You Who Forgot Poetry

You Who Forgot Poetry

7/10

You Who Forgot Poetry

Genre:                                                Episodes: 16                                    Year: 2018

Romance

Medical

Synopsis:

Woo Bo Young always had a love for literature and wanted to become a poet, but due to her poor family background she became a physical therapist.

Cast:

Lee Yoo Bi (Woo Bo Young)

Lee Joon Hyuk (Ye Jae Wook)

Jang Dong Yoon (Shin Min Ho)

Shin Jae Ha (Kim Nam Woo)

Park Sun Ho (Han Joo Yong)

Yoo Dae Joon (Kim Dae Bang)

Lee Chae Young (Kim Yoon Joo)

Kim Jae Bum (Park Shi Won)

Seo Hyun Chul (Yang Myung Cheol)

General Thoughts:

This show was on the right track, and certainly did a lot of things well, but I just feel that the end result is perhaps a little mediocre. There were aspects of the show that were done perfectly (such as the way poetry was incorporated into each episode), and there were aspects that could have used a bit more work (such as the characters).

I wish you guys were more fleshed out

Overall the drama was cheery and breezy and pretty stress-free, which is exactly what I was in the mood for- so potentially I enjoyed this drama more than I would have if I’d watched it during a time I was wanting more substance. The characters were all fairly likeable, but I do think that the writer hasn’t quite nailed the concept of humanly flawed.

The humour sometimes felt a bit forced

While Bo Young and Min Ho were both utterly delightful and fit that description to a tee, I did find the ‘flaws’ of the other characters to be a bit too cartoonish for the slice-of-life vibe the show was going for. Doctor Ye’s constant advice, Nam Woo’s sad fixation on how his life was before his family went bankrupt, and Dae Bang’s over the top indecisiveness came across as completely unnatural and just not something an actual person would do. The same could be said for Bo Young’s tear fanning and Min Ho’s ‘just kidding’, but thankfully those started to get phased out about a third of the way in. The characters didn’t particularly develop much either (except for Min Ho, but more on that later). All the side characters were basically exactly the same people they were at the start of the series as they were at the end. Thankfully this was mostly mitigated by the fact that it was just fun to watch the characters interact with each other. The biggest joy was definitely watching how Min Ho came to respect Bo Young both as a medical professional and as a person. Watching the two grow closer as they bickered was fun and satisfying, and as Min Ho grew to like Bo Young more and more, so did we.

I'm all for growth and maturing- particularly when it's so cute

I quite enjoyed Bo Young’s relationship with Yoon Joo also. While at times the relationship was a bit strained and they both got irritated with each other, the moments when they supported and cared for each other were very sweet and heartwarming. One of the show’s successes was definitely showing how the characters learned about each other through experiences, mistakes and fights.

They should have interacted outside their work circles more

Often a character would have one understanding of a situation (such as Yoon Joo seeming perfectly happy after encountering her ex-husband and his new wife), which would later be turned on its head when they grasped the reality of the situation (such as Bo Young realising Yoon Joo was having a hard time only after hearing her crying over it). These moments were scattered throughout the series and made the show feel much more meaningful than just the central plot-line. These moments may not have necessarily caused any of the characters to change their behaviours, but at the very least it gave us viewers an insight into their lives and struggles- which I think is ultimately what the show was trying to do. That being said, I still would have appreciated the characters all feeling a bit more authentic and real throughout the whole show rather than just in these quiet moments of discovery. Because after those quiet moments the characters were back to acting as usual, so it was sometimes a bit hard to connect them back to that emotion we’d seen previously. 

The brief flashes of bromance were brilliant

None of the acting really stood out to me, which I found a little disappointing. No one was bad, and everyone acted their characters very well, but none of the actors really grabbed their characters and made them feel real and lived in- I never thought that any of the actors were really suited for that role or that no one else could have done it better, which a feeling I like to get when watching a drama. Jang Dong Yoon has actually made me feel that way in both of the others dramas he’s been in (‘Solomon’s Perjury’ and ‘School 2017’), so I was surprised when I didn’t completely adore him here.

