Kairos (2020)

To very briefly summarize for a quick read on whether or not you should watch this drama (without spoilers):
Kairos seemed like something I would enjoy: a man who fights to save his daughter and wife through the use of time travel communication. Unfortunately, as the story progressed, the story got more ridiculous. There were so many plot conveniences that were just logically dumb; the wife's plot and the severe character change in the secretary - to briefly name a few without spoiling anything. The decisions these characters make just don't make sense, even if you look from their emotionally driven perspective (PLOT CONVENIENCES UGH). Personally, don't waste your time with this drama. It's really not worth your mental sanity - it will leave you frustrated and exasperated.

A detailed breakdown of why you shouldn't watch this drama to clarify my brief summary above since this drama is getting a lot of attention (spoilers below):
I initially started to realize I didn't like this drama when it was revealed that the wife is mentally unhinged and cheating on our MMC, Kim Seo Jin. What made this so unpleasant was that the story wasn't written this way initially. To the viewer, she has no logical reason to cheat on her husband; while he is a workaholic, he loves his daughter and takes care of his wife. They took it further by the wife faking her own suicide AND the faking the kidnapping/horrific MURDER of their daughter. They then try to justify this horrors by making her this villain with sociopathic tendencies, which was unsettling and not the type of drama I sought out to watch.
***Predictable - of course the wife is a cheating bitch, of course the daughter is alive. *rolls eyes*

Then there's the secretary that they did a similar 360 character change. He was a bit fishy in the beginning and his ploy was predictable, but his severe character change to this heartless villain that adjusts his glasses all deviously and has a cold tone of voice just makes no sense from the type of character he was prior to his ploy reveal (the change is too drastic - it feels unnatural).

Then I just couldn't wrap my head around the disabled father who lost his own daughter in an accident. His goal was to get revenge on Kim Seo Jin because he had been convinced that KSJ is responsible for his daughter's death. Okay, sure, I can see how that happened. But then he turns around and uses KSJ's daughter, convincing KSJ that he's kidnapped and murdered the little girl?! What type of father, who he himself is grieving the loss of his child, could bring himself to commit such atrocities?! And while some people might be able to justify it saying, "he wanted KSJ to feel what he felt," I just can't stomach it.
***Predictable - of COURSE the disabled father was going to be killed when it appeared like he was going to reveal the plot.

Then there's the male "friend" to Han Ae Ri who stole her entire life's savings meant to pay for her mother's heart transplant surgery. She MURDERED him for what he did in the original timeline! While I understand her not killing him in the new timeline (which I can imagine was really hard considering the situation), how can they just be friends again? She was guarded at first, but now it seems like they trust and depend on each other and it just doesn't add up to me. If that was me, I wouldn't be able to. *shakes head*

The phone calls between KSJ and HAR were just ineffective. I know that they only had a minute, but it seems like *they* didn't realize that. *rolls eyes* Logically, it would make more sense to send a bunch of text messages to be delivered in that one minute so they have EVERYTHING they need for the day rather than these constantly interrupted phone calls.

Also, I know this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it was so distracting: who decided on the awful hair cut/style for LSY's character? It looks so unflattering - in everything else I have seen her in, her hair is so beautiful, and SHE is so beautiful - just WHY?!
And could the writers stop making HAR cry about things that haven't technically happened yet? KSJ is telling her what to do to PREVENT these terrible things from happening, so stop freaking out before anything has happened! Be relieved and motivated that there's something you can do to stop this. UGH.

To summarize:
Why add all of the amazingly acted, choreographed, and portrayed theatrics of agony in the first 2 episodes if it was going to be changed to a revenge plot? The first two episodes made Kairos appear like a drama about a man who loses his entire family - first his daughter, which breaks him and his wife, then his wife. He becomes so driven to save them once he realizes he might be able to change what happened through the help of HAR. But then the plot devolved from a drama about a man saving his family, to a convoluted revenge plot with over-the-top, unrealistic villains (based on how they were written and portrayed in the beginning). Would it have been so bad if this drama was unique from other dramas of similar genre where the wife was dedicated and loved her husband and they had a normal relationship? To create *shock* value, this drama loses substance through the use of these "plot twists." I just couldn't watch anymore of this nonsense. Too many things that were incorporated in the plot to accommodate the progression of plot that I just couldn't tolerate anymore. In conclusion, I was expecting a really different plot from what was delivered, and this, along with the mentioned flaws, is why I am dropping it.

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WORTH THE TIME I TELL YOU

When I first started it..i had no expectations whatsoever and as the storyline was quite interesting I really had to give it a try.
The first quarter was ofcourse boring as it was for add-on to the story but suddenly things got so interesting when the girl was kidnapped. My jaw dropped at the acting...the emotions and everything. I really hope it doesn't disappoint me in the future and keeps my interest high on the mode. The actors knew how to act with their eyes... especially the male lead. Dang bro never saw someone act so good and present emotions this well.
So far it's getting better and better so I really hope to see how it goes on and how things work out between the main leads and if they will be able to save em all

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Started off well and more importantly - a satisfying ending!

