etoks21

ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE.

The worst NF series I have ever seen.
I will not recommend this watch to anyone.
If and when he sees the final cut, Yoo will wish the director had removed his character from the series entirely.
There are so many plot holes I wouldn't know where to start if I tried to list them.
Boring. Boring. Boring. I got through it with my finger on the FF button, pausing for scenes with Yoo in them or something exploding. There was far too little of both.
Everyone else here is saying what I'm thinking, so just scroll down and read the horror.
The only moments of fine acting involve YAI.

And omg, the ending is so profoundly schmaltzy and stupid I'm without words to describe it.

But, I have to list TWO of about 438 problems with the plot:
If it was known this far in advance that an asteroid was going to strike the Korean peninsula, there would have been an international evacuation, starting with kids and their caregivers, and working down by age or something. That evacuation would have continued until the last possible moment. In this scenario, no one ON the peninsula or anywhere else on Earth seems much bothered that Korea's about to blow up.
Yoo and his woman go through all this drama to decide to stay together "until the end," but when the end comes, she's performing a mass shooting (why bother? everyone's about to die anyway) and he's on his way to throw Malatov cocktails on a dock somewhere.

Not only bad, but oddly so.
1/10
Complete turd.

That's what surprises me though, that NF gave this director the final approval on edits. It seems to me Netflix, knowing YAI is an international draw, could have told this guy to release the unedited version, else he can forget working with them again. Who would resist that?

I understand how NF operates around the world, which is what makes this all the more bizarre. Why not just cut whatever version the Koreans are going to see and let the rest of the world have the full-Yoo option?

Korea and its drug policies are absurd. Alcohol is a drug, and Korea has one of the highest rates of alcohol abuse and alcoholism in the world, with all the social/cultural/economic/health care consequences that brings. SOJU costs the Korean economy billions of $$$ year, yet apparently, that's fine, while smoking a joint is the end of the world.

I'm in the middle of watching this thing right now. I just finished episode 7, with my finger heavily on the skip-ahead cursor. I look for scenes featuring Yoo or anything else that looks interesting, which isn't much. I'd guess I'm skipping 2/3 of the scenes and missing nothing.

Which leads me to perhaps the most bizarre aspect of all this: After the first two episodes, Yoo doesn't seem to have been edited out at all, as far as I can tell. I mean, how would I know, right? But he's in more than half the scenes at this point. So what was all the hullabaloo about this "edit" the director claimed to make so that delicate Koreans and the rest of us would be "comfortable?" YOO IS ALL OVER THE PLACE IN THE SHOW. The problem is that the plot and script SUCK big-time. Boring as hell.

It's more like a soap-opera than a gripping, end-of-the-world thriller. Very strange. This whole thing, including the circus around YAI, is very strange.

BTW, I agree that Yoo appears to have an addiction problem, and I'm horrified if he really did Propofol as many times as he's accused of; something like 180 times. That shit will kill you; it killed Michael Jackson. It's not meant to be used as a sleep aid because it only puts you out for a very limited amount of time. I've been given it for medical procedures, so I know. I'm just glad he got caught now, before an overdose.

So, I hope he's doing stringent treatment to help him deal with addiction. Court rooms and jail cells don't do that.

I am much more a movie person than a drama watcher. I do make exceptions but not many. I have found in many dramas, that it feels like they are meandering because they have X number of episodes to fill with something. The story-telling isn't tight and focused.

A few exceptions:
Prison Playbook
Move to Heaven
Weak Hero Class
Amanza
The Boy Next Door
D.P.
The King of Pigs
Extracurricular
How To Buy a Friend

But of course, I watch BL dramas, mostly out of Korea/Japan/Taiwan. I've given up on Thailand and the Philippines.

Thank you for that summation. I'm going to try episode 3 and if I'm still rolling my eyes, I'll drop it. Yeah, I'm not a fan of this type of show: "OK, we're going to set up a massive, plausible, apocalyptic, end-of-the-world scenario, spend loads of money on initial FX to make it look real and exciting, and then after that, focus on old people gardening, a lame murder mystery (who CARES who killed that awful dude anyway? Everyone is going to be dead soon enough), a middle school teacher devoid of charisma, a church group, blah blah blah. You see, as a director, what I really want to do is study the behaviors and emotions of these people as they passively face death, blah blah blah because this is my artistic vision, not a sci-fi romp.

"Well then," I ask, "why did you go to the trouble of setting up this asteroid bit if we're going to do a character study?"

Also, I thought much of the acting, especially from that teacher but also others, was dull and the opposite of engaging.

