Love in Contract

 Love in Contract

4/10

Love in Contract

Genre:                                   Episodes: 16                           Year: 2022

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Choi Sang Eun is a charismatic woman who works as a contract wife. Her job is to help her clients in situations where a wife is required- such as looking good for school reunions, climbing the social ladder at work, or avoiding pressure from family to settle down. Sang Eun has a long term client, Jung Ji Ho, who she sees on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. A new client, Kang Hae Jin, is a popular actor who has hired her for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Cast:

Park Min Young (Choi Sang Eun)

Go Kyung Pyo (Jung Ji Ho)

Kim Jae Young (Kang Hae Jin)

Kang Hyung Suk (Woo Gwang Nam)

Jin Kyung (Yoo Mi Ho)

Lee Joo Bin (Jung Ji Eun)

General Thoughts:

I picked up this drama because I am a big fan of Park Min Young. Even though there was a lot of negativity floating around about this show, I honestly thought to myself “How bad can it be? Park Min Young chose to be in it,”. I wish I had listened to all those online posts saying that ‘Love in Contract’ was bad. Because sadly it is. And not even the good kind of bad where everything is so whacky that it’s almost fun to watch what a complete mess the show becomes. This show didn’t become a mess. It was just horribly, horrifically, mind-numbingly boring.

Big yawn

Most poor dramas tend to at least make it a good 5 or 6 episodes in before falling apart, but by episode 3 of ‘Love in Contract’ I was already pretty darn bored. There’s just no plot really. The whole set up of Sang Eun being a wife for hire was basically a lie, because after a short montage in the first episode, she retires. I kid you not. The whole THING of this show was that you could pay Sang Eun to be in a contract relationship and that was supposedly where all our story and tension would come from.

The contract expired before this drama even began

But then she retires except for two ‘clients’. Which pretty quickly takes it out of the professional realm and goes into personal. All the tropes you expect to get with a contract relationship (which is what people who like stories about contract relationships are looking for) just weren’t there. By the time the drama started it was pretty clear and obvious that Sang Eun had feelings for Ji Ho and Ji Ho had feelings for Sang Eun. There was no back and forth or awkwardness of getting around a predetermined relationship set up, and there was no proper confusion about whether the other persons’ feelings were genuine or if they were just playing a role. All the good parts about a scenario like this just weren’t in the show. And if they were in the show, they weren’t developed or explored fully. Even the supposed love-triangle was done poorly. By establishing Sang Eun’s feelings so early on in the show’s run, there was no real opportunity for Hae Jin to have a good chance. Which was a shame because he was probably the only character that didn’t bore me. I don’t think there was anyone watching this who honestly thought that Hae Jin had any hope of ending up with the girl. Beyond these two watered down scenarios, the only other storyline really happening was whatever the hell was going on between Sang Eun and Madam Yoo. And not only was that boring, but it was confusing too.

Why would you even offer to live with someone you actively dislike?

I actually didn’t mind where we ended up, with Madam Yoo being Sang Eun’s Mum and them both having known for a long time but just never broaching the subject. I just don’t like how it played out. Without knowing about the unique relationship between them it was completely baffling as to why Madam Yoo would go so out of her way to meddle in Sang Eun’s life, and why Sang Eun would go so far out of her way to make sure Madam Yoo had money and a place to live. For most of this drama’s run these two characters were making decisions that were virtually impossible for the viewers to understand as we had a big chunk of information missing that would only be revealed in the last few moments.

A lot of this drama would have made a lot more sense if we always knew they were related

I don’t think the relationship needed to be a big twist at the end- I think the drama would have benefitted more from giving insight into the life experiences and thought processes of the characters so that they could be understandable rather than holding back information to try and do a shock reveal- because by the time that reveal came, I really didn’t care anymore. It took too long to get there, and I had already mentally checked out. And then that bring us to the other main relationship Sang Eun had going on in her life- Ji Ho. I quite liked Ji Ho’s character at the start of the show- he seemed sweet but with a uniquely introverted and withdrawn nature.

