This actually had a proper melo/makjang plot but didnt ultimately work. It might have been a good drama in better hands in my mind,. a proper Korean writer/director/cast team. And needed to be around 20 eps max. The romance had scope be angsty and heart fluttering, may have been captivating even this script but with better actors. Dont even get me started on the awful kisses.
The leads had no chemistry and both lack acting skills, though the ML is trifle better than the FL. By the time I reached the end, I was thoroughly done with the FL as a character & actor. Lin Wo felt like she was an interesting, genuinely strong minded FL at times but the terrible acting plus repeatedly making prejudiced judgements first about her Pa then about Gao Shan became so annoying.
The first half was still interesting but once the original plot got resolved it devolved in utterly irritating mess.
What I did love: the second couple and their romance, particularly Su Yuan. What a cute character. Both SLs were miles better actors than the leads.
OK I loved the latest episode: I dont think the writer properly developed the route to GC's feelings of loss, regret and guilt that we see but still even tho it does not feel organic, I like where we are in that regard. Its been done well in this episode - he is shown in so many different ways realising what he'd lost. The actor's done a fine enough job. I can see why he's a staple in dailies.
I personally like the sudden dash of love angles, a nice change of pace. As I said before I love Tae Ho's introduction and I surprisingly enjoy his - fake or real interest - in Jae In. The actor, and so the character, has the screen presence and vibe to face off GC and so we get somewhat electric scenes like the last one today. Sadly Do Yun does not have that sizzling presence I also loved the scene where TH tells Se Ri to die if she wants....finally someone brutally telling off Se Ri .
The end game is on, just a couple more reveals. We have a week more, and its gonna be action packed. my guess (im often wrong tho!) - the truth about Ji Ho is gonna be out soon. After that shock, GC's gonna be diagnosed with some terminal illness (cancer?) so that will likely cause him confess/repent. And then possibly kill off SR to protect Jae In. The End. Lets see,
Lots of good stuff in today's episode! We had Take 2 of GC beseeching JI to get back together,and this was not any better than the previous one. The scene should have been filled with zingers making it satisfying and heart wrenching, we got barely 1 or 2.
The only 2 scenes so far that got me emotionally invested are both by SW - one where he calls MR "eomma" and today when he tells JY she'll always be his mother. The actor's turning out to be good in emotional/melo scenes, more so than in the comedy ones.
Killing a man randomly in your own house is nuts - her simplistic thinking: everything is solved by killing off people and deny she has anything to do with it. I hope this time she'll get caught red handed
I was busy/travelling this week, so just got caught up over the weekend. Had to put down a few thoughts::
- I think the basic plotting per se of the show pretty good. Its fast pace and quick resolutions has kept fatigue minimal and things interesting. I love Tae Ho's introduction and how his plotline is coming together for the big reveal. I have seen this actor before in Sunny Again Tomorrow and quite liked him there. He's quite good here as well. I wish he'd been one of the leads. Decent chemistry with HEJ. Unfortunately neither of the present MLs have chemistry with HEJ.
Other nice touches are the fake Oh Seong romance for revenge, the way SW is getting accepted and accepting his "new son" status and Gi Man's regression. Although I still cant understand why Ja Young is allowed to keep going off alone, but I do like how her dementia has been used to show her soft side and mellowed things between her and SW. Of course, Mi Ran time and again being faced by how awful she;s been to Jae In is music to my ears. I literally applauded when DY's mom tells Oh Seung her being so cruel to her own family shows her character hasnt changed.
- The biggest issue with this drama is that the writer & director have repeatedly fluffed big confrontation (& reveal) scenes. The scene between Jae in and GC was one of the better ones. But it could have been far more moving and emotionally hard hitting. The only touch I liked there was when GC calls her the intimate way Jae In-ah 재인아, and Jae In reacts violently (although that screaming thing didnt work for me - Se Ri also does it when mad). The dialogues are just not emotionally impactful. Not just here but all confrontation scenes. A major failing for a makjang imo.
