drama-insomnia

It was very challenging to rate and review Brewing Love. The tone and plot of the show varied wildly from one episode to another. There were episodes that I adored and gave five stars and others I could barely finish. What really worked in this drama was the main romance. Min-ju was a dream man. He was so gentle and caring but also very determined and flirtatious once he decided to pursue Yong-ju. He had several lines that made me burst into tears at how beautiful and compassionate they were. The episodes that revolved around the two of them really worked for me.

What didn’t work was the majority of the rest of the plot, as well as the pacing. The beer storyline would have been okay if it had been minor but it took up so much time and was not interesting to watch. A lot of the character development and backstory felt like it was missing, even for the leads. Some of the side plots had potential and then felt like they either fell flat or were completely brushed past, like with Min-ju’s traumatic past and mental health, or the relationship with his dad. The second couple started off okay, although it was hard for me to get on board because the actor just looks so young, but their storyline felt very disappointing at the end. The way they addressed his backstory felt very clumsy, and their relationship felt very rushed and inauthentic. I really like Yong-ju’s grandma and wished the show had gone more into their relationship.

Brewing Love was very odd because the first few episodes were incredibly boring but then there were some great episodes in the middle. It felt like the show had maybe had a rough start and then hit its stride, but then I also felt that it got very boring again at the end. The show felt all over the place. It was disappointing because there were some episodes that were fantastic. The male lead was such a green flag and it was interesting how they flipped a lot of gender stereotypes with their relationship. There was a lot to like in the show, it was just very inconsistent.

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No Gain, No Love had a lot of promise. It had a lot of classic tropes, it had Shin Min Ah, it was very progressive for a kdrama. But I think that the main issue is that this show tried to do way too much with only 12 episodes.

There were so many storylines that a lot of them didn’t get resolved at all (with Ji Uk’s parents, or her ex) or were so rushed that they had no impact at all. Even the main relationship didn’t feel developed, so it felt like it had no stakes. Kim Young Dae really didn’t work for me as a lead and he did not have great chemistry with Shin Min Ah.

Ja Yeon was adorable and I really wish she had gotten more screentime. The show tried to do too much with her character in very limited time. I liked her arc as a romance writer and would have liked that to be more of the focus. The whole murderer dad getting out of jail and coming for her was a pretty unnecessary plot line. I wanted to like her romance more than I did. The way they met was very hard to come back from and it kind of dampened their entire arc.

The third friend’s storyline was completely forgettable and uninteresting. They should have just written her out if they were going to do a shorter show. Everything with Hae-young’s ex was also very annoying and took time away from other plot points.

I could see that there were elements of Hae-young’s character arc that I would’ve liked and could’ve connected with but the show just never delved into those parts in any meaningful way. Even her relationship with her mom felt like afterthought.

After a somewhat promising start, the show really fell flat for me in the last couple episodes. I’d still say watch it if you love Shin Min Ah, but overall the drama felt pretty shallow in terms of the characters and story.

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Moving was different than I expected, in many interesting ways. The beginning of the show is much more of a teen drama, focusing on the younger characters, their abilities, and relationships. While some of the younger characters were endearing, once the story shifted more to the parents I was way more invested. Some of teen characters didn’t feel fully developed and the plot lines could feel a little boring.

The parent storylines were all so well done and the show surprised me by having such great love stories. All of their storylines were a little heartbreaking but it was so beautiful to see that they would do anything for their children. Mi-hyun was a real standout character. The show took a character that was a mother who didn’t have the powers of physical strength like a lot of the others, and made her one of the most badass characters. Mi-hyun was cunning, perceptive, intelligent, and did not hesitate to take out anyone who threatened her family. The romance between her and Du-sik was one of the best parts of the show. Their romance felt quiet and realistic but you could really feel their connection. The romance with Ju-won and his wife I haven’t seen talked about nearly as much and I think I loved their story just as much. I honestly would’ve watched an entire show about any of the parents.

The action sequences were a lot of fun to watch, especially a lot of the later ones where there are so many different powers. Some of the fight choreography was wild, especially with Du-sik and his flying abilities. It didn’t feel like all of the backstory made sense at times and it wasn’t clear if the show was planning to get to those things later or if they were just plotholes. The show seems like it really needs another season and it would be unsatisfying if it doesn’t get one.

I think that while I enjoyed most of the show quite a lot, my biggest issue was with the pacing. The show felt a bit boring at the beginning, then it switched to a lot of flashbacks, and then it felt like they tried to fit all of the conflict and resolutions into a couple episodes. The rush at the end to tie everything together made it so that some parts felt out of nowhere and others were unsatisfying because there was so little time for them. I rarely think this about shows but if they wanted to try and do this much with the plot, it could’ve benefitted from being longer. It would’ve given more time to develop the huge cast of characters as well.

