Tia

A (Semi) Deep Dive Into the Tale of Dear X

I rarely write reviews on here... but I will do for this drama because how much I genuinely enjoyed & liked it. Now that I've finished and mostly processed the finale/show, allow me to yap...

So, I pretty much loved this show. It was very dark, I'll say that right now. Darker than most dramas I've watched, and I watched all 3 seasons of Penthouse lol. The atmosphere was perfect. BUT! The cinematography, OST, and the acting? Amazing! That BGM kicked ass too! Also, Kim Yoo-Jung is now one of my favorite actresses... this is my first time seeing her as an adult. She made a seriously great impression on me. It's almost like she became Ah-Jin, and it was chilling to see. Kim Young-Dae surprised me as the brooding(?), but flawed and unlikable Jun-Seo... I was never a fan of his before, but his performance was great here. Kim Do-Hoon, who played the loyal but tragic Jae-Oh (RIP to him, he was a real ride-to-die...) I'm checking out more of his dramas. I already plan to watch Moving, because he blew me away here. Lee Yeol-Eum as Im (or is it Kim?) Lena... nothing much to say. She did a fine job. The supporting actors were all great too (it was nice to see Bae Soo-Bin again!)

The story and characters... I will admit, yes, I rooted for Ah-Jin because I love a villain origin story! Did she do terrible things? Absolutely. But I partially rooted for her out of spite, because some of the things people were saying here were wild. I love villain protagonists (YEAH, SHE'S A VILLAIN PROTAGONIST. SHE'S *EVIL!* SUCK IT UP!!!) in general. BUT she was my girl, her backstory with her parents (SCREW the dad) was so sad! It's toxic, it's complicated. Moving onto... Jun-Seo. This is a weird one, because I didn't like him, I found him to be hypocritical and selfish... but that reveal at the end... I didn't expect it. 👀 I'm still confused, though. was he the real villain of the story all along, or was it Ah-Jin? Really makes you think. Onto Jae-Oh... again, very tragic. I didn't like him at first, but when I actually got to know him, I felt so sorry for him! 😭 He didn't deserve any of what he went through, and his relationship with Ah-Jin was so fucked up. Wow, my heart is still broken for him. Lena, I don't have much of anything to say about her, I didn't care about her nor did I like her. I was relieved when she left. Bye, bitch! Love how complex the main/central characters were.

BEFORE I CONTINUE! Let me say right away, I didn't give a single DAMN ABOUT THE ROMANCE IN THIS SHOW. I did not ship Ah-Jin with Jun-Seo or Jae-Oh at all, not even when they were in high school. Jun-Seo had a massive savior complex and Jae-Oh was essentially in a symbiotic toxic friendship with her. I didn't even care about Lena's little crush on Jun-Seo, and even the relationship with In-Kang (that poor man...) and Ah-Jin felt somewhat out of place. (Yes, I know it was a part of Ah-Jin's plan, but still.)

Do-Hyuk... okay, while I think he was a great villain and I loved his slow introduction... he felt... kinda random? I was cool with him getting away with the awful stuff he did since it reflects real life (all too well), but... I think the issue is that he felt underdeveloped. Yes, and ended up being underwhelming. He drove his wife crazy, tormented Ah-Jin, and seems to be this total control freak, but... why? A backstory would've sufficed, a flashback, anything! Ah... the supporting characters. Sung-Hee? Got what she deserved, and I feel like there was no point to her character. And she reminded me too much of Ha Eun-Byul from Penthouse. Probably why I despised her lol, but In-Kang... another unfortunate casualty of Ah-Jin's ambition. Also didn't care for him. CEO Seo was fine. Ji-Sun- I HATE YOU BITCH! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU AND I HOPE YOU DIED IN THE FINALE FOR REAL! GO TO HELL!!!!! (Yes, the actress did an amazing job.) The grandmother is the only one I had some sympathy for, along with the baseball player (Mr. Choi.) I like that Mr. Choi ended up being one of the few decent people in the end.

Critiques? Some scenes honestly felt too drawn out to the point where it was awkward. Lots of staring, lots of silence, interesting shots. It was likely a stylistic choice, but it kinda hurt the pacing of the drama for me. This is common in k-dramas, though, so whatever. Second, Ah-Jin being tormented by Do-Hyuk went... nowhere? It was beyond stressful to watch, yeah. I feel like she should've realized he was "toying with her", then faked being crazy and killed him "accidentally". Now that would've been WILD! Third, the final episode... I'm still confused. Was Ah-Jin really a sociopath or not? Was it all through Jun-Seo's perspective? What was the point of the documentary? Why did Jun-Seo pick up Ah-Jin when she went into the street? And why did Jun-Seo turn on her like that when he was enabling her all along? I loved the final scenes, though. I hope there's a season 2 that explains everything, or bonus/special episodes... something. (I also wish it wasn't a miniseries, but I can't complain.) I guess the ending being open-ended was fine, it's unconventional which is what I liked about it. Sometimes the best ending is a pyrrhic victory- getting what you want, but at the ultimate cost.

My rating... tricky. This is one of the best k-dramas I've watched in recent years. Of course, it's not perfect. But it was intense, I got hooked onto it, and I loved Ah-Jin and her ruthless climb to the top. Nailed it as a psychological thriller. So I'm giving this a 9/10. Would I rewatch this? Uh... probably not. Some parts were definitely heavy for me, I had to either skip it or look away lmao, but this was a great drama. And impressive for my first webtoon-turned-k-drama (which I've never been into/liked, personally.)

