It has been said countless times before in the reviews, however, novice screenwriter Ah Kyung’s ‘ Mad For Each Other’ did surprisingly start on a fairly high note. The storyline incorporated the more avant-grade archetype of the ‘ unconventional lovers’ where both leads suffer from mental health issues. ( A tone reminiscent of Rain’s movie ‘ I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Ok’ [2006] .)

‘ Mad For Each Other’ focuses upon Lee Min Kyung( Oh Yeon Seo), a woman suffering from repressed trauma, social anxiety and paranoia as well as her matched “ potential love interest” Noh Hwi Oh( Jung Woo), a suspended cop who suffered from anger management issues. In between the more questionable faeces jokes of the first episode, ‘ Mad For Each Other’ did seem to have a lot of potential towards being an intriguing love story. However the drama slowly began on a downwards slope as a consequence of cataclysmic screenwriting and certain acting performances in later episodes.

This problem became particularly prominent with Min-Kyung. Oh Yeon Seo isn’t entirely a terrible actress, however, her over-the-top expressions and reactions as her onscreen persona can quickly grow tiresome for some viewers.As a character it is understandable that Min-Kyung suffered from low self-esteem and so her journey to developing an “affectionate relationship “ with Hwi Oh was always going to be a rocky road.

However, it was an ineffable screenwriting decision that one minute Min Kyung seemed to be presented as an unfortunate young woman suffering from social anxiety who is trying to get over her trauma , and then later in the same storyline she is dumping Hwi Oh,getting triggered at Hwi Oh trying to help her, running away and then yearning over Hwi Oh once more.

It is understandable that Min-Kyung is supposed to be a flawed character and struggles throughout the drama to make her own moral judgements, however, rather than using previous exposition ( such as Min-Kyung learning self-defence lessons from Hwi Oh) in order to allow this character to develop as an individual or defend herself, the show enforces the stereotype of the “ fickle female lead” into the mixture in order to allow Hwi Oh to become the “ dashing hero”. ( In a montage during the finale which was an unintentional laughable parody of an 80s car chase scene.) There’s an evident difference between low self-esteem, and a lacking of self-respect; something that screenwriter Ah Kyung seemed unable to distinguish between with Min-Kyung as a character.

Oh Yeon Seo’s costar Jung Woo seemed to carry a fairly “ down-to-earth” ambience as his onscreen persona Hwi Oh. However similar to Min-Kyung’s more “turbulent” moments in the drama , Hwi Oh was the epitome of “ writing gone bad”. As it happens it wasn’t necessarily that this character had a” dire” creative setup in the beginning . Hwi Oh ( similar to Min Kyung) showed a gentler side to his cantankerous personality ( such as promising to help Min Kyung with her self-defence lessons)throughout the majority of the drama.‘ Mad For Each Other’ seemed to particularly struggle, however, with Hwi Oh’s intended character development across the show.

Hwi Oh just seemed to raise one question above all; “ how on earth did he pass police academy exams and become a police officer in the first place, when he often allowed dilemmas ( especially the incident with the ex-boyfriend and Min Kyung entering the abandoned building)to boil over?” It’s easy to put together that Hwi Oh is supposed to fit the “ disgraced and renounced cop” archetype because of his short-temper. However it was hardly to truly comprehend what even motivated Hwi Oh to becoming an officer, or even truly understanding why we should feel pity for Hwi Oh over his role in the first place when he often was pretty dumb with his strategies ( case and point with the car chase with the ex-boyfriend) , acting aggressively ( at times) towards Min Kyung and then not thinking to even try putting together concussive evidence and case reports towards Min Kyung’s- ex’s records. This isn’t stating that Hwi Oh should have been the “ police prodigy” archetype, however, even if the show had perhaps delved into something that Hwi Oh had flourished with his job as an officer ( such as fighting or capturing criminals), and then something he struggled with or was mocked by his peers ( his strategies or even just struggling with a desk job), Hwi Oh would have felt been more sympathetic for viewers as the “ flawed cop” trope that the show seemed to struggle to concisely execute.

As far as their relationship is concerned, the best way to describe the pairing between Min Kyung and Hwi Oh is “ flawed for all of the wrong reasons”. Relationships are naturally messy in real life and it did present
a potentially interesting setup to see two unconventional characters, helping to support one another but whilst there were undeniably elements of Hwi Oh and Min Kyung learning to lean upon one another over the course of the drama, their pairing was undeniably oppressive for both parties. Hwi Oh could often been controlling and inflict aggressive conduct ( anger issues or not) towards Min Kyung, whilst Min Kyung often lashed out before neglecting Hwi Oh and then loving him again because it was “ necessary to the plot”. It wouldn’t have been too bad perhaps if the drama had allowed these characters to recognise their mistakes, show remorse or at least acknowledge their wrongdoings, however, the fact that both characters were quick to bury their problems under the sand in order to “ be together”, made this toxic relationship hard to watch for the most part.

Oh boy, then there’s the incomprehensible side characters. On a more positive note ( and against all odds), the occasional appearances of the irksome gossipy residents and Hwi Oh’s police officer peers were arguably more entertaining at times than our main characters. However, then there’s Soo Hyun ( Lee Soo Hyun); the definition of the “ prosaic filler character”. It isn’t inherently that her scenes were “ bad” or “ terrible” and the setup of her character trying to work multiple jobs and aspiring for higher goals , was an intriguing setup. However the show didn’t really give Soo Hyun enough time to really be “ fleshed out” or understand her motivations as a character aside from being the “ girl who pops up on the screen and starts randomly singing just to promote that the actress is an idol singer”.

Also on the sideline of prosaic side characters was the therapist ( who quickly became elusive to the majority of the events of the storyline apart from arguably having the potential to play the most important role), a psycho and then “ Samantha” ( Ahn Woo Yeon). Now, there’s two decisive arguments with “ Samantha” as a character; the positive by an attempted representation of diversity within South-Korean society, the second being distasteful for some viewers through the comedic scenes . Despite covering over more hard-hitting issues such as mental health issues, cyber bullying and transphobia, it seemed as though the drama often struggled to truly convey these messages more profoundly. This isn’t due to the nature of the drama as a “ comedy” but rather the styling it took as a “ lighthearted” show, rather than allowing or pertaining more “ bittersweet” elements to enter the storyline. The ending wasn’t bad per say, just more “ questionable” considering the storyline arc.

It’s establish that this isn’t to concisely rule that “ Mad For Each Other” is a “ terrible” show as some watchers may enjoy the comedic scenes and setups, however, “ Mad For Each Other” is arguably more of a “throwaway” drama - easy to binge-watch and certainly with a fairly catchy OST, but leaving a bitter taste for certain watchers by sporadic plot logic and one-dimensional characters.