And he has such a baby face I kinda don't want him to start taking adult roles yet

Sure, by the end of the series I liked his character and thought he’d done an excellent job showing Min Ho’s development (because Min Ho actually got some), but he didn’t wow me the way he has previously. I almost wonder if it’s because this show and his character in it were a bit old for him. He gave a great performance, don’t get me wrong, but he’s still very young with a very few acting credits,

The chemistry...wasn't great

so I think it took him a while longer to settle into his character here. Lee Yoo Bi didn’t really stand out as the heroine either, and while she did well enough as Bo Young, she didn’t make the character pop. The side actors did really well in the moments that required emotion and some form of acting ability, but most of the time they didn’t have to do very much, and the cartoonish way they were written actually impacted how well the actors could portray them. I feel like I’m whining a lot about the characters, but honestly, once you got used to the way they were it was pretty easy to look past their simple character constructions and enjoy the show for what it did do well. Such as its cinematography, which was absolutely lovely. The drama went out of its way to produce wonderfully beautiful scenes that enhanced the quiet, emotional beats that the show did so well. The scenery, the camera frame and even where the actors stood in the frame felt artistic and well thought through in order to present the most visually appealing scene for each moment.

It was rather pretty when you consider that most of it was shot in a hospital

The camerawork and editing were all high class, with no awkward (or trying too hard to be artistic) camera shots and scenes that flowed nicely into each other without ever being jarring or taking you out of the moment that had just passed. The soundtrack was a beautiful accompaniment  to these lovely scenes and further enhanced the understated mood the drama aimed for. It was really how perfectly everything worked together in these brilliant artistic moments that made the drama such a pleasure to watch.

What Was Great:

Poetry:

What made this show stand out from others is definitely the poetry. That’s the drama’s whole draw. Adding written literature to visual media is a new idea in K-Dramaland (as far as I know), and is something that might not have worked all that well.

I just love it

The poems chosen always fit the scenes they were in perfectly, and were used as a way to explain character thought process and emotions. The poetry never overrode the emotion that was already existing in a scene- it highlighted it and provided more depth, but it never overshadowed the other aspects of the scene.

Passing the poetry on

I think that having the poetry as text as well as narration was a great choice, as having the words appear on the screen (even though I can’t read it because it’s in Hangul) made it feel that much more like it was a part of the scene. The poems became an extension of our characters as they moved around, with the words following them as they went. The poems were also an excellent way to show how Bo Young, the original lover of poetry, was impacting those around her. Originally the poems were all narrated by Bo Young, but as she grew closer to other characters, the narrators began to change. As Doctor Ye started falling for Bo Young, he had his turn narrating, as did Min Ho. When two characters shared a narration it was a hint that the same emotions were being felt by both. The poetry was used as a tool to draw the characters together, and show their relationships and emotions. Poetry isn’t really something that’s considered cool anymore, so I really liked that a show like this came along and highlighted how poetry is a special art form that has a unique magic to it.

What Wasn’t:

The Hero We Deserve:

It’s finally time for me to say it- Doctor Ye was a bland, boring hero. I’m sorry, he just was. If I think about his character and who this man is supposed to be as a person all I’d be able to tell you is that he’s professional and nice. That's it.

Not bad qualities, but they don't make for interesting viewing

Those aren’t bad qualities by a long stretch, in fact if I were to come across a guy like that in real life I’d be head over heels for him because that is exactly what you want in a man. But in a K-Drama hero? Not so much. Sure, Doctor Ye is kind and considerate and respectful, but on screen that’s all kinda boring. There’s no conflict there.

His sudden iciness could be pretty alarming

And the relationship between him and Bo Young wasn’t exactly loaded with cute either. As a hero Doctor Ye was just flat, unremarkable and forgettable. He’s made up of all the right things to make the perfect boyfriend, but in the drama he was just so bland. Min Ho on the other hand was headstrong, fiery, and stubborn. He was interesting. Would I want Min Ho as a boyfriend? Probably not. But as a character did I like him more than Doctor Ye? You bet I did. Min Ho had emotion. Whether he was heart-meltingly sweet, or arrogantly cold he wore his heart on his sleeve and we all knew, and mostly understood what he was feeling. Not like the closed book Doctor Ye. Min Ho starts the drama as a petty, selfish brat and is really quite unlikeable. But as the drama progresses we actually see him start to grow and mature. He learns what is so special about Bo Young, and does his best to make her happy, which is a long way from how self-centred he was when the series started. Min Ho often lapsed back into his arrogant, unforgiving self, but he was figuring out how wrong it was for him to lash out, and how important it was for him to apologise and move forwards. Min Ho’s growth and self-awareness made him the real hero of the story for me.

Making Doctor Ye a lacklustre alternative 

Unfortunately I think the show messed up the way it handled the love triangle. I mean, for at least the first half (if not more) of the show, Min Ho was being played as the typical hero- selfish rich boy who turns down the heroine only to have to eat his words and grovel later when he realises he loves her. Sure, it’s kinda cliche, but that’s the way the show was presenting Min Ho as a character, and his relationship with Bo Young.

