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Completed
Bloody Flower
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 27, 2026
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.5
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
A series that would have been better off as a film. In terms of its legal-crime style, it's well made, to be honest. The plot elements are just well enough developed to maintain tension despite a very thin premise : we are asked to believe in an incredible cure. But the filler is noticeable (episode 6 and its restaurant scenes where we are just reminded of elements we already know), accompanied by excessively weak cliffhangers. You shouldn't do that. No, because then we want the plot to be resolved, even though we know we'll be disappointed.

I don't know why, but for some obscure reason, a lot of people in this series go from whispering to screaming in a fraction of a second. In a nutshell : annoying and ridiculous.

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Vincenzo
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 27, 2026
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers
A K-drama about a chosen family, in a way ? A whole group of merry pranksters, united in adversity and divided in the gold rush. The entire building refuses to give way to a despicable company.

It's so zany and grotesque at times, it's like The Fiery Priest but with lawyers this time. It goes way over the top in terms of silliness. That said, I suspect the trials aren't very accurate in terms of how the Korean judicial system works. And, sure, the series is funny, but damn, it's about some really serious stuff ! Killing your employees is not okay. It's not reasonable. Babel, the most evil company in the world. The mafia seems almost more likeable in comparison. (Between us, I think that's the point here, to show us that they're equally bad... except Vincenzo Cassano)

Everyone loves Vincenzo. That heartbreaker. Even pigeons. Nice pigeon, by the way, Vincenzo, congratulations. Not all heroes wear capes, sometimes they're just pigeons. And Vincenzo knows how to make good police officers : force them to resign. An example to follow.
Anyway. But Jeon Yeo-been has class, she's an impeccable actress, I need to see more of her performances. Ms Incognito was really good, even if it didn't get a very good reception, it seems.

So ! I solemnly declare that if I hear that cover of Bach's chaconne in D minor for violin again, I'll go berserk, ok ? I'll smash tiny objects while screaming. My strength doesn't allow me to express my anger any more furiously than that.
Also : those adverts for instant coffee and chocolate squares wrapped in plastic ? Embarrassing. No one buys that rubbish, wake up.
And at some point, we need to take two minutes to think about xenophobia towards Chinese people. They are always portrayed negatively in almost all Korean productions. One character has a caricatured name, "Wang Shaolin", then we hear about "Chinese hackers from the North Dragon gang". It's getting a bit much.

_"This idiot's brain is a black hole." A teacher must have written that in one of my school reports.
_"You're a subhuman, unworthy of being human, you don't deserve to live." It all reminds me of my father.

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Undercover Miss Hong
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 27, 2026
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
"Introductions ! This is Rachel, Phoebe, and Chandler ! Hi !" Nobody loves Monica.

Miss Hong is so cool. She and the 'queen bee' are a killer duo ! It was really nice to see a show that didn’t focus on romance with guys, but on female friendship.

When Miss Hong goes undercover on her first day at work, she notices that the managers don't do anything, the bosses don't know how to do anything except to be extremely misogynistic, and the only one who works in the department is the guy at the bottom of the ladder with the lowest salary. Realistic. What's more, it's a financial investment company, the ultimate bullshit job, legendary parasite level. If I've learned one thing in the world of work, it's that there's no point in overworking yourself, you won't be rewarded for it. The wool will be sheared the same from our tiny round backs. Glad to see that Miss Hong's colleagues have understood this. A fine example for young people. "They're overdoing it ! Why give us work ?" A French joke just for fun : They gave us work for four people ! Luckily there were eight of us. And, of course : I talk in my sleep. At night it's annoying, but at work it's worse.

"If experience made you grow, you would be surrounded by saints."