Ain't no spice in this dish

For a while it was fun to see the differences between Ji Ho’s mindset of minding his own business to the extreme and Sang Eun’s mindset of caring way too much about everyone else's perception (which was kinda just her job). But then it rather quickly became obvious that the writer had absolutely no idea what to do with Ji Ho’s character. He was developed so poorly as the drama progressed that he stopped making any sense at all. Supposedly his divorce was so traumatic that it caused him to completely turn inwards and just start ignoring everyone else around him. Only we then find out that his divorce was due to…miscommunication. You know, the same reason 90% of divorces happen. Why this was so traumatic and why he blamed himself so much for it was left mainly up to the viewers’ imaginations. So it was never really explained why Ji Ho started to shun being social so much. I mean, he has to have been normal and social enough before to date and get married, right? So what happened? Similarly, he then starts to get along with Sang Eun and all his coworkers pretty easily once he decides to date her. Just because that’s what's convenient. This relationship is supposedly so amazing and so life-altering that it changes his outlook on the world completely, and changes how everyone he knows views him. But a major problem here is that there was NO CHEMISTRY. I have never seen Park Min Young not have chemistry with someone, but there you go. There was no spark between the leads and it just felt kind of awkward. The whole relationship felt very immature and high-schooly considering that they were both adults and one of them had been married before.

The show totally glossed over how and why they fell for each other too...

When so much of a drama is riding on nothing more than a romance, it’s super disappointing when that romance is lacklustre. While the characters were all fairly cr*p, I will say that the acting was good. There was nothing amazing (as with such a boring storyline the actors weren’t asked to deliver much), but at least I can say that the actors did a good enough job with the complete amount of nothing they were given.

I didn't really ship her with anyone to be honest

I’m not a huge fan of Go Kyung Pyo- not for any particular reason, he just lacks that sort of sparkle that really makes you love a leading actor. But he did do a good enough job of giving a bit of emotion to a very quiet character which can be a tricky ask. Did I completely love him? No. But did I find him annoying and terrible? Also no. So I mean, that’s a win I guess. On the other hand, Kim Jae Young felt much more male-leady. He had a more engaging character so that was probably a contributing factor. Hae Jin was also a much more emotional character than any of the others in this show, so he expressed himself often and had a larger range of emotions to portray. Not only did this give us insight into exactly how Hae Jin was feeling as a character, but it made Kim Jae Young feel like he was doing a really great job at bringing Hae Jin to life. There was an energy he provided to Hae Jin that just made him likeable as a character and made him stand out a tad more that Go Kyung Pyo. Poor Go Kyung Pyo- there’s only so much you can do when your character’s description is literally just be blank.

What Was Great:

Low Toxicity:

Do I have to put something in this section? I do? Fine, I'll try. While many of the characters were annoying or a little unlikeable, I will say that none of them were outright toxic or completely horrible. When Ji Ho’s ex, Ji Eun, came on the scene I honestly thought they were going to have her be a super b*tchy, horrible character whose only agenda was to break up the leading couple in some deluded attempt to get her ex back.

Though admittedly this drama did need some better conflict

But I was pretty thankful when that didn’t happen- I’ve seen enough spiteful exes on my screen for a lifetime. Similarly, Madam Yoo had a redemption arc towards the end as her character was explored more, and even the two Chaebol families weren’t that bad. They were stubborn and didn’t listen, but they weren’t outright hostile. Except for maybe Sun Jin, but to be honest he was around so sporadically and I really didn’t have any clue what his nefarious schemes were or why they mattered, so he was pretty easy to overlook and forget.

What Wasn’t:

The Leading Lady:

She was just so annoying guys. I couldn’t cope with how much I didn’t like Sang Eun. Even with Park Min Young acting her, there was just no way to save this character for me. I’m sure the writers thought they were giving us a bubbly, perky, somewhat sassy heroine, but that is just not what ended up happening.

