Salatheel

How much pouty petulant can you take?

This is the first time for me to watch a quasi-historical Korean fantasy and to be honest I was totally underwhelmed. Which is a pity because there are probably some really good ones out there. There is a simplistic naivety about this one that perfectly defines the phrase, dumbed down. It starts with a script that has zero sophistication, explains even the most self evident motivation in words and never passes over an opportunity to state the obvious. It offers bland, predictable, two dimensional characters and a direction so wooden that any dynamism the actors might have produced is squashed by a requirement to stand still and spout. And just to round it out nicely the editing in the early stages is unbelievably bad, hacking off chunks of story and throwing them roughly together. But to be fair it does have a plus side in the production values—great costumes, beautiful sets/locations and credible CGI.

The rigid division between good and evil does not help. In order to create interesting tension there needs to be ambiguity and the central character, Naksu, simply doesn’t have enough real-world edge to her. Assassin? Pouty, petulant tweenager more like. And that’s the irony of it. In a story all about power, the power has been sucked out of everything: her, the story and all the characters.

It’s all far too nice with the result that nothing is too far from that bland (and to be honest, boring) middle ground. Very little light and shade, zero depth and no emotional impact. Safe, safe, safe. A let’s pretend world that has about as much tension as a teddy bears picnic.

Okay, it’s not Game of Thrones and is aimed at a totally different and much less emotionally resilient audience, but does it really have to be quite so impotent? So concerned to keep the viewer safe inside a bubble watching on from the sidelines. So scared of itself that it pulls back from every opportunity to have some balls and make an impact? Everywhere it pulls punches, particularly by not following through on the consequences of actions, either emotionally or physically.

I like Jung So Min as an actress, I thought she was very good in “Because this is my first life”, but I think she was miscast here. She lacked the necessary edge to make her character believable. The actress who plays the original form of Naksu (Go Yoon Jung), did a better job of delivering credibility to the part. Even if Naksu lost her magical power she would not have lost her attitude or her edge and this could have been an opportunity for great character development and depth. But Jung So Min’s scripted lines did nothing towards this, often being subservient when they should have been authoritative, victim when they should have been master and bland when they should have been vulnerable.

It also puzzled me why, in a world which is quasi-historical fantasy and not reality, there should be so few women occupying decision making roles. In the main it utilised boringly predictable stereotypes and missed a huge opportunity to be creative. The relationship between the M and F lead was not master/pupil but something out of a fluffy romcom with a dominant, emotionally stunted male and a petulant, subservient female. There’s nothing ostensibly wrong with writing fluffy romcom relationship dynamics, but why pretend to set it up as master/pupil and then make it unbelievable?

Ok enough, I got half way through and then had to wait for the next episode. It will be an eternal wait...

What my rating means: 5+ Meh! Don't bother, it's full of platitudes and clichés with boring characters and plots.

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Warm, oddball drama.

There was something warm and compulsive about this oddball drama featuring two dorky misfits. Everything about them was mismatched and yet, even though I had to suspend my disbelief a fair bit, I still wanted to engage with their relationship. It was an examination of breaking the shells in which we live which have been formed by other people’s opinions of us and society’s attitude towards our social standing. The imposition which we suffer as children, take on as truth and carry into adulthood. It’s an old well worn theme, but here it received a refreshing twist.

Don’t be mistaken into thinking there is a lot of social commentary, because of the setting in a host club. It’s primarily a romance drama that explores character development with a bit of social reflection thrown in. The performances are good from the leads, although I felt that Kimura Fumino as Ogawa Manami was a little too earnest at times, which leant a little too far into the patronising. But this quirky drama scrapes through with an 8, mainly for the originality of its setting.

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A beautiful start that fails to deliver.

It’s always interesting for someone who comes from a notionally egalitarian society (no society actually IS egalitarian!) to watch how hierarchy (an overt aspect of Korean society) is undermined in stories such as this one, whilst also being lauded by the very existence of so many chaebol dramas.