Revenge, then ? We love that here. Especially when it's the little employees that no one takes seriously. We enjoy accompanying this cast of characters throughout these sixteen well-filled episodes. Albert Oh and No-ra annoyed me at first, but in the end, I love them. Everyone has their goals, becomes friends, teams up : the usual stuff. Studio Dragon does a great job of mixing humor, serious topics, and redeeming endings that are comforting after their emotional roller coaster. We talk about harassment, suicide, misogyny, single mothers, domestic violence, working conditions... Poor Kim Mi-sook... And then, No-ra engaged to a man 20 years older than her ? Hell ! But it's a joyful and kind series despite all that.
It should be noted that there are always an investigation, but not by the cops, which is good. Everyone hates the police. All my homies hate the cops.

In any case, the writers manage to make these stories about investing in a company cool and fun. That's why we love K-dramas. I'm ready for season 2. Totally ready.

"A man who disparages you for having lived with him deserves to be judged.

PS : The t-shirt "Vivre est un journey", I don't understand. "Vivre est un voyage" or "to be alive is a journey" but not a mix of two ! It stresses everyone. Never do that again.

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Boyfriend on Demand
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 27, 2026
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 2.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers
Jisoo plays an ordinary woman whom nobody notices? That requires a massive leap of faith. When she stands in front of her mirror and complains about her dark under-eye circles… but she has the most flawless skin in the world. It’s hard to believe she’s this insignificant, clumsy character. But, to be fair, her acting has improved. (She was already quite good in Newtopia, given the series’ delightfully daft tone)

She plays an adorable, heartbroken producer who’s getting over her break-up and taking control of her love life again. We figure that out pretty early on.
All her scenes with new virtual boyfriends are strangely good. It plays on clichés deliberately, so it doesn’t treat us like idiots. I've found myself laughing stupidly far too often to say anything bad about it. I’ll admit it, I liked it. There, I’ve said it ! The humour saves the day when it gets a bit saccharine.

This series is pure binge-watching (there isn’t even an opening credits sequence), a short, simple, funny, pinky, very pinky story… Pinky but blackened (this joke : illegal in 197 countries) by this dating game, which, when you get right down to it, is quite terrifying. Losing consciousness every time you start it up ? I’m not sure I’d like that. I’ve already played Dark Souls, ok ?
And what about her working hours... can we take this up with a trade union, please ? Both in the series and in Jisoo’s real life.

Gong Min-jeung, the "annoying" author, is the best. Keep it up, madam. Screw them !

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Completed
Climax
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 27, 2026
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
A story about corruption at the highest levels of South Korean society, or so we're led to believe. Everyone's despicable. No one worth saving. Because the cruel world these people inhabit demands it. I would have preferred less self-indulgence, though.
In reality, it's a just decent thriller about three or four individuals, but not really about politics, neither corruption...

Unfortunately, in my opinion, there are too many ostensibly shocking choices thrown in just to brutalize the audience. And then, again and again, that same way of portraying relationships between women ; it can only be sad and end badly, nothing else is possible. To be honest, it really gets on my nerves seeing that all the time.

It's a twisted series in which all the characters behave strangely, solely to conceal plot points. Or to give Nana and Ha Ji-won their moment to shine. (They're brilliant in those scenes, of course.) But that's obvious, and it really annoys me. As a result, the ending feels like a real slog to get to. The first episode promised a daring story and I have to say : that's not the case.

Why is everyone breathing heavily or sighing non-stop ? I don't like having someone breathing down my neck for 10 episodes.

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Save Me
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 27, 2026
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

The injustice perpetuated by Confucian society

A series about the injustice perpetuated by Confucian society, particularly in Korea. A scene in the early episodes makes this point quite clear. Furthermore, the authority figures are all, without exception, negative characters who stem from this hierarchy.

At times, the psychological and physical violence is unbearable. It’s terribly cathartic to watch. When you’re on the receiving end, all you can do is wait. Rebelling only leads to more violence. Speaking out is pointless. Nobody wants to listen to us. You learn that very quickly.
In this regard, the two disabled characters die, either by suicide or murder. It’s no scandal to anyone in the series. It could have been me. That’s what I take away from it.

