Radio Romance

Radio Romance

3.5/10

Radio Romance

Genre:                                                 Episodes: 16                                      Year: 2018

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Song Geu Rim has always dreamed of being a radio writer, but her talent lies in coercing guests to star, not in writing scripts. An eccentric PD hires Geu Rim to be his main writer on the condition that she can get top star Ji Soo Ho to be their DJ. However, Soo Ho has no interest in radio and hates live shows, as his personal life as well as his acting is completely scripted.

Cast:

Kim So Hyun (Song Geu Rim)

Yoon Doo Joon (Ji Soo Ho)

Yoon Park (Lee Gang)

Yura (Jin Tae Ri)

Kwak Dong Yeon (Jason)

Ha Joon (Kim Joon Woo)

Oh Hyun Kyung (Nam Joo Ha)

Jo Byung Gyu (Ko Hoon Jung)

General Thoughts:

It’s finally over! I’ve been slogging my way through this drama for a few months now and it’s finally done! I’m freeeeeee!

Free to put off watching 'Let's Eat 3' because this drama actually made me believe I don't like Yoon Doo Joon.

I do feel like my ratings recently might be a bit towards the harsh side, but I’ve just watched so many cr*p dramas this year that I’m starting to be pretty unforgiving towards their flaws. And honestly, ‘Radio Romance’ wasn’t exactly short on flaws. In fact, there wasn’t really anything this show did well at all. To start with the plot was meandering and boring, and completely failed to earn my interest after about episode 5 or 6. Which is pretty bloody early to lose interest- that’s usually around where the drama’s first conflict is peaking.

My investment in this drama was about the level of Soo Ho's investment in this conversation

The reason for this loss of interest is that literally nothing happened in this drama. It was all about whether Soo Ho would do the radio show or not. And why should we care whether he does the show? I didn’t like Geu Rim enough to want him to do the show for her sake, and there was no real reason behind Soo Ho being the only DJ option beyond that PD Gang insisting on it. Like really, just let the stuffy star stew in his miserably rich life and get on with your program.

I don't particularly care about either of you guys

The only other thing going on in the plot was the love-line, which again I didn’t care about. I think it was a mixture of dislike of Soo Ho, a cringey age-gap, and the lack of chemistry that made the romance (ie. the central point of the show) such a bust. The plot was boring and unengaging, and the acting wasn’t the best either. I know these actors can do much better, so their less than outstanding performances made me think that their characters were really awkwardly written. Or maybe everyone was just having an off project. Maybe both. Yoon Doo Joon is well known for his smarmy, food loving persona of Dae Young in the ‘Let’s Eat’ franchise, and while Soo Ho was a similar sort of character, Yoon Doo Joon wasn’t able to inject Soo Ho with that humane warmth the way he does with Dae Young. I didn’t feel like he added anything of his own to the character of Soo Ho, whereas he’s previously made Dae Young a character so completely his that no one can imagine any other actor playing him. Soo Ho was a hard character to handle, as he’s written as an immature yet professional man- which is kind of contradictory in itself. As the plot stagnated, I could feel Yoon Doo Joon trying to pull more out of the character and make him more fun and memorable, but unfortunately it didn’t quite happen.

It's okay, Oppa, just pick a better project next time

As for our female lead, I’m starting to lose faith in Kim So Hyun a bit. I’ve been so wowed by her before, that it’s kind of upsetting seeing her in projects where she doesn’t dazzle. ‘Ruler: Master of the Mask’ was a complete waste of time for everybody, and completely failed to showcase Kim So Hyun’s amazing range, and sadly ‘Radio Romance’ has gone that way as well. I was bummed out when I first heard the casting for this drama as I knew it meant that they were going to age up Kim So Hyun,

Is there some clause in her contract that prevents picking characters that smile?

