Y'all relax. It's decent but it should have been a HIT
Its sole problem is that it looked too good in the beginning. The posters rock, the summary captivates, the cast is stellar.
Three top actors, a suspenseful plot, an enemies to lovers romance with the art world as a background? I was seated.
So what's the issue?
Cowardice.
Of the writers, not the characters. Let me explain: we were promised a morally grey, fascinating heroine that embodied the siren archetype, luring men into their deaths. But we got a tortured woman who was very capable at her job and shouldered all the tragedy stoically. This isn't half as interesting. She was always right, or wrongly accused! They were too afraid to make her misstep or exhibit even a shred or fallacy. She was a starved saint in gorgeous jewelry.
If there was a more nuanced approached to her character, we would fall in love with her; now we sympathize with her. And it's not as if PMY can't do charming but human--look no further than Forecasting Love and Weather. She can make weather sound fascinating, she has that in her. But here her performance was intentionally subdued, and that would work if the character had other avenues to showcase emotional depth, but she wasn't given the chance to save for ep4. The methodical, strong revenge heroine is easy to be a hit with me, but it must be done more like the Su Ryeon in The Penthouse way: grounded in her experiences, choosing to raise hell and clashing with a handsome man in the process.
Speaking of handsome man, I was giddy to see WHJ in a romance after rewatching the beauty that was The Midnight Romance in Hagwon. The man can do action like no other (Worst of Evil), but he always imbues it with emotional weight. He tried in this story, but he quickly lost the push-and-pull dynamic after going fully boyfriend mode. I love love, but even with two of my favourite actors, i struggled to get the romance. I understood it, but i didn't swoon like i did when he was making out in cars (those who know, know).
TL;DR: The plot is satisfying, it will keep you guessing and it will resolve. The romance could use a boost. Watch it!
Three top actors, a suspenseful plot, an enemies to lovers romance with the art world as a background? I was seated.
So what's the issue?
Cowardice.
Of the writers, not the characters. Let me explain: we were promised a morally grey, fascinating heroine that embodied the siren archetype, luring men into their deaths. But we got a tortured woman who was very capable at her job and shouldered all the tragedy stoically. This isn't half as interesting. She was always right, or wrongly accused! They were too afraid to make her misstep or exhibit even a shred or fallacy. She was a starved saint in gorgeous jewelry.
If there was a more nuanced approached to her character, we would fall in love with her; now we sympathize with her. And it's not as if PMY can't do charming but human--look no further than Forecasting Love and Weather. She can make weather sound fascinating, she has that in her. But here her performance was intentionally subdued, and that would work if the character had other avenues to showcase emotional depth, but she wasn't given the chance to save for ep4. The methodical, strong revenge heroine is easy to be a hit with me, but it must be done more like the Su Ryeon in The Penthouse way: grounded in her experiences, choosing to raise hell and clashing with a handsome man in the process.
Speaking of handsome man, I was giddy to see WHJ in a romance after rewatching the beauty that was The Midnight Romance in Hagwon. The man can do action like no other (Worst of Evil), but he always imbues it with emotional weight. He tried in this story, but he quickly lost the push-and-pull dynamic after going fully boyfriend mode. I love love, but even with two of my favourite actors, i struggled to get the romance. I understood it, but i didn't swoon like i did when he was making out in cars (those who know, know).
TL;DR: The plot is satisfying, it will keep you guessing and it will resolve. The romance could use a boost. Watch it!
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