The cult in this story is directly inspired by the JMS Church. I can say this with certainty because of the leader’s white tuxedos, a reference to the vile bastard who ran that utterly disgusting cult. People tried to escape and were beaten up in groups (as the series brutally depicts in episode 10) or, worse still, went missing. People reported it to the police for years, to no avail.

What sends a shiver down your spine is seeing just how pervasive the indoctrination is. Those vultures circling around people’s misfortune, and then that falsely humble and approachable leader. It doesn’t matter whether or not you believe the stories this bloke tells; it becomes the sole reason for his followers’ existence. You find yourself isolated. Those who watch over us are, above all, watching us. You convince yourself that it’s ridiculous to give up after having made so much progress, after having given so much, and you become the first spectator of your own show.

"Why don't you leave ?"

It’s an absolute nightmare. Sang-mi finds herself trapped in this cult. Leaving would mean abandoning her parents and losing them, along with the memories of her brother. And abandoning all these vulnerable, desperate people. Her father controls every aspect of her life ; both her real father and the cult leader.
Where the writing really shines is in the way it puts us on Sang-mi’s side. We’re trapped alongside her. She understands exactly what’s going on; she knows that this cult hastened her brother’s death and how everyone around her is manipulating her ; they’re using her mother against her. (Just like with her friend, the politician’s son. The parallel is brilliant) Sang-mi has no leverage; she owes her survival solely to the leader’s evil intentions towards her. It makes you want to scream when you see it. You want to shake the servile father. He is pathetic and hateful. I understand his background, but I don’t excuse him. Well, that’s what I thought at first, but after a while, I just wanted someone to finally put him out of action, because he’ll never come to his senses. We all need friends who tell us when we’ve gone too far, even if it hurts at the time. But there’s no point confronting fanatics; they lie, say we refuse to understand them, and so on and so forth. (As for the mother, we excuse her; she’s been put in a straitjacket. Like so many people who die in psychiatric hospitals amid general indifference)

It’s one of the hardest scenes to watch, when the protagonists try to reason with the cult members, the police or the politicians, and it backfires on them. There’s absolutely no point in talking to these people; they have no interest in changing. They’re there because it suits them, and they want it to continue. It destroys everyone, but these people either put up with it or profit from it. (Time for a name drop: 'Discours de la Servitude Volontaire' (A Treatise on Voluntary Servitude). The only way to abolish this is to abolish hierarchy, exploitation and dependency.)

"In this world what's real and what's false are not different. So don't try so hard to distinguish the real from the false."

A series that makes you weep with rage and sadness.
Nothing is straightforward. It’s heart-wrenching. Because it’s extremely well written and performed. The parallel between the prison-like conditions within the cult and the outside world is explored with great insight. The thirst for power and obedience. Confucian principles being used to serve scum.
The three-year time jump allows us to explore these characters in greater depth and become even more invested in them. A modern series would have skipped this first part.
It’s touching to see how hard it is for this group of boys to express their feelings.
A focus on class-based violence. The subtleties of power dynamics between people. And in friendships, depending on whether you’re poor or from the capital. Depending on the hierarchy within the cult. Honestly, the writing in this series is brilliant.

Naturally, those bloody [redacted] cops are no help at all to the victims. They’re only too happy to hand them back to their tormentors. Just like it was with the JMS Church, for that matter. They’re completely in the pocket of politicians and the cult. Very realistic. Right, they pull the ‘cops suddenly spring into action’ trick in episode 12... but the bloke interrogates the victim with her tormentors in the room. Nice work. And the young female cop makes the same daft mistake of going to confront the leader at his home on the basis of: nothing against him. Great. Very helpful.

Jeon Yeo-Bin, in one of her first roles. Already displaying great subtlety in a challenging part where she must appear to believe in her faith whilst simultaneously casting doubt on it, in order to keep her true motives hidden.

