Tale of the Nine Tailed

 Tale of the Nine Tailed

6.5/10

Tale of the Nine Tailed

Genre:                                      Episodes: 16                         Year: 2020

Fantasy 

Romance

Synopsis:

Lee Yeon was a nine tailed fox who sacrificed his position of Guardian of Baekdudaegan mountain to reincarnate his human lover. He has spent the last several hundred years waiting and searching for her reincarnation. As he waits, he meets Nam Ji Ah, a producer who searches for supernatural stories as she hopes to find her parents who mysteriously disappeared when she was a child. 

Cast:

Lee Dong Wook (Lee Yeon)

Jo Bo Ah (Nam Ji Ah)

Kim Bum (Lee Rang)

Hwang Hee (Goo Shin Joo)

Kim Yong Ji (Kim Yoo Ri)

Lee Tae Ri (Imoogi/Terry)

Eom Hyo Seop (Kwon Hae Ryong)

Kim Jung Nan (Samdo River Gatekeeper)

Ahn Kil Kang (Hyun Ui Ong)

Kim Soo Jin (Bok Hye Ja)

General Thoughts:

This show started out really well but unfortunately just wasn’t able to last the distance. At the start the show felt sparkly and new and unlike any other K-Drama that I had seen. But the further into the story I got, I realised that there wasn’t actually anything all that new or inventive going on. It was just a run of the mill drama dressed up in extravagant fox fur.

Not as mystical as I was hoping

The writer is pretty new which can be a bit of a warning sign (but hey, everyone has to start somewhere), but the cast are not exactly actors to sniff at- and when so many great actors sign onto a project, I kinda assume there has to be something special about it. But that just wasn’t really the case for ‘Nine Tailed’. The main characters felt very stock standard, the plot stalled at its climax, and the world-building was very incomplete. There were sprinkles of greatness here and there, but once the shine from a new fantasy show staring Lee Dong Wook as a mythical creature wore off, we weren’t left with all that much.

Long lost loves doomed by fate- what's new?

 The plot line was really the show’s biggest weakness, as it wasn’t able to create a tense race against time that I think the writer was aiming for. The only buildup we really had was that either Yeon or Ji Ah was going to die. And then there were a lot of episodes of everyone talking about how much that sucked and how badly they wanted to change fate. But not actually doing anything about it. Yeah, yawn. When your plot is driven solely by conversations it becomes a bit of a drag, particularly when so many of those conversations are rehashing information that the viewers already know. Yeon finds out about their Imoogi fate. Then Ji Ah. Then they discuss it. Then they tell the Gatekeeper. Then they discuss it some more. Like jeezus, can we have some actual action here please? I found it particularly difficult to continue liking Yeon and Ji Ah as characters the longer the death-fate plot was draaaaaagged out, as my boredom with the plot naturally shifted to boredom with the main characters, who at time were moping about their sad destiny, and at other times were pretending to be a big ol’ happy family while completely ignoring the Imoogi danger. It was very frustrating. And it’s not like these characters had bad actors either. Lee Dong Wook is extraordinarily charismatic, and Jo Bo Ah has a delightful, bubbly energy that makes her easy to like. However even these two actors couldn’t quite pull their characters through the bogged down plot, try though they might.

I kind of wish we'd spent a bit more time in the past with god-Yeon

Yeon’s character was just painfully stereotypical. Aloof yet petty god-like being who hides his empathetic heart- where have a seen that before? Only in every fantasy K-Drama ever. And Ji Ah’s character, while a little less typical, just wasn’t that outstanding. Seriously, why is it that male characters can have so many different ‘attractive’ qualities but females just get stuck with only ‘bright’ and ‘innocent’. I’d love to see a drama where the female lead is aloof or petty. And audiences everywhere are desperate for heroines with a bit more than just innocent brightness- just look at how much we all love Moon Young from ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay’!

