Definitely of it’s time
**POSSIBLE SPOILERS, Read at your own discretion.**
I look back on 2016 K-dramas with so much love in my heart, as 2015 and 2016 were the years I really started watching, loving, and enjoying them. Most of my favourite titles come from these years, and the clichés that have since been mostly wiped away from dramas are what initially drew me to this one. Not to mention the two leads, Jo Jung Suk and Gong Hyo Jin, who are some of my favourite talents Korea has to offer, which was a huge bonus.
I went into this expecting only a couple of things that I remembered being common for dramas of this period: an overly macho male lead who eventually turns soft as a plush, a pushover female lead who may or may not grow a backbone, and a second lead who would make me root for him, only to end up as a great friend to the female lead when she ultimately chose the first male lead.
Little to say, I was incredibly surprised by some of what I expected, and some of what I did not. I was NOT expecting the male lead in this drama to have breast cancer, and for it to be introduced so early on came as such a pleasant shock. I think the cancer portion of this drama was incredibly well done, witty, and featured some of the best scenes, especially during the hospital visits. Most of my favourite moments throughout the drama came from the cancer and hospital arc.
That said, this drama definitely suffered from too many issues in my eyes. It relied heavily on the leads’ silly moments and made light of serious topics, which truly made me feel like the drama expected to be carried by its comedy and outright ridiculousness. This was especially true with the worn-out and incredibly tiresome love triangle. God, that love triangle made me hate Jeongwon so much, and somehow I hated him even more toward the end. I know this is an incredibly unpopular take, but it is mine nonetheless.
I saw Jeongwon as a creep, almost borderline stalker. Why did he always know where Nari was, and why did he constantly push his way in? I felt he was using his “love”, which felt more like obsession, to fill some kind of attachment void left by his mother, or to use Nari as a form of rebellion against his suffocating, luxurious life. He was very much in character the entire time with the rich boy gets whatever he wants attitude, and he often robbed Nari of her agency by forcing himself into her choices. It felt like their entire relationship consisted of him shoving himself into her life, constantly forcing himself into her orbit, and never letting her think for herself for even a second. He was overbearing, rude, and overall an unenjoyable character for me. Personality of wet cardboard, much? The only thing he knew how to do was yell and act entitled, no matter how much the drama tried to paint him as a good guy.
Not to mention how inconsiderate he was toward Ms. Geum, essentially his ex-fiancée. She was a surprisingly enjoyable character to me, and I felt she was just as wronged as he was, in a way he was unwilling to perceive or understand. As a woman, she had a duty and role to fulfill in securing a suitable arranged marriage, and she was more than willing to make it work. She genuinely seemed to admire Jeongwon for who he was and was willing to go the distance to get to know him.
As much as the drama tried to portray Ms. Geum as a wacko who was obsessed and a pathetic pick-me who could not let go, the more I saw her as a woman who simply wanted to be given a chance by the man she truly liked. She was willing to do what she had to do, and even wanted to know Jeongwon more deeply. I applaud her character and would root for her any day.
Furthermore, I can hardly begin to articulate how I feel about Hwashin and Nari, let alone them as a couple. Hwashin was very rude, narcissistic, and overly masculine. He was toxic to everyone around him, including himself. He is one of those characters I dislike but can unfortunately understand, though never validate. He is an asshole, plain and simple, with no excuses. He needed to learn respect for women, his friends, and himself. For much of the first half of the drama, he let his ego rule him, only for his cancer diagnosis to humble him at times.
I genuinely think being diagnosed with a disease most commonly associated with women was a major turning point for him. It forced him to step back and truly evaluate who he was. While I do not think he showed an insane amount of growth, especially during the far too long love triangle arc where he often became toxic and unrelenting, I did enjoy seeing the changes in how he approached Nari toward the end. He softened considerably, developed those “honey eyes”, and learned to address her more kindly and gently as he fell in love. I just hate that it took so long for such a jaded man to become enjoyable, especially around episodes 18 to 20. I really liked him then, and it felt like such a shame that so much potential was wasted.
I wish the drama had developed him more, especially with all the background they gave him early on. A clearer and more relatable explanation of how and why he became the asshole we met at the beginning would have gone a long way. It was incredibly obvious that his arrogance was a cover for a man deeply wounded by how his life had gone so far.
For example, there was so much potential in the storyline about him ruining his brother Joongshin’s life with that exposé. Was he forced to do that story, or did he do it purely for personal gain? He looked pained while delivering it, but even more hurt and disgusted with himself afterward. There was too little context for me to judge his actions, so it slipped through the cracks. With more depth, it could have made for a perfect character arc for Hwashin and added more weight to his brother’s death. Because so little was done with Joongshin’s character, I ultimately felt nothing toward him, either before or after his passing. He was just kind of there, and his death felt like a failed plot device meant to bring everyone together.