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Dropped 17/33
When Destiny Brings the Demon
2 people found this review helpful
Apr 28, 2026
17 of 33 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
We should all be entitled to an Arthur Chen and his big snake watching over us. (it's ok if you don't get it)

It's hard to ignore the limited special effects, to put it diplomatically.
You have to be really into celestial palace intrigues between millennial beings in an bad RPG landscape. I lasted until halfway through. 17 out of 33 episodes, no less. The cardboard sets, the ridiculous superpowers, the scheming between clans I didn't know existed five minutes ago, death but actually no I'm coming back as a spirit and I'm alive again (are you elves, actually ?), all of that got the better of my patience.

Wang Yinglu is exceptional, naturally. In 'Twelve Letters', that same year, she played a completely different character with great intensity. She's a superb actress. And she undoubtedly deserves better roles than that of a servant to a capricious god.

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Dropped 3/10
Teach You a Lesson
4 people found this review helpful
Jun 11, 2026
3 of 10 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 2.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
I'm not Korean, but I was bullied throughout my entire school career. I wish I could say that everything in Episode 1 is exaggerated and ridiculous... but not really. Students who insult, hit, and humiliate other students, with no one coming to the victims' aid, and sometimes even with the teacher's support (yes, really), well, that's the reality. Episode 1 isn't that far-fetched.

Violence doesn't solve anything in this case. But the series suggests that it does, that it would be the ultimate solution to everything. No, the bullies will take revenge on their victim. All it does imply that if violence comes from the stronger people (adults), then it's valid. And consequently, adults have complete authority over minors... because ? Because, period. Thus, violence in school would simply be an educational problem caused by the parents alone. I'm not sure I support that. (I believe above all in the collective responsibility and individual courage proposed by philosophers like Arendt or Sartre. At some point, we must act even if we stand to lose something, even if we aren't personally responsible : we are.)

That said… it's hard not to find it thrilling when a teacher goes to the home of a privileged bully (the son of a high-ranked politician) just to piss him off. And he couldn't care less about threats from a potential future president of the Republic. I admit it.

There are also some very serious issues that aren't handled all that badly. It goes beyond just school. We seek revenge for the powerless. And these "teachers" are only there for a specific mission.
Well, here I go complaining again… I love revenge in movies or TV shows, but in real life, it accomplishes nothing. I wouldn't be any less devastated if I learned of the death of my bullies or attackers. It doesn't make things right. And it's individualistic, too. An individual solution for every systemic problem ? No. (Or else we must expect that many of our relatives and family members will disappear in prison or be executed...) And it happens after the problem. It's already too late. Neither violence nor the death penalty dissuades people from committing crimes !

The series takes on a cartoonish tone starting in episode 2. The students are total thugs straight out of the worst mafia movies. How many times have they repeated a grade ? Paradoxically, it becomes much more watchable. From that point on, it takes on a satirical approach, the ideology takes a back seat, and you can watch it as a usual action comedy. If the whole series were like that, it would be just fine. But, it's not.

Episode 3 and its false accusation of a teacher sexually harassing a student. I just can't handle that. What about the real accusations ? Do we just ignore them ? It leaves me completely dumbfounded, I can't stand it. And Jin Ki-joo finally shows up ! Finally ! (My main reason for watching this series) But I couldn't appreciate her absurdly authoritarian approach as much as I'd have liked. I dropped the series right there. That's my limit. It's probably a shame, but I refuse to waste my time on stories about false accusations.

(Ignore the note. It's just for my own reference, so I know not to try again.)

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Dropped 7/16
Eve
1 people found this review helpful
May 5, 2026
7 of 16 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 3.0
Story 3.5
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
A lavish series in every sense of the word. Very slow,too slow. Boring, one-dimensional characters who are a pain to watch. A super basic plot, a Monte Cristo-style revenge story we've seen a thousand times before. However, it varies slightly because the heroine finds herself caught up in someone else's revenge (her adoptive mother’s) and breaks free from it without much effort. In fact, nothing really serves as an obstacle or a climax in this story. Most of the time, you're just waiting for it to end.

