Ghiocel (2021)

You don't choose your country when you are born

We all know how this drama was anticipated for a year and almost put into stop when it was broadcasted but this drama is more of the romance between Yeong-ro and Soo-ho but a real deal in governance.

When I watched the first few episodes, it made me feel I'm watching a movie that made me appreciate its production.

I won't dive too much on its historical and sensitive plot since I'm not knowledgeable about it but how the writer and the director able to show the struggle of hierarchy and power-tripping throughout the hostage-taking situation definitely provided a more deep understanding on the clash of ideologies—dictatorship and soft authoritarianism. So yes, the hostage-taking will last long.

In terms of the romance between Yeong-ro and Soo-ho, there are times that I don't feel that there were 'sparks' in their scenes together because of the chaotic and horrible situation they were in so I think that flashing skinships does not help to make the tension light enough. Also, some hidden backgrounds and flashbacks made a difference in the drama but others just becomes a supplement rather than a twists because it's predictable.

Overall the an hour and a half episodes was enjoyable so might give this drama still a try.

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I highly recommend this drama

(Commentary mainly characters focused)

Gosh... I'm going to start by saying that this drama is really worth watching. You might not like it at first but it was worth the wait for me. I usually don't like watching weekly, i mostly binge watch but now i really had to keep up because it was SO GOOD.

The actors, the sets, the color grading too !! (we don't talk about the color grading enough) they were all immaculate. The action scenes were so well-done and the emotional scenes too.

I usually don't like the romance genre but a little bit more of it would've not hurt anyone in my opinion. When Youngro and Suho kissed, I thought I would feel their love for each other more. But I just saw their relationship like they were siblings. They looked like they cared for each other like siblings, not like lovers. Also this drama sometimes made 2 characters kinda "like" each other but not really give them the time to actually develop anything, *cough* Bunok and Gyeokchan *cough*.

I didn't mind almost the whole drama being shot in the dorm, they're hostages so it made sense to me. It would've been so makjang of the director and writer if they had Youngro and Suho escaping, dodging a rain of bullets from the SWAT and then continue the drama outside the dorm. So unrealistic lol.
But thank God, there were some scenes outside of the dorm because it would've gotten a little claustrophobic.

Speaking of outside the dorm, I personally have a thing for villains in general. I love hating them and sometimes they end up being my favorite character. In this drama my favorite character wasn't a villain but i literally LOVED to hate Nam Taeil. I'm sorry but this man was so hilarious! The way he scared everyone around him had me dead lol. Especially when he was with Eun Changsu, Changsu was speaking gently to Suho trying not to make things worse. And then you have Nam Taeil yelling at Suho, calling him "stupid communist" and all the names of the world lmaoooo. When he got arrested and Mr. An was being too confident while had lost 300 millions from Code 1's funds and got on his knees begging Taeil to save him. And then Taeil wanted to slap him hard but An was scared so he slapped him gently and then he said "thank you sir" hahaha omg this was so funny. He literally said thank you for not being slapped hard. Or when Taeil was getting beat up and then received an order from the president, everybody instantly feared him and he regained his confidence. And then beat the hell out the one in the black trenchcoat lmaoooo i was so dead.
I didn't like any of the wives to be honest, but the most hateable one was Taeil's.
At first i hated Jang Hanna but I ended up being tolerant to her because she helped Suho and stuff. But I'm pretty sure that if it wasn't for Gangmu she would have not cared that much. Like she said, she only joined ANSP for him.

I got attached to Suho so much. I love him so much omg. The way he got killed was too harsh for me. I couldn't do it. Hours after watching the last episode, my heart is still aching. From the moment he recorded his tape for Youngro, i knew he was going to die but not like this. They riddled him with bullets, all over his body it was SO hard to watch and Youngro witnessed it all! Oh my God. I was so shocked i couldn't move on from what I just saw. And then when we heard his tape, that was it for me. I started crying. I didn't think I would but damn I did. Even more when he said "I love you".

I love Youngro so much, she went through so much I can't even imagine the pain. Now she has no friends, everybody hates her. But sometimes (just my opinion) she pissed me off. She would do things and I'll be like "girl, why are you doing this ? haven't you gone through enough ? if you want to die just say that." I can name so many examples, when she helped gangmu numerous of times, when she provoked Gyeokchan, when she kept believing that her father would save her (i mean that's understandable), when she went back to save Ms. Oh, when she went BACK to suho while he was fighting for his life. Sometimes I would wonder "If this girl is not afraid of death, why does she always look terrorized lol?". It did bother me the way she was crying every episode, like okay I'm not asking you to be suddenly fierce, it wouldn't be realistic. But just... I would've loved a twist to her character you know ?

