TLDR: Trying too hard to make it obvious the drama was about the 'Queen of Mystery', by eradicating potential king, knights and equally bad ass amazons (in other words, frustratingly dumbing down everyone so it would seem the only legit sentient being would be the main lead smh)
Dropped by from having to force myself to chew on Episode 11. I had high hopes for this drama. Especially seeing Lee Won Geun in the cast (He always seems to be such an adorable puppy!! His eye smiles are just! You'll understand when you watch him on screen haha). It also didnt hurt having a muscular, yet charming Sang Woo as the male lead, and seeing again Jun Soo Jin, the sister-in-law (she's very pretty! I'm a girl but I know how to appreciate beauty and how she acts. I remember her from The Heirs!), and many other familiar actors like Ahn Gil Kang.
HOWEVER, as much as I really really loved detective stories (and badass female leads!). I found a lot of parts cringy, making me stop watching the series completely. They were trying too hard in making the female lead, Choi Kang Hee, look smart and all-knowing. That's well and good, but you should concentrate on raising her up, not making a gap by dumbing the others down to make her seem to know what's she's doing. It was frustrating having to bear with all the 'experts' and 'professional' cops, playing cops, while the writers deliberately showed how she's berated by those frustratingly ignorant men in the field (except of course our adorable Won Geun) to the point of completely sacrificing sense. Like seriously, how can most of them look clueless almost all the time?? Do they expect us to believe these are the actual functional cops in society? I tried to be understanding and think, 'hey maybe that's the point, it's an awareness campaign for the police who're not taking they're job seriously all the while thinking they're doing their job well, to get their shit together', but as I continued watching, I was frustrated to realize how ultimately stupid it is that legitimately no one on the job (mind you, this is a crime solving series, so a lot are on the job) really know what they're doing. Like seriously, the male lead should at least be as competent as the female lead, not a total, 'Okay so it turns out I'm not right, what do you think? Since you're such a snobbish know-it-all', which brings me to another point, yeah the female lead was actually a real snob at times. I cant even believe she has the conscience to still play mildang (hard to get) while knowing justice is being power-played, in spite of her obvious passion for the field, and self declared cry for justice and courage and all that chivalry. Her fire reminded me a lot of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, and although I also couldnt finish the latter, I'd say Bong Soon was better written than Seol Ok's character. A pity really, they couldve done a lot with her character, there was so much potential, also applicable to all the other characters. There was very poor character development. I actually enjoy korean dramas, mainly because I noticed they have this skill of not wasting a character. They don't fill a role just so they can give jobs to people, and have them just be there (well most that I've seen anyway). They try to give every character a story, making them at least a significant, irreplaceable part of the series. Kdramas usually have the tendency to mind blowingly find connection in the lives of each character, without that feeling of redundancy. Not for this drama (high five to those who can still catch on this rant). Anyway, I find this a pity really, I was starting to love it so much, with as much feeling of intrigue W has brought me, but well you know the rest. The actors actually did pretty well, it was the way the script played out that I hated. I even had lines I thought were unnecessary and was just trying too hard. The romance was dry and forced, although I appreciate how they actually made Seol Ok more obsessed in solving crimes, in her career in other words, thank love, but the way this is even written is just too half-baked.
I'm not here to tell anyone not to watch it, I initially even wanted my friends to give it a try. I may have only felt this way because I really did expect a lot and enjoyed the first half. But you know, you've been warned. Honestly, Detective Conan was so much better than this. I had to watch CSI after just to cleanse my disappointed eyes :((
Dropped by from having to force myself to chew on Episode 11. I had high hopes for this drama. Especially seeing Lee Won Geun in the cast (He always seems to be such an adorable puppy!! His eye smiles are just! You'll understand when you watch him on screen haha). It also didnt hurt having a muscular, yet charming Sang Woo as the male lead, and seeing again Jun Soo Jin, the sister-in-law (she's very pretty! I'm a girl but I know how to appreciate beauty and how she acts. I remember her from The Heirs!), and many other familiar actors like Ahn Gil Kang.
HOWEVER, as much as I really really loved detective stories (and badass female leads!). I found a lot of parts cringy, making me stop watching the series completely. They were trying too hard in making the female lead, Choi Kang Hee, look smart and all-knowing. That's well and good, but you should concentrate on raising her up, not making a gap by dumbing the others down to make her seem to know what's she's doing. It was frustrating having to bear with all the 'experts' and 'professional' cops, playing cops, while the writers deliberately showed how she's berated by those frustratingly ignorant men in the field (except of course our adorable Won Geun) to the point of completely sacrificing sense. Like seriously, how can most of them look clueless almost all the time?? Do they expect us to believe these are the actual functional cops in society? I tried to be understanding and think, 'hey maybe that's the point, it's an awareness campaign for the police who're not taking they're job seriously all the while thinking they're doing their job well, to get their shit together', but as I continued watching, I was frustrated to realize how ultimately stupid it is that legitimately no one on the job (mind you, this is a crime solving series, so a lot are on the job) really know what they're doing. Like seriously, the male lead should at least be as competent as the female lead, not a total, 'Okay so it turns out I'm not right, what do you think? Since you're such a snobbish know-it-all', which brings me to another point, yeah the female lead was actually a real snob at times. I cant even believe she has the conscience to still play mildang (hard to get) while knowing justice is being power-played, in spite of her obvious passion for the field, and self declared cry for justice and courage and all that chivalry. Her fire reminded me a lot of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, and although I also couldnt finish the latter, I'd say Bong Soon was better written than Seol Ok's character. A pity really, they couldve done a lot with her character, there was so much potential, also applicable to all the other characters. There was very poor character development. I actually enjoy korean dramas, mainly because I noticed they have this skill of not wasting a character. They don't fill a role just so they can give jobs to people, and have them just be there (well most that I've seen anyway). They try to give every character a story, making them at least a significant, irreplaceable part of the series. Kdramas usually have the tendency to mind blowingly find connection in the lives of each character, without that feeling of redundancy. Not for this drama (high five to those who can still catch on this rant). Anyway, I find this a pity really, I was starting to love it so much, with as much feeling of intrigue W has brought me, but well you know the rest. The actors actually did pretty well, it was the way the script played out that I hated. I even had lines I thought were unnecessary and was just trying too hard. The romance was dry and forced, although I appreciate how they actually made Seol Ok more obsessed in solving crimes, in her career in other words, thank love, but the way this is even written is just too half-baked.
I'm not here to tell anyone not to watch it, I initially even wanted my friends to give it a try. I may have only felt this way because I really did expect a lot and enjoyed the first half. But you know, you've been warned. Honestly, Detective Conan was so much better than this. I had to watch CSI after just to cleanse my disappointed eyes :((