-Which also brings me to GC's character development. This is another weak area - so far we have repeatedly seen he is motivated only by self interest so where is this sudden love for Jae In coming from? From what I can make of the timeline, he seems to have been two-timing from the start, so he never did love her truly. So why this rush of emotion? We have never heard from him on his true emotions around Se Ri or Jae In, esp in early days when he chose to "keep" two houses. I remember thinking in early episodes that GC does love JI in some way but we never saw it explored.
- The character of Se Ri is written to be rather one dimensional - though her being a pathological liar is interesting. The actor makes it worse with her subpar performance imo.
We are almost there. Just 10 more eps, with all its flaws, I'll miss it when done.
What does Jae-In do at YL Group? She's always in executive meetings and GC's office. I'm guessing she's a director…
She jumped up the ladder by virtue of being hired as Designer L. Her contract terms ensure she heads the design function. So she can participate the executive meetings. Though how she got into the board meeting is a good questions - I figured because she still has her father's shares?
Just 10 more eps, so 2 weeks more, wow we are almost done here! No wonder we got a confession thought it seemed a bit out of place imo. GC being there and the whole jealous ex angle itself feels a bit forced to me but ok, the writer wants to make GC regret everything. The revenge is going along fairly well (though with lot of plot conveniences). Seems like all threads will be wrapped up without rushing. I just hope AT LEAST by the end Jae In will appoint a caregiver for her mother!
Persevered 8 episodes thinking it'll improve plus I thought the chemistry quite good for a c-drama - but dear god, there is zero plot - practically every scene is either the FL chasing the ML or making flirty eyes at him OR talking to someone about the ML.
I mean I get that both are at loose ends career wise & so have nothing else going on ....but still! If the drama had at least chosen the Slice of Life approach with creditable side character arcs and a peek into small town life, it would have had some appeal, but this got boring fast. We just get some random scenes about his trauma to mix things up but no real depth.
Watched some nice kisses in Ep 8 and called it a day to save my sanity.
PS: Why does the FL have caked on white make up when she seems naturally attractive?
The idea was solid but the execution felt poorly done. The first 15 episodes focuses only on fluffy romance and then we suddenly get a break up. The aftermath if well written would have made the drama really interesting . But we get half baked treatment of FL's reactions/responses, and her final reversal, a SML who vanishes as suddenly as he popped up, and repeated crises for ML while FL plays second fiddle. The last 10 odd episodes really dragged
It is made worse because imo the leads had no chemistry whatsoever. The performances per se - neither Arthur Chen nor Sabrina Zhang impressed me, but they werent terrible. In all, a very lukewarm show but not a bad watch if you want something light with a "message".
Lastly, the OST is pretty nice - I liked both theme songs as well as the one by Liu Yuning
Sorry for the bother, but does this have secondary couples? Dont count older couples like aunts or parents and…
there's one noona romance - the FL's younger brother. But I should warn you romance is not at all the focus of this drama. You will get a few scenes here and there that's all. This is purely revenge focused
I am pleased my hated villain Mi Ran has now repented in at least 3 scenes on how she let down Jae In when she should have been the one to step into the late Chairman's shoes to protect the family or at least support Jae In when she needed it. Which is exactly why I hated her. Well, her redemption arc is complete now, and I am ok with it.
Surprisingly I dont feel Gi Man regressing is a bad way to stretch out the eps. He holds the last two decisive cards against Se Ri. Partially I think it is because imo the actor Kang Tae Sung is the best of the lot alongside Lee Bo Hee - and he is doing a fine job. Its gonna be fun when GC - and his mother - finds Ji Ho is not his biological son.
I am not sure how the YT exposer thing is working out logic wise, but we are still getting the story, so I'll wait to form my opinion.
There was a quick shot of Jae In's face when she was finishing a meeting with Do Yun, where it appears she has…
Yes I caught that as well - I'd initially thought - if the drama had more romance - we would have gotten some scenes around the complicated situation (conflicted feelings, resistance etc). This scene was a small sample, but as a lover of complicated romances, I would have liked more.
With just 30 episodes left and the mother discovering the recording now - which will likely clear Jae In's mother, the romance has a clear path. But I think theres gonna be very few romance heavy scenes between JI & DY as this drama has been focused squarely on the revenge & remaining time on romances of SW & Mi Ran .