The thing with Youngro character that bothered me it was that there was no growth or twist to it. We already knew that Youngro is a girl that is not afraid to stand up for other people. She's brave. We also know that she cares really much about the people around her but that's it. There's nothing really interesting about her. Everyone had a big secret, everyone had some mystery to them. (Like Ko Hyeryeong, i still don't know why she changed her name???) Or everyone had a tragic/meaningful story that built their character to who they are today. Other than being the daughter of ANSP's director (hated by every korean), having an evil stepmom and a caring brother, there was no depth whatsoever. We don't even know how her mom died. It would've been so good if the twist was something like : Youngro is the daughter of powerful government man, she attended military school and her father finally let her attend a normal university. Then she has to hide the fact that she knows how to defend herself or she'll have to display her dad's identity. ANYWAY... (Hyeryeong's voice lol) something along those lines.

Suho didn't really have a character development neither because he always knew what was right and what was wrong and always stood up for himself and others. He did that until the end. But we actually got to know his whole story. How his mom abandoned him, TWICE. The fact that he has a sister, how did he become a NK secret agent. We've seen the depth of his history and how did he become like this. This is why I feel like Youngro was just a bland character with no history before meeting Suho. And I know you don't always have to have a "history" but what i'm saying is that her life wasn't perfect before Suho, so it would've been good if we could dig more into her and actually KNOW her. Because if we're not going to see her grow her character at least build a "better" Youngro and show us how she grew that way.

Everybody had a character growth at some point. Mr. An (from being everybody's dog, to being the ruler, than... being a "dung fly" again", Eun Changsu (from wanting power at all costs but realizing his children are more important), Gyeokchan (to being the heartless and violent spy to being the guy who defends victims and who missed his mom), Kang Chungya (from being the veteran spy for 17 years who would never turn her back to the party to actually betraying them), Lee Gangmu (from being the agent that would do absolutely everything unethical to catch spies to one that now understands people's suffering), Ms. Pi (from being a cold blooded woman to a woman that actually has a painful past and hidden emotions), Bunok (from being hateable and selfish to being understanding and forgiving to people she used to "despise". Everyone but the FL and ML lol. Kinda funny but sad at the same time.

I really got attached to unexpected characters like Joo Gyeokchan and Eungcheol. When they died it really made my heart skip beats, especially Gyeokchan's death. I never hated him, he had his reasons to be the way he was but I did think he was too emotionally driven sometimes (especially by anger when someone rub him the wrong way). He was too violent for not so much but I ended up getting used to him and it really hurt me when he died. Rest in peace Gyeokchan. Rest in peace Eungcheol.

The only character I hate still is Bunok, i don't care that she's poor and she lost her sister and stuff. Like girl... Being poor, having it harder than everybody and feeling like you're being treated unfairly does not allow you to be a complete piece of crap, does it? From beginning to end, she was despicable and i don't feel bad for her. She literally hurt everybody around her, like who raised her? When people say "she had her reasons/motives" I'm sorry but no. Her reasons weren't good enough to act like that. Because of being selfish she didn't even know that she helped the man who killed her sister... And she could've killed Ms. Pi if the gun wasn't unloaded. She was hateful to the point of being a whole murderer. See what greed can do ? Anyways haha. But that means the actress made a GREAT job tho.

I saw a lot of people saying the drama was slow paced I don't think it was. It's just that we had to wait every week, i think this is why it felt so long. The story unraveled pretty quickly in my opinion.

My favorite character in this drama was Suho, we saw so many sides of him. Gentle and sweet, brave and threatening, sad and vulnerable. His story was so sad, he got abandoned by the people he trusted the most, meaning Lim Jirok and Choi Suryeon (aka his biological mom). At some point every character around him tried to kill him lol. He went through a lot really, thankfully he had some morals and wasn't brainwashed like Gyeokchan or Mandong. Everytime i see Jung Haein it will remind me of Suho :( Rest in peace King Suho <33

Finally the OST omg. Don't even get me started. I have 2 favorite songs : My friend by Kim Hee Won and If you stay with me by Sung Si Kyung, i literally know the lyrics lmao. They are so good and fit the drama so good.

