Was It Love

 Was It Love

4.5/10

Was It Love

Genre:                                            Episodes: 16                       Year: 2020

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Noh Ae Jung is a single mother working as a movie producer at a small company on the edge of bankruptcy. The company has one last chance to make a successful movie, and the production of the movie brings four men into Ae Jung’s life.

Cast:

Song Ji Hyo (Noh Ae Jung)

Son Ho Joon (Oh Dae Oh)

Song Jong Ho (Ryu Jin)

Koo Ja Sung (Oh Yeon Woo)

Kim Min Joon (Koo Pa Do)

Dasom (Joo Ah Rin)

Uhm Chae Young (Noh Ha Nee)

Yoon Sung Woo (Koo Dong Chan)

General Thoughts:

Who…who wrote this? Okay so, it’s a totally newbie writer from what I can see which I guess makes it a little better- room to grow I suppose. But man…this wasn’t exactly a fun ride. I was so exasperated (mainly from the two leads) that the ending for this drama just could not come quick enough.

This drama was pain

The beginning however was actually quite fun. For the first four/fiveish episodes I was really on board and was having a fun time with the show. I mean come on, four suitors for a single mum- it just sounds ripe for all kind of hilarity and shenanigans. Honestly, I think where the show fell apart was not capitalising on all the quirky fun aspects it had. It took itself too seriously and actually ended up ignoring a lot of the parts that set itself apart form other K-Dramas.

I just don't caaaare about your past fling

I have seen nearly a million K-Dramas (only a slight exaggeration) which are about long lost lovers reuniting and falling in love again. Yawn. Boring. I’ve had this dish before, how about something new people! Reunited lovers can be emotional and sweet, but ‘Was It Love’ instead made it tedious and meandering. I can’t see the point of us getting four fun, different suitors for the leading lady, when it is so insanely obvious who the end game is from episode one. Did anyone actually think that any other character but Dae Oh had a chance to end up with Ae Jung? I sure didn’t. I mean I hoped someone else would, but in my heart I already knew how the ending would go. Dae Oh would be the father (because I never thought that this drama would be brave enough to make the baby-daddy someone other than who the ending romance would be), and he would get back together with Ae Jung despite their relationship being absolutely bloody terrible. I guess a plus of not wanting Dae Oh to be the one that ended up with Ae Jung is that I was free to bounce around whatever ship I so desired. Each episode I was rooting for a different guy- with the exception of Dae Oh of course. Depending on what had happened in the episode (such as Yeon Woo taking good care of Ha Nee, or Jin admitting that he sabotaged Ae Jung’s last contact with Dae Oh) I would flit my support from one character to the other, happily not tied to anyone in particular and free to root for whoever I wanted.

Woo hoo- so many choices!

A lot of the time I found myself cheering for Pa Do because he was just the least likely, and also because he was the most normal and reasonable of them all. Yes, the ex mafia who is protecting his dead love’s kid while hiding from a gang boss is the most reasonable. Kinda says a bit about the other boys, don’t it. Jin was sweet and nice, but he was also kinda entitled and spineless- he thought liking Ae Jung first gave him some kinda of right to her affections, yet never really stood up for Ae Jung OR Ha Nee, despite always saying he was going to ‘take responsibility’.

I do love a noona romance

His heart was in the right place, but he never really ended up doing anything important ever. Yeon Woo was enthusiastic, but he often came across as quite pushy- I get that his fear of losing Ae Jung unexpectedly again made him want to give it his all, but it more often came across as demanding and a little controlling. I’m glad that in the end Yeon Woo was given a scene where he could just tell Ae Jung that he had always been happy during the times he liked her and spent with her and that he was moving on, because he was a really endearing character, and I’m glad the show didn’t do him dirty at the end by making him a stage five clinger. Yeon Woo was always gentle, understanding and supportive of Ha Nee, so I cheered for him a lot purely because I think he would have been the best father figure for Ha Nee moving forwards. I’m a little disappointed that the show went the route of ‘who’s the daddy?’ for a few reasons. 1- we all already know who it is, let’s all stop pretending it’s a mystery. 2- if you’re going to commit to a play like this, at least commit all the way. The drama made a big song and dance about Ha Nee searching for which of the men her father was, but they were not given equal amounts of screen time, which made it really obvious who the dad was, and also just made the show feel a bit exasperating whenever it acted like the viewers wouldn’t know.

