PrettyCarEye

Right??? Sometimes I wonder why they even bother to put it in if they're not going to explore it or they tease us with a possible love line that never materializes. Just leave it out all together or if you're going to include it, don't just tease us with it. Explore it, flesh it out, grr! It doesn't have to take over the plot, but it's there throughout the show.

I think this was done pretty well in Prison Playbook, although in the latter episodes the romance kind of disappeared out of the blue until the last epi. But for the first 10 episodes I loved how the love story was weaved into the narrative but didn't overwhelm it. It focused on other genres like family & crime but just when you started yearning for a little romance, it appeared. It's one of the reasons why I love this show, in addition to all the life lessons and bromance. It's a great example of how the 2 major aspects of the protagonist's life should be explored (at least for my liking).

Another example is Cruel City. Here the romance was present & fitted into the story, but not given enough screen time to really get rooted in your heart. There's one big scene dedicated to the romance and that's it. I was a little disappointed by that because I think instead of some other unnecessary, uninteresting filler scenes, they could have given us a bit more of the romance instead.

Yet another example, Golden Empire - a business drama, they hinted at a romance with the ML & both FLs, but nothing ever came of it. In this case, it worked just as much as it didn't, if that makes any sense. But if I could choose, I wanted the romance to be explored a bit more instead of the writer just leading us on.

You know what, you have a point because when I think back on dramas like It's Okay, That's Love, Secretary Kim, Queen In-Hyun's Man and so on, the romance is portrayed in much more realistic & mature fashion in terms of the physical.

This writer also wrote You From Another Star and I remember the intimacy in that drama was a little better than CLOY but not by much because the kisses were also meh. Moreover, I think Son Ye Jin, as much as I like her as an actress, is a rather lacklustre romantic lead. I have seen her in several romantic movies - A Moment to Remember, April Snow, Be With You etc ... she's one of those actresses who don't like doing real kisses on screen.

In Be With You, it's the best kiss I've ever seen her delivered & I still think it could have been better. I know Hyun Bin kisses damn good if he's paired with the right co-star, as proven by Late Autumn & The World They Live In ... so it all comes down to the female lead & the showrunners. I'm very disappointed because I was so excited for this concept! I wanted it to be a 'us against the world' type of fated romance, with a least a bit of passion & spark and a bed scene or two! Because come on, how do they not make love in their situation??? I mean you meet the love of your life & he/she lives a whole country away. You can only be together in those small, stolen moments. How do you not want to be intimate with each other??!! Why is there so much telling us how much they're so in love instead of SHOWING us they're in love. Grr...

Like the time he took her to the border and just let her walk away, and I'm like wait a damn minute! This person is the absolute love of your life and you may NEVER see him/her again and you're just going to walk away like that???? Sure, he eventually went after her & kissed her, but why all that drama in the first place? As they get to the border they should have been in each other's arms, kissing and bawling and not wanting to let each other go!

Then yeah, when he turned up in the South & they just hugged, smdh. I was willing to let that slide but when she took him back to her place & NOTHING happened. No kiss, no bed scene ... nothing! I expected them to jump in each other arms and make out for at least 5 secs. We should have had at least one bed scene for a story like this. Then most insulting of all was later when they were drinking soju ... omg, did you see how far away from each other they were sitting? Why aren't they locked in each other's arms, kissing and yearning for their future together?

This drama just made NOOO sense in that regard at all.
Like 90% of romcoms they chose to go for cheesy, cute & juvenile and I'm sooo sick of that. Hyun Bin plays cute really well, but I want him to stop choosing these type of dramas. It was the same sh-t in Jerkyll, Hyde & Me. He needs to play a romantic lead that's in line with his maturity. He can still be kind and sweet and gentlemanly, but not so nobel he never wants to kiss or make love to his lady love.

Anyway, I don't think I'll be watching anymore of this writer's work. I'm too grown for this type of thing! lol

While Kim Eun Sook is not the best, I think she would have made the romance more heartfelt, passionate & palpable. She's known for telling her leads that they have to kiss for real in her dramas! So with these leads and this concept of a North & South Korean falling love, I think she would have done a much better job!

