Overrated

I found myself thinking that I just wasted 10 hours watching this drama. This could have been impactful because it dealt with the serious subject of crimes committed by high school students but the story did not move me. The problem was the way it was presented. There was no depth. Jisoo, the central character had an absentee father, his partner in crime Kyoo Ri's parents seemed to have subjected her to abuse but there was no way for the viewers to find out more about the dynamics that defined the two characters' relationship with their parents. It would have been clearer if there was a bit of a background story that explained Jisoo and Kyoo Ri's damaged characters. There was also no backstory with the rest of the characters ie, Mr. Lee, how he became involved with Jisoo, Minhee, how she turned into a prostitute and Kitae, the bully and abusive boyfriend.

The characters were so unlikeable. Jisoo, at the beginning gave the impression of an intelligent kid with a heart that somehow lost his way. And then, he turned into a snivelling idiot who was in over his head. Then there's Kyoo Ri who caused Jisoo to unravel; she manipulated him and her stupidity almost killed both of them.

It's like a watching a hodge podge of a story with a terrible ending. Don't waste your time on this drama.

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Messy Execution!

The only reason I finished the drama was Li Ji Ah's character, Shim Soo Ryun, and her quest to avenge the death of her daughter. I wanted to watch her journey and I was rewarded when she achieved her goal. The rest...sadly were just fluff, full of over-the top vile, despicable characters from the bullying teens, to the screeching like banshees parents who lacked class, finesse and intelligence. I don't know if this is a culture in Korea but the truly wealthy people do not behave like them. So many unnecessary filler scenes with continuous bullying by the kids as well as the adults that I, like some of the viewers here, constantly rolled my eyes. The exhibited behaviour from most of the characters was so infantile that I was wondering if the writer is a fan of reality TV "real housewives" where people pull each other's hair.

It's almost comical that these rich families are figuratively cutting each other's throat so their children can be the best opera singer. To be a great singer like Maria Callas and Kiri Te Kanawa requires real talent and the truly best diva sopranos in the world are so few that you can count them with your fingers. Children of the wealthy are normally groomed to be the heir of their family's fortunes. So the idea that these families, residing in one building, all obsessed with their children's singing is not only silly and ridiculous but unrealistic.

The breath of fresh air in this drama was Li Ji Ah. Her acting was perfect and she was so classy as Shim So Ryun. Even the way she carried herself, the way she talked , her mannerisms, her clothes reeked with elegance, sophistication and high class. I'll only watch the succeeding seasons 2 and 3 if she's in it.

Season ending sucks!

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Cafe Minamdang is a Hoot!

I'm surprised that most of the reviews reflect dissatisfaction with this drama. I'm in episode 10 right now and let me tell ya that I have not had so much fun watching a K drama as I am having now. I'm still laughing at Seo In-guk as Nam Han-joon (I even rewinded some scenes to get another laugh). Who would have thought this guy can do brilliant comedy. So, I'm writing this review even before I finish with the drama just to share my two cents and how much I enjoy watching it.

Cafe Minamdang was Han-joon's brainchild to trick his mother, a deeply religious Catholic, from the shock of knowing that her son and daughter were running a shaman scheme. But behind the facade, Han-joon, riddled with guilt after his best friend prosecutor was murdered, took this route to find the murderer.

I thought the concept of this drama was weird, but after I started watching, I was hooked and it made sense to me. A gifted profiler turned shaman. He did not even have to fake it because he is such a genius in reading people that his transition from profiler to shaman was seamless. A shaman does the same thing: help individuals with issues in their lives by listening to their woes and helping them overcome those challenges.

The mystery thriller/comedy/romance combined would have been a disaster had it not been executed well. What I like most is the epilogue after each episode that gave clarity to the viewers as to what transpired before the crime and any action taken by the characters happened.