It's a damsel and she's in distress

Ji Ah started out a bit more gutsy than she finished, but her character was only really included in the story so that Yeon would have something to save. Even though Ji Ah had a large part of the original Imoogi spirit inside her it gave her no extra powers, and she had absolutely no real way to alter her fate. Beyond just saving Yeon the trouble and killing herself that is. She was an interesting enough heroine, and I so wish the writer had given her something more to do than just being in love with Yeon. I like Ji Ah much better when she was fighting against fear-spirits or digging into supernatural mysteries- taking away her ability to really save herself or Yeon made her pretty useless, and any time she did try to do anything in the final episodes of the show it just made her seem stupid. Yes, call out the mystical, powerful spirit inside you for a chat, I’m sure that poses no danger to you or the people you are trying to protect. I appreciated that the drama kept Ji Ah’s fighting spirit going strong- she never just sat down and gave up, but I just wished she’d had a way to be more in control of her won fate. Even Yeon’s mystical magical abilities were very rarely used- I think maybe if the show had upped the special powers a bit, and had Ji Ah able to draw on her Imoogi powers and become a combined force with Yeon’s nine tailed fox power that could have been really cool.

This was AMAZING, but it only happened once. And in like...episode 3...

But that would probably have come with a hefty special effects budget which this show might not have had.The acting in the drama was pretty good all around, and our leads were consistent throughout the show’s run. I didn’t feel like it was Lee Dong Wook’s best performance ever, and did think that perhaps he was getting a little complacent towards the end there when the drama reached the height of it’s emotions with Rang saying his video goodbye. I’m not sure if Lee Dong Wook was struggling with the character or the script, but I just wasn’t feeling the heart-wrenching emotion that I know he can deliver. He was perfectly petty when the show required it, and he really delivered on the cool and mysterious aspects of his character. His simmering rage the few times he let his powers lose to defend Ji Ah was done wonderfully, and I think a lot of the believability of the romance came from Lee Dong Wook’s portrayal.

I did have a chuckle at how hard Jo Bo Ah seemed to grip Lee Dong Wook's neck

Jo Bo Ah didn’t wow me as our heroine, but I think that was more from the show’s writing than her acting ability. She certainly did the role well, and her transitions between Ji Ah and Imoogi Ji Ah were very smooth. I liked the determination Jo Bo Ah gave Ji Ah’s character, and similarly to the character itself, I think Jo Bo Ah would have shined a lot more if she’d been given something a bit more interesting to do to drive the plot forwards. The chemistry between Lee Dong Wook and Jo Bo Ah was…nothing sensational.

Absolute King of Chemistry

They were believable enough but they didn’t really get that spark going that makes  K-Drama couple feel really special. Kim Bum on the other hand, they both had wonderful chemistry with. The love-hate relationship between the brothers was ripe with tension and was always fascinating to watch. The quiet ways they showed they cared were definitely the best and were more heart-fluttering than any big declaration. The two had a great rapport and were endlessly entertaining. Yeon was kinda a bit of a butt to Rang though, and while it was easy to see how Rang misunderstood Yeon’s intentions and ended up thinking that Yeon abandoned him, Yeon kind of did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to fix the situation. Instead of just having one simple, frank conversation with Rang, Yeon let Rang's wounds fester and his hostility grow for 600 years give or take. Which is a pretty sucky thing to do. Kim Bum and Jo Bo Ah had a really interesting chemistry too. While they didn’t share a lot of screen time in the middle stages of the drama, the hostility from Rang was really interesting to watch unfold, and Ji Ah’ s bad*ss candid responses to him were really cool and helped bolster her character and give her a bit of uniqueness. The petty, competitive bonding the two had after Yeon’s death was also really fun, and was full of humour and heart, and did make you wish they’d had a bit more of a chance to interact throughout the drama's runtime.

100% would watch a spin-off about this rag-tag fam

Kim Bum absolutely smashed his role and it was such a delight to see him back in Dramaland after his long hiatus. He certainly didn’t feel rusty, and he once again delivered a wonderful ‘bad boy’ tope persona, squishy centre included. Rang had a much more interesting storyline and development than Yeon (who was pretty boring if we’re bring honest), and Kim Bum had a big range of emotions that he had to deliver on. He slayed every single scene, and I ended up wishing that the drama itself had actually been about Rang rather than Yeon. The plot started off at a fairly decent pace, but just after the halfway mark it really slowed down.

