Radiant Office

Radiant Office

7/10

Radiant Office

Genre:                                 Episodes: 16                           Year: 2017

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Three young adults who struggle finding full-time employment meet in a hospital after all three of them are rescued from suicide attempts. They overhear the doctor saying that one of them has a terminal illness, but must sneak out before finding out more, as they can’t pay their hospital bills. Later, the three of them are hired as temporary employees at the same company.

Cast:

Go Ah Sung (Eun Ho Won)

Ha Suk Jin (Seo Woo Jin)

Lee Dong Hwi (Do ki Taek)

Hoya (Jang Kang Do)

Kim Dong Wook (Seo Hyun)

Han Sun Hwa (Ha Ji Na)

Kwon Hae Hyo (Park Sang Man)

Jang Shin Young (Jo Suk Kyung)

Oh Dae Hwan (Lee Yong Jae)

Kim Byung Choon (Heo Goo Dong)

General Thoughts:

This drama surprised me in many ways. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, and I certainly didn’t expect to love the hero, Woo Jin. I’ve yet to watch an office romance that really sucks me in the way other rom-coms can, but ‘Radiant Office’ has probably come the closest.

Office politics just aren't as fun as love shenanigans 

There were times were I felt the plot could stand to move a little quicker, most often being when it came to the office politics. As someone who doesn’t work in Korea, it can be hard at times to relate to the way the everyman worker has to act in the workplace- it’s one of those scenarios that highlights culture differences. If a superior was forcing a new young female employee to drink, it would be the superior getting dark looks- not the new hire for trying to refuse.

This guy made me want to barf

While *ss-kissing definitely happens in Western culture as well, its much more obvious in Korean media. It also seems to be much more frowned upon and seen as a slimy thing to do in Western society, whereas it’s almost expected in Korea. It doesn’t seem like a big deal but it did prevent me from connecting with some of the characters and it made some of the office workers pretty dislikable. I will give the show props for showing how difficult it can be for a woman to succeed professionally in Korea. The drama made a real point of showing how Suk Kyung was constantly overlooked for promotions simply because she was a woman. It also made our main man so much more endearing, as by the end of the series, one of his main goals was to make Hauline a company that doesn’t discriminate against women. I loved how Woo Jin not only saw Suk Kyung’s promotion as Suk Kyung’s own success, but also as a positive step forward for Ji Na, Ho Won and all the other women in the company. Although the company politics didn’t tend to be all that interesting, it was the effect of those politics on the employee relationships that was the draw of the drama. The three temporary employees always supported each other and looked out for each other no matter what mistake they might have made.

Suicide Squad

These three brought a lot of warmth to the show, and were one of the truest, nicest depictions of friendship I’ve seen on TV in a while. I adored that the two who were hired as permanent employees weren’t even happy on the day they were promoted simply because they were too busy feeling sad for Ki Taek who had failed. The three were just lovely to watch on screen, and had a nice easy chemistry between them.

You might not be a nice guy but my goodness you're a cutie 

The way their characters drew together after their failed suicide attempt and sudden hiring felt natural, and they really felt like one team. It would have been an easy plot option to have the three temporary employees fight each other for the permanent positions, so it was nice that the writer took the less obvious route. The friends never tried to pull one over on each other just to get a leg up in their career (except Kang Ho that one time early on). Instead most of our conflict arose because of Hyun. Who was…confusing to say the least. Early on he was super sweet and super likeable. My first experience with Ha Suk Jin wasn’t exactly a nice one- I hated his stuck up, I’m-better-than-you character in ‘Drinking Solo’, and it looked like he was going to be playing a similar sort of character here. I was all ready to be feeling some serious second lead syndrome. And for a while, I did. Kim Dong Wook is a good looking man, and his smile is just too adorable. Next to the cold, unsmiling Ha Suk Jin he seemed really cool and really swoony. But as the show progressed, his character became more and more confusing. While Hyun had definitely always had an air of mystery about him, once he closed his hospital and started getting involved in the company, he became downright incomprehensible.

Not even Hyun knows what Hyun is doing

It wasn’t clear if he had a nice character that he was covering up in order to do well in business or if he was just a straight-up mean dude who would use anyone and everyone to get ahead. Hyun seemed genuinely interested in Ho Won (he put a lot of effort into their ‘friendship’ and didn’t really interact with the other two boys), yet when he joined the company he didn’t seem to care about her at all. It wasn’t obvious if this was because Hyun just didn’t understand how his actions hurt Ho Won or if he was just uninterested in her now that he had gotten all he needed from her. In the end, his character just became a big question mark, which is a shame as he could have added a lot of uniqueness to the show. Also on a side note, Feeldog is a total scene-stealer and I adored him as the younger brother of our leading lady. I wanted to see so much more of him- and his adorable Busan accent!

