#exit review

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: Itaewon Class

Synopsis

Park Saeroyi is a socially awkward high school student and son of a devoted and kind single father. His unvarnished righteous personality has a tendency to rub people the wrong way, but it is not in his nature to back down from what he believes to be right. After a run in with a bully named Geun Won, the son of the ruthless, vindictive CEO of a restaurant empire, Saeroyi winds up pitted against the powerful, unscrupulous Jangga Co. After a tragic incident shatters Saeroyi's world and winds up with him going to prison, he decides to dedicate his life to beating Jangga Co. on its own corporate turf while keeping his principles intact.

Review

Story: My first impressions of Itaewon Class were largely positive. The drama wasn't doing anything I hadn't seen before in another form, but there was something compelling about it. I wasn't sure whether to attribute that to the writing or the strong performances from the leads, but I was willing to give credit to both and see where things would go. At its most basic level, Itaewon Class is a classic revenge melo with a slick, modern coat of paint. As the drama went on I still found a lot of things I liked about it, and I was impressed out how daringly it dealt with certain topics that your average Kdrama has historically been reluctant to even hint at (racism and xenophobia in South Korea being one. The positive inclusion of a named trans character who even gets a love line later in the run being another.)

So, let it not be said that there is nothing praiseworthy or boundary pushing about this drama. That is not the case. However, as we got late into the run I started having more and more issues with the writing on a narrative level. Itaewon Class has some of the most uneven character development I've seen in a drama. Clearly some of the characters were a focus while others were decidedly not. That wouldn't be so bad in and of itself if the scripts for the last 6 episodes specifically hadn't felt in places like they were written by an entirely different writer, a writer with only a passing knowledge of the development and characterization that had come before. Geun Soo and Geun Won's character arcs are the most egregious example, but Soo Ah suffered from this as well. Additionally, Soo Ah--who was divisive for a lot of the audience but who I quite liked during the first half of the run--had a huge motivation gap for much of the drama leading into the finale week, one that was hastily pasted over in a way that made it no less frustrating as a viewer.

Although Itaewon Class has decidedly melo tendencies from the beginning, the first half of the run felt more or less grounded in reality. However, those problematic last 6 episodes during which the decline in writing quality was rapid took several makjang turns that made what was meant to be a serious ramp up in stakes into a source of unintentional hilarity.

I've already gone on too long, so I won't get into the love lines here. I'll only say that the romance, along with everything else in the plot, lost significant steam in the second half of the drama.

Acting: I really have nothing negative to say about the acting in this. Obviously, these things are going to vary from actor to actor and taste to taste, but I was very impressed with the acting in this drama as a whole. In the past I've been critical of Park Seo Joon (some would say unfairly so) but I do recognize that he's a true talent, and this is easily the most I've liked him in anything. He really manages the pathos, the fierce bullheadedness and the gut punch moments for Saeroyi impressively well. The extended cast is strong. Special props to my girl Lee Joo Young for her role as Hyun Yi. I hope she gets a ton more recognition in the future because this show did so well in the ratings. I also liked Kim Dong Hee as Geun Soo (even though I completely loathed the handling of his character arc) and I'm kind of curious to see what he could do in a better written role. This was my first time seeing Kim Da Mi in anything, and I will give her what I consider the biggest compliment I can give to an actor: I'm going to seek out other things in her filmography, and I'm going to watch her career, because she has something special.

Production: Itaewon Class is a good looking show. A little bit too squeaky clean for my tastes, but indisputably well shot and frequently quite pretty to look at. The sequences in Itaewon itself were considerably stronger and had better energy than any of the corporate stuff. However, the set they used for Jang Dae Hee's office was really neat looking and suited his character beautifully. I also liked everyone's styling. The sponsored clothing in this drama is on point.

Feels: This could definitely be a personal problem but I felt really let down by this drama. All the way through the climax of episode 8 and possibly even including episodes 9 and 10 this drama was probably a 8/10 for me or better. It wasn't perfect, but it was pushing boundaries, and it was surprising me with some unique characters. Yi Seo specifically is a female character I haven't seen before, and I was invested in her development. I know not everyone is going to agree with this or see where I'm coming from and that's fine. I don't begrudge other people enjoying this one. But I thought the last 3 weeks cratered hard and completely spoiled my enjoyment with the inconsistent and frankly sloppy writing. Beyond that, as a revenge melo I didn’t think it worked. Part of what makes a revenge story so satisfying is seeing a righteous character go up against a Goliath and succeed against all odds. The final combat in a truly great revenge story--a la The Count of Monte Cristo--happens within the hero. It takes place between the heroes sadistic desire to see his enemy experience the pain he experienced and his essentially decent and heroic nature. This drama didn’t give me that. By the time it ended it really felt like Saeroyi was bullying a dying, bitter old man. There was nothing triumphant and satisfying about it. As an avid consumer of the revenge genre, it just felt bad, to be honest, and subverted my expectations in an unpleasant way.