Terry killed a LOT of people while Yeon *ssed about

It felt like there should have been another event and a bit more buildup to the final Imoogi confrontation, because as it stands, after Rang declares for Team Yeon, not a lot happens. Terry reveals himself as Imoogi (which Yeon didn’t tell everyone about already because…that would make too much sense?) and then there’s like 5 episodes of everyone standing about talking about how much it sucks that Imoogi is here and now how sad it is that either Yeon or Ji Ah has to die. It was very stagnant. Due to the romance being more on the lukewarm side, I found myself not really caring if they were separated or not, and just wishing that one of them would hurry up and die already so that innocent people would stop being killed by Imoogi’s plague. Seriously, over 900 people died in the 3 days Yeon took to formulate any sort of plan. Nine. Hundred. All because he wanted to save one girl. I’m kinda on the Gatekeeper’s side on this one- let the one die for the sake of the many. Brutal? Kinda. Best course of action? Definitely. Those poor 900 dead people are pretty quickly swept under the rug and forgotten, and the drama totally glossed over that Yeon and Ji Ah were ready to let basically everyone on the planet die so that they could live happily together. Kinda selfish in my books. On a positive note, something the drama did really well with was the overall look of the show. It was very pretty and very glam. Even though the plot was a bit slow, it’s hard not to get sucked in by the pure beauty of the show.

Such pretty, much wow

It was lovely to look at, from the costuming to the sets, and there was a really lovely soundtrack to accompany all the pretty on screen. None of the supernatural elements felt tacky or looked like bad CGI, and the show felt really professional and smooth. The actual world building, however, could have used a little more work- we only get introduced to a handful of supernatural beings, and even then they are explained rather poorly. I never quite understood how the afterlife/supernatural system worked- Rang has been ‘wanted’ for hundreds of years even though everybody always knows exactly where to find him when they need him.

Did someone forget to tell 'evil' CEO that this wasn't a comedy?

Who goes after the wanted people anyway? Clearly not Yeon- Yeon doesn’t seem to have any sort of supernatural job. He’s just immortal. And rich. I do wish a bit more detail had been put into the world building, but there were a few elements of detail that I liked- the nine tailed fox favour bonds as a way to bind the foxes extreme power was an interesting take, and I did like how that played into the story with Rang being unable to break away from the evil CEO and Ah Eum forcing Yeon to kill her by returning a favour. I liked the added complexity it gave the fox powers and was glad that it was a recurring detail and not just thrown in at the last moment. While the show as a whole wasn't exactly the heart-stopping entertainment I was hoping for, there was certainly enough in it to keep it interesting. The final few episodes with the slow in pace really hurt the show, but it was otherwise an enjoyable watch. I think my high expectations left me feeling a little let down, which is why I seem to be focusing more on what I didn’t like over what the show actually did well.

What Was Great:

Sassy Sides:

So better get onto what the show did well. The side characters were wonderful. More specifically, the fox side characters. They had a lot of humour, heart and personality, and they were always fabulous to watch on screen.

Yes, please, thank you

While I didn’t exactly like Yoo Ri when she was first introduced (she seemed snappy, selfish and a tad too happy about violence) she grew on me pretty quickly and actually ended up becoming one of my favourite characters. As the plot started to drag, I found myself wishing that Yoo Ri had been the heroine of this show. While there was nothing wrong with Ji Ah, Yoo Ri was just SO unique and fun. And Yoo Ri got sh*t done. Admittedly, she didn’t really think things through, and she also didn’t really care about what happened to people that weren’t Rang or Shin Joo, but I actually found that to be one of the entertaining and endearing parts of her character.

