This review may contain spoilers
Get divorced.
I was totally captivated with this for the first third when the plot centers on our main couple. The set up is really good, the tension prickly. I was still invested but was growing skeptical in the middle section, when the plot began to rely more heavily on dangling information and constantly changing the stakes. When it veered sharply into the political thriller elements in the last act without resolving anything previously established, I begin to get bored with it. It had strayed from it's emotional core to become consumed with dramatic reveals and sudden twists as part of a thematic conversation about money, power and family obligation.
Hong Hui Ju is an an extremely compelling situation and it's incredible to watch her navigate it when presented with a fortuitous opportunity to escape. I loved the idea of these layers of obligation, and the shifting of identity inherent in this situation. Chae Soo Bin is mostly called upon to make big, wet, sad eyes, which she does incredibly well.
Yoo Yeon Seok as Baek Sa Eon has a controlled intensity as Cool Professional Guy With A Tragic Past. He's sharp, clearly a man set on balancing the multitude of demands on his life while trying to outsmart the architects of it. He's also a generally bland hero the likes of which we have seen before.
When their exchanges begin, they're riveting. Desire, love, protection, secrets, lies, frustration, obligation, despair, desperation- it all mixes together gloriously as they both navigate their familial, professional and intimate restrictions. As they can finally communicate after years of polite, strained silence.
But, ultimately, it founders when you start to think about what you're watching. About what motivates what came before, and what is supposed to come after. They're reluctant to portray Hong Hui Ju as traumatized as she probably should be-or as anything more nuanced than the Korean Nice Girl Who Suffers. Chae Soo Bin 's performance lacks depth and maturity. Yoo Yeon Seok's lacks cohesion- as truths are revealed about Baek Sa Eon, his past behavior becomes increasingly difficult to understand. Nothing of his interior existence is ever really explored. The show never goes into the emotional trenches. They're so busy making 'shocking' revelations about who did what when that they forgot to create any kind of emotional foundation. It's honestly a great set up- why not explore it?
They're a strangely sexless couple as well. Part of this is the chemistry of Chae Soo Bin and Yoo Yeon Seok, which is pretty flat. The other part is an obvious shying away from admitting either of these people have sex drives, and that they might be sexually frustrated with their sterile, strained marriage. There's something faintly juvenile and off-putting about a show which faces corruption and child-murder head on, but demures in the face of adult sexuality.
Instead of exploring the conflict inherent to their specific and unique emotional situation show constantly creates artificial drama in the editing. Most of the show is edited at a brisk pace that kept me engaged, but the longer the show went on, the more they fell back on a trick I don't like; They show you a scene, then later show you that that wasn't actually how the scene went- not as a matter of a character's perception, but by omission of the initial edit. Sometimes it's to leave you on a cliffhanger, but sometimes it's just there to keep you in unnecessary 'suspense' a little longer. It's cheap and dumb.
The show does have a lot of criticism for Korean families and power. However, the messaging falls flat. Too often characters are painted with cartoonish strokes to justify the heightened soapy nonsense, but it is paired with attempts at honest pathos and gritty drama. The dual tones don't mesh.
The final episode is just off-putting. It is another method of creating completely fake and senseless drama when there's a plethora of actual stuff to deal with. It fully underscores that these two people have resolved nothing, don't understand each other and don't know how to communicate.
Is it bad? No. Just disappointing.
Hong Hui Ju is an an extremely compelling situation and it's incredible to watch her navigate it when presented with a fortuitous opportunity to escape. I loved the idea of these layers of obligation, and the shifting of identity inherent in this situation. Chae Soo Bin is mostly called upon to make big, wet, sad eyes, which she does incredibly well.
Yoo Yeon Seok as Baek Sa Eon has a controlled intensity as Cool Professional Guy With A Tragic Past. He's sharp, clearly a man set on balancing the multitude of demands on his life while trying to outsmart the architects of it. He's also a generally bland hero the likes of which we have seen before.
When their exchanges begin, they're riveting. Desire, love, protection, secrets, lies, frustration, obligation, despair, desperation- it all mixes together gloriously as they both navigate their familial, professional and intimate restrictions. As they can finally communicate after years of polite, strained silence.
But, ultimately, it founders when you start to think about what you're watching. About what motivates what came before, and what is supposed to come after. They're reluctant to portray Hong Hui Ju as traumatized as she probably should be-or as anything more nuanced than the Korean Nice Girl Who Suffers. Chae Soo Bin 's performance lacks depth and maturity. Yoo Yeon Seok's lacks cohesion- as truths are revealed about Baek Sa Eon, his past behavior becomes increasingly difficult to understand. Nothing of his interior existence is ever really explored. The show never goes into the emotional trenches. They're so busy making 'shocking' revelations about who did what when that they forgot to create any kind of emotional foundation. It's honestly a great set up- why not explore it?
They're a strangely sexless couple as well. Part of this is the chemistry of Chae Soo Bin and Yoo Yeon Seok, which is pretty flat. The other part is an obvious shying away from admitting either of these people have sex drives, and that they might be sexually frustrated with their sterile, strained marriage. There's something faintly juvenile and off-putting about a show which faces corruption and child-murder head on, but demures in the face of adult sexuality.
Instead of exploring the conflict inherent to their specific and unique emotional situation show constantly creates artificial drama in the editing. Most of the show is edited at a brisk pace that kept me engaged, but the longer the show went on, the more they fell back on a trick I don't like; They show you a scene, then later show you that that wasn't actually how the scene went- not as a matter of a character's perception, but by omission of the initial edit. Sometimes it's to leave you on a cliffhanger, but sometimes it's just there to keep you in unnecessary 'suspense' a little longer. It's cheap and dumb.
The show does have a lot of criticism for Korean families and power. However, the messaging falls flat. Too often characters are painted with cartoonish strokes to justify the heightened soapy nonsense, but it is paired with attempts at honest pathos and gritty drama. The dual tones don't mesh.
The final episode is just off-putting. It is another method of creating completely fake and senseless drama when there's a plethora of actual stuff to deal with. It fully underscores that these two people have resolved nothing, don't understand each other and don't know how to communicate.
Is it bad? No. Just disappointing.
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