This review may contain spoilers
A Heartwarming, Pleasant Surprise
I came into this drama with 0 expectations. Mostly because dramas with idol themes tend to get cringe or childish at some parts.But the way FL's character was introduced, I think I was hooked. I thought, even if the story turned out to be bad, I could still keep watching because Sooyoung as this "villain lawyer" was so convincing in just less than 10 minutes. Especially the way Kim Won Hae was hyping her up was so endearing to me. He lets her get away with leaving on time instead of being pressured to stay at a gathering which was cool. I already liked their dynamic from the first scene they had together.
Then I watched the first episode. Crazy but despite knowing previous idol-themed dramas tackled similar themes regarding the dark side of the entertainment industry, the way Idol I does it felt so raw, and I had never empathised as much as I did until I saw Kim Jaeyoung's performance as Do Ra-ik. I still remember my first impression of the character. This guy is rude as hell, and for what?? But then again, maybe his staff really did suck. His security sucks big time. No wonder that mf was going around cursing people. And then he got the panic attack. Damn, really felt for him. I couldn't hate him even though in reality, if an idol was exposed having attitude problems, while I don't think I would care to write hate comments, I probably would have believed he had a terrible personality from that short compilation clip. The writers really did their research on how fandom and anti-fandom works.
Anyways, the first few episodes were so good, even though I came into this drama knowing there was a romance tag, the first 3 eps made me think even if they didn't fall for each other, it would still be a good drama. Because beyond lawyer and client, the way they just connected as humans trying to understand each other, was very heartwarming to see. Especially that scene where Sena dusts off his socks, saying they shouldn't give up on the truth for the sake of the people who they lost. Got me bawling actually. Subtle yet powerful performance from the two of them.
Then came episode 4, when Raik saw the note that his lawyer REALLY believed in him. Some lawyers do not actually believe the client, they just need to do their job based on the evidence they find, or lessen the sentence. like his previous lawyer who was assigned to him. All he wanted was for someone to believe in him and Sena gave that to him. I felt touched as much as he did. So I was surprised the next day, after seeing her try to take care of him, Raik showed tiny signs of curiosity towards her relationship with her best friend. Don't tell me he's jealous?? Raik didn't seem like he was interested in anyone but himself, so when he showed interest in his lawyer's relationship with her friend + the prosecutor, suddenly I was thinking, wow jealousy looks good on him! He became so much happier just because he found someone who believed him, him running to her like a puppy while her expression was slightly sad made my heart ache. Suddenly I'm seeing their romantic potential with a tad of angst. I'm such a sucker for romantic potential and these two gave it to me. The hug was quite sudden, I wonder if Raik would hug his lawyer if it wasn't Sena, and I don't think he would have. Him suddenly getting protective in front of the prosecutor and being nosy about their relationship was hilarious to watch. At first I couldn't see how Raik was going to like his lawyer but the transition from having someone believe in him also made me believe his attraction to his lawyer.
The romance was also a pleasant surprise after thinking to myself, they could be better off just lawyer/client and idol/fan. I think it's because Raik's positive growth after liking Sena made me root for them. Sena too, I admired and appreciated her quiet restraint as Raik crossed all kinds of boundaries trying to get her attention. She was professional most of the time, and couldn't help but relent because it's Raik, her idol of all people, being nosy about her personal life. Let me tell you, this was the first time I loved the "she fell first, he fell harder" trope. Because Sena's love for Raik, never felt pathetic (at least, after he became her client)? Her character growth from putting him on a pedestal to just seeing him as human, was very beautiful to watch.
I'm a sucker for subtle romance who never get together in the end because it leaves so much to the imagination, but with Idol I, the two of them were giving "subtle romance" for 9 episodes. They had like one proper romantic interaction for every episode, it made you crave more from them. so it was my first time feeling happy they actually became canon in episode 10. This may be the reason some might find their romance unconvincing, but it was all that I needed to believe they were genuinely in love with each other. Throughout 9 episodes, their skinship was holding hands and 1 hug, most of their emotional bonding came from their deeply human conversations, getting to know each other and comforting each other, so it all felt very rewarding in episode 10 when their feelings become mutual.
