Love the "Squad"
If you're on the fence about watching this drama - just over it and land on this one! It was fantastic right from the get go - the main female lead starts out - I'm thinking what a push over- boy does she prove me wrong. Her strength and just her over all stoic behaviour was just the perfect and so well portrayed. The main male lead was so funny and goofy - but strong when needed. (I just loved the way he spoke Korean! So wish I knew this language!)The story does not drag - there is a perfect balance between, friends, family, suspense, drama and love. Oh we can't forget the 'squad' I'm sure there is a squad like this in everyone's neighbourhood. But not this kind what a group of women! They nailed it! tough love at its finest - but they knew when to band together to protect their own. Kim Sun-young is such a great supporting actress that at times she steals the scene from the main lead. Last but certainly not least I'm a sucker for shows with Children and Kim Kang-hoon was perfect. His emotions were so realistic that at times you forgot you were only watching a drama.
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Slow pace, but great acting
Some friends told me that this drama was too slow and boring. But I just thought I had to watch it since Gong Hyo-Jin and Kang Ha-neul are two of my favourite Korean actors/actresses.Yes, I do think that 20 episodes seem to be too long and drags on with unnecessary moments to add to the storyline. They could have made it into just 16 episodes (the usual case) or even less than that.
What I did like about this drama, is about life in a small-town (not Seoul) and the struggles of being a single, unwed mother. The child actor who took the role as Pil-Gu was so great. I've seen him in other dramas too but usually only for flashbacks of the main lead. Here he had a more important role and is a great, promising actor. I'm looking forward to seeing him act as a teenager or adult one day in the future.
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This drama is definitely refreshing. The character is not the usual damsel in distress female lead, handsome-but-cold CEO, and so on. The character is realistic and well-grounded, we can find a single mom who was struggling to make ends meet while the society criticized her, a country bumpkin police officer with childlike attitude, even a group of ahjummas who spend their time gossiping but yet caring and helpful anywhere. (Well, the joker storyline is not that realistic but it spices up the drama so why not). I laughed, I cried, being on fire, angry, hurt together with them. This is definitely climbing up to my most favorite drama list of the year!
Nonetheless, the one actor that impressed me the most is definitely kang ha-neul. I watched him on Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, but it was not that memorable to me, he was fine but that's just about all. But in WTCB, Yong Sik stole my heart to bits, the character is so well written (and so non-existent). He is not a perfect character, but how Yong Sik treats Dong Baek amazes me. He never bothered with the fact that Dong Baek was never married and has a child, but continually supports Dong Baek and boosts her confidence. Whenever Dong Baek pushes him away because of her own insecurities, he never backs down and always pushes her out of her insecurities and indecisiveness. However, when it is time for him to stop holding on to her for her sake, he is willing to do it without keeping his ego and desires. The relationship was very raw and honest. Yong sik is such a refreshing and well-written character and I can't imagine anyone else playing Yong sik but Ha-neul. He made the character his own.
There is no need to talk about how great Gong Hyo-jin is. She is definitely one of the best actresses in this era, she delivers any character given to her exceptionally.
I believe this drama is super well written, well-acted, very interesting, and does not have a dull moment. I love this drama so much, I will definitely go back and rewatch WTCB.
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This review may contain spoilers
Good drama but not re-watchable
I added this drama to my watch list because of all of the high reviews. Initially, I didn’t want to watch because the title and trailer just seemed boring to me. However, I’m happy that I took a chance but this is not a drama that I’d consider re-watchable. It was good while it lasted but I’m glad it’s over.1. This drama seemed to be heartwarming and sweet, especially because of the super innocent and doting ML. I loved how he knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to let FL know how he felt.
2. I didn’t mind the abandoned child turned single mother storyline but the way the community treated FL like a pariah who should be banished to hell, especially by ML’s mother who was a widow with 2 young children and a newborn, got on my nerves. ML’s mother was best friends with FL until she found out her son, whom she raised to be a warm and loving person, was warm and loving on the “wrong” person.
3. I felt bad for Jeong-ryeol because after 8 years, he finds out he has a son but his mother wants to keep them apart. Excuse me?!
4. I liked that Dongbaek’s mother came back and after hearing what she wrote when she thought she was going to die, I felt really bad for her. But I do not understand why she pretended to have dementia. That was very strange and did not fit into the storyline well at all.
5. I liked Pil-gu but did not like how FL just let him control everything about her life. Dongbaek is the adult and Pil-gu is the child. I don’t know why she just could not explain to him that she is not abandoning him by being with ML. She chose to look sheepish and give up on her own happiness to appease her 8 year old. I’m glad ML’s mother came to her own senses and knocked some sense into Dongbaek.
6. Overall, the drama was pretty good but FL’s “woe is me” attitude got on my nerves and ML’s puppy energy became a bit too much for me.