The opening of the drama asks the question, can a gifted student from a lower class background trump a hardworking, corruptly privileged student from a high class background, who was born to lead and must therefore learn how to do so and shine as a leading light in the process. The mention of Eton School is not accidental. Meritocracy versus aristocracy. Both systems have their pluses and minuses, but this drama’s sympathies are firmly in the meritocracy camp.

The drama addresses the underlying attitudes that govern education and thereby society. It is reflected in the perception of mathematics as either a humanity at the service of people’s dreams and creative aspirations (aligned with the meritocracy) or as a science, a descriptor of the world that can carry technology forward and be at the service of those that need to preserve power, sustain order and create wealth (aligned with the aristocracy).

These two approaches mirror the attitudes found in the characters. The two leads consider the experience of living a fulfilling and unscripted emotional life—which may be challenging—is more important than achieving goals and upholding societal structures, as it can open doors onto new worlds and ways forward. Whereas, for the characters at the school, education is there to maintain the status quo and prepare children for the life already set out for them by moulding their attitudes and controlling their emotions. Does the world serve a human being, or does a human being serve the world?

Rigid structures provide boundaries for behaviour and many of the characters have clear plans and justifications for their actions. We may or may not agree with their reasons, but they are clear and logical. Whereas the boundaries for behaviour when governed by the murky world of freedom of emotion, are blurred. And the relationship between the two leads lives in a place of ambiguity, where professional boundaries and personal boundaries are often confused and misinterpreted, providing the viewer with plenty to reflect on.

I loved the first 6 Episodes of this show which were set in 2017. They explored ways of viewing the world, both conceptually and politically, and were filled with subtle interactions between the characters. But after the time jump to the present day these things were, in the main, sacrificed for a somewhat predictable and plodding plot. Revenge, justice and retribution took centre stage and the elements that made the drama distinctive and individual were swallowed up in a story with far too many characters complicating the direction of the narrative.

Needless to say, I found it most convincing when the drama emphasised the cost to the characters rather than the machinations of the plot. If it had focused on fewer characters and tried to say less it would have been far more effective.

There was still plenty to praise in some of the performances.

ISJ brought a sweetness and vulnerability to the character of Yoon Soo which was really appealing. And later managed to convey a strength of character with very little fuss, which I found convincing. I was struck by how she inhabited this character, rather than wore it like a coat, which was my impression of her in Search WWW. I did have my doubts about whether she could express emotion well and this drama has dispelled that. However, by the end I was wondering if she might fly in with angel's wings and a halo.

LDH was convincing as a young Seung Yoo. He managed to show the change between the adolescent and adult very clearly, but as an adult failed to impress me as much. I was not quite sure how he had arrived at his new persona.

Wu Da Vi as Sung Ye Rin, the victim of the system, had a beautifully written part that she played well, and I found her story one of the most interesting. Another performance to note was Choi Day Hoon, who gave a sensitive rendering of the financé.

In stark contrast, Jin kyung’s performance as Noh Jung Ah sprang from a world of mega-melodrama, an unnecessary hurricane leaving only devastation in its wake. Some of the responsibility for it must lie with the writer and director who can only have egged her on.

It was difficult for me to rate this drama, as I really loved the beginning but felt lukewarm about the rest of it, so I have compromised with a 7.5.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

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Netflix "realism" predominates.

Netflix has a definite style of youthful romance which may not be to everyone’s taste. The characters (not necessarily the plot) are more realistic and less “wholesome” or formal than the one’s coming out of Korean television. More willing to mess with the standard norms and to be concerned with the realities of things like depression. Less afraid to explore the uncertainties of youth, which make it more afraid of the finality of rejection than living with the denial of feelings or unfulfilled desires.

The production style here is more akin to “Nevertheless”, although the storyline is totally different. It has a greater emphasis on showing more realistic reactions and character traits, such as smoking, swearing or anxiety attacks. The characters are often much less sure of themselves and can display behaviour that is obvious red flags, such as a dangerous tendency to want to be violent, or being caught up in abusive relationships. The actual impact that these situations have on an individual is more honestly portrayed. Often K-dramas gloss over the effects of trauma and create miraculous and timely recoveries so that the sense of a moral correctness, or fairytale happy-ever-after can be preserved. Whereas this story takes place amongst the uncertainties and messiness of life.