And the other characters ie, Oh Yeon-seo as Han Jae-hee, as a hyper detective with her ninja punches and volatile personality (a clear foil to our hero's persona that reminded me of the eccentric detective, Sherlock Holmes), Nam Hye-joon, Han-joo's younger sister, an exceptionally intelligent hacker, his right man and Minamdang's barista, Gong Soo-chul and the loveable Jonathan complete his ensemble of very funny and smart team engaged in fighting crime as well as helping their clients, who of course, paid for their services. Loved the crime squad team of hilarious Jang Doo Jin, Kim Sang Hyup and Na Kwang Tae.

That was a fun ride. Just completed watching and I must say, I was thoroughly entertained. I prefer watching crime thrillers like Voice and Monster with dark and jarring scenes and serious looking characters and since Cafe Minamdang had a serial killer storyline, I took the chance and watched it. In comparison, Cafe Minamdang was like a breath of fresh air with characters that were whip smart, don't take themselves too seriously and maintain their sense of humour in dangerous situations. I think the message these characters wished to convey was for the audience to join the ride and follow them as they solve the crime in their own way.

I highly recommend. If you want laughter and entertainment, at the same time, satisfy your love for crime thrillers, then this drama is for you.

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Painful to Watch

I struggled to finish this series. Except for the title, it has little bearing with the original Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The three sisters were so unlikeable. It was painful to watch them being played over and over again by the people around them ie, Jang Mira, Park Jae Sang and his equally demented wife as well as their aunt who used them for her own ends.

I like Choi Do Il. He's the redeeming character throughout the drama. He's very smart and calculated, secretly exacting his own revenge behind the scenes. Without him, Oh In Joo would have not survived. She was so ditzy, clueless and naive. Money hungry she allowed herself to be used and abused not only by her so called best friend but the family who also happened to be their nemesis.

Oh In Kyung was a determined reporter but she sometimes sabotaged her own investigation by her impulses of acting out without thinking.

And the most deplorable, Oh In Hye, an ungrateful kid who'd rather stay with the murderous family than her sisters who loved and sacrificed for her all because she wanted to live the rich life. She humiliated her sisters in public by siding with her wealthy benefactor and she did not care if she placed them in danger.

When I started to watch this drama, I was full of expectation and I was looking forward to them taking on the wealthiest families and kicking ass like David against Goliath, But alas, what I saw were three pathetic women who scraped and bowed in the name of money.

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Whereas most thrillers reveal the villain towards the end, I was pleasantly surprised that the psychopathic serial killer was revealed right away in the second episode. From there, the story followed Cha Young Jin in her quest to avenge her best friend's death.

Cha Young Jin led her life in darkness, blaming herself for being partly responsible for the death of her best friend. She was so consumed to find her friend's killer that she hardly noticed that people around her cared for her like Eun Ho who looked up to her as his hero and best friend. Hwang In Bum, her boss, protected her and willingly accepted being fired so she could keep her job. Her co-workers highly respected her and were also a bunch of very good characters. Unbeknownst to her, she was changing the lives of Sun Woo who cared for his students but felt inadequate as a teacher, his students and Eun Ho's friends, Dong Myung and Min Sung. Through her, they overcame their animosities and became the best of friends. It was towards the end that CYJ realized that she was not lonely afterall and finally appreciated the fact that she's surrounded by good people.

Now, about my beef with this drama. The "New Life Gospel" was just a red herring that was probably used by the writer as filler. There was so much hype and "big" mystery surrounding this little blue book containing hidden codes. The codes were supposed to be interpreted by Ki Ho, but alas, just fizzled to a nothing burger. If the character of Ki Ho (not a reflection against Kwon Hae Hyo because I do like this actor) and the plot surrounding this book were eliminated, it would not change the flow of the drama at all.

Kim Seo Hyung did justice to her character although some of her crying scenes were just a tad over-the-top especially for someone who projected an emotionlesss, aloof and cold persona. I did love her fighting scenes though. She was also far too skinny and she looked emaciated and anorexic that I almost cringe when I see her bony frame.

I love, love the ending. The juxtaposition of dark and light were brilliantly presented through cinematography. In keeping with the theme, the scenes were quite gloomy from the dark clothes worn by CYJ (she was almost always wearing black) to the gloomy background (cloudy days and night scenes). Then, like the sun breaking through the clouds, scenes full of light and beautiful scenery appeared in the last episode when CYJ finally got her revenge and her relationship with Eun Ho and his friends blossomed. She wore white and cream as a reflection of her joy of being finally at peace.

