Anyone who knows me, knows that I am particularly hard rater. (I have only ever given one perfect 10 out of over 150 dramas watched). However, this ALMOST made my second, as this drama was utter perfection until almost the very end. Dark, mature, suspenseful. This drama had me on the edge of my seat each episode and desperately awaiting each week’s new chapters. Besides the ending, I LOVED everything about the show: the acting, cinematography, soundtrack, writing, and wardrobe. Everything contributed to an amazing story that was unlike anything I’ve ever seen!!
In this drama, Kim Nam Joo blew me away!! She was unbelievable. However, I must say, EVERY SINGLE person in the cast did a fantastic job. This drama had characters that were so layered and complex, that could tell a story based solely on their eyes and facial expressions. There are so many aspects that I loved about this drama and its characters, as flawed as many of them were. One of the best things about this show, was that it was riveting from episode 1 to episode 16, no filler episodes, and filled with intelligent writing with twists and intrigue throughout. Its only downfall was the finale where it floundered what could have been an epic ending. It is not that it is unhappy or happy and I disliked their choice. Instead it was lacking, weak, and inconclusive.
Originally, I did not start this drama until episode 6 or 7 had already been aired, as I had doubts about whether this drama was for me. I love romantic comedies and have never heard of the leads. However, I am so glad that I tried it because it has now in my top 3 dramas of all time. DO NOT LET THE GENRE OR CAST SCARE YOU OFF--or the ending!!! This drama is definitely worth watching. Highly recommend. :)
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This review may contain spoilers
*****This Reviews contains SPOILERS****I discovered Korean dramas after discovering and falling in love with Rain in 2010. I've seen many a k-drama and Misty is now the best drama I have seen in my 8-year k-drama life. IMO, it is perfection from the beginning to the last frame.
Every episode of this masterpiece is brilliantly written and acted. From a super compelling who-dun-it to complex, multi layered relationships. not only betweeen Go Hye Ran and Kang Tae Wook, but between Go Hye Ran and her younger rival Ha Ji Won, her boss/director, a female colleague, the protagonist Kevin Lee, and the devoted Byun Woo Hyun. Kang Ki-Joon, the tenacious homicide investigator, is one of the very best of the great supporting cast. This is a mature, sophisticated, complex, suspenseful drama that tackles marital strife, revenge, obsession, freedom of speech, corruption, class, justice, and workplace politics. I feel privileged to have seen it and I LOVED THE ENDING.
While everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, I find many drama lovers' need for some bullshit happy ending idiotic and infantile. The ending of Misty is 100% consistent with the narrative of the 15 episodes that got us there. I mean, did you really think they were going to move overseas and live happily-ever-after given ALL that occurred? Seriously, WTF did these people complaining about the ending expect? IMO, it really could not have ended better or any other way without compromising its integrity and greatness.
Again, best drama I have ever seen and I have no idea what I am going to watch next. CANNOT RECOMMEND HIGHLY ENOUGH.
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[Spoilers alert] "I had always thought that I had everything. But, when I open my hand there's nothing. Perhaps we try to catch thing that are impossible to catch. Is that why we live life like we're crazy?".
My gosh. I lived for that last words.
When Misty was over my heart break up. Since trial's chapters, when little details about truth did show up, I was begging to gods for a happy ending. But when Hye Ran, referring to Myung Woo's murder, sayed to Tae Wook: "if he had listened to me, if he had believed in me...", I realised that a break point happened before we noticed it. If everthing would have been perfect, this would not have been the greatest drama of season.
I really (really, really, really) wanted to trust Tae Wook's unconditional love. But Misty is not (just) a sweet romance, there is a lot of thing behind main couple. Relationship between Hye Ran and Tae Wook felt real (not just realistic), but also felt strange and twisted. It is not coincidence that Painful Love's verses (courtesy of Lee Seung Chul) sounded like a dark echo: "Love is love / it’s only a wound".
Tae Wook's wounds took Kevin Lee's life. His death what was a stupid mistake caused by a rush of anger, jealousy and sorrow. What tell us the truth about Tae Wook: he was a man madly in love, crushed by his manly pride. And that fact emptied Hye Ran's heart forever.
