This review may contain spoilers
Could have been so much more, but ends in disappointment and frustration.
Wow. So much lost potential here. A story that started out as a heartwarming story about two strong female characters from different backgrounds and their friendship, them navigating different aspects of life and dealing with their respective issues and a mature love triange ultimately devolves into a stupid, petty fight over a man and a story that completely assassinates it's characters.
The first half is absolutely brilliant, with both female characters compellingly written with their own personalities, flaws, and strengths. Personally I enjoyed Jong-hee's character more (which adds to my later frustration) because of her implied tragic backstory and her strong, badass personality, but Young-rye also emerges as a well written character who is bubbly, cheerful and strong in her own way. The chemistry between Kim Da-mi and Shin Ye-eun is amazing in their scenes together, their interactions on the roof and seeing them laugh and be happy together will definitely leave a smile on your face. The more serious aspects of the show, such as Young-rye's financial struggles, the burden she carries being the elder daughter, Jong-hee's troubled past and the trauma she carries because of it are handled quite well. The love triangle in this part is also well done.I could understand and feel for Young-rye for having a one-sided love. Jae-pil falling for Jong-hee and her eventual attraction towards him were also portrayed well and I liked them together. While her decision to sacrifice her love annoyed me, I still understood where she came from. However, then, in the end of the first half, a key event happens, a time jump, and then everything goes downhill from there.
Firstly, about the event, Jong-hee stabbing the manager. The way the show treats it is as if she killed him when all she did was stab him in the shoulder with a pen, which is not even enough to paralyze someone's arm in most cases. But still, fair, it's a crime and she could get into trouble. And the solution provided by Young-rye is to run and disappear? Why so drastic? Like you could either plead self defence, and it's later revealed that Young-rye collected evidence and blackmailed the manager to drop charges against her. Then WHY COULDN'T THAT HAVE BEEN DONE WITHOUT JONG-HEE RUNNING AWAY? She could have asked her to lay low for some time, hide while the matter is resolved, instead of making her vanish.
Secondly, the post time jump show and the second half. The timeskip is just evidence of lazy writing. Can't figure out how to write a reasonable story about Jaepil falling in love with Young-rye after showing him being in love with Jong-hee? Simple, shunt Jong-hee out of the story and boom, they fell in love!
Young-rye, whose dream was to become a professor, is now working as a hairdresser in a salon. Why and how? Plot purposes. She lives with her former conductor friends and her now expanded family. Relationships and characters have completely changed, and now, she and Jaepil are suddenly the potential couple, which will be reminded to us again and again as almost every side character beats us over the head telling us that they will be a couple. They behave like a couple too, going out to eat, carrying her on his back, getting jealous and drinking, etc. but still aren't a couple. How exactly did this development happen? I know seven years is a long time but still, from the perspective of the audience how are we supposed to work this out? Also, among Young-rye's family and conductor friends, who also knew Jong-hee as a friend, she is not mentioned at all. The one time she is, it is treated like a shameful, taboo subject, like something that shouldn't be mentioned. It's not clear why exactly this is so. And Jong-hee returns, now the adopted daughter of a rich woman. From here, it turns into intolerable, stinking trash.
There are several issues but my main problem is with how the two female leads are made out to be after the timeskip.
Young-rye is made to be this perfect, innocent, pure as snow character who can do no wrong at all, who is loved by all, and to achieve this development, the other female lead, Jong-hee, is put down. She is made out to be a bad person, but funnily enough despite the butchering by the writers, even in the second half I still found her a more interesting character. If you are a Jong-hee/Shin Ye-eun fan the latter half of the show is a painful watch. It's as if nothing she does can ever result in good for her. She protects her friend? Now she's pretty much lost everything and no one ever cares, or acknowledges the sacrifice that she made while doing so, not even Young-rye. She saves a woman from committing suicide? Now she's stuck in a make believe dollhouse where she doesn't have the freedom to be herself. It is genuinely so hard to watch, especially since we even know that her childhood was rough and she comes from an abusive household, and suffers from PTSD, which basically makes her entire existence one long story of suffering, and yet we have to think she is a bad person because Young-rye has to be good. Even the act of protection in the end by Young-rye becomes just another reason for Jong-hee to suffer more and fall in everyone's eyes, and to take away from Jong-hee's final achievement of the Miss Korea title - can't she just have one moment, one moment of success and happiness?? The way Young-rye's mother and friends look at her after that, especially the two conductor friends shutting the door away and ignoring her, made me furious - like why are you acting as if she was the one who killed her, or as if she was responsible for any part of what happened? She didn't ask to be attacked. If it's fair to blame her for that, then who is to blame for the seven years of life she lost while saving Young-rye? Oh, wait. Only Young-rye's sacrifices matter, because Jong-hee is just destined for suffering and nothing else.