If the point was to make me hate chaebols, I already hated them before. Missed the mark.
If the point was to see a deadly, venomous Seo Yea-ji with a slender figure, then mission accomplished. Yoo-sun looks extremely elegant despite her unlikable character. I only watched for the two of them. The rest of the cast is boring to the extreme.

Episode 1 ended up being the most interesting, thanks to its editing that jumps between different time frames. And yet it still felt very slow for no good reason. Next, the synopsis misleads us a bit by saying that Lee Ra-el isn't rich. She's fully part of the world of the wealthy that she wants to destroy. (Or else, I'd be happy to be poor like her) And by "destroy", I mean "break up a marriage that was already broken from the start." Nice work, young lady !

Their whole Piazzola bandoneon thing, I don't get any of that nonsense. Their whole tango thing, what a bore !
And the age gap. I won't say anything rude, but I still think what I think.

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Completed
The Legend of Kitchen Soldier
1 people found this review helpful
Jun 22, 2026
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
The important thing about cooking is to talk about it. French technique : spouting a bunch of pretentious nonsense to make it seem like you're about to eat the best dish in the world. And making people believe that its lousy cuisine (invented for the rich in the 19th century) is centuries-old and down-to-earth. Sorry, I guess I hate France.

A series that seems strange at first glance but is above all funny thanks to its main character, the adorable Park Ji-hoon (this guy has something magnetic about him). He seems completely lost and sorry to impose his presence, all while creating the greatest culinary masterpiece in the universe. And when people taste his lovingly prepared dishes, things just go completely off the rails. They run along the beach at dusk, belching with joy and dancing like little Terpsichores. With each new dish comes a new surreal bit of nonsense to illustrate their momentary ecstasy. Writing this must have been a blast. Special mention when they turn into an overly saccharine K-pop boy band. (Lee Kwang-soo would have absolutely killed it in this series !) "I'm so crispy, baby."

Obviously, it couldn't just be a story about a great chef, they had to throw in a whole bunch of outlandish complications. Gaining self-confidence through cooking and the kindness of your coworkers is all well and good, but it's far from reality when you know what working conditions are like in the restaurant industry. No one lasts very long.

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Completed
If Wishes Could Kill
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 30, 2026
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
The fantasy element initially reminded me of a famous American author. In The Dark Tower saga, whenever magic offers something, it's always in exchange for something else, something absolutely terrible and devastating. The really nasty conversation that the first boy overhears when he shouldn't have, and which destroys him emotionally, is what the pink ball does in book 4. (It might just be my favourite book series, so don't mind me.) I wouldn't be surprised if the initial idea for the script came from that and Needful Things.

There's a parallel between the pills people take to get through their studies, to stay awake and focused, doping in sports, and this app. King showed how the 1980s in America had put a price on everything, on dignity, on life, and that nothing can ever be free in that world. That's exactly what If Wishes Could Kill does. At least, at first. Starting with episode 2, it takes a different turn and partially abandons the social critique aspect.

People start acting a little crazy, but they're teenagers, so we cut them some slack. Of course, a shaman and her sidekick have the solution. The series chooses to go back to the origin of the curse rather than just explore its consequences and the social subtext that comes with them. We might think it's going to be a total mess ! Well, not really. Its actually pretty cool. Even a little funny at times.Yeah, really.

So, paradoxically, it ends up as a story stripped of its fantastical elements. It abandons them to focus exclusively on friendship, on misunderstanding and lies.

Jeon So-young acts far better than her young co-stars. It's quite striking to see the effort she puts into her lines compared to the others. She's head and shoulders above them.

Anything involving the eyes... I just can't handle it ! It terrifies me.

