Interesting, yet trying
I understand where the writers were trying to go. But they didn't quite land the plane. The corruption, violence, mixed relationships and revenge were understandable. Yet, some scenes tried too hard, and others missed the mark. The FL showed range in acting yet by the time you get to the end the believability of desire falls flat. The SFL was all over the place and was in constant conflict of who she described herself as in lieu of what was on the screen. The OST was okay, and the production became choppy in staging, editing and sequence after a while. ML was good in conveying a torn individual within self, love, family and career. The 'romance' believable to a point. I will admit that I felt horribly bad for the ML as he was always the innocent bystander that continued to get injured by others till the very end. Concept script was good, but after seeing the ending, it all feels lacking. It's worth the watch if you want something a bit different with a little edge and if you love looking at Seo Yea Ji.Was this review helpful to you?
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Seduce To Conquer
Typical grow-up and return to revenge K-drama, done unusually well in a lot of ways.Every character in this drama was acted to perfection, with the exception of maybe the annoying child actresses that played the two little girls that would be periodically forgotten as if they never existed, since they were nothing more than a detail to the drama and subsequently to the characters.
If I was to point out performances that really stood out to me, it would be the central antagonists. The SFL, with her complex personality.... disorder and mental illness, the actor that played the evil father, and the other guy... who ends up in hospital... for me, personally, as much as I loved to hate them as characters, the amount of thought and work that went into breathing life into those characters was the most impressive for me. I want to see all of them again in something else. They are superb actors.
The plot point about tango was so stupid to me. I mean, tango isn't sophisticated in any way. It was invented so that the opposite sex could have physical contact with one another. Tango music is just European classical music with a South American folk twist to it. The way they talked about it like it's this spiritual dance, instead of what it actually is, which is an intimate dance that developed into a dance to envoke sensuality. Well, that's so much like the ML and FL's relationship, isn't it?!! They both lived in an imaginary place in their heads, where they romanticized their relationship to more than what it was, which was a sexual affair. Claiming they are "Twin Flames", after he recently asked her to just forget about the lawsuit? LOL. Nope! If two people in this drama are actual twin flames, it's the FL and SML. The SML actually loves her as a real-life human being, not as an imaginary sexualized figure of his imagination. The ML has no idea what love is though, having never been loved before, except by his daughter, so it does make sense that he wouldn't be able to recognize it.
I guess the writers wanted to evoke the biblical Eve, who was Adam's second wife. The first wife, Lilith, is often depicted in classic novels such as "Jane Eyre" as the mad-woman in the attic. From the drama title alone, I know that our SFL was headed for "the attic", via madness. The scene with her putting on her war-paint mask of make-up was a stroke of genius, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was done spontaneously the first time, as it looked so organic and instinctive.
I know I keep mentioning the SFL as if the FL wasn't fantastic as well, I don't mean to imply that, it's just that the SFL role is so much juicier and more interesting from a character point-of-view. The ML was excellent in his role, though, he was a character severely stunted by lack of love, which I mentioned before. The ML sacrificed himself for nothing, as it turns out, since I mean, everything would have turned out pretty much the same had he lived (though, I wouldn't have wanted him to just survive the crash, that would have been too far-fetched).
All in all, well done to the cast and crew. SFL, I loved watching a mature actress steal the show! I'll be looking for your work from now on. Also, I liked her outfits even more than the FL's, and some of them (ep 15 & 16), I want to wear myself, which doesn't happen often.... actually, that's never happened before.
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Revenge is sweet, but excessive romance felt bitter
Seo Ye Ji's comeback show, Eve, started off well in it's first few episodes where she plays the lead character Ra El, looking for revenge on those who had his life trampled upon. The first half of the show's plot development is fantastic. The pilot episode and the initial sequences, including the opening scene, all had a constant flow and a number of peaks. The show's plot thickens with each passing episode as Ra El accomplishes more of her goals. We must acknowledge the way in which the characters' pasts were handled during times of uncertainty.It's sluggish in the later half of the show, but it keeps you engaged and curious about what's to come.I felt there was too much of romance and less of revenge story going on in 2nd half, which made me uninterested a little, however Ye Ji was phenomenal in her role and she portrayed it really well, which made me stick to the show very end. The penultimate and concluding episode were the weakest episodes of the drama and evidently doesn't compares tp to other revenge thrillers, this is not one to write home about and ultimately struggles to stand out.
My Rating : 7.5/10
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it's a hot mess
I headed into this drama with high hopes after watching Seo Yea Ji's other completed drama which was a big hit, "It's okay not to be okay" however it was quite the disappointment.The storyline left me feeling quite icky and during some parts of the drama, it was straight up disgusting.
The main plot of the story was seeking revenge to get back those that harmed the character Seo Yea Ji was playing however the methods in which she decided to seek revenge did not sit well with me. Destroying someone's family by being the mistress was repulsing.
I wouldn't recommend this drama who anyone who's against adultery as a means of seeking revenge, so save your eyes if you're one of those people.
This is just my personal opinion on the drama so by all means, watch it at your own risk.
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A mature drama worth watching
A very interesting plot, kind of a slow burn because you can not be sure about what will happen next. Maybe not the best drama ever but had great performances and interesting twists! I also enjoyed that finally Korean dramas are less "innocent". I mean that most of the times you can be sure about the couple that ends up together simply because they share a kiss - it's like a seal of true love. In this story not, the protagonist is far from being innocent and perfect, as she's already married to another guy. In this drama you can enjoy the story of a mentally mature independent woman who focuses on the goal of getting revenge from the people that destroyed her family (as well as the families of many others). Be prepared though, it's a long unhappy road and sometimes you might wish for a better outcome. I also enjoyed the ending, as I believe it was the best that could happen. It was a form of the ancient Greek hubris-nemesis-atis-tisis. Overall I recommend it!Was this review helpful to you?
