6
YOU MUST SWALLOW!
It started off with a bang and kept its tempo up for another 10 episodes before performing the hardest emergency brake pull ever. At least for that portion, this is what modern day parodies would cite mimicking the exaggerated nature of the melo landscape from late 2000s. Lots of abroad filming with the typical Korean lens of foreign lands, loads of shaky action with tons of cuts for every shot that can rival that one Liam Neeson scene jumping over a fence, plenty of exposed skin akin to the usual Korean broadcast ratings, and all kinds of flashy elements that they could through at us as fast as possible. All of that stopped with the brake slam and the drama turned to the usual slow melo of that time, it was around when they moved the setting back to Korea. Although the earlier parts lacked a real sense of focus and were disjointed as hell but at least they weren't as boring as the 2nd half. On another note, the speedy harsh soundtrack got me exhausted after playing for nth time in every episode. The biggest point of comparison between this drama and "All In (2003)" was its insulting transition and disparity between its 1st and 2nd half.Was this review helpful to you?
Mr. Quit-it-already
The drama started on an objectively stupid and trashy conflict that couldn't have been written by a real human in 1998. I enjoyed the journey of the group and whatever they had going on but the atrocious attempt to shove in the love triangle and romance of the leads was unbearable and killed all redeeming qualities all at once. This was one of the worst trio leads combination I've seen. The drama is actually a great example for how adding a romance can completely ruin a show. 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 male lead always felt out of his place. Kim Min Jong has been uncharming as always even in his prime play-boy phase. Song Yoon Ah had changed completely, she's now a different unrecognizable version of her past self. Going under the knife did a big number on her. Not even her voice was matching. It had me double and triple check to see if she was listed in the cast by mistake but it was actually her. At the end of the day, there was a lot to dislike about it and little to no likeable elements.Was this review helpful to you?
Generic Hospital 2
It was probably one of the most generic medical dramas out there. Looking back at it, it was soulless and lacked a defining identity. They really cheaped out on the dynamic between some characters. More on the dynamics, every patient had some kind of a dynamic between them and one of the cast but some of these were off and just didn't translate well into the screen. I didn't like what they have done with the character Jung Ha Yoon and her storyline in general. Both Kim Do Hoon and Baek Hyun Woo were very lacking and limited in character. The final conflict and wrap up were quite underwhelming and unfavorable.Was this review helpful to you?
Lukewarm Blood
The drama was based on cases but these cases quickly became quite repetitive after the first one. It was obvious they were reskinning the same thing over and over. Even the overarching story progressing in the background was going through something by echoing the same points. Rinse and repeat until the last few episodes where things started to actually change and progress again. The female lead Min Da Hae had the weakest presence on screen, barely a functional character, let alone a lead. Her romance was boring and annoying. Remove her and give Kim Jae Hee double the roles, at least she got more dynamic with other characters too. Some scenes and ideas were enjoyable but these were few and far between.Was this review helpful to you?
Redundant Love
The drama feels like it was made by someone who watched a lot of 2000s Korean drama and wanted to replicate a one just like it. It's a Korean drama but it always felt it was missing something. Anyway, the drama itself had an awful set up that stretched it thin even if this were to be a satire. The characterization of these characters wasn't appealing, you had no one to root for or like. The drama delved into love and sacrifice, but more often than not, it went all in on the melo, way too much. It ended up overshadowing any chance for a more subtle, nuanced take on the intricate web of human and familial relationships which is what the drama needed more than anything else. They tried to do that a little bit later on but it was too late anyway. The visuals were passable but they couldn't quite make up for the gaps in the story.Was this review helpful to you?
"Fashion", allegedly...
Whatever they did with that introduction with the military stuff and other nonsense was just bad and embarrassing. They could've cut to the adults without giving backstory and it would've been fine. Anyway, the story itself was very slow, everything was moving at a snail's pace. I wasn't a fan of the love story here, it was just a girl who fell in love with the first man she saw after spending 10-15 years in isolation on a men-less island. You may expect the usual empty shots and over-dramatic reactions from older dramas in this one, while they weren't necessarily bad but I've seen these elements done better from the same era in mid 2000s. I found the last few episodes to be an unnecessary big wild stretch. It was done that way because they had nothing prepared beforehand for the end.Was this review helpful to you?
The Equity Man
It amplifies the sarcastic mid-2000s melo cliches to the max, something about is just endearing to watch despite its comical nature, that's why it worked back then. But this drama kept it going for too long and it started to get annoying. Some scenes were too obvious they were added to pad its length, I would say these were the worst part about the drama. These useless scene were more important than the story according to the director and writer since the story was filled with incomprehensible skips and gaps in every other episodes that each left its own problems. I'm not asking a melodrama cliche to be logical and sensible because they'll never be by definition, but at least don't go too far like that insane 13 years time skip! On another note, Han Ji Won was pretty useless despite being the FL, little to zero contribution before or after the blindness episodes. One last thing, I wasn't a fan with anything they did for the last episode. The drama gets an extra point for the skewed morals.Was this review helpful to you?
River Where the Stars Fizzle Away
The story suffered from erratic pacing, cramming too many plots that made it hard keep any interesting narrative. The characters were a simulated circus clown that kept making foolish moves intentionally at every turn. Might explains why it's 20 episodes. The childish love square was another contributor in that regard. Na In Woo's portrayal felt strained, his expressions, intonations, inflections, and emotions seemingly forced to fit the character mold. Comparing it to the original version, it seems there was a notable disparity. Checked a couple of scenes side by side, there's a clear difference in the delivery, as big as expressing an entirely different emotion of the exact same scene. I wonder what was the director even doing? The lack of chemistry with his colleagues was obvious too. He was called to fill in a role on a quick notice with so little to work with in the first place. All of that didn't compare to the abysmal last episode, and even worse, the detestable last scene.Was this review helpful to you?