I didn't expect to, but I adore Yoo Ri

While I admit it may not really work for a heroine if she doesn’t care about anyone else, it was quite refreshing to have a character who thought that way, and not only thought that way but really owned it. Yoo Ri didn’t pretend to be righteous or pure- she knew who she was and what she wanted and never pretended about anything else. The way her flippant, remorseless attitude caught others off guard was really fun, and it was a pure delight seeing Shin Joo start to pull her out of her hurt and direct her forward, determined attitude into other things- like taking care of Soo Oh. Shin Joo was another character that was fun to watch on screen. Similarly to Yoo Ri he had no hidden motives and was extremely loyal. He had great banter with Yeon, Yoo Ri and Rang, and could always be counted on to deliver backhanded humour with a charming smile. His innocence was endearing, and watching Yoo Ri fall for that innocence and warmth was really sweet. Throw Rang (who is easily the best character in the show) into the mix, and you’ve got such a fun, entertaining group of side characters. After Yeon’s death when Shin Joo and Yoo Ri get married, it was such a fun and unexpected dynamic to see all three of them (plus Soo Oh) living together. They all had fantastic chemistry and owned every scene that they were in, no matter who else was in the scene with them. 

What Wasn’t:

Convenient Reincarnation:

So many times in this drama we are told that reincarnation is random. It’s not a guaranteed way to see someone again. They will likely not look the same. They could be a different gender. Yeah, so that was a lie.

So if you look really closely, Ah Eum and Ji Ah are EXATLY THE SAME

Literally every person in this show who we see has been reincarnated looks exactly the same as they did in their past life. Except for the dog who is now human. But apart from that. All the same. So it’s evidently not as random as the show would have you believe. It was also miiiiighty convenient. Yeon dies, and then Rang sacrificed himself so that Yeon can be reincarnated and have another life. It’s all supposed to be very bittersweet and sad. And then Yeon is back. Not as a baby, not even as a child. He is back as a full grown adult with all his memories and even all his nine tailed fox power. So that’s less of a reincarnation thing and more of a resurrection thing.

Those expressions are basically how I watched Yeon's 'reincarnation' play out

It made no sense and it was quite lame. All the conflict the show tried (and I would argue it didn’t necessarily succeed) to gather is just…undone. It all seems so pointless if Yeon just gets a free pass and a second shot at life- what were all those episodes of worry for then? Like, sure, the characters didn’t know that it would pan out that way, but it felt like a huge cop out, and felt more like the writers didn’t know how to wrap up the show in a satisfactory manner after killing Yeon so they just brought him back. At the expense of Rang. If we’re all being honest, we knew Rang wasn’t making it out of the drama alive. Bad boy brothers that turn to the good side never make it out alive. It’s like the brooding bodyguard best friend in Joseon dramas.

My heart did hurt for Rang here

 Always gonna die. But the way they did it was so….not cool. Okay, so the actual scene was great. Kim Bum slayed the emotions, and the fact that time ran out just before Yoo Ri could reach him and say goodbye was absolutely heartbreaking. Rang’s death was always going to hurt, but it hurt that much more seeing Yoo Ri so close to being able to be next to him when it happened, but not quite. So the scene was wonderful, but how we got there wasn’t. Rang and Ji Ah are arguing about which one should sacrifice themselves to get Yeon back. And they decide on Rang. Rang who has a whole new family and finally has a chance of living a life where he can love and be loved freely. Ji Ah has…her parents? Two friends? The show spent a lot of time and effort making us believe that Yeon was everything to her. So why didn’t she let Rang have his well earned happiness and just take a shot in the dark and hope that she and Yeon cross paths in their next life? Sure, I can understand Rang’s argument that her dying negates the sacrifice that Yeon made…but as she didn’t know that Yeon was going to come back as an adult man with all his memories…why would she just continue on like that? It felt like a quick and easy way to just switch the dead brothers, and it wasn’t satisfying at all. In my mind, either Ji Ah should have sacrificed herself and she and Yeon could have been born again and grown up knowing each other and falling in love all while being looked over by this weird fox family of Rang, Yoo Ri and Shin Joo. Or Rang could have taken the Imoogi inside himself somehow and sacrificed himself for Ji Ah and Yeon both, thus completely changing their so-called ‘fate’.

If you'd switched Yeon and Rang here I would have literally downed in my tears (in a good way)

Rang would have a bittersweet ending, and Yeon and Ji Ah would have been together. The only perk of actually having Yeon die would be so that he could be reincarnated as a human and live a human life with Ji Ah like he wanted. But then the show backtracked on that too and he was still a nine tailed fox in the final scene! The way this show handled death and reincarnation was just so sloppy and so all over the place, and was definitely a big weakness in the writing.