The director, Lee Jeong Hyo, has a string of hits in the last 5 years, including “Crash Landing on You” and “Romance is a Bonus Book”. Here he has adopted a less predictable style. He likes to observe the reactions on the actors faces and Bae Suzy is well worth looking at as she successfully conveys her inner emotions. Yang Se Jong is less convincing, but his character is lacking light and shade in the writing and it is very much a cypher and a foil for Doona. For me, the ML character is too young to be believable and as a result is played more mature. In general, his circumstances and themes were under-explored. At this length, the drama could easily have opted to focus only on the leads and gone deeper. There was plenty of material, particularly on Doona’s side to do so.

Instead, they chose to introduce secondary characters and subplots that did not hold up particularly well. There was an air of plot convenience about them with insufficient integration between their characters and the lead story. The script for these subplots, particularly between Lee Won Jun (Yang Se Jong) and his old flame, disappointingly often slipped into the banal and trite.

One annoying detail was that the continuity was bad. The weather and costumes were very mixed up. People wearing summer outfits in early spring and full tree foliage with snow. I’m prepared to overlook bright sunshine and rain, as that is often unavoidable due to a shooting schedule. But deciding on the season and dressing appropriately is something that should be unified.

There were some deliberate attempts at stylistic cinematography - especially towards the end. The breaking up the images into multiple rectangles (there’ll be a technical term for this, sorry not really my speciality). The use of a lot of close up reaction shots. It had a modern feel. Slightly smokey images, with the edge taken off by using less saturated colour, and moody lighting, nicely played into the slightly sombre tone of the piece. Greys, blues and browns predominate. The spare use of music carries emotional weight because it is unusual to have no background sounds.

Overall, for me, there was a lot to like about this production regarding the central characters and storyline, but the subplots and details let it down. It was an emotional 8, but a rational 7.5.

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Unbelievable in all the worst ways

Unbelievable crap. The start of it is bad enough. The usual Japanese penchant for men forcing themselves on women and then backing off so that they can be portrayed as caring and considerate. This is the very first scene, so no spoilers here. But then later it's so clear that the writer has zero experience of how a clinic would operate in the circumstances of the plot. Not reporting to the police? Work procedures and regulations anyone? If you have even an ounce of professional work experience this will be so ridiculous as to be unwatchable. Let alone the childish and annoying ML and the token weird characters. I struggled through to Episode 7, before finally drowning in incredulity.

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The beating heart couldn’t save the mutilated body.

The concepts are good and the soil so fertile that a really engaging drama could easily have been written. In the first eight and last three episodes there is enough plot to fill four series, but unfortunately we have the seven-year old child style of storytelling: he did this, then she did that, then they got angry, then everyone fought, then they got married etc etc. The events flash by so fast that we just skim the surface.

What’s the cost of rushing through things? Opportunity for characterisation is very limited. We don’t see the internal struggle to reach a place of action. All we have is a character telling us how they feel and what they are going to do next. There is no time to “show” what is happening inside, instead we have to be “told”. This engages the wrong part of us, head instead of heart. Nobody likes to be “told” what to feel, hence my initial indifference to the characters and a really strong temptation to give up.

What was done very well however, came when the narrative settled into a more court based story. The enemies to lovers trope was the beating heart of the drama and very well executed. Time was taken to step through the stages of the changing relationship and both Liu Yu Ning and Song Zu Er did a convincing job. It was obvious that romance was the outstanding skill of the writer. If you primarily watch dramas for character driven romance then this is a good one and it perhaps accounts for the, imo, overblown rating on MDL. But as far as I’m concerned, one swallow does not make a summer, and the rest of it was flawed and painfully naive.

The world building was particularly underwhelming. There were too many countries with an excess of characters and not enough difference to distinguish between them. The social norms and cultural flavours seemed to be the same everywhere. Court etiquette and societal structure was not well thought through, leading to a strange mix of casual and formal. Visiting dignitaries arrived and departed without troops and advisors in tow and people rode off into the sunset with no baggage or protection. Add to that, unsophisticated court intrigue, laughable international relations and sadly lacking military strategy and you basically have an unconvincing drama. They finally managed to ramp up the tension sufficiently in the last few episodes but by that time it was far too late, far too much and tbh the budget really didn’t meet the need.