When did Jae-In have time to become designer L? What’s the timeframe for that? And what’s the deal about designer…
It was actually clued quite clearly - in one of the episodes just before Jae In has the accident there's a brief scene where she is shown clicking submit on a design proposal under the pseudonym for a competition. So I presume all these days when she was at GC's house pretending to be sick she was actually working on these design competitions. All these dramas never give a clear timeline so you just accept the events flow as they give it!!
I am now only watching the revenge arc and Jae In taking down MIL has been fun. And its fun because the actress Lee Bo Hee is doing a brilliant job with her expressive reactions whether disbelief, surprise or anger. In contrast I have been feeling that the actress playing Se Ri is really falling short. She has 3 stock expressions, just circulates through them. Plus her dialogue delivery sucks. Her recent styling change isn't helping as well. The crazed SFL role needs solid acting chops to pull off and she is not it. For me, gold standard is Song Ha Yoon in Marry my Husband and Park Ha Na in The Promise.
Are we getting a fake love triangle looking at that last scene in the preview...lol. Poor GC seems to be properly taken in. GC is an actor who over the episodes has really improved and is doing well, even though his character isnt all that fleshed out. Well, we hardly watch dailies for stuff like characterisatiosns etc anyway. GC is in for quite a few shocks now!
Well, looks like I'm wrong re:DY not being in the know? That D-Day comment was bit too obvious a tell; the writer's decided to clear up with it. Let's see. Jae In getting doc certificate was the loose end that'd tie in if this is true.
Nothing major today except more of Jae In exacting her revenge...so many subtle digs & the big one of sleeping with him?! If so - effectively GC has cheated on Se Ri just as he cheated on Jae In with Se Ri. Another small tip off that she's faking it - she says "사랑하면 one shot " when they are drinking together. GC drinks up, but Jae In just takes a sip. (its translation into english misses the nuance that her words apply to both).
I suppose Jae In has been searching for the evidence since we viewers are now as much in the dark as her in-laws. Btw, what happened to the online exposer ....? That track's vanished.
The latest episode makes it obvious Jae In is faking it(as I've said from the start ), She's blatantly and pointedly re-staging the incidents from when she was being gaslit by all 3 of them - the "lost" earring, shrimp "poisoning" and clothes being cut up - now just cleverly putting it back on her enemies. Nice! But the 180 deg turn into a sharp & scheming Jae In is a bit abrupt - the last we saw of her was an angry but still straightforward Jae In. Good for us long-suffering viewers though, that version of Jae In was bound to not go far in her revenge plans. She too realised probably and seized the accident as an opportunity to take this route & turn her enemies' camp topsy-turvy. I just wish we'd see the process a bit, in some way. But I do love the widening cracks between GC & SR.
Poor DY - Im still standing by the theory that he does not know - he looks so upset all through. And he hates the idea of JI being back close to GC. His mother softening her view of JI is another unexpected benefit of this scheme.
Still watching but my interest has dropped drastically.
Jae In is definitely faking it and im pretty sure not even Do Yun knows. Its because her father's last word in the voice recorder message was "집에" which kinda translates to "in/at the house" so she is using the amnesia to get back into the house & gain free access which will allow her to hunt for whatever her father is referring to, possibly some kind of evidence against Gi Chan; she hasnt told Do Yun because he'd obviously not allow it since it would put her in danger. My only q is how'd she convince the docs? Or I guess its something we gloss over as a plot convenience?
My viewing time is helpfully reduced as I skip over all Mi Ran's family scenes - her son's noona romance/her "re-romance" with Oh Seung/ son & father squabbling which is boring now (wtf was the menopause mistaken as pregnancy plot). No interest in seeing her HEA materialising. I also skip the now repeated dementia scenes esp those with Do Yun's mother.
The only scenes I enjoyed recently were Do Yun asking SW tough questions and the very funny meta scene of the cast lampooning the amnesia trope & themselves as a makjang family.
Unlike others, it was Jang Seo Hee not Song Joong Ki who drew to me the drama. And it turned out to be surprisingly interesting. The drama makes a bold choice in terms of FL's character & situation - I can see why JSH was approached - and uses it along with the weekly cases to educate and debate on various issues around pregnancy and OBY in general.
