6
Season 1 & 3 in last place
God's Quiz in general was more mystery/thriller/investigation than medical. The main lead, who's a medical examiner, was doing more field detective work and following suspects than the real detectives. I didn't like how they setup the main lead character, he's genius because of a drug experiment in his childhood and this led to all kinds of made up scenarios stemming from his condition across different seasons. Every season, they twisted it in a different way which took away from having a consistent character. It's the eternal problem of any unplanned sequel seasons in a series. Which imposes an impossible task for any multi-seasons writers.Production: Seasons 1 to 4 were molded under the same OCN early days template, which all shared the same level of underwhelming production value. Soundtracks during season 1 & 2 were super generic stock background noise, only with season 3 they started to include music. Although season 3 was filmed better but had a much worse audio production in general. Season 4 was a noticeable improvement in production but it still wasn't quite there yet. This is all in comparison to regular shows that were released around early 2010s. On the other hand, season 5 brought with it a proper production and other improvements.
Characters: The dynamic and chemistry of the entire group during season 1 was abysmal, overacting from everyone, forced unnatural interactions and none of them clicked. Season 2 somewhat got better in that regard, you can notice that they got more relaxed but still not quite there yet. The ending scene of season 2 while the ML is kissing, his lips were shivering like crazy. It must have been super awkward to the point that they couldn't afford to have another take. Season 3 took a step backward with its changed cast. Detective Bae Tae Shik brought an awful dynamic to the table. Him and main lead didn't click together and created a bad on screen combination. It's probably why the writer didn't write him in for later seasons. The same can be said about other characters associated with Bae Tae Shik. The relationship and attempted romance between ML and Kyung Hee during season 1 & 2 was plain awful to watch. Only in season 4 it got reasonably better and season 5 fixed this issue completely by dropping the childish romantic tension and having them behave like adults. I liked seeing Kim Jae Won as a flashy villain in season 5, it was fun watching a different type of role from him.
Story: The structure of every season consisted of having a few cases then dedicate the last 3 episodes to the final case which had a personal connection with the characters. These last cases in every season were quite problematic for a variety of reasons, only season 5 had a better implementation despite its weak climax. More highlight across the seasons, the last episode of season 3 was the worst out of the entire series. The cloning plot in season 4 was super trashy and tacky, despite having an obvious playing room to take it into very interesting directions. The ending of season 4 featured another super weird and awkward kiss. The entire thing about AI in season 5 was really janky and a big stretch for the viewers to accept. In general, the cases were a mixed bag in every season, some were decent and interesting while others were boring, flawed or being stretched thin. However, season 3 featured mostly bad cases in addition to the handful of other problems which made season 3 to be the worst one in general.
The series as a whole was alright with a lot of ups and downs. It had a good concept with a varied degrees of execution. Although season 5 is the best one but it wouldn't have been that good as a stand alone drama without the accumulation of these characters journey. The ending of season 5 with both leads walking outside was very nicely done. On an unrelated note, it was impossible to not notice the ML's height.
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It's A Goodbye, I Guess...
Although it's a short mini drama but it's star studded with a full production. that's pretty rare for most short format drama below 4 episodes. Some already decent short dramas just need a good cast and production to elevate it. As sad as the story may seems but the writer over bloated it to the extremes. Everyone around the FL had problems, conflicts and worries (from friends family relatives), each adding an additional layer to her eventful life pre-cancer and an additional one while facing death. Adding the grandmother with dementia to the mix was too much. All of this took away from the most beautiful goodbye. It would have been better to keep everything within the limit of the family (only kids + husband).Was this review helpful to you?
Truth vs Secret
The casting choice for the sisters couldn't be any more perfect than this. I've always thought Ha Ji Won and Kim Ha Neul looked strikingly similar, you can even add Nam Sang Mi to the mix. The drama itself was a mixed bag. They did a poor job in establishing the sisters' relationship and even a worse job in shaping Ji Eun and her motives to play the antagonist. The problem further continued with the character Jun Ho and his initial relationship with the sisters. There were clearly glaring issues with writing the characters in this drama. The story was revolving around the secret but when it came time to address the secret it was a bit too late to do anything substantial with it.Was this review helpful to you?