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Completed
Mouse
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 28, 2026
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 9.5
This review may contain spoilers
An extremely gripping, well-paced series. We're given all the elements we need to solve the enigma, and we're taken from twist to twist. It's truly incredible to see something so catchy, with such a stratospheric level of acting.

But promoting eugenics is a big no-no for me. So I'll add a few remarks :
_Genetics can't identify a so-called psychopath gene.
_Lie detectors have never been proven effective.
_IQ tests have no scientific value.
_No, prison is not a place of comfort and rest.
_Body language is not a science.
_Of course, there are points in the script that go quite far, but in these cases, it's completely assumed. I won't say more to avoid spoilers.

On the other hand, did you know that the police spend only 4% of their time investigating crime and violence ? And only 4 out of 10 investigations are solved ? These are American figures, but I doubt things are much better elsewhere.

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Completed
Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 28, 2026
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
What can we say about these learning methods that consist in humiliating and discouraging ? Asking young women to do the impossible and then telling them that they suck for not getting it right the first time is pretty bizarre. Teachers, those damned little cops. And their shows, it's like they discover it by performing it, in the first episodes at least. Don't they ever do real rehearsals ? Too weird.

Kim Tae-ri plays her colorful character with a lot of life and empathy, despite an extremely toxic and invasive entourage. Give her a break ! She exudes energy and has an impressive physical presence. A total commitment. The audition scene, in tears, is intense... But the rest of the cast is not to be outdone. The members of the troupe personalities evolve intelligently, and they don't go from very mean to very nice all at once. They don't even try to justify bad behavior, they simply take responsibility. And then the series manages to make us feel involved in a traditional theater we'd never have seen or even known otherwise. To the point where you don't know where the story ends and the theater begins.
As we say in France: “bravo les lesbiennes !” (courage Jooran)

"You can forget me. I'll remember us, for both of us."

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Completed
As You Stood By
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 28, 2026
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
TW : domestic violence. Physical and psychological. And animal cruelty.
The first episode is already tough going. The second episode brings tears of anger and despair. We unravel the mechanisms of control and silencing, particularly by the police and their invaluable assistance, or by those around us who prefer not to upset the status quo. Resisting makes things worse, enduring leads to the worst too, and fleeing is not an option for everyone, nor is it the ultimate solution. The perpetrators will never be satisfied, even if they kill their victims. The victims are not apathetic ; they simply have no solution. The series shows this without voyeurism or sensationalism. We cannot expect a victim to solve a structural problem on her own. That is the whole point of this series.

Nevertheless, I find the sudden change in personality of a key character a little unfortunate. His temperament could have been toned down a little. Apart from that, the script deals well with the venomous participation of certain women in patriarchal violence when it suits their interests. This is also one of the reasons for the maintenance of this system, even a necessity.

The only solution is collective action, without expecting anything from institutions, by making the perpetrators pay the social price, and abolishing all relationships of domination, such as marriage, family, exploitation (broadly speaking), etc. This is just my opinion ; the series does not provide an answer.

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Completed
Little Women
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 27, 2026
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers
With this director and screenwriter, obviously we had to watch it. Kim Go-eun, as a bonus, we can't say no. Park Se-jun's intriguing music completes the picture. He makes good use of the solo bassoon. I appreciate the effort. (Even if that minor sixth leap sounds like the theme of The Force beginning.)

At the beginning, we are introduced to complex characters who have room to exist and develop. We expect nothing less from this team. The understated direction chooses its moments to intensify the stakes of the story, then becomes more academic when the actresses' performances demand it. Thus, we follow the story in the most natural way possible, without questioning the (many) oddities of this far-fetched scenario. The original text of ‘Little Women’ is far removed from this...

One criticism I would make of this K-drama is that it resorts to certain plot devices to add artificial suspense. Certain elements of the plot are resolved in a very convenient, even miraculous way. The whole Singapore section, for example. (Singapore, the wet dream of every fascist on the planet) It's reminiscent of the 2013 film Samar, and that's not a compliment. The twists go so far! These secret societies that scatter blue flowers all over the crime scenes and reveal everything (but not too much at once, let's save some for later) when our heroines question them. Strange, strange.