The editing in the first third of the drama, and final episodes seemed to have caught the same infection as the plot. It was clipped and choppy and it felt like being caught in cross currents. In the middle section the production values improved and there was some attractive costuming and sets.

Having just come from the “Joy of Life” series, this drama suffered from the comparison. Too often it reflected the weaknesses of the writer and failed to create a tight and compelling world.

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Muted, poetic, thoughtful

Although it is a Korean drama it has all the hallmarks of a Japanese production. The sombre moodiness and the underplayed emotion. The observation of thoughtful faces in a muted colour palette. The poetic rather than the pragmatic approach softens the tone so that it sits comfortably in melancholy. Any raw emotion is smoothed out by gentle music and there is no wailing going on. The OST was good, setting the tone for the drama.

There is a thoughtful progression to the feelings that work their way through right to the end which has a gentle landing. It delivers what it promises in the title, “What Comes After Love” so don’t come into this thinking it’s a standard romance. The messages in the show resonated with me, and reflect the changing perspective of what love and relationship are/should be as we grow older. It is the journey the protagonists take as they learn to appreciate who they are and what is needed to sustain themselves and a relationship.

Overall the show is solid with good performances, believable chemistry and consistent quality in the production values. Although I enjoyed it very much, there was not that spark to lift it to something special. There were no new insights for me and the story played out in a safe and somewhat predictable way, taking no risks. Where it did do very well was to show the progression of emotions. The rating reflects the quality of the production overall, rather than the originality, which would have scored lower.

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When it was good it was very very good, when it was bad ...

A mortal sin for any writer is to undermine the credibility of their characters. But that becomes a cardinal sin when they do it just to try and raise a cheap laugh or serve the demands of the plot. There was so much to like about Fiery Priest and also Vincenzo (same writer), but in the end I couldn’t finish Vincenzo because I refused to watch a great character destroyed by its creator in collaboration with the director and I struggled with Fiery Priest.

In both dramas, the problem really kicked in for me about a third of the way through, when the stakes become increasingly serious. I felt that early in the drama, I had been invited to believe that Kim Hae Il was a bona fide professional, operating in a world where ruthlessness and violence are central. But a little later on, he repeatedly behaved like an amateur, and a stupid amateur at that. This attempt to marry comedy with hard core action failed because the comedy felt forced at the expense of both credibility and (worse) character integrity. The result was to destroy my connection to the main character and leave me confused about how to view him. Instead of being the cool dude that many characters in the drama thought he was, in key scenes, Kim Hae Il was presented to the viewer as an incompetent idiot to be laughed at, not with. To be honest, I was so pissed early on with the writer and director for spoiling what had the potential to be a really good drama that I nearly stopped watching.

But not being someone who wants to give up easily, I found there was enough merit in the cast to keep me going. Around two thirds of the way through, the drama had been reduced to farce. And yes, it is very funny. So I just gave up and went with the flow and enjoyed the comedy and suspended my disbelief when things got serious and his character flipped. However, Kim Hae Il is simply not credible as any sort of cohesive character and I think it would have been much better if I had never been asked to take him seriously. I felt that Kim Nam Gil was as confused about the character as I was, but did his best to convince me.

If you are prepared for your hero to exhibit multiple, contradictory personalities, encompassing super cool action hero, ruthless killer, sexy priest, tortured soul, fluffy bunny, goofy adolescent, angry man, and a totally cringeworthy imitation of Johnny English, then this is absolutely a good drama for you. As many before me have said, it offers up in spades in so many other departments, with some wonderful performances, great characters and inventive fight choreography. A shout out to Lee Ha Nee and Go Jun, who were exceptionally good.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

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A good example of what Korean drama does best

I have read comments that criticise the Korean content on Netflix for being “too western”, as though pure Korean drama has been corrupted and led astray. I really don’t see it like that. Rather I think that Korean writers, directors and actors have been given a less restricting space to work in. Where the target audience is broader than the domestic weekly TV watchers, the train tracks of trope, cliché and accepted practice are still under construction, and the censors (real and ideological) don’t cast so long a shadow.

