Is this a teen drama?

I tried so hard to watch this. However, it’s a teen drama and I don’t do HS dramas. If I wanted to watch a HS drama, I would watch a HS drama. Friends told me I have to wait until epi 9 before it gets good. It’s already epi 5 and no Zo In Sung.

Contrast this with the other superhero show broadcasting now, Uncanny Counter 2, which as been action from the get go. (That show suffers from other problems but action wasn’t one of them) No need for patience till almost midway through the season. And 20 episodes? Come on, do better with the editing seriously.

This is also a rip off Fantastic 4 and other broody teenage superhero movies trying to tame their super powers. Heroes, the American TV show, especially comes to mind. This is such a rip-off.

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Best mental health drama ever

I don't know why this drama doesn't rate higher. I loved Hospital Playlist and really missed that. This has huge Hospital Playlist feels - the camaraderie between the staff, the going in-depth to understand the context and personal circumstances behind each patient. The staff strive to give patients the best level of care and address their problems not just solve the symptoms.

In addition, this show is about mental health. There's so much stigma surrounding this topic in Asia and particularly with psychiatry (as opposed to psychology).It's great to see a show treat the topic sensitively with the dignity it deserves, yet highlights why mental health is also a valid medical condition and should not be ignore or stigmatised.

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Great premise but....

The acting on this is great. Basic synopsis is a cop with less than clear morals and has multiple personality disorder tackles police corruption. I'm dropping it not because the acting isn't great (Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon are both fantastic) or that the story hasn't got promise, and it is slightly humorous. But for me, I just don't like police corruption shows. The good guys can never catch a break and I will probably have to preserve till maybe episode 10 to see any come-uppance. The plot doesn't have a lot of twists and turns either. I'm currently watching another 7 other shows so I'd just rather shelve this for next time.

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Bucking the trend

I'm going to buck the trend and say that I watched the Korean version then decided to watch the Taiwanese version to see what I missed. Turns out I didn't miss anything! So far, the reviewers of this remake can be classified into two camps - those who didn't watch the original and loved it vs those who watched the original and hated this. I'm going to buck the trend and say that I watched the Korean one first and liked it but after watching the Taiwanese one, I like the Korean one even more that I've actually increased its rating!

Why? When I watched the first 2 episodes of this Korean version, I found it draggy but OMG, the first four episodes of the original are even worse! The Korean remake keeps much of the same plot highlights but removes the bits I find super annoying in the Taiwanese version - the annoying attempts at comedy, the super annoying side stories and characters (gosh I really hate the colleagues). Like what's the deal with trying to inject comedy into a tragedy?

This remake just gets to the crux of the relationships between the main leads and important friends. The only thing that bugged me was the Seo Ji Won song - I loved it at first but it got very repetitive and tiring by the third episode. In contrast, the soundtrack of the original Taiwanese was fantastic and well-suited to the plot elements throughout. The Wu Bai song never got old.

In short - just want to watch for the mystery? Watch this Korean remake which has much better editing and is a professional production. Want to indulge in emotions - the sweet love story, the tragedy of love then loss, and endure annoying attempts at comedy which aren't funny - then watch the original which is raw, unpolished (for goodness sakes, mic the actors and remove all the echoey background noise!) but sentimental.

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Great crime drama

This is a fantastic fantasy crime drama - great pacing and no wasted moments. The story is a bit predictable in the first few episodes when they are crime solving but thereafter when the reach the main plot point (the body swap), the plot development is solid.

There are subtle social issues touched upon such as the strong chauvinism in a male-dominated workforce and vocation. For that, I give Ayase Haraku a thumbs up for a solid performance not only in acting as a suppressed feminist but also as a neurotic detective and then an over-confident killer. To begin with, I only watched the drama because of her and I wasn't disappointed! Issei Takahashi however is prone to overacting. I cringed every time he came on.

I've also deducted points for the hackneyed work of the music supervisor/editor. For goodness sakes, stop playing sound effects to emphasise a certain look the killer gives or inconsistencies in his testimony. We're not idiots. It's the equivalent of putting emojis to highlight clues the writers want us to take note of. Yes we get it, he's the one. That's childish and takes away any enjoyment I had in trying to figure out the clues myself.

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Quirky and educational

This show starts off slow with a lot of over-acting but once you get into the hang of it, it's pretty entertaining. The drama starts off trying to be a comedy with a background of mystery. The premise is a top neurosurgeon (Jung Yong Hwa) comes in to help the police solve crimes related to the brain ailments. I'm particularly surprised by the over-acting of Jung Dong Hwan. He's such an established actor; there's really no need for over-acting.