Like, could she BE any more self-obsessed?

Sang Eun was so self-absorbed. It’s like the show thought they were giving us a heroine that was extremely selfless because her job was about ‘helping’ people who were needing ways out of certain situations. But that’s just not the case! Sure, Sang Eun focused on her clients when she was with them- else she wouldn’t get paid and she wouldn’t have a job! But when she was on her own time all she seemed to care about was herself- how she was feeling, what she was going through, what she was doing. I cannot count the amount of times Kwang Nam (who was DELIGHTFUL by the way) was trying to tell Sang Eun something or have a serious conversation with her about something he was going through just for her to brush him off or minimise his feelings. This is supposed to be her best friend and she cannot give him even five minutes of her d*mn time to hear him out. Even with Ji Ho she seemed to always be forcing what she wanted onto him. A stand-out in my mind is the hospital scene. Ji Ho didn’t want a fuss and just wanted to go home but Sang Eun completely ignored him and dismissed his feelings and took it upon herself to get him a private room and do it up like a mini house. Not only did Ji Ho not ask for this- he specifically said he didn’t want it. He had to come up with some bullsh*t lie in order to get Sang Eun to finally stop and let him go home. Was this behaviour supposed to be cute? It’s not! It’s controlling and annoying and not a sign of a healthy relationship! To be honest, I actually think I liked Sang Eun better when she was being a chaebol.

Also what the f*ck was with her ghosting Ji Ho in that last episode? He should have dumped her for that alone

In one of the last episodes where she strolls into Hae Jin’s company and utterly destroys Hae Jin’s brother, she was pretty cool. The icy, I’m-the-greatest-thing-ever concept really worked in this sort of Chaebol scenario. I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but I think I would have preferred if the heroine had just been a Chaebol. It would have made her b*tchy, self-centred character a lot more tolerable.

Recommend?

No. I ignored all the bad things I’d heard about this drama, but please don’t ignore me. You will regret it.

Yay- it's over!

Jealousy Incarnate

Jealousy Incarnate

6.5/10

Jealousy Incarnate

Genre:                               Episodes: 24                           Year: 2016

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Pyo Na Ri is a weather caster at SBC. She has had a one-sided love for announcer-reporter Lee Hwa Shin for three years, but he has always found her irritating. Na Ri decides to give up on her crush as she meets Hwa Shin’s friend, Go Jung Won, sparking Hwa Shin’s jealousy.

Cast:

Gong Hyo Jin (Pyo Na Ri)

Jo Jung Seok (Lee Hwa Shin)

Go Kyung Pyo (Go Jung Won)

Lee Mi Sook (Gye Sung Sook)

Park Ji Young (Bang Ja Young)

Lee Sung Jae (Kim Rak)

Moon Ka Young (Lee Pal Gang)

Kim Jung Hyun (Pyo Chi Yeol)

Seo Ji Hye (Hong Hye Won)

General Thoughts:

I must admit, though I enjoyed many episodes of ‘Jealousy’, I walked away from the series feeling rather uninspired. I’m just not really sure what sort of story the writers wanted to tell or what they wanted to achieve.

So much happened, and yet...so little

A large part of these feelings of confusion are probably due to the unnecessary amount of episodes, along with not focusing on one main point. You’d think it would be about jealousy and a big ol’ love triangle (what with the title and all), but if we're all honest it was a one man show- and that man was Hwa Shin.