This drama feels very much like that. It retains all the hallmarks of what Korean drama does best: slow pacing; subtlety and character exploration, which are, in my opinion, so often sadly under-developed in US drama. But it allows an added edge of imperfection that is, for me, the missing ingredient in many home-based Korean productions. As though the perfect idol make up has been removed to reveal a natural imperfect beauty. The characters are still well within the social bounds of respectable, but they have an underbelly beneath the shiny exterior that gets exposed. They are being permitted to fail in terms of perfection and be acceptable, and accepted, as ordinary. The SML, Si Jun, is even allowed to be morose and negative for almost the whole drama without it dragging the whole thing down.

The dominant theme of the drama is hiding and its relationship to honesty, both with ourselves and others. The masks we put on, not just to hide ourselves from the world but also to hide ourselves from ourselves. The oblivious hiding, where we do it so well that we can’t even see what we are hiding. And the hiding of the truth about others, wanting to believe what someone is presenting to you, rather than diving with them into the murky depths of their world. Hiding our own fears and insecurities under the pretext of something else, such as not wanting to invade someone’s privacy. The drama addresses all these types of hiding. The plot explores what it takes to reach those moments of honesty that realign the characters with the world around them and free them from the shackles of the past allowing them to accept the broader truth.

The narrative flow was a little lumpy, especially in the latter part. With the result that it was as though they needed to explain, rather than everything already being in place for the viewer to understand. A more integrated approach to the backstory earlier on, for the second couple, would have made this less clumsy and allowed for a better lead into the final episode.

The cinematography was clean and square. Presenting pictures in which the action unfolded, rather than wondering through the set: static rather than fluid. There was a crispiness to the overall mood, with the use of sharp contrasts and pure colours.

For a drama where the soundtrack was featured, it didn’t really impress me. Using well worn melodic styles, heavy with the sort of filler piano runs that trickle along like relaxing background noise in a respectable bar. And the songs, although pleasant were not groundbreaking or striking in any way. I think an opportunity was missed there.

Overall I really enjoyed this drama. The production was solid rather than remarkable. Its main strength was to offer good characterisations and explore the depth of them well.

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Just a little too bland to be thought provoking.

This slice of life film explores the nature of social connections and the difference between aloneness and loneliness. The protagonist, Chihiro, understands how to make attachments and bring people together, but ultimately shies away from the community she enables. Everyone is trying to escape from something and is brought into connection through her, but what else connects them is questionable. Even in the midst of people, Chihiro experiences her separateness and alienation.

It is well observed but not beautifully observed. I didn’t find the insight I was looking for here. Perhaps it was the sanitised personalities of the characters, many of whom had lived difficult lives but didn’t seem to have the resultant rough edges. They didn’t come across as affected or moulded by their experiences, just as mild people unable to find an acceptable social place. We are all moulded by our experiences and this film felt afraid to show that just in case the characters might turn unsympathetic. Chihiro has experienced tough times as a child and young woman, but how or whether that has contributed to her emotional distance, or is perhaps just her personality is never fully explored.

It is the sort of film that asks questions, but doesn’t offer too many answers, which is fine as long as the questions reveal some new perspective or path to travel. For me, that wasn’t really the case.

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A wonderful unfolding of layered characters.

I’m wrapped up in a comfort blanket eating too much 70% chocolate, a surfeit of endorphins and caffeine. Netflix has offered two outstanding slice of life dramas and aired them simultaneously. First, “My Liberation Notes” and now “Our Blues”. What more could be asked for? Whereas “My Liberation Notes” was essentially a story built around family, “Our Blues” centres around the members of a community and explores their individual lives and circumstances. Given the title, there is a hint that this drama will tackle the things in life that are difficult. But far from being sad it ultimately strikes an uplifting note.

The stories on offer are not about huge life changing tragedy but the emotional hurdles that life puts up for us to jump over and the hoops we go through. Essentially this is a drama about the good heart that lies at the centre of ordinary human beings. Their generosity, warmth, caring and insecurities.