Why couldn't you have been in all the episodes?

What Was Great:

Likeable Leads:

I adored both of these leads. Eun Ho Won was just so loveable and relatable. All twenty-something adults can relate to that awkward time when you come out of school or collage and have to enter the real world and you have no idea how the hell to do so. Ho Won may bumble and stumble along, but she always gave her best at everything.

No one wants to be an adult

Her despair was easy to understand as she constantly gave her everything, yet the working world was constantly telling her it wasn’t good enough. Go Ah Sung embraced the everyday, average character and gave her a life of her own. It would have been easy to have Ho Won fall into boring territory as she’s literally characterised as one of millions of young job-seekers. Go Ah Sung nailed Ho Won’s quiet discontent- and then her not so quiet discontent. While Ho Won thought she had a terminal illness, her upbeat attitude about aiming to be happy each day just made her so loveable. Go Ah Sung was excellent in the more emotional beats of the show (even though I never actually believed Ho Won was dying). She was believable without seeming over the top- Ho Won actually cried quite a lot in this drama, and yet she never came across as a total crybaby. What was more surprising is that I adored Woo Jin. He’s a bit of an unlikeable hard*ss at the start, but he actually softens up in a nice believable way. It made sense that even though the leads didn’t like each other at the start, that they eventually fell for each other.

They were unexpectedly adorable

Sometimes I can find hate-to-love relationships a little forced, but the relationship development between Ho Won and Woo Jin was so natural and so lovely to watch. Rather than instantly falling for each other or having one issue that made them see each other in a positive light, their relationship dynamic was a nice slow burn.

But I still want you to try a different character type next

Because they disliked each other so much they were hyper aware of each other. That intense awareness of course meant that they were taking close note of what the other was doing, and that eventually lead to understanding. Even when they understood each other they didn’t dive in straight away. It was nice to watch them develop a strong friendship that stemmed from a deep respect for each other. Ho Won respected Woo Jin’s abilities and skill at work, and Woo Jin respected Ho Won’s dedication, determination and unwillingness to conform to a system she didn’t believe in. Each step they took towards each other was so delightful to watch, and it was this nice gradual drawing together that made the show so exciting to watch. While I do wish Ho Won had been given a chance to be supportive of Woo Jin the way he was always encouraging her, I didn’t mind too much that Woo Jin put in a bit more effort as he had to make up for being such a weenie at the beginning of the series.

What Wasn’t:

Fast Finish:

As soon as Episode 15 ended I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to love the way the drama concluded itself- and I was right. While I adored our leads and their relationship, the end of the drama really highlighted the aspects of the show that weren’t developed as well as they should have been. When you have a drama filled with such loveable characters, viewers start to imagine their lives and how their story and relationships are going to progress.

We know what we want for these guys from ep 1

I had so much excitement for these characters and where they were headed that I was pretty disappointed when none of it played out on screen. It was hinted at that Ki Taek was the one with the terminal illness, and it was confirmed right at the end. His relationship with Ji Na was wonderful to watch mend and grow, and it was beautiful the way Ji Na realised that she loved Ki Taek for who he was and was willing to forgo financial security to be with him.

And suddenly you're seriously sick

It would have been interesting to watch their newly rekindled romance be rocked again by the news that Ki Taek might not even live for another year- but we are left to imagine, as the show ended before it really got into any of Ki Taek’s illness. It was also confusing as to what stupid doctor told him that he was perfectly fine when in actuality he was DYING. It was also hinted that Kang Ho was developing a cute little crush on Suk Kyung, but that was another thing that got completely ignored. It seemed that the show was going to go somewhere with that plot line as it even introduced her daughter and threw out that she was divorced. But instead that love line just went nowhere and we were left to imagine what could have been. Hyun was another character that got completely shafted at the end. Ho Won suddenly just told him he was a nice guy underneath (pretty sure he’s not though) and Hyun’s invisible older brother stepped in to right all the wrongs Hyun had done and ship Hyun off to an American branch. And seeing that all of those things were ignored, you’d at least think we’d get a satisfying end to our romance, right? Not right. While the slow burn of the main leads was wonderful, I was still hoping that after 16 episodes we’d get a nice snog. But instead we got a small peck that lasted for like a millisecond.

