Thank You For the Scary Villains

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

It was a suspenseful story that had me hooked until the end. Although, after it was over, it didn't stick with me like other dramas I've really enjoyed. I've spent some time thinking about why that is before writing this review.

Acting/Cast: This category is going to be where my biggest issue with the drama lies. I held off watching this drama because I really dislike the actor that plays the male lead. He seems very stiff and emotionless in everything I've seen him in. I even dropped Hotel Del Luna because of him. Let's just say, after watching this drama, I still feel the same way. However, there were times in this drama where he showed a little bit of emotional range that surprised me, but that's not saying much. The female lead actress is fine, but when comparing her character with other female leads in dramas that I fell in love with, I realize she is lacking the charm that those characters have. It kept me from really connecting with her. Similarly, with the male lead, I didn't even care to try to connect with him. I think that if just the male lead was switched out, this could really have been a top tier drama. It's a shame... That being said, the rest of the cast was great. I think the highlight of the drama is Shin Jae Hwi who plays Lee Jin Geun (the stalker). I smiled every time I saw him on screen. He played an unhinged psycho so well. It's been a while since I've seen such a good villain. 6/10

Writing: Very well done, suspenseful mystery that kept me guessing. Satisfying ending as well. While watching, I did get vibes here and there of Kill Me, Heal Me -- definitely a top tier drama -- which is why I say that Link had the potential. But, in regards to the writing, my only gripe in this area would be the Noble Idiocy...which became even more annoying when they kept going back and forth with it. Oh, and now that I think about it...there were multiple times where the female lead thought, for some reason, that it was perfectly ok to walk alone at night in dark alleys when there's a stalker on the loose. That didn't make sense to me, especially since the female lead has trauma after being attacked in the recent past. 8/10

Direction/SFX/Music: My only complaint here would be a particularly severe case of "frozen-in-time staring contest". The OST is decent, too. 8/10

Entertainment Value: Once the characters were established and the main mystery with the refrigerator started playing out, I was hooked. 9.5/10

Overall, I gave this drama an 8/10 mainly due to my issue with the casting.

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Enjoy the Downward Spiral

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

After reading the synopsis, I was hesitant to watch this drama because I didn't want to see minors in sexual situations and engaged in very serious criminal activity. I was worried it may glamorize these kinds of lifestyles. Once I finally decided to give it a try, I almost dropped the drama after the 1st episode. It just didn't grab my attention and I felt the male lead's character and his motivations were boring and typical. Eventually, I gave it another shot and watched episode 2 and from then on, I was hooked.

Acting/Cast: I think this is my 1st time seeing most of these actors... at least in major roles (except for 남윤수 Nam Yoon Su). They all did a great job. Watching the male lead's personality unfold, stood out to me the most. I also liked watching the interactions between the female lead and her mother. 9.5/10

Writing: This category can be broken into 2 parts - character writing/dialogue and story writing. I feel that the character development was the strongest aspect of this drama. The psychological genre is my favorite when it comes to Korean dramas because of their ability to write compelling characters that grow or change in realistic ways during the course of their experiences. This drama is great example of that, especially in regards to the male lead's character. Unfortunately, with how great the character writing is, I felt the actual story writing was lacking in comparison. There were storylines that I was really interested in learning more about (mainly more about the female lead's mom and that industry and about Mr. Lee's background), but they were left unexplored. The ending was also done in a way that seems as though they were setting it up for a 2nd season, which would make sense as to why some major details of the story felt unfinished. Regardless, I'm typically not a fan of endings like that. It feels incomplete and I'm left wanting more. If they're not doing a 2nd season, then 10 episodes weren't enough to really flesh out this story. On a positive note, the things that I was worried about before even beginning the drama, turned out not to be an issue. However, I could see some potential for criminal activity/prostitution being glamorized (for instance, prostitution didn't seem like a big deal until it was an underage girl doing it.) But every time the characters started to seem "cool" or too much like protagonists, something horrible would happen that would put everyone back where they belong. That reminds me, It was difficult watching a drama with no real protagonist. I felt bad rooting for anyone. I would just feel resigned and I would say "well...that's what you get for engaging in criminal activity." I'm not going to feel bad rooting for Mr. Lee though. 7/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The production was great; it felt very high quality. There were some clever dream sequence scenes that I really enjoyed. They didn't feel like your typical dream sequence. I usually can't stand them. The music really added to these strange scenes, as well. I don't care about music so much, but I do take notice when it heightens the experience for me (or worsens it). I think the OST played a huge part in giving this drama a very captivating vibe. 8/10

Entertainment Value: After I got past that 1st episode, it was a crazy ride. It was like watching a train wreck (but in a good way?) So much anxiety...very unpredictable. A fun but scary, stress-inducing ride. I don't want to say anything more about it because I don't want to give anything away. 8/10

It was difficult to give a final rating for this drama - it's either an 8/10 or an 8.5/10. I chose 8 more for personal preferences, which I don't want to expand on because it may be a bit of a spoiler.

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Not Perfect But Super Cute and Super Fun

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I really like Kim Hye Yoon (김혜윤). She stars in the drama Extraordinary You (which is in my top 10) so I was excited to watch another drama with her as the female lead. I was also interested in seeing Byeon Woo Seok (변우석) as a male lead. I had only seen him a bit in Strong Girl Nam Soon before I ended up dropping it. I heard he was the only good thing about that drama.