Would I recommend Itaewon Class? I bumped up my rating for some truly good acting and a strong first half, but I probably wouldn't recommend this drama to anyone. 6/10 

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: My Country

Synopsis

This drama is set in the transition between the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, and follows turbulent friendship turned fraught rivalry between Seo Hwi and Nam Seon Ho. Seo Hwi’s late father was the greatest swordsman of Goryeo, but after being framed for embezzling military supplies he was executed as a traitor, a stain which hangs over Hwi and his sister’s lives. Seon Ho is the illegitimate son of a powerful state official, but due to his mixed parentage he can never fully belong to his father’s world and has an insatiable ambition and bitter resentment toward his father which drives him.

Hwi and Seon Ho have been close since childhood, but when they end up going head to head in the state military exam a tragedy follows that will drive a terrible wedge between them. Eventually circumstances will force them to pick sides between General Yi Seong Gye (the first King of Joseon) an his ruthless son, Yi Bang Won, in the fight which will give shape and purpose to a newborn country.

Review

Story: My Country is a difficult drama for me to review objectively, in part because I loved it so much. Watching this drama was a truly absorbing and gripping experience for me, and it plays to so many of my story preferences. I was unequivocally obsessed with this drama from the premier to the finale, but during the weeks between airings I couldn’t help but feel like I was arm wrestling with the script.

It was characterization more than anything that gave me fits. I wouldn’t go so far as to accuse the show of giving us thin or two dimensional characters. To the contrary, each of these characters has a fully realized matrix of conflicting desires, loyalties and ambitions that inform their choices and alignments. However, it is often difficult to sift through those murky motivations and draw a clear line between a character’s internal desires and their external actions.

This drama starts out with an incredible cold open that raises all sort so questions about who these characters are and immediately invests you in finding out how they ended up in this situation. It’s truly masterfully done, and I probably rewatched it upwards of 10 times through the run. It kept me asking those questions all the way until the pay off. But because the writers were so invested in keeping their cards close to the chest, clear characterization was sometimes lost in the shuffle.

That said, this drama really is one beautiful, tragic escalation after another. Just taking the first two episodes in isolation is quite a ride. I really thought after the first few weeks, or hell, the first half, that the drama would get bogged down in plotting and politics or have nowhere left to go, but to my great joy it really doesn’t let up a single moment until the finale.

Acting: Where to even begin with the acting in this drama? All three of the main male leads: Yang Se Jong, Woo Do Hwan and the inimitable Jang Hyuk are perfectly cast and give inspired performances. Everything from posture to voice to subtle microexpressions is so stunningly on point.

I came into the drama already a big fan of both Woo Do Hwan and Jang Hyuk as actors, having followed them through other projects, so it wasn’t surprising to me that I liked them both here as well. However, what did surprise me was the extent to which they were able to show off their range and talent. As a long time Jang Hyuk fangirl, I would confidently argue that this particular rendition of the Yi Bang Won character is him at his absolute best. I also went into My Country relatively indifferent to Yang Se Jong, or at least not overly familiar with or impressed by his previous work. I’m happy to announce that that is no longer the case, as his performance of Hwi is one of the most memorable of the year for me, and his sheer level of commitment to the role is awe inspiring. There’s a video of him talking behind the scenes about a moment early on where he actually yelled himself hoarse embodying a moment of panic and grief, which made me appreciate the level thought and effort he put into playing this character.

I don’t want to limit my praise to just that trio of actors either, because the entire cast is incredible. I didn’t know much about Seolhyun before this role, but I thought she was really strong as well, though her character doesn’t feature as heavily as one might like or expect from the promotional material around this drama. The villains too are captivating, especially the detestable Nam Jeon played by veteran actor Ahn Nae Sang. Wow, you are really going to love to despise this guy. I just cannot say enough about the performances from top to bottom, because we would be here all day. The acting is really what makes the drama, especially the stunning chemistry between the characters, and more specifically the chemistry Yang Se Jong has with all the other leads.

Production: There is some movie quality cinematography throughout this drama. It just looks very, very good both in the way it is shot and the attention to detail, the props, the costumes the sets. There is a beautiful long tracking shot following Hwi through a battle field in episode 3 or 4 that was just jaw dropping. It really felt like they were flexing, honestly, and it’s refreshing to see this kind of cable quality coming out of South Korea and ending up on American Netflix for people to watch and appreciate.

I love the music in this drama. Some of it can come across a bit camp, like the electric guitar and strings heavy instrumental “My Country” that accompanies many of the sword fight scenes, but I loved Bang Won’s wailing violin theme music every time it showed up, and the OST definitely sets a mood.

One of the more distracting choices the drama made was to allude to certain historical characters like Poeun, Sambong and Choi Young but never have them actually appear as characters, in the present or in flashbacks, opting to address certain important events and philosophies through fictional expys such as Nam Jeon and Seo Geon instead. They even resort to filming certain scenes in strange oblique ways so that we understand Sambong is in the room but we don’t see his face.