It seemed like they were really setting things up for another season, so it’s hopeful that a lot of questions will be answered! I would love another season and to see all of these characters interacting with each other again.

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I loved the beginning of this show so much. The banter and bickering between Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo felt so genuine and accurate for friends who had known each other so long. Seok-ryu was such a fantastic character and I love that the show delved into her burnout and the unfair treatment she got as the eldest daughter. One of the first scenes that really got to me was when they were sitting in the rain and she is laughing and Seung-hyo tells her not to laugh when she really wants to cry, and she immediately starts sobbing. The two of them showed the importance of truly being seen. Both of them could see through the facades that the other would put up and knew what they truly needed. I loved the two of them together. They had fantastic chemistry both as friends and as a couple.

The show really spent a lot of time on Seung-hyo’s feelings and I would have loved more time spent on Seok-ryu’s. I think that the best part of friends to lovers is the tension and them slowly realizing their friend is hot, but since we got so little of her perspective, we didn’t really get those moments from her. It was such a missed opportunity to not do flashbacks showing moments where she found herself attracted to him as well, even if she didn’t realize it or accept it at the time.

I loved Seok-ryu so much and I was so excited to see a depiction of an overachieving eldest daughter crashing and burning, and then her efforts to create a life that actually makes her happy. The show takes a bit of a turn that I was disappointed with because it really took away from all the totally valid reasons that she could be burnt out. I also really wanted her family, but especially her mom, to realize on their own how unfair they’d been to her. The way the show went with it made it so that they didn’t really have to come to terms with how awful they’d been, which was extremely frustrating.

Mo-eum and Dan-ho, the second leads, had such a great meet-cute and her career as a paramedic was interesting to watch. I felt like this couple really went downhill over the course of the series. Mo-eum did have a sweet connection with his daughter but she tried to move things so fast that it was uncomfortable. Dan-ho’s constant rejection of her never really made much sense and it felt a little degrading to have her continue to pursue him when he was acting so cold to her. The energy between them just really seemed to shift partway through the show.

The storyline with his mom’s memory was really what took this show down a notch for me because what was that. The show continued to just throw in dramatic elements for shock value and then just reel it back, which was completely unnecessary.

At the beginning of the show, this was a 10/10 for me. Some of the frustrating elements did bring it down a bit, but I still really enjoyed the show. Jung So-min and Jung Hae-in were both incredible, together and separately. There were such sweet heartwarming moments, not just between the leads but also with their families. Even if it didn’t go into it as much as I wanted, I still really appreciated how they showcased Seok-ryu realizing in her thirties that she doesn’t even know what she likes or wants to do. She became such a beloved character to me that I won’t forget anytime soon.

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This is a show to go into blind. I almost never do but I watched this show while it was airing and it had me shook. I started off thinking this was just a kind of spooky show and while I liked the vibe, it wasn’t until after the first few episodes when things started to come together that I was really hooked.

Light Shop had me absolutely weeping for the second half of the show. The characters and their backstories were so well done. The acting performances were all amazing. This would be a great show to go rewatch knowing the entire story to see all the details missed on a first watch.

I found the ending to be a little underwhelming, which is what knocked it down a bit for me. Some things were still left unexplained and I wasn’t clear what the plan for the story moving forward would be. With this large ensemble cast, there were also characters that I cared about a lot more than others and some I really wished had more screentime!

Light Shop was something I had almost no expectations for and the story really blew me away. There were a few episodes in the middle that absolutely destroyed me and were just epic storytelling. It is definitely worth the watch!

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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.

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I loved a lot of things about this drama but let me get this out of the way, the age gap WAS weird. Personally, I think the show could’ve made things feel a lot less awkward by having them meet when she was 17 rather than when she was in middle school and then later reconnecting. Even though her character is supposed to be around 14, the actress they cast to play this younger version of her looked about 7 years old and seeing her act opposite to the male lead felt extremely uncomfortable to me, especially because they kept flashing back to that time. There were way too many episodes taking place when she was a kid, it felt like maybe three or four would have been plenty. The show also made such a big deal about the age gap that it was hard to forget about it. It could have been the translations or a cultural thing, but at certain points when they were talking about their ages, it didn’t seem to line up with a five year gap. Again, I think this might be a cultural difference, but it was also odd to hear him constantly introduce her as sister. It could have been the translation but when he said “I don’t want to just be your elder brother, I want to be your boyfriend” I almost laughed out loud at how bizarre that sounds, when this is supposed to be a very sweet scene.