Hwa Shin > Jung Won

I don’t think there’s anyone anywhere who actually thought Jung Won was in with a shot because he was one of the blandest second male leads I’ve ever seen. He’s basically just typical nice-guy plus butt-loads of money- but no personality to speak of. Go Kyung Pyo was kind of completely out-acted by our two leads who both fit so well with this kind of bickering, confused comedy. Rather than appearing funny in his jealousy (as Hwa Shin did), Jung Won often came across as forceful, and didn’t really seem to ever listen to what Na Ri was saying. Because of the rather lacklustre second lead, the whole triangle situation didn’t really have any tension. Sure, it was fun to see Hwa Shin spewing with jealousy for a while and not knowing what to do with himself, but that got old surprisingly fast because it was just so plainly obvious to everyone (except maybe Jung Won) that Hwa Shin would get the girl. Even our heroine, Na Ri, was actually a pretty bland character. Once you take away Gong Hyo Jin’s delightful performance you realise that we know nothing about our heroine outside of her love for Hwa Shin.

Sweet yet tasteless all at once

She got confused and dated two guys for a while there- but a lot of what we saw about Na Ri was very situational and not so personal. I know that she loves Hwa Shin and loves her little brother…and that’s pretty much it. We never really get a feeling of what drives Na Ri as a person beyond her feelings for Hwa Shin, which leaves Pyo Na Ri feeling extremely similar to Gong Hyo Jin’s previous characters- because beyond Gong Hyo Jin’s take on the character, there’s really nothing there.

The many faces of Jo Jung Seok Show

So while our heroine’s character might have been boring, Gong Hyo Jin’s wonderful and often funny performance did quite a lot to distract from all Na Ri’s developmental flaws. Hwa Shin was really the only character that was explored in depth- with his cancer, his job, his family and his feelings. All these situations and the way Hwa Shin reacted to them gave a sense of realism to his character, and let us feel his emotional moments alongside him and understand him. Jo Jung Seok delivered an absolutely excellent performance, and was really the comedic heart of the show. And quite often the emotional-heart too. He brought his A-game to set and made Hwa Shin a hilarious, yet loveable idiot with all his deflated pride and stubborn floundering. I appreciate that it was his time in the hospital that really opened his eyes to Na Ri, and not just that his friend started to like her. I do wish the whole jealousy situation had played out a little differently. A part of me wanted the relationship between Jung Won and Na Ri to come to its own conclusion before Hwa Shin stepped in, because it really appeared that the only reason Na Ri dumped Jung Won was because she liked Hwa Shin that 1% more- which I suppose is fine, but I still kind of wanted a solid, justifiable reason why Na Ri and Jung Won wouldn’t work well together (beyond Jung Won being so darn plain). Actually, you know what. I wouldn’t have even cared if Na Ri did dump Jung Won because he’s plain- at least it’s a reason.

Sure he was nice...but he was just so booooringggg

I don’t know about others, but I much preferred watching Hwa Shin have a hilariously hard time holding in his crush and jealousy than watching him and Jung Won fight over Na Ri like a piece of meat. Having Na Ri be oblivious to Hwa Shin’s feelings added a lot of comedy to the series. When she realised he liked her, she kind of became a little unlikable. Because if she honestly liked Jung Won, would she really have kissed Hwa Shin? I guess my fundamental issue with this segment of the series (because there were a lot of different segments in its 24 episodes) was that no part of me believes you can romantically like two people exactly the same- particularly when doing so becomes detrimental to everyone involved.

Funny is fine- unnecessary angst is not

I felt more like Na Ri was stalling for time with dumping Jung Won rather than actually liking him, because it was obvious to every man and his dog that she liked Hwa Shin way more. The drama tried to make use of its many, many episodes to introduce lots of different ideas between our main three characters.

It was no secret that this is where we were headed

However, having so many smaller segments kind of prevented the drama from having a lot of depth- because most of the situations didn’t get milked to their full potential. I wish the drama had chosen one way to handle its triangle, stuck with it, and really developed the situation- because as it is, it feels more like the writers were aiming for cheap laughs rather than an in-depth, constantly developed trio of characters. Because in all these situations, Jung Won was pushed to the side in order to enforce that NA RI AND HWA SHIN ARE THE ENDGAME SO DON’T GET TOO ATTACHED TO JUNG WON. We had Hwa Shin be quietly jealous while Na Ri dated Jung Won, be vocally jealous about it, have Na Ri try and dump them both, have Na Ri try to date them both, have Na Ri live with them both (for like maybe two episodes), all while Na Ri helps Hwa Shin through his cancer treatment. Frankly, all the best parts of the drama didn’t actually have Jung Won in them, and Hwa Shin and Na Ri had a far more entertaining and amusing relationship when it was just the two of them. Because the breast cancer storyline was excellent.

