50FiftillidideeBrain
This review may contain spoilers
Lay It On The ♻ Line Time After Time °VG°
Is Tomorrow Another Day After all?
This drama is tense and could trigger anxiety in some - Fair warning. While it could (SHOULD) have been better, I would still say hop on the train and give TWY a ride. True, the ending wasn't that difficult to figure out. Despite that, the director still manages to set the tone with tension being a focal point. The pressure continues to gear up until the very end.
Ma-rin prefers to be behind the camera now, and in TWY her pain is framed explicitly; Shin Min Ah is superb. All the actors did a solid job, and the side vignettes are all enjoyable. Lee Jeong-Eun has such luminosity: She shines once again as Mar-in's mother. She is one of my favs. (Check her out in Oh My Ghost-10; odd title, amazing show - Some of her scenes are astonishing. Her portfolio has impressive depth of field and is jammed with highly rated shows and movies). The villain's storyline works well enough, with the actor delivering a tangible portrayal of his descent from a respected businessman-to-murderer with unfiltered evil saturation. Yes, he was originally a little crooked, but that wasn't in anybody's viewfinder.
I've noticed that Kdramas often show individuals who experience a marked character arc. Often these persons have a skewed aspect-ratio, and are initially cringeworthy in bursts of nervous awkwardness. Since these dramas are mostly 16+ hours, the characters may not start to improve for many episodes. The directors have a long time to build up or distort who the individual is. They can then put the focus on slowly developing protags from black-and-white to full RBG color.
Ma-rin is like this. Her over-exposed childhood kept her adult self shuttered in a darkroom. She had become so insecure that it was actually challenging to watch her in the first few episodes. In time, she has a wonderful transformation from dull to glossy. It is satisfying to see how she develops into the model of a confident and strong woman by the end. One might say she bloomed into a picture-perfect flower.
So-Joon also enlarges as a person. While he's clearly good-hearted, he is also a portrait of immaturity and laziness in the beginning episodes. He later becomes patient, caring, harder working, more responsible, and more loving. Since his time-traveling exploits make operating his business so easy, it's doubtful that his lazy streak will be completely edited out.
The two leads initially display a lack of chemistry. It actually seems that So-Joon is just using Ma-rin. His motives are blurry. He is an enigma, always with a matte look on his face. The director deliberately injected acidity and unease into their relationship so that we can watch it develop. The viewer is concerned for Ma-rin. Eventually, we can be happy for her. By the middle of the show their marriage is the image of warmth and love.
Ultimately, this story, and the love this couple shares, is quite charming. Like a photo in solution, TWY progresses from indifference and hesitation, to warmth, then love, and finally to sharply detailed commitment and intimate love. (Though they are adorably still too shy to strip in front of eachother.)
I adore stories about time travel. They are so much fun, but logically it's easy to encounter under-exposed plot points. The show is not without those. Why So-Joon would go near the subway on the day that he knows he'll disappear is grainy logic. I also don't know why he would take Ma-rin to the fireworks. It's not clear why his focus wasn't to get them out of town, or to not leave the house for a few days. It's a little frustrating, actually. It's understandable for the plot development of a time travel tale. A plethora of miscommunications and a catalog of flawed judgments are practically necessary, and fate always shadows Kdramas. If Mar-in's father, Doo-Shik, had jyst been more candid with So-Joon... if they had each opened their apertures a little wider, it would have been a panacea. I suppose, then, the show would have been wrapped up by episode 8.
The optics regarding time travel get distorted. In some scenes the future is pictured just as So-Joon observed from the past. Seemingly the message exhibited is that the future is set and laminated. In other scenes, though, they manage to change the future, suggesting that the future is a moveable pose. It's also unclear why So-Joon, after recovering from his coma, couldn't get back to the past when riding the subway, or why he was able to run on the tracks and get to the past. It makes no sense, at all, that the two men can time skip, while Ma-rIn cannot.
The very end displays a small snapshot of their lives 3 years hence. It falls flat with a dull thud. I didn't like the tone of their bickering, and how Ma-rin was nagging So-Joon. A little of it would have been okay if they had pushed by it right away. However, it's portrayed as entrenched behavior.