All this being said, I actually really did like the romance for the most part. Sang zhi was such an interesting character and was written so differently than a lot of other drama leading ladies. Jiaxu was of course written as the perfect boyfriend and the actor did an amazing job showcasing his charm. While age gap is not my favorite, the show allowed Jiaxu multiple opportunities to see Sangzhi in a different, more mature light that made him realize she had grown up. What was such a great aspect of their relationship is that they were a true partnership. They both were extremely protective of each other, not just him being protective of her. Sangzhi was constantly standing up for her man and Jiaxu’s reaction to that was heartbreaking because it was clear that he’d never had anyone on his side like that before. Sangzhi had a lot of scenes that I think in other dramas it would have the male lead in her role, for example when she wraps the scarf around his neck or when she confronts his harasser. They really highlighted that even though Sangzhi was younger than him, she was willing to go to bat for him just as much as he was for her.

Jiaxu was truly adorable and it was so understandable how Sangzhi had a crush on him for so long - who wouldn’t! The college roommate crew was such a good addition and it would have been great to see more of them. One of the other places that the show really excelled was with the depiction of the sibling relationship. Brother sister relationships are not often done this well; the way the two of them bickered felt so natural and even when they were fighting or didn’t know how to express it, you could tell how much they cared about each other. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough of the brother, especially in the later portion of the show. I would’ve liked him to have his own storyline and I thought there would have been more shown with the girlfriend.

Sangzhi’s roommates were cute but they didn’t feel like realized characters because none of them really had their own arcs. The one roommate having the crush went nowhere and it felt like a waste for the show to spend time on it. The latter half of the show started to feel like it was dragging and part of that could be because almost every scene was just these two main characters. It could have worked better if the show was either a few episodes shorter or if they spent more time on some of the other characters, especially the brother!

Even with some of the issues, I do still think the show is worth watching. There were a lot of very sweet moments that I can see myself going back to rewatch, not even just with the main couple but also with Sangzhi and her brother. The part of the show when Sangzhi is a child is pretty long, so just be aware of what you’re getting into, but once she gets to college it was a lot more enjoyable.

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I struggled so hard to get through Business Proposal. I skipped so many scenes because I was determined to finish it so I could rate it. I don't hate cheesiness or tons of tropes, there was just something about this that really didn't work for me.

I know a lot of people loved the second leads, but there was a conversation related to consent that bothered me so much I could barely watch the two of them after that.

The main couple I did not find very interesting and there were a couple points at which I feel that relationship would have been over. Spoiler: at one point he kicks her out of the car in the middle of nowhere, at night, without a phone while they are supposed to be on a date. Regardless of the reason, she could've died! The love triangle was also incredibly boring and I didn't care about it in the slightest.

I think the character relationships just all had deal breaking moments for me that really put me off the show. There were parts that I enjoy, because there were some scenes where the main couple had good chemistry. Her team at work was pretty entertaining to watch.

While there were some entertaining and humorous parts of the story, I found the characters shallow and relationships problematic.

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Not to be a hater, but I’m honestly shocked this show is so positively reviewed. I didn’t know much about the plot going in, but I knew the romance was really hyped. I did not expect so much of the storyline to revolve around a ridiculous weight loss plot. The show did not handle this issue in a meaningful way at all and seemed to also ignore a lot of the disordered eating behaviors throughout the show.

Even though I did not love Bok Joo, my biggest issue was the side characters. I hated almost every character in this show. There were multiple characters depicted as being severely physically abusive but the show chose to try and make those characters sympathetic. The depiction of her coaches and teammates also felt disturbing to me, especially the way they would basically force feed her. I did not understand for a second why she continued with weightlifting, as it seemed like actual torture for her during the majority of the show.

The only reason that I kept watching the show was because of Joon Hyeong. I found this character to be so adorable and the acting performance was really good. His relationship with Bok Joo developing from friendship into something more felt organic. There were a lot of times that I felt his character was too good for Bok Joo. I had to remind myself many times that this show is meant to take place in college and not high school, because Bok Joo acted so immature. The kissing scenes felt extremely awkward as well.

Even with the sweet male lead, I don’t think I would recommend this show to anyone. I ended up needing to skip so much. If anyone has struggled with disordered eating or body image, I think this show handles all of that so poorly and I would steer clear.

