I have never been a fan of age gap relationships and this season really illustrated why. So many red flags triggered one by one. In the first two seasons, it felt like the writer had been in real relationships that were presented through rose-colored or fantasy glasses but more realistically. In this season, it went off the rails big time. The only thing that I enjoyed was the cells and Yumi's looks or style. Age gap red flags (disregarding gender, I find this problematic for these reasons either way but especially when it's ML who is older because that is commonly shown as normal but also when it's FL):
1. The older lead does not want the younger potential partner to know her real birthdate/age and avoids saying it. Either you can proudly say your age to your potential partner or you recognize that there is something off. The season kept the actual age gap a blur throughout.
2. The writer who was four or so years older than her seemed like a much better match (until they turned him into a full-on creep. Of course lot's of questions about that because why would the editor and his wife (one of her best friends) not vet him better before pushing him on her? This was weak and flawed storytelling to make an appropriate aged/life experience matched lead not work out. He looked right for her and they had a lot of common experiences/era that she denied because she was in denial about being in her mid-30s (which men do all the time so not hating on the FL but the thought process here).
3. At no point do they show that she and Sun Rook enjoy spending time together or have many common interests. In fact, they utterly do not. The only thing they show is that she finds him hot, cute and adorable like a puppy. Their one date, she keeps thinking about Gen Z being really different and it seemed clear there was mostly lust there.
4. He is at the start of his career while she is mid-career, the power differential of her being his boss is just awkward and weird. She can help him or ruin him. She has money to spare and he has very little. Just lots of uneven power dynamics. He functioned like her errand boy moreso than a boyfriend.
5. I really liked the Sun Rook that keeps a work/life separation and balance. It would have been better to show that Yumi has a crush on a younger guy but chooses to ignore it because its not right. Instead after Rational Cell makes absolute sense she listens to hormones. Then, maybe it would have been okay for a fling since she lusts after him and he seems to (?) as well but at no point did it feel like a relationship.
6. With Wung and Babi there was like and love and (mis)understanding and lust. Here there is lust at best and at worst it's a juvenile story (he ignored her and didn't like her, sending mixed signals which is some sort of kindergarden he pulled her hair nonsense, so she started to like him why? What interests or life experiences do they share? Why does she like him and why does he even like her?). It felt like a first crush/first relationship story especially for reindeer boy rather than a well matched relationship.
7. He tells her editor and her boss without asking her or having a conversation with her about how to break it to their work and social circle. So the principles stand only for him? Maybe it was the editing or the lack of actual time between them but HE NEVER ASKS HER WHAT SHE WANTS.
8. He jumps to thinking of marriage (1 month in!!!) but when asked what she likes/her interests he isn't even sure. Big yikes. Unless he's a gold digger, there was no visible or explained reason for him to even consider marriage so quickly. Guys do not think this way in their 20s especially for a noona, especially when they say "I think I like you" (the maturity level is so low).
Side note: Showing the cells more realistically for the men would have been interesting (I mean rose-colored ignorance is real since naughty would be a little different for all of them).
This season made me really reaffirm my absolute distaste for age gap relationships and my hatred towards older men for dating younger woman because the dynamic is so gross. I mean I felt it here with a 7-10 (?) year age gap and you have old men trying to date younger women their daughter's age. Ugh. Terribly dissapointing season.
I wish they had taken WI HA JOON or someone like him and had him be the final guy (especially with all that unresolved tension from Little Women). Reindeer boy could have been in her memories as fling, crush, along with other blind dates etc.
6 out of 8 episodes in, no chemistry and 101 reasons they don't belong together. Wung in S2 was a better option. Heck showing some blind dates would be better. I enjoyed S1 and S2, they were realistic. This went into full fantasy mode , and felt rushed.
I read that the drama cleaned up Babi's character from the WebToon, a lot for the sake of the actor but I also feel so bad for Woong (except that Sae Yi is still in his life). Babi felt cold for some reason the entire time while Woong at least we know liked Yumi because of his cells. Looking forward to season 3, where the writers have to show that the new guy is better.
I have no idea why there are so many hate comments towards the actors or the writer of the article. I like IU a lot and think Byeon Seok needs acting lessons (but has great visuals so he is getting by) but this seems like a nice gesture that many colleagues and friends on set do for each other. There are many such articles and reports. At least its a positive development?
Aah the writer Lily Alice does indeed post some questionable content but this is not one of those.
It's completely valid not to like Ryu Jun-yeol as a leading man. It's completely valid to criticize his acting…
Oh it's you again. I don't see you knighting it up for the women, or responding to some of the incels that have joined this sub to attack love triangles/express misogyny and their poor cultural values on East Asian dramas. Anyway good luck. As always I wish upon the defenders of people with rotten behavior to have to experience the same pain they put others through.