Blink and you'll miss it

Not only was the kiss not great, but the scene in which it happened also felt strangely forced when the rest of their relationship had been so natural. The show had aaaaaaall this time to develop its characters and their relationships, but by the end it felt like the things it should have been focusing on were ignored in favour of office politics and the nasty office bosses. The drama is still super enjoyable, but it’s always a bit of a bummer when a great series finishes on a whimper.

Recommend?

Yeah, for sure. It’s a cute little series with an endearing hero and heroine. The romance is lovely to watch develop- just don’t expect it to be smoking hot.

I wish it gave a little more, but what it gave is still great

Defendant

Defendant

7.5/10

Defendant

Genre:                                   Episodes: 18                         Year: 2017

Mystery

Thriller 

Synopsis:

Park Jung Woo is a prosecutor who won’t let go of a case until he is sure the criminal has been brought to justice. One day, he wakes in a prison cell with no memory of the last four months. Jung Woo has been arrested for the murder of his wife and child, and must work to discover if he truly is the criminal, or if he is being framed.

Cast:

Ji Sung (Park Jung Woo)

Uhm Ki Joon (Cha Min Ho/Cha Sun Ho)

Yuri (Seo Eun Hye)

Oh Chang Suk (Kang Joon Hyuk)

Uhm Hyun Kyung (Na Yeon Hee)

Shin Rin Ah (Park Ha Yeon)

Kim Min Suk (Lee Sung Kyu)

Jo Jae Yun (Shin Chul Shik)

General Thoughts:

It’s not hard to see why this drama was such a ratings success in Korea. While procedural dramas aren’t exactly my favourite thing (they tend to feel a bit same-same), ‘Defendant’ was able to give the brand a new feeling. The show never took the steps that were expected of it, and told a whole new story rather than just having the usual set-up and giving it new characters.

Where am I? Who am I?

The cast, directing and writing were all pretty slick and gave the show a real professional feeling. While all K-Dramas are professional, this drama seemed to go out of its way to make itself grab your interest with its narrative consistency and finishing touches. The soundtrack definitely added to the feelings of danger and tension, but I did find that it could be a touch overbearing at times.

Getting' ready to play dirty

The characters all made nice, logical sense (except for maybe one- I’m giving you some serious side-eye Joon Hyuk), and acted in ways that were consistent with the way they had been constructed. It was evident fairly early on that our main villain Min Ho had a huge weakness where Yeon Hee and his son were concerned, so it made sense that this would be what our hero uses to target him. I adored that our hero wasn’t above doing some things that were a smidge against the law as long as it got a favourable result. It can be a bit of a kicker when the hero is too darn righteous to do things that would capture the villain- but here I was convinced that Jung Woo was doing everything in his power to reveal Min Ho’s crimes. Jung Woo never did anything morally dubious, but rather he was ready to bend the rules a little to get what he needed. He was happy to send Chul Shik to Min Ho’s home under the guise of murdering them (totally not legal), but made sure Chul Shik was aware that the woman and child weren’t actually to be harmed or even scared (morals stay intact). It meant that Jung Woo was able to remain a hero as he never did anything awful, but he also didn’t end up frustrating viewers with his blatant unwillingness to play ball. But it seemed our hero used up all the awesome the leads were given.

The boys were definitely the main course...leaving Eun Hye as just a side dish

Eun Hye was barely present at all considering she was the main female lead. I’m pretty sure there were whole episodes were she was delegated screen time of 5 minutes or less. As a character she was pretty unimportant once she convinced Jung Woo to figure out the truth instead of moping around (which we’re all thankful for).

Awesome acting aside- this silent staring got old pretty fast

I was expecting Eun Hye to be doing a lot of work on the outside to help Jung Woo locate his daughter and find evidence, but she did very little and was only really called upon when a car was needed. As far as the plot went, it was just okay until just before the halfway point when it really hit its stride. Once the plot got into the bulk of the story, it was hard to turn away. Watching Jung Woo try and remember things he’d once known but had forgotten tended to be a bit annoying, but once it got to Jung Woo trying to outwit Min Ho and how best to use the evidence against him it became a lot more interesting. While most of the plot was pretty airtight, there were some aspects that I wish had been explained more. Such as Jung Woo’s amnesia. Okay, yes, it’s the drama’s whole catch, but the way it was explained didn’t really fit with Jung Woo’s personality. He’s a determined, intelligent lawyer who loves his wife and daughter, and doesn’t care about status or power- if you’re a bad guy he’ll bring you to justice. But then you want me to believe that he’s lost the memories of himself figuring out who the bad guy is (and who he suspects has his daughter) and all the evidence he hid away to catch him, and it’s all because of a self-defence mechanism that takes him to his happiest memory? Yeeaaaahhh, not really buying it, but I can let it slide because it was the initial setup (amnesic prosecutor doesn’t know if he’s guilty or not).