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I feel so surprised this drama isn’t more highly rated! Karma had me hooked from the very beginning and I couldn’t stop watching. This drama is one of those that starts off a little confusing, but you keep watching to see where it’s going and the ride was very worth it for this one. There are many different characters and the stories feel very disparate, but once the drama shows how they are all connected, it made so much sense and was fascinating. It’s one that would be so interesting to rewatch knowing the ending, to see what clues were left throughout. I’m a big spoiler person, but this is one that you should go into blind. Without saying too much, Karma does revolve around revenge and people getting what they deserve. Unlike some other dramas involving revenge, Karma didn’t try to redeem the villains or offer them any kind of sympathy. The ending was incredibly satisfying, as well as pretty shocking, and it really lived up to its title. For how evil most of the characters are, anything less would have been a disappointment. Fair warning that this does get pretty gruesome, especially in the later episodes.

The entire cast was great and able to portray their characters in a way that kept me guessing as much as the other characters in the show were also in the dark. I have never seen Shin Min Ah in a darker role, but she was very compelling to watch and her performance was great. Park Hae Soo as well was a standout.

The main thing that knocked my rating down was that it felt rushed. It is impressive how much ground they were able to cover with only six episodes, but if they had bumped it up to even just eight the story could have been a little more developed. Since there are quite a few characters, there wasn’t much time spent developing them all. Especially with Shin Min Ah’s character and several of the people around her, it would have been great to get a little more time spent developing the characters and relationships.

Even with some minor issues, Karma was very compelling and incredibly bingeable. This is one that you will want to watch in one sitting. If you like revenge, this is one to add to your list!

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Extraordinary You started off great; it had a unique premise, interesting storylines, and a great cast. There were some plot holes and unanswered questions but the plot was still interesting. However, the story just kept dragging on towards the end, with no progress or anything interesting happening. I’m not sure why they chose to make this show so long when they didn’t have enough story to fill up that time. This is a 32 episode show and it easily could’ve been 24, which is about the time I lost interest.

There was a lot that I liked about Extraordinary You. The comic book setting was something I’d never seen before and it was intriguing to see where they were going with it. Kim Hye Yoon was great as lead and her performance fit the character perfectly. Lee Jae Wook was also stellar as the hot-headed, brooding, antagonistic second male lead. Rowoon was good as well, although it didn’t feel like his character was given a ton to do. While Lee Jae Wook’s character, Baek Gyeong, was clearly the more toxic option, his character felt a lot more interesting and realized than Rowoon’s Ha Ru. This wasn’t a case where it seemed like the second male lead should’ve got the girl, but he did feel a lot more interesting on screen and it would’ve been interesting if they explored his character more. Rowoon and Kim Hye Yoon didn’t really seem to have great chemistry, but their relationship had a lot of cute moments.

There were other characters that felt a little wasted as well. Some characters didn’t become self aware that they were in a comic, or at least didn’t acknowledge it, until the end and it left so little time to see their true personality. The main couple in the comic was so boring and then when the girl becomes self aware she was so cool, but it happened so late that we didn’t see much of it.

The actual rules of the comic book world made very little sense but it was pretty easy to suspend disbelief. There were many things (why Ha Ru was the only one who could change things, how Dan Oh was suddenly cured and lived to the end, why Joo Da picked Nam Joo, why there was a shadow in the first place) that I kept waiting to be explained and they just never were.

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My Sweet Mobster was ultimately not the adorable sweet rom com I was looking for. I totally understand that the point of the show is to have a former mobster who is gentle and sweet but his characterization felt a little odd at times. The chemistry between the leads felt pretty lacking and also very juvenile when the male lead is supposed to be like 40 years old. The love triangle was so bland and I had to skip most of the scenes with the prosecutor. The entire mob and villain storyline was so over the top silly that I couldn’t watch it.

The backstory of their intertwined childhoods was dragged out to such an unbelievable degree that it was very frustrating to watch. It felt very similar to What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim in that aspect for me. The childhood connection, especially one that’s executed like this, just feels really overdone and boring.

There were many parts of the show that I did not enjoy but I did end up finishing it because there were certain things that kept me engaged. The forced cohabitation is always a fun trope and not it was especially cute to see her develop relationships with all of his friends. The found family part of the show was definitely a strength and seeing their friendships with each other, as well as the female lead, was very sweet. The business hiring ex-cons was very interesting and I would have liked to see even more of that, as well as the friends backstories. I really enjoyed the second couple and I wanted both of those characters individually and together to have more screen time.