"The rich risk their capital, the poor risk their lives."

From the very first episode, there are references to ‘illegal’ torture (we'd like to think so, but it was perfectly legal) against people suspected of espionage (being "communists"). The scene is set: the cruelty of the rich. You don't become rich without stealing, killing, cheating and being complicit in all of that at the same time: inheriting.

I think it's good that the alcoholism of one of the characters raises the issue of taking substances to keep up with work and cope with pressure. It's a problem that no one wants to address; bosses are happy to see their employees work themselves to death and then accuse them of bad behaviour when they no longer want them.
It really hurt my heart to see how it was used against her. That said, this theme disappears quite quickly. And excuse me, but when you quit alcohol, you suffer serious, even fatal, physical and mental consequences. It deserved better treatment. Here, it seems like a bit of an easy plot device.

Another thing : the rich great-aunt somewhat undermines the dialectic around money. If we can count on providential help, what's the point of repeating over and over again how desperate these young women are to find money to survive ? It somewhat undermines the illustration of how poverty makes you exploitable and disposable. And so we wonder, where was this immensely wealthy woman when her family was living in poverty ?

What's more, all this talk about pride when you're poor is rather annoying. When you need money, you don't turn your nose up at it, and those in power know this very well indeed. We feel indebted when they throw us a few crumbs, but for them it's nothing; we cost them nothing and they gain so much.
Similarly, trying to justify this great-aunt's actions by saying, "Yes, but being a woman was hard", well, being a poor woman is undoubtedly much harder, and it still doesn't justify getting rich off the deaths of others. At least this old lady seems to have a keen taste for the paintings of Juan Gris, Jacques Villon and Serge Poliakoff, and she's quite right.
And now that I think about it... she could have told her nieces so much about that blue orchid thing, but she didn't say a word ! What a joke.

"Do you really believe that the rich are always the aggressors and the poor are inevitably their victims? That's a lie that poor people tell themselves."

On the other hand, violence among wealthy individuals, towards each other and towards their children, is shown in a stark light. It is their way of validating their worth ; this social position is maintained through violence against others and against themselves. One must undergo "discipline" to remain in line and thus "earn" their's superior position. This is demonstrated in the work of French sociologists Pinçon-Charlot. (not sure if their books have been translated in English) However, it is worth adding that violent fathers exist in all social classes and are never good fathers.

The ambitious mayoral candidate says at one point that his father was a Vietnam War veteran and a victim of Agent Orange. It is curious to see how Korean productions so rarely mention their country's participation in this war against Vietnamese independence on the American side, and how, coincidentally, it is only to talk about a very sad old man who is ill, and never about the Vietnamese he surely killed... The screenwriter does the same thing in Tempest, briefly mentioning the war but without saying what it entailed. There is something to question here.

I notice a lot of annoying things (which no one will read, thankfully. I write too much), but to be honest, this series keeps you hooked throughout. You want to know where it's going, and each episode ends with a scandalous cliffhanger. Scandalous ! Even if it's a senseless mess at times (the youngest little sister who serves as a sort of pet throughout and then disappears because one really don't know what to do with this character...), I devoured it all in a ridiculously short time. I'm so weak. And any story that doesn't involve virile males in search of action, I'm in.

Useless bonus :
_The heir locked up in a luxury psychiatric hospital reads Le Comte de Monte Cristo and later sends a text message under the pseudonym Dantès. A true fan.
_The shameless advertising for chocolate squares wrapped in plastic (we see it in countless K-dramas) is completely off-putting. Buy a whole bar and cut your own squares !
_From one series to the next, we end up seeing the same places. I recognise the house of the evil rich people and the three sisters' flat on the roof. With that church tower right next to it.

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