who at this point in her career really doesn’t need to be accepting roles that age her up. She struggled a bit with portraying an older, more mature character, and while her performance was far from awful, there was something blocking me from fully believing Kim So Hyun as Song Geu Rim. She was always just Kim So Hyun for me in this drama. And I know that both of these actors can have fabulous chemistry (Yoon Doo Joon in ‘Let’s Eat 2’, and Kim So Hyun in ‘Page Turner’ and ‘Let’s Fight, Ghost’), but there was no sizzle between the two of them here. Not even a spark. Unlike the age difference in ‘Let’s Fight, Ghost’ were Kim So Hyun was paired with Taecyeon (who is actually a year older than Yoon Doo Joon), I really felt like Yoon Doo Joon and his character were far older than Kim So Hyun. While Yoon Doo Joon’s character was the more immature one, he still felt older and more travelled than Kim So Hyun’s Song Geu Rim, who felt weirdly and off-puttingly pulled together and mature considering how young she looked and felt. It’s not that you can’t have characters who are young and mature, but the show tried to cram together this sensitive, supportive, mature female character with a bright and innocent personality, and it just didn’t come together all that well.

The overly saccharine mother-daughter relationship was also kinda cringey

It felt too much like they were trying to force Kim So Hyun into suiting the character, when they could have just cast someone else who simply suited the character better from the get go. Kwak Dong Yeon has just stolen my heart as the sweet sunbae in ‘My ID is Gangnam Beauty’, and I was  impressed by his acting in ‘Moonlight Drawn by Clouds’.

Mysterious typing

But here he fell pretty flat. At first he made his character engaging and interesting, and he was very good at portraying Jason’s shadier side without making it too obvious, but as the drama started wrapping up and his character took a turn for the schizophrenic, I felt Kwak Dong Yeon starting to lose control of his character and his emotions. By the drama’s close I still have no idea who Jason is, nor why he was so intent on making Soo Ho face his Ji Woo trauma. I do believe that his performance was weighed down heavily by the fact that the writer had absolutely no idea what do with his character, which is a total shame. I mean, it must be a horrifically tough job to act out a character that isn’t explained or incorporated into the story properly. On the flip side, Girl’s Day’s Yura did a really excellent job at acting out the bratty, forgotten actress vying for Soo Ho’s attention. Did I like her? No. Did I want things to work out well for her? Not really. But did I believe her character? 100%. This was Yura’s first proper foray into a 16 episode series, and she did a wonderful job at bringing to life her bratty, entitled character.

Though I do resent that tied her up with the cute manager, cuz ya know- girl's a b*tch

Yoon Park was absolutely astounding, but more on him later. One thing that irritated me throughout this whole drama was the hair and makeup. Not on any of the supporting cast, who all looked fab (barring PD Gang who looked appropriately homeless), but on our leading characters. And really, if there are characters that you absolutely don’t want to f*ck up, it’s your leads.

Jason's biggest transgression was not telling him his hair made him look like a knob

For some reason Yoon Doo Joon was sporting a red hairdo at the start of this series. Is there some belief that top stars have to dye their hair bizarre colours to be counted as top stars? Or was this a hairstyle he had for his Highlight promotions? I don’t know, but either way it was terrible. I have never before noticed that Yoon Doo Joon’s eyes can go a pinkish shade, whether due to allergy or tiredness I don’t know, but this red hairstyle made it painfully obvious. It really brought out the red in Yoon Doo Joon’s eyes, and made him look at best ill or exhausted and at worst like his eyes were actually bleeding. Yeah, overall not a pleasant effect. Thankfully about a third through the drama, production staff realised that this was a bad call and promptly returned Yoon Doo Joon’s hair to an appropriate, appealing black. And he was back to looking brilliant. Sort of. Because on top of the red hair, his makeup was also white. Like legit white. Yoon Doo Joon’s skin is a beautiful colour, so I completely fail to see why the drama wanted to wash him out. Rather than giving him a beautiful healthy glow, his makeup instead served to make him look undernourished and kinda sick.

I mean...his face is a different colour to his neck...

