Will they? Won’t they? Do I care?

This is not a bad show, but it never reaches any real heights nor offered anything fresh. It is not exactly draggy, but it lacks a certain spark. It is happy to amble down a well-trodden path at its own pace.

To wit, the A-plot is the classic trope of a hard working FL falling in love with a chaebol heir. The slight twist in this case is that rather than rejecting the offered bribe to leave the ML, the FL accepts it and set a deadline to break up with him.

That is a little unexpected but promises an interesting twist. It came as no surprise then that she found this an impossible task as she discovers how much she truly loves him. Ditto, the ML was initially hurt by the sudden change of heart, but he clings to her like a lovesick limpet. There are cute and swoon-y moments and the pair looks good together. However, 10 hours is a lot of empty space to fill when your A-plot is one sentence long. Half the show is just their slow dance around each other.


Needless to say, to fill the hours, we have the token SM/FL who didn't contribute much. There is a little bit of angst from that quarter but there are no real antagonists. Rivals become friends, evil mum becomes fairy godmother, and everyone gets their fairytale endings. The older brother and his "estranged" wife actually provided some much needed sweet diversions. Their journey of falling in love long after their arranged marriage is a proven trope but a nice counterpoint nevertheless.

On the flipside are the FL’s coworkers. Ye drama gods! They are caricatures of the worst kind, so cringey.

In the end, the show is delivered with workmanlike efficiency but little imagination. I think It would have work better as a fast-paced movie romp or even a mini series with a bit more depth but its current length is just a bridge too far. A decent filler with all due respect.

If you are looking for a superior example of this genre, check out Something About 1%.

Citeste mai mult

What is better than one swoon worthy CP? Two, of course!

I was reading a review of a movie and the reviewer made a salient point, a movie is supposed to make you feel something and by extension, dramas should do the same. This pretty much summed up why this show is so good. The writer-nims really know how we want to feel when we watch a rom-com and they delivered in spades.

There is no point is pretending that this show has no clichés or tropey plotlines. In its defence, it was done in such a way that it piqued our interest, pulled us through the door and then threw away the key. It conditions us with little swoon worthy and feel good moments. Angsty bits are fleeting, and it is always followed up by a bit more sugar. We are addicted and want more.

This is aided and abetted by the CP's deep love for each other and they were largely unshakable. This core tenet is what gave the Show an edge over others. We have all seen this before, romance dramas go through the sundry meet-cute and feed us a large dose of artificial sweetener before expending a lot of negative energy to pull them apart. It can be so wearing that we find it hard to ship the CP. We don’t have that problem here. Most viewers should be able to ship the two leading CP’s and ship them hard!

Speaking of the CP's, we have two primary couples (Tae Moo/Ha Ri and Sung Hoon/Young Seo) and a secondary pair (Eui Ju/Kevin). The primary pairings are great with oodles of chemistry and matching good looks. In all honesty, the 2OTP was almost as interesting as the 1OTP and should have equal billing. The 3OTP was ok but I do wish they'd tone down their overacting a bit, especially the 3ML.

Is the Show perfect? If you had asked me before the end of episode 11, I’d have said yes but it did stumble towards the end. The intimate scene of the 1OTP was oddly lacking. It was a long time coming, the stars were aligned but it just felt clunky. Compared that to the intimate scene of the 2OTP much earlier, it was night and day.

The next slip up is the forced separation of the OTP. Simply put, it was a waste of time. The FL was doing fine winning the granddad over and they could have kept going along that line. The 1 year time skip took up precious time and the show lost momentum. I would much prefer they give us a wedding scene (or two!). Maybe even the honeymoons.

It felt like the writer-nims phoned in the last 15mins of the Show from a beach on Jeju-do. The granddad's illness has little emotional impact nor their separation. Why bother at all?

The ending is as sweet and happy as you’d expect but it could have been much more of a fan service. Our two beloved couples were left with just a promise of eternal love. It would be much more rewarding if they followed the webtoon a little closer and gave us the key milestone moments. :P

OST was good. Rewatch value is high.

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Bad show comes with great hair loss when you pull them out in frustration

This show caught my attention because the director helmed My Liberation Notes. The ML also starred in Notes as well as Because This Is My First Life. The FL was in One Spring Night and Our Blues which I rated highly. As you can see, it is quite a cabal of industry veterans and they pack serious firepower.

It certainly started in a quirky and off-beat way. Not exactly laugh a minute but I can see the potential but there are red flags. The characters are painted with bold strokes if you want to be generous. The ML is rude, crude and takes no prisoners. The FL fairs a little better, but she is a wimp and doesn't behave like a 35 years old vet. Most of the supporting cast are opaque or caricatures of the usual motley crew.

