Reviews

Five Stars

The second eps begins with a slow and quiet scene. Dong Man's stressed, constrained, and trapped side is clearly visible. There's a deep sense of urgency, as if the audience must envy his failure to achieve his dreams. The script is very well written. Coupled with the unique directing style, Hwang Dong Man's character gradually becomes eccentric. It's like a satirical comedy. On the one hand, his delivery is unique, to the point of making me laugh. On the other hand, it's as if his anxiety seeped into me. In this episode, the writer slowly reinforces the hint that Dong Man and the gang of Eight are actually still on the same level. As Go Hye Jin says to Director Gyeong Se, "You've made several film debuts, while Dong Man has never. You're all still on the same level." In fact, this hint has been there since episode 1 when Eun Ah asked the gang of Eight about their anxiety whenever they face Dong Man. Furthermore, Dong Man's brother asks a similar question in this episode. Eps 2 "We Are All Trying Here" reveals the reason behind the title of the drama itself🥲 The peak of the satire in this episode is when we see Dong Man's interaction with Eun Ah. It feels like seeing the way out that I've been waiting for. I can give this episode 100/10👎👎👎👎|| [Bahasa] Eps kedua dimulai dg shot yg lambat dan sunyi. Sisi stres, terkekang, dan kebuntuan Dong Man jadi terlihat jelas. Ada feel yg dalam, seolah penonton harus ikut ngerasain rasa iri atas kegagalannya meraih mimpi. Naskahnya ditulis dg sangat baik. Ditambah gaya penyutradaraannya yg unik, tokoh Hwang Dong Man ini lama-lama jadi eksentrik. Macem komedi satir. Disatu sisi dia unik dg penyampaiannya, sampai bikin ketawa. Disatu sisi juga seolah-olah kegelisahannya meresap kediriku. Di eps ini, penulisnya perlahan memperkuat clue kalau ternyata Dong Man dan geng the Eight itu aslinya juga masih setara. Seperti yg dibilang Go Hye Jin ke Sutradara Gyeong Se, "Kamu berhasil debutin beberapa film, sedangkan Dong Man tidak pernah. Sisanya kalian tetap selevel". Sebenarnya clue ini udah hadir dari eps 1 saat Eun Ah ngelempar pertanyaan ke geng the Eight atas kegelisahan mereka setiap berhadapan dg Dong Man. Ditambah juga, kakaknya Dong Man yg ngasih pertanyaan serupa di eps ini. Eps 2 "We Are All Trying Here" ngungkap alasan dibalik nama drama ini sendiri🥲 Puncak satir eps ini adalah saat ngelihat interaksi Dong Man dg Eun Ah. Rasanya seperti ngelihat jalan keluar yang selama ini kutunggu-tunggu. Bisa nih 100/10 buat episode 2👎👎👎👎👎

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Probably my least favorite episode, but still good

I haven't had any issues with the pacing thus far in this drama, so this episode stood out to me in that it did feel a bit slow. Also, I wasn't sure how to feel about specific story choices taken in this ep, but now that I'm sitting on it, I think I understand why they were made. For example, this was a Jun Ho-centric episode, which makes sense considering how the last episode ended with Jun Ho finally breaking down. Jun Ho makes the decision to try and solve their biggest issue (aka the threat of people leaving the academy) on his own, and pretty much tells Hye Jin straight out that he's planning on doing it on his own. At first, I wondered exactly why he's choosing to leave Hye Jin in the dark, and then I realized that for Hye Jin, this is the best thing he can do. Why? It's because Hye Jin always does everything on her own. She's smart, strong and good at her job, and most importantly, has seen Jun Ho as someone who needs her guidance and care for most of their relationship. The only way Jun Ho can prove to himself and to her that he can stand on equal footing with her, is if he can take the burden of their situation off her hands. And it must feel so good for Hye Jin to be told by someone she loves that they'll handle it for her and that she doesn't have to do anything about it. It's so refreshing!! So I understand why Jun Ho did it, especially since Hye Jin also needs to see him in this independent light.Otherwise, seeing as this is the finale and this is the last conflict, a lot of other things were drawn out that I felt didn't have to be. We got a lot of time with the other instructors that we didn't have before, which is fine, though I think we didn't need to see all of them puzzle over their indecision as to whether or not to leave.Also, I liked Jun Ho and Vice Director Woo's confrontation, especially the aftermath when Jun Ho is clearly also rattled by how emotional and frightening it was for him, even though he was very solid in the moment. I liked that! instead of having him swoop in and say a few pithy words and teach the vice director a lesson - the story lets Jun Ho have actual emotions about it. He gets to be uncertain, frightened, afraid, and exhausted. I think a lot of romance dramas don't humanize their male leads this way, because the romance is first and foremost a fantasy for the viewers to enjoy. So I appreciate that the story made space for him to be a vulnerable human being as well.

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Kaji as per usual lack a filer, thankfully…

Kaji as per usual lack a filer, thankfully not everything he think he says but on a whole he can't help himself - idk how Fukami doesn't find him odd, cause good looks aside his behavior is weirdo coded lol... but i think that Fukami has fallen for him, which is making me wonder if he might get his heartbroken as he seems less experienced & maybe naïve - even though not 100% sure of this cause he is a very introverted character that even us viewer's don't really get a peak into how his brain works. so we will have to see as this progresses. still didn't like that Kaji saved Fukami as "loser" - that's gonna backfire ugh

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Five Stars

BRO QIN SO CUTE WHEN HE JEALOUS because basically Duang did a photoshoot for his university along side a student named yim, and she was lowkey moving towards him right? And so she didn’t clock that Duang and Qin was like a “thing” even though they aren’t together and Qin got super jealous. UGHH IT WAS SO CUTETETE AND IT WAS HILARIOUS WHEN SHE CLOCKED SHE KEPT SAYING SORRY. Afterwards, Duang asked where he was going and he said he was going to “X’s” bar (a bar near their uni) and Duang said he would come, and since they were going the same direction Duang offered him a ride, and qin said no, which got Duang scared , since he thought he might’ve made qin mad. Afterwards, Duang was having drinks at the bar, and he made a sketch of the sun and moon, and his older friend who was friends with the owner, named smile, was a tattoo shop owner and offered to do both sketches on him for a discount to which drunk duang said yes. Later on Jamie and pae made a plan to drop off Duang at qin’s place as a “last resort” thing as he had nowhere else to go, and so qin took him in and they were talking and Duang asked him if he was mad but qin said no, and that he was just thinking over how although he usually had control over his feelings, since Duang joined the picture, he’s been experiencing these sudden emotions, which are quite unusual for him. AFTER AS THEY WERE SLEEPING ON THE SAME BED THEY WAKE UP TO SEE THAT BOTH DUANG AND QIN WERE SLEEPING TOGETHER AND CUDDLING LIKE DUANG’S HEAD WAS ON TOP OF QIN’S AND IT WAS ADORABLY CUETTETETE. Since Qin was in the bar whilst Duang was drunk, he heard Duang make the deal with his friend, smile, to do the tattoos, and qin offered to get a tattoo of duang’s moon sketch and Duang would get a tattoo of the sun, and since it got late qin took Duang to his place to stay over, and qin said he was gonna go shower, and Duang asked if he wanted a “hand” (GET ITT I GIGGLED IN THAT SCENE)

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