For a thriller, this drama was also heartwarming in that it demonstrated that love and friendship do triumph over evil.

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Total Waste of Time

I kept watching each episode, expecting something exciting will happen. Alas, it was one boring episode after another. By the last 2 episodes, I fast forwarded so many times just to get over this dud of a drama. This was a non-story with the over the top screaming and screeching from the stepmother to the unhinged daughter that did not really add to the drama and their scenes were just fillers in my opinion. I was expecting an exciting ending with the "who done it" reveal only to be extremely disappointed and that was after an extensive attempt on the part of the writer to increase the suspense. A total yawn of an ending.

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Wonderfully Crafted Drama Thriller

This drama reminded me of an old Alfred Hitchcock film, "Rebecca", a romantic psychological thriller. The female protagonists of Rebecca and My Dangerous Wife were seemingly naive, quietly reserve, devoted wives who turned out to be women with spines of steel, willing to go to great lengths to fight for their men, their marriage and their rightful place as the queen of their home. They did not let anyone or anything to stand on their way to achieving their goal. They did not allow themselves to be the victim of what would have turned out as an unfortunate, sad fate had they not done anything about it.

Yoon Chul and Jae Kyung's marriage appeared to be a loving relationship that's the envy of their neighbour and their staff. Beneath the surface, their marriage was toxic. YC could not stand his wife and is allergic to her touch. JK was the typical Stefford wife who dutifully laid out his clothes in the morning and prepared porridge for breakfast, blissfully unaware that her husband hated porridge and was barely tolerating her. He married for her money and cheated on her with his restaurant manager.

The surprise of this drama was how JK turned the tide against her husband when she staged her own kidnapping followed by a series of well planned events that she orchestrated herself. Behind her submissive facade was a wily, devious mind who brilliantly executed her plan into action. JK, in the earlier episodes impressed me as someone who loved and was emotionally dependent on her husband, willing to fight to gain back his love for her. To my surprise, JK had her own selfish agenda. She actually married him because she needed a husband to get her insurance money worth millions of pounds. I will not go into the details but suffice it to say, this was delicious revenge drama of a wife scorned who found a way to get her pound of flesh.

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Where do I begin. First and foremost, the exceptional, amazing and powerful acting from two of the best actors of K-dramas, Park Shin Hye and Ko Hyun Jung.

It's seldom to watch a drama with a female villain and in that sense this made the story unique. Ko Hyun Jung's character, Im Jung Hee embraced the dark side to avenge the unbearable tragedy brought upon her and her sibling as part of a group of children living in a welfare centre. I was mesmerized by KHJ's acting as she wielded power over everyone around her. She was soft spoken, hardly raised her voice and yet, behind her smile one can sense a seething anger and the promise of a tragic ending for anyone who dared to cross her path. She was highly intelligent and used that intelligence and cunning to break her enemies and in several instances, outsmart Lawyer Jo.

The other half of this powerhouse couple was Lawyer Jo Deul Ho, the friendly neighbourhood lawyer. He was on the right side of the law, fighting for the poor and downtrodden. His disheveled appearance and questionable approach to hygiene aside, he happened to be a brilliant lawyer, totally devoted to his clients and dedicated to uncovering the truth like a dog with a bone. I can only describe Park Shin Hye's acting with one word, outstanding.

Together, PSH and KHJ made the drama addicting, gripping and spellbinding. This was for me, more character driven as both Lawyer Jo and Jung Hee used everything in their power to outdo and outwit one another so that the story became secondary.

I'm surprised that season 2 did not garner higher ratings than season 1. Season 1 was ok but forgettable and the main lead actress' poor acting ability was blatantly obvious every time she's onscreen with PSH.

Overall, if you like crime thrillers that this drama has in spades and magnificent acting, I highly recommend this drama.

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I did not want it to end!!!!