Maybe I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t actually know what Yoon Do Joon looked like, but alas I do. And he doesn’t usually look like his face has been rolled around in baby powder. As for Kim So Hyun, I can kind of understand why her look turned out so weird- they tried to age her up to match her character’s age. The super curly perm and the red lips that Kim So Hyun’s character originally had were obviously tools that the drama was using to try and make her look older than 20. Except, she just ended up looking like a 20 year old with cr*ppy hair and makeup. Thankfully, as with Yoon Doo Joon’s red hair, the drama staff realised that this was a terrible decision, and gave Geu Rim a makeover.

It's like a competition of who has the worst hair

Though I admit that she either still had a terrible haircut, or her hair extensions were just painfully obvious. But it was still better than the perm we started out with. These might sound like stupid and petty complaints, but character styling is a huge part of dramas- how do you expect me to focus on the story you’re trying to tell if all I can focus on is all the ways someone who is apparently not that good at their job made two attractive people such fashion disasters?

What Was Great:

PD-nim:

Yoon Park as PD Lee Gang was a bright spot in this rather dismal drama. I was a bit alarmed when I first saw him, as I wasn’t entirely sure that the crazy bohemian character was one that he could pull off- I’ve seen him play sweet and sincere characters, and cold and nasty characters, but never goofy. However, he did an excellent job.

I apologise for my lack of faith

Yoon Park really embraced the character of Lee Gang and played him to perfection. He gave PD Gang just the right amount of wackiness with just the right amount of honest sincerity underneath. PD Gang became a character that was funny but also emotional- not to mention he was a doer. PD Gang didn’t wait around for things to happen or for someone else to solve his problems for him, he was always trying something or working something out. Perhaps one of my favourite things about PD Gang is that, unlike the actual hero of the story, he didn’t force his wants onto Geu Rim (except that one time he wanted Soo Ho to be their DJ). He treated her as a competent writer, and got angry whenever anyone else, including Geu Rim herself, didn’t treat her as such. He was encouraging in a tough-love kind of way where he helped Geu Rim help herself. Rather than instantly trying to fix all her problems, PD Gang helped Geu Rim to come to her own conclusions and solutions. Not only did he do this for Geu Rim, the girl he liked, but he also helped So Hoo along as well. You know, the guy who got the girl.

PD-nim! Save us from this blatant lack of chemistry!

PD Gang was never bitter, possessive or aggressive when he realised that he had lost his timing with Geu Rim, he simply let her know where he was at so that she could make a choice. While some would, and have, argued that confessing to a girl you know likes someone else is a bit of a d*ck move, I didn’t mind it too much in this case. PD Gang didn’t confess to shake Geu Rim’s feelings for Soo Ho, he was simply going on the very tiny possibility that maybe, knowing that he liked her, Geu Rim might return his feelings. And when he was told that wasn’t the case, he returned to their friendly working relationship. Leaving Soo Ho being the only one irritated and bothered by the confession, not Geu Rim.

Though I don't recall a lot of work actually getting done in the second half of this show

 Lee Gang was just a fun, likeable character in a drama filled with boring, dislikable characters, and he was acted out brilliantly by Yoon Park. He was a scene-stealer, and I absolutely adored him.

What Wasn’t:

Makne Writer:

No, I’m not talking about Geu Rim here, I mean the actual writer of the drama. ‘Radio Romance’ is her first ever drama, and it kinda shows. There’s potential there for sure, but the overall writing for this drama was just a bit sloppy and couldn’t quite pull all its threads together.

These two always looked like they were freezing their lil' buns off

The ideas were all there, but they never came together in an enjoyable, cohesive way, and as a result the overall drama just felt a bit mundane and unfinished. Plot points that should have been dealt with quickly, such as Soo Ho breaking away from his family, or Soo Ho trying to do the radio show, felt like they were dragged out far longer than they needed to be, and plot points that should have had more time being developed, such as who the actual hell Woo Ji Woo was, were rushed over really quickly at the end. The characters were also kind of there, but most fell short in some way or the other. While it was nice to have a female protagonist who wasn’t a Candy Girl, I did find Geu Rim too pigeonholed into her identity as a blind woman’s daughter. While it made sense that this was where her love of the radio came from, basically every aspect of Geu Rim’s personality, including her interactions with Soo Ho and Ji Woo, were based around her mother’s blindness. I had no sense of Geu Rim as a person, and she simply became a typical ray of sunshine for everyone. Which sounds nice, but came across as a bit blasé and boring.