I also would have loved it if they worked harder to show that Hwashin was not popular with higher-ups at work and was consistently given demeaning assignments. I will never forget the remark where someone said Hwashin was overlooked as a reporter and never taken seriously, something along the lines of, “Why else would they have sent him to Thailand?” or “Why else do you think he accepted that position and stayed away for three years?” It is a small detail, but again, it was a missed opportunity.
It is such a letdown how much complexity slipped past Hwashin and his disgruntled family. The family was indeed a mess, but they could have been so much more. A mess with layered conflicts that eventually came together for reasons beyond just Ppalgang. Using a single teenager and a pointless character death to reunite everyone after years of resentment felt like the smallest and laziest writing choice.
Finally, Nari also felt like a massive missed opportunity. I fear that her hopes, dreams, and ambitions were completely squashed in favor of making her nothing more than a pawn of love. She was treated as an object and allowed herself to be handled whichever way others chose, all while insisting she was acting out of greed or self-interest. In reality, she was constantly pushed and pulled, rarely making decisions for herself or ever standing up for herself.
They could have expanded her character by portraying her as a dutiful older sister trying her best to make life work for herself, her siblings, and her abandoned stepmother, who seemed closer to her in age than a parent. It would have been incredibly heartwarming to see the two women bond and openly resent Nari’s father for abandoning his children, his eldest daughter, and his young wife. Instead, we saw little to none of her stepmother, very little of her brother Pyobum, and only some of Chiyeol when it conveniently served the plot.
Her family was honestly the most enjoyable part of the drama for me, and I would have loved to see more of them, especially her stepmother. Seriously, what did she do? Did she own the snack shop? How did she even meet Nari’s dad and marry him? Questions and stories like these could have easily replaced the countless wasted episodes spent on that stupid love triangle. Thinking about it genuinely makes me angry.
While I definitely have my qualms with this drama and could say much more, this is where I will leave it. As of writing this, I am on episode 20 and plan to finish the drama. I do not think I will edit this review afterward, as I doubt my issues will be resolved in just four episodes.
I will say that while I disliked many aspects of this drama, there were things I genuinely enjoyed as well. I will not rewatch it often, but if I ever do, it will be with a sense of nostalgic fondness.
I hope you enjoyed the read, and feel free to share if you had similar issues.
I look back on 2016 K-dramas with so much love in my heart, as 2015 and 2016 were the years I really started watching, loving, and enjoying them. Most of my favourite titles come from these years, and the clichés that have since been mostly wiped away from dramas are what initially drew me to this one. Not to mention the two leads, Jo Jung Suk and Gong Hyo Jin, who are some of my favourite talents Korea has to offer, which was a huge bonus.
I went into this expecting only a couple of things that I remembered being common for dramas of this period: an overly macho male lead who eventually turns soft as a plush, a pushover female lead who may or may not grow a backbone, and a second lead who would make me root for him, only to end up as a great friend to the female lead when she ultimately chose the first male lead.
Little to say, I was incredibly surprised by some of what I expected, and some of what I did not. I was NOT expecting the male lead in this drama to have breast cancer, and for it to be introduced so early on came as such a pleasant shock. I think the cancer portion of this drama was incredibly well done, witty, and featured some of the best scenes, especially during the hospital visits. Most of my favourite moments throughout the drama came from the cancer and hospital arc.
That said, this drama definitely suffered from too many issues in my eyes. It relied heavily on the leads’ silly moments and made light of serious topics, which truly made me feel like the drama expected to be carried by its comedy and outright ridiculousness. This was especially true with the worn-out and incredibly tiresome love triangle. God, that love triangle made me hate Jeongwon so much, and somehow I hated him even more toward the end. I know this is an incredibly unpopular take, but it is mine nonetheless.
I saw Jeongwon as a creep, almost borderline stalker. Why did he always know where Nari was, and why did he constantly push his way in? I felt he was using his “love”, which felt more like obsession, to fill some kind of attachment void left by his mother, or to use Nari as a form of rebellion against his suffocating, luxurious life. He was very much in character the entire time with the rich boy gets whatever he wants attitude, and he often robbed Nari of her agency by forcing himself into her choices. It felt like their entire relationship consisted of him shoving himself into her life, constantly forcing himself into her orbit, and never letting her think for herself for even a second. He was overbearing, rude, and overall an unenjoyable character for me. Personality of wet cardboard, much? The only thing he knew how to do was yell and act entitled, no matter how much the drama tried to paint him as a good guy.
