dtulipano

As part of my second-language practice, I'm focusing on what someone my age and with my experience would want to know before watching a drama. I chose this drama because the social network campaign caught my eye with appealing scenes that are “nice to watch”; the visuals and chemistry of both leads were great, and it fits my current trend of watching rom-coms with a happy ending as a dopamine source. My conclusion after watching the drama is that they missed the opportunity to produce a good drama, playing it safe with a “Rom-Com by the playbook.”

I didn’t read the book, but the plot, full of opportunities, was interesting for a self-improvement rom-com, with an ML as a powerful, foolproof airline CEO fighting to prove his value to the family, and a beautiful, smart semi-Cinderella in an irresistibly fitted uniform, following her dream of becoming a pilot from a flight attendant. They develop a credible, attention-grabbing enemies-to-lovers relationship and show the characters' growth despite their different personalities, incompatible careers, and backgrounds. The visuals were great, with good rhythm and no slow episodes, and the production was sometimes impressive, as in the emergency landing sequence.

Instead of exploring the complexity of such a different personalities with a relationship starting with the wrong foot, the production appealed to the playbook only focused on the usual rom-com stereotypes: the rich family accepting at the end the other lead, confessions while drunk, unnecessary breakup with the stoicism of one of the main lead know what is better to ease the burden but no caring about the emotional effect, the umbrella under the rain, the “close to accidental kiss” when almost falling down, the super-efficient 24/7 assistant, the love counselors without experience in dating, all the supporting character being die-hard fans of the leads like if they were idols, staff over celebrating main leads achievements (I have never seen people launching paper sheets in a board meeting or in an office to celebrate), a hidden family story, the ML randomly appearing just in time to save the FL, the sunset scene during a turning point moment of the relationship, bad guy with unmatching ugly shirts, expensive cars, luxury houses, amusement parks, leads being successful in business without experience, plenty of previous scenes as memories all over the episodes, long-distance relationship with one the leads traveling as part of the career improvement, a marriage proposal using the most expensive resources and inexplicable logistic (at least the scene at the bathroom pushing for an answer was funny and credible), and fantastic marriage scenes (how could this happen in real life without infringing airport security). I can’t help but think of tons of look-alike scenes in the international rom-com industry, which are good, but it would be nice if they showed more real-life ups and downs and evolution as the relationship developed, which the interesting plot opened the opportunity for.

The main leads acted well and conveyed emotions, with excellent chemistry and visuals that were the backbone of the drama. Their scenes of flirting, acceptance, fun together, and reconciliation felt credible and refreshing. The FL's evolution from being used to being alone and her difficulty sharing her feelings was well acted, showing the transitions and taking advantage of the script's possibilities with a non-common character. Her quote, where she tells her friends that different backgrounds expand horizons instead of being unsolvable obstacles, was a smart summary of her point of view. On the ML’s side, his business-related dialogue and behavior were weak, and the script felt like a straitjacket; he still showed his evolution from a ruthless CEO to a loving partner, learning to get along while keeping his grip on his job and working hard to maintain boundaries between business and personal life. Regarding the main leads' intimacy, the kissing scenes were adequate and timely, making them credible; and in the sleeping-together scenes, even when they could have developed more passion to support their relationship, they at least avoided the typical lack of credibility of excessive puritanism in maintaining un unreal chastity by stopping for respect after passionate kisses flooded with desire, while staying alone in an inviting apartment.

As for the secondary leads, their transition from antagonist to couple felt interesting at first, but instead of a funny character, they created an irresponsible second lead male who felt like something out of a cartoon, lacked credibility, and could never attract a smart woman. The female antagonist had little opportunity to develop; her transition from pursuing the ML, pushed by her parents, to focusing on her career and building a new romantic relationship instead of becoming a villainess felt credible. Unfortunately, their relationship felt like an attempt to inject comedy into the drama; it was too messy, bordered on sarcastic, and the serious moments didn’t help. The drama missed the chance to develop an interesting long-time friends-to-lovers plot, where they know each other's pros and cons and how they might overcome them.

The pilot and purser flight attendant plot felt more interesting, realistic, and deserved more attention, since it showed how attachment makes you stay in an impossible dead-end relationship and how hard it is to end it, even when you get plenty of signals that are usually ignored out of fear of being alone. The outcome felt expected and realistic, and I liked that neither of them is at fault; they were simply incompatible because their life goals didn't align, and she finished the relationship by pursuing self-improvement as a way out.

As expected in a drama by the playbook, we can find the list of required stereotypical characters: on the FL side, the man-eater friend, who, in the end, we assumed she found love; an almost dumb friend who needs a lot of care; melodramatic situations to play with our feelings; in this case, it was the death of her “almost boyfriend,” with no explanation and without even a formal relationship. At least that situation gave us one of the drama's best quotes, when she asked herself whether it was better to fail than miss out, which became the basis for the FL's acceptance of the ML. The FL's mother never showed a clear definition, and the sudden acceptance, without developing the relationship, felt fake. On the ML side, the parents were too exaggerated, especially his mother's behavior; his secretary was a joke and not even close to what the position required; and his assistant made it hard to believe he had what was required at that level. Instead of improving the drama, all those characters made it even less realistic and credible.

The supporting elements, such as the lighting, photography, direction, and cinematography, were good, with the OST supporting the scenes as an integral part of them. I am not an aviation expert, but the scenes felt credible and showed the importance and responsibility of preparing to protect passengers' lives. All the plane emergency scenes were very good, almost at a super production level.

I could find tons of mistakes, making it look like they were in a rush to meet the expected schedule to produce a rom-com; here are some of them: the wardrobe sequence, like changing the way they were dresses in continuous scenes (too many to mention); very difficult-to-follow time of day in key continuous sequences in which you will never know if they were in daylight or at night; meetings on weekends at night (I’ve never seen this happen in my decades in the corporate world); incoherent sequences as when they reconciliate, I couldn’t understand the sequence from being booked in a hotel, waking up up together in her house, going to the cemetery, receiving a plane as a gift, and meeting her mother in the gallery. The worst was the building's security: the antagonist's ex-girlfriend, with a thug, could reach the FL's door, stay for hours, and break into the apartment, but a delivery boy took too long to clear security. And let alone the FL’s apartment door: in one scene, the ML could get into the apartment, cooking while she was using the toilet, but in a critical scene, he was stuck at the door for hours when he was worried about her. Besides making the drama lose credibility, it gives the impression that relying on the leads’ chemistry, technical resources, proven scene formulas, and the editor's improvisation was enough to earn good reviews.

In summary, it is a nice-to-watch drama that leaves the expected good feeling of dopamine from a rom-com with a happy ending, even when you feel that it could be better if the production didn’t try to play it too safe, relying on the playbook of proven scenes with strong technical execution, focusing on easy-to-digest entertainment based on the leads’ chemistry, and avoiding the risk of developing credible character evolution by exploring their behavior and evolution in the different challenges they faced, leaving the sensation of a great plot with a missed opportunity.