On the overall, this drama was really good, i recommand it. It's a 9 for me. It's not a 10 because I was kinda disappointed in the FL character (Youngro) and i actually wanted to rewatch but after seeing the end, i don't know lol. I already watched episode 2, two times because i loved that one. The whole drama is worth watching millions of times so i will definitely do so in the future.

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Only watched for jisoo but ending up loving this drama

Honesly, I only watched this drama only for jisoo. As a blink, I wanted to support jisoo’s acting debut. As usual, she did a wonderful job for her first lead role drama. The casting for this drama was perfect. The reason why I put 5 stars for rewatching value is because i’m not type of person who likes to watch dramas that have a sad ending. Honestly, if jisoo wasn’t the main lead actress for this drama then i wouldn’t watch this. This drama had me crying,swooning throughout the whole time(mostly crying). The cast really made this drama what it is. If you like sad dramas, then this is for you. The ost in drama is good as well. I still listen to it until this day. Please prepare to cry a lot if you are gonna start this drama! Also, i wanted to point out that this drama is very intense, it’s not a lovely situation but the main couple had their cute moments (lots of hugging).

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It could’ve ended better!!

I just finished snowdrop and i am disappointed by the ending. The male lead dug his own grave!
Don’t get the wrong idea I liked the drama but the ending was too much to process . I get why they call this drama a k-trauma!
Biggest disappointment was that Soo-ho and his comrades went through ALL THAT just to end up dead !!!! Why drag the hostage situation till the end, make multiple deals with ANSP and give the spies hope that they can survive if they were gonna end up like this! I was relived when they got out of the dorm but then soo-ho decides to go back in the dorm. Like Wtf just save your life and run. The main couple was not gonna end up together anyway. Was it necessary to kill him and his comrades!
I was also let down because the romance between soo-ho and yeong ro was shown in first and last few episodes. They barely had any moments together. In the end it was all about survival and their romance didn’t even matter at that point bcz you just want them to survive somehow even if they are apart. That spark , that chemistry, and the passion they had in the beginning episodes was just gone by the end. It was suppose to be a romantic story but it turned into an action thriller and romance existed only in the background. I wanted to see more of soo-ho and yeong ro but alas.

I would Specially mention Dr.kang, she was the boss lady. She came as a surprise,loved her character, she was my fav till the end and I am happy atleast she survived.
Han na seemed really annoying in the beginning but she played a big role trying to rescue students. So I loved these two boss ladies.
One thing they should’ve cleared in the end but didn’t was that what happened to soo ho’s sister? Did she survived ?

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I'm not asking for much in this world, I just want more Love.

The first Kdrama I cried too. So Amazing and moving. As humans, we naturally want to be loved, but unfortunately it's also our nature to be selfish. Because of that we create an idealistic world to accommodate our greed and need to control without fear of harming anyone else to gain power and success. It took me 3 months to finish watching this drama once the entire series aired on American-Disney. Great casting, storyboarding, character building, cinematography, and sound track. I truly enjoyed each episode and was yet sadden by how ruthless humans are. The silver lining of the love story gives hope, that love still exist although hate's ultimatum is to completely destroy it.
The lesson: It's our nature to be loved and give love. We are of the same species and love drive us to stay connected, to survive. Hate only adds the countless, senseless emotions that deviates the mind to the illusion of self existence.
So let's just love one another. Each one of us are worth it.

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Waste of potential !!

Interesting story/plot and amazing casting made me really want to watch this drama.

And… so disapointing at the end !!

At first I wanted to list each situation and detail I thought stupid, unrealistic and/or inconsistent but tbh it’d be too long (if you want more details or if you want to discuss, please send me a message).
So I’m writing only global comments.

Most of main characters are not enough or not properly developed. FL character is weak, phone operator is so turncoat, north spies are not credible. And I don’t even speak about south politicians and their wives, or about dorm faciliy manager and his son or about the 2 boyfriends of FL’s friends, those characters are not credible or too absurd and inconsistent for me.
Only the 2 main ANSP characters are quite well written (excepted for rabbit thing).