Acting/Cast: I really love the three leads. They’re perfect and they have great chemistry together. This was such a funny drama. I was smiling and laughing throughout each episode. Byeon Woo Seok (변우석) in particular -- his comedy was on point. The biggest issue I had with this drama, however, lies in this category: I hated the female lead’s brother and best friend with a passion. They were so irritating that I literally wanted to deck them both in the face…repeatedly (which was a wish that was partially granted). Their acting was so incredibly obnoxious (and their characters in general) to a point that I didn’t even think was humanly possible. The annoying side characters in My Demon paled in comparison to these two. Even the handicap brother in The Third Charm is likeable when compared with these two and even the obnoxious political figures in Snowdrop can’t hold a candle to these two. It was so bad, in my experience, that they are the sole reason as to why this drama didn’t make it into my top 10. A drama hasn’t earned a place in my top 10 since Extraordinary You. I thought this drama would be the one to break the curse. I’m so disappointed… I don’t know who in their right mind told those two actors to act like that (I did notice that Seo Hye Won [서혜원] is actually just playing her annoying character from Nevertheless,…ugh). 7/10

Writing: I really enjoyed the plot. It kept me guessing, kept me on the edge of my seat, and gave me a lot of good laughs. It’s actually a pretty emotional story, too. I think they did a good job balancing the darker aspects of the plot with the lighter, comedic aspects. Although I worried for the main characters, at no point did I feel like the situation was hopeless, which was nice. However, there is a pretty big plot hole that I think could have been easily prevented. It has to do with the time-freezing ability she gains but never uses. She doesn’t use it to escape the villain. She doesn’t even use it to prove that she’s from the future. My solution for this would be for her to not even have that ability in the first place. Whenever she tells someone something about the future, instead of having time freeze, the person should hear it and react to it, but then after their reaction, time should reverse back to the moment right before she told them. I think this method could have resulted in some funny interactions, as well. I think the two obnoxious side characters’ stories weren’t entertaining at all or important to the drama and should have just been cut out completely. I will say that the resolution to the main conflict at the end was a bit underwhelming. However, the ending in general is pretty good. I love how the grandma character was utilized throughout the drama, too; It was really sweet. 8/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The pacing, the production value, and the OST are well done. The music fits the vibe of the drama. No complaints here. 10/10

Entertainment Value: This drama was so fun and cute and funny the whole way through. It’s not easy for a drama to genuinely make me laugh, but this one succeeded. I loved watching the three leads interact with each other and I liked their sweet, innocent vibes. This one had crack drama vibes for me. I watched this as it was airing and I was excited for Mondays because of it. 10/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 9/10. It would have been a 9.5 if it weren’t for those two side characters. There is so much nostalgia with this drama, similar to how I felt watching Extraordinary You. These dramas feel like a callback to the classics (without the toxicity). I would definitely recommend this drama if you're in the mood to watch a fun comedy with green flag male leads.

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A Lot of Writing Issues but Still Watchable

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

Detective dramas are one of my least favorite genres to watch. They tend to be formulaic and, therefore, boring, but every once in a while, I’ll give one a shot. I decided to watch this one because I was in a drama slump at the time, so I was picking up various dramas from different genres to try out.

Acting/Cast: The male lead was clearly the most interesting character. There was really no other reason to continue watching this drama other than maybe for the slow burn romance between the two leads. If you’re not a fan of Ahn Bo Hyun (안보현) as an actor or if his character is this drama isn’t appealing to you, then you probably will not like this drama at all. The cast is good and the acting is good…it’s just that the male lead takes up way too much of the focus; everyone else just feel like side characters. The team members did have decent chemistry though. 6/10

Writing: It was formulaic in the first…6 episodes maybe. There were also weird cases involving hypnosis and ghosts…So this drama isn’t the most realistic (which is strange for a detective drama). I almost dropped it, but I saw comments saying that the drama gets better as it goes. That turned out to be accurate; this drama does get better each episode. The case involving the female lead and her father’s backstory was the point when it really became interesting for me. Once that plot point was wrapped up, however, I felt like the drama lost some steam. The male lead’s plotline just wasn’t as interesting to me. It was too predictable. Also, the dark and mysterious plot surrounding the male lead from the beginning turned out to be overly dramatic nonsense. The writing (especially for a detective genre) isn’t very intelligent. It didn’t feel as though a team of smart detectives were solving crimes together -- it was more like technology doing it for them and the male lead using his fame, money, and connections. So…not much brain power going on (actually, the male lead made the detectives seem like a joke. How did they ever solve cases without him?). I did like the lightness of this drama, however. I could watch 15 minutes here or an hour there whenever I felt like seeing the team again. However, it became a little too dark in the end, which was a bit off-putting. It was also weird how certain characters treated the male lead like he’s a ticking time bomb because he has childhood trauma. They should be the ones to know that simply having childhood trauma doesn’t necessarily make someone evil (especially when the male lead is repeatedly shown to be a good person). 1.5/10

Direction/SFX/Music: This drama felt well produced, although cheesy at times. It had good, choreographed fight scenes, which is always a plus in my book. It has a unique OST, too, which adds to the charm of the drama. The music has a cartoony or comic book detective feel. 6/10

Entertainment Value: Like I said earlier, I almost dropped this drama after episode 6. The rich, famous influencer solving cases gimmick just wasn’t quite compelling enough for me. Maybe, it’s because the drama was a bit too ridiculous in the first half. Maybe, it’s because solving the cases didn’t feel like a team effort. However, it did get better and characters began to grow on me a little bit. It took me a long time to finish this drama because I would just watch a little here and there while waiting for more episodes of other dramas to air. 3/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 4/10. For me, a score anywhere from 4 to 5.5 means that I wouldn’t recommend this drama, but it is still good enough for a one-time watch (meaning, I don’t feel like I wasted my time watching it). It seems like they’re planning for a second season. Would I watch it? Probably. Would I expect it to be good? No…but it does have potential to be better than the first season.

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