Yeon Woo and Ha Nee were just too cute together

Yeon Woo and Jin got a bit of time with Ha Nee early on, but once Dae Oh came about, you would be hard pressed to find Jin, Yeon Woo or even Pa Do sharing screen time with Ha Nee. It’s like the writer knew that Dae Oh paled so much in comparison to these other guys (okay maybe Jin is only slightly better), that they knew they literally couldn’t have Ha Nee shown with any of the other contenders because it would show just how crummy he really was.

Yes, chase the young girl- there's no way that'll end badly

I mean come on, Dae Oh’s first interaction with Ha Nee is chasing her down a dark street at night trying to talk to her while she runs away and almost gets in an accident. And I’m supposed to swoon at Dae Oh for saving her? Mate, if you hadn’t chased this underage girl in the dark, she wouldn’t have needed saving. Alas I digress- my main point here is that there was a wealth of humour and heart to be mined from Ha Nee’s relationship with each of the four men, but rather than exploring each of those potentially brilliant emotional lines, the plot instead opted to hyper focus on the romance. Similarly to how all Ha Nee’s screen time ended up being shared with Dae Oh, majority of Ae Jung’s screen time was also with Dae Oh. Which does make sense as he is the lead, bu it also kind of doesn’t make sense because Ae Jung disliked Dae Oh rather intensely- so why were they spending so much time together? Any time Ae Jung was having a nice moment with one of the other suitors, Dae Oh swooped in to disrupt the moment. It wasn’t cute and it didn’t make their relationship seem like fate. It made Dae Oh seem like a stalker and Ae Jung like a woman who couldn’t move on with her life. Ae Jung as a character was just…not that great. She was bland and didn’t have much to her character that went beyond that she was a single mother. It’s like they tried to spin it that she was a great producer who is still trying to chase her dreams despite her setbacks, but like…we never really actually saw her do any producing.

If being great at her job was an important part of this character, maybe she should...be better at her job...

She had only just been made a producer at her company when it went bankrupt, and then all series long Dae Oh or one of the other men were solving all the problems that cropped up in the film. Even getting the film off the ground wasn’t thanks so Ae Jung- if she hadn’t known Dae Oh and Jin from university, there would have been no way to satisfy the investor's conditions and the drama would have been over before it had begun. I really, really, really wish that the show had made Ae Jung way more of a competent professional- as it was every time Ae Jung told someone to trust her to make a great film I couldn’t help but sit there and think ‘why would they- you have literally never made a movie, never mind a successful one’. I don’t know how I felt about Song Ji Hyo in this role either. I find her to be a good emotional actor, and the scenes here that were more on the serious side she acted well.

I thought we'd passed the era where wrist grabbing was viewed as romantic

But as this is a rom-com, there were a lot of scenes that required her to act silly and cute, and I just don’t think she can pull that off very well. It always felt kind of strained and awkward and was more cringey than enjoyable to watch. I didn’t much like the character of Ae Jung, and Song Ji Hyo just wasn’t able to give her that burst of happy-go-lucky energy that draws you in and warms you to there character. It was a similar thing for Son Ho Joon. I have LOVED Son Ho Joon in his roles in the past, most recently when he was the lead in ‘Go Back Spouses’, which was also coincidently about lovers rediscovering each other (sort of) and rekindling their love.

