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Consequences of obsession
If you like exploring the darkest depths of twisted human relationships, this is a great story to get absorbed into. Kim Hee Ae and Park Hae Joon play their roles as a couple with a son whose marriage goes wrong in the most wrong ways possible. Both actors are stellar, playing their obsessive, anxious characters masterfully, as they dig themselves deeper into darkness and extreme obsession. I love that this show featured a cast of older actors (they really aren't that old) in a sea of shiny young stars. We need more stories about older people.
Here's the thing though. There is absolutely zero redemption in this story. I was hooked, watching each episode, wanting to know what happens next as the plot twists and turns. And I wanted to root for at least one character, but in the end, there was no one to hang on to. I couldn't even root for Joon Young, the couple's innocent son, because he wasn't written with enough depth and didn't quite have enough screen time. This makes the show extremely depressing to the point of just being absurd. In our current COVID world, I prefer something with a touch of redemption. And the way in which this story played out, there were glimmers of it but they were all crushed by the end.
So it's a hard show to rate. The acting is fantastic and the dialogue is fine, but the way it makes you feel as a viewer leaves a lot to be desired. I wish I could say I am supremely impressed by the skill it took to tell such a twisted story that keeps on twisting your guts, or how the dialogue between the characters provided so much insight into the darkness of the human soul. Instead, I walk away from this thinking it was unsatisfying and pretty much a waste of time. Half way through, you realize the show will just keep dishing out the same types of elements for the rest of the ride, and no matter how extreme the elements are, there simply is no point to any of it. You stop caring about the characters because they don't deserve your care. All in all, I strongly believe this would have worked much better as a movie where elements left off screen and unsaid can be maximized instead of dragging it all out in repetitive ways.
Here's the thing though. There is absolutely zero redemption in this story. I was hooked, watching each episode, wanting to know what happens next as the plot twists and turns. And I wanted to root for at least one character, but in the end, there was no one to hang on to. I couldn't even root for Joon Young, the couple's innocent son, because he wasn't written with enough depth and didn't quite have enough screen time. This makes the show extremely depressing to the point of just being absurd. In our current COVID world, I prefer something with a touch of redemption. And the way in which this story played out, there were glimmers of it but they were all crushed by the end.
So it's a hard show to rate. The acting is fantastic and the dialogue is fine, but the way it makes you feel as a viewer leaves a lot to be desired. I wish I could say I am supremely impressed by the skill it took to tell such a twisted story that keeps on twisting your guts, or how the dialogue between the characters provided so much insight into the darkness of the human soul. Instead, I walk away from this thinking it was unsatisfying and pretty much a waste of time. Half way through, you realize the show will just keep dishing out the same types of elements for the rest of the ride, and no matter how extreme the elements are, there simply is no point to any of it. You stop caring about the characters because they don't deserve your care. All in all, I strongly believe this would have worked much better as a movie where elements left off screen and unsaid can be maximized instead of dragging it all out in repetitive ways.
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