This writer was greener than a drunk Irishman on St Paddy's Day.

She didn’t blow up or misunderstand simple things, which was a bonus, but on the flip side her emotions and reactions were so low key that she felt slightly unnatural and robotic. Soo Ho also was close to being an enjoyable lead, but just skewed too far to the *sshole side. Just because you’ve been hurt, it doesn’t give you the right to be a giant jack*ss to everyone else. Soo Ho was often childish and immature in a selfish and demanding way, which to me was extremely off-putting.

Crazy jealous just isn't my style

Sure, he was written this way because he needed to grow and develop, and probably to promote the idea that he was emotionally stunted due to his tense family dynamics, but to me he just came across as nasty and self-centred- not sympathetic. His pushy attitude towards Geu Rim and his complete possessiveness of her were red flags for me, and should have sent any girl running. I mean, when you’re not even dating the dude and he’s going around telling your friend/boss not to be near you or touch you, that’s a major jealousy and inferiority issue right there, and I wouldn’t want a bar of that. It honestly slightly concerned me that the writer was spinning this behaviour as ‘cute’. It’s not cute. It’s obsessive, creepy, and about one jealous rampage away from abusive. I have absolutely no idea what the writer was aiming for with the Soo Ho-Ji Woo storyline, as all it ended up doing for me was confirming that Soo Ho was a total d*uche who thought of no one but himself. I think that maaaaaybe the writer was aiming for a sadly bittersweet love story about the friendship of these two boys, but in my eyes Soo Ho was a pretty cr*ppy friend.

I present to you the winner of the Worst-Friend-Ever Award for 2018!

The rundown- Soo Ho meets the terminally ill Ji Woo in hospital and they become friends. Ji Woo tells him he likes Geu Rim. Soo Ho then realises that he too likes Geu Rim (which is d*ck move number one, cuz if you know your mate is crushing hard then that person is instantly off limits. Particularly if your friend is DYING.). Soo Ho then stops delivering the love letters Ji Woo was asking him to give to Geu Rim,

You played dirty bro

without telling Ji Woo (d*ck move number two, because seriously who does that, it’s so sneaky and low). Soo Ho then proceeds to make moves on Geu Rim (at this point I’m unsure whether Geu Rim thought he was the guy who wrote her letters because I don’t think it was ever spelled out, or it was and I totally missed it). Soo Ho then kisses Geu Rim, which he knows is the one thing Ji Woo wants to do before he dies (I’m losing track of which d*ck move we’re up to as there really are so many). Of course Ji Woo sees this kiss and Soo Ho feels terrible and guilty. As he should. He runs away from Ji Woo causing Ji Woo to chase him and get hit by a truck of doom and he dies. So yes, while I agree that Ji Woo’s death isn’t Soo Ho’s fault, Soo Ho is still a sh*t friend. The writer tries to turn our emotions around by having Ji Woo start to write letters to Soo Ho, knowing that he wasn’t delivering them to Geu Rim, but all that really did was make Ji Woo look like a way better friend than Soo Ho deserved. The whole plot line was random and confusing, and didn’t serve to make our hero any more likeable or sympathetic.

Oh, and Crazy Mum's redemption came totally out of the blue too

It was paced terribly, with the reveal coming in the final two episodes after we’ve all pretty much stopped caring about what went on between the boys anyway. There was no slow unravelling of the mystery- it was just withheld from us all series long until it got dumped on us right at the end.

Recommend?

No. Not at all. 

And so ends Ji Soo Ho's Radio Romance (Thank the K-Drama Gods).