The only thing I can figure is the writers wanted to use the audience’s familiarity with these historical figures without chaining the story too closely to the actual flow of historical events. Or perhaps they decided to exclude these characters in order to avoid too much direct comparison to the critically well-received and highly rated drama, Six Flying Dragons, which covers much of the same time period.

Feels: For me My Country watches like a bitter-sweet tragi-romantic melodrama centering on a toxic love triangle with a historical backdrop. And when I say “love triangle”, I am 100% referring to the interplay between Seon Ho, Hwi and Bang Won (my sincere apologies to poor Hui Jae) because that’s how the entire drama is structured. My Country is one of the most purely homoerotic things I’ve ever watched. If it weren’t for a few limp attempts to imply Seon Ho’s romantic interest was in Hui Jae and not his former friend, I would say “unapologetically homoerotic” but alas, South Korea isn’t quite there yet.

The romance between Hui Jae and Hwi never quite caught fire for me, though lord knows they were trying. It always felt like a side dish to the main course that the drama really wanted to serve: namely the star-crossed relationship of Hwi and Seon Ho. (And this is not meant as a dig toward those who liked the Hui Jae/Hwi romance. This section of the review is just about my subjective experience.)

There were moments where I worried, or couldn’t quite tell where the drama was taking us with regard to Seon Ho and Hwi, or where I feared everything was going to end in senseless destruction and they couldn’t successfully bring the plot to closure in just 16 episodes. But for the handful of issues I had with the writing of the drama, its final resolution was poetically, heart-wrenchingly, perfect.

My Country just pushes so many of my narrative and aesthetic buttons and plays heavily to my id. This is a drama that I’m going to be thinking about for a long, long time. I will definitely be watching it again and I will try to get as many other people to watch it as possible. I liked it that much.

Would I recommend My Country: The New Age? Yes, oh god yes. Please watch it. Watch it and then come talk to me about it. Definitely one of the best of the year.

9/10

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: One Spring Night

Synopsis

Jung In is getting to the age where people have begun to expect her to have her head on straight and her life planned out. She’s got a steady career as a librarian and she’s already been seeing her boyfriend, Gi Seok, for several years. Long enough that her domineering father has begun putting pressure on them to get married. Gi Seok himself seems about ready to pop the question. The two of them have settled into the work-a-day routine of their relationship and getting married seems like the next logical step. So why does the very idea of it leave her feeling so suffocated?

Jung In’s complacency is further shaken after a chance meeting with a young pharmacist, Ji Ho. The magnetism between the two of them is immediate felt, though neither one can explain it, and Jung In can’t seem to stop being curious about him. Ji Ho is a single father who long since gave up on the idea of falling for someone again, but his encounter with Jung In changes things. Whatever he does to resist it, he can’t help but be drawn to her, and the inevitability of their attraction will shake up the people around them and shatter the peaceful drudgery of their lives.

Review

Story: One Spring Night is an aggressively slice-of-life show. It’s subtle almost to the point of being muted. Even the color pallet and the lighting feel that way. The dialogue leans on realism and silence to communicate important information about the characters and their feelings. The character writing is gradually paced and contemplative. But don’t mistake this for meaning I thought this drama was boring. To some tastes, perhaps, but I personally found it electrifying. They use a backdrop of repression, sublimated desires, hidden pain and soldiering on as a canvas for moving scenes of emotion. Sometimes that’s expressed in unexpected tears, a touch, a hurried confession, and often with the intensity of a look, but the thread of passion and longing runs through every scene of this drama. It’s one of the most achingly romantic things I’ve watched in a long time, and certainly one of the most romantic dramas of 2019.

Acting: The thing that struck me again and again while watching this drama was how incredibly well suited each of the actors were to their role, and maybe that has to do with working with a seasoned director who knows how to catch the subtle details of their actors' performances. My first experience watching a drama with Han Ji Min was earlier in the year with the very unique The Light in Your Eyes, and I was immediately intrigued by her performance there, although that drama largely belonged to Kim Hye Ja. In this drama I loved HJM's performance even more. She so fully inhabits her character, there were many moments where it felt like I wasn't watching someone act at all, but rather getting a glimpse into the intimate life of a real person. This whole drama captures that almost voyeuristic pleasure of watching something you shouldn't be privy to. Jung Hae In also manages to capture the quiet intensity of his character and strikes a perfect balance of restraint and overwhelming emotion. I still haven't watched Something In The Rain and so this is the first chance I've had to see him act quite this kind of role, and I loved him as Ji Ho. The two leads fully sold me on their love story. The entire cast, however, is excellent. Even Kim Joon Han as Gi Seok (whose character I came to actively dislike) fills his performance with pathos and humanity.

Production: People who prefer bright pops of color and flashy editing might find the look of this drama rather drab. Even the OST is somewhat samey and repetitive, but it helps to bolster the mood and reinforce the rhythm of the characters lives. I for one loved the OST, even though often times if find English OSTs distracting when played repeatedly. The very mundanity of the production suits the tone of the drama, so that when there are flashes of color and beauty, such as the characters walking through the park and gazing at the spring cherry blossoms, it feels like an almost transcendental experience. Like finding true love in a corner pharmacy, the drama shows us the magic of every day existence.