Budget Wedding
The drama had a decent introduction and seemed promising with its theme. The first 3-4 episodes gave the impression that the drama was going to be an episodic formula about a variety of different scenarios and struggles couples could run through around their wedding, however, although they had a couple of these scenarios early on but everything after that boiled down to the typical financial issues which the drama repeated and reskinned 5-6 times until the end. The drama had a good set up to easily come up with a handful of other ideas themed around preparing weddings. On the other hand, the drama had a good cast for a short drama which made the whole thing more tolerable.Was this review helpful to you?
Dysfunctional Characters
The drama kicked off with good modern visuals and an interesting fantasy setting on a mystical island. However, it quickly unraveled. The fantasy elements, though visually appealing, peaked in the first two episodes, while the remainder felt like a rehash of what we'd already seen. It's strange that they revealed all their cards in the beginning, leaving the rest feeling empty. The female lead was sent to the island to work as a teacher, but this plotline was completely irrelevant and didn't last for more than one episode. The direction the drama took with the fantasy story turned out to be quite disappointing afterwards. More on characters, the female lead was an unstoppable cringe generator with her non-serious interactions, especially with the male lead in the earlier parts. It was the writers way trying desperately to build chemistry between the two, but it was impossible without rewriting the characters themselves. However, the character that suffered the most from both the writers' curse and the cast choice was Goong Tan. It doesn't take a blind man to see what was wrong. The drama ended up being this shallow shipwreck of recycled ideas and bland characters.Was this review helpful to you?
Dysfunctional Characters
The drama kicked off with good modern visuals and an interesting fantasy setting on a mystical island. However, it quickly unraveled. The fantasy elements, though visually appealing, peaked in the first two episodes, while the remainder felt like a rehash of what we'd already seen. It's strange that they revealed all their cards in the beginning, leaving the rest feeling empty. The female lead was sent to the island to work as a teacher, but this plotline was completely irrelevant and didn't last for more than one episode. The direction the drama took with the fantasy story turned out to be quite disappointing afterwards. More on characters, the female lead was an unstoppable cringe generator with her non-serious interactions, especially with the male lead in the earlier parts. It was the writers way trying desperately to build chemistry between the two, but it was impossible without rewriting the characters themselves. However, the character that suffered the most from both the writers' curse and the cast choice was Goong Tan. It doesn't take a blind man to see what was wrong. The drama ended up being this shallow shipwreck of recycled ideas and bland characters.Was this review helpful to you?
Patriotism!
We've had plenty of prosecutor shows, but now it's set in a military setting—what a revolutionary twist! The drama was alright and had an interesting introduction, but the overarching story was delayed too often, and interest began to plummet. It would have fared better if the side cases weren't so bland and were better interconnected. Even though there were moments of tension and drama but there was something missing that prevented it from being impactful. The characters were a mixed bag, some of them were great while the rest were too annoying to tolerate. While the ending was fine but I wish there was more to it.Was this review helpful to you?
Did They Try Their Best?
It had a pretty normal start with introducing the story and the characters, nothing about it peaked my interest. The story itself was too safe, tame and outright boring, they didn't attempt any challenging situation even when they wanted to create conflict or tension. The comedy was a hit or miss, they didn't have a lot of material to work on in the first place. The main running joke was the unemployed main guy which got really stale overtime. The drama also lacked good dynamics between the cast, the small size of the active cast didn't help either. The side stories ended up being white noise. Too many of them had a good potential to craft something meaningful but the drama refused to take any of them seriously and gave each one a halfhearted resolution at the end. I can see problems and gaps from translating the manga into a live action format, something didn't click. I'm sure the manga fared better for such themes and stories.Was this review helpful to you?
I Gave Up
It had a pretty normal start with introducing the story and the characters, nothing about it peaked my interest. The story itself was too safe and tame, they didn't attempt any challenging situation even in a comedic setting. The comedy was a hit or miss, some parties were genuinely unfunny and cringe while others like Pil Soo and his one-liners were keeping it alive with a decent dynamic and comedy. Speaking of cringe, there were a handful of kids and everything related to them was painfully cringe, even with their poorly attempted satire and parody. These parts were just too bad. It kept this momentum throughout its entire runtime.Was this review helpful to you?
