6
Watch seasone 2!
Regarding season 1:I found it to be very flawed from all angles and it only served as a learning experience for those who carried on with the second season. Its portrayal of a cult lacked a compelling thematic foundation, opting instead to draw inspiration from cheap rip-off D-grade movies themed around cults. Where cults are extremely over-dramatized to the point of crossing the supernatural territory. The cult apparently possessed super powers of hypnosis with only a few words spoken, even towards people who weren't perceptible to religious and spiritual beliefs. Everything surrounded the cult came off as cartoonish even within the context of a 'drama'. The narrative itself struggled to carry its own weight, particularly as it primarily focused on the perspectives of the outsiders. It always felt as if it was building up towards something bigger but it never got there. For a 16-episodes run, it needed a proper world building and foundation for the cult. Establishing a distinct "character" for the cult would have provided a stronger identity. Back to the outsiders, having the drama led by teenage characters was another weak aspect of it. Bland and cardboard characters. The mystery element was a crucial part of the drama yet it was lacking and under-delivering. The first season would have fared better as a standalone one-off movie rather than a drama. It doesn't make any sense why the drama was rated this high, according to MDL standards, especially when season 2 effectively addressed most of the issues with the cult and delivered an overall better package!
Regarding Season 2:
It managed to deliver a much more compelling package than season 1. The most important part is that it handled the cult theme properly. The characters and the cast were a lot more appealing than season 1. Having a more adult leading characters rather than teenager was a plus. Uhm Tae Goo was a perfect casting choice for his character. The story had a better and more natural progression than season 1. However, it got sloppier the closer it got to the ending. Speaking of the ending, it was a bit underwhelming and not as grandiose as I hoped it would be. Second season should have been a stand alone drama unrelated to the first one, not even in the name. If you don't feel like watching two seasons then you can ignore the first one and just watch the second.
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Passable....
This family drama revolves around three brothers, each with their own distinct characteristics and struggles. The eldest brother faces challenges in life and always reach a dead end, the middle brother is obsessed with money, and the youngest brother relentlessly pursues the love of a girl throughout the drama's 70 episodes. Unfortunately, the relationships portrayed in the drama were plagued by extreme seething toxicity, which undermines their overall appeal. The drama lacked a clear overarching goal and instead focuses on a series of smaller, successive problems. Which resulted in underdeveloped storylines for most of the couples in the drama. Out of the three main couples, the youngest one had the most nonsensical relationship. While the banter between him and Eo Young may have moments of endearment, it can also be seriously annoying at times. The depiction of the three brothers' relationship was a mixed bag. While there were instances where their brotherhood shined and offered glimpses of potential, it ultimately fell short of delivering a truly compelling dynamic. Overall, the drama had an appealing set up but it didn't fully utilize that.Was this review helpful to you?
This was "something"...
This drama was very strange and unconventional, in a bad way. To state the obvious, everything about this drama was low quality but that doesn't excuse the inept talents behind it. Especially the director whom has no experience or whatsoever. Weird edits/cuts, messed up pacing, incoherent storytelling, flawed production, failing cast. All of that was amplified by 10 folds in the 2nd half, most notably with the cast. The cast was somewhat ordinary at first but the infection spread down from the director to them and they became obedient to the director's wishes. They began having strange dialogue insertions, extremely over dramatic and cartoonish moments, and cringe-worthy and misplaced gestures/body language. The infection spread even further to the writing department and the whole production was infected at that point. The writing was nothing but bad, it's a poorly written story no matter how you look at it, its execution was even poorer. Even the characters weren't safe, for some reason, they made all females selfish, needy and entitled and made all males pathetic and stupid. This drama serves as a good example for what's considered objectively bad.Was this review helpful to you?
Okay
This drama falls into the realm of being passable, but not much more than that. While the first two episodes succeeded in establishing an intriguing backstory, subsequent episodes failed to maintain a consistently engaging narrative. A clearer direction was lacking, as the drama attempted to blend various genres, resulting in a somewhat disjointed experience.The cast was a mix of half-decent performers and others who fell into the realm of generic and unremarkable. Characters such as Noo Ri and Soon Jung, for example, could easily be replaced with anyone from any team investigation drama and it wouldn't matter. Furthermore, in terms of team dynamics, there was a noticeable absence of a genuine connection. With the exception of the two main guys, the remaining members felt more like background extras in a team project.Was this review helpful to you?
.
The key here is to approach this drama with tempered expectations. Its primary driving forces lie within a heavy love triangle and a big play on "memories from past lives". If you can't tolerate either elements then maybe you should skip it.However, what stood out the most to me is who wrote this drama. I noticed that, this writer, across her other previous projects, she harbors a discernible aversion towards the institution of marriage, a sentiment that seems to have a deeply personal resonance for her. This notion was amplified even further in this particular drama. She took it even further by carrying her agenda across all of the side couples blatantly. Speaking of agendas and taking things personal, this writer really likes to shove her owns while disregarding its effect on the coherency. Another example, the whole ordeal with both male leads at the beginning. There were other examples as well.
While any writer is entitled to hold any opinions or take a stance on social matters they want, it can become a headache and burdensome when these viewpoints are overtly thrust upon the audience without contributing anything substantial to the broader conversation. They just end up shouting into an echo chamber eventually.
