Sky Castle

Sky Castle

8/10

Sky Castle

Genre:                                                 Episodes: 20                             Year: 2019

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Sky Castle is an estate where wealthy doctors and professors live. The husbands are determined to become the most successful, and the wives are determined to get their children into top universities.

Cast:

Yum Jung Ah (Han Seo Jin)

Jung Joon Ho (Kang Joon Sang)

Kim Hye Yoon (Kang Ye Seo)

Lee Ji Won (Kang Ye Bin)

Lee Tae Ran (Lee Soo Im)

Choi Won Young (Hwang Chi Young)

Chani (Hwang Woo Joo)

Yoon Se Ah (No Seung Hee)

Kim Byung Chul (Cha Min Hyuk)

Park Yoo Na (Cha Se Ri)

Kim Dong Hee (Cha Seo Joon)

Jo Byung Gyu (Cha Ki Joon)

Oh Na Ra (Jin Jin Hee)

Jo Jae Yoon (Woo Yang Woo)

Lee Yoo Gene (Woo Soo Han)

Kim Seo Hyung (Kim Joo Young)

Kim Bo Ra (Kim Hye Na)

Song Geon Hee (Park Young Jae)

General Thoughts:

Boy am I getting lucky with my drama watching lately! First ‘Kingdom 2’ was awesome, then ‘Sky Castle’ was awesome, and now it’s looking like the current drama I’m watching (‘Itaewon Class’) is going to be awesome too! What a nice little stint. When I first heard that ‘Sky Castle’ was becoming a raging success, I couldn’t really figure out why that was.

Ah yes, rich people sending their kids to university. Sounds...riveting...

The synopsis of the story just sounds so…dull. And it sounded like it had about an 80% chance that it went full makjang (aka- completely bonkers). While the story did at times have makjang elements (hello hidden identities, hello birth secrets), it weirdly fit in with the show, and the writers were able to present these events as something that seemed very realistic and plausible,

So classy, and yet...so scary

and not at all like some nutty way to get more viewers to tune in. By having the whole setting of the show be this elite estate where everybody was obsessed with being better, richer, happier than everyone else, all these strange actions started to make sense. And of course there’s a reason why so many writers use these over-the-top story elements in their shows. When they are done well and right (as they certainly are in ‘Sky Castle’) it makes the story SO interesting and SO twisty and SO easy to keep coming back for more. I couldn’t even contemplate not continuing the show, because I so badly wanted to know why Teacher Kim was such a creeper, and what crazy scheme Seo Jin would come up with to try and get her daughter into SNU, or how Hye Na was going to torment Ye Seo and her mother next. There was often so much going on in the plot, that these crazy turn of events weren’t the sole focus, which helped them seem like events that were happening naturally and authentically. Unlike most of my dramas that I watch (which I marathon in a few weeks), I watched ‘Sky Castle’ at a slower pace, which stretched the series over a few months- which put me closer to a live-watch experience than a marathon experience.

This is basically how my my Mum looked at me every time I told her I was too busy for an ep of 'Sky Castle'

I must say that I do think that this worked better for the drama and its pacing than a marathon watch would have. A fair few of the major plot points that were stretched out over the whole series could have been a bit repetitive had the episodes been viewed back-to-back, but by having more time padding out the episodes, when these ideas resurfaced,

I mean come on- she looks shady as all hell

it felt like it had been a while since we had visited the issue, rather than it feeling like our characters were mulling the same problems over and over and over again. Such as Soo Im’s decision whether she would write her book or not, or Seo Jin deciding whether or not she would fire Teacher Kim. The other thing that I thought the show did extremely well was managing it’s tone. There were some very heavy moments and heavy topics addressed in this drama (such as depression, suicide, image focus), and that could have very easily tipped the show into being too dark and too depressing (much like ‘Rescue Me’ which had a lot going for it, but was just far to bloody bleak). The writers of ‘Sky Castle’ perfectly laced a good dose of humour throughout each and every one of the episodes- keeping the show very much in the realm of enjoyable entertainment, rather than a dark and saddening look in on the struggles of pressured, over-worked students. The Woo family were predominantly the comedic effect of this show. While all the other families were having their internal strife, complications and issues, the Woo family tended to happily breeze on through- their complaints were rather minor, and their fallouts fairly minimal.