The A-plot of the show is focused on the FL having to "reluctantly" touch a living being’s posterior to see fragments of their memory. I'm sure it got more than a chuckle at the pitch meeting.

What we ended up with is a collection of gags and ideas that already feels tired after 4 episodes. There are glimmers of hope in the early episodes, but EP.4 final jumped the shark for me.

Let's backtrack a little. Many funny and engaging shows have quirky and edgy themes, but we need some basic ingredients in the special sauce to make it works. For instance, charismatic lead(s), engaging story and/or strong internal logic. Unfortunately, this show is a fail for me. Please allow me to elaborate.

A charismatic lead allows us to overlook serious character flaws and even turn them into endearing traits. We want to be invested in our leads. In this case, the ML is bellicose from the start and behaves more like a thuggish bully than a police detective. He can also turn into a bootlicking toady with the blink of an eye. To say that his moral compass is spinning freely is an understatement.

On the other hand, the FL is a frumpy doormat. How can a vet get shanghaied without kicking up a fuss? Not to mention her whole career is a facade to appease her grandfather who wants nothing to do with her.

For a fleeing moment, I even entertained the idea that our leads is the OTP but to be honest, they have ZERO chemistry. However, the scenario of the FL going nuts over Suho just because of his good looks feels like an attack of the hormones. This plot idea walked with the dinosaurs.

In terms of internal logic, the show is a mess. So much of the settings, subplots, etc are nonsensical. Rules are either abused or ignored on a whim. A case in point, hair loss is a major issue for the FL. The show makes it clear that overuse the special power equates massive hair loss, simple. However, all through EP.4, she touched so many butts! How does this square with her phobia? I facepalmed when I saw the boomerang shoe. Ye gods!

As you can imagine, there are many dodgy gags, cringey slapstick moments, mostly involve the FL and awkward encounters. It is weird to watch the FL manipulating her BFF’s bum like a touch screen, swiping left and right, pushing and kneading for finer control. Sights of the white handprints on the firm buttocks of the gym junkies is just puerile. More excuses to watch the FL debase herself in front of the ML. The same ML who would blackmail, bully or cajole her mercilessly.

BTW, what police procedure would green-light a police captain charging into a drug kingpin's hideout solo . . armed with just a pencil. Yes, cute John Wicks reference but it works a whole lot better on paper. I’m also perplexed by the ML's (il)logic in randomly tasting white powder in shops as a legitimate way to spot drugs. I am exhausted.

The final straw for me is the abuse/harming of a young woman purely to inject some unnecessary shock/horror. What is more egregious is that the victim was only rescued by our leads from her abuser at the end of ep.3. The show spend the whole of ep.4 denigrating her so that when she was dragged away by a faceless assailant, we can feel "okay"? Nobody deserves that. It is callous and lazy writing.

At this stage, the Show is unwatchable for me. I might give it more leeway if it is a traditional farce. So why reach for the sinister plots and gratuitous violence which changes the tone completely? What would motivate such well regarded director and seasoned actors to sign on to this project. I hope it is not just money.

Can I watch 12 more episodes of this? Not unless I get hit by a meteorite.

Citeste mai mult

Why does this show exist?

I liked the leads from their other starrers, but this show have me scratching my head and in need of a stiff drink.

The premise of this show is that the FL is a game tester for a new “farming” game set in a generic ancient China. The technology side is very vague.

She enters the game Fortnite style, and we know it is a game because big bold computer-generated graphics will pop up from time to time. She also talks about NPC, internet and her cell phone while she is in character. As a play tester, she never takes notes nor critique the gameplay. I hope she is not pay by the hour.

Dramas have used computer games/e-sport as backdrop for some time. A lot of them are based on wuxia games or contemporary shooters like CrossFire. Usually, the drama is firmly rooted in RL and only use recreated game segments to add some spice. However, this show is almost completely set in game except for the first few minutes where the FL was seen in the company's modern office. Oddly enough, there is very little CGI used.

Initially I was attracted to the concept but I end up finding the show very problematic. The biggest issue is the script and the setting. The FL was given a game winning goal which is a tough ask. She can’t exit the game until she reach that goal. This is an odd concept for a commercial game. What is the correlation between game time and real time? There has better be a health warning on the box.

This is not helped by the “world” being very confusing and, to be honest, sloppy. Sometimes it behaves like a game where anything goes and logic be damned. At other times, it is just like a normal world with rules and consequences. There is no clear boundary. We are left guessing if the show is going to play nice or jump the shark on the weakest pretence. This is further complicated by the ML running a more serious plot parallel to the “gaming” one. The player has no control over him, yet his actions/reactions are far more intriguing.