Thank you to SunOh and a few commenters on here for recommending it to me and pushing me to start it- glad I fell for the hype!

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Secrets & Lies: A Modern-Day Sageuk (basically)

Overall, I enjoyed this drama, despite me disliking or being annoyed by some parts of it. Shin Hwa-Kyung was a fascinating villain protagonist to follow, Yoon Jae-Bin's descent into villainy was lowkey a guilty pleasure to watch, the plot twists were good, and it maintained that melodramatic tone throughout. I could've done with less scenes of Yoon Do-Bin & Jae-Bin's parents (and Han Woo-Chul, honestly. He was a sweetheart but I HATE how autistic characters are written in daily dramas. The only decent portrayal I've seen was in White Lies- in 2008), and there was way too much filler. The constant kidnappings of Han Ju-Won in the late half got annoying.

The veterans/older actors did INCREDIBLE in their roles, Oh Seung-Ah did great as the villain FL here (she won an award for a good reason), Bu-Bae was solid, Lee Jung-Moon was good (but a little OTT sometimes), and Seo Hae-Won... not good at all. The weakest actor in the main cast to me, honestly. She had no chemistry with the other actors and Woo-Jung was not interesting to watch. Hwa-Kyung felt (and WAS) far more compelling, complex, and hell, even better to watch. I'd say the characters I disliked the most were Oh Yeon-Hee (she was written so badly to me, or maybe I just failed to understand her motivations. She was all over the place and came off as incredibly annoying to me), Oh Sang-Pil (an amazing villain, I just hate how selfish he was), and Yong-Shim (Yoon brothers' mom. Greedy, vain, bitch. I couldn't stand her!) I was mostly neutral on Shin Myung-Jun- he did both women (YH & JW) dirty and was an asshole for most of the drama, but his near-death experience literally turned his life around. He underwent a great redemption arc to me.

Generally, I think this drama was about identity, family, and I'd say finding your place in the world. Who you are and what you do creates your version/view of the world. We mainly followed Hwa-Kyung, a woman who just wanted a real family and a stable, "perfect" life. The architect of her spiral into greed and the root of all evil was her tyrannical grandfather, Oh Sang-Pil. Was Hwa-Kyung ambitious too? Yes. Was she justified in her actions? Debatable. Was there a reasoning behind them linked to her difficult childhood? Absolutely. And we can't ignore this detail. She was also rivals with her (adoptive) dad, Myung-Jun. Her "fake" family was toxic, and the only decent people she had in her life were Yeon-Hee, Ju-Won, and Woo-Jung. One of the other reasons why I dislike Woo-Jung is because she weaponized Hwa-Kyung's past against her- like, OF COURSE she'd end up betraying you and screwing you over later! 😭 Hwa-Kyung didn't need to reconnect with her biological father (who ABANDONED HER) if she didn't want, nor was she entitled to!

Now, contrast Hwa-Kyung's life with Woo-Jung's. Woo-Jung, the daughter of a successful news anchor... and she's a child out of wedlock. Myung-Jun's her dad who abandoned her before she was even born. Despite having no (current) father figure, she grew up happy, comfortable, and mostly stable. By default, she assumed that Hwa-Kyung's life was easy because she was rich and the granddaughter of a conglomerate chairman. Although it wasn't, and Hwa-Kyung presented things as such because of the immense pressure she was facing at home. There's some envy at play here, right? 🤔 I also feel like part of the reason why she pushed for Hwa-Kyung to reunite & make peace with her dying bio dad was to fill a void or attempt to make up for her (WJ's) own absent dad in *her* life. But I might be reading into this too much lol

Onto the brothers! Yoon Do-Bin and Jae-Bin! Do-Bin is the righteous, stubborn, and protective older brother. Jae-Bin, however, is the carefree, lovable, and easygoing younger brother. Do-Bin is a producer at MSTV, Jae-Bin is Ju-Won's manager. The Yoon brothers perfectly summarize the themes of identity and family. Do-Bin is secretly the grandson of Chairman Oh (though he remains unaware for a WHILE), while Jae-Bin is not. When Hwa-Kyung finds this out, what does she do? She switches their fates, and basically raises all hell on the Oh family after they try to kick her to the curb. Here, we see Jae-Bin's descent into villainy as Hwa-Kyung masterfully manipulates him for her own means, and he becomes a victim of her greed & lies. But he loves her. He truly, purely, does. And that's the tragic part. Do-Bin, on the other hand, embarks on a one-man mission to expose and take down Sang-Pil... even AFTER finding out that he's his grandson. The guy is incredibly brave for sure. What's amazing, is that even after getting betrayed and screwed over by everyone in his life, he never goes dark. He practices restraint and still chooses to accept, understand, and reach out to Jae-Bin- even when he's at his absolute worst. That's brotherly love... and it's beautiful to me. One of the best parts in the series to me. 🥹

I could go on, but I think I've illustrated my points very well. The music (especially the BGM) was really good, the directing was great (seriously, MBC daily dramas might have some of the best filming I've seen in daily dramas overall, along with tvN!), and the acting was good. If you like villain protagonists, enjoy questioning yourself sometimes, are really into business/thriller-based dramas, love schemes, set-ups, and cliffhangers that make you wanna rip out your own hair, and like morally grey characters, then this is for you. I personally recommend it and this is a daily drama I'd watch again, but only the best parts. Cut out all the filler, and it's WAY more engaging to watch. Onto another drama!

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