Feels: I think it's probably pretty obvious how much I liked this drama. It fed the heartfelt slice-of-life human drama part of my soul. And again, it's romantic. It's so romantic. This is the kind of drama that makes me want to fall in love with someone again. (And I'm such a set-in-my-ways curmudgeon that takes some doing these days.) Little moments like when Jung In first confesses her feelings to Ji Ho and he can't hold back tears because he's so overwhelmed. The joy I felt when the leads held hands for the first time. Those are hard things to find, nonetheless replicate, and the drama is special because of that.

For those who are considering watching it, but really dislike stories that involve cheating, I do still think that the drama handles these issues thoughtfully and in a way that I haven't quite seen before. But the plot definitely involves cheating-adjacent themes and at the very least emotional infidelity. So be aware of that if it's something that bothers you.

There were certain aspects of the story that I thought could have been condensed or felt repetitive. Specifically Gi Seok's inability to accept being broken up with and the behavior of the fathers felt somewhat dawn out and belabored. Also the taboo on being a single parent can be a little hard to grasp from a purely Western perspective, which can make the way people react to Ji Ho frustrating at times. But none of those things aggravated me enough that it took away from the central relationship on which the drama is founded.

The sisterly bonds in this story are also really well done and probably one of my favorite aspects of the drama, next to the core romance.

Would I recommend One Spring Night? Yes, I would absolutely recommend One Spring Night, especially for people who like slice-of-life or just really good spring romances. 9/10

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: Be Melodramatic

Synopsis

This is the ensemble workplace comedy about a group of friends in the entertainment industry who all move in together after one of them suffers a personal tragedy and becomes severely depressed.

Im Jin Joo is an aspiring drama writer with zero filter, trying to get her first project onto the screen after years of struggling as an assistant writer. She becomes involved with an equally idiosyncratic, successful television director looking for his next hit.

Lee Eun Jung is a documentarian who became an overnight success with her first documentary. However, after the tragic death of her boyfriend, she gives away all her money and enters a two year depression. In order to cope she begins to hallucinate her late boyfriend while she embarks on a new documentary project.

Hwang Han Joo handles marketing for a production company, a job which requires a great deal of running around begging actors and directors to honor their product placement agreements, She is also a single mother with a shitty ex who became a popular television personality after they broke up. She forms a friendship with a new member of her team, a soft hearted young man who is entangled in a toxic relationship.

Review

Story: As is often the case with ensemble comedies, this isn't a terribly plotty drama. However, where it excels is in scenecraft and dialogue. This is one of those wonderful dramas that you regret having to experience though subtitles, because you know you're missing out on some wonderfully witty jokes by virtue of not being a native Korean speaker. But that's not to say this drama is just nonstop gags (although it is very, very funny).  It's equally capable of giving us really poignant character moments, some of which brought tears to my eyes. This drama has a unique point of view and interesting things to say about women's lives, relationships, about love and about grief.

There were one or two minor story missteps, in my opinion. And one pretty major one (and yes, if you've seen it I am talking about the resolution--or lack there of--of that relationship, yikes). But none of it was enough to take away from my overall enjoyment, and for the most part I was satisfied with how everyone ended up.

Acting: I don't have a ton to say about the acting except that this group of people is wildly talented and they play off of each other so well. The comedic timing alone is fantastic. I cackled while watching this drama. I would never have pegged Chun Woo Hee and Ahn Jae Hong as making such a cute and effective screen couple, but they are a wonderfully well matched pair of weirdos.

My favorite performance of the drama goes to Jeon Yeo Bin, who has only had a couple minor drama roles before this, but absolutely owns the role of the deadpan, sarcastic documentarian carrying around a deep emotional wound. She carries off most of the emotional heavy lifting in the drama and makes it look effortless. I am dying to see what she does next. She is lead role material and I will absolutely check out her next project, even if it's only half as good as this one. (Maybe something with Son Seok Koo? Pretty pretty please?)

Production: The production of this drama is exactly what it needs to be. It's bouncy and light with a lot of little visual gags. I especially liked when the drama got more and more meta toward the end of the run (as you would expect it to do, given it's a drama about making a drama). The way they incorporated PPL with a nudge and a wink was both some of the most shameless and most tasteful PPL I've seen in a drama.

Feels: It took me a couple weeks to get on the Be Melodramatic train. It wasn't on my radar as something I needed to see, and if my roommate hadn't started watching and telling me about how good it was I probably would have continued to sleep on this one. I knew it was something special because my roommate, who typically will not watch slice-of-life dramas, was in love with it and had me laughing with her just recounting things that happened in the drama. When I did start watching it I finished 6 episodes in a day and I knew that I had found one if 2019's best.

