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Stealer: He Steals Stuff
The drama should've been called Karma or Skunk, more appropriate than whatever this mouthful title is. Anyway, the drama was quite average, delivering a forgettable experience that was hard to get excited about. Despite the intriguing concept of treasure hunting, it quickly devolved into a series of predictable and uninspired scenes. The characters and their backstories were bland, making it difficult to care about what happens to them and round them. The dialogue was often stale and lacked the sharpness or humor that could have added some much needed zest. Speaking of humor, while the drama was structured as an action comedy but the latter often fell short on delivering good material, with barely a couple of memorable comedic moments at the end. On the other hand, the action was a constant juggling act between enjoyable performances and half-arsed imitations. The police force in this drama was as incompetent as every other drama involving police work, as expected. They went out of their way to shamefully show how bad the police force was and subsequently made Skunk step down to an equal level just to make the dynamic between the two work, forcefully. The drama had an idea to work with but it barely done anything worthy with it.Was this review helpful to you?
Insurance Fraud
It's the type of drama with episodic cases where these cases occupied the majority of its run, however, half of the cases were bland and generic, these were only tolerable because of how the characters were handling them. While the cast size may have been small but they were active enough to keep things moving. Each character had a brief personal story that was brought up at some point along with the cases, just like the cases, these were also a mixed bag where some of them didn't fit or translate well. The drama was casual and light; hence, the comedy, which was alright but the fart jokes weren't funny, as always. Finally, they really wanted to add a bit of romance between the three leads to have something for the cast to banter around, but that was an unsuccessful maneuver.Was this review helpful to you?
Out of Tune
It's probably one of the worst non-makjang daily family drama out there. Which is really tough to get this low for a family drama but somehow they did it. You may divide the drama into 3 sections 50 episodes each, the first 50 episodes was a regular family drama with somewhat smooth progression, the second 50 episodes the drama created an impossible predicament, the last 50 episodes everything got out of control in the worst possible way. Not much more to say about the first 1/3, however, the problem it created in the second 1/3 was a big stretch when it comes to creating tension and conflict, it spent the next 100 episodes, including the ending of the drama, without overcoming what it created, what kind of writing is this? The last 1/3, every relationship became extremely complicated and unreasonable. At that point, it was impossible to salvage the drama. Even the female lead became totally irrelevant in the last 1/3. It was blatantly obvious what was happening with the writer, she was extremely disorganized and incoherent after the initial batch of episodes.Was this review helpful to you?
Fanfic Junk!
Oh dear! How could a full production team, crew and cast members be this damn oblivious to what they're making! The drama was the apotheosis of human failure, an insidious plague upon the landscape of television, a wretched abomination birthed from the depths of creative bankruptcy and soulless commercialism, a festering wound that infects the very essence of storytelling with its repulsive presence. Its premise was a nauseating blend of techno-narcissism and romantic idiocy, an affront to the intelligence of any sentient being unfortunate enough to bear witness to its abomination, a grotesque mutation of what once passed for entertainment. Characters were grotesque caricatures of humanity, mere vessels for the perpetuation of vapid romantic fantasies and insipid melodrama and their interactions were a cacophony of soulless platitudes and contrived emotional manipulation, each scene got progressively worse than the last. The writing was an insult to the very concept of coherent narrative structure, a labyrinth of a garbled mess and mind numbingly banal dialogue that defies comprehension. In fact, this drama wasn't just bad television, it was an abomination of the highest order, a blight upon the collective consciousness of humanity and the very fabric of reality itself that must be expunged from existence with extreme prejudice. Anyone who dares to defend this abhorrent monstrosity deserves nothing less than eternal damnation, condemned to spend eternity in the deepest, darkest depths of cinematic purgatory, tormented by the ceaseless repetition of its insipid drivel until the end of time itself. Anyway, it could've been worse, I guess.Was this review helpful to you?
Undisclosed Terms
The drama descended into the depths of revulsion with its gratuitous and sensationalistic approach to storytelling, leaving us appalled by its lack of subtlety and tact. Its heavy reliance on cheap tactics and low blows served only to alienate and inflame. The writing veered into the abyss of absurdity, sacrificing logical leniency and impartiality for the sake of eliciting visceral reactions. Broken balance system by design to further push this same narrative. A case in point, Eun Pa and Yun Tek as well as their individual paths. There was a big opportunity for the drama to do some real character reflection but it decided to ignore it, it only did it very briefly with Eun Pa in the first 1/3 of the drama. The drama had the audacity to deliver a message at the end of the drama from the cast members on what the "terms of endearment" means while miserably failing to portray what they preached in the message itself, pathetic and shameful. There were two main stories running in parallel, one for each of the sisters, however, they didn't interconnect well. The older sister had her world falling part, yet she was always emotionally discharged and normal when helping her younger sister, detracting from the seriousness and tension of her own story. On the other hand, the third sister was utterly useless in the entire dynamic, she should have played the linking bridge between everyone. In general most of the stories remained underdeveloped, cut short or had no direction, even the side ones, despite having a very generous long runtime. In its quest for conspicuous sensationalism, the drama lost sight of any memorable qualities, leaving us disheartened by its blatant disregard for a reasonable delivery to what it preached.Was this review helpful to you?