The final episode, unfortunately, proved to be an insufferably superficial culmination of the drama.
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.
Super juiced with a ridiculous endless ride of never ending twists. It definitely started to feel overwhelming in the second half. At some point, I just wanted it to end already because there was nothing new or innovative about these twists anymore. I wish some characters had a bigger role in the story, like the detective's wife and the ex in-law detective.Was this review helpful to you?
Started good but...
It started off great, the likable characters were likable and the unlikable ones were unlikable. However, that didn't last very long before the drama started showing its cracks. Once we got a few scenes in the bread company I knew where things were going and what to expect. The usual cyclical corporate hell, love to hate them. The story wasn't eventful enough to fill its runtime, more often than not the writer ran into a corner and had to throw something random to stir the pot. An example of that is the end of ep69, completely random and unprompted. This also resulted into some strange pacing issues. All of the four leads got into a relationship and reached the "I love you" stage illogically fast despite them having a very recent ex-partner. Meanwhile, the next stage took a millennial to get to. How does the writer expect us to care about the couples if they don't let their relationship develop initially? The pacing issues continue when the main conflict of the drama concluded almost halfway through!Some characters were so damn worthless and redundant, such as Chae Won's friend (Bang Sook) who served no purpose other than being a feedback loop (literally) and then she was never seen again in the second half! Speaking of characters, Jin Woo's father had the worst plotline. During which, the drama hit rock bottom and the female antagonist was almost never seen. Therefore, there wasn't much tension after that and things got really stale. The lack of tension also resulted into a weak climax, or kinda no climax? I would rather watch Gyung Joo being a trashy menace and a headache over the cringy father. Most people would stick around just for the main couple Chae Won & Jin Woo being cute.
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Great sitcom
It's a great sitcom! Its strongest aspect is being consistent despite having a very long run which is hard to do especially with comedy. There are four groups in the cast: the ladies, the lads, the grandmas and the 2 older men, all of which were on a rotation giving each their turn to slowly build their character. However, the main stars were the three ladies, each one of them had a unique character that kept the sitcom lively and fresh. I think this is my favorite role I've seen from Ye Ji Won & Oh Yoon Ah & Kim Ji Young, and I've seen almost all of their other projects. One particular thing that stood out to me was how unbelievable massive the wardrobe was! Almost every character changes the outfit multiple times every episode for 232 episodes! Even the hairstyles were changing every 20-30 episodes. Despite being a sitcom there's also a story for the main characters that is very slowly and subtly progressing until the end. I really really appreciate that there was no younger/teen/kids cast involved, because including any would almost always lead to uncreative, uninteresting and cringy jokes. This sitcom gets a big plus from me just for that. However, it's not perfect, there are a handful of nitpicks here and there but I had a great time and I will be missing this chaotic trio.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Typical
The usual makjang revenge nothing new nothing special. You stick around to watch them go mental and laugh at the absurdity. However, usually in these dramas once the character reach the bottom of the pit they either received a magical unforeseen help or make their way from the bottom all the way up by themselves. Unfortunately, this drama took the lazier route and spawn powerful elements to carry her through the revenge without putting in the efforts.The female lead swore on taking revenge 100 times over and over but in the end she forgave everyone and even befriended them further despite the infinite unforgivable crimes they committed. Kinda a big slap to the viewers on the face who stuck around for 150 episodes just to see the revenge finalizing. Did they really had to make the uncle turn into an obsessive psycho lusting over his nephew's girl in the last 3 episodes?
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Infested with unlikable characters
The female lead was doing an unbelievable amount of heavy lifting to not let this drama sink under. Both the actress and the character. The romance failed even at its climax, mainly because of the male lead. He failed to redeem himself from the jerk-ass status he established earlier on. Their love always felt one sided from the FL while the ML was there to give a reaction. However, the worst part has to be the fairy tale and its association with the older cast. One more thing, the incestuous brother was a bad addition to the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
okay
One of the most vanilla mystery/law/thrillers, it plays it very safe throughout. It tries to be as friendly to the viewers as possible. Not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes it can come across as too ordinary especially the 2nd half. Speaking of ordinary, the characters, none of them had the special spark or the x factor. They needed more "character" in them.Was this review helpful to you?
Kinda weak
It would have been much better if it was just a movie. Even though it's shorter, they still stretched it significantly. Aside from the initially set up, things didn't really start to move until episode 7.Was this review helpful to you?
Rough!
Not good! Characters, story, cast and pace were all pretty rough. Might be worth considering if you would like to check out one of Eugene's & Lee Yoo Ri's first works.Was this review helpful to you?
Too bland!
It's the usual love square quarrels of the 2000s, copy-pasted from every single one at the time but this time they're on the beach! It's also similar to Prince's First Love (2004) which also takes a place in a tropical-setting/beach. Anyway, I prefer this inexperienced newcomer Lee Chung Ah over the current more plastic-filled one.Was this review helpful to you?
Hmmm
The leads relationship was so frustrating, the equivalent of a teenage relationships problems. The female lead had only one voice tone that's silent whispering, this only added to the frustration. The drama in general was fine but the amount of small annoyances always got in the way.Was this review helpful to you?