Honestly, aside from one character arc misstep, which I mentioned above and could go into but it  would count as spoilers, I have basically no complaints about this drama. It just made me feel good to watch it, it was also hugely relatable to me as a writer and as a working adult. I never wanted it to end.

Would I recommend Be Melodramatic? Absolutely, yes. Go watch this drama. Watch it now.

8.5/10

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: When The Camellia Blooms

Synopsis

Dong Baek is a single mother running a small bar called "Camellia" in the village of Ongsan. She is pretty, softhearted and smiles easily, but because of her status and her job she is ostracized and mistreated by the people who live there. Since she's had a string of rotten luck and misfortune since childhood, she considers this pretty much par for course. She's never known what it's like to be treasured, but lavishes all of her love on her son.

One day, simple-minded busybody cop, Hwang Yong Shik, moves back to his hometown of Ongsan from Seoul and falls precipitously in love with Dong Baek at first sight. He then proceeds to make a nuisance of himself around her bar, because all he wants to do is spend time with her and protect her from their nosy, judgmental neighbors. At first Dong Baek is confused and annoyed by all the attention Yong Shik's infatuation brings, but as she spends time with him she finds herself increasingly disarmed by this guileless, straightforward young man who seems to adore her without any reservation.

Complications ensue from all sides, but especially when Dong Baek's ex, Kang Jong Ryul --who since their break up has become a famous baseball player and reality star--shows up in town and begins to show an interest in their son's life.

Oh, and also there's a serial killer for some reason.

Review

Story: The plot of When the Camellia Blooms is unfocused at best, at worst it is completely all over the place. But it was clear from very early on that it had no intention of being a tightly plotted and paced narrative but rather a shotgun spray of character pieces about community, humanity and parenthood scattered across the village of Ongsan. As a ensemble piece I think this drama largely succeeds, although there was a good portion of the characters that I didn't care for or could have done with a lot less of. (Jong Ryul and Gyu Tae in particular come to mind.) However, because of the lack of focus at times the show seems to meander with no clear sense of direction.

I know I harp on tone issues in dramas frequently, and if any drama would at face value seem guilty of that sin WTCB seems like a flagrant offender. However, something about how up and down and everywhere the drama was worked for me in terms of tone. Putting the small town gossip circle right next to the violent serial killer plot almost struck me as a stoke of brilliance. At least I felt like we were on the very edge of an epiphany. Because, in many ways, that contrast may have--and I do emphasize may have--been the point. That petty, shallow, silly people with good intentions and maybe not a lot of brains, live right next door to twisted, evil, calculating people. That all of us are kind of in this together, and as Yong Shik rather brilliantly says "we out number you" you being the evil people. While the bad is always with us, there's a silver lining with it, and a certain humor and absurdity to life that we can laugh at together if we have the sense to see it.

Acting: I think it's really the veteran cast that carries this drama. Especially Lee Jung Eun (who plays Dong Baek's mother) manages to do a lot of the emotional heavy lifting for the drama in a way that I appreciated but didn't expect.

For me, the stand out performance in the main cast was Kang Ha Neul as Yong Shik, a character who, in the hands of a lesser actor, might have been too frustrating for me to watch, but he somehow turned into a really appealing and charming male lead even though he wasn't the smartest or smoothest guy around.

I thought Gong Hyo Jin was just fine as Dong Baek, but I couldn't shake the awareness throughout that I was watching Gong Hyo Jin and that on top of that I've seen other dramas in which I liked her better. Gong Hyo Jin isn't really one of those actresses who disappears into a role. Especially in dramas. She seems to essentially play variations on herself. There's nothing particularly wrong with that, but when that's the case then it's even more incumbent on the writing to give us something to hold on to and to love about the character. I felt like WTCB got a lot of mileage out of how likable Gong Hyo Jin is as a person, and didn't necessarily hold up its end writing-wise to earn her previously banked audience good will. But hell, this might just be me.

All this being said, many of the characters are quite cartoonish and over the top. The drama has a distinctly comedic bent, despite some of the heavy subject matter. This is not a collection of subtle, restrained performances.

Production: WTCB nails the small-town homeliness of Ongsan. I think all the sets look great. A little ugly and rundown, cluttered and lived in, but colorful and alive. From the marinated crab restaurants with their giant plaster crabs hanging outside, to the small town police station, to the baseball pitch, and especially in the shabby warehouse interior of Camellia that Dong Baek has done everything in her power to make feel inviting--with questionable success. This drama has a retro-feel without actually being a period piece. It’s something that I tend to really enjoy about dramas that are set outside of Seoul. I think the feel of the production earned the drama a lot of good will from me. 

I liked the way this drama looked and felt to watch overall. Although I could have done without some of the black and white “thriller” sequences that started and ended episodes in the beginning of the run. I thought they just made the tonal shifts between the humor and the crime elements feel even more jarring.