So much fun, so much cute, so much absent Jung Won

It added a huge amount of depth to Hwa Shin’s character, and gave him room to grow and develop as a character, all with Na Ri’s assistance. His infertility was another great extension of this, and I felt far more invested in Hwa Shin’s medical woes than the woes of the so-called love-triangle. Smaller things in the drama made the series highly amusing, such as its quirky editing. Playing back past scenes on screens around our characters was hilarious and often provided a great deal of information on how our characters were feeling and what they were reacting to. There were lots of small moments that played in the background that are easy to overlook, but add quite a lot to the series. The music choices were always excellent- properly enforcing the romantic or (more often) awkward atmosphere. And of course any scene Bum was in was delightfully funny.

The unsung hero

What Was Great:

Emasculation:

One of the more interesting plot points of the series was definitely the way Hwa Shin had to deal with his illnesses that made him think less of himself as a man. Watching him struggle with how to perceive himself over the location of his cancer was interesting and thought provoking- because we don’t often think that men can get breast cancer. Hence the pinkness of everything breast cancer related.

Breast cancer bits were the best bits

Hwa Shin’s time spent in the hospital with Na Ri had a nice balance of humour and heart, and was a great way for the two to grow closer. Nothing speeds along a relationship quite like a shared secret. Hwa Shin’s infertility was another great conflict for him, as it made him question not only his own manhood (again), but also what he could provide for Na Ri.

He just wasn't having a good time

No matter how much she loves him, she wouldn’t be able to cure his breast cancer or his infertility- problems that most other men don’t have to deal with at all. The conclusions for both conflicts were drawn in a satisfactory manner. All series long we watched Hwa Shin worry about how other people would perceive him after finding out about his breast cancer. It’s rewarding and a great display of character growth when he owns up to his illness in order to prevent Na Ri from receiving those same judgements- even if it is more common for a woman to have breast cancer than a man. As for his infertility, I adored how it was clear that Na Ri knew how he dealt with things, and knew that she just had to wait for him to accept this new reality. Hwa Shin’s fears were totally justifiable- he couldn’t give Na Ri something he knew she wanted, and failed to see how that would end with her being happy. With Na Ri’s constant support and encouragement, he comes to realise that it’s not the end of the world, and just because he can’t have kids, it doesn’t mean that Na Ri wants to go off and have kids with someone else. Not only that, but it was wonderful to see how Hwa Shin (who seems to have little confidence in his ability to care for Na Ri despite all his arrogance and pride) learns that he himself can be a source of happiness for Na Ri, no matter what he can and cannot offer her. So we'll just ignore that the end seems to forget that Hwa Shin's infertile when he and Na Ri have two kids after the time-skip- that felt like a cop-out.

Those snow-children are gonna be the only children

General Cuteness:

Gong Hyo Jin and Jo Jung Seok are super adorable and super funny so that’s always going to be an upside (thank goodness because the whole drama was basically just them).

When it was cute it was very, very cute

Their whole relationship was always pretty fun to watch, and these two actors do some of the best bickering love ever. Throw in Bum who’s always cute and adds a bunch of funny to whatever scene he’s in and you’ve got a good combo. Na Ri’s younger brother was also pretty darn cute, and I do wish we’d got to see a little bit more of him. A whole different realm of cute was the relationship between the two mums. At first I didn’t give a toss about either of these characters, and to be honest I still don’t really care about their relationships with anyone else- but I’m so onboard the sweet friendship the two mums got going while trying to decide who would live with Pal Gang. Even though it was super obvious that they’d all end up living together, the begrudging friendship between the mums was still fun to watch- particularly when they were bonding over things they had in common- like their love for Pal Gang, or how hard it would be dating an asexual man. 