I was almost giddy with happiness when I first learned that this drama will star two of my favourite actors, Jung Ryeo Won and Lee Kyung Hyung (I've alway wanted him to have more male lead roles since Hi, Bye Mama). This drama was well written, delving into a painful and excruciating 30 year journey towards revenge with comedic and sassy banter between our main leads. They had amazing chemistry, their attraction to each other palpable as they bicker and banter that I wished that it was put to good use by giving Noh Chak Hee and Jwa Si Baek some romantic scenes. I love that they have contrasting personalities; like chalk and cheese, Chak Hee is the sophisticated, mouthy, smart and expensive lawyer to Jwa Si Baek's, deadpan, quiet, unpretentious, hiding-a-brilliant mind personality and a dry sense of humour.

The ending was poetic where the villains got their just desserts but an epilogue with a wedding and maybe a law office for Chak Hee and Si Baek with Chak Hee charging astronomical fees from her rich client and Si Baek still doing pro bono work would have been icing on a delicious cake. They'll still be lovingly bickering of course.

This drama screams season 2; please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top. I'm rewatching it right now.

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Dumb and Boring

What a letdown. After a successful Season 1, this was a mess with it's unintelligent, run of the mill, with no concrete story line and just flying by the seat of their pants. My biggest problem was our hero Seong Gi Hun, who realized that the money he won was blood money. He wanted revenge against the rich who exploited the plight and desperation of the poor and used them as blood sport for their own amusement.

Ge Hun had tons of money at his disposal but he's dumb. Couldn't he come up with a better plan than hiring a few thugs to look for his enemy? After all, he was up against a group of very wealthy individuals with so much power and influence, who hid behind their veneer of respectability. a cruel thirst for blood lust, regarding the poor like cockroaches they can stamp on for entertainment.

If I were him, I would have hired experts to identify each and everyone involved, their family, their concubines, every little detail of their lives and then, coerce them and their loved ones into participating as contestants in the squid game. That will be the ultimate revenge.

This 2nd season gave me the impression that it came from the imagination of an amateur who just copied and pasted parts of season 1 and called it season 2.

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The first half of the drama was captivating. Son Ye Jin proved her versatility in tackling not only dramatic roles, she showed her comedic talent in this drama. What can I say about Hyun Bin; he's drop dead gorgeous eye candy. Together, SHJ and HB had excellent chemistry and were great in their respective roles. The other characters, the gossiping ahjummas, Jung Hyuk's comrades and Seri's assistants, although they were a tad naive, they provided delightful entertainment. I'd like to make special mention of actor Go Kyu Pil as Hong Chang Shik. He is a natural actor and I love watching him. I hope he'll have meatier roles in the future. He could be Korea's answer to Jonah Hill. I did not like the secondary characters portrayed by Seo Ji Hye as Seo Dan and Kim Jung Hyun as Koo Seung Joon nor care about them. The writer attempted to create a love story for these two but it was unconvincing considering these characters were both unlikeable.

What I find frustrating in a number of Korean dramas is that, they start at a very high note and then become duds in the end. Unfortunately, I regard CLOY as one of them. It started out brilliantly in the first few episodes then went downhill fast. The repetitiveness ie, the number of failed attempts to send Seri back to the South, the near death situations of both leads, the loss of focus on the story of Jung Hyuk and Seri with unnecessary scenes involving the supporting cast, was a clear indication of a writer that was losing ideas and could not sustain the integrity of the story.

The last two episodes made me want to pull my hair. The cinematography in Switzerland was so beautiful and picturesque and with it as the backdrop for the last two episodes, this drama could have ended on a very high note. Too much melodrama involving the near death of Seri (again?), constant scenes of the ahjummas, comrades, SD and JH were frustrating. The pathetic attempt of changing SD and SJ into these sympathetic characters culminating in SJ's death was poorly executed. SD was obsessed with JH and SJ was a conman who was in love with Seri and for these characters to all of a sudden fall in love with each other was unbelievable. This drama was not about them and removing their characters' presence in the last two episodes would not have change the story.