Feels: WTCB is a sentimental, feel-good show that overstays its welcome. I say this a lot, but this drama could have stood to be shorter. I think 16 episodes would have been more than enough to tell the story they were trying to tell and would have spared the audience some of the more repetitive and frustrating character arcs. (Initially I had sympathy for Jong Ryul’s character, for instance, but then he just wouldn’t go away. And every one of his scenes filled me with increasing irritation.) Some character arcs were artfully handled, but because the show frequently didn’t seem to know what kind of story it wanted to tell, the arcs that were weaker really stood out.

All that being said, WTCB handled a few choice emotional beats incredibly well. Without spoiling anything too much there is an episode later in the run that is structured around a certain character’s last interactions with a series of people before a calamity happens. The audience has already been let in on the secret at this point. We know what’s about to happen, and that lends a poignancy and pathos to this character that they didn’t previously have. Suddenly things that would otherwise be trivial seem significant. It’s a really fine example of television writing, and it’s almost worth watching all on its own. (Hopefully this isn’t too vague to be understood.)

At times Dong Baek’s downtrodden damsel shtick gets a little bit much, and it’s hard to tell if it’s being played for humor or if the writer isn’t actually in on the joke. But it’s satisfying when she stands up for herself and goes after what she wants. The handling of the central romance, surprisingly, worked for me even though I was skeptical of Yong Shik in the beginning. I was particularly impressed by the plot line involving Dong Baek’s relationship with her mother. That was the relationship that I think rang truest and that the drama got the most mileage out of. It was also the only one that nearly made me cry at points. WTCB also has a really exultant and life-affirming finale. It wrapped the whole drama up well and ended it on a high note, which lord knows is a hard enough thing to do in dramaland on its own.

Would I recommend When The Camellia Blooms? It would probably depend on the type of drama watcher I was talking to, but I think for the right kind of person WTCB would be just the thing. 7/10

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: Extraordinary You

Synopsis

Eun Dan Oh is a happy-go-lucky high school girl with a heart condition and a one-sided crush on her childhood friend. That's it. That's her set up. But she carries it well, with verve and energy. She feels certain this world is made for her and things are going to work out. Imagine her horror and surprise when she discovers that she's a character in a romance manhwa with a plot thinner than tissue paper. Not only that, she's not even the main character. She's an extra who exists only to facilitate the romance between the leads. Everything will certainly not be okay.

Now Dan Oh will do whatever it takes to shift the plot in her favor and take control of her fate.

Review

Story: This is one of those rare dramas that immediately sets fire to the Kdramasphere with the electric buzz that comes with a unique high concept and all the promising potential that goes along with it. Everyone is waiting with baited breath to see if the writing and direction can live up to that potential and whether that concept has the legs to get us through 16 hour long episodes and--wonder of wonders--stick the landing.

Not unlike another drama with a similar premise, W: Two Worlds, I started this drama and immediately fell in love with the concept and the characters. It seemed so full of promise, and I knew I was going to be in it for the long haul. Though I do think it managed a rather more cohesive and focused telling than W, I still don't think Extraordinary You had the necessary stamina and ambition to fulfill all the hopes I had for it.

As other people on this site have pointed out more eloquently, there is a lot of innate existential horror that goes along with the idea that you are merely a character in an imperfect story written by an indifferent writer. There is so much that can be done with that, especially once you establish antagonism between creator and creation. It's possible, since I am unfamiliar with the source material and I would imagine the web comic has a little more freedom to play with the parameters of this world, that this comes down to a problem with adaptation. But still, I found that the last third of the drama sagged significantly and the conclusion felt more like a cop out than a real resolution, never addressing the inherent horror of the characters' situation, but only changing the setting and circumstances.

Acting: Kim Hye Yoon is the single best thing about this drama, and I mean that up to and including the really strong concept and the built in meta levels this show has. After finishing Extraordinary You I also went and watched SKY Castle which is a drama that has been on my list for a while, and she's good there too. I think she's going to be a big star. She handles the huge emotional switches Dan Oh's character calls for very well. She's funny and bubbly and brings energy to every scene she's in, but she's also exceptionally good in the quiet and sad moments. I think if we give it a few more years she'll be swimming in the same kind of drama waters as Park Min Young. She's clearly got the chops for it.

As for the rest of the cast, I thought Lee Nan Eun and Jung Gun Joo (Joo Da and Do Hwa respectively) were the stand outs. I thought they imbued their characters with a lot of charm and appeal, even though the writing kind of did them dirty at the end.

As for everyone else, I thought they were serviceable. I'm definitely in the minority here, but I thought Lee Jae Wook was totally wasted as the perpetually dyspeptic Kyung. From what I understand he's a lot better written in the web comic. Here he was flat and frustrating. Here's hoping I'll Come to You When the Weather is Nice is a better role for him.

This being my first brush with Rowoon, I don't know if his performance was more a result of the constraints of the character or his own inexperience as an actor, but I thought he was fine as Haru. At least he's at the upper end of passable idol actors. Functional enough not to be embarrassing or distracting. He's well cast in the sense that his face looks too perfectly formed and symmetrical to exist in nature, so the explanation that he was just drawn that way makes sense. (Oh god, how rabid is the SF9 fanbase? Please don't flame me.)

