roddib

For drug crime dramas I would strongly recommend Narcotic Operation, an epic drama which tells the real life story of drug lord Liu Zhaohua. Or the First Shot, focused on a police team fighting a drug trafficking operation. Stealth Walker is also very good.

I bitterly regret having watched till the end. In the first episode I thought the vibes would be black humour as I loved the scene with Kim Bong Nam running through town near naked with the drug bag, stoned out of his mind. It was hysterically funny.

But as is the case with most k-dramas currently, this went seriously downhill from ep 2 and never recovered. I'm a fan of dramas where we really get close to the characters. We were supposed to feel empathy for Eun Su but all that dropped away with too many shots of her crying face. And all the filler scenes with the torturous OST playing. And the constant back and forth of her being a badass and being a weak sobbing mess. Overall the drama was very cold and unemotional. I couldn't relate to any of the characters. James was kind of cool until he wasn't. The revenge plot of his made zero sense as he could have just lived a good life as a teacher. The only redeeming factor in the ending of the drama is that James really understood how wrong he was in dedicating his life to revenge.

And don't even get me started on the last episode. I was so frustrated. That Eun So had to go yapping in the face of the antagonist just when the police where about to successfully arrest him. And got taken as a hostage just as the others anticipated. That was the stupidest worst scene ever written in a crime drama and I've seen a few.

I particularly dislike dramas where the police are corrupt. It gives me a hopeless sinking feeling. It's a k-drama trope that might reflect reality, but still.

Avoid this drama at all cost. 5/10.

And: if the drama wanted to show how harmful drug trafficking is, the 1 year prison sentence for Eun Su is laughable. I can't believe that's even realistic. I never could discern what the makers of Walking on Thin Ice really wanted to say with this drama. It's morals are very unclear and puzzling. Obviously the writer and director don't know what they wanted to say either. Such sloppiness is to me is always a huge let down.

What I'm rooting for: for the writer and director to do a zombie drama next because that's so obviously their true calling. All the antagonists are similar madly grinning and laughing psychos. It's getting almost funny. If I was the director I'd be squirming with shame whilst watching. Why on earth did he instruct them all the have the same mannerisms.

Ep 3 was really good. Highly recommended for friends of darker crime dramas.

Nuneogun YT channel

I didn't like that turn. The childhood connection was a let down. But he had given up on himself. He was a left behind kid who lost all of his family and felt worthless. But that was so wrong like he denied himself a future.

I absolutely loved your review and completely agree with everything you said. Beautiful writing! TYSM!

The psychological depth in Light Beyond the Reed is outstanding. FL and ML couldn't be better in their roles. This is a very touching, and worthwhile drama. The character growth is FL's mother and brother and father is immensely well portrayed. There's also the police who are quietly supportive and persist in the investigation. This is definitely not for those who want light and fluffy but it is truly meaningful deep drama. The way this drama handles a difficult topic is amazingly well thought out and intelligent.

In the beginning FL really irritated me because she was so unconnected from everything in her life. She was like air, almost non existent. We slowly learn why her husband wanted to divorce her. She never stands up for herself or fights back against her dominating mother. But she finds herself and the strength she had in her youth when faced with a sink or swim situation.

ML is similarly lost to himself. But we don't initially see it as he seems to be the pillar of strength in holding everything together. We see the couple gradually becoming more honest and real with each other. Their initially fragile connection becomes deeper and proves to be a lasting one.

When there's such empathy and understanding in a drama towards its main characters, the tragic events are not depressing. It's more a purifying experience. As in classic tragedies. But this one is essentially a journey from darkness to light and an emotionally intelligent drama.

What I didn't like: the background music with the violin screeching and torturous piano. Was like from a horror movie. Too old skool. I had to constantly mute the sound and then put it up again to hear the dialogues.

9/10

This is so heartwarming. Strongly recommended if you liked Meet Yourself.

To the Wonder

yes it's subbed

Seems like a calming and healing drama.

Youku

You write so well and I hope you put this up as a review so that it doesn't get lost in the stream of comments. I also think of writing a review but it's too difficult!

kisskh

Many thanks for commenting! I'm also rather sensitive and also need pacing with calmness and taking breaks when a drama gets too heavy. These dramas are really not everyone's cup of tea but immensely precious to me.

This drama is very sad but very beautiful. A masterpiece in terms of storytelling, writing, acting and cinematography. I didn't find it depressing, because there's so much empathy in the drama for its main characters. When we feel such strong empathy for the characters in a drama and feel their feelings, it's more a purifying experience. I really like dramas that make me feel strongly. I also particularly loved the storytelling techniques (we get a lot of unreliable storytelling). The cinematography is magnificent, cinema-level. A drama not to miss. 9.5/10

All the antagonists are portraying the standard psycho villain expressions. Mad grins and laughter. So boring. For a drama to be good, antagonists must be interesting and not complete psychos. I totally lost my interest when the mother turned up, surprise surprise, another grinning psycho. The downhill slide of the drama keeps accelerating. Too bad. I only really liked the first 2 episodes.

I really liked the last episode of Our Movie and expected this to have the same solution. Then we could have gotten a more complete story arc for the 2nd couple. Instead we got an ending for the story arc of the 3rd couple which weren't even truly there before the last episode.

Too many k-dramas start filming with incomplete scripts these days.

That would have been so much better.