Earlier, when they had been fighting and later separated, Ma-rin concluded that she shouldn't have been so pushy towards So-Joon. She determined that she should reset her meter and back down from her insistence that he not ride the subway. To see her revert back at the close of the show is disappointing. And where's the kids? We were promised 3 kids!!!!! Instead of petty bickering they should have committed the 3 kids to film.
Now we'll point the zoom lens at one of the worst screw-ups. The director left the So-Joon who managed to get to the past hanging there. That tasty mystery should have been a resolved. So-Joon-in-the-past flashed by the screen twice - like a cartoon character - and then faded away. How could they not know that we would want to know how he got to the past! Something should have changed because of his presence there. Since he knows he somehow shot back to the past, it would make sense for him to work harder to get back there as it would have been easier to remedy their situation from the past.
Another thing they left out of focus was an explanation as to why So-Joon was in a coma. Per the doctor, there was no reason for him to be in one. The doctor shouldn't have said it if they didn't intend to explain it. (Shoot, did I miss it?)
As another reviewer so deftly put it: 'It took 16 hours to learn to not run into a busy road.' Mar-Rin shouldn't have been anywhere near that intersection at that time. Since they were there, So-Joon should have been holding on to her. If they had filmed the scene at normal speed, if she stopped and turned briefly when the certificate flew out of her hand, it would have played better. The way they chose to film it makes Ma-rin look very foolish.
The flaws might be more than minimal, but the good comfortably outweighs the bad. If romance is your thing, especially if romance and time travel are among your interests, than TWY should go on your watchlist. My "7" rating translates to "very good." It may not be picture-perfect, nevertheless, there is beauty to behold as time goes by.
IMHO...
?Directing 6
?Acting 8
?IQ 6
⚡Action/Excitement 6
?Romance 7
?Flutters 5
?Warmth 7
Suggested Age 12& up.
Recommendations:
Oh My Venus-7.4 (same FL),
Love to Hate You-8.9,
Oh My Ghost 10 & Our Blues-8.7 (same director & supporting actress),
Familiar Wife-8.5 (time travel),
My Only Love Song -8.7 ~ excellent comedy & time travel,
Mr. Queen 8.5
Live Up To Your Name-7.6 (time travel),
Saimdang 8.5 (time slips),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Sisyphus 8 + Tunnel 8.5 + Signal 8.6 (time travel),
Black 9 (time slips),
This drama is tense and could trigger anxiety in some - Fair warning. While it could (SHOULD) have been better, I would still say hop on the train and give TWY a ride. True, the ending wasn't that difficult to figure out. Despite that, the director still manages to set the tone with tension being a focal point. The pressure continues to gear up until the very end.
Ma-rin prefers to be behind the camera now, and in TWY her pain is framed explicitly; Shin Min Ah is superb. All the actors did a solid job, and the side vignettes are all enjoyable. Lee Jeong-Eun has such luminosity: She shines once again as Mar-in's mother. She is one of my favs. (Check her out in Oh My Ghost-10; odd title, amazing show - Some of her scenes are astonishing. Her portfolio has impressive depth of field and is jammed with highly rated shows and movies). The villain's storyline works well enough, with the actor delivering a tangible portrayal of his descent from a respected businessman-to-murderer with unfiltered evil saturation. Yes, he was originally a little crooked, but that wasn't in anybody's viewfinder.
I've noticed that Kdramas often show individuals who experience a marked character arc. Often these persons have a skewed aspect-ratio, and are initially cringeworthy in bursts of nervous awkwardness. Since these dramas are mostly 16+ hours, the characters may not start to improve for many episodes. The directors have a long time to build up or distort who the individual is. They can then put the focus on slowly developing protags from black-and-white to full RBG color.
Ma-rin is like this. Her over-exposed childhood kept her adult self shuttered in a darkroom. She had become so insecure that it was actually challenging to watch her in the first few episodes. In time, she has a wonderful transformation from dull to glossy. It is satisfying to see how she develops into the model of a confident and strong woman by the end. One might say she bloomed into a picture-perfect flower.
So-Joon also enlarges as a person. While he's clearly good-hearted, he is also a portrait of immaturity and laziness in the beginning episodes. He later becomes patient, caring, harder working, more responsible, and more loving. Since his time-traveling exploits make operating his business so easy, it's doubtful that his lazy streak will be completely edited out.