Since it's an unusual love story, it should have been celebrated. I would have wanted a wedding in Switzerland and maybe an epilogue of JH and Seri walking their baby.

In conclusion, this drama did not inspire me and made me sad.

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"So what happened after he climbed the tower and rescued her........she rescues him right back"

Quoting from the ending dialogue in the movie "Pretty Woman" sums up Yeo Jung's total dedication to help the woman he loved and in return, Dong Eun rescued him back from the dark place he was living in. This was a love story between two people who found each other amidst all the tragedies they experienced in their life. They rose from the ashes of pain and suffering that nearly brought them to end their life. Dong Eun also realized in the end that there are also very good people around her like her landlady, Hyun Nam and Yeo Jung's mother.

This was a story of Dong Eun who took revenge on the people who caused her physical and mental pain and along the way she also helped those who were abused and suffering like Hyun Nam and her daughter and most especially, the man she learned to love, Yeo Jung. This is what I took away from this drama in that it showed the different sides of Dong Eun, her vengeful side and the real person beneath the facade...a kind and gentle human being who just wanted to live a normal life.

SHK impressed me as the tragic heroine of this drama as well as LDH who turned out to be, in my opinion, one of the best actors who played opposite her. They had great chemistry and come awards night, I won't be surprised if they get The Best Couple Award. Kudos to the rest of the cast who also did an excellent job.

Overall, great drama worth rewatching.

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LOVE THE ROMANCE

Phew..that was a roller coaster ride. This drama had everything; mystery, angst, bromance, heartbreaking moments and of course, romance. I love how the romance was woven into a gruesome story about a serial killer. The juxtaposition of Hee Sung/Hyun Soo romancing his wife Ji Won while he had a prisoner in his basement was brilliantly done.

I would have preferred another episode to give closure to the story of Hyun Soo and Ji Won. The ending was understandble because Hyun Soo suffered physical and emotional abuse throughout his life and it's not easy for him to erase those bad memories overnight. It would require a lot of psychiatric help and love of Ji Won to make him whole again. A three-year timelapse in the future when the viewers are treated to Hyun Soo and Ji Won basking in their happily ever after life, and maybe another baby.....that would be bliss.

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An Underwhelming Ending

The ending of this otherwise excellent drama was not worth the paper it's written on. All I can take away from the ending is Sung Joon screaming his head off...lol. Production ruined it by giving an alternative ending that, like cinderella's gleaming coach, turned to a pumpkin at the stroke of a writer's pen. It's Do Joon's revenge from the grave but poorly done.

This drama deserved a dramatic, unforgettable, ginormous ending. Open ending for this drama is a cop out and a very lazy way of telling the audience that the drama needs to end so the writer and production threw ideas on the wall to see what would stick. Boo!!!!!!! If it's the best production can do, they should have just followed the ending in the original story in the manwha.

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What a Way to End the Year - Best Korean Drama of 2022

It was intense, gripping, at times hard to watch but what a ride. I could not stop watching this riveting drama from episode 1 and binged watched from start to finish. Tightly done, there were no unnecessary, repetitive scenes that most often plague Korean dramas.

The role of Moon Dong Eun was tailor made for Song Hye Kyo. SHK is a superstar but she's no Meryl Streep, Kim Sun Ah, Ko Hyun Jung or Kim Hye Soo. Her acting range is limited but this role of a cold, calculating and aloof ice queen fitted her to a T. Her calm and unassuming facade was a foil to an otherwise very traumatized, seething with anger, driven to panic attacks persona, a long way from getting over the painful trauma she experienced as a teen-ager.

I appreciate that it is a Netflix series and made for an international audience. The actors seem less inhibited unlike the other dramas where it is obvious that there are some hold backs especially when it comes to intimate scenes. Korea is still conservative so when it comes to those scenes, the audience get a vanilla version with cringeworthy consequences because they're not spontaneously done and very badly choreographed (for lack of a better word). This is the first time I saw Hye Kyo undress.

Great acting from the rest of the cast especially Lee Do Hyun. Although younger than SHK by more than a decade, he had great chemistry with her.

Only negative comment is that the second half is way too long in coming.

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