In one line : “A great parody” As a person used to fictions from various horizons, I’m not limited to K-dramas and maybe that’s why I cannot help but have issues with most of them. Because, comparing this medium with the rest of the world, a lot of K-dramas have filming issues (not knowing how to use flashbacks, camera angles, not using soundtracks at the most appropriate time), poor acting (absurdly over the top that makes it hard to take it seriously) and writing issues (poorly done mood ruptures, forced dialogues, convenient situations, limited variations in their tropes). In that aspect, k-dramas are a sort of niche medium, where many (hardcore) fans will find their way of doing fictions as the expected standards and consider the one not corresponding to it wrong ; while the rest of the world will give it an awkward gaze. So in any aspect, if you are someone limited to k-dramas, you’ll find this bad, at best decent ; if you are someone with a broader vision, you’ll perceive this as it is. I’ll be clear, this k-drama is the best one I saw so far when it comes to formal qualities. And…….while it uses all the codes of k-dramas….it is not a k-drama, in the sense it’s a coproduction between three countries : China, US and South Korea. Which is….sad, but, from an exterior point of view, I do hope South Korea will learn from this, even if I doubt it and I’m certain most k-dramas fans wouldn’t want this medium to lose its “specificities”. But anyway, time to get to the points : Writing : Well, what do we have then ? A parody. A good parody, and it isn’t as easy to do as one would expect. While it isn’t the subtle type of parody – which….would be impossible considering the concept of the drama – it doesn’t fall in the “smeared in your face” sketches with close to no real stories. The parody aspect makes sense because of the universe it wanted to create ; a universe governed by the most common tropes you can find in dramas, most of the time for comedy purposes, sometimes maybe a bit forced, though it should be relativized considering parodies aren’t ruled the same way as classical comedies. But anyway, this simple concept alone is something I rarely see when it comes to parodies, so it has to be mentioned. So, here we are, following a k-drama fan falling right into “Dramaworld” to save a k-drama ! And Dramaworld can’t be more “dramatized” than it is. And just for that, I kudo the writers, they obviously knew very well how k-dramas functioned and were able to recreate one while aborting most common issues. The writing isn’t perfect, I admit sometimes I pondered where the parody stopped and where it was just a formal issue, but it was trivial most of the time, except, maybe, in the last episode which is probably the least well written from the entire show. And if you watched the show, you probably know what I’m referring to. On an “intellectual” approach, what was the most interesting was the double levelled story-telling : Claire’s “Dramaworld”, of course, but also the “Dramaworld” WE are/were watching, which was as dependant of the rules as Claire’s, and might have ruined the tension for some as it makes the story pretty self-explanatory. Now, yes, it wasn’t pushed the furthest, I wish it had gone farther on that aspect, however many episodes of this barely 10 episodes long show demonstrated it was fully aware of that and they at least did it justice. Lastly, I would point out that with my limited knowledge concerning k-dramas, I could see a bunch of references to other dramas, so I’m sure that if you can appreciate subtle references in fictions, you’ll like this aspect. Characters & Acting : As one could expect, for the most part, they are the embodiment of stereotypes and clichés and shouldn’t be expected to be anything else to begin with (after all….it is a parody). It is especially true for most of the cast, which has close to no development at all. It could be annoying for some, so, if you aren’t used to functional characters or parodies, you might better avoid this. There are three characters, however, who are more than “just” stereotypes, while never really leaving these aspects : 1. Seth : the trickster archetype ; as one would expect from a trickster, he possesses several faces. While the drama mainly focuses on two, they aren’t the only one. But I shall say that his writing lacks nuances and coherence which turns out problematic for the last episode. If anything, he’s the biggest black point of the show. Still, his double levelled situation makes him interesting. (the fully k-dramatized) 2. Joon Park : our dear main lead, which is of course arrogant and proud and….you know…basically, the “male”, and yet…as one know, or should know, a stereotype can be well written, and it’s his case. The show, with its limited duration, takes time to layer him in a combination of k-dramatization and the “rest” (aka bad for many hardcore k-dramas fans, good one for “ignorants” like me). (the semi-dramatized, semi-real one) 3. Claire : our stereotyped, double-levelled, real person ; which I suppose makes her the most “problematic” chara for some people. She isn’t supposed to be k-dramatized, and while it is very interesting to see none-dramatized charas interact with k-dramatized one, this difference in writing and acting between characters might be disturbing for some, but I’ll focus on Claire first. So, yes, Claire, she’s the embodiment of the hard-core fans….does it mean each individual will see herself in her ? No…of course not, she IS a stereotype. However, despite her “stereotypization”, like our main lead, the writers didn’t forget to layer her. Now, yes, I said “real person”, but by that I don’t mean she’s “real”, she is, after all, a character, however, her characterization is more normalized than her Korean counterparts. To come back with what I was hinting earlier, this show isn’t “just” k-drama. While it is the biggest component, it also features a second type of writing, a more westernized one, which was a very interesting watch for me. Needless to say it is rare to see several writing types in a single show even more between characters. Add to that you have three levels of it - even if for two of them they are just manifested through two characters - and I think this uncommon fiction will be a block for most watchers. (you reject what you don’t understand logic) The same can be said when it comes to acting, so it isn’t “just” about the writing aspect (I praise the director for being able to direct the charas, mustn’t have been easy considering how unusual this is). And it was as interesting to watch as the writing, but there too…if you are a hard-core k-drama fan, you might have issues….because, while it is the Korean acting….it is “undertoned” compared to the usual one, aka don’t expect the absurdly over the top one. Most of the cast just do their job, nothing extraordinary, if I had to pin point some, it’d be Joon Park who had to express two acting types depending of the situations (mainly when he switched languages) and Claire who’s able to be common grounded while staying characterized. Overall : I suppose I could speak of the soundtrack or filming, but the answers are already implied in the first paragraphs : it doesn’t follow the same issues as most k-dramas, though there’s nothing ground-breaking either. All in all, I’d advice this show for people with a little knowledge in narratology, it’ll be fun ; if not, not being restricted to k-dramas could also work to the appreciation of the show ; if you ARE limited to it, though….as ironical as it is….you might want to stay away from it as you’ll probably not appreciate it or really in a limited way. I’m aware all this review my sound bitchy, arrogant or elitist (and some terms or aspect might even be unknown for some)….but I really have no other way to express it more appropriately, so it shall be like that….