Ji Ah, Ah Eum...Ah Well, doesn't matter anyway

 It also felt like the love-line suffered a bit because of the show's over-reliance on the reincarnation theme. Because the writer was leaning so heavily on 'fate' being what drew our hero and heroine together, it kind of missed out on developing their own special connection. A lot of the time it felt like Yeon was seeing Ji Ah and Ah Eum as the same person- but they weren't! Sure the soul is technically the same, but Ji Ah didn't have any of the memories of Ah Eum. Sure, she then saw her past life played out- but that was more like watching a movie than anything else, and Ah Eum and Ji Ah remained completely separate entities. At first when Ji Ah wasn't reacting to Yeon calling for his fox bead I thought it meant that Ji Ah might not actually be the reincarnation of Ah Eum, and that we would discover Ah Eum somewhere else. Preferably happy and in love with someone else and living her best life away from Yeon. And then Yeon would really have to pick between Ah Eum and Ji Ah because they wouldn't be the same person! But no, the show went the typical cliche route of the heroine being the main man's reincarnated love. 

Secret Plans:

Does anyone ever sit down and watch a show and just be like ‘oh man, I really hope the main couple in this show don’t communicate well and keep lots of secrets and just make life so much more complicated by keeping everything to themselves and not sharing their pool of knowledge around so they can work together and come to better solutions’? No? Me either.

Wow this blindside could have been totally avoided

So why do K-Drama writers keep making their characters act this way? Golly gosh it is just so annoying. Everybody in this show thinks they know what is best for everyone and act on what they think will work out best. Only instead they aren’t sharing what they know and are putting each other in more danger. Like, it would have been so helpful if Yeon had told Ji Ah what the Imoogi looked like so she wasn’t taken by surprise. And Yeon and Ji Ah both knew for like a whole two episodes who the Imoogi was, what his plan was and neither of them thought it would be a good idea to let Ji Ah’s parents know? That’s how you end up in situations where they are unawares and being friendly to the evil guy. Like jeez, just TALK it’s not that hard!

This really should have been their strategy a lot sooner

It was tricky and tiring to keep track of who knew what and what different plans were being formulated. So many people were caught off guard and ended up having an Imoogi spell put on them just because Yeon didn’t tell his immediate circle of friends what was going down. Just pure bonkers behaviour, it really was. In my opinion, you deserve to get Imoogi’ed to death if that’s how you strategise. 

Recommend?

Ehhh, I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend this to people. Though I would probably say that if you really loved ‘The Lonely Shining Goblin’ or ‘Bride of the Water God’ (though I haven’t seen that one), you may want to give ‘Nine Tailed’ a go. 

So is Yeon just hoping Ji Ah never notices that he isn't ageing and is in fact still an immortal, magical being?

Remember- Son's War

Remember- Son’s War

8.5/10

Remember- Son's War

Genre: Episodes: 20 Year: 2016

Mystery

Melodrama

Synopsis:

After his father is sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit, Seo Jin Woo becomes an attorney in order to defend his father and arrest the real criminal. As his father has Alzheimer’s it is very difficult to prove his innocence. As the trial continues, Jin Woo starts to develop issues with his own memory, and is diagnosed with the same disease as his father. 

Cast:

Yoo Seung Ho (Seo Jin Woo)

Park Min Young (Lee In Ah)

Park Sung Woong (Park Dong Ho)

Namgoong Min (Nam Gyu Man)

Song Young Kyu (Tak Young Jin)

Lee Shi Un (Ahn Soo Bum)

Eom Hyo Seop (Hong Moon Suk)

Lee Won Jong (Suk Joo Il)

Kim Jin Woo (Kang Suk Kyu)

Jung Hye Song (Nam Yeo Kyung)

General Thoughts:

What a cracker. This drama was interesting to watch from start to finish, with hardly any dull moments in between. It’s not the most original content (murderous chaebol), but the extensive cast gave great performances and populated the drama-world with an interesting mix of characters.