Inside Out
It started with a lousy introduction and a decent premise that was simple on paper and then began to jump between one plot after another until the end. There was a desperate need for a better coherent structure and pacing. The plot got overly convoluted for no practical reason. Up until the end, it kept introducing more and more new characters to widen the connection and keep the story running in circles. The characters were more or less fine but a lot of them came off in the form of a generic gangster in a Korean thriller. I appreciate not shoving romance between the leads, it would've been out of place for sure. I liked what they've done regarding the resolution of the bad guys, it had all the ingredients to end horribly but it didn't.Was this review helpful to you?
Yonkers
Amidst all those full length dramas out there, this short series really stood out by packing a serious punch in just a handful of episodes. The concise storytelling allowed for a focused exploration of its central theme, providing a satisfying narrative arc without unnecessary filler. Both main leads were well characterized and provided a solid performance. However, the other characters weren't on the same level, you can notice the gap. The pacing was brisk yet effective, keeping the viewers engaged from without feeling rushed. I wish it had an extra episode to have a better introduction/first episode. The drama also had a decent cinematography and production value. One last thing, I didn't understand why they based the drama in the 2030s. It was such a big stretch, they went overboard with the sci-fi elements for something set in 2030s. There was no real reason to specify the date, so why not set it further into the future, like the 2060s?Was this review helpful to you?
When the Weather Is Whine
I liked the stories involving the female lead, her mother and her aunt, they kept you anticipating for more. However, the other side plots were really not that interesting to follow and ended up being just a white noise. From reading the synopsis and watching its earlier parts, we got to know what the female was going through and why she moved away from the city. Clearly, she had issues she needed to work on, however, despite her issues with trusting people and being hurt by others, her romance went against her character. She had a very easy and quick romance with minimum communication for a drama that meant to be driven by dialogue. She started a relationship in a short period of time before scratching the surface of her issues. It would've been much better to replace the romance with the people of her town, it would have had created a much better environment to work on her issues. In fact, the resolution and progress on her issues ended up being half-hearted, not much was accomplished by the end. On another note, I didn't like that the characters past stories were based in high-school, there was a gap that couldn't be translated to their adulthood life. If they were to switch the past events and have it be based in university for example, I think that would create a better connection, relatability and meaning to their adulthood issues.Was this review helpful to you?
I'm Already Tracer
It's not really 2 seasons, there was just 3 weeks broadcasting delay in the middle because of Olympics. Otherwise, it's a full 16 episodes drama. However, it would have been really nice if they kept it to 8 episodes because the smaller side cases were really boring despite their relation to the bigger one. Both main characters Dong Joo & Hye Young had a good characterization but the remainder of the cast couldn't carry their own weight and ended up being bland. Although the plot was centered around tracing money but more often than not it deviated away from the tax evasion plot trying to be a different type of show. While the ending may have been acceptable but it left much to be desired. A drama with an interesting concept but it couldn't pull through to the end.Was this review helpful to you?
I'm Already Tracer
It's not really 2 seasons, there was just 3 weeks broadcasting delay in the middle because of Olympics. Otherwise, it's a full 16 episodes drama. However, it would have been really nice if they kept it to 8 episodes because the smaller side cases were really boring despite their relation to the bigger one. Both main characters Dong Joo & Hye Young had a good characterization but the remainder of the cast couldn't carry their own weight and ended up being bland. Although the plot was centered around tracing money but more often than not it deviated away from the tax evasion plot trying to be a different type of show. While the ending may have been acceptable but it left much to be desired. A drama with an interesting concept but it couldn't pull through to the end.Was this review helpful to you?
Sexless Virgins
Even though there was a potential for diving deep into the complexities of modern relationships and societal pressures in Korea, the drama just ended up falling flat, tumbling into this muddy pit of aimless over-exaggerations and forced plot twists. This turned out to be as trashy as you can ever imagine. Every single character listed in the cast was despicable, no exceptions! This kind of set up would've only worked if the drama was a social commentary or satire but it wasn't and it did a very poor job in attempting to be a one. These character had little to no development by the end, they mostly remained the same since they were introduced. The trial over the kid's custody was one of the worst sights of judicial system to be ever portrayed in a drama. A complete joke through and through from both sides.Was this review helpful to you?
