This review may contain spoilers
Dragged Out, Inconsistent Writing
Youthful Glory had a pretty strong start. It seemed like we were getting a strong, smart female lead and a smart general male lead in a bit of a rivals to lovers story. I really liked the show at the beginning, when it was more focused on the romance and the leads entering into a contract marriage. The couple had really good chemistry and a lot of the side characters were interesting.
Unfortunately, the show really drags out the conspiracy and political plot lines in the second half of the show. Those parts were not interesting or well-written enough to be dragged out as the focus for that many episodes. A lot of what worked best in the beginning, especially the female lead’s cousin and her romantic arc, were missing for a long stretch towards the end. It felt like the pacing was really off, with the leads entering into their contract marriage way too early and then spending way too long on the conspiracy plot. The villains did not work at all and were incredibly underdeveloped.
The characterization of the female lead felt incredibly inconsistent throughout the drama. At the beginning, the female lead is portrayed as being very smart and scheming. She has been running her family’s household by herself seemingly since a very young age. She investigates and plots ways to get herself out of predicaments. But as the show went on, her character seemed to get more immature.
I feel like this drama could have worked way better if it put a much heavier focus on the romance, made the female lead a little more mature, and spent way less time on the politics and conspiracy. Both secondary couples also felt way more interesting than the lead couple, but they barely had any screen time. I wish her cousin was a bigger focus because she was one of the strongest characters and was a lot of fun to watch.
Unfortunately, the show really drags out the conspiracy and political plot lines in the second half of the show. Those parts were not interesting or well-written enough to be dragged out as the focus for that many episodes. A lot of what worked best in the beginning, especially the female lead’s cousin and her romantic arc, were missing for a long stretch towards the end. It felt like the pacing was really off, with the leads entering into their contract marriage way too early and then spending way too long on the conspiracy plot. The villains did not work at all and were incredibly underdeveloped.
The characterization of the female lead felt incredibly inconsistent throughout the drama. At the beginning, the female lead is portrayed as being very smart and scheming. She has been running her family’s household by herself seemingly since a very young age. She investigates and plots ways to get herself out of predicaments. But as the show went on, her character seemed to get more immature.
I feel like this drama could have worked way better if it put a much heavier focus on the romance, made the female lead a little more mature, and spent way less time on the politics and conspiracy. Both secondary couples also felt way more interesting than the lead couple, but they barely had any screen time. I wish her cousin was a bigger focus because she was one of the strongest characters and was a lot of fun to watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
