porkman

Very underwhelming. There are no standout characters or games compared to the 1st season.

The 2 episodes of setup felt overly long and by episode 3, the wow factor from season 1 is gone. I'm not engaged enough to start episode 4 atp.

I'm having an odd problem with this show. The fast-paced and eventful storytelling worked well for the backstory at first, but now the writers are speeding through everything and having likeable characters drop dead one by one like flies. It feels like plot lines are just cut off abruptly before I can become fully invested in them. And the show kinda just moves on every time and forgets about what happened previously. So far it's only barely working because very good supporting actors are carrying the characters.

I guess this is a tactic to keep audiences entertained, which is beneficial for TV ratings, but the writers need to realize going for breadth over depth only diminishes any emotional impact. I came to watch the FL's journey, not a sped-through YouTube summary of a show.

Finished the 4 episodes, there are many characters but I really like it. I already get the feeling that the second half will make me bawl.

Wait, why do two of the guys look so similar to each other? Is this intentional?

IRL, I think a lot of actual stars tend to be the kind that "makes everyone else's life harder". They are overly ambitious and have attitude issues just like YJN, but people just give them a pass because they just have too much star power to give up on, and ofc they get the cash rolling in. Granted JN isn't really a star yet, but she's a born performer with a stage presence that clicks amazingly with the audience, so she gets passes for her behaviour.

It's pretty clear now that YJN is a flawed character that needs to learn many lessons to become a star. The fact that she got her gifted voice from her mother was a little too Disney-esque, and she already got too many passes for her reckless behaviour (realistically, she would be now stuck in a slave pop singer contract to pay for the damages). But I like how the show is displaying the fact that talent isn't everything.

The writers really fooled us into thinking this would be a unique and complex story lol. At this point it's clear they have no idea how to resolve the issues they raised and decided to just ignore them completely.

Hmm, it was a decently good script for me until it went off the rails. It will be hard though. The nominations list next year will be packed, some major productions are to be released soon.

Unfortunately, Baeksang won't hand nominations to dramas with such mixed reception as DH. SHS needs an actually decent/good script to get a shot for best actress.

Before this aired, I was thinking this could be either a very complex and thought-provoking drama or "love triangle nonsense". I guess it was somewhere in the middle up to a point, and now it's gone off the rails and become something absolutely baffling lol. I never expected it to be like this, I'll give them that.

In an interview before this show aired, they asked the actors to comment on their characters. LJW said he couldn't understand his character. SHS said she thinks her character is part of the problem.

LMFAO. I get y'all now, guys. I wonder if they felt scammed by the script.

Hyunoh needs to see that psychiatrist long-term. In fact, the both of them should do long-term group therapy if they wanna try and have a relationship again.

I figured. While I liked the performance, I think not being korean takes away a lot of the enjoyment of the culture presented here.

I have the same thoughts. The FL is going from place to place through very coincidental connections, and things happening outside the troupe are being sped through.

The pace in episode 4 seems to have accelerated? We spent almost the entirety of episode 3 on a single performance, and now suddenly so much time seems to have passed in just one episode. At the end of ep 4 and in the preview for ep 5, things seem to be escalating a bit too quickly, and too... dramatically.

I am getting the feeling that we are speeding through a growth story. I know the focus is FL's journey inside the troupe, but it doesn't mean the events outside of the troupe should be glossed over. In fact, they should be dedicating more screen time to her other ventures as she is having the most character development now - the petty fighting between trainees in the troupe is getting repetitive. Maybe 16 episodes of runtime would have been better here.

Both of the MLs have their own set of issues too. HO doesn't know anything about proper communication, he only does what he thinks would be helpful but lacks consideration for the other party's true feelings. This is evident from the way he treated EH throughout episode 5. Sometimes I wonder how they even lasted 8 years lol.

JY said his wish was for the world to end in episode 1, which would be a huge red flag if we didn't know his background. He only really opened up after meeting Hyeri. However, it's in his nature that he doesn't really care about people in general. So he didn't spare a thought to how his words would hurt EH, whom he didn't really know as a person.

In conclusion, they all need to go for therapy together.

I don't think it was about what everyone else thought, EH clearly doesn't really care about what her colleagues think of her. It was more that she felt deeply betrayed by him. From her POV, him getting married now would mean that he made an excuse at the time to break up with her, while she poured true feelings and truly desired to spend her whole future with him. That's why her long rant towards HO ended with "What on earth did I mean to you?"

Also, right before hearing about his marriage, EH was worried about HO's career prospects and had something she urgently wanted to tell him on the phone (though it wasn't shown). It was probably a huge slap in the face for her to hear that.

Eunho has her flaws like any other person, but it really isn't hard to sympathise with her. She's a normal person driven to mental illness due to her circumstances. In fact, for someone with that many underlying issues she's been portrayed to be holding up very well. It's the neverending series of traumatic events that drove her to the edge.

If people can't understand why a fictional character with a fully fledged backstory can't get her shit together, that unfortunately translates to real life where actual mentally ill people don't get the understanding they deserve for their struggles.

The thing is, the past romance btw the leads is a big part of her trauma. Emotional dependence and differences in views on marriage are interesting real life topics. However, they should have dedicated more time to the healing part of the show as I don't see how it can be properly fleshed out in <4 episodes.