By the end of ep.6, the show has evolved into a tropey feudal family melodrama. Are we still watching a "game" or got bait-and-switched? I am so confused. The FL has little influence on what is happening around her but it doesn't faze her at all. There are no further hints that this is still a computer simulation. That's taking role playing and immersion to the next level.

I know this is a very circular way of asking my original question. Why does this show exist? It is disjointed, confusing and farcical. There are so many "NPCs" but most of them are awkwardly portrayed. A game can get away with it by design but not a proper drama. The show seems to have taken a shortcut to parachute the FL into the plot but then it becomes a completely different beast. The plot is lazy and self-serving. It flips from a farce to a tragedy without stopping for breath. What happened to cause and effect?

BTW, production value is questionable. Acting is definitely hammy and patchy. OST is adequate.

Maybe it will git gud later or the plot will actually make sense. How long are you prepared to wait for that to happen? It is exhausting to watch for me and I'm done. I still like the leads but I'm dropping this show on principle.

Caveat Emptor, my dear dramaland friends.

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Jack of all trades, master of none

If you watched the show because of the official Netflix trailer, then you’d be in shock when you watched the first episode. It has some lighter moments but the bulk of that episode is dark, very dark. It is not until the FL leaves the island when the mood starts to lift but even then, there is a dark undertone that rears its ugly head from time to time and really hits some serious lows towards the end of the run. I’m not talking about drunkenness or bullying but multiple suicides, domestic violence and attempted murders. It is no joke.

Here lies the main problem of this show. The premise of a teenage girl surviving by herself on a deserted island for 15 years is fantastic and if they play it purely as an escapist fair it could work. You will have to suspend your disbelief but with the right cast and a good script, it has a lot of potential. However, like so many k-dramas of late, the writer-nim have to inject darkness into what could have been a light and breezy show.

On top of that, this show put the FL front and centre at the start of the show but then shift the focus onto to the older FL and that changes the tone and pacing of the show. I appreciate the importance of the old FL’s role in shaping the FL but her story as a faded star is much less engaging than the FL's. It is functional but it dips very close to a melodrama when it should have been uplifting and fun. It can hardly be called inspirational.

I understand some dramas are makjang by design while others are psycho thrillers but why do shows need to incorporate elements from several genres. Simplicity and a clear focus might deliver a better outcome. There is a throughline here but sometimes it fades or branches until you are not sure what is the A-plot anymore.

So if we pared back the plot to just the main theme regarding the rescue of the FL and her eventual rise to stardom, it is actually good and wholesome fun. Park Eun-bin played the role with heart. She can be naive one moment and glamorous the next but you can relate to her. Even the simple love story of Mok Ha and Bo Geol is sweet and heartfelt. That makes the padding out of the story feels all the more unnecessary. There is more than enough fuel for a decent 12 episodes run. Rather than watching the growth of the FL into a diva, we ended up with multiple threads pulling in different directions and by the time the spotlight is back on the FL, it is a done deal. We see very little of her “struggles”.

Is it an enjoyable watch? Yes, mostly but it could have been better. As a social commentary, it is stilted and heavy handed. As a fantasy, it feels hemmed in. The constant juxtaposition between the horror of domestic violence and light, uplifting moments can be jarring. Neither theme is helped by the other. It is like watch an unicorn frolicking in the meadows except it also breaths fire and has glowing red eyes!

OBTW, there are moments when I see glimpses of Attorney Woo when the FL looks a certain way. Uncanny. OST is FAB. I believe PEB sang some of the songs. That’s impressive.

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To be transported into a book is a Chinese curse

I'll be honest, I wasn't going to write an review initially but the later eps and the ending is worthy of a few choice words. So here goes . .

The first half is actually quite good. A lot of that is attributed to the ML. His character is morally ambiguous and definitely dark and brooding. I think this type of role suits him better. The FL has mastered the cutesy, bubbly girl role. She plays it to perfection here. It helps that the script injects just enough modern references to milk the odd wink-wink jokes without labouring the point.

The A-plot is the usual good vs evil/save the world xianxia trope. Nothing new but totally serviceable. Everything fit nicely up to the point of the ultimate confrontation. If you were expecting a final push then you will be disappointed. The story did a detour and our two CP’s goes on separate grand tours to make peace with their inner demons. The pace and feel changed significantly for several eps. They did resolve their backstories but the amount of effort expended feels disproportionate.

Regardless, the A-team reassembles for the final confrontation. It was suitably epic but it feels rushed as so much time was spend on their backstories. If you think that is the signal for some decent fan service then you are wrong (again).

