coleworld

It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be

I think the casting was great, each actor played their role very well so it was easy to get into the story.

The first half of the show was great but unfortunately it went downhill after that. So many side stories felt unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the main plot. The love story between the second female lead and Mu-hee’s manager could’ve been completely scrapped. The same goes for everything surrounding Hiro, none of it served the story and only dragged the pacing down.

At first, Mu-hee’s love for Ho-jin was cute and relatable, but after a while, it became soooo frustrating. The writers turned her into a desperate girl who seemed to have no self-respect, endlessly chasing someone who rejected her multiple times. It was disappointing because she’s clearly capable of being so much more than that. And honestly, the fact that they only get together in the last two episodes, just to immediately start talking about breaking up, was ridiculous. At that point, I almost wished they hadn’t gotten together at all. The love story just wasn’t convincing from either side. Ho-jin’s reasons for rejecting her felt shallow, and overall, the writers completely wasted the potential of their relationship.

But my main issue was with Do Ra Mi.

The way her storyline was handled was such a missed opportunity. They could’ve explored a much deeper narrative about mental health and the emotional toll acting takes, especially for someone’s first major role that ended with a traumatic accident. There was so much potential for an honest look at how difficult it can be for actors to detach from their characters.

Also, I guess her seeming to have no physical issues after such a huge fall and being in a coma for six months was a bit unrealistic, but okay. And the fact that she barely saw a therapist until the very end? Like come on. But anyway, I guess that maybe wouldn’t have helped the plot that much (especially seeing how the plot was lol).

Instead, we got a messy and unresolved subplot about her family which ultimately went nowhere. The whole “she looks like her mom” revelation had no meaningful payoff. If her parents being alive was meant to be a big twist, why leave it hanging like that? That kind of storyline needed to be introduced earlier and explored properly, not dropped at the end with no resolution. If the goal was to show Do Ra Mi as a product of childhood trauma, the writing simply didn’t go deep enough.

And while we’re on that, they could’ve made Do Ra Mi genuinely dangerous. When one of the producers said, “Do Ra Mi doesn’t kill anyone, the only person she kills is the man she loves,” I expected the show to actually do something with that idea. The split personality concept was introduced well, but it should’ve gone muuuuuch further. Imagine if Do Ra Mi started seeing Ho-jin as both the source of Mu-hee’s pain and her greatest weakness, trying to hurt him for real, maybe in an attempt to “protect” Mu-hee from heartbreak. That could’ve added real suspense and emotional depth, blurring the line between love, obsession, and self-destruction.

Ho-jin saving Mu-hee with his words and his love could’ve been such a beautiful and powerful thing for the show. Seeing him reach her through his feelings, helping her find herself again, would’ve given so much more emotional weight to their relationship and tied everything together perfectly. But instead, everything stayed very surface level and unresolved.

Finally, the language theme had so much untapped potential. I think the show was trying to say that everyone has their own “language” and sometimes we struggle to understand each other even when we speak the same one. That’s a beautiful idea, but they could’ve done so much more with it, instead of the endless misunderstandings. Since the story takes place in both Italy and Canada, they had the perfect opportunity to explore English and Italian idioms, cultural nuances, and emotional expressions. They could’ve shown how certain feelings are expressed differently depending on the language, how love, heartbreak, or longing can sound or feel different in another tongue.

The opera sequence was a lovely touch, but imagine if they had woven more of that linguistic richness throughout the show. Since they’re filming a romantic variety show, they could’ve played with the idea of “romance in translation,” how words of love mean one thing in English and something entirely deeper in Italian. It could’ve been poetic, symbolic, and so so beautiful. Sadly, they only scratched the surface of what could’ve been a defining part of the show’s identity.

Honestly, this show should not have been a rom-com at all. It would’ve worked so much better as a melodrama with hints of comedy, something that leaned into the darker emotional themes and psychological depth instead of trying to keep things light and cute all the time. The tone they went for just didn’t fit the story they were trying to tell.

There were glimpses of brilliance in the acting, the setup, and some of the ideas, but it all felt underdeveloped and rushed by the end. It’s such a shame because this could’ve been something truly special.

Read More