Production: The production choices seem like they're exactly what they need to be for the setting. The school and the uniforms look like they were lifted right out of a shoujo manga and there are a lot of fun effects--like the sunbeam that follows around the heroine, or the blurred aura that indicates a characters internal thoughts are differing from their stage actions--and sound design choices--like the page turn noise indicating we've moved to the next scene. The whole thing is very pretty. It has that sheen of the idol drama, and that's not a bad thing. I would have loved it if they had leaned more into the existential horror of it all. There's a part later on (mild spoilers btw) where a region of the story is literally shutting down and the lights start going off around the characters and all I could think was "wow, I wish they had done more of this kind of thing."

Feels: Although Extraordinary You couldn't live up to all my expectations and hopes for it, there is still a lot to enjoy about this drama, especially in the first half, and I hope that a lot of younger viewers coming into dramas for the first time get the chance to check this one out. It seems like it has great potential as a gateway drama. It's certainly a better option for the uninitiated than Boys Over Flowers, which was my gateway, and sets the bar considerably higher.

Would I recommend Extraordinary You? Probably, especially for shoujo fans, people who like stories with meta story levels, or new drama fans.

7.5/10

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: WATCHER

Synopsis

Do Chi Gwang, Kim Young Goon and Han Tae Joo are three people whose connection to a violent crime radically altered the path of their lives. Chi Gwang has become the pariah Chief of a corruption investigation team, even thought he has a shady past of his own. Young Goon, whose career is overshadowed by a father convicted of murdering his mother, has become a police officer in the hope of uncovering the truth about this case. Tae Joo, once a promising prosecutor now turned private attorney, has turned to revenge as a way to combat her trauma. Circumstances force these three to work together to unravel systemic corruption within the police and the prosecution in a cat and mouse game where no one can be trusted.

Review

Story: This drama was really exciting and kept me guessing the whole way through. I don't know that I theorized this much about any other drama this year (or was quite this consistently wrong about my theories, oops) except for maybe Children of Nobody. In terms of crime drama and murder mysteries, this is probably one of the finest OCN offerings out there. It has a deeply gray and ambiguous feeling, and manages to make you trust and distrust characters in turn so that you never know quite where you stand, and you're constantly second guessing your assumptions. The only complaint I have, and it's not even really a complaint, is that the drama maintains that sense of ambiguity right up through the end, making it feel like you never really get a bead on these characters even after the main plots resolve. YMMV, but some may find that frustrating. Initially I felt like this drama had left me in limbo, up to it's very last moments, but the more I've digested the themes and thought about the overall story, the more I felt the ending was fitting.

Acting: The only other things I've watched with Han Seok Kyu are Tree with Deep Roots and the movie Royal Tailor, which I can't help but feel after seeing WATCHER  has been a huge, glaring oversight on my part, because he is phenomenal in this role. To the degree that my roommate and I had whole theories constructed around the way Chi Gwang chews gum. He delivers so much of the charisma and uncertainty of the drama, and it's fascinating to watch.

I was really happy to see Seo Kang Joon in this drama, because as much as I love his acting his last three dramas (Entourage, Are You Human Too? and Third Charm) for one reason or another have not appealed to me. I think he's really well cast as the deeply conflicted Young Goon who is always ready to barrel head first into a situation and pick a fight. His character has a really bad time in this show, but the good new is SKJ suffers beautifully on screen.

I really liked all three of the leads in this drama, so it's hard to say that I have a favorite, but Kim Hyun Joo is really, really good as Tae Joo. She does the hard and soft of this character so well. I've said this before about other female characters I've loved, but it holds true here too: she shows up Tae Joo's strength and her vulnerability, and portrays trauma without reducing the character to her scars.

Production: As far as the way this drama looks, I think it has that fairly standard OCN treatment. It's color graded very dark, with a lot of blues and grays that suit the themes of the story. It's not flashy or unusual looking in any particular regard, but in my opinion the drama is really well shot an the editing is nice. Honestly the production takes a back seat to the writing and acting, which is how it should be.

Feels: As I kind of intimated in the story section, I was very invested in this drama from beginning to end and watched religiously each week. Which is usually a very good sign for me. However, I did think the drama left me hanging a bit at the end. Now, I'm sure this was a conscious decision. I even think it was probably the right decision, but it does diminish my satisfaction at least slightly and lower the chance that I would ever rewatch this drama. Though that is perhaps unsurprising for a mystery show. All that being said this is still easily one of the better OCN drama I have watched. It's just really well crafted and I loved each of the characters, and watching the actors play their hearts out in these roles.

Would I recommend WATCHER? Absolutely, especially fans of the suspense/noir genre.

8.5/10

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: Search WWW

Synopsis

Bae Ta Mi is a highly intelligent, driven business woman working in the fast paced technology sector as a powerful executive with the popular web portal, Unicon.