There are few male leads I have disliked this much

 But he just wasn’t able to shine here. I know that Son Ho Joon can do cute and comedy, but Dae Oh was written so badly as a character that I didn’t even like seeing Son Ho Joon on screen. I swear he got to smile like…three times in this whole show. He was just so mopey and depressed and self-centred that there was no way I could connect and sympathise with the character, even with Son Ho Joon acting him out. The rest of the acting was pretty good all round- Koo Ja Sung delivered a cute puppy younger character that didn’t have too many difficult emotions to portray, and Song Jong Ho was solid and consistent. No one really blew me away, but I thought Dasom did a really great job. I haven’t seen her in any roles since ‘Virtual Bride’ which was one of her first projects, and I think she’s really improved since then. I personally think it’s a great idea for idols gone actors to take on a ‘celebrity’ role, as I’m sure there’s a lot of personal experiences that they’d be able to draw on to assist their acting as they are starting out. Dasom felt really comfortable in her role here, and gave a nice a natural performance, even in the scenes that required a bit more emotion from her.

I don't love that they tried to tie her character up with Jin though

The plot in this drama was excruciatingly slow. I was so excited when our characters got kidnapped towards the end because something was finally happening! The momentum dropped right after our characters were introduced and had their first lot of interactions with each other, and was never able to recover. There weren’t that many mysteries in the drama, and the show didn’t want to give any away until we got to like…episode 12 (or there about). There were so many episodes where nothing was happening- no events and no relationship development.

But Pa Do developed a relationship with his son, and that's all I really cared about

It’s almost as if the writer wanted to hold onto Ae Jung and Dae Oh getting together until the end of the show, but to do that they had to sort out the misunderstanding behind why Ae Jung left all those years ago. Which was the show’s main mystery- so we couldn’t be told that too early on apparently. Unfortunately this meant that there was very little development between Ae Jung and Dae Oh, despite each episode being about trying to force them together- it made for an extremely frustrating watch. 

What Was Great:

Kiddies:

Ha Nee and Dong Chan were by far the best parts of this show. Ha Nee was so delightful in her endeavours to find her biological father, and her relationship with Dong Chan was really sweet.

10/10 this is fab

Ha nee was by far more mature than either of her parents, and always had sincere and thoughtful responses to her situations. She was hurt by both Ae Jung and Dae Oh (seriously- who doesn’t talk to their child about their absent father when they know she is looking into it), but never lost the capacity to try and understand their situations and why they acted the way they did. She was able to look past her feelings and her emotional responses (something neither of the adults could do) to try and come to a compromise that worked well for everyone. Dong Chan was her cute and trusty side-kick and the two of them were just a joy to watch on screen- they were so fun! Uhm Chae Young gave a really solid performance and delivered well on her heavy emotional scenes- you really felt for her, and as a viewer your heart ached every time Ha Nee had to suck it up and be strong on her own because the adults around her just didn’t have the sense to be able to support her properly. 

What Wasn’t:

No Love:

The main love line in this drama was just bad. There was not nearly enough cute and sweet moments between the leads- they spent most of the series misunderstanding each other and disliking each other! They constantly pushed the other away under the guise of it being ‘better for them’ or ‘easier for everyone’. The show really didn’t give much away between the mystery of their separation until the end, so it was also hard to understand why these two characters felt so hurt by the other.

JUST GET OVER IT

In the end, it did make sense, but by then it was too late for me to actually care about their relationship. I also had absolutely no faith that these two could make an honest and communicative relationship work. Right until the close of the drama, they didn’t communicate with the other what they wanted- they kept making unilateral decisions without discussion which is a recipe for more misunderstandings and fall outs.

