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Between The Lines

Between The Lines

Not Others korean drama review
Completed
Not Others
1 people found this review helpful
by Between The Lines
Aug 22, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 4.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

No Middle Ground - Love or Hate

This is not a romantic comedy, its important to know this going into it. There is at best a touch of romance, so be prepared.

Additionally, there is little in the way of middle ground with this drama, you will either love it or hate it based on how you view Eun Mi as a character.

She is either the heroine of this story or someone who should be criticised for many of her actions. I will be perfectly honest whilst I recognise her strengths she is certainly isn't a likeable character to me.

The premise of this drama is built upon the relationship between Eum Mi, the mother and Jin Hee her daughter. Eun Mi gave birth to Jin Hee as a teenager and raised her as a single parent. The synopsis for this drama states they literally grew up together.
This is where my problem starts, the suggestion that Eun Mi ever really grew up. Yes, she raised her baby, she worked incredibly hard to provide for herself and Jin Hee, but did she ever really grow up? For me, no, her attitude and behaviour still resembles that of a teenager and not a 40 something year old woman. Whilst this wouldn't be the worse thing, it does manifest negatively in her relationship with Jin Hee at times. Jin Hee often needs to be the parent in the relationship with her own emotions often ignored by Eun Mi. Eun Mi thinks little of the consequences of her actions, often leading to problems for Jin Hee. Jin Hee's feelings are often secondary in their relationship

The introduction of Jin Hong, Eun Mi former boyfriend and Jin Hee father only complicates the situation further. Eun Mi quickly rushes into renewing her relationship with him, forcing Jin Hee to accept this relationship, yet she doesn't like the idea of father and daughter becoming close. Whilst all this is going on Jin Hong and Jin Hee seem to be circling each other, unsure how to approach each other. Jin Hong in both his relationship with Eun Mi and Jin Hee is either too passive or at times simply weak.
I also didn't like that very little attention is given too Eun Mi failure to share with Jin Hong that he had a daughter. This was glossed over far too quickly.

Jin Hee does have a romantic interest in Jae Won who is also her superior at work. Unfortunately very little is done to really develop their relationship until the final few episodes and even then it was pretty limited. Park Sung Hoon was criminally under used as an actor in this role.

My final issue with this drama is the last 2 episodes. They don't entirely fit within the context of the previous 10 episodes. We had seen little in the way of growth from Eun Mi and yet suddenly she was a more mature individual.

I think this same story could have been told, keeping the humour, the unique Eun Mi character, yet also showing some growth as an individual whilst also allowing her relationship with Jin Hee to evolve as well. Instead I found Eun Mi admirable qualities too often overshadow by her negative traits and when her relationship with Jin Hee did evolve it didn't feel natural.

Sadly I didn't enjoy this drama in the way I hoped, the funny moments soon became less funny and I was left with a dislike towards Eun Mi and a sense of sadness towards Jin Hee.

For me the the final two episodes were unable to erase the events in the previous 10.
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