This is a shame because there is a lot of amazing actors in this drama.
Storyline and/or directing (only from my point view) didn’t make them shine nor well portray their characters. Again, a shame because these actors were sooo great in others dramas… (like in Something in the Rain, Be Melodramatic, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Misaeng, etc…)

I’ve found political manipulations and schemes unbearable or even unrealistic. Even I imagine similar things can exist in real life (altought…), I actually really don’t like to see this kind of things in dramas (I admit this point is a matter of taste).

I’m still wondering what genre of drama it is… I feel like they’ve wanted to mix several kind (thriller/political, action, romance, comedy). Balance is not good and they lost the potential of this drama from an episode to another…

Even special/visual effects were poor / bad…

And finally the ending is so damn frustrating !!

The only positive things for me were :
- Discovering actress Jisoo : Good surprise !! Her acting skills are pretty good. Even if her character could have been better (I’ve found it weak. I’d have prefer she portrays a stronger one), I enjoyed watching her and she made me want to follow her upcoming works.
- Kim Hye Yoon acting skills : even portraying a kind of « vilain » character, she is still sooo good !! I’ve already seen (and liked) her in Romance genre but I admit I’ve really liked to hate her in this one.
- Jung Eugene and Jang Seung Ji : luckily their characters were pretty consistent, making their acting better than most of the others actors.
From my point of view, these 4 actors saved this drama !!
- (I’ve also liked abs/body of Lim Soo Ho / Jung Hae In in ep 3 ^^ eheh)

To summarize : I don’t recommend Snowdrop. Most of main actors can show you how brillant they are in other dramas better than this one.
No rewatch value
OST didn’t make me want to add songs on my playlist

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Main leads acting skills ??

im glad i continued to watch the drama even after the backlash it got because i didnt see any historical distortion of any sot and after months of investigation and false information from accusers KCSC officially said that snowdrop did not "distort history" or denigrate "democratization movement" https://dailynaver.blogspot.com/2022/03/kcsc-releases-investigation-results.html
the plot is very interesting and had me on the edge of my seat every time i watch it. jung haein really know how to convey emotions through his eyes and im glad he takes these kinds of roles like DP because he grows more as an actor rather than just doing romcoms jisoo was a revelation i know she can act but i didnt know she was that good girl cried through out the drama and you can really see the pain i hope she does more dramas like this (well not the tragic love story) the melodrama kind of series i think it suits her and i prefer her to do that instead of the typical romcoms
the only downside i get from this drama is the ending its too painful to rewatch it was already hard watching it the first time icried through out ep 16 i could no longer focus because i could only sob i havent rewatched the last 2 episodes i already knew form the start that it would be a sad ending but nothing can ever really preapre you to witness this tragic love story its like scarlet heart ryeo all over again at first i thought maybe they change the ending or rushed it because of the backlash but then again it seems just right that one of them passed away if youre brave enough and emotionally detached then go ahead and rewatch it and relive the pain

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When a once in a lifetime script meets an impeccable cast ( Except the FML Ji Soo) A gem is created!

Snowdrop has to be one of the best-casted dramas ever. Each and every actor was outstanding!
The story is based on the real-life diary of a north Korean defector as the synopsis says.

When you start this drama, it continues to grow on you.
Right from the first scene.
It's not easy to control, direct and provide with such an amazing screenplay with such a huge casting.
All of them had a role to play.

I hadn't read the synopsis and rather started this on a whim which made it much more wonderous to watch.
There are many reasons why some Koreans protested since this deals with the technical phase of their modern revolution in the government system.
They call it the '5th republic' which came in 1987 on which the current Korean society is based on.

~ The scripting is your normal government-spy linkage and espionage-involved thriller which some subtle romance.
Every character shines in this drama, they literally outgrow their characters through brilliant writing.

Overall, SnowDrop is a must-watch.
Truly a gem!

PS: Albeit, I do feel they stretched the plot at various junctions for absolutely no reason, it would've well off-settled with 12 episodes.

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Jung Hae-in's drama through and through

A drama with so much promise, and yet it fell flat on its face. The first few episodes had a lot of potential, setting the groundwork for a romance spy thriller fraught with high stakes, heartrending betrayals between ill-fated lovers, and a complex exploration into power and human greed. Unfortunately, the writer made the bizarre choice to set a good two-thirds of the drama in a hostage situation in the same setting, with recycled plotlines and long-winded conversations that went nowhere and did nothing for the plot. Things happened, and yet nothing productive REALLY happened. This could've been a 2 hour movie rather than a 16 episode drama, with how little that actually happened in the story.