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An Absolute Slog to Get Through

Law and the City took everything that people like about legal dramas and threw it all out the door. The leads have no personality, the romance was boring, and they chose the blandest cases. I really thought this show would be more of a commentary on the Korean legal system and while there is a little bit of that, they largely picked incredibly dull civil cases to focus on. This choice was baffling and created such boring episodes with almost no stakes. Spending entire episodes on building materials, real estate contracts, or a watch that maybe was stolen was bizarre and they could’ve gone in a much more interesting direction.

Lee Jong Suk’s character didn’t have a personality at all. They gave him nothing to do and he brought nothing to the role. The romance might as well not have existed, for how little impact it had on the show. Two incredibly beautiful actors with zero chemistry did not make for a compelling romance. Their romance was mostly shown in flashbacks and it never really made sense when they had fallen in love again. Once they get together, almost nothing is shown of their relationship. It felt like the show kept almost making a commentary on aspects of the legal system or workplace, but they never quite covered them enough, so everything felt very surface level.

The main reason I kept watching was that I did enjoy the friendships and the friends were much more interesting than the leads. Their friendship felt very deep when they were working on more personal cases and I think the fact that they all worked for different partners gave them too much separation and didn’t allow us to get enough of their relationships. I found the legal advisor to be such an afterthought and a character that had no purpose. I know that she is a great actress, so I’m not sure why they gave her nothing to do. I kept expecting the show to tackle her backstory to give more insight into her motivations and personal life, but there was just nothing.

This is such a nitpick, but the fact that they didn’t release this show at the end of the year is crazy. Everyone is bundled up in a wool coats for the whole show and that combined with the slow pace made this such an odd choice to be released in the heart of summer.

I would have rated this a lot lower except there were a few episodes in the middle I did really enjoy. Overall this just felt like such a missed opportunity and I really struggled to finish it.

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Is the writing great? Does the plot make a lot of sense? Not particularly. However, I still found a lot to like about this show. It's very clear that the story they wanted to tell in Bloodhounds is not the story they ended up telling. A key character's very abrupt departure was handled so poorly and the entire rest of the show you could tell they were scrambling to figure out how to piece together a coherent story. It was really disappointing because the story felt really strong until that point and the dynamic between the main three characters was great. The last few episodes were nowhere near as strong as the beginning of the show.

I couldn't give Bloodhounds a terrible rating though, because I still had a great time watching it. The fight sequences were well choreographed and and very cool to watch. There were very epic action scenes spanning large amounts of time but it never felt boring. The friendship between the two leads was a huge highlight of the show. Lee Sang Yi's character especially brought a lot of much needed humor to what otherwise is a pretty dark show. Even though their characters were complete opposites, their bond felt really genuine. Both Lee Sang Yi and Woo Do Hwan gave great performances, both in the emotional scenes and all of action sequences they had to do.

I would have really liked to see what they were originally intending to do with the plot because I think it would have been a lot more interesting than what they ended up doing with the last episodes. Since season two is coming, hopefully that is an opportunity for them to fully explore a story they want to tell. There was so much that I enjoyed about this show but it is so easy to pinpoint exactly when there was a marked difference in the quality of the writing. Fortunately, the acting and action remained great throughout the show. Bloodhounds is still really worth the watch if you like action. I'll be looking forward to what they do with the second season!

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I know that WWWSK is a classic and I’m glad I watched it, but it’s a bit of a hot mess. Park Seo-joon is a beautiful man but there was nothing appealing about his character besides the fact that he’s rich. This was the first show of his I’d ever seen and I didn’t realize what a good actor he could be until watching some of his other work because his character is so over the top.

I think what really works for this show is Park Min-young. She is the queen of rom coms for a reason. She has amazing chemistry with everyone she’s ever worked with and Park Seo-joon is no exception. Their chemistry was the main thing that kept me watching the show.

The workplace dynamics were pretty fun to watch. I really struggled with the second Secretary Kim’s romance storyline. Maybe it’s a cultural difference, but that cheap man with one outfit and no personality was so unbelievable as an office heartthrob. On the other hand, I loved Bo ra’s romance storyline so much and I’m sad there was so little of it! I found that couple more interesting than the mains.

The childhood connection storyline started off somewhat interesting and then went off the rails so badly by the end. Everything about it was executed so poorly and it was dragged out so long. The entire brother part of it was the worst and it made me hate the entire family.

WWWSK would have been more successful if it was a shorter show, since parts of it were cute but it was incredibly boring by the end. There was not enough story to fill up that many episodes and it resulted in such drawn out, uninteresting plot lines. The ending also felt very unsatisfying, as it seemed like the whole point for Secretary Kim was to be able to go out on her own and figure out what she wants to do but then they just decided that she didn’t need to do that anymore.

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