I 100% believe they will break up again anyway

Honestly, considering that they broke up just after their 300 day anniversary and couldn’t move on with their lives, I really question their sanity. Despite how good of a relationship they thought they had, how could they not have moved past that for the rest of their lives. They weren’t even dating for a year. 300 days is less than a year. These two supposedly functional adults dated for less than a year and they f*cked it up so badly that it tainted the rest of their adult lives until they met again. Like oh yeah, it will toooootally work if they get back together. Sure. Even before the main misunderstanding that eventually broke them apart happened, Ae Jung and Dae Oh’s relationship was already breaking down. Dae Oh constantly sidelined Ae Jung and put other things before her, and never told her about what was stressing him out and causing him to act that way, and Ae Jung was never able to adequately express her frustrations in a way that helped Dae Oh understand that what he was doing was seriously damaging and risking their relationship. Even without Ae Jung’s sudden pregnancy and Ah Rin and Jin’s meddling, that relationship was going to break down. The only difference is that without those things, there would have been no mystery surrounding the break up and they both would have just got on with their lives. The chemistry between Song Ji Hyo and Son Ho Joon also wasn’t that convincing. All in all this was a very lacklustre love line.

Friggin’ Time Skip:

Why did anyone think that it was a good idea to finish this drama on a time skip? Like…why? How? I’m baffled. Baffled and confused I say.

Here comes Oh Dae Oh- ready to not communicate his emotions to anyone

After finding out that he had a daughter that he hadn’t heard of for fourteen years, Dae Oh wants to build up a relationship with her and rekindle his romance with her mother, his lost love. And he decides that the best way to do that is to…leave and go no contact for two years?

Ah yes, break her heart. That'll show her you won't hurt her in the future

How is that showing anyone that you are responsible and reliable and not going to walk out on them? Newsflash- it doesn’t. One of Ha Nee’s conditions on being a partner for her mum is that you will always be by her mum’s side, and while looking at those conditions and ticking yes on all of them, Dae Oh then packs his sh*t and nopes out of there. I just have no fathoming of why he thought he needed to leave them, and why he thought either of them would ever welcome him back into their lives after he disappears off again. I sure wouldn’t. I just fail to understand why the original story that was based on Dae Oh’s original perception of the events had to be deleted and changed. These people do know that it’s fiction right? Dae Oh and Ae Jung weren’t really warriors fighting to the death- they know that right? Why can’t they just make the bloody film more accurate, or write a sequel/prequal/spin off afterwards that reflected what really happened. Just because the FICTIONAL STORY didn’t pan out the way real life had, doesn’t mean everybody had to go put their lives on hold for two years while Dae Ho wrote a new book. What utter rubbish.

Recommend?

If you have read this rant and are still unsure whether I would recommend this show to you, you need to…well…just read the rant again. (P.S- the answer is that I would not recommend this show to anyone). 

I want to watch a good drama...

Go Back Spouses

Go Back Spouses

7.5/10

Go Back Spouses

Genre:                                                Episodes: 12                                        Year: 2017

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Choi Ban Do and Ma Jin Joo got married after meeting at university. 18 years later both are unhappy with their lives and their relationship is breaking down. After getting a divorce, the two wake up in their 20 year old bodies in 1999, the year they met for the first time.

Cast:

Jang Na Ra (Ma Jin Joo)

Son Ho Joon (Choi Ban Do)

Jang Ki Young (Jung Nam Gil)

Ko Bo Gyul (Min Seo Young)

Heo Jeong Min (Ahn jae Woo)

Han Bo Reum (Yoon Bo Reum)

Lee Yi Kyung (Go Dok Jae)

Cho Hye Jung (Cheon Seol)

Kim Mi Kyung (Go Eun Suk)

Im Ji Kyu (Park Hyun Seok)

General Thoughts:

It’s a cute and fun drama that is an absolute breeze to get through. The conflicts are interesting and heartfelt, but makes room for a whole bunch of adorableness. Jang Na Ra was the perfect fit for our heroine, as she has such a babyface, and is really one of the only actresses that could successfully pull off being 38 and 20 in the same drama- although Son Ho Joon did a pretty convincing job at both ages too.

No one ages quite as ambiguously as Koreans

Jang Na Ra also has a beautiful innocence about her that fit the character of Jin Joo perfectly. She may be an ahjumma back in her 20s body and life, but she still exuded a sweet naivety, particularly when it came to boys. That being said, one of the better aspects of the show was the way that our leads’ older personalities remained in tact even as they journey back to their younger days.