If anything, the last ep was a narrative mess. The show throws everything into the pot and prayed. It has fate, time traveling, fourth wall breaking and leaps between the book world and the real world.

It is not the first time this type of drama has to realigned with the real world because of censorship issues. We are basically told what we just enjoyed and immersed in for many hours are just a figment of our imagination and we need to get a (real) life. Nice.

Most writer will try to play the fate card so that our leads will still fall in love in RL. Usually within a couple of scenes. In this case, it was particularly ham-fisted. It links our leads all the way back to junior high. But this only confirmed that the ML has a crush on the FL for years but she was totally unaware. Even with all the dream state confessions, she woke up with only a vague hint of what transpired. We got the HEA ending but it felt contrived. It is the ending we have to have.

BTW, the skinship quota for the series is fairly low. The 2CP did all the heavy lifting but their interactions are a bit wooden. The OTP finally has a “kiss” in the final seconds of the end credit of the last ep. Is this a joke?

This is where the show left me scratching my head. The bulk of the show is decent and enjoyable. It does flag towards the end but the ending is an awkward scramble to make sense of their tenuous link. One time watch for me.

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Old book, new cover

This show is based on the odd couple/road trip from hell trope. Variations of this theme has been done in other dramas. However, the first few episodes are engaging, and the fables are interesting enough to hold your interest.

The FL is a taciturn author who claims to be suffering from writer's block and needs to go on a lengthy road trip to get the creative juice flowing again. The ML is a try hard graduate who is desperate to get and keep this job. Of course, they hit is off like a house on fire . . . with them screaming inside.

The FL certainly didn't make the ML's life easy but at least she did produce the odd fable for our entertainment. There is no doubt who is the OTP.

With only a dozen or so hours to fill, you would think that the story would be very tight, and it was in the beginning. The first couple of fables were suspenseful and intense but the rest of the show becomes more and more languid. The pacing is inconsistent, especially in the later eps.

It is the second half of the series that fails to fire on all cylinders. Once we are firmly back in the ‘here and now’, the series runs through several subplots. They are cliché ones delivered in workmanlike fashion.

The inclusion of the real-life antagonist feels awkward. The show tries to transplant the darkness from the fables into the real world. It could have been very immersive and confronting but it didn’t quite hit the mark. The antagonist is a sicko but oh so one dimensional. You see what he has done and what he is planning to do, but you don't feel the dread. The fact that the FL literally put herself in harm’s way is unhelpful. The whole proceeding feels staged.

This also takes the wind out of the leads budding romance. It is in the background, but the other subplots subsumed its importance. The show made it work in the end, but it is not as swoonworthy as I'd have liked.

With a short run time, the show is watchable. I'm willing to forgive some trespasses, but the original premise has more potential. It is a shame that the drama falls back to time honoured tropes too soon. It is good enough, but nobody talks about runner ups.

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Why are people so unkind?

Writing this review is difficult. It is not because this is a bad show, far from it. However, it does deal with some serious mental health issues. Hence, we must deal with two sides of the same coin. How well does it do as a drama vs how does it handle the portrayal of mental disorders, their manifestations and ramifications.

Let’s tackle the easier objective stuff first. In terms of acting, the show is great. This is particularly true of the cadre of nurses and some of the patients under their care. Their characters are well nuanced, and has depth. I’m “happy” that all the nurses are shown to have RL challenges beyond their professional ones. They are human after all. Of course, there are some cliché characters, but they are on the periphery. Surprisingly, most of the doctors are quite bland and one dimensional.

Production quality is high. We are told that the show created the set based on a real hospital ward. The attention to detail is unmistakeable. However, I am perplexed by the use of glossy and slippery tiles in some public areas and thoroughfares. The FL slipped and hurt her wrist in ep.1 because of them. How could that pass a hospital’s OH&S guidelines?

Let’s move on to the tricky part. Mental health related show is always going to be a challenge to make. Is it drama or reality? This show walks a fine line. I do find it a challenging watch at times, but I’m totally invested. This is largely due to the acting of the key ensemble actors and the rollercoaster storylines. I’m not going to lie, some of the subplots are tropey and can be like a smorgasbord of chapter headings from a textbook. For me, they didn’t appear to have over trivialised the conditions for our entertainment. If anything, the show focused on several serious disorders which resulted in actual suicide, self-harm, deep depression plus other life altering indications. Some scenes are gut wrenching and very impactful. The show is not shy of triggers. Please be aware and exercise caution.