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This review may contain spoilers
the story of a naive but storng woman that bring a child on her own as a single mom, without the father knowlage. she open a bar by herself while rising a baby . she doesn't tell the father because she want to raise the baby on her own, she doesn't want his support, she can do it, she also doesn't want him to give her any support after he found out about the child, she also forgive her mother after abonded her and take care of her, her mother has being forgiven because she is ill, she also very storng and not firghtening to live in dark bar with her baby for more than 6 year while a murderer want to kill her and made her as a target. when you think of this description you already become familier about the South korean biggest obsession of all:
------------------Woman must be superhero and a saint /angle -------------------------
she is literally saint super hero.
while in reality women in day life struggle to earn money to themself, when they have a baby as single mom they are barly live, they need finance help, or they become prostitute to bring income or sending the baby to adopted family.
even single person without a support can't open a bar, but here we see an single mother orphan that open a bar...it's quite amazing don't you think? more as a super hero than a real human, espesialy in South Korea,
the thing is that in korea there are a lot of prastitude women but they don't talk about it, they don't even dare to show it in their "clean" "rich" Kdramas , the woman is always perfect even if she is poor , the main lead i mean.
if she is a side support role actress she can be aweful, but than she got murdered by the joker, so she not even allowed to live\ i am talking now on the waiter that worked in camellia bar. she suppose to be the real main actress, the main character also, but yet...she is only the "support" actress.
she is so human, to compare to Camelia...yet she satying alwayes the supporting role//
she is not pritty enough, she is not good enough,.she just need to die!
that how they see women in general in their society.
you don't understand it until you watch in a decate full of Kdrama, and than you understand theres a lot of prastitude on the streets and you want to cry...why can't be a prastitude them main lead, why she is not human in their eyes, why women have to be perfect saint all the time,
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It is the most down to earth drama. Down to earth characters.
Amazing acting. Yong-Shik was brought to life.
Heartwarming, Touching, Funny, Irresistible charm, amazing people, wonderful OST.
Great plot. It’s clear that it’s done by a talented director (who also made other fav dramas of mine).
Great cinematography. Great shots.
Leaves a strong impression.
A Refreshing kind of story.
This drama makes me crazy. It makes me laugh out of no where.
Music is fantastic.
I knew it would be good because of Gong Hyo Jin but ...
Hwang Yong Shik was the heart of the party.
Watch it to understand how precious his character is. It cannot be hated.
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Unique combination executed well
I am a huge fan of Gong Hyo Jin and after watching this, I also admire Oh Jung Se as the bumbling town clown, Son Dam Bi as the tormented street-smart gal, and Yeom Hye Ran as the hard-on-the-outside accomplished woman. They all played absolutely amazing supporting characters.I have to give the writer and director so many kudos for this very unique combination of: rom-com, innocently chasing the girl romance, complex ex husband and family relationships, and thriller. I haven't seen it executed in this way. At the heart of it, I would call it a slice of life exploration of a single mom who feels empowered one moment and anxiously depressed the next. Some might criticize some of her choices, expecting the character to either be "always good" or "always needing to be rescued" as some dramas depict, but I feel that the variety of actions she takes make her very human and realistic. She makes mistakes like we all do.
It's a slow paced drama so you need to have a bit of patience to savor each step. I wouldn't say it's boring, but the pace kind of meanders but in a way that still fits the slightly mysterious feeling of the way the director and writer wanted it to go. You never feel completely confident that you understand where anything is going so you have to be OK with that when watching this drama.
The only thing I am a bit disappointed in is actually the main romance storyline. I think Kang Ha Neul played his role as Yong Shik well, but it was perhaps written a bit too innocently. You see glimpses that he truly understands all of the nuances of Dong Baek's life, but he doesn't get the chance to articulate it through effective script writing in the way I would have liked. I feel the other characters have more meaningful interactions with each other and Dong Baek than he does, even by the end of the drama.
Overall I have to applaud this unique execution of a realistic feeling mysterious drama. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it and would watch it again to catch all the nuances that I missed the first time.
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I hated the male lead’s character
I held out until the first kiss but I had to drop this drama as I couldn’t stand the male lead’s character. Is he really 30 years old because he acts so childish and says the dumbest things? I was not impressed by the ML’s country bumpkin pseudophilosophy about life (and did not find anything he said swoon worthy). I don’t know how the female lead could fall for this guy (maybe he just wore her down with his relentless pursuit of her). The ML is a nice person but he spends more time chasing of his love than he does at work. When the ML is working, he only obsesses over catching the Joker (who is, of course, directly linked to the FL). I almost wished the FL had reconciled with her ex-boyfriend to give her son a better life. TBH, I am coming off some short 10 minute episode Chinese dramas so I was never able to watch an entire episode, of this drama, in one sitting.Was this review helpful to you?
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This review may contain spoilers
Pet peeve tropes
I was lured by this because apparently Koreans really valued this series for destigmatizing single motherhood.But when we learn the single mother is in this predicament by her own choice and for no reasonable motives AT ALL the show loses all relatability and verisimilitude. She basically decided not disclosing her pregnancy to her then boyfriend for unexplainable reasons, which is infuriating in itself because both the kid and the father have the right to know their biological family in this case.
And then we discover that her baby daddy is a rich athlete on top of that. So she made her son and herself go through hardships just CAUSE. She deprived her son of a more abundant life, perhaps with better education and whatever money can buy for nothing.
And then we have some more tired tropes like the FL being a doormat to the horrible people that live in that small town.
And this is all I could endure. The dealbreaker was really the baby daddy reveal.
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