This is the first drama I've seen Lee Jong Suk in (well, I watched Secret Garden but I have no memory of his role in it) and I really liked his performance. His character was not what I expected - he was so goofy with his selfies! It was very endearing. As for Suzy, her character initially made me cringe a little but she grew on me. What I really enjoyed were all the supporting characters, Woo Tak, Jae Chan's brother, and especially Jae Chan's colleagues and their own storylines. There were so many beautiful moments there. Jae Chan and his brother had a lot of hilarious moments. There was a solid villainous character, and no love triangle.
I'm not sure that I'd rewatch (but then again, I RARELY rewatch anything, there's so many new shows to watch) but this is definitely be on my list of dramas I recommend. And I will be looking for another Lee Jong Suk drama to watch, sorry I've overlooked him for so long...
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EVERYONE'S TOP 5 KDRAMA OF ALL TIME
ITS PERFECT!!!. This kdrama has possibly the BEST FIRST EPISODE out of hundreds of kdrama i've seen. It has everything you ever want, romance, comedy, mystery, suspense, fantasy and a handsome 2nd lead. COUNT ME IN!!! The acting is suprisingly good and realistic but i guess people love to hate on idol turned actors cough* Suzy cough* Also It is LEE fuc**ng JONG SUK like cmon why are you even contemplating whether or not to watch it?The OST + the romance chemistry between the leads is enough reason to watch this drama, add on a bit of psycho evil serial killers and manipulative corrupted lawyers and you get yourself the best drama of the year. Also the CAST IS SUPER FUNNY and under rated.
p.s. A funny intelligent competent prosecutor + cute smart well-spoken reporter is a suprisingly unique pairing.
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While You Were Sleeping (2017)
A creative premise that's contrasted by relatively simple point A to point B episodic content. The performances from the main leads and the secondary characters made the story flow pretty smoothly. Though I can see how the simplistic nature of the show presented in individual stories could turn some people off.One thing that really bugged me early on was when one of the main antagonists was pointed out by his own client to have falsified evidence. Why wasn't he investigated, suspended, or disbarred? I mean yeah, this is TV and all but this is like a HUGE thing in the world of law. Keeping him around for the sake of plot and/or stuff like that in general made the show feel a bit cheap at times. To add to that, I think the amount of "filler" in the show kind of ruined the mystique of the concept. The more (quantity) they leaned into the supernatural aspects the less (quality) it was memorable. Don't get me wrong, the writing was still good to watch as details and stories were fleshed out reasonably well but I think condensing things would've been more impactful.
The show has just enough drama and suspense to sustain itself and yet manages to keep a relatively lighthearted side of things. It has its fair share of emotional bits as well as parts where it falls flat without anything particularly memorable. So while enjoyable, it won't linger around in your thoughts or have you think about it in the shower or in bed, while you were sleeping.
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Lackluster Legal Drama and Thrill-less Thriller with a Lukewarm Love Story
Good Things:* The cinematography. Unlike a lot of older network dramas, it had a large enough budget to be entirely pre-produced. This allowed for the use of upper-end camera work, editing and effects that make WYWS feel much more recent than it is.
* The hook. Contagious precognition with a butterfly effect factor is an riveting twist to a legal thriller. The first few episodes do an excellent job presenting its premise, and are overall the strongest part of the series.
So-So Things:
* The romance. Fate tells us the leads are Meant To Be and they just shrug and roll with it. There's some cute domestic/daily life moments in between the legal cases and a few pretty cinematic tableaus, but little meaningful relationship building.
* The tone. Despite the murders, dire dreams and tragic backstories everything is light and breezy. It's understandable that people see it as a comfort watch because the entire drama - even moments that should be high conflict - is mostly one note.
Bad Things:
* The 2D characters. The Good Guys are Just Good; they always win and always make the right moral choices. The Bad Guys are Just Bad; they're there to move the plot along and nothing else. The lack of narrative nuance makes them all seem more like archetypes than individuals.