What Wasn’t:

No Side Character Use:

Despite the millions of side characters this show had at its disposal and the millions of episodes it had to develop them- none of them get much screen time at all. The show is dominated by Na Ri and Hwa Shin with a lot of Jung Won thrown in, but it did seem a little unnecessary to have all these characters who seemed like they would have small arcs of their own only to then go ahead and not develop them.

Were these kids supposed to matter?

Na Ri’s brother and his two friends seemed to drop of the face of the earth- despite Pal Gang being set up as a character that seemed to matter a great deal- with her mums, Hwa Shin being her uncle, and the triangle between her and the two young boys. Only none of these concepts really got more than 5 minutes of screen-time, even though it could have been used to add a great deal of good emotion into the series. Similarly, we didn’t really get to know anyone at the broadcast station that well either. We saw some of the weather-girls and some other reporters- but none of them had story-arcs or were really essential to the show in any way.

A huge wedding where I care about none of the guests

The final episode seemed to want to be a cute big farewell to the series with all its characters coming together at the wedding- only I didn’t really care about anyone apart from Bum, Hwa Shin and Na Ri. 

Go Home Jung Won:

Fighting losing battle. And everyone knows.

We always knew Hwa Shin would win. Seeing Jung Won become so bloody whiney after Na Ri chose Hwa Shin was just plain unenjoyable to watch. I barely even found him tolerable when Na Ri was sort of considering him, so after she made her choice and Jung Won was still moping around her, he was just annoying. His insistence on Na Ri being with him felt misguided and frankly delusional- particularly when he was adamant that she would come back and marry him despite her being happy with Hwa Shin. Hwa Shin’s insistence that Na Ri would be happier with him can be given a pass because…well…she is. But when Jung Won says those same things it just feels as though he’s completely disregarding Na Ri’s feelings. Boo, Jung Won you sore loser.

Re-watch?

No. While I remember enjoying much of this drama, when I think back I can only really recall negative things. Weird.

Pretty okay though, I guess

Reply 1988

Reply 1988

8.5/10

Reply 1988

Genre:                Episodes: 20                    Year: 2015

Family

Comedy

Romance

Synopsis:

It’s 1988, and five neighbours have been friends since childhood as they have all grown up on the same block. Though each family has different circumstances, the neighbours support and comfort each other as though they were family. The story follows the five teenagers as they mature, and learn about family, love and friendship through various hardships.

Cast:

Lee Hyeri (Sung Deok Sun)

Park Bo Gum (Choi Taek)

Ryu Jun Yoel (Kim Jung Hwan)

Go Kyung Pyo (Sung Sun Woo)

Lee Dong Hwi (Ryu Dong Ryong)

Sung Dong Il (Sung Dong Il)

Lee Il Hwa (Lee Il Hwa)

Ryu Hye Young (Sung Bo Ra)

Choi Sung Won (Sung No Eul)

Kim Sung Kyun (Kim Sung Kyun)

Ra Mi Ran (Ra Mi Ran)

Ahn Jae Hong (Kim Jung Bong)

Kim Sun Young (Kim Sun Young)

Choi Moo Sung (Choi Moo Sung)

General Thoughts:

The ‘Reply’ franchise returns with it’s latest instalment- and boy does it deliver. You’d think that by the third time around, the series would have lost a lot of it’s mystery and charm. But you’d be wrong. So, so wrong.