Pathetic Themes of Love
The drama started on an objectively stupid and trashy conflict that couldn't have been written by a real human being in 1998. It loosely maximized all imaginary tropes of sadness, depression and angst regardless of how well they can connect them, that's why they slapped a terminal illness in the mix because why not at this point. The drama lacked the slightest minuscule resemblance of any balance. What's even the point? It failed to establish a good argument why the viewers should care, especially for how awful the setup was with both guys. The atrocious attempt to shove in the love triangle and romance of the leads was unbearable and killed any redeeming qualities all at once. This was one of the worst trio leads combination I've seen, surface-level and brain-dead trio entanglement. Forced rape, pregnancy, marriage and domestic abuse by their friend, all treated as something casual and turned a blind eye because exploring any of them, especially rape, would require more nuanced writing. After all of these long-winded commotions the drama shifted its focus to something different within a couple of scenes as if nothing happened. Garbage writing! The female lead was as dry and boring as they could come, easily the worst character in the drama. Even the guests had a better impression. The drama had big cuts and gaps which led to abysmal pacing and disjointed narrative. I had to double check if the drama was actually cut but both TV and DVD releases were the same. At the end of the day, there was a lot to dislike about the drama and little to no likeable elements.Was this review helpful to you?
Morning-After Pill
Something about action dramas from around early 2010s make them unique for better or worse. The drama started off with a big bang, literally, while shoving in the maximum possible amount of flashy elements. If you watch the very first scene it should give you a good idea. However, just like other ones from around the same time, it gradually began to wither away after 5-6 episodes until it reached a bland conclusion. The male lead doubling his role as a comedic relief was mostly fine, but him flailing his tongue like a dog was a bit too cringe to tolerate. The drama really wanted to include romance because it was the trend back then, that's why we had multiple pairings, most of them were unnecessary or weak. The main antagonist was your generic baddie, the drama didn't even show him a lot until the last few episodes because they didn't want to bother with more writing. The vibes were very similar to 'A Man Called God (2010)' which came out in the same year, except this one was a bit better.Was this review helpful to you?
Full House: Resurrections
Core part of the plot was the male lead pretending to be gay as described in the synopsis, however, I'm not sure if this was intentional or not but naming the female lead 'Gae In' was seriously tripping as it was pronounced very similarly to how the characters saying the word gay. Anyway, the drama followed the typical romcom formula of the early 2010s while having a play around the cohabitation of opposite sex and pretending to be gay. This setup spawned all kinds of predictable shenanigans yet they were somewhat entertaining, solely thanks to the leads. While sometimes irritating but they had a good dynamic going on between them. The character Jin Ho was written as a reserved guy who doesn't open up or show his feelings but Lee Min Ho in this drama was way too subdued and static beyond what the characterization mandates for his character, combined with sometimes questionable production, it had created some awkward scenes and deliveries. The drama featured a love square to anchor the drama but this love square was plain stupid. It served its purpose to kick start the story but any involvement after that was a poor decision. I found the ending to be a little bit weak and boring, they played it safe and predictable. Both parents of the leads were brushed off quickly to wrap it up despite being a reasonable point of tension prior to that. Overall, it's a decent watch with nice moments here and there but lacked a lot to be recommendable or rewatchable.Was this review helpful to you?
Real Estate Scam: The Real Scam
The drama paled in comparison to its predecessor, managing to somehow be an even bigger problematic piece than the troublesome first season. From its lackluster plot to its uninspired character dynamics, this spinoff felt like a cheap imitation rather than a fresh spinoff. Gone are the scuffed and endearing dynamics of the characters, replaced instead by awkward interactions and forced romances, resulting in a disjointed narrative that struggled to find its footing. The writing was lazy and contrived, relying on tired recycled storylines, it also shamelessly recycled the exact same jokes and bits from the original, albeit with even far less finesse and charm. Both male leads were unbearably cringe and the female lead was equally doormat. While the original may have had its faults, the spinoff took those flaws and magnified them, resulting in a soulless spinoff that tarnished whatever shred of goodwill the original may have had.Was this review helpful to you?