I love Dong Ho and all his flashy suits

The plot wasn’t exactly plot-hole free, but as the series didn’t linger too long on any one conflict it was easy to overlook some aspects of the story that weren’t exactly concrete, as you never really had time to think about it too deeply, and could just let it pass as this drama’s logic. The few beginning episodes when the story was setting itself up were a little slow, but once the conflict was presented the drama moved along at a ripping pace.

This expression made me annoyed rather than sad

Our hero was perhaps a little too weepy in the early episodes (I just didn’t find Yoo Seung Ho to be a moving, believable weeper, though I know many do), so I enjoyed the story much more when he was being a confident, in-control lawyer. He was an easy character to root for- underdog hero does everything he can to bring down a corrupt powerhouse. What’s not to like? Yoo Seung Ho was brilliant in scenes where he was strong and determined, and really sold the man-on-a-mission vibe. He was also excellent in moments when his memory loss came into play. While I may not be sold on his crying abilities, his gradual shift from innocent to confused to sad realisation was done perfectly. You couldn’t help but feel for Jin Woo when he had a memory slip and just had that expression of pure confusion and helplessness. Park Min Young was excellent as the heroine beside him, and although she didn’t actually do all that much, she still remained a strong presence in the show. It shows how strong the character was written and how well Park Min Young played her that In Ah could be pretty quiet for a couple of episodes but it always remained clear that she was a source of strength for Jin Woo, and was fighting her own battles in the background. And boy oh boy did those two have some smoking chemistry going on!

Kya~ look how cute they are!

The times they got to play around and flirt with each other were just too cute and actually left me feeling a bit sad that the show didn’t have more romance in it- because I so wouldn't have minded seeing the two of them interact while happy a bit more. It also made me remember just how darn wonderful Yoo Seung Ho is when he smiles- because Lord knows we didn't see a lot of that in the drama.

His accent was icing on the awesome-character-cake

And Park Sung Woong was just magic! I have never come across him before, but he’s totally on my radar now. He made Dong Ho such an endearing yet conflicting character. He was so dynamic and so interesting that I really wanted him to come over to team Jin Woo. My desire for Dong Ho to turn against Gyu Man lead to me having a rather unfounded belief that there was NO WAY Dong Ho would sacrifice Jin Woo and his father. Except…he kinda already had. It was a great effort on Park Sung Woong’s part that Dong Ho remained a likeable character, as he showed his confliction and his constant desire to do the right thing, even though for most of the drama’s run Dong Ho actually didn’t do the right thing at all. I mean, when you think about it, he buried a whole lot of Gyu Man’s crimes and didn’t go back and correct them. The only one we saw play out was Gyu Man’s rape case (which Dong Ho buried) and that was only brought up by Jin Woo and In Ah in order to get Gyu Man in the defendant seat so they could make the investigation focus on the murder Jin Woo's father was blamed for. How many other horrible crimes did Dong Ho help cover up? And yet despite all this, through Park Sung Woong's brilliant acting, he was one my favourite characters for the entire show.

You can't not not love him- he's just so snazzy

The momentum of the show was pretty fast, with new, smaller conflicts being introduced to keep our minds occupied while the heroes prepared for the final showdown. The smaller conflicts always had something to do with Gyu Man or Jin Woo’s father’s case, so it never felt like we were watching filler in order to get through the number of episodes the show needed to air.

Great angle, great lighting, great face

Granted, there were a few plot holes now and then (though admittedly most of them have slipped my mind by now), but the show’s constant focus on the big picture made it easy to let minor details slide. I found the plot and the characters so enjoyable that I was happy to not let my mind focus on the messier parts of the show so that I could be fully engaged in the story the show was trying to tell. And as for something that was certainly not messy- the cinematography! The drama was just shot beautifully. A multitude of angles along with playing with light and shadow really made the drama visually appealing to watch, while also tightening the tensions or emotions of a scene, or giving a bit of insight into the characters. Jin Woo and Dong Ho tended to have a lot of shadow, while In Ah- our prosecutor of justice and hope was always filmed with a lot of light. In fact, there were times it seemed as though In Ah herself was actually glowing- as if her inner goodness was spreading to the world around her (cheesy I know, but not exactly untrue). The drama was just so compelling to watch, and the main characters are just so fascinating. 