I thought they pulled off the mix of education and entertainment pretty well- I looked forward to each episode. The romance was perfectly in sync with what I usually love seeing (slow development of feelings) but the chemistry was very dull so didnt feel sparkly. Jae Suk the 2ML was my fave character - really chilled out guy who stands by his friend and his values. As usual I got SLS but I admit the ML was probably better suited to the FL's strong personality.
SKJ was fine and it was evident why he rose to stardom ; couldnt stand the 2FL.
The leads had no chemistry and both lack acting skills, though the ML is trifle better than the FL. By the time I reached the end, I was thoroughly done with the FL as a character & actor. Lin Wo felt like she was an interesting, genuinely strong minded FL at times but the terrible acting plus repeatedly making prejudiced judgements first about her Pa then about Gao Shan became so annoying.
The first half was still interesting but once the original plot got resolved it devolved in utterly irritating mess.
What I did love: the second couple and their romance, particularly Su Yuan. What a cute character. Both SLs were miles better actors than the leads.
I personally like the sudden dash of love angles, a nice change of pace. As I said before I love Tae Ho's introduction and I surprisingly enjoy his - fake or real interest - in Jae In. The actor, and so the character, has the screen presence and vibe to face off GC and so we get somewhat electric scenes like the last one today. Sadly Do Yun does not have that sizzling presence
I also loved the scene where TH tells Se Ri to die if she wants....finally someone brutally telling off Se Ri .
The end game is on, just a couple more reveals. We have a week more, and its gonna be action packed. my guess (im often wrong tho!) - the truth about Ji Ho is gonna be out soon. After that shock, GC's gonna be diagnosed with some terminal illness (cancer?) so that will likely cause him confess/repent. And then possibly kill off SR to protect Jae In. The End. Lets see,
The only 2 scenes so far that got me emotionally invested are both by SW - one where he calls MR "eomma" and today when he tells JY she'll always be his mother. The actor's turning out to be good in emotional/melo scenes, more so than in the comedy ones.
Killing a man randomly in your own house is nuts - her simplistic thinking: everything is solved by killing off people and deny she has anything to do with it. I hope this time she'll get caught red handed
- I think the basic plotting per se of the show pretty good. Its fast pace and quick resolutions has kept fatigue minimal and things interesting. I love Tae Ho's introduction and how his plotline is coming together for the big reveal. I have seen this actor before in Sunny Again Tomorrow and quite liked him there. He's quite good here as well. I wish he'd been one of the leads. Decent chemistry with HEJ. Unfortunately neither of the present MLs have chemistry with HEJ.
Other nice touches are the fake Oh Seong romance for revenge, the way SW is getting accepted and accepting his "new son" status and Gi Man's regression. Although I still cant understand why Ja Young is allowed to keep going off alone, but I do like how her dementia has been used to show her soft side and mellowed things between her and SW. Of course, Mi Ran time and again being faced by how awful she;s been to Jae In is music to my ears. I literally applauded when DY's mom tells Oh Seung her being so cruel to her own family shows her character hasnt changed.
- The biggest issue with this drama is that the writer & director have repeatedly fluffed big confrontation (& reveal) scenes. The scene between Jae in and GC was one of the better ones. But it could have been far more moving and emotionally hard hitting. The only touch I liked there was when GC calls her the intimate way Jae In-ah 재인아, and Jae In reacts violently (although that screaming thing didnt work for me - Se Ri also does it when mad).
The dialogues are just not emotionally impactful. Not just here but all confrontation scenes. A major failing for a makjang imo.
-Which also brings me to GC's character development. This is another weak area - so far we have repeatedly seen he is motivated only by self interest so where is this sudden love for Jae In coming from? From what I can make of the timeline, he seems to have been two-timing from the start, so he never did love her truly. So why this rush of emotion? We have never heard from him on his true emotions around Se Ri or Jae In, esp in early days when he chose to "keep" two houses. I remember thinking in early episodes that GC does love JI in some way but we never saw it explored.
- The character of Se Ri is written to be rather one dimensional - though her being a pathological liar is interesting. The actor makes it worse with her subpar performance imo.
We are almost there. Just 10 more eps, with all its flaws, I'll miss it when done.