Thank you for your cheesiness and you humour

The snappy, snarky comments from the fiery Jin Hee paired with her husband’s much more complacent, don’t-rock-the-boat attitude made for a funny pair, and their loving attitudes towards each other were a nice break from the strained marriages in the Kang and Cha families. Another way the writers helped balance the tone of the show was to make sure that only one family had a catastrophe going on at a time.

If only this guy knew just how far he was going to fall

When the Kang family was dealing with illegitimate daughters and psychotic teachers, the Cha family were having some wins with Seung Hee finally standing up to her domineering and overpowering husband in order to protect her children (massive yay). When Seung Hee and her kids were being bullied and oppressed (and quite often verbally abused) by Professor Cha, Hye Na and Hye Bin were getting along and Ye Seo was doing well with her studies. There was never too much doom and gloom going around, and there were happy moments sprinkled throughout each of the episodes. Even in the final conflict where Woo Joo was in prison and Ye Seo and her mother had to choose between letting an innocent boy stay in prison or giving up their dream of SNU, we saw all the other families banding together in support of the Hwang family. ‘Sky Castle’ certainly doesn’t sound like he most exciting drama out there, but the simple synopsis masks a complex and compelling story about status and pressure in South Korea, and was an interesting look in on elite life. The writing, acting and directing pulled together to create something quite wonderful.

What Was Great:

Sociological Story:

So, I recently read an article about why ‘Game of Thrones’ fans loved the show initially, but then disliked the later seasons (I promise you this has a point that relates to ‘Sky Castle’). The short version of the article is this: the first seasons of ‘GoT’ (the ones that were following the book) told the story of a society, not of individuals.

Please excuse me while I ramble about this article- as you can tell it excited me a lot

The story had an abundance of characters and shaped them not only by their personality traits, but by the societal norms, events and other people around them. This sociological way of telling the story meant that people were able to identify with the characters even when they did terrible things. When the show outpaced the books, the showrunners went with a psychological way of telling the story- highly individualised character arcs.

Seung Hee was defs the most likeable character in this show

By switching the way the story was told from sociological to psychological, the show started to suggest that characters’ actions and reactions were due to their personality rather than the society around them. By telling the story this way, certain characters (*cough Cersei and Dany cough*) suddenly started to become difficult to identify with. Their actions could seem sporadic and non-sensical, and when they did things the viewer didn’t agree with, it could be hard to understand why. This dramatic shift is not really the showrunners' fault, as Hollywood doesn’t really know how to tell a story from any other view but psychological. They need their hero. They need someone to back. Sociological stories are few and far between, and that it what made the earlier seasons of ‘GoT’ so unique and so addictive. Now how does this relate to ‘Sky Castle’? Look, I’m not expert on the subject (I have ready exactly one article on the topic), but in my opinion, ‘Sky Castle’ had a lot of similar sociological elements in the way it told its story. Characters were not plain black and white- all fell in the murky grey zone.

Hye Na vs Seo Jin- I don't even know which side I'm on!

They were layered and multifaceted, and their actions were not simply a result of whether they were a nice or mean person. Ye Seo didn’t hate Hye Na simply because she was a nasty girl- she had been raised in a highly pressured environment, where she had constantly been told that she was superior and special, and only really felt the love from her parents when she was the top of her class.

She's mean, but I kinda get her

Hye Na was a threat to her success, and thus the love of her parents, so it was natural for Ye Seo to be scared and reactive to her. Of course, there were other aspects of the girls’ relationship also, but my main point is that the story was written in such a way that the viewer could put themselves in Ye Seo’s place and think ‘oh, if I’d been in Ye Seo’s place and grown up that way, maybe that’s how I’d act in that situation too’. This makes the characters so much more sympathetic, and much harder for viewers to write them off as completely dislikable. This wasn’t just the case for Ye Seo, but for every single character in the show (exceeeeept maybe Teacher Kim). In one episode I would be thinking that Seo Jin was a reckless and selfish mother, and in the very next episode I would be identifying with her struggles and feeling pity towards her character. Even Soo Im, who was originally painted as the less-strict, go-with-the-flow mother, was at times not entirely likeable. Her desire to get to the heart of what happened to the Park family could at times be very intrusive and nosey, and in my opinion, kind of rude. However as we learned more about the history of her character and the structure within the Sky Caste estate, we could empathise with her desire to protect the children, even if we didn’t think she was going about it the right way.