They are stories set within a community where there is no real privacy and no anonymity. Where caring and interference exist either side of a blurred boundary which is crossed and crossed again. They are essentially about the price individuals are wiling to pay for deeper connection and love, and the confused and contradictory emotions that are experienced when that love and resentment collide.

There is no judgement written into the narrative. Each character has depth, we can love them from one angle and criticise them from another.

Among a slew of excellent performances Lee Byung Hun as Lee Dong Seok was the standout. Even though the writing for the last three episodes concerning his relationship with his mother, did not work as well for me, his performance did not falter.

Next in line was Han Ji Min, who was painfully convincing as the conflicted and hurting Lee Young Ok. Also, Lee Jung Eun as Jung Eun Hee, the stalwart glue of the community. But to be honest there was barely a weak performance in a large cast. Perhaps Shin Min Ah failed to completely convince me as Min Seon Ah, but she came good in the end.

This is the sixth writer (Noh Hee Kyung) /director (KimKyu Tae) collaboration which started in 2008. They include “Live”, “That Winter, The Wind Blows” and “It’s Okay That’s Love”. The long experience of working together brings a sense of seamless harmony and easy expression to the end result. In a drama of so many parts there can sometimes be an unevenness of tone, but here the actors were helped to bring a consistent feel that unified the whole production.

One of the most challenging things to write is the slow unfolding of emotions for a character. Peeling back the disparate layers to find out what is underneath. To reveal the unexpected, that often surprises us. This writer has done a magnificent job of just that, particularly with the story of the twin sisters which explores deeply complex and conflicting emotions and reveals them beautifully.

The cinematography is simple and what I loved about this show was the relief from artificially beautified faces. People were shown in their ordinariness with limited makeup and occasionally, deliberately unflattering lighting. In terms of camerawork, it was Jeju Island itself that became the star of the show with all its natural beauty on display.

The music was a weak point for me, with too much use of hotel-lobby style background music that failed to do justice to the emotional depth of the action. Thankfully, there were times when silence carried the pathos and did justice to the acting.

This drama comes highly recommended.

What my rating means: 8+ A great drama with interesting content and good writing, direction, acting, OST, cinematography. But didn’t quite have the requisite sparkle to bump it into my all-time fave list. Worth watching.

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An undiscovered treasure.

This drama is wonderfully unique and the only other drama I can think of to compare it with is “Misaeng”; but set in the public service rather than the corporate world. It begins as a quintessential comedy of manners; beautifully observed and very funny. There is no slapstick, forced humour or conscious jokes it is all situational comedy requiring an appreciation of what-is-not-said from the viewer. The smile hardly left my face for the first 5 episodes and I often had to stop streaming because I was laughing too much to read the subs.

This is the type of drama that someone who has worked for a while can really appreciate. The office politics are just wonderful and understanding them is 50% of the humour. If you have worked in a setting that interfaces with the public, or community/social work, then the scenarios in this drama will be delightfully reminiscent of how reality can often be more absurd than fiction. The storyline was taken from a book by a rural prosecutor about his experiences and it has retained a very firm grip on reality.

The skilled and acute observation of the writer, the subtle portrayals by the actors and the understated direction tell a very human story, on one side of fraught repressed emotions, petty rivalries, oneupmanship, self delusion, bullying, jealousy and misjudgement; and on the other side, of compassion, dignity, forgiveness, generosity, loyalty, friendship and support.

The story features the relationships and strategies that most people adopt in order to make life easy enough to bear and is mostly about people for whom climbing the ladder is not the most important thing in their life. They just want to keep their heads down, ensure that their salaries drop into their bank accounts every month, and do enough of a good job to keep themselves from being noticed. But underneath there lies a streak of obstinate courage.

The drama starts with everyone just muddling along in comfortable complacency when the supercharged tornado of Cha Myeong Joo breezes in from Seoul to shake up their world. Ambitious, arrogant, abrasive, smug and beautifully played by Jung Ryeo Won, she divides opinion but completely rubs Lee Sun Woong up the wrong way. He is brilliantly portrayed by Lee Sun Kyun and is the notional protagonist. Over the course of the sixteen episodes, through various scenarios of conflict, competition and grudging co-operation, we see the heart that lies beneath the surface of both of these characters. Essentially though, this is an ensemble piece and all of the leads are praiseworthy with no weak links. Each one has their own story and is featured at some point in the show.