The revenge is going along fairly well (though with lot of plot conveniences). Seems like all threads will be wrapped up without rushing. I just hope AT LEAST by the end Jae In will appoint a caregiver for her mother!
I mean I get that both are at loose ends career wise & so have nothing else going on ....but still! If the drama had at least chosen the Slice of Life approach with creditable side character arcs and a peek into small town life, it would have had some appeal, but this got boring fast. We just get some random scenes about his trauma to mix things up but no real depth.
Watched some nice kisses in Ep 8 and called it a day to save my sanity.
PS: Why does the FL have caked on white make up when she seems naturally attractive?
It is made worse because imo the leads had no chemistry whatsoever. The performances per se - neither Arthur Chen nor Sabrina Zhang impressed me, but they werent terrible. In all, a very lukewarm show but not a bad watch if you want something light with a "message".
Lastly, the OST is pretty nice - I liked both theme songs as well as the one by Liu Yuning
Surprisingly I dont feel Gi Man regressing is a bad way to stretch out the eps. He holds the last two decisive cards against Se Ri. Partially I think it is because imo the actor Kang Tae Sung is the best of the lot alongside Lee Bo Hee - and he is doing a fine job. Its gonna be fun when GC - and his mother - finds Ji Ho is not his biological son.
I am not sure how the YT exposer thing is working out logic wise, but we are still getting the story, so I'll wait to form my opinion.
With just 30 episodes left and the mother discovering the recording now - which will likely clear Jae In's mother, the romance has a clear path. But I think theres gonna be very few romance heavy scenes between JI & DY as this drama has been focused squarely on the revenge & remaining time on romances of SW & Mi Ran .
The crazed SFL role needs solid acting chops to pull off and she is not it. For me, gold standard is Song Ha Yoon in Marry my Husband and Park Ha Na in The Promise.
Are we getting a fake love triangle looking at that last scene in the preview...lol. Poor GC seems to be properly taken in. GC is an actor who over the episodes has really improved and is doing well, even though his character isnt all that fleshed out. Well, we hardly watch dailies for stuff like characterisatiosns etc anyway. GC is in for quite a few shocks now!
Nothing major today except more of Jae In exacting her revenge...so many subtle digs & the big one of sleeping with him?! If so - effectively GC has cheated on Se Ri just as he cheated on Jae In with Se Ri.
Another small tip off that she's faking it - she says "사랑하면 one shot " when they are drinking together. GC drinks up, but Jae In just takes a sip. (its translation into english misses the nuance that her words apply to both).
I suppose Jae In has been searching for the evidence since we viewers are now as much in the dark as her in-laws. Btw, what happened to the online exposer ....? That track's vanished.
Poor DY - Im still standing by the theory that he does not know - he looks so upset all through. And he hates the idea of JI being back close to GC. His mother softening her view of JI is another unexpected benefit of this scheme.
Jae In is definitely faking it and im pretty sure not even Do Yun knows. Its because her father's last word in the voice recorder message was "집에" which kinda translates to "in/at the house" so she is using the amnesia to get back into the house & gain free access which will allow her to hunt for whatever her father is referring to, possibly some kind of evidence against Gi Chan; she hasnt told Do Yun because he'd obviously not allow it since it would put her in danger. My only q is how'd she convince the docs? Or I guess its something we gloss over as a plot convenience?
My viewing time is helpfully reduced as I skip over all Mi Ran's family scenes - her son's noona romance/her "re-romance" with Oh Seung/ son & father squabbling which is boring now (wtf was the menopause mistaken as pregnancy plot). No interest in seeing her HEA materialising. I also skip the now repeated dementia scenes esp those with Do Yun's mother.
The only scenes I enjoyed recently were Do Yun asking SW tough questions and the very funny meta scene of the cast lampooning the amnesia trope & themselves as a makjang family.
I thought they pulled off the mix of education and entertainment pretty well- I looked forward to each episode. The romance was perfectly in sync with what I usually love seeing (slow development of feelings) but the chemistry was very dull so didnt feel sparkly. Jae Suk the 2ML was my fave character - really chilled out guy who stands by his friend and his values. As usual I got SLS but I admit the ML was probably better suited to the FL's strong personality.
SKJ was fine and it was evident why he rose to stardom ; couldnt stand the 2FL.