Our third wonderfully wonderful 'Reply' heroine

The writer (who has apparently sold her soul to gain the most majestic, tear-inducing writing abilities) gives us a whole new group of down-to-earth, painfully realistic, completely loveable characters. ‘Reply 1988’ recaptures much of the magic and charm of the original, and takes us on another journey as we grow up with a brand new set of characters. Unlike it’s predecessors, ‘Reply 1988’ chooses to focus less on the romance, and more on the differing family relationships and dynamics. This choice has both an upside and a downside, but it did feel refreshing to have the focus on the families after how laser-visioned ‘Reply 1994’ was on the romance. The show had a huge cast- which it needed in order to fill up those insanely long episodes. I mean honestly, is it really necessary to have 20 episodes that all go over 90 minutes? Disregarding the insanely long episodes, the cast were spot on. Mum and Dad return (hooray!) along with a trio of children.

It just wouldn't be 'Reply' without Sung Dong Il and Lee Il Hwa

It was enjoyable to have our leading lady have some siblings (that are alive), unlike in the previous instalments. It added a whole new set of relationships into the mix that had our leading lady at the heart of it all. We got to experience being a younger sister, an older sister, and a middle-child all through Deok Sun- and it was appropriately touching. Every family dynamic that could be explored was  explored through our many neighbouring families.

It would be so hard to choose just one

Each series has approached the husband mystery differently, and ‘88 is no exception. In '97 we had a clear contest between two brothers. The series effectively used time-skips and flashbacks to continue the mystery. In ’94 we had a name- but no face to put to that name. Here in ‘88 we had a face- but no name, due to using different, older actors to portray our married couple in the present.

All aboard the Taekie train! Choo choo!

It’s a cute quirk of the series that while it may be redoing something it’s done previously (in the way of the husband mystery), it always goes about it in a different way. The overall tone of the series was more serious than either ‘Reply 1994’ or ‘Reply 1997’. It downplayed a lot of the romance (while still keeping the husband mystery going) and focused more on fading youth and a time you can’t return to. While all three segments of the franchise have included this reminiscence of youth, it was felt more strongly in ‘88 than in either of the ‘90s series. It was truly a bittersweet farewell to a simpler time that is long gone. It says a lot about this writer and these actors that they can make me so deeply nostalgic for a time and place that I was never in, and so completely attached to these people I’ve never met. 

What Was Great:

Less Hurt Love Feelings:

It happened. It finally, finally happened. The boy I was rooting for got the girl. Third time’s the charm. I loved Taek from the get go- though he did remind me a little of Chil Bong, so I was a little nervous that I would be on the losing team again. Being on Team Taek, I can’t exactly comment on how those on Team Jung Hwan feel, but I personally felt that the franchise did a much better job in the handling of the love-triangle than it did the previous time around.

At least it wasn't as bad as last time guys. The triangle of '94 was just plain brutal

I think they could make a thousand more series in the ‘Reply’ franchise, and none would be able to top the original, so we just won’t even go there. In ’94 the series focused too much of it’s time and energy on the love triangle and the competition between the two boys, which inevitably left some people (us Chil Bongie shippers) out in the cold come the close of the series.

The girl can't choose you if she doesn't know you're an option

Personally, I thought that ’88 did a fantastic job of explaining why one man was able to get the girl and the other wasn’t. Adorable and swoon-worthy as Jung Hwan’s crush was- he never acted on it. The times he came close, he always covered up his true feelings with a joke. Whereas Taek was always ready to take the next step forward with Deok Sun, rather than keep his feelings hidden. The episode where Jung Hwan realises this himself is a great close for his one-sided romance. It’s sad, and your heart bleeds for him, but seeing as he wasn’t getting the girl, it was a satisfying way to conclude his Deok Sun crush. I’m sure the those cheering for Jung Hwan were disappointed, but at least there was a legit, tangible reason that his romance with Deok Sun never worked out, that went beyond Deok Sun just liking Taek more. That being said, I do wish Jung Hwan had been given some kind of conclusion in the adult present. He wasn't heard from or seen, which was a huge disappointment. He is the first 'Reply' second male lead to not end up in a clearly defined relationship with someone who isn't our heroine.