I also totally agree that the transition of her return should have been done better! But this drama clearly wasn't written for substance, but fan service, esp with two big names attached. I think the showrunners were hoping for a similar hype & outcome as Descendant of the Sun got. People even keep pushing Hyun Bin & Son Ye Jin to start a relationship for real, despite all their denials. That said, South Korean celebrities are well known for dating & getting married secretly so the fans might be onto something ...

Yes, but Be Melodramatic falls into the drama genre, which usually has a combination of both work life & love life. I'm talking more about other genres outside of romcom & drama, ie Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Investigative/Police procedurals, Business etc. In those dramas you almost never get a love line; it's either non-existent or just barely hinted at.

... continued to lust after after money, power and status, basically the very environment that destroyed her mental health & gave her depression and panic disorder to the point where she wanted to end her life. I'm not saying anything is wrong with wanting money & power per se.

But it would have been great to see her growing & realizing that yes, having money is convenient but the love of money destroys lives (just look at their family dynamic!). I would have loved to see her grow a bit more attached to the village people & Jung Hyuk (because they treated her with love & kindness she never got from her own family) and become reluctant to leave them after she had adjusted somewhat. But all the time she just couldn't wait to go back to the lavish lifestyle that almost broke her. It would have been nice seeing her yearn for a simple, happy & comfortable life ... after going through so much toxicity as a chæbol dal.

I would have loved to see her doing charity to work to help people in the North or to help those from the North in the South. Just anything that shows some sort of personal growth!

But no, as you said she went right back to her high flying lifestyle and a part from the love (of JH) giving her a glow, she hadn't really changed much.

It's interesting that the moment JH came to the south and saw how Seri lived, he immediately said he didn't want to go back. He wanted to stay there and enjoy a good life with her. Again, nothing wrong with that ... and I understand not wanting to live under the restrictions & oppression of the North, but I also think it speaks volumes about how much value Koreans place on materialistic trappings. I found myself being disappointed by this.

It's not that I want them to live broke, but I don't know, they both seemed too beguiled by money, esp Seri. It made me wonder if after the honeymoon period of their romance they would be able to keep the relationship together.

"The drama would've been 10 times better imo if it had focused more on how Seri adapts to the lifestyle in NK and how she returns back down to South."

Yesssss! What I found ironic was that Seri's life in the South was so toxic for her. She even went to great lengths to make pretty drastic changes in Switzerland ... but when she was given a second chance by crash landing in the North - seeing how humbly the people lived but they made the best of their existence & lived happily - I felt like she experienced ZERO personal growth. She just ...

Omg, I think you're my spirit animal because this is the 2nd comment of yours that I wholly agree with!

I'm watching CLOY now, 4 episodes to go and I'm basically forcing myself to finish it. I do love Hyun Bin (and I don't mind Son Ye Jin, although I have always found her to be a rather lacklustre - as opposed to passionate - romantic lead). I had such high hopes (against my better judgment) that this would be a deep, heartfelt fated lovers kind of drama, like Too Late To Say I Love You, which handled this theme far better than any other Asian drama I have seen so far. The concept of how these two star-crossed lovers were going to fight against the odds to be together had me curious & excited but nope ... same old cheesy, G-rated, juvenile nonsense like 90% of other dramas in this genre. I seriously can not understand some of the labels I'm seeing - 'masterpiece', 'best drama ever!' ... what? Ok, sure, people of different tastes and preferences, but some of these terms are being thrown around too loosely.

I learned long ago NOT to follow the hype around dramas on this site. But to find other viewers who rated dramas similarly to me and watch out for their recs. This tactic has proven far more successful in me finding the right dramas for me than just taking random drama recs because our individual tastes are influenced by sooo many different factors - age, culture, religion, politics, life experience & the list goes on.

I don't think so. It's definitely about the quality of romance that's being put out, not the quantity.