It felt kinda like the show was trying to get me on the wrong ship

Doctor Ye is introduced and he’s typical second male lead stuff. Classic nice guy who doesn’t voice what he wants and gets overlooked. Even when Bo Young developed a crush on Doctor Ye the show was still playing Min Ho for the hero. His feelings for Bo Young were well on their way, and his crush on her was teaching him how to respect and treat others properly. All others, not just the girl he likes. While Doctor Ye is…still just a stoic doctor who’s good at his job. Min Ho is burning with jealousy and fear of losing Bo Young and does everything he can to try and win her over. He comforts her, he throws tantrums, he asks for forgiveness. While Doctor Ye is…still just a stoic doctor who’s good at his job. We’ve had a deep look into Min Ho’s home life, and we’ve come to understand his insecurities and his outbursts. We see exactly how and why he falls for Bo Young. While Doctor Ye gets a small backstory that we gloss over quickly. I have no problem with Doctor Ye being the hero and the man that Bo Young falls in love with (because Min Ho’s immaturity is not attractive in a man, even if it does make him an interesting character), I just feel like the show was trying to trick me by making out like Min Ho was hero, so I felt a tad disappointed when he wasn’t.

Though I guess it is a change to have a drama where the jerk doesn't get the girl

It wasn’t like Bo Young and Doctor Ye had this deep romantic relationship that no one else could possibly have competed with (à la ‘My Love from the Stars’). Or there was this big mysterious love-triangle where you didn’t know who would get the girl (à la ‘Reply 1997’ ’94’ or ’88’). It was more that the show set one guy up to be the hero and then changed its mind mid way through (à la ‘School 2015’). Yes show, I agree that Doctor Ye is the correct and sensible choice for Bo Young. So why didn’t you act like that from the start? Why did you play games with me and stop me from caring about your main romance?

Recommend?

Not really. It’s a nice enough show, but it isn't really a must-watch.

The characters just needed a bit more pizazz 

Circle

Circle

9.5/10

Circle

Genre:                                   Episodes: 12                       Year: 2017

Mystery

Thriller

Fantasy

Synopsis:

As children, twins Woo Jin and Bum Gyun witness an alien arriving on earth, and shortly after their father disappears with her. 10 years later in 2017, Woo Jin is a hardworking student while Bum Gyun has just been released from prison due to his obsession with finding aliens. In 2037 earth is divided into Normal Earth, a heavily polluted area with many crimes, and Smart Earth, a clean and crime-free city. Kim Joon Hyuk is a detective who tries to enter Smart Earth to investigate a case of missing twins who disappeared in 2017.

Cast:

Yeo Jin Goo (Kim Woo Jin)

Gong Seung Yeon (Han Jung Yeon/Byul)

Kim Kang Woo (Kim Joon Hyuk)

Ahn Woo Yeon (Kim Bum Gyun)

Lee Ki Kwang (Lee Ho Soo)

Min Sung Wook (Lee Hyun Seok)

Seo Hyun Chul (Hong Jin Hong)

Jung In Sun (Park Min Young)

Han Sang Jin (Park Dong Gun)

Song Young Kyu (Han Young Woo)

General Thoughts:

When I really love a drama I either want to talk about it so much that I can sit down straight away and write pages and pages, or I don’t want to talk about it at all. ‘Circle’ definitely falls in the latter category. I adored this drama so much that I don’t really want to sit here and try to dissect it piece by piece, I simply want to enjoy it for the wonderful drama it was. That being said, I’ll still try to talk about this show in as much detail as I possibly can.

So many feelings

So what made ‘Circle’ so great? To start it was a tightly woven story. There were many layers and many details that knit together to form a tight, intriguing narrative. I’ve found a lot of mysteries lately have been coasting along on one question

One mystery after another

(most often being ‘who is the killer?’), which can work fine, but what made ‘Circle’ so interesting and so dramatic, is that we didn’t even know what the question was. We follow our characters and are just as confused as they are about the events that unfold. Granted, this mode of storytelling could completely fall apart and become too confusing, but this writer cleverly let the characters (and by an extension us) solve smaller mysteries while we worked our way up into the finale. It gave the show a beautifully cohesive feel, as each problem solved lead us to an even greater problem. At first it’s about finding out why students are committing suicide, then figuring out if Jung Yeon is an alien, then why her memories are gone, then finding who kidnapped Bum Gyun and why, and eventually what happened to Woo Jin. Having each episode split into two timelines ended up working really well, with each timeline being used to create tension throughout the whole series. The acting was excellent all around. Yeo Jin Goo has lately been picking projects that are only so-so (‘Orange Marmalade’) or that I have no interest in (‘Daebak’), so I’d kind of forgotten what an absolutely incredible actor he is when he’s given something decent to work with.