One user commented here in the discussion that Young-rye is like someone who trips on the pavement and scrapes their knee, and is helped up by others, asking if she's okay, while Jong-hee is someone who is punched in the face with full force, hits her head badly on the pavement, is asked why she allowed herself to punched, and is left alone lying in the street. There couldn't be a more accurate description than this. Young-rye is surrounded by people who love her and support her at every step, while Jong-hee is only surrounded by people who either are controlling or abusive like her mother, or actively want to hurt her. She has no one in the show who takes her side or supports her, and is left completely alone. The only person who is there for her is Young-sik, Young-rye's brother, and even he wouldn't support her if it came to choosing between her and Young-rye. Still, the presence of Young-sik is actually a relief, and he provides some respite to Jong-hee which is pleasant to see. He is the only one who looks out for her in the entire show and cares about her wellbeing. The scene in which he hugs her and tells her not to blame herself for Young-rye's stabbing is a satisfying scene, I was just happy to see someone finally hug Jong-hee and comfort her after all she's been through.
Also, why doesn't anyone know why Jong-hee had to run? Forget about anyone, why didn't Young-rye even tell Jae-pil about it? One of the most frustrating moments in the show is when Jaepil comments about Jong-hee along the lines that she just runs away all the time, and Young-rye AGREES WITH HIM!!! Like, girl, I get he does not know, but you knew why your friend had to run, didn't you? You know that she sacrificed her job, her life, the relationships and stability she had built here and went on the run - AGAIN - because she was protecting you. It wasn't a choice she made out of her free will. She even insisted on staying, but you insisted that she run. So how can you agree with him portraying her as a coward when you know that's not true? Young-rye came off as a terrible friend to me because of this. It would have been one thing if she had just stayed silent, but she even agrees with him which made me furious.
People may disagree, and I'm open to that too, but for me, pursuing your best friend's ex, especially when said friend disappeared because she had to protect you, isn't a great move.
Overall, it's bad. Watch the first half, and end it there. Not worth the time at all.
The first half is absolutely brilliant, with both female characters compellingly written with their own personalities, flaws, and strengths. Personally I enjoyed Jong-hee's character more (which adds to my later frustration) because of her implied tragic backstory and her strong, badass personality, but Young-rye also emerges as a well written character who is bubbly, cheerful and strong in her own way. The chemistry between Kim Da-mi and Shin Ye-eun is amazing in their scenes together, their interactions on the roof and seeing them laugh and be happy together will definitely leave a smile on your face. The more serious aspects of the show, such as Young-rye's financial struggles, the burden she carries being the elder daughter, Jong-hee's troubled past and the trauma she carries because of it are handled quite well. The love triangle in this part is also well done.I could understand and feel for Young-rye for having a one-sided love. Jae-pil falling for Jong-hee and her eventual attraction towards him were also portrayed well and I liked them together. While her decision to sacrifice her love annoyed me, I still understood where she came from. However, then, in the end of the first half, a key event happens, a time jump, and then everything goes downhill from there.
Firstly, about the event, Jong-hee stabbing the manager. The way the show treats it is as if she killed him when all she did was stab him in the shoulder with a pen, which is not even enough to paralyze someone's arm in most cases. But still, fair, it's a crime and she could get into trouble. And the solution provided by Young-rye is to run and disappear? Why so drastic? Like you could either plead self defence, and it's later revealed that Young-rye collected evidence and blackmailed the manager to drop charges against her. Then WHY COULDN'T THAT HAVE BEEN DONE WITHOUT JONG-HEE RUNNING AWAY? She could have asked her to lay low for some time, hide while the matter is resolved, instead of making her vanish.
Secondly, the post time jump show and the second half. The timeskip is just evidence of lazy writing. Can't figure out how to write a reasonable story about Jaepil falling in love with Young-rye after showing him being in love with Jong-hee? Simple, shunt Jong-hee out of the story and boom, they fell in love!