I never get tired of watching quality, heartfelt romance. But I get tired of the same G-rated, cheesy, juvenile nonsense that kind of define most romance dramas, and esp K-ones like CLOY, Secretary Kim & so on.

Viewer fatigue happens when you mass produce a product just to make money off of it, without giving a damn about substance & quality. It's all about quick sales and profit.

I both agree and disagree with you, but the agree part is bigger.
I remember when I first started watching K-dramas in late 2012. My first drama was Padam Padam, which was for the most part a good experience. After that, though, every drama was pretty much a disaster. I was recommended all the popular dramas of that time and they were all absolutely horrible (to me). I felt like I lost brain mass watching a lot of those dramas.

I was just about ready to write off K-dramas for good in the spring of 2013 when I watched Golden Empire and it changed the game for me. I decided not to drop them all together, but realized that like any other mass-produced product, I had to be veeeery picky about the dramas I choose to watch, not just K ones, but all of them. So overall, my early experience with K-dramas seem to validate your point.

I also agree that many western viewers (both men & women) tend to dislike pure Korean style romcoms, but I do believe they like romance, mostly as a side order rather than the main dish, but still they want some sort of love line to be there. A stark difference I tend to notice between Western shows and Eastern shows is that western shows tend to explore the 2 major aspects of human life - work life & love life. Work life may be the main plot, but the protagonist almost always has a love life (boy/girl friend or marriage) on side and we get to see & enjoy that more times than not, even if it's just a few mins pr episode. Of course, I'm not saying absolutely ALL Western show does this, but I would say most do.

Eastern shows, on the other hand, tend to focus on only one aspect, work life OR love life ... but rarely both at the same time. If the show isn't purely romcom or (melo)drama/family, then a love line is usually excluded or just hinted at, never explored. In this aspect I think Western shows have the upper hand because I as a viewer (& I believe this is true for many other Western viewers, esp female ones) want to see the protagonist's work life AND his/her love life. I think it makes the character more believable & whole. I hate when Asian shows completely desexualize their characters, suggesting that they never date or never had a romantic relationship. It just seem so unbelievable to me, and in other genres besides romcom or drama/family genres, I often miss seeing a bit of the lead's love life especially if it's a 16 or more ep drama.

But this is where cultural difference in preferences comes into play because many Eastern viewers want their dramas to focus on only one aspect at a time. If they bought a crime drama, they want ONLY crime. Business ... ONLY business. Sci-fi, ONLY sci-fi. And so on. Many often tell me they feel including the protag's life love, even in a small way, would slow down the story while many westerners might feel it enriches the story. Different strokes for different folks, I guess!

Anyway, my recs for first timers would be Prison Playbook, The Princess' Man for sageuk lovers, Golden Empire, It's Okay That's Love, Nine and Kingdom. I think all of these are fairly well-written introductions to the k-drama world and will give newcomers a positive viewing experience.

Still have 4 eps to go but I so agree with your review! I can tell this drama isn't going to get a high rating from me either. It's not even likely to get an average rating from me, which is usually a 6. I only keep watching because of Hyun Bin because I'm fangirl crazy about him, but this drama is just a dud. Great concept, could have been so much more passionate & captivating ... but, no. I think I'd like to watch the R rated version instead because this G rated stuff is too boring and repetitive and I'm too grown for it.

All those stupid stares between Jeong Hyuk & Se Ri ... instead of actual, believable physical contact at those moments when you know they should embrace or kiss makes me roll my eyes every single time. I'm like if I was in their position I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of him! But these two barely touch & when they do it's so paltry & unconvincing... sigh!

I remember watching Too Late To Say I Love You a few years ago, a similar (Chinese) drama about 'fated' lovers separated by war & the difference is HUGE. You could FEEL the lovers' passion, it popped off the screen ... when they were separated and reunited, you feel their desperate longing and yearning for each other in every embrace, every kiss. While that drama had its own set of problems, the high stakes, realistic and mature nature of their romance against the backdrop of strife and war made up for a lot. Here in CLOY I dunno what the heck they were thinking. I know broadcast TV in Korea is super G-rated, but this was kind of ridiculous...very disappointing, indeed!