Needless to say, those of us who have not experienced such disorders either directly or indirectly can truly appreciate what the patients are going through and how it impacts on their friends and loved ones. I think the show made an earnest attempt. However, it is still a dramatisation. At some point, the sun must come out and illuminate the way out of the darkest pit of despair so that we can have a decent ending (yes, I know, there have been shows that have gone completely rogue). There is even 2 low key romances that helps to bring the mood to a more even keel. There is little to no skinship though which was a bit disappointing. Don't be fooled by the Netflix promotion. This is not a rom com.

As I mentioned before, I like this show and appreciate its core message. Not all cases will have a positive outcome. A daily dose of sunshine and unwavering support will help a great deal in the treatment and recovery process. There is no panacea. It will be a long and bruising journey. This is a very subjective subject so your personal experience and view will weight far more heavily than my words. Peace out.

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Maybe I need a session with Poong after watching this

Oh, woe is me. Part of my brain that is shipping the OTP and cheering on the gang of Gyesoo Clinic is swooning over the fan service. The ordinary viewer part is saying "meh" (with a Gallic shrug). The cynical reviewer in me is facepalming and asking, "why was this made?".

Let’s take a step back, Poong 2 is watchable and more enjoyable if you are a fan of S1 but at the same time a fan might feel cheated as well. Why is that so? I'm not sure I have a simple answer but let's have a look-see.

As I recall, S1 was cut to 12 episodes. The story progression slowed down towards the end and the development of the love line was arrested, possibly in view of the upcoming S2. After watching S2, my conclusion is that it is not up to the standard of S1. At best, it is a dubious sequel. At worse, a cynical exercise to milk the popularity of Poong 1.

Please let me explain. In Poong 2, the bulk of the side plots are superfluous to the main OTP plot. They padded out the runtime but contributed little. The ghost of Jo Tae-hak was largely a storm in a teacup which ends abruptly. The royal inspector plot was just a power trip of a vindictive and twisted man. The Princess subplot is probably the pick of the bunch, and it is cute in the end but even so, it is largely about an entitled person lording over others (many doors were harmed in making of this show). The plot involving the new governor Ahn is just bad. The man is a blundering fool with a sadist streak and too much power for his beeches. He is a horrible human being, period.

That is lazy writing in my book. Want more angst? Just add an antagonist who love to abuse their powers for little gain other than to make our protagonists’ life difficult. Not once, not twice but three painful times! After each round of maltreatment, the clinic just regroups and carries on. It is a zero-sum game.

Furthermore, the medical practice side seems to have been further simplified to a few cure-all acupuncture points and a bunch of extras milling around the clinic. The so called psychiatry side is very vague, more fanciful than realistic. It is dramatised to be sure but it also makes the palace intrigue and power trip storylines even more egregious.

To be fair, I do like how each member of the found family is given their moments in the sun. However, that can be integrated into S1 if they choose to. If we look at both seasons combined, I'd have to say that they padded it out to 22 episodes with filler subplots. If they had made Poong 1 tighter and have a normal 16 episodes run (instead of the 12 we got), we won’t need a S2. The decent S2 contents can easily fit inside 4 episodes including all the key developments in S2/E10. There is even room for extra skinship. ;)

BTW, airdropping Woo Do-hwan into the show to plug his upcoming Joseon Lawyer drama is either cute or cringey. Take your pick.

Acting from the regular cast is good as expected. The ML carries the show with able supports. I'd still question the chemistry between the leads though. They are cute together but not exactly pulse raising. The new support cast is mostly par for the course. I'd say the last episode is the only one worth a rewatch.

Like I said in the beginning, part of me wants to give this a higher score but the rational side realises that to do so would be sending the wrong signal. Peace out.

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Face/Off ancient Chinese style

I shall start with a mea culpa. I know it is unfair to compare two shows directly but because of its subject matter and lineage, I can’t help it. In fact, it is because of this lineage that I was excited to have found this drama.

The other show in question is The Killer is Also Romantic. It has the same director, period setting and short episodic structure. I have to say that I was quite impressed by TKiAR so I have high hopes for A Familiar Stranger.

To be honest, this Show is good, but it is not great. The issues are manageable but when taken as a whole, it is problematic.
Let’s look at the positives first. I do like the short format as it distilled a lot of the typical wuxia themes down to the fundamentals without all the draggy side plots or distractions. I really appreciate the Viki presentation because it thoughtfully combined the short 16x10mins episodes into 8 longer episodes ranging from 20mins to over 30 mins. It is still bingeable but more practical.

The central pillar of the show is the love line between the leads. That is very well done. The progress is logical and angst lite. It helps that the Show has a laser focus on the leads, and you can sense their longings and feel their love. The “daughter” is cute and wise beyond her age.