Also, the best thing about their romance is that, even after they get together, THEY DON'T BECOME BORING! Some romantic couples suffer from being boring after they get together, like their original personalities suddenly die because they're in love. But not Raik x Sena. I think getting together quite late into the story helped, especially since they got together before the murder plot was solved. So their interactions are still interesting. The final episode with their dating era, was so sweet and adorable to watch. I'm not one to care for overly sweet romance, but with one episode left, Raik x Sena made you appreciate their romance SO much more.
Moving onto the characters, the drama started out with very few characters to root for. But when I tell you I was surprised EVERY character had decent development within the short 12 episodes they were given. The story paid attention to Raik and Sena's character development the most, but I still appreciated how much the other supporting characters grew by the end of the story. Shoutout to Jung Jae Kwang who played Prosecutor Kwak Byung-gyun, who started off terrible, in the middle quite wishy washy coz he was torn between doing the right thing and just following in his father's footsteps, and eventually doing the right thing. Him and the ML probably went through the most drastic changes (positively). Kim Hyun Jin as Chungjae was lovely as Sena's loyal best friend who loved her but eventually moved on and vowed to stay as her best friend, no hard feelings. What a great guy! And the standout was definitely Choi Heejin who played Hong Hyejoo. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn't. Fantastic acting from her. I did think her words for Raik was cruel when they broke up, she didn't have to say all that even if she was forced to breakup with him, but eventually we realize she was in a bad place mentally, so yeah they just weren't very right for each other.
The next best thing is the OSTs! Gold Boys/Raik songs weren't catchy at first listen, but since I wanted to be immersed and understand Sena's fangirl feelings, I found myself listening to the songs on repeat, and I have been obsessed with the songs ever since. They have less English lyrics so it's harder to memorize, but I will keep repeating the songs until I have them memorized. As for non-idol songs, the ballad "To Our Beautiful Past" is definitely the best song out of the OSTs. Such a beautiful duet. And "Everytime I Close My Eyes" that plays whenever Raik thinks about Woosung, had me very teary, especially the funeral scene. The rest of the OSTs matched well with the scenes and while I thought the OST during RaikSena's first kiss scene was generic in terms of melody, the lyrics were very heartfelt.
Now, the negative aspects of the show to me, was just the murder investigation. I had watched an interview where the actors said it has legal aspects but it's not an actual courtroom legal drama so I kept that in mind. Sena didn't get a lot of chance to show off her lawyer skills in the court which was too bad, but it doesn't make me think any less of her skills. HOWEVER, because the legal/murder investigation plot was very thin, it does make the characters who were supposed to be competent, look very bad. The mystery was done well in that it kept me asking not just "Who killed Woosung?" but "What's her relationship with him?" or "What happened to Woosung before he died?" There were little mysteries like that throughout the drama which kept me engaged. But, the killer reveal which was acted very well, made me annoyed because it didn't align with the clues they had given us in the earlier episodes. For example, they said the stab was in one shot, and had no signs of struggle. So it was either a very skilled person with a knife, or someone the victim knew that made them let their guard down. And yet, the reveal was that it was just an accident?? I would have prefered it was planned! But the crime scene was so sloppy, why did the initial investigation not catch the culrpit sooner? I'm just gonna believe the killer's father cleaned up the crime scene and covered up the evidence so the investigation went poorly otherwise I'll be mad.
Final Verdict: If you come into this drama with low expectations, you will enjoy it a LOT. And it's probably better to bingewatch so that you don't waste time thinking of theories but it ends up out the window as soon as the killer is revealed lol. When it comes down to it, this drama feels like a human, healing hurt/comfort drama about two lonely souls who come together, and exploring various characters's relationships related to the murder. And I was very much comforted by these characters, especially Raik, Sena, and the victim, Woosung.
9.5/10 coz I'm biased towards everything but can't give a full 10/10 because of the poor murder investigation. Enjoy!
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