The drama presents a variety of case scenarios, sometimes using the lives of the main characters. They vary from the truly tragic to the totally ridiculous and the action can switch from comedy to pathos in a heartbeat. The vein of social commentary that lies underneath brings a serious and compassionate note to the drama adding another layer of richness. As with most Kdramas, corruption rears its head and the resultant cost to everyone is movingly revealed.

The production values on this show are pretty standard and the music is upbeat in the main, borrowing some latin-style rhythms. What sets it apart is a fabulous script and some really top notch performances.

As the show is episodic in nature there is no need to binge it. On the contrary, it is something to be savoured. It has short plot lines that can be munched through a couple of episodes at a time. So curl up on the sofa with your favourite tipple and enjoy the feast along with the cast who eat their way through a mountain of food. A perfect show for a Sunday night.

I was really surprised at the low viewing figures and the lack of reviews in English for this show on MDL. I totally fell in love with it and have rated it really highly for its entertainment value and delicious humour. If you are finding it hard to find, then on VIKI at least, search for it under the title “War of Prosecutors”. It comes highly recommended.

What my rating means: 9+   A drama I totally fell in love with and is endlessly re-watchable. It ticked all the boxes and had some serious wow factor. It would go on my personally recommended list.

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Underrated and undervalued

I wanted to write a review for this drama because I think it is vastly underrated. Reading the comments it was clear that the toxic elements in the main relationship were a serious problem for a lot of people. As far as I’m concerned, showing toxic relationships is not a problem as long as the consequences are also honestly shown. And for me, this drama does that. There is a beautiful moment of show-not-tell in the very last scene which I will write at at the bottom as a spoiler. And that moment spoke volumes to me.

I thought it a beautifully insightful show about the types of relationships that happen in your inexperienced early twenties, when you are trying to live the fantasy of your adolescence and start to realise that a great deal more is required of you than you had expected. That however much you assumed it was going to be possible, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Love it seems, is not some magical thing that waves its wand over you and suddenly Cinderella is dressed for the ball. Excitement is not the only necessary ingredient or even the main ingredient. Trust, not manipulation, must be there and that is something that you need to work out how to build and then maintain.

Song Kang did a masterful job as the fb Park Jae Eon. So good in fact that there were many times I just wanted to slap him (metaphorically speaking). His character’s arc is about reliance on sex as the answer to all problems and what it takes for him to realise it is not the only answer and sometimes absolutely the wrong answer. A criticism would be that not enough time was spent on Park Jae Eon. His character transitions were there, but I could have done with a little more help, especially towards the end, in recognising them and understanding them. Time could have been stolen for it by omitting the somewhat bland relationship taking place in the office. As a viewer you need to work a bit, don’t just notice Jae Eon’s jealousy or his domesticity, but realise what those things mean.

Similarly, Han So Hee was also very good as the conflicted and self-doubting Yoo Na Bi. Again her reasoning was not always explicitly stated but hinted at all the time. Of the leads, only Chae Jong Heop as Yang Do Hyuk had a straightforward role which was because there was no significant character development. He played the nice guy nicely, what more can be said. It was not a demanding role. There was lots to like in the relationships of the supporting characters, which looked at different hurdles to be crossed in the relationship game. In particular Lee Ho Jung as Yoon Sol stood out.

This drama is not a romance about getting love right and living happily ever after. It’s about getting love wrong. It invites the viewer to observe the mess that we make of things with each other and what might be required to muddle along in a better way.

It is a good script, with credible dialogue, brought convincingly to life by an able female director and good actors. It showcased some great artworks (Na Bi’s sculpture at the end was stunning) and some beautiful cinematography. And for once, because it was a Netflix original, the sex scenes were realistic and believable.