A Capitalist Happiness
Having a plot around mothers competing on social media over whose life is the happiest is such a dystopian sad present we currently live in. The concept itself was limit testing my cringe-o-meter really hard but luckily the mystery plot took over after 2 episodes. This drama was very similar to Green Mothers' Club (2022), it started with a group of housewives/residents living in their fancy neighborhood until it turns into a mystery plot after a few episodes. The mystery itself here was limited, swinging between who's the killer and digging up the past, however, it wasn't enough to fill 16 episodes and was often stretching each event really thin. Most of the characters were trashy which made it hard to sympathize with when they were given a turn over and a resolution. For a plot around who done it mystery, usually we get a handful of suspects with good motives but in this drama most of the suspects had a weak motivation and their attempt to play innocent was rather unconvincing. One thing that bothered me was how the drama never addressed the big daughter properly after her initial introduction and purpose, which was kinda important for the narrative. In fact, most relationships between the characters were given a half-arsed follow up and resolution, leading to an unacceptable wrap up.Was this review helpful to you?
Money, innit?
The veteran actor, Lee Sun Kyun, delivered a powerful performance that anchored the show, as expected. It's really heartbreaking to lose such a big talent. Rest in piece. The drama didn't exactly break new ground with its plot or characters, but it managed to hold one's attention through its well paced narrative, occasional power shifts and a few unexpected twists thrown in. The cast does their thing, but some of the characters feel a bit like cardboard cutouts, lacking some life in them. While the drama dipped into melodrama sometimes but it struck a balance between suspense and storytelling. Overall, it's a pretty decent drama around corruption and power struggles.Was this review helpful to you?
Budget China Town
The drama had a rough start to assemble some attractive elements for the hook but everything boiled down to its nature being bilingual and bicultural. The story itself was bland through and through, and it kept playing it super extremely safe until the end. The cast was good enough given the material they had to work with. Its excessive length didn't help its case. Despite that, the romance was somewhat brief and unremarkable, the language barrier was clearly showing. The leads chemistry was quite questionable, it came off as forced more often than not, I've seen better efforts from Kim Jae Won. Han Chae Young went through a lot, her character got robbed off, playing a secondary lead didn't fit her well. All in all, the side plots were definitely the weakest link, none of them fit well, nor were they appealing and they contributed little to nothing.Was this review helpful to you?
Joseonless Behaviour
I don't how I feel about the on-screen text. There's distinct level of absurdity and abnormality that's easily recognizable from a certain Korean writer, that is Im Sung Han. From writing the characters, constructing the narrative and story boarding, all felt quite familiar to her other shows, Apgujeong Midnight Sun (2014) & Miss Mermaid (2002) in particular. However, this drama is unfortunately one of her unsuccessful ones. I didn't like the direction she took with the drama. The women from Joseon were an interjection into the Dan's family, they were more like a support characters observing the surrounding and getting accustomed to living. The entire story was stagnant for 15 episodes after their initial introduction and only the last episode brought some change but it was too late. The story went through the bare minimum of characters exploration and made the Joseon women existence more useless. If anything, it reminded me of the bizarre storylines transitions and conclusion of Miss Mermaid (2002), really close when drawing parallels. On a second thought, although I'm a fan of the writer but I don't quite agree with how she writes the last few episodes of her projects.Was this review helpful to you?
A Sketchy Tramway
They had a solid idea for a drama but they were totally clueless for how to fit it into a 16 episodes mold. The trolley dilemma was a poor idea to implement in the drama. They were afraid that the viewers may not notice so they went ahead to explain the trolley dilemma multiple times. The FL's kid was learning about it with visuals in school. Kinda insulting. Its finale execution of this analogy turned out to be disappointing and bland, especially after shoving it in our faces endlessly and having the drama named after it. Anyway, the drama was plagued by narrative and writing problems, especially with its horrible and dysfunctional characterization.Was this review helpful to you?
Definitely Loveless
The drama was a frustrating experience, primarily due to its main plotline which flopped majorly. They probably choose the worst route to execute its main story. Both leads and their love interests were a bad combination that spawned a dreadful dynamic for 65 episodes. Subsequently, the resolution after endless quarrels was equally dreadful and ended in a flat let down. On the other hand, the side plots and relationships were better in comparison but nothing stood out. Conflicts seemed forced and resolutions lacked any real emotional impact. The drama failed to offer any redeeming qualities that could compensate for its lackluster central storyline. It was unbelievably forceful and super giga cringe to have the FL attend her ex-husband wedding for the ending. Really tacky!Was this review helpful to you?