Now the issues. The plot is functional rather than well crafted. The theme is tropey and the writer didn’t push any boundaries. While the initial face change device looks promising and fantastical, it was an one trick pony. It came down to soulmates will always recognise each other no matter what. Other wuxia/xianxia dramas have taken this trope further.

The romance of the 2OTP starts out fine. Toxic and manipulative which is de rigueur of the palace intrigue genre. However, the show’s progression feels self-serving. It went the way it did because the plot mandates it rather than being sensical. It felt old school and contrived. Speaking of palace intrigue, once the Show gets going, there is very little actual intrigue. Just some snippets of dialogs and a bit of simple scheming.

This brings us to a key issue. The antagonist is meant to be an evil mastermind but while he is a bit of a homicidal manic, he is no mastermind. If anything, he turned into a weak and pitiful character. This took the wind out of its sail from that quarter.

I binge watch the whole drama in one sitting and I enjoyed it even with the caveats. The swoon worthy romance saved the show. A lot of its problems comes down to not looking after the secondary plots and characters. Almost as soon as the leads are off camera, you start to see plot holes and inconsistencies. A show of such short duration should be tighter and more impactful. It is still a worthwhile binge but not high on my rewatch list.

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A good romance drama tripped up by its own tail

Putting aside the supernatural aspect of the meet-cute of this drama, the core premise of the office romance plot is tropey but nicely executed. The “abilities” of the leads are icing on the cake. The leads are well matched to their roles. Their visuals, acting and chemistry are very good. The romance is cute and passionate in equal parts and comes with nice amount of skinship.

Let's be honest, the business and SF/ML subplot is meh. If they have focused completely on our OTP, it would have been even better. Alas, just when the show hits its stride and delivered us unto swoon heaven, the writer-nim went rouge.

It is true that the show always has a darker side, it won't be a k-drama otherwise. ;) It was hinted at many times and some traumatic event in the past was the likely trigger for their special abilities. For the longest time, it was low level stuff with just a hint of danger which is used to draw our CP closer together and move the plot along. Then it got dark, so very dark.

The Show decided that the only way to give closure to our CP is to retell their initial meeting and fateful parting 23 years ago. It is not unexpected, but it took a long time and a good part of that was already known or postulated. What is more problematic is that this segment contained more plot holes than the whole show up to that point. There is a fair bit of inconsistency judging from what was shown before and shown later. Even some dialogues between the actors are contradictory. I could have listed a page of them but I want to keep this relatively spoiler free. ;)

Adding to the problem is the way the Show portrayed the police. Their incompetence reached new heights in this show. It was baffling how the antagonist wasn’t caught in the first place and then managed to “hide” in plain sight for years. Again and again, the police are spoon fed relevant information but did very little which compounded the muddled narrative of the antagonist.

While the long recap is problematic, it was not the final nail. That honour goes to the last 20 minutes of the show. Did the production team review the script at all? It was a metaphoric train wreak that came out of nowhere. After we sat through the (literally) dark and gloomy recap and thought that we are back on track for some sweet CP moments, the Show went hyper! Yes, it was sort of funny for a moment but then it just escalated and escalated until I started to wince. So much bickering and shouting and for what?.

We also have closures of two side romantic subplots in the dying minutes. These were literally parachuted in with no warning or fanfare. Both romances were pushed aside by the evil plot and their conclusions felt contrived and rushed.

In the end, the show would have been better if it sticks to its core romance theme. Even though most of the subplots are weak and the support casts underutilised, they are harmless. Having said that, the Love Passionately for 7 days subplot is cute even though it did reminded me of Lovestruck in the City. ;)

The messy tail end was self inflicted and took a lot of the shine off a good romance. It is a real shame as the leads are well matched and the Show was on course for a satisfying finish. It is even more poignant when I recently read an interview of the ML where he said that he was so happy to be offered this script as he doesn’t have many opportunities to play a romantic lead at his age. Ouch!

OST is good and I’d have no problem re-watching the lead’s courting and romantic scene. Where is that YT cut?