I enjoyed Jung Hae-in and Jisoo's star-crossed romance very much though, and really just wanted the drama to have done more with them. They had a natural easy chemistry, and it would've been nice to see them build up their connection a bit more at first, before they descended into the hostage situation. I especially wish they'd done more with Jisoo's character - she was very passive and never really had much to do, other than act as a vehicle for the male lead's story. To be completely honest, I think Jisoo probably had more crying scenes than actual lines in this.

Speaking of the male lead though: JUNG!! HAE!! IN!! There is one reason and one reason alone I stayed until the end, and that was Jung Hae-in and his incredibly charismatic performance as Lim Su-ho. I've always liked Jung Hae-in before this, but his role in Snowdrop has now cemented his place at the top of my list of favourite kdrama actors. To make me feel so deeply for a character in a poorly-written story is a testament to how engaging his performance and acting was. He played every facet of his character with fervour and complexity: as the brooding spy, as the intimidating soldier, and as the tender, conflicted lover. The way he looked at Jisoo melted me every single time. If you do decide to watch this drama, do it at the very least for Jung Hae-in. He deserves every kind of accolade for the way he played this character in Snowdrop, and I'm so happy that he's getting these kinds of roles now and showing that he can do more than just romance melo (although I do love that side of him too!).

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As for my love for Jisoo, I am really eager to watch this drama. To be honest, I just finished it earlier and the ending leaves my heart really broken. The story line was great and I like to compliment the writer and director of snowdrop for making such a master piece. I also want to acknowledge the actors and actresses who're really did a good job. Their acting skills were really great and makes me feel like I'm also there, that I'm also experiencing what they were feeling. Congratulations for this successful drama! I really, really, really hope to see Jisoo and Haein in another drama in the future and finally have their happy ending, love 'em so much!

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SAVE YOUR TEARS FOR ANOTHER DAY

This drama is one of THE BEST K-DRAMA EVER!! The story is amazing, and beside all the controversy surrounding it, this was actually really interesting to watch. The character development is amazing, and you can clearly see it. Enjoyed watching every aspect of the story but this is ONLY ONE TIME WATCH type of a drama. Very emotionally heavy and actually there is no point of re-watching it. The story is amazing, even tho I really hated certain aspects of it.
The end was expected but was really hard to take in. Just SAVE YOUR TEARS FOR SOMETHING ELSE. I want my tears back and THE MOST HURTFUL thing about this drama is the lack of sweet moments between the leads. I KNOW that this is not a typical love drama, but I really don't like that fact.
Im glad that it's over but definitely will be needed time to get over everything.

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Gripping plot with a biting kind of romance

I wasn't supposed to watch this one because I already guessed it would be tragic based on the trailer. But, I got curious and binge-watched this last night and it was worth it! So here are some things I want to point out:

- No, the drama didn't distort their history (I read up on Korean history for context). There was no glorification at all. In fact, it gives you the impression that authorities--whether they're from South or North--are just driven by their own ambitions and have no care for its people. In the end, ordinary people only got each other because those in power only see us as a tool for their gain.

- It would be a bit hard to understand at first. The drama requires the viewers to at least know what was happening in South Korea in 1987 to know how the tension and political unrest came about. The drama opened with protests so it helps to read up on the history leading up to that year to get the context.

- Think of CLOY but more gripping, intense, complex, and heartbreaking. It will keep you on the edge of your seat in every episode and frustrate you to no end.

- Jisoo and Hae In's chemistry is on another level despite this drama having little romantic moments between the two main characters. It helps that their characters have more complexities that make their love story more gripping and heartbreaking that all you could do is root for these two's happiness. There's just so much tension whenever these two are on the same frame.

- Speaking of Jisoo, I got to commend her acting. I'm a bit reluctant to watch idol-actors because most of them get to be the main leads without knowing how to act. It's not like jisoo's acting is stellar but even in her first lead role, she's definitely better than other idol actors who have been acting for years. She really makes use of her face to act out every emotion and is not afraid of looking ugly (although she's still pretty) in the process. Some idols are too determined to look pretty onscreen that their facial expressions don't change no matter what the situation is in the scene.

- I also got to commend the OST. It adds to the emotional pull of every scene.

To wrap it all up, there's a lot to unpack in this drama so I recommend watching this during your free time so you could think over what just happened in every twist and turn.

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