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 ideas engaging, the tension prickly. I was still invested but was growing skeptical in the middle section, when more twists and turns are revealed and hinted at. When the plot veers sharply into the political thriller elements in the last act, 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. Unfortunately, that's not why I was watching, and while I don't think the themes are without merit, it's super hard to care about these families when almost all the people in them are different levels of icky.
Except, of course, our main characters.
Hong Hui Ju is an an extremely compelling situation and it's incredible to watch her navigate it when presented with a fortuitous opportunity. 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.
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 as the plot moves further into the couple's history and the cat-and-mouse portions. When you start to think about what you're watching. 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- particularly those choices around his marriage . There's no emotional through-line that tracks.
After an intense introduction, 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. They refuse to let these characters evolve beyond being flawless victims.
Once certain things are revealed, the relationship just becomes magically fixed, and they're all lovey-dovey. They go from engaging anonymous conversations- really, there are a couple of really great ones about the state of their marriage -to spewing trite drama nonsense about love and protection. It feels impersonal, divorced from their specific, unique situation.
So instead of real conflict, the show constantly creates artificial drama in the editing. The whole 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 a ratcheting of fake tension without pay-off, when there are dozens of reasons for real tension; but they are reasons that require these characters to become more than their archetypes.
They're a strangely sexless couple as well. Though an early moment flirts with injecting sensuality, it ultimately falls flat. Part of this is that when the actors perform solo on their phones they create a frantic energy, but the actual chemistry of Chae Soo Bin and Yoo Yeon Seok is fairly uninspired. 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.
The show does have a lot of criticism for Korean families and power; for the value of appearance over reality, the hypocrisy of actions being 'for' children who live in misery at the behest of their parents as acts of love and respect for their parents. 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.
Except, of course, our main characters.
Hong Hui Ju is an an extremely compelling situation and it's incredible to watch her navigate it when presented with a fortuitous opportunity. 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.
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 as the plot moves further into the couple's history and the cat-and-mouse portions. When you start to think about what you're watching. 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- particularly those choices around his marriage . There's no emotional through-line that tracks.
After an intense introduction, 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. They refuse to let these characters evolve beyond being flawless victims.
Once certain things are revealed, the relationship just becomes magically fixed, and they're all lovey-dovey. They go from engaging anonymous conversations- really, there are a couple of really great ones about the state of their marriage -to spewing trite drama nonsense about love and protection. It feels impersonal, divorced from their specific, unique situation.
So instead of real conflict, the show constantly creates artificial drama in the editing. The whole 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 a ratcheting of fake tension without pay-off, when there are dozens of reasons for real tension; but they are reasons that require these characters to become more than their archetypes.
They're a strangely sexless couple as well. Though an early moment flirts with injecting sensuality, it ultimately falls flat. Part of this is that when the actors perform solo on their phones they create a frantic energy, but the actual chemistry of Chae Soo Bin and Yoo Yeon Seok is fairly uninspired. 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.
The show does have a lot of criticism for Korean families and power; for the value of appearance over reality, the hypocrisy of actions being 'for' children who live in misery at the behest of their parents as acts of love and respect for their parents. 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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