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A creditable second season but have some issues

Let's get the caveat out of the way first. You really need to watch season 1 before you watch this. The show starts right after where the last season ended. There is a very quick recap but it doesn't cover any of the backstories so if you don't know the story already, it just won't make sense. Maybe you can pick it up as you go but it will be fairly bewildering for a while. Furthermore, it will be impossible to do a proper review of this season without references to season 1 so spoiler alert.
Firstly, hats off to the writer and director for attempting to do this series. It is not totally unique but certainly a new approach for a c-drama. As mentioned before, this show picked up where the last season left off. All the key characters are present but only one remembered what happened beforehand and the show recreated the story of the OTP's love story from a different angle and with different dynamics in play. On the whole it worked.
The basic framework is the same but they managed to spin new yarns that tied the two seasons together. While in S1, they went high fantasy to try to explain the plot, S2 only made passing reference of the spirit realm. Maybe they realised it was too much of a Pandora's box. This is a double edged sword as it removed the idea of a Supreme Evil Puppet Master. So much so that you felt that there is an imbalance between the fantastical act of transplanting two souls into ancient times yet the evil schemes are firmly based on simple human desire of revenge and power. Even though the villain from S1 was super campy, at least it fit in with the overarching fantasy plot and gave it raison d'etre.
The chemistry between the OTP was as strong as ever. To capitalise on this, the CP was almost always the focal point but this sucked the air out of the secondary characters. S1 was more balanced because the support roles were given more love and they provided some cohesion. They were still there in S2 but most of them are shadows of their former selves. There is a 2OTP but I found their relationship not very convincing.
As in S1, the pacing was good for the most part but it fell off in the last third of the show, similarly, S2 felt like they ran out of steam towards the end, it became tropey and predictable. 30 episodes is probably a stretch.
Production value is decent. OST is on par with S1. Mostly easy listening tunes.

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Masterfully produced drama with the odd chinks in the armour

I deliberately waited for the hype to die down before I watched this but seeing season 2 is in the pipeline I thought I'd better get a move on. By the way, when I wrote this, there is already 12 pages of reviews so I don't expect mine to stand out but seeing that I binged the show in 2.5 days, I thought I should at least leave a few words for prosperity. :)
No doubt many of the reviews have highlighted the skilful story telling, the direction. the stellar cast, friendship, the feels, etc, etc. I totally agree with the bulk of the sentiments and it was an ode to the doctors, nurses and allied health professionals (standing ovation). However, I did find a few chinks in their shiny armour.
First of all, the show started very confusingly. The size of the cast and the physical setting was just too big. This drama had five central characters plus each had his/her staff and then you have administrators, other doctors (both senior and junior) and nurses in at least five departments (not counting ER). The hospital was also huge physically. You just don't feel like you know how the place worked. You were bounced from people to people, location to location. This did get better after a few episodes when you start to recognise faces and group them into cliques (this is from a non-Korean point of view).
Some reviewers have commented on this show being realistic. I am not going to argue every case but I found a lot of the time, surgeries were carried out on patients who literally had a consult the day before. That level of availability would be the envy of the whole world.
Finally, I wished the drama would deep dive into some of the issue de jour. From migrant worker health care to child abuse to injury/death by overworking (and more) were touched upon but almost all of them came and gone within a few scenes and not always with a resolution.
Otherwise, the show was designed to hit you with the feels and they definitely delivered. You would expect no less from the team that brought us so many top notch hit dramas.
BTW, it begs the question, was it a medical drama with a strong romance undertone or a rom-com set in a hospital?
Acting - fantastic.
Production value - excellent.
OST - loved it! You gotta laugh at the joke they played on the FL.
Rewatch - absolutely (maybe not every episodes)
One final thought, the last episode was extra long and I appreciated that they gave all the characters time and space to tidy up their own story arcs but while some questions were answered, more were left hanging so please bring on season 2! Ppalli ppalli!

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Light weight adaptation of the original

Consider the popularity of the c-drama original, it would be difficult to not draw some form of comparison. The simple, short answer so that we can get the elephant back to the zoo is that this was a problematic adaptation with a number of issues that made this version less than the sum total.
First of all, the k-drama version was 24 episodes long while the Chinese original has the same episode count but the runtime is twice as long. So the writer-nim had to trim the storyline and subplots to make it fit. They did a ok job most of the time and I definitely recognise some of the key scenes from the original and the show flowed in the right direction. However, there are definitely editing issues. For instance, in ep. 14, the ML of the 2OTP confessed very publicly to his crush but by ep. 15 the show seemed to have forgotten it ever happened. Later on, the OTP met up again after 3 years of separation and he begged her for forgiveness. She hesitated and told him that she needed more time. The scene faded to black and the next scene opened with the ML finding her asleep in his bunkbed in the hospital. They had a good long cuddle in bed afterwards which is quite a leap from "I needed more time".
This level of pruning meant that the show was reduced to a standard school/college romance but the story still spanned 13 years. Unfortunately, some of the nuisances, depth and character growth from the original got left on the cutting room floor.
This long timespan also exposed the biggest problem for this drama. The FL was trying her best to be convincing as a teenage girl in the early part of the show and she made it work a lot of the time but occasionally she would look too mature or tried too hard to act young. She had a much easier time later on when they had aged. A bigger problem was the ML. He is an idol and this was his first acting assignment. He definitely has the looks and can sing and dance but his acting abilities were not up to the more challenging scenes. It was just as well that the role of the ML was basically cold and emotionless but he took that to the next level. Even when he was suppose to be angry or frustrated his expression rarely changed. This presented the opposite problem to the FL, when he was supposed to be in his late twenties (and older), a doctor with years of overseas training, his lack of maturity/gravitas and limited range just didn't sit comfortably with his portrayal.
This lack of emotional range also impacted on the chemistry of the OTP. Not saying that they don't look good together but there was little passion. What skinship there was, was not convincing. Stuff happened but there was nothing to see.
The 2OTP was decent but mostly on rails. While they progressed as expected, there were moments when the show seemed to lost track of their progress and they just bunny hop around their relationship status.
One area that this show did do better was when the OTP met again after their separation. The original seemed abrupt and a bit contrived but this version kept it simpler and felt more organic.
The OST was good and bubbly to match the general rom-com setting.
If you have not seen the original then this is a fluffy, easy to watch school/college romance. If you love the c-drama original then it would be hard for you to give this a high mark.