I started thinking this was okay and then it got better, I still feel the pacing was off (episode 4 suddenly several major deaths were to early). Bale and Jeongman needed to have a cat and mouse game. J was to hot to die like that. And Jian's bf deserved more screen time. At the end I really hated that the only non Korean character Pasin is made into a traitor. I think I agree with other posters that showing Bablyon\psycho K could get in on their own would have made it seem more matched to why Babylon and murthehelp need to negotiate peace. Standouts in terms of acting were Jian, Q, K, and I felt really bad for Brother at the end. Standouts in terms of visuals were Jian's cute boyfriend, Q, her brother J. I feel like Jian is such a great actress but the story they gave her felt a bit cliche or not well thought out. Overall, the plot was poorly written and the actors did the best with what they had.
I feel sorry for people in this comments section who criticize the performance of the lead villain, the female…
Bro, relax. I thought she did great as a psychotic villain and impressed me with some of the facial changes. I would have loved a little more backstory but think she carried the role well. No need to go to far though.
He is so unattractive, he was lucky enough to get Hyeri and then Han So Hee and he screwed up both. Hope he doesn't get any more ML roles because he is a frog to the swans. Many better looking and better behaved actors then him.
PoJ had a stunning cast and so much chemistry between the leads and the toxic second leads but the latter half story was not great. Love Between the Lines also had great chemistry between the main leads and the game story/setting was gorgeous but the love story (office romance) was boring and draggy. I am glad to see A Splending Match on this list (even though it gave me major SML) because the actors and story was interesting and I hope ML and FL get more roles especially modern roles. I will add Swrod into Ploughshares and Zhan Zhao Adventures on my watch list. The rest I dropped and/or found to be below average at best.
Age gap red flags (disregarding gender, I find this problematic for these reasons either way but especially when it's ML who is older because that is commonly shown as normal but also when it's FL):
1. The older lead does not want the younger potential partner to know her real birthdate/age and avoids saying it. Either you can proudly say your age to your potential partner or you recognize that there is something off. The season kept the actual age gap a blur throughout.
2. The writer who was four or so years older than her seemed like a much better match (until they turned him into a full-on creep. Of course lot's of questions about that because why would the editor and his wife (one of her best friends) not vet him better before pushing him on her? This was weak and flawed storytelling to make an appropriate aged/life experience matched lead not work out. He looked right for her and they had a lot of common experiences/era that she denied because she was in denial about being in her mid-30s (which men do all the time so not hating on the FL but the thought process here).
3. At no point do they show that she and Sun Rook enjoy spending time together or have many common interests. In fact, they utterly do not. The only thing they show is that she finds him hot, cute and adorable like a puppy. Their one date, she keeps thinking about Gen Z being really different and it seemed clear there was mostly lust there.
4. He is at the start of his career while she is mid-career, the power differential of her being his boss is just awkward and weird. She can help him or ruin him. She has money to spare and he has very little. Just lots of uneven power dynamics. He functioned like her errand boy moreso than a boyfriend.
5. I really liked the Sun Rook that keeps a work/life separation and balance. It would have been better to show that Yumi has a crush on a younger guy but chooses to ignore it because its not right. Instead after Rational Cell makes absolute sense she listens to hormones. Then, maybe it would have been okay for a fling since she lusts after him and he seems to (?) as well but at no point did it feel like a relationship.
6. With Wung and Babi there was like and love and (mis)understanding and lust. Here there is lust at best and at worst it's a juvenile story (he ignored her and didn't like her, sending mixed signals which is some sort of kindergarden he pulled her hair nonsense, so she started to like him why? What interests or life experiences do they share? Why does she like him and why does he even like her?). It felt like a first crush/first relationship story especially for reindeer boy rather than a well matched relationship.
7. He tells her editor and her boss without asking her or having a conversation with her about how to break it to their work and social circle. So the principles stand only for him? Maybe it was the editing or the lack of actual time between them but HE NEVER ASKS HER WHAT SHE WANTS.
8. He jumps to thinking of marriage (1 month in!!!) but when asked what she likes/her interests he isn't even sure. Big yikes. Unless he's a gold digger, there was no visible or explained reason for him to even consider marriage so quickly. Guys do not think this way in their 20s especially for a noona, especially when they say "I think I like you" (the maturity level is so low).
Side note: Showing the cells more realistically for the men would have been interesting (I mean rose-colored ignorance is real since naughty would be a little different for all of them).
This season made me really reaffirm my absolute distaste for age gap relationships and my hatred towards older men for dating younger woman because the dynamic is so gross. I mean I felt it here with a 7-10 (?) year age gap and you have old men trying to date younger women their daughter's age. Ugh. Terribly dissapointing season.
I wish they had taken WI HA JOON or someone like him and had him be the final guy (especially with all that unresolved tension from Little Women). Reindeer boy could have been in her memories as fling, crush, along with other blind dates etc.
Aah the writer Lily Alice does indeed post some questionable content but this is not one of those.
At the end I really hated that the only non Korean character Pasin is made into a traitor. I think I agree with other posters that showing Bablyon\psycho K could get in on their own would have made it seem more matched to why Babylon and murthehelp need to negotiate peace.
Standouts in terms of acting were Jian, Q, K, and I felt really bad for Brother at the end.
Standouts in terms of visuals were Jian's cute boyfriend, Q, her brother J.
I feel like Jian is such a great actress but the story they gave her felt a bit cliche or not well thought out. Overall, the plot was poorly written and the actors did the best with what they had.