Everyone hoped a twist as the last chapter approached...Well, I don't know if this strange finale was all that everone was expected. Myung Woo's act for sure surprised us, but that's all. I liked a lot the ambiguous ending, it seems that the viewer must suppose what happened and live with uncertainty. Still, it was very bittersweet. It suits to drama's narrative: thuth came little by little, until leaving us dissatisfied. This is living.
Go Hye Ran is probably one of the best characters of kdramas' history. Her brave and fierce personality make her too attractive, we understand why men around her fell for her so deep. Like a human, more than a woman, she serves as example that we have rights to be greedy and harsh in our road to arise. Even if she was mean, even if she lost a lot... she put her ambition and dignity before anything.
It is very hard find a character with so much personality, so aware of its own limitations and desires, so capable to continue when its decisions lead it into disaster. Hye Ran knows what means asume consequences of life and charge them on her own shoulders without any embarrassment. She lived for herselft, but also lived for her news, wicht means that she lived for truth. The question is, does she regret it?
However, I will thanks to Kim Nam Joo for gave life to Hye Ran. Damn, this woman has passed six years out (of small screen) and returned to performance an apassionate character with extraordinary ability. To me, she deserves a big prize, this will be a great hit drama just because of her. Call me fangirl, she was so stunning and gorgeous that I'm still excited.
Misty recreated life's worst look. It teach that all of us walk always pushing others trying to survive, but also exist many people trying to take us down. This is a (man- corrupted) world where our paths are full off painful betrayals, sharp fights and sad burdens. But at last, you only live for today.
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There was a point during Misty's run that it was shaping up to be 2018's Forest of Secrets. An intelligent script, excellent acting, striking cinematography and a haunting, beautiful score all combine into a compelling piece of television about a powerful woman trying to attain her goals in a hyper-patriarchal society: all the while rocking awesome pantsuits and never letting the cracks in her life show in public. Dark, mature and atmospheric with a powerful female lead, this show was amazing until the inevitable Episode 15 slide in quality that condemns it to being ALMOST the best show of 2018.Go Hye Ran has hit the glass ceiling but instead of quietly disappearing like older women are supposed to, she refuses to go anywhere. Fighting constantly against corruption, discrimination and vicious gossip, she has become cold, driven and untrusting but is fuelled by a strong desire for justice and a determination to win against all odds.
Kim Nam Joo puts in an exceptional performance as the complex, brilliant and uncompromising Go Hye Ran who is charged for a murder and represented by her lawyer husband, Kang Tae Wook (Ji Jin Hee). The rest of the cast also do superb jobs. Full of timeline holes, unreliable narrators, unlikeable characters and deliberate misdirections, this show will have you second-guessing everything you think you know about the characters to the last scene.
Which brings us to the ending...
Like a lot of people, I was very dissatisfied with the ending and found the finale overly-long and self-indulgent. As can sometimes happen, what I thought was the main point of the drama and what the writers thought was the main point of the drama diverged wildly around the end of episode 14. As such, I found the last episodes frustrating, watching time tick down to a finale that I knew wasn't going to contain resolution to the plotlines I cared about. The ending in particular I found depressing in a way the rest of the drama - however moody and dark - wasn't.
Textually, in terms of the shows themes, I personally found the ending contradicted what (I thought) was the point of the show as a whole. In that respect, it negated to an extent the show's message. It is this - the negation of the show's underlying point and a resolution that is ultimately depressing - that makes the ending so bad.
However despite my frustration with the ending, this was a very good piece of television overall.
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Now...onto the actual review.
Plenty of other reviews all the amazing things about this drama (atmosphere, acting, relationships etc.) I won't really touch on that, not when other great reviews have already pointed them out better than I can. What I WILL touch on is the parts other reviews skim over most of the time: the not-so-amazing parts.
Let's start with Go Hye Ran's relationship with our main guy, Kang Tae Wook. Maybe I'm too basic for this stuff, but their romance made no sense, especially with that ending. 80% of the drama is spent with the two ignoring each other and barely talking. Then, all of a sudden, you want me to believe they're in...love? Lust? Because neither of them have gotten any in a long time? It's really disappointing considering all the other great relationships in the drama, with Go Hye Ran and her entire Newsroom team, Kang Tae Wook with his fellow public defender, Go Hye Ran and her reporter friend etc. It shows that the writer is capable of building credible relationships, but somehow, somewhere, fell flat on the romantic ones.
