Miracle (2022)

None of these characters are likable.

Major spoilers are ahead...

The FL, So Rin, is a fan of ML, Lucie, her idol while she's in high school, and she accidentally meets him without even believing it's him. They spend one night hanging out and the next night, she's supposed to go to a meet and greet with the real "Lucie." During this time she's also trying to audition to become an idol trainee.

Si Woo is best friends with So Rin along with their other friend mutual friend, Ye Seung and they enjoy their friendship going along with So Rin's fangirling. Si Woo secretly harbors a crush on So Rin, and together, they both win tickets to Lucie's meet and greet. While Si Woo takes both of them there on his bicycle, on the way, they're stuck by an oncoming vehicle which results in So Rin being hospitalized.

Lucie in the meantime keeps looking for So Rin at his fan meet to let her know it was really him that she met the night before. But of course, she doesn't show up. Lucie goes back to the US.

Fast forward to a few years later, Si Woo has become an idol. A decision he made for So Rin, who mentioned in the past, that if he auditioned to be an idol, they could go through it together. Feeling guilty about So Rin's accident, Si Woo becomes driven and motivated to become an idol.

But while Si Woo becomes an idol in a k-pop group, "N and S", So Rin, who suffers from severe tinnitus and dizziness, can no longer dance because of these symptoms. These came from a result of her accident but the tinnitus that she suffers from seems to be more psychologically stress-related. Although she no longer pursues the dream of becoming an idol, she works closely with Si Woo at the same agency. Their mutual friend, Ye Seung also works as a driver for the same agency. After all this time, Si Woo still hasn't told So Rin about his feelings for her.

Lucie comes back to Korea to do a collaboration with Si Woo. But Lucie goes under hardships as he is accused of tax evasion. It turns out his manager took all his money as Lucie wasn't planning to sign with him anymore. He has no choice but to collab with Si Woo and his agency. Broke and displaced in Korea, So Rin takes him in, and later, Lucie finds out that So Rin was the fangirl he met that night.

So now, here starts the love triangle... where the girl is so clueless and oblivious that these guys like her, and honestly, the story doesn't develop enough as to why these guys like her.

You can understand why Si Woo could like So Rin because after all, they grew up together as best friends, but why he takes so long to tell her is beyond me. So now Lucie enters the picture and now we just have to sit through these guys being competitive for So Rin while she doesn't have a clue. But honestly, you feel nothing for these three characters. So Rin comes off as under deserving of Si Woo's interest actually. It seems like he does more for her than she does for him. He's always checking in on her. And as for Lucie, he's just too arrogant for anyone to like him.

I find this to be a slow-paced drama. So far I'm on EP 12 and only now, are they just starting to dig into whether or not So Rin should pursue her dream as an idol. They had a few flashbacks of her trying again after her accident but nothing came of it. I don't know how, by the next two episodes, we're supposed to believe that all of a sudden, So Rin will become an idol. I think that even mentioning this in the detailed summary of this show is kind of misleading. Even the title, "Miracle" makes no sense.

So with only 14 episodes, I don't know how much progress we'll see after since the episodes are short. They're trying to show more scenes of Lucie and So Rin together as they have some "let's stare at each other with OST playing" moments. He seems to coincidently show up as he stalks her when she's having bad symptoms. But Si Woo has also been there for her so you don't know why the showrunners don't give Si Woo and So Rin more "tender moments". If you going to do a love triangle, do it somewhat properly.

There are other side stories, like Lucie's disappearing manager, another female k-pop group in which one member, Ju Ah crushes on Si Woo, and there's even some tension within Si Woo's group, N and S. The leader of N and S, Do Un wants to be an actor but only Si Woo got offered a leading role in a drama. This made Do Un jealous. But with these short episodes, their stories aren't interesting enough. Everyone seems miserable and it's not just from suffering through some hardships, it's more like everyone is miserably jealous of someone else.

The acting of everyone isn't that great so it makes it harder to enjoy this show and the singing and dancing are all subpar. Who wants to watch a show with two guys just constantly glaring at each other? It just makes this show drag on even slower.

I'll update this later if necessary.

UPDATE:
A week after the last two episodes already aired, I finally decided to dive back in and finish up the series. And... that's it. The end. (That's how exciting it was.)

I don't know what direction the writers decided to take in the last two episodes but it got pretty negative and dark all of a sudden. Ju Ah, crushes on Si Woo, finally confesses to him. He doesn't return her feelings and when he tells her he likes someone else, she's like, "So what?" I mean, why do they write women with like no dignity or pride? And if she's so close to debuting, it makes no sense why she would even be entertaining the idea of pursuing someone or even dating for that matter. Zero sense. She would just be focusing on debuting.

Then she finds out that So Rin is coming back as a trainee and now she's even more frustrated and upset. So much so that she injures herself while practicing and for good measure, the writers threw in some pills she suddenly seems dependent on.

Then all of a sudden, we find out that besides Do Un, another member of N and S, Ik Chan, also has a problem with Soo Win. Like where did this guy come from? And... they finally caught Lucie's scheming manager. And... So Rin finds out it was really Lucie she met that night. And... Lucie finds out about the accident happening that same night and why Si Woo dislikes him.

And... all this in one episode. And... it was still boring.

By the last episode, some crazy sasaeng of Si Woo tries to throw acid on So Rin but Lucie saves her by blocking it. So now we got acid folks. That's some pretty damaging and dark stuff. Like I was shocked by it. Acid is some pretty serious sh*t and it just didn't feel like it belonged in this kind of drama. It was really out of place. I felt for a moment that I was watching some Bollywood drama for a second there. It turns out that Do Un planted an idea in Ju Ah's head to post pictures of Si Woo and So Rin online as if they were dating. So that's why the jealous sasaeng showed up.

What's worse is that management finds out what Ju Ah and Do Un did and yet nothing happened to them. Management was like, " Oh we didn't know they were hurting. Let's just sweep everything under the rug and everyone make up." Seriously... W...T...F??? A crazy sasaeng was charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder for hurling ACID, because of what Ju Ah and Do Un conspired and nothing happens to them? Especially Do Un who was the mastermind. You would've thought that Si Woo would've been really angry at him since the sasaeng targeted So Rin. Whatevs dude.

Anyways, So Rin has a spot in a voice competition but she pauses during her live performance because of her tinnitus, but the guys are there to "save" her once again. And like the other reviews mention, the show doesn't show her choosing Lucie or Si Woo. And the other friend, Ye Seung as the ending fairy made zero sense too.

I changed my rating from a 5 to a 4.

Read More

Disappointed

I had hopes for this drama but was left bitterly disappointed as i finished the 14th episode today.

The usual cliches are all in the show, a traumatic incident, a love triangle, a jealous bitter rejected love prospect, framing attempt, jealous band members etc. Etc.
which in itself isn't necessarily bad but none of them are dealt with any depth or finesse.

The characters get irritating and you will be left with zero closure on any of the cliches issues raised. You are baited with the love triangle throughout the drama but are left with zero conclusion.
And I mean it, nothing actually happens or is suggested to resolve it one way or another.
Predictable, frustrating, without closure.

Avoid.

Read More