the characters were older, but it truly hit differently. The only moment that actually brought a tear to my eye was for the young character, maybe because they were in their prime years, It was more impactful, but lets be honest, no end is ever celebratory.
I really appreciated the show's calm and quiet moments. When no one was getting an unsolicited baseball bat massage (seriously, what was with the bad guys and their love for bats and golf clubs as weapons?), the peaceful scenes truly shone.
The drama held up well until about midway. That's when certain side stories started to take over, which felt a bit much. I get that they needed to connect to the main character's past, but a side plot really shouldn't hog more than a couple of episodes, especially in a 16-episode series. All that gangster arcs ate up precious time that could have been used to grant more final wishes.
And while I'm not exactly a fan of funerals, I think the show missed a trick by not showing Captain Kang Tae-sik's farewell. Imagine all those characters gathering to say goodbye to a legend, and seeing how utterly heartbroken Yun Gyeo-rye (Ji Chang-Wook) would have been watching his adoptive father and savior leave this world. That would have been truly sad and meaningful.
I also really wanted to see Jang Seok-jun and Ha Joon-kyung meet outside the hospital. Their character growth was definitely a highlight of the show.
Overall, "If You Wish Upon Me" is a surprisingly gentle drama tackling a heavy subject. It certainly makes you ponder a lot about what it means to reach the end of life's journey.
I went into "If You Wish Upon Me" ready for an emotional downpour, tissues at the ready. But to my surprise, it wasn't quite the tearjerker I anticipated. Oddly, with each passing, it felt more like, "Okay, at least they're not suffering anymore." Maybe it's because many of the characters were older, but it truly hit differently. The only moment that actually brought a tear to my eye was for the young character, maybe because they were in their prime years, It was more impactful, but lets be honest, no end is ever celebratory.
I really appreciated the show's calm and quiet moments. When no one was getting an unsolicited baseball bat massage (seriously, what was with the bad guys and their love for bats and golf clubs as weapons?), the peaceful scenes truly shone.
The drama held up well until about midway. That's when certain side stories started to take over, which felt a bit much. I get that they needed to connect to the main character's past, but a side plot really shouldn't hog more than a couple of episodes, especially in a 16-episode series. All that gangster arcs ate up precious time that could have been used to grant more final wishes.
And while I'm not exactly a fan of funerals, I think the show missed a trick by not showing Captain Kang Tae-sik's farewell. Imagine all those characters gathering to say goodbye to a legend, and seeing how utterly heartbroken Yun Gyeo-rye (Ji Chang-Wook) would have been watching his adoptive father and savior leave this world. That would have been truly sad and meaningful.
I also really wanted to see Jang Seok-jun and Ha Joon-kyung meet outside the hospital. Their character growth was definitely a highlight of the show.
Overall, "If You Wish Upon Me" is a surprisingly gentle drama tackling a heavy subject. It certainly makes you ponder a lot about what it means to reach the end of life's journey.
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