Petty but also kinda funny

They carried with them a maturity and wisdom that helped them give their friends some great help and advise that actually turned their lives around- particularly in the case of Seol and Hyun Seok’s rich girlfriend. The writers did a great job at balancing these moments of wisdom and maturity with our characters' well…less mature moments. Jin Joo and Ban Do had a lot of petty fights throughout the show, but thankfully these were played more for comedic effect, which reduced the intensity. The two had just the right amount of anger towards each other to warrant getting a divorce the first time around, but the writers did an excellent job at showing how their dissatisfaction with each other came from their lack of communication and understanding, rather than any actual real resentment. Even before the time skip it was clear that there was an underlying love that both our leads simply weren’t expressing, and that spiralled and snowballed until neither believed the other still cared for them. The show did an excellent job at bringing the leads back together with common purpose- getting revenge on Hyun Seok.

A rewarding K-Drama moment

As a doctor in the present, we already hated him for lording his position over Ban Do, and making Ban Do do all the dirty work. It was a relief to see he was still the same slime-ball 20 years ago, so that Ban Do’s small revenges seemed funny rather than petty. And of course showing the way he treated girls (our leading lady included), was just icing.

Back before the figurative sh*t hit the figurative fan

Hyun Seok was a mutual enemy of our leads, and gave them cause to work together. He also provided a way for Jin Joo to come to understand Ban Do better, as at home he’d never mentioned Hyun Seok or how terrible his job was. During the revenge plan the poor way Ban Do was treated at work came out, as Jin Joo needed to know how he knew Hyun Seok and why he wanted revenge on him. It was a natural way for our leads to fall into an alliance that then repaired their friendship, and brought back memories of how they used to be together. Another point of connection between the two was of course their son. Having a son in the present who would cease to exist should the leads decide to stay in the past and not get married definitely added some higher stakes. It’s something that a lot of people tend to ignore in time skip media or even in real life- saying that if they could go back they’d never meet that person. Of course this means that any children with that person would also disappear. It was obvious that both parents loved Seo Jin very much (how could you not love that precious face?), and all the perks of travelling back in time (youth, family, correcting mistakes) seemed less exciting once they realised that it came at the expense of their child.

So precious- just look at his little face!

Despite Jin Joo’s joy at seeing her mother alive again, she still carried a deep grief with her, this time from losing her child. Ban Do was given less screen time where he was shown grieving his hild, but there were enough moments there that we knew he felt the same heartache as Jin Joo. The show handled the situation well, as the end result could have been seen as our leads returning to the present just to meet Seo Jin again.

Everyone take a minute to go phone your mum

However, by the end it was clear that Ban Do and Jin Joo had learned to communicate effectively and had grown in their understanding of one another, and I was confident the their return to the present was as much a desire for them to continue their lives together as it was for them so see Seo Jin again. In that vein, one of the more heartbreaking aspects of the show was definitely Jin Joo’s relationship with her mother. It really went to show how much we all tend to under appreciate our own mothers. Jin Joo’s Mum was obviously a strong and much loved presence in Jin Joo’s life, yet she didn’t express this much until she came from the future where her mother was no longer alive. The way Jin Joo followed her Mum around was just too cute. Not only was Jin Joo’s Mum the cause of such cuteness, but she was also the underlying cause of Jin Joo and Ban Do’s misunderstandings. Ban Do (unintentionally) made Jin Joo miss her mother’s last moments alive, and that of course led to some frustrations, but it was Ban Do’s inability to grieve with Jin Joo and Jin Joo’s inability to recognise Ban Do’s attempts to comfort her that really paved the groundwork for their unhappiness.

Just look at all those hidden feelings and lack of honesty

Neither was willing to express what they wanted, and that inevitably led to a breakdown in their marriage. I also appreciated how Jin Joo’s Mum gave the go-ahead for Jin Joo to return to the future.