Maybe instead of wasting time living in a memory you could, I dunno, do something?

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so annoying if it was possible that Jung Woo was the murderer, but no one thought that at all. Then there’s absolutely no explanation of who the hell Seok is. A young man is doing the clean-up for all Min Ho’s murders and even driving the truck-of-doom into more victims, yet he’s given no more depth beyond being labelled ‘henchman’- which is pretty sucky considering that Min Ho relied on this kid heavily to clean up his messes and keep him out of trouble. And while it was made very clear that Min Ho’s weakness was his love for Yeon Hee, I do wish it had been more obvious what Yeon Hee’s feelings were for him.

This woman is ambiguous as faaaaaark

I wasn’t sure if she hated him, loved him, or loved the memory of him but was hurt by what he had become. She was an enigma until the last episode during Min Ho’s trial when she had her (awesome) confession to him that ended up being his undoing. But on the bright side, these were all very minor details that were easy to overlook.

What Was Great:

Finale Build-Up:

The thing I personally find irritating about legal mystery/thrillers is that they can tend to be pretty heavy on the angst. Usually the heroes go through so much pain and suffering (about 14 episodes worth) and then everything gets tied up in the last few episodes.

Seeing the bad guy lose his cool is soooo satisfying

But with ‘Defendant’ there was a nice push-and-pull feeling. While the beginning was pretty heavily skewed in favour of the villain (because we need a story), from the middle onwards it was a pretty even playing field. There were enough small victories for our heroes that it doesn’t become an unbearable angst-fest, and there were enough times when Min Ho lost his cool that he felt like an opponent that could be beaten. Not to mention I really, really, really hate it when no matter what the hero does the villain just smiles in this really unconcerned way. I hate it. But Min Ho was outsmarted enough that he knew Jung Woo was someone to be cautious of- I mean, why else go to all that trouble to frame him if he can just buy his way out? I totally wasn’t expecting Ha Yeon to be brought back to her father before the ultimate showdown, so I actually loved that he stole her back before the last bunch of episodes. It was a great morale boost for our heroes and gave the feeling that it was a slow, gradual battle to overcome Min Ho- everything didn’t just happen at once. There were many smaller victories that added up to the final battle being won, and that’s part of what made the series so addictive.

I must say, this show makes prison look like a pretty fun time

The show gets two thumbs up for not being draggy for the last few episodes, as episode extensions have a way of slowing momentum right down. I actually felt the start was more dragged out than the ending, and the plot ran smoothly despite adding on two extra episodes. 

Acting:

All the acting was pretty fabulous. Ji Sung was absolutely amazing. The last drama I saw him in did nothing with his talent, so I’m overjoyed that this was a drama where Ji Sung could show what an accomplished actor he really is.

I like him best in serious roles

While he can be good in comedy, it really is angsty-determination that he excels in. His desperation, anger, and complete heartbreak were all so clear, and it wasn’t hard to tune into his emotions. Our female lead, Yuri, was nothing amazing, but she also wasn’t outright bad. While her acting did feel green next to the much more experienced cast members, her role wasn’t difficult so she was able to blend in easily enough. Uhm Ki Joon was dynamic as the villain and was able to flip between his character's two faces seamlessly. It was really necessary to have an excellent actor in the villain role as our hero was so well acted, so it was fabulous that the two main actors were on the same level. Shin Rin Ah is just pocket-sized dynamite. She’s explosive in whatever role she plays, and adds a tremendous amount of heart to her characters. Once again, I fell in love with her character quickly, and Shin Rin Ah had amazing chemistry with Ji Sung and Kim Min Suk, the two actors she interacted with most. While a lot of child actors can feel a bit like they’re just reciting the lines and actions given to them, Shin Rin Ah always makes her scenes and characters feel believable- as an adult actor does. I really think she’s a cut above other child actors, and I always feel confident that she’ll do an incredible job- which she did.