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Sweet noona romance in a familiar drama-verse

Opening statement: Some reviews focused on this show not being a continuation of the GGS1 story and so it was a criminal misrepresentation. I don't find that to be a problem as it was a good standalone drama as it is. To be fair, it did share the same GGS1 universe and some support cast played significant roles in this drama as well while the leads from GGS1 both made cameos. There are timeline issues which I shall leave to purists to explain but the ending brought both shows to a satisfying conclusion. So my review is purely based on the show as presented with no strings attached.
On the whole, this was a good c-drama. Good production value and decent CGI driven robot combats. The OST was also well done with references back to GGS1 OST where appropriate. The OTP had good chemistry and skinship. It helped that we are dealing with mature adults. Furthermore, I loved the FL, she looked like she was really in love when she gazed at the ML and some of their CP scenes were swoon worthy. The ML was just a love sick puppy most of the time but that's his role in a nutshell. The 2OTP was quite interesting and they were a complete counterpoint to our leads. Their relationship began as love at first sight and it was more about passion and feels while the OTP focused on longing and falling in love gradually with your soulmate. It was refreshing to see both FL's were older than the ML's.
The support cast were generally good, especially the older actors. The grandpa was a gem in both GGS shows. Someone need to talk to the FL's father about his hairstyle . . it was a bit cringy. The K&K team members were all well fleshed out characters. Two of them also acted as comedic foils to good effort. There was definitely a Band of Brothers vibe.
So far so good, you say. Yes, it would have been if we only looked at those criteria. Where the show dropped the ball a bit was in the storytelling and overall length. The honest truth is that the show was too long. There really wasn't enough material for 38 episodes. The middle section was a lot of team management mumble-jumble and the last 2.5 episodes (after the world championship) was basically one gigantic fan service. Nothing wrong with fan service but some scenes were just fillers to pad out the episodes. Some reviews also commented on the robot battles being boring. I don't agree with that as it was at least fast paced and tactical. I have watched a whole c-drama based on archery and do you know how boring archery competition is? Even the competition in GGS1 was just a lot of people banging on keyboards and staring at flashing screens with the commentators going crazy in the voiceover. What I did find wanting was the lack of love for the 2OTP and a lack of tension within the OTP relationship.
The 2OTP started strong and even had a psycho ex-GF to keep things spicy. Unfortunately, once the ex-GF issue was resolved, the writer just seemed to loss interest in them. They are still around and do the odd CP thing but mostly stuck in a holding pattern. More subplots involving them would have made the mid show drag less telling. Ditto the development of the OTP. I have no love of the "drama for drama sake" trope but it was a little disappointing to see that the 2ML being hamstrung at every turn regarding the FL. Sure, he was a real gentleman and bow out of the chase with good grace but the show seemed to be determined to shut him up before he can even open his mouth.
It was lovely to see the OTP in love but it was also a long stretch of cruising on auto-pilot. I don't like to make direct comparisons but I can't help but be reminded of "My Little Happiness" which I watched recently. It had a similar 2 CP setup but that show was only 28 episodes long and the pacing and plotting was better. Quality over quantity is a truism.
In the end, the use of the GGS moniker was a double edged sword. No doubt it heightened the initial interest in the show and allowed them to milk the IP a bit more. This they succeeded up to a point. The setting, central idea and casting were all good but by extending their reach too far, they exposed their own Archie's heel.

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