This point wouldn't have annoyed me as much if it hadn't been THE MAIN POINT OF THE DRAMA. The basic story is so fresh and new, of a love-less couple falling in love with one another while the husband defends the wife from being charged as a murderer, of eternal loyalty and blood trumping all others etc. Gosh, was it too much to expect a little more relationship development for what is essentially supposed to be a love story? I hope not.
Some side characters weren't always very likeable, in the sense that I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why they did what they did- Ha Myung Woo (...a guy with a 19 year old "crush" on Go Hye Ran?) and Go Hye Ran's boss (sorry, too lazy to search for his name on MDL). Ha Myung Woo because the way he was written was so sloppy and strange, like really, you expect me to believe he does everything he's doing because he loves Go Hye Ran? What? It logically doesn't make sense and the writer doesn't try to make it sound logical either. Maybe that's the intention. Whatever. Go Hye Ran's boss was also someone who was very inconsistently written, with his being Pro-Go Hye Ran at times and Anti-Go Hye Ran in the other. He seemed like more a minor catalyst for future events than a fully-fledged supporting character.
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Though the who-dun-it story is mighty twisty, I was most intrigued by Go Hye Ran’s plight to stay relevant in an industry that keeps trying to push her out as she gets older. I appreciate that this drama created such interesting and nuanced female characters.
Misty has an overarching theme of questioning people’s dreams and motivations. What leads to their happiness and how far will people go to attempt to attain that happiness?
As a whole this drama offers an intriguing plot with compelling characters. Though I did grow a little tired of the court room, the stunning performances kept me engaged as a whole. This drama kept me guessing throughout! Overall, this is a well put together story.
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STORY
Misty is all about feminism and we appreciate a feminist icon like Go Hye Ran. Dramas usually showcase women who need to be saved or supported in some way, most of the time showing no real interest in a career or general self development and that's called being cute and is celebrated somehow (main reason I dislike most rom coms). That being said, misty won my first vote by saying no to that and creating a powerful character putting her in the center and making this basically a one woman show!
Go Hye Ran, is a memorable character that you will either love or love to hate. Either way she will leave a mark. It felt really rejuvenating watching a female lead who, yes is a bitch and will stop at nothing to get what she wants, but is not evil. Hating her should have been easy but there was something so real about her that draws you in. All in all the female lead and her well rounded and strong personality was the first pro that pretty much makes this drama a must watch.
Moving on, the plot, ah yes, can I say it doesn't get dragged? Sadly no, it does during the middle, but were the dragging parts boring and unnecessary? Not really. Everything was well thought out, nicely written and even when the drama makes you say, this is dumb, there is a reason it is dumb.
Generally, The show is a crime mystery thriller to be honest with splashes of romance melo, office and legal drama. On the whole, It could have worked with less and smaller episodes. On the negative side of the drama, Some situations were exaggerated and stretched and what annoyed me is that they quickly got undone usually in the next episode. Sometimes unnecessary developments were done, sometimes not, mostly used for wow factors, while the dumping down of certain characters who were just stupid for the whole show to work was just ridiculous and honestly, infuriating.
Having said that, read some comments complaining about a bad ending. Yeah, cause if the ending is not "pretty, wrapped in a perfect bow" as a viewer perfectly wrote in the comments, it is instantly bubbed as awful by drama watchers. Whatever. The drama's roots are set in a harsh reality, there is no good and bad guy, no hero and villain. All the characters felt real living in a grey area of what is right and wrong. A breath of fresh air for me, exactly like the ending. No it's not pretty, but life isn't pretty anyway. The ending made the drama that much more memorable and somehow it felt fair.
I especially appreciated certain characters' development and I loved the rather healthy representation of office drama along with the existence of friendship in the characters' lives. While, I can easily name as the highlight of the drama, the fucked up romance. The drama can be misinterpreted as "how to randomly obsess over a person who never did anything for you" and call that ridiculous and move on, and ok I respect the makjang of this whole thing but it was much more than just that.