I read the list ... I never comment unless I do (unlike a lot of people on this site). But hmmm, sure ... whatever you say.

So "sweet & trusting" is only okay if the roles are reversed? Why?
I thought the common complaint is that 'sweet & trusting' = weak. So being weak is okay as long as it's the man who is weak? Not my thing, but I guess different strokes for different folks...
I agree with the poster below that it's ironic that FLs are always criticized for the same traits MLs are praised for. A 'sweet & trusting' ML is 'cute' but a female one is 'weak'. When articles like these pop up, there is never any nuance in how female characters are analyzed. It's always a one size fits all argument.
The issue here appears to be not that people want more 'strong' female characters (because being sweet & trusting doesn't make a FL weak & cussing & fighting doesn't make them 'strong'), the issue seems to be some viewers like male 'jerks' whilst others like female 'jerks' (and feel like there isn't enough of them). As usual, if we women aren't complaining about something we aren't happy.

Mid 20s aren't that much better.

Another year, another birthday! Happy birthday, oppa! Much love & happiness! <3

Unfortunately this looks like another disappointing 'Item'. As much as I like JJH, I think I'm gonna have to pass.

You want the show to end on another cliffhanger ... why on earth would you want to do that to yourself and others??? The massive cliffhanger in S1 was the most torturous thing ever. Perhaps you meant to write ... "hopefully they finish the story and NOT end on another cliffhanger"?

You're entitled to your opinion, however, obviously I definitely 100% disagree with you. As I said in my comment above, SJK looks too boyish for this role. If he was cast, I doubt I would have enjoyed the show as much as I did. I don't dislike SJK, but his acting to me is only believable in certain type of roles that match his appearance. I saw him a couple years ago in a family drama where he plays the cute, boy next door type and that kind of role really suited him.

Of course, as an artist I understand that he wants to avoid being typecast, but with his extreme babyface, being a character actor is probably more suitable for him rather than attempting to be versatile in his role choices. Most of the time when he tries to pull off these 'badass' type of roles, he looks like a kid playing cowboys & Indians, and I just can't take him seriously. His casting was one of the many reasons why I have never watched DOTS.

JJH, on the other hand, may not have that boyish charm, but he brings the right kind of charisma and depth to the role of Lee Chang, which is exactly what the role calls for. Lee Chang is not meant to be a cute, flirty romcom type of character as you seem to be wanting. Lee Chang is a serious character that requires a certain level of intensity from the actor. I think JJH nails it in that regard. Moreover, you say JJH looks too old to be a crown prince ... smh, how old are you? I bet you must be very young yourself to think that. JJH is only 36/37 yrs old, that is definitely not too 'old' to be a crown prince. Even in the olden days it wasn't unusual that real crown princes were around that age because the average age of most kings was the early 50s.

S2 airs March 13th! :)

And there's a reason why kids as young as 15 and 16 get prosecuted as adults for committing crimes. Being young does not mean you don't know right from wrong OR absolve you any criminal or moral crimes you commit. YES, it is indeed NOT rocket science, but quite a number of you here seem to think it is!

What's most absurd is people like you giving her a pass because of her age. You're acting like ALL 19 yr olds are guileless, dumb, weak-minded and naive when in reality SHE may have initiated and or pursued the relationship for all you know. This isn't ancient Japan where women were at the complete mercy of men. This is the modern day in which kids are having sex in middle school and many 19 yr olds are very brazen in their promiscuity. Abortions among 18 - 24 yr olds in Japan is at an all time high. I guess ALL of these young adults are just being abused, manipulated and dicmatized by those dirty old men 'manipulating' & 'preying' on them, right?

This is why I can barely tolerate having any sort of serious conversation with people on this site. All I ever see when hot button topics like this one pop is irrational arguments based on NOTHING but speculation, conjecture ... and pure, unbridled stupidity. THAT is what's disgusting.

Brava! Nothing more needs to be said. Delivered and done!
Man, I tell yah ... when scandals like these break, all kind of crazies come out of the woodwork!!!