Oh, you mean the "get a grip" thing?
I'm over it. :)
I appreciate the apology though, unnecessary as it may have been. God knows I have a sharp tongue and a foul mouth and sometimes put up comments I later wish I hadn't.

But hey, I'm glad this discussion lured you out of your MDL hiding place. :D

When you say "later on they focus more on that," do you mean the asteroid and the inevitable annihilation it will bring to Korea? I love a well-made sci-fi/appocalypse type flick, and this one started out strong with the pandemonium in the streets. I was impressed by all that at first, but then it settled into this boring bit about trafficking and a murdered scum bag.

When that child was being carried over the shoulder of the bad guy up the stairs near the beginning, I figured "well, the teacher's going to go over and kick his ass somehow, and then we'll move on." I never dreamed THAT was going to be the center of the plot, at least for a while.

It seems to me that the dramatic tension in this story is obviously provided by the fact that they will all be burned alive when the asteroid hits. But with the backward time jump to 300 and 200 days to count down, everyone was just going about their lives, mentioning the damn asteroid every now and then. lol

So, based on the general vibe you've gotten from me thus far, do you think I should give the show another try, knowing that Yoo is about to show up and maybe make things bearable?

To me, in the first two episodes, it seemed the focus was on child trafficking and the murder of the low-life gangster who everyone hated. No one seemed much concerned about the asteroid headed their way. Why wouldn't they be trying to get off the peninsula by any means necessary. Now THAT might be an exciting story.

Especially annoying was the army officer woman who was so worried about who killed a vicious gang member? Who cares?

You're a fan of a lot of actors who do drugs. You just don't know it yet.
I'm angry at exactly the correct people, thanks.
If Yoo has a drug problem, then he needs treatment, not judgment and cancellation from people like you, who refuse to understand that his drug problems have zero to do with his professional life, films and dramas.
You think you're in a position to judge and punish. Trust me, you're not.

"Dragging other people into it..." The idea that he held anybody down and forced drugs up their nose or into their lungs is too stupid for words.

I watched 2 episodes and he had 5 minutes. What do you expect me to think? The show is boring as hell anyway, so why would a person keep watching? Get a grip yourself, cranky-pants.

Sounds like the Yoo Ah In "scandal" may be the best thing that could have happened for this terrible show. Lots of people tuning in to see how much of Yoo is left. Thing is, if Netflix just "said" they cut him, then obviously everyone would see, as you are, that they did not, so I don't get the point of doing that.

Do you have a fave Yoo movie? He's tremendous in "Default" and "Veteran."

I am surprised to hear that. How did you get that far without falling asleep? :) I dropped after end of episode 2. Everyone is boring. Is it worth going back for another try?

Oh, well then, I will shut up. Thanks for letting me know. :)

I love good sci-fi. Alive is not that. And Yoo's god-awful yellow crew-cut didn't help things. :D

When you have time to kill someday, go read through comments on the "Bad Buddy" page. "Masterpiece" is all over the place.

Who said we should "appreciate a good drama based on the kisses?" You seem to imply someone said we should do so based ONLY on the kisses, and sorry, but no one said that.

I rated this drama 9/10 DESPITE its two ridiculous, absurd, stiff, fish kisses, which are terribly out of place in an otherwise very well-done production. I didn't "base" my entire opinion of the show on them or I would have given it a 1/10.

For me, low-quality writing, direction, acting, costuming, casting, and overall production vibe. It has a pall over it that doesn't seem to make sense for the material being presented.

I'd argue that ALL well-made dramas/movies become more interesting after that amount of time. That's why people keep watching...or not. If you haven't engaged me, piqued my interest in 50 minutes of screen time, I'm not going to stick with your show. It's insulting.

I've never understood why people are OK with giving up five or six hours of their life (not in reference to the length of this particular series) to a show that takes that long to get some momentum going.

But I hope you enjoy the watch.

The 6.7 rating is 6.7 points too high.

Me too.

Why in god's name would you wait until SIX episodes in to get your story started? Insane.

So what? It's getting what NF and the wuss director deserve for how this whole pile of nothing was handled. NF should have told the director they were releasing his first edit and that's that. No one outside Korea obsesses about actors' private lives to such an extent.

I will happily "rate-bomb" this POS with the 1/10 it deserves.

Agreed. I couldn't last two episodes, it's so boring. And yes, I'm pissed that Yoo was cut out. Put those two factors together and this gets a 1/10 from me and posting that rating will give me great pleasure.