* The MIA main plot. The legal cases don't share any themes or common threads, and they're unrealistically neatly tied up with any loose ends/consequences either ignored or swept away by time skips. They add nothing to the central story, which ends up endlessly sidelined until all the conflict and resolution is crammed into the final few episodes.
Interesting Things:
* Park Hye Ryun also wrote Dream High (2011), I Hear Your Voice (2013), Pinocchio (2014-2015), Start-Up (2020) and Castaway Diva (2023).
Recommended if you enjoy straightforward, easy-watch dramas and don't mind some rote characters and storytelling. But compared to PHR's earlier thrillers, WYWS is a pretty pastiche of everything that made them compelling without the same heart and complexity in the narrative and characters.
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Best show ever
From the very first episode till the very end it was a rollercoaster ride of suspense, thrill and twists....and what a ride it was. So glad I gave this show a go. It was an absolute entertainer. The cast was brilliant, the story was gripping, there were times I held my breath to know what the scene is going to end like. Very natural and authentic every step of the way. There was truly never a dull moment. The whole drama was really about the effect that people have on other people, and recognizing that no matter how small a decision seems to you, it could alter someone else’s life irrevocably. The dreams were just a metaphor for the way that one act could change the very course of someone’s future, whether you’re on trial for murder or just crossing the street one night. In an ideal world, we would all weigh our decisions with such care for how our actions affect other people. If only.Was this review helpful to you?
Although the main cast did such an amazing job portraying their characters, “aside from Suzy”, the storyline didn’t match up with the acting skills. I say this because the plot got boring and predictable rather fast into the series and became harder to want to continue. I’m sure not many people would agree with me since so many people loved this series, hence, the high rating…but I just can’t get over the fact that they missed out on a chance to create an amazing series, but they wasted it with such crappy pacing. Not to mention, the lead female protagonist can’t show emotions or even make it seem like she has even an ounce of a real connection with the male lead. I feel as if Jong-Suk was pulling all the weight of the romance aspect in the series….She was just boring to watch, sorry not sorry! Suzy defiantly struggled with portraying real emotions…Like, the kind of emotion that makes me want to cry with her (like most female leads). The relationship that audiences of k-drama’s both want and expect to see just wasn’t present because of Suzy’s crappy acting (In this series),,how disappointing.
The series started out so good!!!And it makes me so upset that it was just so boring mid-way through….. In fact, it became so much of a chore that I just googled the ending because I couldn’t push myself to finish the last few episodes. Therefore, I completely understand that many people both love and enjoy this series, I’m just not one of them.
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Acting was very good especially from the antagonists.
The OST was very fitting for the scenes and situations.
I would rewatch it again also because of the many funny scenes.
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Awesome watch
I started this series with a lot of apprehension due to the name, I thought it would a pick up of the English movie. But this sincerely surprised me and it was a good thing.Suzy is crazy aloof and brilliant in the series. I liked the character growth with the sub cast and how they were all linked.
The music was brilliant especially the piano one gave the chills every time.
Suzy's I love u boy was also a pleaser.
The story seemed similar to the usual kdrama back drop connection story but the picturization of the whole concept was brilliant.
I got hooked after the 1st episode so go for it u won't regret it
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I hella guffawed during in each and every episode! The comedy is on point! It's a light show with attempts at squeezing the heart, but my eyes remained dryer than a heater.
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And supporting characters are also good as well. This is a complete drama with Comedy, Thriller, Romance, friendship, Emotional . I loved it so much..I recommend this Drama if you want to watch something different rather than rom com .This is much more than that.????????❤️
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T he Storyline was gold
I was never a Suzy fan but this drama made me think twice of her and her future roles to come.The drama blew me away with the quality of the content, I enjoyed every moment of this drama.
Everything was coordinated right like a perfect setup LoL but they did a great job. The OTS was my favorite
I don't know about you! but I can't stop listening to it, it's simple the best one of the year! beside another drama I won't mention here.
I just realized that it wasn't so much for the romance but the thrilled of the drama, like what's going to happened next and will she get the killer before he gets her/him/others. I don't have any disliked or maybe I was just too happy to watched it but the end could exceeded a little more with both main characters-romance.
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