All the Feelings:

The different families brought on so many different emotions. It would take a million years to talk about each one in detail. Which is probably why the series went for a million years. Learning from it’s mistakes in ’94, ’88 chooses to (successfully) attempt to evoke emotion through different types of love- be it friendship or family.

Did you honestly go into this series expecting not to cry?

Some standouts were: Sun Woo and his mum, Jung Hwan and his parents, and Bo Ra and Dad. Oh, and of course the undying love between Taek and Jung Hwan- the reason no one got the girl in their teenage years. The relationships were heartwarming as they were just so true to life. No one was happy all the time. No one got the relationship right all the time. Everyone had to work hard in order to understand each other and build a relationship together. 

Ensemble:

What can you say, everyone was brilliant. I’ve yet to watch a ‘Reply’ series where I’ve been unhappy with a single member of the cast. The actors in ’88 don’t disappoint. Good job team.

The kids were fab, the parents were fab. Everyone was fab

What Wasn’t:

Less Seen Love Feelings:

While I appreciated the romance taking a back-seat to all the other relationships in the series, unfortunately this did mean that our main couple got less time to shine. Unfortunately, it also meant that our leading lady, Deok Sun, fell behind the other characters in the way of character development.

I wanted so much more of this than we got

Which couldn’t be helped when her feelings were purposely hidden from us in order to prolong the ‘Who’s the Hubby’ storyline. After it was revealed in the second-last episode that Taek was our husband in question, I totally expected to see a nice, long episode about how they exposed their romantic relationship to their family and friends. But then this was glossed over in favour of Bo Ra and Sun Woo’s relationship. Which was enjoyable in it’s own right- but the whole time I was watching, I couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that this was taking away from time I could be spending with Taek and Deok Sun when they were all loved-up. And they were so damn cute when they were all loved-up. Much as I adored the awkward, finding-their-feet teenage years, I do wish the show had spent a little more time on our characters when they were in their twenties. When you consider that 90% of the relationship development between your leading couple happens in the 90s, it seems silly that 90% of the series happened in the 80s.

Behold the cuteness

I must admit, when the series finished I was satisfied on many levels, but I was left feeling hungry for more on Taek and Deok Sun- as we were really given the bare minimum on their actual romantic relationship.

Grown Ups:

It was a different twist to have older actors playing our characters in the present. I completely see why it was necessary- as I just don’t believe Lee Hyeri (or any of the young cast) would have been convincing as people in their 40s/50s. However, it did leave me feeling a little alienated from our cast as their older selves. It was understandable that older Taek didn’t act completely like younger Taek, as that would have given away the husband story.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHERE'S THE REST OF THE GANG?!

But at the same time, when it was revealed that it was Taek in the present, I felt like he’d changed so much- and we as avid viewers had missed out on so much, whereas I always felt invested and connected to the characters of the previous series. Also I nearly threw a fit when we didn't get a little heads up on what our other characters were up to. We heard Sun Woo on the phone- but never saw him. Poor Jung Hwan and Dong Ryeong didn't even get a mention. Boo to that.

Crap...there's still a whole 50 minutes to go...

It’s Long Again:

Hoo boy did those episodes drag on. Unlike ’94, I never felt bored while watching, but there were times when I was consciously aware of how long the episodes were going for. There was enough content to fill the episodes, what with the different families and all, but they were just...so...long. A lot of the beauty of ’97 came from the hard-hitting emotional blows that followed one after the other. It’s undeniable that ‘88 delivered some storylines with big emotional impacts, but these moments were once again separated and distanced by less emotional scenes. It’s just ridiculous to think that the last two episodes sat at around 2 hours long. ‘Reply 1988’, I love you, and I love your characters- but that’s insane.

Re-watch?

I would like to. But another downside to the extreme length of the series is that much as I love the story and characters, I just can’t justify spending that much time on something I’ve already seen. No matter how great my love for this series is.

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