He has more talent in acting than I have talent combined

He was nothing short of dynamic in this drama. Every time I thought he couldn’t impress me any more than he already had, he pulled something else out and left me completely floored. The gradual buildup of tension in the series let Yeo Jin Goo start off lightly and slowly gather momentum as the story progressed. As our hero of Beta Project (the 2017 timeline), Woo Jin was such a pivotal character.

Pretty much how we all felt

He was our lead into this strange new world where aliens might exist and something strange and ominous is occurring. As he delves deeper into the mysteries, Woo Jin becomes an extension of the viewers- he knows what we know, learns what we learn, and ultimately reacts the way most of us would react. While he was a character that spent almost all his time being very confused and very afraid, as he was the viewers’ eyes and ears he needed to be confident in his conviction to find the truth even amongst his confusion, and relatable and understandable even in his fear- and that’s exactly what Yeo Jin Goo delivered. Next to him we had Ahn Woo Yeon, who played Woo Jin’s slightly derailed brother to perfection. He hit that perfect balance of crazy yet believable. Regardless of whether Bum Gyun’s theories were true or not, I believed that Bum Gyun firmly believed them himself. Unlike Woo Jin, Bum Gyun wasn’t a relatable, reliable insight into the story. Instead he was a catalyst for our confusion. He was elusive and sporadic, and we could never be quite sure if he was on the trail of a greater scheme or simply lost in his own world.

Kinda a lose-lose situation- he's either totally crazy, or there's someone secretly killing people

Ahn Woo Yeon played Bum Gyun with such conviction that it was hard to dislike him as a character- as confusing as he was, and as hard as he made things for Woo Jin, all we wanted was for the two brothers to get to the bottom of whatever was going on and live peacefully together again. In Brave New World (2037 timeline), Kim Kang Woo did a great job at driving the story along. I didn't find the mysteries in BNW as intense as in Beta Project (as if anything could be as intense as the mystery in Beta Project), but Joon Hyuk was a likeable hero.

What cuties

Similarly to Woo Jin in Beta Project, Joon Hyuk was our intro into this new world with all it’s new technologies. Kim Kang Woo incorporated aspects of both Woo Jin and Bum Gyun into his character, so we couldn’t be quite sure which twin he actually was. He had Woo Jin’s dedicated desire to find and save his twin while uncovering the corruption in Smart Earth, and he had Bum Gyun’s reckless obsession with the mystery at hand.

She's growing on me more and more as an actress

Kim Kang Woo also brought a maturity to the character that was completely his own, while always staying true to his character. Gong Seung Yeon was brilliant as the strange alien girl in both timelines. Though I occasionally questioned her character’s importance in BNW, the writers did a great job at ensuring that she was developed as a character and not just a plot device. While the plot was heavily driven by Byul’s creation of the memory box and her forgotten memories, it was her as Jung Yeon that made her an emotional aspect of the story rather than a purely logical one. She obviously has a deep desire to protect Woo Jin and Bum Gyun, mixed with a deep sense of guilt that it was something she created that ended up tearing the brothers apart. Gong Seung Yeon brought great depth and emotion to a character that could easily have ended up as a simple plot device. We didn’t want Woo Jin found only because Bum Gyun was searching for him, but also because Jung Yeon had been searching for him for 20 years. The villains, played by Han Sang Jin and Song Young Kyu, were brilliant. They were inconspicuous enough that they weren’t obvious villains, but both were able to produce an off-putting creepiness that hinted at a possible corruption.

So nerdy...so twisted

What the villains did so well in this story is that they were everyday people. Jung Yeon’s father was a scientist who was willing to do whatever it took to complete his project in the name of scientific development and bettering the human race.

This slightly sarcastic, slightly condescending role was a great fit

Dong Gun was a regular man who quietly took advantage of a situation to ensure it benefitted him most. Neither man was exceptionally cruel or pure evil, their morality just wasn’t quite as in line with everyone else. Having antagonists such as this opens the door for a lot more interesting storytelling as it starts questioning human nature as well as furthering a story. The supporting cast were all brilliant and fit their roles well, with Lee Ki Kwang being a particular standout. I’m not familiar at all with any of his acting credits, but he was so perfect in his role here. A lot of his scenes were used for comedic effect, with him bantering with Joon Hyuk- and Lee Ki Kwang’s simple, straight-faced humour worked really well in the situation. I was happily surprised to see he could also do a bit of heavy lifting when required- a standout being the time his traumatic memories began resurfacing. I was pretty impressed with his acting throughout the drama, and was actually a bit bummed when his character got a bit phased out at the end there. The directing of this drama was really slick, and was a great contributor the high tension that ran throughout the show. Music choices were absolutely perfect and raised the suspense immeasurably. 