What Was Great:

Cast:

There’s not much to say here, everyone was fantastic and they all did brilliant jobs. Namgoong Min really was phenomenal as our villain though.

Great actors make for great conflicts

Goodness, he’s dynamic. He’s one of the best actors when it comes to believable tantrums, and his switching between his two faces was excellently done, albeit a tad creepy. But it’s not just how excellent a villain he was, but Namgoong Min also made Gyu Man weirdly relatable.

How do I feel bad for you? You are quite possibly the worst human ever...so...how?

Like, he was a horrible, horrific human being with no redeemable qualities, and yet I found myself feeling sorry for him. How? Why? It really had very little to do with how the character was written, it’s just that Namgoong Min had this amazing ability to show how lonely and hurt Gyu Man really was with very minute facial expressions in very minute amounts of time. Sometimes in K-Drama you get so used to seeing a lot of actors and so used to the roles that come up a lot (such as rich boys with murderous tendencies) that it all kind of becomes the same. Then you’ll have an actor, such as Namgoong Min, come along and smash their role out of the park and it really makes you sit up and notice what a good actor they are. Because no matter how many Chaebol villains we get, Gyu Man is probably going to be one of the ones I remember most- and that’s purely because he was acted so perfectly.

Gradual Progress:

Generally speaking I’m not a huge fan of cat-and-mouse conflicts. I tend to find them a bit circular and slow, as our hero and villain fight all series long but we know the hero will come out on top. So in this sense, I appreciated that ‘Remember’ focused less on how our hero was going to defeat his enemy, but more on how he will change as a person and what he will have to sacrifice on his way to victory.

Gave up love for justice

In the end, Jin Woo spends his last years with memory fighting against injustice and gives up any chance at leading a normal, happy life. He could have easily given up after his father died and spent his time contently with In Ah, but instead he chose to give up his remaining time and his potential relationship with In Ah in order to catch Gyu Man. Cat-and-mouse conflicts also tend to put all their conflict resolution in the last few episodes,

Just look at Gyu Man burn those bridges

but this drama felt more like a net slowly closing around our villain rather than the usual constant circling before the final attack. One of the best aspects of the story is that it wasn’t just our band of heroes that cornered Gyu Man. It was endlessly interesting and mildly satisfying seeing how Gyu Man kept creating more and more enemies for himself. The way he treated those around him, particularly his assistant friend, were huge steps in his own downfall. It wasn’t just the hard work of the righteous that brought Gyu Man down, but his own inability to control himself and maintain his relationships. It’s rather a nice take on the psycho-chaebol element. I’m so conditioned to seeing chaebol villains being so smart and so manipulative that only a very special, highly dedicated and intelligent individual would be able to bring them down. But with Gyu Man it always felt as if he’d become his own undoing sooner or later, and with Jin Woo’s interference it just came on sooner. It’s almost a little relieving to believe that despite all his money, power and connections, Gyu Man’s own arrogance and superiority would have allowed his crimes to catch up with him eventually. Guy Man’s role in his own destruction also meant that there was steady movement towards the show’s finale.

He is his own worst enemy

As our heroes uncovered new ammunition to use against Gyu Man, Gyu Man himself was causing his own allies to turn against him, giving Jin Woo and In Ah even more evidence and information. The slow betrayals from those involved in Gyu Man’s crimes gave the plot a great forward momentum, and made sure the story was always moving forwards rather that just going in circles.

What Wasn’t:

Underutilisation:

There were so, so, so many characters in this series but they were sadly under-utilised. You’d think that with 20 episodes each of the characters would have enough time to get fully developed, but that wasn’t really the case. The biggest case of underutilisation was definitely Nam Yeo Kyung.