The final snuggle

It was an impossible situation she was in- spending time with her mother who she knew would die in 10 years, or returning to her child. As unbelievable as her mum’s quick acceptance that her child was from the future was, it was a nice touch to have Jin Joo’s Mum tell her to go back to Seo Jin. In regards to the time travel, this show went for the less-is-more approach which I’m always on board with. The magic rings weren’t explained at all (unless you count that final epilogue of fighting gods), but they made complete sense. Taking off the rings transported our couple back to the past so it stands to reason that buying and wearing them again would send them back to the present. Keeping the ring marks on our characters’ fingers was a nice way of reminding us that these were versions of our leads who had come from the future and didn't really belong there, and also worked for cluing Ban Do in on what might take them back to their time.

What Was Great:

Second Leads:

I don’t think there’s anyone that didn’t get a good dose of Second Male Lead Syndrome here. Both the second leads were pretty excellent- the characters and their actors.

Most awkward accidental double date ever

Seo Young was the perfect example of a fairytale first love. She was sweet and gorgeous and the exact type of person a guy would hold in their heart for years. The show handled Ban Do’s expectations really well. In the present he was dissatisfied with how his own life had turned out and had fantasies about how he would have lived if he’d dated Seo Young instead of Jin Joo.

You're the perfect match for her...when you're 38...

We as an audience of course know that nothing drastic would have changed- he’d still probably hate his job, and he’d still fight, just with Seo Young instead of Jin Joo. However, in his mind Seo young was the perfect ideal and a missed opportunity. When he was transported to the past, Ban Do had a new confidence that came from knowing how things would pan out and not fearing rejection. This set him up nicely to get close to Seo Young, and the friendlier he got with her the less romantic their relationship became. As he got to know her his image of the perfect girl faded- as everyone has their faults, and Ban Do instead started looking out for Seo Young’s best interests. I’m glad that she caught on pretty early that Ban Do had more of a parental love for her, as it saved her from becoming a character that was too pitiful. Instead, the two had a sweet friendship where Ban Do helped Seo Young express herself and find ways to relieve her stress. Ko Bo Gyul has the perfect features for a past first love. She’s very innocent and sweet looking, and was able to express Seo Young’s loneliness well. She had great chemistry with Son Ho Jun, without it coming across as too romantic.

They were cute without being too cute

Then there’s Nam Gil. Ohhh poor Nam Gil. I kind of wish he’d got the girl, but I know that Jin Joo and Ban Do belonged with each other. He was hopelessly sweet and his crush on Jin Joo was unbelievably cute.

I don't want him for Jin Joo, I want him for me

He came around in a realistic way. It made sense that he’d never really liked the haughty and slightly snobby Jin Joo from before, but the new mature Jin Joo was the perfect match for him. As he’d never really experienced motherly love, Jin Joo’s concern and worry over him effected him quickly, and made her stand out in his mind. His awkward courting of Jin Joo was definitely one of my favourite things about this series. While a part of me really wanted Nam Gil and Jin Joo to date, another part of me equally enjoyed their brief encounter. Jin Joo opened up just enough with Nam Gil to know that any sort of romantic relationship just wouldn’t work, and Nam Gil opened up just enough that he learned he could be a great partner to someone else in the future. The way the show avoided too much hurt on the Nam Gil front is that Jin Joo always acted and reacted with the mindset of her 38 year old self. Which definitely put a hold on that ship. Despite how swoony and romantic Nam Gil was being, Jin Joo was always thinking of herself as an ahjumma, and as someone who was much older than him.

Making Ahjumma's heart flutter

Despite the fact that her body was actually younger, Jin Joo herself had already drawn a line and viewed Nam Gil as a much younger kid. With both Ban Do and Jin Joo viewing their peers as younger kids there was really no way there could be a romantic relationship with anyone else. Like the leads, it was fun for us to imagine for a little while what it might be like for them to date Nam Gil or Seo Young, but at the end of the day we wanted them to sort through their issues together. It’s a great feat that the writers were able to make the second leads so loveable, but didn’t end up burning their main ship. 