The pacing gets better around episode 3 when the mystery and crime-solving comes to the forefront instead of being buried in the exposition of each character. Having a story of the week really helps prevent the overall series from getting caught up in the over-acting. Once the show got underway, I enjoyed the weekly lessons and brain science that the neurosurgeon character played by Jung introduced.

Jung Yong Hwa hasn't acted in a lot of dramas over the years, and in this drama, he's as prone to over-acting as the other leads. I can't say that this drama is his best work (I still like Heartstring because the role reflects what he does best - being a kpop idol) but I do enjoy the wide variety of drama roles that he attempts. I got to give him credit for trying new things and sometimes they work out (Three Musketeers, the Package), and sometimes they don't.

In short, don't take the drama too seriously. Watch this drama for a light laugh and take it with a huge pinch of salt.

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Wasted potential

The main premise was good, that she was able to see the future. There is so much more that could have been done with that, for instance, trying to find out how she developed her 'power', trying to 'solve' the power, or more interestingly, trying to prevent an undesirable future from happening. However, the actual execution was a total disaster. There are way too many Kdrama tropes and plot holes to count.

The first few episodes were so boring that I nearly gave up. However, after they got together, it was fun for a few episodes as it was funny and sweet as a rom com. The last 2 episodes were a disaster. Why did they suddenly need to insert a mystery? Surely they should have put far more clues and plot points in earlier episodes to suggest some mystery? It's as if the writers changed halfway or they suddenly wanted to improve their ratings.

The whole drama was Schizophrenic at best - romance, comedy, fantasy, mystery, and office drama. I'm only giving this an 8 because I enjoyed the middle episodes. Thank goodness this ended at 12 episodes. I would have given up at episode 4 if I wasn't a Disney Plus subscriber.

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Trope and juvenile

This is a juvenile drama and should be watched as such. It is trope and adolescent to be crushing someone. It is very innocent (or naive depending on your viewpoint) and pure as some reviewers have commented. It is refreshing even compared to some other teen dramas which nowadays focus on difficult themes like bullying or the stress/pressure of academic excellence or suicide ideation. However, I couldn't help but get vibes of paedophilic grooming especially in the first episode with the 14 yo Sang Zhi and developed a strong 'ick' factor.

I seriously don't know how this drama can rate so highly compared to real meaty dramas. I watched hoping it would get more 'adult' and meaty but finally gave up. I really liked Zhao Lu Si and her portrayal of a high school student was spot on. Young love is pure and juvenile and one has to be in the right mood for it. Unfortunately, I'm not.

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Love and hate are two sides of the same coin

I have a masochistic relationship with this show. I hate what it does to me yet I can't stop watching. The show is about a couple who are in an abusive and messed up relationship. Things go so badly wrong yet they stay together because of their messed up pasts. They don't want to be together yet they don't want to be apart. They have no one else and so they stay together. They miss each other but don't want to see each other. They love each other for all the wrong reasons and their love often turns into hate. It is often said that it's worst to have no feelings for someone than it is to hate because hate is an extreme (though unhealthy) form of love.

Similarly, I am abusing myself by watching it. So many times I've wanted to stop because the show was so messed up - not because the story didn't make sense (ok, at times it didn't) but because this love-hate dynamic is confusing. And I hate the show for what it did to me - despite wanting to tear myself away from the show, I couldn't stop myself from watching. Why? I already know the ending thanks to some of the reviews here and I know I'm going to be sad yet I still want to finish it. That's the power and the lure of this show that no show has had on me recently.

This show is a study in contrasts. The show is an examination of internal strife and conflict and is tantamount to self-abuse. It is a tortured love. Love it or hate it, it's worth a watch to decide.

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Disappointed

I tried so hard to like this show. I like Jang Na Ra, I like Jang Hyuk, and I like spy/thriller/action. I even like comedy. What I can't stand are family shows (the 50 or 100 episoder type). I thought I could tolerate the little kids altho I'm not usually a fan, but the daughter was cute enough. However, after 4 episodes, I am throwing in the towel because there are just too many better shows out there (Black Knight, Good Bad Mom, True to Love) which I love far more than Jang Hyuk and Jang Na Ra's chemistry.

As usual, this show was trying to be too many things, often a fault with underperforming shows. To me, the greatest fault was in emphasising the family drama angle. It was cute in the first episode but soon got tiresome by the second episode. While the spy/thriller angle was there in the background, it was never interesting enough for me to want to know more or to get to the bottom of the overarching mystery (there was none).

It tried to be a Mr and Mrs Smith remake, and if it had the same spy pacing as that movie, maybe it could have worked. Right now however, I'd rather watch spy-thriller only dramas than this mixed genre. Maybe I will come back to this one day when I have nothing else better to watch because I have Disney subscription anyway. But for now, it will languish in my list of dropped shows.

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