Unfortunate letdown
The drama had so much potential, but never managed to break through. The pacing was inconsistent for its elongated cool-down periods and its redundant flimsy 24 episodes. One moment you're going at a steady pace and the next, you're like, "Come on, let's get moving!". These long breaks in between didn't even serve a meaningful purpose like to develop the characters or build up for what's next. It should've been cut down to 10-12 episodes while cutting off the nonsense and focusing on the politics. The story slowed down and became less interesting in the 2nd half when the prince went into the palace. On another note, Go Ah Ra, she didn't fit her role at all, too fragile and soft looking. Strangely, her character (Yeo Ji) got demoted to a guest character in the 2nd half, little to no contribution or screen time. If I have to take a guess, the character didn't really fit the narrative to begin with, so it was hard to keep her around in the 2nd half, which also explains the attempted romance, the writers were desperate.Was this review helpful to you?
Lawless flower
It's safe to say I hit a wall around episode 9-10 of that drama. Everything felt like a lullaby—monotone and sleep-inducing. Later on, things didn't improve much, but I guess I sort of got used to the dreariness. However, that last episode was a total distaste. It crammed in so much last-minute chaos and then ended with an unsatisfying departure that seemed like an afterthought. There were two things I hated in particular about this drama that were too glaring to ignore and subsequently detracted a lot from the drama, not that it was gonna be something spectacular without them anyway. The gags/comedic-relief moments accompanied by the unpleasant comedy cue made going through the episodes just a tad bit tougher than it already was. The other reason was Sung Ji Hun in general, the man sucks on a cosmic level, both the character and the actor. It would have been infinitely better to completely strip the drama from this deplorable attempted romance. Any love triangle that involves Choi Tae Joon is usually an unquestionable bad time right out of the gate.Was this review helpful to you?
A good half drama ½
I found the earlier parts to be quite good with a reasonable pace. However, 25 episodes later things started to change in a weird direction and the initial spark faded away. Yet, the reality was a letdown. Jeong Do Jeon, the pivotal figure, felt like a distant acquaintance rather than someone I could understand. His struggles and triumphs failed to resonate the longer the drama kept going, leaving me disconnected from the heart of the story by the end of the drama. The ending was very typical with these kind of shows, everyone lose their marbles abruptly so they can jump to the historical ending, if there's any. Jo Jae Hyun and Yoo Dong Geun did a great job as leads, they simply carried the drama with their performance. Even their character was methodical and well written. One thing I wanted to see is having Do Jun's wife playing a bigger role in supporting her husband. I really appreciate their casting choices. Going for a mature looking cast was the correct choice. New to semi-new generation cast with soft looks in their mid 30s would have been disastrous.Was this review helpful to you?
Mask On
A snoozefest by definition. It felt like an endless, meandering road leading absolutely nowhere, like a book with no chapters, just pages and pages of the same old, same old. This what an AI is capable of generating when giving it the prompts "power, struggle, palace" in no particular order. It would have been less tiresome if it were only half its length. They were so desperate to prolong the drama that they added a war in the middle despite being outside the theme and scoop of this drama. The writing was abysmal and shameful, they made the characters like clowns. Although we were introduced to face reading at the start but that played little to no importance later on and was rarely used outside some fillers.Was this review helpful to you?
Political intervention
A boring start, it certainly took some time to get going. Even then, it wasn't a smooth sailing after that. Whenever the drama managed to pick up a good momentum, they shove in a massive intervention with their palace politics. Disrupting the flow and the main attraction of the drama. Like pulling the sheets away on a cold winter night. Which is why this was its biggest problem, being wrapped around politics instead of giving it its independence. This was easier for the writers so they don't have to go into too much details and technicalities, instead auto generate some mindless palace drama to fill the gaps. I found the ending to be quite distasteful to this man's journey.Was this review helpful to you?
I'm your father
It's the usually daily format so temper your expectations accordingly before proceeding any further. Both Seo Hyun Jin and her character contributed a lot to the drama to keep it decent enough. Her interactions were the most memorable. On the other hand, the writer robbed off Seo Woo from making her a decent character, writing wise. Meanwhile, Jo Hyun Jae was as static as always throughout his entire career, the man would rather die than changing his expression. There's no justification for the long runtime other than they were contractually obligated to follow the template dedicated to this time slot. At least give the high moments more time to sink in. Especially the ending, there was no need to make it this short, they had the time to take a more relaxed approach.Was this review helpful to you?
The circus
It's a villainess drama which we don't get to see a lot of. Knowing Kdrama, they generally give the same immature treatment for 99% of all villains ever. Even when we have a villain lead like this drama, they don't break the rule to have a better portrayal of a good villain character. Instead we get a silly dumbed down version of a baddie. You may as well add squeaky sound effects and air it on Sunday morning cartoons. To boil it down, you'll be watching 50-episodes of this king and concubine being clowns until they reach their demise because the drama ran out of episodes. I was hoping for a smart cunning play but we got a reckless uncalculated short-sighted arrogant one. Also, the drama had this habit of re-using the same evil tricks over and over instead of coming with something creative. Setting up the same traps is a case in point. On the bright side, Kim Hyun Joo was keeping the drama afloat.Was this review helpful to you?