Everyone in this show is a little whack

Even a character like Hye Na, who in any other drama would be painted as the sweet, innocent victim had some darker tones to her. Realistically, a girl who had grown up in Hye Na’s environment and then made the discoveries she did was unlikely to be sugar and spice and all things nice. Having to be the sole support for not just herself but her sick mother also forced Hye Na to have a strong backbone and self-assured attitude.

I feel like I should feel bad for her but I just...don't

Sure, there were parts of her character that related more to her personality then environment (her slight vindictiveness), but these were enhanced and shaped by her environment, society and experiences, making her not an innocent victim, but also not an unforgivable aggressor. This way of telling the story meant that redemption arcs were much easier to handle when compared to other shows. Ye Seo and her mother’s eventual decision to testify for Woo Joo at the expense of Ye Seo getting right into SNU didn’t feel forced or unexpected, but rather a logical conclusion after their hard struggle with the situation and the choice they had to make. Doctor Kang’s breakdown and regrets could have felt like a complete character-flip had the story not been told from a sociological perspective, so instead of his choice to quit the hospital and his despair over Hye Na feeling random and from left-field, again it felt like the logical steps for his character. Sure, Doctor Kang had for the most part been presented as cold and calculating and willing to do whatever it took to get ahead in his career- but that was because most of the time we saw him was in the hospital where he worked, where this attitude was encouraged. The few times we saw Doctor Kang at home, he was a man who loved his two daughters and doted on them.

HUGE Cast:

There were so many characters in this show. And they weren’t a bunch of supporting characters either. Each of them had an important role to play in the story, and were most definitely the stars of their own lives. It gave the show a rich setting that was populated with realistic (in their own way) and developed characters.

The Mum Clique

It really felt as if we were dropping into their lives which had been going on long before we got there. The character of Seo Jin was basically the star of the show, with most of the drama focusing on her family, and she was at the centre of it all. Yum Jung Ah did an excellent job as the main mother in the elite estate, and she acted Seo Jin with a perfect balance of elegance and determination,

I sure wouldn't want to be on her bad side

making Seo Jin a mother who gave the appearance of having it all together, but while remaining a person you wouldn’t want to mess with. The other great thing that comes from having so many major characters is that it gives you so many different relationships to delve into. Each of the married couples had a different dynamic- Seo Jin and Doctor Kang were cool and professional, Soo Im and Doctor Hwang were understanding and supportive, Seung Hee and Professor Cha were strained and their relationship was starting to crack, and Jin Hee and Yang Woo had an easy, cute dynamic. Similarly there were so many relationships going on in the mother circle. It was interesting to see how their allegiance and loyalties to each other changed as events unfolded, and how they had to consider their husbands' positions when thinking about their friendships, as any waves caused between the ladies was sure to eventually flow through to the husbands. The kids were a little more sectioned off than the adults, which is fairly understandable. When I was in school, my older sister didn’t want to hang out with me and my friends either. 

She was actually quite cute with how she liked Woo Joo

Kim Hye Yoon was a standout among the younger cast, as she gave Ye Seo so much personality and fire, but was also able to showcase Ye Seo softer side- such as when she was crushing on Woo Joo. She also nailed Ye Seo’s descent into guilt and fear really well, and made it feel like a perfectly natural progression for her character, who had actually been quite self focused all series long. It’s a testament to Kim Hye Yoon’s acting ability (and the writing) that this progression felt smooth and natural, and not at all out of character. Most of the relationship conflict between the kids centred around Hye Na.

Boy, she is playin' you so bad

Hye Na used Ye Bin to get into the Kang household (though I wouldn’t completely rule out that she had some sisterly feelings towards her also), and similarly she used Woo Joo’s feelings for her as a way to antagonise Ye Seo, fully knowing that Ye Seo had a crush on Woo Joo. It didn’t make Hye Na the most likeable of characters, but man did she stir things up and get things happening. 

What Wasn’t:

Teacher Kim’s Reasoning:

One of the biggest mysteries of this show that continued for nearly its entire run was the question around why Teacher Kim got off on ruining the lives of all her students and their families. Even now, I’m still slightly unsure of why she did what she did.