At the same time she's got the opportunity to climb higher than ever in her career--and consequently has the furthest to fall--she meets a younger man named Park Morgan in a arcade, and after engaging in a few competitive games of Tekken the two of them get a drink together and have an immediate palpable attraction to one another. One thing leads to another and they end up sleeping together.

Ta Mi might have been willing to let the whole thing go as a one night stand, but shortly afterwards she finds out that Morgan--the CEO of his own small music company that composes music for videos games--has recently taken a contract with Unicon. and the two of them must navigate newly blossoming feelings and differing world views around their fast paced professional lives.

The story also revolves around the lives of two other high powered women in executive positions within the companies of Barro and Unicon, balancing issues of love and business as well as ethical dilemmas around technology, privacy and freedom of information.

Review

Story: The story of Search WWW happens on a couple different levels. On the one hand it's a kind of feminist wish fulfillment fantasy, where the majority of the powerful executives running this part of the world are beautiful women who are interested in forwarding their careers, forming friendships and rivals with each other as they do, and somehow managing to have thriving love lives at the same time.

On the other hand, it's about a collection of people with different struggles trying to find balance in their lives. Whether that balance is between their independence and their need to be loved, their idealism and their ambition, or between family duty and personal identity.

It's kind of a difficult drama to review for this reason. There's a lot of different elements at play, and many of them work well, though not always equally well. This is a drama with a lot to say, while also trying to be a fun piece of escapism. And sometimes it definitely seems to compromise the message for the escapism or vice versa. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think unless you are fully buying into the concept and the characters it's going to be difficult to find the drama wholly satisfying on every front. Kind of a jack of all trades, master of none kind of situation. It's a corporate drama, a female power fantasy, a noona-romance and a piece of social commentary about search engines. That's a lot of hats to wear at once and wear well.

Acting: Jang Ki Yong has been all over the place in the past year, and it looks like he isn't going anywhere but up from here. He already proved that he is capable of handling a male lead role in Come and Hug Me, although I don't feel that was his strongest performance. In Search he seems to be showing a more grounded performance. In interviews he talked about the director encouraging him to play a more relaxed version of himself, and because he often plays stiff, stoic individuals it was really refreshing even though the enthusiastic young man who is unreservedly in love with an older woman is not at all a new concept. I'd like to see more like this in the future from him.

Im Soo Jung has been acting for a long time, but she hasn't made a lot of dramas, and only came back to dramaland after a 13 year hiatus to make 2017's Chicago Typwriter and 2019's Search. If this is the kind of work she's going to keep putting out, I'm looking forward to her next projects. I really hope she keeps making drama in the coming years, because she's great as Ta Mi. Very fun, charismatic, and cutting, with just the right amount of pathos.

The main trio of women play off each other so well, and I loved the way the drama focused on their individual dynamics and developed them, especially the emphasis on female friendship which is oft neglected, but never should be. Especially in this kind of show.

This drama also gave us a very cute romance between Lee Da Hee's Scarlett and Lee Jae Wook's (also recently of Extraordinary You fame) adorable rookie actor, Ji Hwan. One hopes to see more from both of them in a similar vein, and even if it's a bit of a long shot it would be lovely to see them reunite in another project, because the chemistry was golden.

Production: I personally loved the way this drama looked and felt to watch. I thought the editing, sets, styling, etc had a lot of personality. There was obviously a lot of thought put into how each scene would be shot, the colors we associate with the different characters, the camera movements that clue us into how the characters are feeling and how they are relating to other characters. There's nothing phoned in about the editing and direction. I think the whole drama looks very expensive and very clean.

However, I did see some complaints about the editing. My roommate didn't like the wobbly camera movements that are used in emotional scenes to indicate the characters are in distress, they made her feel sea sick. So something to be aware of. For me, however, it worked.

Feels: Man, I have heard every kind of reaction to this show. I've heard from people who liked the romance and had no interest in the business aspects of the drama. I've seen people who couldn't care less about the main romance but liked the parts of the drama that were about powerful women kicking ass and solving ethically complex problems regarding the business. I've seen people who deeply disliked Ta Mi, people who loved her, people who thought she and Morgan were boring as sin. I've seen people (a lot of them, mostly on tumblr) who thought that Scarlett and her actor were the only reason to watch this drama at all.

While, a lot of that is valid, I thoroughly enjoyed this drama. I do think it helps to be a little bit older in order to relate with the characters better. Teens and young twenties might have a hard time empathizing with Ta Mi, her priorities and her insecurities, and I could see that making this a frustrating watch at times. But I thought it was a realistic portrayal of a relationship between two people with radically different value systems and sets of life experiences. For me the romance really worked and I liked all three of the female leads.

I do also think it's going to significantly help if you like business dramas to begin with. I personally found the idea of a web portal business like Google or Bing, how much influence they have over the information people see and what people talk about and some of the moral dilemmas that go along with that really interesting and unique.

Would I recommend Search: WWW? Yes, especially if you like dramas with messy, realistic relationships, corporate intrigue or just female power fantasy.

8.5/10