I liked the beginning of this but it fizzled out towards the end. The ending episode though was greatly satisfying. It’s so easy to find loopholes in time warp dramas but this is probably one of the best time warp dramas made in terms of how well thought out it is.

The timing of everything and the logic behind them all made sense. Finally, a drama where you don’t have to leave your common sense at the front door.

However, I found myself not caring as much towards the later episodes due r to the fact it just wasn’t as exciting anymore. I really loved the part of the story with Hyun Chae and the whole secret affair fiasco. It was exciting and well made. That for me was the peak of the drama up until the part when Seo Jin ultimately found out about them.

Those episodes were very exciting and truly unpredictable. The part where the rapid changes in the future kept happening are one of my most favourites too. The highlight for me was how satisfying they would all just fade into nothing and how great the police detective was. Truly a kind person. It was so nice how he managed to convey so much kindness and warmth through his actions.

By the end, I just appreciated how excellent the actors were in their roles. These are some seasoned actors and it really made for a fantastic watch.

So even though I enjoyed the kidnapping-affair side of the story, the whole company who-done-it chase and reveal felt dragged out. Especially when it became the central part of the story. I felt like there would have been more to flesh out if they had kept with the wife plot for longer.

Got to say how impressive Nam Gyu Ri was in here too. The character was horrible and cannot truly be redeemed but her portrayal of every emotion was so convincing. She was really great being spiteful, a loving mother, a deranged, psychopathic person and manipulator plus a woman in agony. I love love the first time DeoKyun died and she found their photos at the apartment, that was such a heartbreaking scene that even if you know what led to that part, her portrayal was so great it would affect you regardless.

Plus, Geon Wook is just the sweetest.

And despite being annoying, the actor behind Chairman Yul is so good - that whole scene when the evidence of the crime was being revealed, his expression the whole time was just spot on.

Overall a good watch.

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A 16-episode piece of artwork.

[ Original date written: Dec. 24th 2020- slight edits/additions made now ]

This became my most favourite drama EVER before it was even half way through airing.

Right away I noticed and appreciated it's use of colour tones. When we're shown scenes in Ae Ri's timeline, it has a bright yellowey colouring. When we're shown Seo Jin's timeline, it has a darker blue-ish gray colouring. This is brilliant for 2 reasons: 1. To separate the timelines from one another ensuring viewers don't get confused, and 2. It represents the two characters' situations. Ae Ri is the one with the ability to change things for the better, thus the warmer tones (hope). Seo Jin is in a constant state of stress, hence the colder tones (grief).

Now, I strongly suggest you don't look up spoilers for this drama, as there's a lot of crazy plot twists I think you should experience first hand.

I have only one flaw with Kairos, but it's small enough to not change how I feel about the rest of the drama. [ SPOILER ] I was disappointed in how they essentially copy-pasted Do Kyun's death. His future death in episode 14 was great. But when it came to his past (and permanent) death, I felt it was dumb and honestly lazily written. They not only had him die the same way again, but they removed him saving Hyun Chae from the equation. By doing this it completely erased the emotional impact from the situation.

Again, not bad enough to lower my overall love for the show. It is my favourite k-drama, my favourite asian drama in general, and my favourite show in general. Nothing has been able to top it in the 3 years since it’s aired, and I doubt anything ever will.

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Second half dragfest, but a satisfying conclusion

The drama kind of lost its way in the second half and got draggy — I loved the first few eps and “alternate universes” we got but then it became just about chasing down this single package and a character who was just wayyy too tight-lipped for all the wrong reasons. But what an excellent way to end.

In a way it was a lot more simple than I expected; there were no redemption arcs, no being forced to work with a bad guy against a bigger, common enemy. The heroes just did their thing, the bad guys did their thing and that was just kinda it. I’m actually okay with it because redemption arcs are hard to pull off and in the end we got a satisfying “heroes win, bad guys lose,” clean-cut conclusion.

My favorite element is probably the hints of "found family" that we got especially at the end where we saw the leads come together — I really wish they had shown more of it throughout the drama but either way it was really satisfying character growth for both the lead characters.

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there one problem jus One for me

Everything was good fine, more the fine it was good
but why did our Female lead shows Sympathy toward cheater wife that she become her secret keeper
she did not tell kim soo jin that his wife is cheating on him so he won't be hurt, but everything that happen in this show was result of her cheating
she kidnaped her own child for that very reason
even after knowing everything our Lead hero isn't that angry on his wife but even try to save the man that was screwing his wife and was plan to ruin him
ML is so perfect that he become emotionless machine at the end of it.

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Exciting new take to the concept of time !!!

So I’ve only watched 3 episodes of this drama so far and my oh my is it good !!! I have high hopes for the ending but a part of me just feels like something bad is going to happen. So far the concept of the drama (time travel or the butterfly effect) is really up to standard !!! If you’re looking for a drama that incorporates mystery, thriller and sci-fi aspects to it I suggest you watch this !!! - will review again after I finish it.

Casting - 10/10
Soundtrack - average nothing to rave about
Cinematography- amazing 9/10
Atmosphere/setting - high hopes !!!

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