Not to mention how inconsiderate he was toward Ms. Geum, essentially his ex-fiancée. She was a surprisingly enjoyable character to me, and I felt she was just as wronged as he was, in a way he was unwilling to perceive or understand. As a woman, she had a duty and role to fulfill in securing a suitable arranged marriage, and she was more than willing to make it work. She genuinely seemed to admire Jeongwon for who he was and was willing to go the distance to get to know him.
As much as the drama tried to portray Ms. Geum as a wacko who was obsessed and a pathetic pick-me who could not let go, the more I saw her as a woman who simply wanted to be given a chance by the man she truly liked. She was willing to do what she had to do, and even wanted to know Jeongwon more deeply. I applaud her character and would root for her any day.
Furthermore, I can hardly begin to articulate how I feel about Hwashin and Nari, let alone them as a couple. Hwashin was very rude, narcissistic, and overly masculine. He was toxic to everyone around him, including himself. He is one of those characters I dislike but can unfortunately understand, though never validate. He is an asshole, plain and simple, with no excuses. He needed to learn respect for women, his friends, and himself. For much of the first half of the drama, he let his ego rule him, only for his cancer diagnosis to humble him at times.
I genuinely think being diagnosed with a disease most commonly associated with women was a major turning point for him. It forced him to step back and truly evaluate who he was. While I do not think he showed an insane amount of growth, especially during the far too long love triangle arc where he often became toxic and unrelenting, I did enjoy seeing the changes in how he approached Nari toward the end. He softened considerably, developed those “honey eyes”, and learned to address her more kindly and gently as he fell in love. I just hate that it took so long for such a jaded man to become enjoyable, especially around episodes 18 to 20. I really liked him then, and it felt like such a shame that so much potential was wasted.
I wish the drama had developed him more, especially with all the background they gave him early on. A clearer and more relatable explanation of how and why he became the asshole we met at the beginning would have gone a long way. It was incredibly obvious that his arrogance was a cover for a man deeply wounded by how his life had gone so far.
For example, there was so much potential in the storyline about him ruining his brother Joongshin’s life with that exposé. Was he forced to do that story, or did he do it purely for personal gain? He looked pained while delivering it, but even more hurt and disgusted with himself afterward. There was too little context for me to judge his actions, so it slipped through the cracks. With more depth, it could have made for a perfect character arc for Hwashin and added more weight to his brother’s death. Because so little was done with Joongshin’s character, I ultimately felt nothing toward him, either before or after his passing. He was just kind of there, and his death felt like a failed plot device meant to bring everyone together.
I also would have loved it if they worked harder to show that Hwashin was not popular with higher-ups at work and was consistently given demeaning assignments. I will never forget the remark where someone said Hwashin was overlooked as a reporter and never taken seriously, something along the lines of, “Why else would they have sent him to Thailand?” or “Why else do you think he accepted that position and stayed away for three years?” It is a small detail, but again, it was a missed opportunity.
It is such a letdown how much complexity slipped past Hwashin and his disgruntled family. The family was indeed a mess, but they could have been so much more. A mess with layered conflicts that eventually came together for reasons beyond just Ppalgang. Using a single teenager and a pointless character death to reunite everyone after years of resentment felt like the smallest and laziest writing choice.
Finally, Nari also felt like a massive missed opportunity. I fear that her hopes, dreams, and ambitions were completely squashed in favor of making her nothing more than a pawn of love. She was treated as an object and allowed herself to be handled whichever way others chose, all while insisting she was acting out of greed or self-interest. In reality, she was constantly pushed and pulled, rarely making decisions for herself or ever standing up for herself.
They could have expanded her character by portraying her as a dutiful older sister trying her best to make life work for herself, her siblings, and her abandoned stepmother, who seemed closer to her in age than a parent. It would have been incredibly heartwarming to see the two women bond and openly resent Nari’s father for abandoning his children, his eldest daughter, and his young wife. Instead, we saw little to none of her stepmother, very little of her brother Pyobum, and only some of Chiyeol when it conveniently served the plot.
Her family was honestly the most enjoyable part of the drama for me, and I would have loved to see more of them, especially her stepmother. Seriously, what did she do? Did she own the snack shop? How did she even meet Nari’s dad and marry him? Questions and stories like these could have easily replaced the countless wasted episodes spent on that stupid love triangle. Thinking about it genuinely makes me angry.
While I definitely have my qualms with this drama and could say much more, this is where I will leave it. As of writing this, I am on episode 20 and plan to finish the drama. I do not think I will edit this review afterward, as I doubt my issues will be resolved in just four episodes.
I will say that while I disliked many aspects of this drama, there were things I genuinely enjoyed as well. I will not rewatch it often, but if I ever do, it will be with a sense of nostalgic fondness.
I hope you enjoyed the read, and feel free to share if you had similar issues.
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