Young-rye, whose dream was to become a professor, is now working as a hairdresser in a salon. Why and how? Plot purposes. She lives with her former conductor friends and her now expanded family. Relationships and characters have completely changed, and now, she and Jaepil are suddenly the potential couple, which will be reminded to us again and again as almost every side character beats us over the head telling us that they will be a couple. They behave like a couple too, going out to eat, carrying her on his back, getting jealous and drinking, etc. but still aren't a couple. How exactly did this development happen? I know seven years is a long time but still, from the perspective of the audience how are we supposed to work this out? Also, among Young-rye's family and conductor friends, who also knew Jong-hee as a friend, she is not mentioned at all. The one time she is, it is treated like a shameful, taboo subject, like something that shouldn't be mentioned. It's not clear why exactly this is so. And Jong-hee returns, now the adopted daughter of a rich woman. From here, it turns into intolerable, stinking trash.
There are several issues but my main problem is with how the two female leads are made out to be after the timeskip.
Young-rye is made to be this perfect, innocent, pure as snow character who can do no wrong at all, who is loved by all, and to achieve this development, the other female lead, Jong-hee, is put down. She is made out to be a bad person, but funnily enough despite the butchering by the writers, even in the second half I still found her a more interesting character. If you are a Jong-hee/Shin Ye-eun fan the latter half of the show is a painful watch. It's as if nothing she does can ever result in good for her. She protects her friend? Now she's pretty much lost everything and no one ever cares, or acknowledges the sacrifice that she made while doing so, not even Young-rye. She saves a woman from committing suicide? Now she's stuck in a make believe dollhouse where she doesn't have the freedom to be herself. It is genuinely so hard to watch, especially since we even know that her childhood was rough and she comes from an abusive household, and suffers from PTSD, which basically makes her entire existence one long story of suffering, and yet we have to think she is a bad person because Young-rye has to be good. Even the act of protection in the end by Young-rye becomes just another reason for Jong-hee to suffer more and fall in everyone's eyes, and to take away from Jong-hee's final achievement of the Miss Korea title - can't she just have one moment, one moment of success and happiness?? The way Young-rye's mother and friends look at her after that, especially the two conductor friends shutting the door away and ignoring her, made me furious - like why are you acting as if she was the one who killed her, or as if she was responsible for any part of what happened? She didn't ask to be attacked. If it's fair to blame her for that, then who is to blame for the seven years of life she lost while saving Young-rye? Oh, wait. Only Young-rye's sacrifices matter, because Jong-hee is just destined for suffering and nothing else.
One user commented here in the discussion that Young-rye is like someone who trips on the pavement and scrapes their knee, and is helped up by others, asking if she's okay, while Jong-hee is someone who is punched in the face with full force, hits her head badly on the pavement, is asked why she allowed herself to punched, and is left alone lying in the street. There couldn't be a more accurate description than this. Young-rye is surrounded by people who love her and support her at every step, while Jong-hee is only surrounded by people who either are controlling or abusive like her mother, or actively want to hurt her. She has no one in the show who takes her side or supports her, and is left completely alone. The only person who is there for her is Young-sik, Young-rye's brother, and even he wouldn't support her if it came to choosing between her and Young-rye. Still, the presence of Young-sik is actually a relief, and he provides some respite to Jong-hee which is pleasant to see. He is the only one who looks out for her in the entire show and cares about her wellbeing. The scene in which he hugs her and tells her not to blame herself for Young-rye's stabbing is a satisfying scene, I was just happy to see someone finally hug Jong-hee and comfort her after all she's been through.
Also, why doesn't anyone know why Jong-hee had to run? Forget about anyone, why didn't Young-rye even tell Jae-pil about it? One of the most frustrating moments in the show is when Jaepil comments about Jong-hee along the lines that she just runs away all the time, and Young-rye AGREES WITH HIM!!! Like, girl, I get he does not know, but you knew why your friend had to run, didn't you? You know that she sacrificed her job, her life, the relationships and stability she had built here and went on the run - AGAIN - because she was protecting you. It wasn't a choice she made out of her free will. She even insisted on staying, but you insisted that she run. So how can you agree with him portraying her as a coward when you know that's not true? Young-rye came off as a terrible friend to me because of this. It would have been one thing if she had just stayed silent, but she even agrees with him which made me furious.
People may disagree, and I'm open to that too, but for me, pursuing your best friend's ex, especially when said friend disappeared because she had to protect you, isn't a great move.
Overall, it's bad. Watch the first half, and end it there. Not worth the time at all.
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