The two leads initially display a lack of chemistry. It actually seems that So-Joon is just using Ma-rin. His motives are blurry. He is an enigma, always with a matte look on his face. The director deliberately injected acidity and unease into their relationship so that we can watch it develop. The viewer is concerned for Ma-rin. Eventually, we can be happy for her. By the middle of the show their marriage is the image of warmth and love.
Ultimately, this story, and the love this couple shares, is quite charming. Like a photo in solution, TWY progresses from indifference and hesitation, to warmth, then love, and finally to sharply detailed commitment and intimate love. (Though they are adorably still too shy to strip in front of eachother.)
I adore stories about time travel. They are so much fun, but logically it's easy to encounter under-exposed plot points. The show is not without those. Why So-Joon would go near the subway on the day that he knows he'll disappear is grainy logic. I also don't know why he would take Ma-rin to the fireworks. It's not clear why his focus wasn't to get them out of town, or to not leave the house for a few days. It's a little frustrating, actually. It's understandable for the plot development of a time travel tale. A plethora of miscommunications and a catalog of flawed judgments are practically necessary, and fate always shadows Kdramas. If Mar-in's father, Doo-Shik, had jyst been more candid with So-Joon... if they had each opened their apertures a little wider, it would have been a panacea. I suppose, then, the show would have been wrapped up by episode 8.
The optics regarding time travel get distorted. In some scenes the future is pictured just as So-Joon observed from the past. Seemingly the message exhibited is that the future is set and laminated. In other scenes, though, they manage to change the future, suggesting that the future is a moveable pose. It's also unclear why So-Joon, after recovering from his coma, couldn't get back to the past when riding the subway, or why he was able to run on the tracks and get to the past. It makes no sense, at all, that the two men can time skip, while Ma-rIn cannot.
The very end displays a small snapshot of their lives 3 years hence. It falls flat with a dull thud. I didn't like the tone of their bickering, and how Ma-rin was nagging So-Joon. A little of it would have been okay if they had pushed by it right away. However, it's portrayed as entrenched behavior.
Earlier, when they had been fighting and later separated, Ma-rin concluded that she shouldn't have been so pushy towards So-Joon. She determined that she should reset her meter and back down from her insistence that he not ride the subway. To see her revert back at the close of the show is disappointing. And where's the kids? We were promised 3 kids!!!!! Instead of petty bickering they should have committed the 3 kids to film.
Now we'll point the zoom lens at one of the worst screw-ups. The director left the So-Joon who managed to get to the past hanging there. That tasty mystery should have been a resolved. So-Joon-in-the-past flashed by the screen twice - like a cartoon character - and then faded away. How could they not know that we would want to know how he got to the past! Something should have changed because of his presence there. Since he knows he somehow shot back to the past, it would make sense for him to work harder to get back there as it would have been easier to remedy their situation from the past.
Another thing they left out of focus was an explanation as to why So-Joon was in a coma. Per the doctor, there was no reason for him to be in one. The doctor shouldn't have said it if they didn't intend to explain it. (Shoot, did I miss it?)
As another reviewer so deftly put it: 'It took 16 hours to learn to not run into a busy road.' Mar-Rin shouldn't have been anywhere near that intersection at that time. Since they were there, So-Joon should have been holding on to her. If they had filmed the scene at normal speed, if she stopped and turned briefly when the certificate flew out of her hand, it would have played better. The way they chose to film it makes Ma-rin look very foolish.
The flaws might be more than minimal, but the good comfortably outweighs the bad. If romance is your thing, especially if romance and time travel are among your interests, than TWY should go on your watchlist. My "7" rating translates to "very good." It may not be picture-perfect, nevertheless, there is beauty to behold as time goes by.
IMHO...
?Directing 6
?Acting 8
?IQ 6
⚡Action/Excitement 6
?Romance 7
?Flutters 5
?Warmth 7
Suggested Age 12& up.
Recommendations:
Oh My Venus-7.4 (same FL),
Love to Hate You-8.9,
Oh My Ghost 10 & Our Blues-8.7 (same director & supporting actress),
Familiar Wife-8.5 (time travel),
My Only Love Song -8.7 ~ excellent comedy & time travel,
Mr. Queen 8.5
Live Up To Your Name-7.6 (time travel),
Saimdang 8.5 (time slips),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Sisyphus 8 + Tunnel 8.5 + Signal 8.6 (time travel),
Black 9 (time slips),
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