She is significantly less involved than I thought she'd be

She really is perfectly placed to be a deeply interesting character. As a prosecutor she has a sense of justice, but she is also a part of the Nam family who use their power and influence to avoid justice. Yet her father and brother are constantly ignoring her and treating her like a child who is of no real importance, so it was hard to gauge where her loyalties were. It could have been so interesting to watch her struggle with what she wanted to protect and what she wanted to stand for, but it never really came about. Her turmoil was hinted at, but was never used to its full potential. Surprisingly, another dramatically under-utilised character was Joo Il. The writers only just put in enough effort to make the story passable, but it was still a little confusing, and a fair bit was left to the viewers’ imaginations. It was clear that Joo Il and Dong Ho had a father-son relationship, but I still remain confused as to how that played into Dong Ho betraying Jin Woo and his father. It didn’t appear that Joo Il was being threatened, but rather that he was reaching for more money and/or power. Which doesn’t seem like a decent excuse to let someone go on death row for a crime they didn’t commit, just sayin’.

I kinda get what you're doing here...but I also kinda don't

It was kind of glossed over why Dong Ho decided to pull out of the trial, and so remained slightly confusing when Dong Ho decided to jump back onto team Jin Woo. Nothing had really changed between Dong Ho and Joo Il, and Dong Ho seemed to walk away from their supposedly airtight relationship pretty easily. It wasn’t clear what Joo Il was after in regards to Gyu Man’s company or really any of his actions around Dong Ho. The writers seemed to really be pushing for the whole ‘they’re trying to protect one another’ angle, but it just didn’t really come off, as the writers didn’t really spend any time developing Joo Il as a character outside of his involvement with Gyu Man and Dong Ho.

It made way more sense to me for Dong Ho to pick Jin Woo

The series was still excellent, and there was enough sense in the plot to get by on, but in hindsight there were a few characters that if developed more could have really given the show an extra punch of emotion.

Soft Take on Alzheimer’s:

Basically the series had its rosy-glasses on whenever it was dealing with Alzheimer’s. It focused most on the memory aspect of the disease, but this wasn’t done smoothly or accurately with Jin Woo’s father.

This guy got the worst deal by far

Although it was done in a simple way, it was still passable as Jin Woo’s father’s memory loss was kinda the whole point of the show. My main gripe is how the show dealt with portraying Jin Woo’s Alzheimer’s. I understand that the doctor giving Jin Woo 6-12 months was just to give the show a timeline and ensure that it made sense why Jin Woo was going for Gyu Man so hard and so fast, but it is just so ridiculously inaccurate that it really made the show seem a tad ridiculous. But again, it was passable as it wasn’t a huge part of the show. It was how Jin Woo chose to leave for apparently no reason that really got on my nerves. If someone that young actually had Alzheimer’s and the progression of the disease was actually that fast, there is really very little chance that a year later they’d be with it enough to be walking around unsupervised. Jin Woo didn’t appear to be getting any help for his disease, and it didn’t seem to be progressing much from where we’d left off a year before.

How did he remember to go here? Hoooowwwww?

It’s unlikely that Jin Woo would be sick enough to not remember In Ah or any of the events involving his father and Gyu Man, yet still be able to remeber where to hang his notes and how to get to wherever it is that he’s staying now.

I hate to be the wet blanket, but he would be nowhere near that functional

Not to mention that Alzheimer’s isn’t just a memory thing. Along with his brain forgetting his memories, Jin Woo’s brain would also forget how to do other things- like eat, and speak, and walk. Understandably the series didn't want to go that far as it would massively take away from the happiness of the show, but if they were going to suggest that Jin Woo was sick enough that he wanted to remove himself from In Ah they should have gone all the way with it. Or, they should have gone all the way with the rosy-glasses and let him stay with In Ah and his friends, occasionally forgetting things but remaining happy all the same. The show’s indecision to go all out in either direction left the ending of the show feeling a little weak and a little emotionless when the rest of the show had been packed with intrigue and heart.

Recommend?

Definitely! This drama is fantastic. While it’s not free of plot-holes, the story remains engaging from the start to finish with very few drags in momentum. The hero and heroine are easy to root for, and Namgoong Min gives one of the most dynamic villain performances in K-Dramaland.

Endlessly entertaining