What is your deal, lady?

Jealousy seems pretty lame a motivator for a woman who has indirectly caused suicides in two separate families. I kind of wish that we’d been given a bit more information on Teacher Kim’s situation and her motivations a bit earlier, as by holding all of her story back until the last few episodes, we were given very little time to wrap our heads around what was going on with her. Sure, we’d been given hints throughout the earlier stages of the drama- her husband was dead and she was suspected to be involved, and her daughter was mentally handicapped. But the hows and the whys were held back until the final few episodes. I don’t completely buy that Teacher Kim is doing all this crazy stuff because she can’t stand other parents having smart and gifted kids. While the idea isn’t completely implausible, it just seems a bit light on to be the reason behind why Teacher Kim was such a rift in the lives of her students’ families. Similarly to Teacher Kim’s story, I wish that Teacher Jo’s story had been unveiled a bit earlier also. He was so obviously uncomfortable with what was going on with Hye Na and Ye Seo that it was becoming perplexing as to why he wasn’t leaving this job and Teacher Kim behind.

Also, how is her track record so clean if she's messed up that many families?

He certainly didn’t seem the type to throw two young girls under the bus for a nice apartment. Had we known a bit earlier on that Teacher Kim had used him to cut the breaks on her husband’s car and that she had given him a new life away from the drugs and poverty he had been living in, his choice to stand by Teacher Kim’s side as she lost everything and destroyed herself (and him in the process) would have been a lot more understandable, and even a little heart wrenching. 

Not Divorcing Professor Cha:

I knoooooooow I mentioned above that the redemption arcs of the characters were good and believable. And that’s true. For all but one. Professor. Cha. I did not believe it for a second, and I remained bummed out that his wife and children believed it.

Yeeeeaaahhhh, he ain't gonna change guys

Sure, it all worked out in the end- but maybe it kinda shouldn’t have? Seung Hee’s whole storyline was about her learning to stand up to her husband and fight on her children’s behalf, as they couldn’t rebel against their father on their own. Her small victories with the study room and serving her husband instant ramen when he cut her card felt like monumental victories, and were a great thing to watch. These moments only increased once Se Ri was in the picture with her own rebellious spirit.

Drop him like a hot potato

All series long Professor Cha has stuck to his own principals and has never considered what either his wife nor children had to say. We were never given any hints that there was any love at all between Seung Hee and Professor Cha, so it seemed surprising that Professor Cha had back pedalled so much at the idea of divorce. For 20 episodes we have watched Seung Hee try (and fail) to convince her husband to see things from another perspective, and he refused and fought her at every turn. While I understand that divorce is never easy on the children, I can’t help think that it may have been the best solution here. Honestly speaking, how long can we expect Professor Cha’s new attitude to last? Once the threat of divorce fades, so will his fear, and he would once again return to the dominating, controlling man he was before to both his wife and his children.

So glad Se Ri came home and shook things up in this family

It felt like for the whole show’s run we were building up to Seung Hee realising that her husband’s attitude was severely damaging her sons’ mental health, and finally taking them and walking out. When she started threatening to do just that, it was an exciting moment that felt really empowering. Only the show then decided to undercut that with Professor Cha having a sudden revelation that he loved his family and would completely change his ways for them to stay.

I loved any time Professor Cha was knocked down a peg or two

Only not once in this entire show has he given us any inkling that he loved his family. The closest he got was his doting on Se Ri, but that completely disappeared after he found out she didn’t actually go to Harvard- which only further enforced the idea that Professor Cha didn’t care about anything but success, power and status. Which made the whole turnaround completely out of character and completely unbelievable. Perhaps if they’d spun his change as more of him being afraid of the gossip and stigma around divorce in South Korea I would have believed his change of heart more. While it was super cute to see him happy and singing and dancing with Se Ri, I just did not believe the journey the show took Professor Cha on to get him there. So yeah, it was a cute moment and all, but all I could feel while watching was ‘man, this family is going to feel so sh*tty once he goes back to his old, horrible self’. Because there is no doubt in my mind that he would.

Recommend?

Definitely. There’s a reason this show became such a huge hit. I can’t promise that it will be everyone’s cup of tea (I certainly didn’t think it would be mine), but it is very unique and very addictive.

What an interesting journey

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).