This drama does not lay it all out for you, but requires your attention to detail and some thought. To really get the most from it I would recommend that you watch it twice (it’s only 10 episodes long, so not too onerous to do that) and track the development the second time round. You will see and understand much more once you know where it’s headed. If you are prepared to put in a little effort, it will not disappoint.

Spoiler ahead…



Spoiler ahead…



In the last scene, Na Bi almost drops Jae Eon’s hand when she sees Do Hyuk in a cafe with another girl. The look of naked panic and vulnerability on Song Kang’s face is what spoke volumes to me. Na Bi will leave Jae Eon behind quite quickly and he knows it. It is not Na Bi who will be hurt by this relationship. On the contrary she will gain confidence. He is the one who will be licking his wounds. I just hope to any sort of god that he doesn’t go to Paris with her, that would be just too painful!

What my rating means: 8+ A great drama with interesting content and good writing, direction, acting, OST, cinematography. But didn’t quite have the requisite sparkle to bump it into my all-time fave list. Worth watching.

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Been there, seen it, done it all before... and better

There’s a strange contradiction in the first part of this drama. It centres around sexual abuse and the trauma caused by it, but signally fails to reflect the distress caused from nasty situations created by the plot. In similar situations of threat and vulnerability, the abuse victims experience fear and trauma, whereas the lead characters treat it almost as a joke, particularly Ma Yi Deum, and walk away unmarked. If the viewer accepts the experience of the lead characters, which is technically where their allegiance should lie, then their only option is to belittle the experience of the “victim” characters. It is an uncomfortable marriage of the serious and the trivial, of drama and romance tropes which initially made uncomfortable viewing for me.

I’m not sure what the intention was, to lighten up a heavy topic or to show the character Ma Yi Deum in an unfavourable light so that character development was more pronounced, perhaps. If so, it did itself no favours and the overall impression was that abuse is something that a determined personality can sail through without being seriously affected. Dream on.

Having said that, the tone of the drama changed towards the mid section and I found it easier to warm to the character Ma Yi Deum. Jung Ryeo Wan did a great job and I found her convincing in the part and wonder if this was why she was chosen for “Diary of a Prosecutor/War of Prosecutors”, where she also did a great job in a far superior drama.

Heo Sung Tae as Baek Sang Ho is good in this, and when you look at his filmography you can see he knows how to pick a good drama. He’s an actor that doesn’t bask in the limelight but always turns in a good performance. He completely out-acted Joon Kang Ryul in every scene where they were together. Joon had three facial expressions and thoroughly worked them all into overtime.

The other actors got the job done and to be honest there was little to be explored in the mundane script.

Once the main theme of the drama kicked in it changed into fairly standard thriller in terms of the plot which was predictable and clunky. However there is one moment of ridiculous plotting which defies all credibility and other stupid moments that pissed me off and in the end I just got too bored and gave up. There’s only so many times you can watch this plot when there is nothing original or really engaging in the production to keep you going.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

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Bad copy of bad originals

You can clearly see the American influence in this production and to be honest it doesn’t sit well. This is the Korean version of CSI/NCIS and it has all the same weaknesses as the originals. Instead of the more usual focus on the machinations of internal politics, the slow unfolding of a crime, the in-depth character interactions (imo the strengths of Korean crime dramas), we have a series of crimes dealt with in one or two episodes and some two dimensional characters whose personalities have been clearly modelled on the American versions. Everything skims along the surface, with no depth and no character deviation or development.

Crimes are solved in superficial and ridiculous ways in double quick-time and there’s a load of spurious criminal psychology. The convenient plot devices stack up and all credibility is trampled. The young female prosecutor seems to have inordinate amounts of time to hang around watching autopsies and never has to do anything boring like sit at her desk and work. She has a penchant for doing stupid things that get her into life-threatening situations from which she always miraculously escapes. Horrendous experiences abound with zero effect on characters who bounce back to what they were in as much time as it takes to run to the next scene. And just to increase the air of unreality, the director requires the actors to really ham it up…

If you like the style of CSI then you’ll probably like this. Personally I think it’s a really bad imitation of a bad American original.

What my rating means: 1 - 3+ Totally unbearable, but often compulsively watchable as you really can’t believe that it can be this bad.

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