Having said that and as far as the mystery goes, it isn't anything groundbreaking but it is carefully written. What actually excited me however, is that you can easily see what is happening, read between the lines, but you are so invested in the characters you refuse to accept it. The drama builds up and then slaps you in the face, hard. The final episodes offer a plethora of twists, almost none of them were uncalled for, on the contrary everything made so much sense in retrospect, but I just didn't want to see it. Good writing. I rejoice.
ACTING
Acting was strong as expected. Kim Nam Joo made the drama hers and snatched a role to remember for sure. However, nothing would have worked without the immaculate Ji Jin hee (who's been getting hotter with age). I applaud him on always choosing such special roles.
Especially memorable was Jin ki Joo though and I look forward to seeing more of her.
RECOMMEND
All in all, I do see how this might not be a drama for everyone, but that doesn't mean this is a bad drama. I was at the edge of my seat pretty much the whole ride. Worthy drama a for a try, especially if you're into crime mysteries. Steer clear if you need for fluffy romance fixed, this a show for grown ups.
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This is such a sensational drama, that truly does stand out from the rest. Personally I loved it from the beginning and I was so invested by it that I even considered it as the most well done crime mystery drama at some point. It is really hard to objectively rate this drama as it takes some unexpected turn and I'm still not sure how to feel about it. I originally started Misty because I read somewhere that there is a strong female lead in it. That was enough reason for me to watch at least the first episode. However, once you finish this very first episode, believe me, there is no way back.
Go Hye Ran is a strong ambitious woman who works as an anchor for a news station and is considered as the best in her field. She has set clear goals in her life and she is ready to do anything to reach them. However behind her success, there are a lot of sacrifices, hard made decisions and her personal life is a mess. One day, she becomes the prime suspect for a murder and her husband who works as a lawyer will try to clear her name. This is the initial situation, I really can’t say more without giving you some spoilers so I’ll stop here.
The storyline is perfection. From episode one to the very end, the suspense and mystery are present and you will struggle to restore the truth behind the appearance. Every time you think you have the right answer, new facts will arise and make you establish new theories and doubt new characters. Misty, indeed.
The actors were all great, especially Kim Nam Joo who is the highlight of this drama. She is so incredible that now I can not imagine someone else for this role. I believe that the most important thing in this drama are the characters and their development. The choices they have made through their lives and where those choices have brought them. Did they made the right decisions? How far did they go to reach happiness?
I have to say one word about the stunning camera work. The cinematography is truly beautiful, the camera captures the essence of the thematic through aesthetically pleasing angles, colors and framing.
But then I have to say a word about the fashion design as well. Go Hye Ran is one of the most well-dressed woman I’ve seen in kdramas. So many screenshots on my computer and how many times did I thought « I want to dress like her when I’m older ». Classy and elegant.
The music plays an important role in this drama and fits perfectly to each scene. While it adds more effect to the suspens and more impact to the action, it also manages to capture our hearts with the beautiful, nostalgic and calm soundtrack.
My only regret is the ending, as a twisted drama I was expecting something more till the very end. A lot of people say that the end is just fine for them and I tried to make up my mind as well but I can’t hide my disappointment. With another ending, I would give this a 10/10 for sure.
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Definitely overrated.
Misty - mist - fog - tunnel, they were trying to be artistic and poetic for the ending but it didn't land at all, comically over dramatic hideous ending. Excruciatingly slow, not only the pace but also as if it was shot in slow motion 0.8x speed. Style over substance with this joke of a script. I wish they kept it pure murder mystery rather than adding a political angle to it. Speaking of mystery, there is hardly any, quite predictable and linear.The actress Jin Ki Joo doesn't fit her character, she doesn't look like an anchorwoman unlike the female lead who had a perfect portrayal of an anchorwoman. The detective always looked exhausted and about to fall asleep. Give the man an energy drink or something! I swear Lee Kyung Young plays the exact same character and have the same energy in every drama he ever been in.
With all that being said, it's mediocre at best.
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The scenario was REALLY good. A complicated love story , love affairs, a mysterious death ( even at the end I couldn't believe that he would kill him) , suspense and anticipation in every single episode.
The OSTs were the bomb.com too
This drama was a masterpiece. I don't think I will ever find something similar to this ;(
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