I love her in everything she's ever been in

The side characters were absolutely perfect. While the prison inmates were used mostly for comedic relief, they still felt like real people rather than just ridiculous characters (*cough*StrongWomanDoBongSoon*cough*). They added the lightness that the drama needed, but never overplayed the humour. And I have a bit of a Kim Min Suk bias I’ll admit (when will he get his own leading role? Wheeeeeen?), but he really was perfect in this role. He always tends to take on adorable puppy-like characters, so it was the perfect way to set up his involvement in Ha Yeon’s kidnapping. It’s a sweet young character being played by Kim Min Suk- I did NOT expect him to be a kidnapper (and nearly kid-murderer).

Why show, whhhyyyyyyy?

But of course he returned to his sweet puppy nature and gave us a wonderfully conflicted character to love. My only gripe is that his character’s death felt a bit unnecessary (Min Ho was so f*cked whether Sung Kyu lived or not). I fear he might have been collateral in the episode extension.

What Wasn’t:

Slow Start:

Oh my goodness, at the start of this drama I really couldn’t understand what all the fuss what about because it was so darn slow moving. Like, yeah, Ji Sung’s an amazing actor and he can move me with his awesome crying skills- but after a while I got tired of him being so mopey.

Why not put some effort into finding out how your wife died?

He had no desire to find out the truth, didn’t interact with anyone around him to find out what was going on (like he could’ve saved soooo much trouble if he confided what was up to his cell buddies), and the biggest issue was that he had no belief in himself. We were being told that there was all this evidence that pointed to Jung Woo being the murderer, and that it was enough to get him to doubt himself, but we didn’t actually see this evidence until much later on. Like, if I woke up in jail and was told I’d killed my family but had no memory of it, I’d be like ‘nope, no way’ (especially if my job involved getting on the bad side of criminals). But Jung Woo just kind of accepted that he killed the love of his life and his precious little girl. What up with that. Seeing Jung Woo stare at walls and try to figure things out by himself wasn’t all that entertaining, particularly when he seemed to have no desire to find out the truth of what happened. Maybe this slower start would have worked if the audience hadn’t seen who was so obviously behind the crime (hello crazy murderer on the loose with a vendetta against Jung Woo), and might have believed that Jung Woo actually could have been a psycho capable of murdering his own family. Once Jung Woo opened up, started getting help from those around him and made a real effort to discover the truth, the show got a lot more interesting. But up until that point…meh.

The prisoners were excellent and I wish Jung Woo had started interacting with them earlier

Lame Redemption:

I hate forced redemptions. I had a feeling that this one was going to happen as Joon Hyuk didn’t really do any crimes that went beyond covering up someone else’s, but he was still a huge jack*ss.

You, sir, are an a-hole.

He either believed his best friend killed his family or knowingly helped frame him- and both of those are pretty sucky. His character projection was understandable enough- he’s a slimy bloke who wants to get ahead in his career, but the things he did were enough to get him axed off any friend list. 1. Did not attempt to find the real murderer. 2. Knowingly destroyed evidence that could have been useful (CCTV footage). 3. Once he knew Ha Yeon was alive he made no effort to get her back, and actually told the crazy murderous criminal to go find her. Yeah, after all that if you hear about him hanging around your kid’s school you should probably tell him to f*ck right off, NOT try and mend the relationship. That’s just stupid. Redemption arcs can be rewarding when done well, but Joon Hyuk didn’t seem nearly sorry enough, and didn’t grovel and cry nearly as much as he needed to in order to earn forgiveness. Get that mofo out ma face and into jail.

Recommend?

100% yes. This is the best drama to come out of the first half of this year. Ji Sung and Uhm Ki Joon (and the rest of the cast) deliver spectacular performances in every single episode.

Prison break

Trace of the Hand

Trace of the Hand

4/10

Trace of the Hand

Genre:                                 Episodes: 17                           Year: 2017

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Kim Hong Shik is a shy, dorky collage student who returns to study after his mandatory military service. He gets a new phone which comes installed with ’T-Scope’- an app that lets him read other people’s text messages. Hong Shik uses the app in order to get closer to Park Min Young, a beautiful, popular girl in his class.

Cast:

Shin Jae Ha (Kim Hong Shik)

Hwa Young (Park Min Young)

Kwon Young Min (Park Soon Young)

Hyo Eun (Lee Soo Bin)

General Thoughts:

It’s kind of weird and kind of cool, but those two aspects somehow don’t really mesh together all that well. The series starts out as a cute little romance with a guy who looks to woo his lady love with the help of reading her text messages.