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Extremely riveting with good pacing
Where do I start... This drama caught me by surprise I must say.The story was an interesting premise that unfolded in an engaging way... Of course we had the typical tropes and endless plot holes.. to list a few - Where was Sora and Yoon Gyeom's older daughter? What truly happened to Sora's mother and even Yoon Gyeom's mother? What will happen to Boram now? because La-El was portrayed as a character who truly cared for kids so it seemed out of character to abandon the child like that.
As for the acting, it was good. I'd have to praise the actress that played Sora who was extremely convincing and entertaining. Seo Yea Ji was good too but sometimes took on extremely intense facial expressions that she struggled to switch out of when she needed to portray a different kind of emotion.
My main complaint though is with the Seo Eun Pyung character who was a very weird and unrealistic plot device to help La-El accomplish otherwise impossible pursuits. A guy who looks only a few years older than La-El herself but happens to be so powerful in government that a former tyrannical prime minister who commits murder to get his way somehow respects him? It was a very odd choice. Oh and he's in love with her too! Why?
Back to what I liked... the drama did a good job of portraying that people aren't inherently good or bad but make certain choices as a consequence of their upbringing i.e. Sora has only known and been taught evil so how else would she have turned out?
All in all, the drama kept me entertained all through. I was never bored or felt like it had lost its way. Truly a good watch!
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Good Enough
Korean Drama " Eve " is a revenge melodrama with a strong female lead.The drama starts strongly, with the introduction of the characters and their background stories. It is intriguing and twisted, with lots of dark scenes and more mature themes.
However, the drama lost its way after that. It focused on the romance and got messy, with the pace being all over the place and no cohesion. It also got boring and lost its initial charm that had it being original, and got predictable.
The performances, on the other hand, were all great.
So, overall, six out of ten.
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Another awesome work by Seo Yea Ji
Seo Yea Ji's courage to deliver everything as Lee Rael really puts her in the select group of top actresses in the world, but especially in South Korea. She showed sadness, grief, happiness, passion, spoke many languages, was a mother, lover, wife, deletive, businesswoman, CEO and dancer in Eve.The fact that Eve tasted a forbidden fruit in the bible also happened in the series. I understand it was a coherent plot, despite several issues I had with CEO Kang Yoon Gyeom's character.
It was an exciting and incredible journey, it made me feel a lot of feelings and made 16 episodes fun.
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Male lead actor kinda ruined the experience.
Plot was nice, but dialogues cringy. The male lead had the same expression 95% of the time regardless of the situation, which really throws you off. The actress playing Sora really earned my respect, she really delivered, but the villainy was extreme from the family, overdosed. Ending was stupid and the romance so whirlwind and nonsensical, the confession from the lawyer too, suddenly he loves MC like a man? Really, no chemistry between anyone. Everything felt rushed and terribly executed. Overdramatic too, but that's part of the genre.Was this review helpful to you?
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Love of Eve
The drama was visually appealing with sleek fashion yet shallow, drawing viewers in with its polished aesthetics and grand production, but failing to deliver on beyond its initial entertaining value. Speaking of production, whoever handled the post production processing and edit did a poor job with Seo Yea Ji scenes. They over softened her skin too much to an artificial level of smoothness. Despite knowing what's coming, the plot was initially as enjoyable as having a fast food meal after a late night. The entire plot was structured around heavily dramatized drawn out scenarios. This is the type of plot that other shows usually make a parody of it when mocking makjangs. The constant bombardment of flashy visuals and exaggerated emotions overshadowed everything. I admit I enjoyed that aspect of it but only for the first 5-6 episodes before it lost its appeal. Waiting for the revenge to finalize is what kept me going, however, I can't say I'm satisfied with the resolution of the revenge. I was hoping for something different and maybe a bit harsher. Moreover, If I'm not mistaken, we didn't know what happened to any of the children at the end. On another note, the drama came out around the same time as Seo Yea Ji was going through a controversy. I'm not well versed on the subject, but I couldn't help myself to draw some parallels with her character in the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
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Underrated (because of the ending?)
I'd say this deserves a 10 purely for SYJ who could not possibly have done a better job.I understand that a lot of people were disappointed with the ending, but it felt so very fitting to me. This drama shows us the consequences of actions that most tend to ignore, usually wrapping everything meatly in a bow and a happy ending that sometimes doesn't even make sense, throwing aside collateral damage as though it never happened - but contrary to what people would expect, revenge would in reality rarely end well. Regardless of intentions, revenge is a selfish motive and will always, always, result in unfortunate outcomes, though the scale of misfortune may vary depending on action taken - so this drama tries to tell, and at least for me it came across as intended.
As far as consequences go, the end to their relationship was all the more fitting - because from the very first scene, it was a foregone conclusion. No amount of love would be able to overcome the things they did to each other, both directly and indirectly by being a by stander while the other suffered, so when I found myself rooting for them despite knowing logically that it made no sense, I arrived at the conclusion the only way it could have ended is the way it did. That said, every moment felt like an "in another life" one, and seeing the very last shot reflecting my feelings was satisfying in an unexpected way - because in spite of everything they made me root for them.
Did the ending suck? Hell no. Would I ever re-watch it? HELL no. There's the dilemma that I can't quite resolve.
(As a side note, even though SYP was a boringly straight forward character compared to every one else, what with his horribly accurate moral compass, I still had a huuuge case of Second ML syndrome. I wish he got a not so open, more hopeful, happier ending, but since I don't want him to end up with Rael, I'm a bit lost. Another dilemma.)
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