I mean I like Ban Do, but boy if you weren't already married to her I'd be cheering for Nam Gil for sure

First Leads:

In dramas about relationship breakdowns I find that blame is usually allocated to one of the parties involved, they deal with the problem, and then get back together. Which unfortunately tends to make one of the leads a bit of an a-hole.

The beginning of the end

This drama was able to balance the faults of its main couple quite nicely. While I did tend to feel a tad more sympathetic towards Jin Joo (perhaps it’s because I’m a girl and relate to her issues more), as Jin Joo’s shortcomings in the marriage were revealed I could equally sympathise with Ban Do. Neither character was totally responsible or completely innocent. Both of them contributed to the marriage falling apart, and both of them contributed to building it up again. Even when they were fighting, the show took care to show how both characters were feeling and where they were coming from. We might see Jin Joo find a bill for hotels and breakdown thinking Ban Do was cheating on her, but we also see Ban Do being abused at work. Because we see these scenes separately it makes sense when they blow up at each other. Due to understanding on the audience’s part, we can sympathise with the characters and feel sad for their situations without becoming too frustrated. Their lack of communication was very realistic in that it’s not like they didn’t communicate at all, they just left out small (but often key) aspects of their emotions, which prevented their initial fallout from being too annoying.

Too embarrassed to be truthful

It’s not as though the couple did anything drastically different or simply failed to solve an issue, but they fell into a habit of communicating poorly and ineffectively. Both Ban Do and Jin Joo refused to open up about their deep underlying issues which put a strain on their relationship, until they no longer had the strength to hold it all together anymore.

Communication is key

It’s a common cause for relationship breakdown, and sadly one that can be avoided. Despite how simple it seems, putting your pride away to talk about where things went wrong is a difficult task. Only because Ban Do went back in time and saw his mother-in-law alive again was he able to open up to Jin Joo about his own grief at her mother’s passing. In this moment of vulnerability and honesty Jin Joo herself sees how hard Ban Do was trying for her sake, and how she shared the responsibility for their fallout for not telling him how she wanted to grieve and simply expecting him to understand. This is the key moment where both Jin Joo and Ban Do realise that the other still loves them and they both start making steps towards returning to their time together. Ban Do and Jin Joo are both so relatable and easy to sympathise with that the story becomes very touching. It could almost be a story about any couple that has broken up due to poor communication. The leads were what gave the show its heart and made the story so engaging, and I’m glad the show found a way to reconcile them that wasn’t painfully unrealistic. 

And the fam's back

What Wasn’t:

Only for Laughs:

The only real downside in this drama for me was that the side characters lacked any real depth. There were moments that hinted that there was more going on beneath the surface for the two guys and two girls that filled in the friendship circle, but there was no great detail to their stories.

I wish the friendships had a bit more depth

Tae Woo and Bo Reum were mostly played for comedic effect in their odd-couple relationship, and as I wasn’t a huge fan of their love-line I did find myself getting a bit bored during their segments. They had no moments that were any cuter than what was going on around the leads, and there was no greater meaning behind their story. I mean, sure they were super into each other so it was nice that they eventually sorted out their issues back in the present, but there was nothing intellectually intriguing about either of their characters. Seol had slightly more background than the rest with her sudden disappearance and withdrawal from university being the bulk of her story. But again, she was mostly used to fill in space using comedy. Granted, I found her cuter and funnier than Tae Woo and Bo Reum (her sly looks of disgust at Ban Do were quite hilarious), but she still didn’t have much to do as a character. And I don’t even think Dok Jae was in a single serious scene.

Level of seriousness- zero

Every moment of his was played for comedic effect- some hitting the right note, and some not. It’s not that I wish the show had been less funny, I just wanted a few of those serious, heartfelt moments to be shared by the friend group as well as the families and second leads.

Recommend?

Yep- it’s cute and fun, but direct with its message and filled with painfully, realistically flawed characters.

Ahhh...90's fashion- the core of everyone's dark history