I adore awkward heroes

It’s creepy when you think about it, and surprisingly the drama actually goes down the ‘hey this is creepy’ road rather than just letting it slide because he’s the hero. But there’s no real cuteness in the drama which is a bit of a downer. I mean, I’m only really here to see Shin Jae Ha and Hwa Young be adorable together.

I can relate

And that did not happen. Like, I don’t really even want to list this as a rom-com, but it’s closer to that than anything else. This series is kind of weirdly genre-less. It’s not quite romantic enough to be a romance, it’s not quite comedic enough to be a comedy, it’s not quite mysterious enough to be a mystery, it’s not quite angsty enough to be a melodrama. Like what even are you? That being said, I will watch pretty much anything with Shin Jae Ha in it. He was what snagged me into watching this drama (and I had to search high and low into the deepest depths of the internet to find it with English subs that were available in my region), and in that sense I don’t regret it at all. Shin Jae Ha gives a great performance. It’s not spectacular as the character isn’t all that complex, but he’s able to quietly go from dorky, loveable hero to slightly jerky creep quite seamlessly. I like Hwa Young quite a lot as an actress (scandals aside) and think she’s pretty good. I’ve loved her in everything I’ve seen her in, but this series didn’t really give her a chance to shine. She’s just there to be a pretty face for the hero to go after.

That arm hover tho

As a character Min Young is pretty bland- she doesn’t really seem to have any preference for anything and just goes from one rich guy to the other. Her character gets a tiny bit of development at the end where she says (quite believably I’ll add) that she liked Hong Shik for his company and not his money, but it would have been nice to see her gradually fall for him the same way Hong Shik gradually fell into creepy territory.

Me: You need sleep!
Also Me: I bet I can finish this whole drama in one night!

The end would have been much more dramatic if you actually believed these two people liked each other at all, but I only felt like Hong Shik liked Min Young’s face, and Min Young liked Hong Shik for chasing after her. Be that as it may, the drama has enough in it to hold your attention, and it really is far from predictable. The episodes are short and sweet, rarely going over 8 minutes, so it’s not like it’s a huge time commitment. This series did seem better directed and better edited than a lot of other short series I’ve seen, and that helped keep the quality of the drama up even when the story wasn’t exactly five stars. It never felt like anyone who was a part of making the drama put in a half effort because it’s only a short series shown online, and it was easy to see that everyone on the production side was working pretty hard to keep it schmick and clean.

What Was Great:

A Little Different:

I love not knowing where a story is going, and I’ll admit that despite the story’s flaws, I enjoyed not knowing how everything would turn out. As fun as short, fluffy dramas are, they can all seem a bit the same- to the point where you know what’s going to happen before it plays out.

You'd think this is where we're headed. You'd be wrong.

This drama did not play out the way I was expecting. Which was awesome. I love being surprised (as long as it’s not done poorly). So while I didn't totally adore the way the drama concluded (where’s all my cute at?!), I give two thumbs up for breaking the mould. 

What Wasn’t:

Anti Hero:

Sooooo it broke the mould, but I didn’t really like where our hero ended up once he was out of the mould. There’s an art to making characters who do less than savoury things loveable, and that just did not happen here. As the drama went on I found myself liking Hong Shik less and less, and the way he was using he message-reading app was becoming super creepy.

When he not only reads all your texts but also has a stalker shrine of you

At first I wondered if it was just my take on the hero, but once he started blackmailing people for money I was pretty sure that the writers were going out of their way to make him seem like a bad dude. Which is fine if he had his redeeming qualities. But he didn’t. Blind and innocent love might have saved him, but that wasn’t really the case. By the end Hong Shik was viewing Min Young as a trophy to be won rather than a girl he liked, and that was only further enforced by his boredom after they started dating (and flirting with other girls on your phone while on a date- just ew). Because we’d spent so much of the series seeing things through Hong Shik’s eyes, it was hard to then reverse that. Min Young was nothing more than a girl he wanted to ‘win’ and Soon Young was the sliiiiiightly less creepy ex who had to be beaten. So once it became clear that Hong Shik wasn’t actually a nice guy, there wasn’t really anyone left in the show to like. This kind of reversal might have worked nicely if there was a lot of depth and story backing it up- but in a short series that rounds out to about 100 minutes, that just wasn’t likely to happen. And so it didn’t.

Recommend?

No, I wouldn’t really. It’s easy enough to get through if you really want to, but there are other short series I’d rate above this one.

Dear Shin Jae Ha, Please play a nice, loveable hero next time. From fangirls everywhere.