The show gave just enough clues at just the right times

What Was Great:

Two Worlds:

What really makes this drama different from others is that it has two timelines being shown at the same time. It’s innovative and interesting, but also a huge risk- there were so many ways it could have gone wrong. And thankfully, the show managed to avoid all of those reasons.

Better than I could have hoped

While the cliffhangers in Beta Project tended to be a bit more thrilling than those in BNW, BNW still managed to have a lot of secrets and a lot of intrigue. Rather than knowing what would happen in Beta Project because we’ve seen events in the future, we’re still unsure how events will play out. A large part of this definitely came from the twin switch-up. Had Woo Jin been the centre in both timelines,

The humans in this drama are infinitely more dangerous than the aliens

BNW wouldn’t have been as thrilling, but by having Bum Gyun as the hero in the future timeline, it created a fear in the audience for Woo Jin. Woo Jin is our focus in Beta Project, so how is it that he somehow became lost while Bum Gyun was found? What really perfected the two world plot is how the stories gradually grew closer together. At first they were completely different, with Beta Project exploring the existence of aliens and Bum Gyun’s dangerous obsession, and BNW focusing on the mysteries behind Smart Earth. As the plot in each timeline continued, we could see that these mysteries were somehow linked and both our heroes in both the timelines were working towards the same conclusion. It’s clear that the writer knew exactly how this story was going to pan out, and chose the perfect amount of time to tell it- I cannot emphasise how drastically underutilised 12 episode dramas are. The story was tight and thrilling with the perfect amount of reveals at the perfect times. The merging of the two worlds at the end of the series couldn’t have been more perfect, and was a brilliant example of how confident our writer was. Having Woo Jin lose consciousness in Beta Project while being pursued by Dong Gun, and then waking up after being used as Smart Earth’s supercomputer was a great twist and an excellent way to merge two stories that had been completely separate until that point.

I'm so sad, but I'm so intellectually satisfied

It made sense how Woo Jin was captured and secretly used for 20 years, and of course the cloning added an extra sense of heartbreak to the scenario, making for a strangely bittersweet ending. Although I was completely heartbroken at the idea of Woo Jin’s death, I sort of loved the ethical complications it brought up in regards to cloning.

As far as cars of doom go, this was one of the better uses and best filmed

Memory was definitely a continuing motif in this drama- with Jung Yeon not remembering her alien heritage, Bum Gyun losing his memories, and Smart Earth secretly blocking citizens’ traumatic memories, and the show seemed to be making a pretty solid stand that memories are one of the most important parts of what make us who we are.

At least there got to be a little bit of happy

The finale took that a step further by questioning this conclusion with the introduction of Woo Jin’s clone. If memories are what make us who we are, what does that make a clone who has the body and memories of someone else? If this clone is Woo Jin because he has his body and his memories, what does that make the Woo Jin that died? I appreciated that the show let these questions hang in the air a bit. For the sake of the drama’s closure Jung Yeon and Joon Hyuk (after some turmoil) accept the clone as Woo Jin. It was a satisfying conclusion to an intense and gripping drama, as this acceptance on Joon Hyuk’s part brought about the brothers’ reunion we’d been longing for all drama long. However, the drama also didn’t exactly say that this was the one and only correct answer, and I love that right up to its ending the drama was making its audience think a bit deeper than we usually do.

What Wasn’t:

Slight Slowdown:

I’m sure that there probably were things in this drama that made it less than perfect, but I was so caught up in the story and the acting that I didn’t even notice any potential shortcomings. This was a drama that just really worked for me. Yeah, I was a little bummed when it was revealed that Woo Jin did in fact die, but then I was so into all the ethical questions that were brought up as a result of his death, that I appreciated the story taking that direction.

I also appreciated that he didn't stand around for 5 minutes staring at the car that was about to hit him 

I guess if there’s one tiny, slight downside to this drama (and only because I’m being super picky and don’t want to leave this section blank), there was the smallest lull in momentum just before the finale. Seriously, it’s so insignificant and lasts for such a short period of time that it doesn’t impact the enjoyment of the show at all. It’s just that after so many hours of racing momentum and heart-stopping cliffhangers, I just noticed one patch that wasn’t quite speeding along like the rest of the drama. Which is kind of fair enough, because boy did this drama rip along.

Recommend?

Absolutely. 

So many mysteries, so many thrills