Debra20
This review may contain spoilers
While reading some of the reviews on this site for Defendant, I think my opinion will be on the unpopular side.Let me start off with the best part of this drama and what kept me going in the times I wanted to abandon it: the splendid acting from all the cast, especially the two main leads: Ji Sung as Prosecutor Park Jung Woo and Uhm Ki Joon as CEO Cha Sun Ho | Cha Min Ho.
I've only ever seen Ki Joon once before in 'I Am Not a Robot' and I thought he was a very good actor but I never expected him to blow me away like this in Defendant. He plays the heinous villain with such conviction and passion that you can't help but get sucked in and end up loving to hate him. Kudos to the actor for making me scream and swear at my screen like I haven't done in a very long while. He portrayed the merciless, conscious-less psychopath stunningly. He definitely became my second Joffrey Baratheon (if you're familiar with Game of Thrones, you will understand my reference). And his chemistry with Ji Sung was electrifying. I was holding my breath every time they were on screen together!
I've never seen any of Ji Sung's work before so I was completely taken aback by the master actor he proved to be. My heart ached for him in every scene and I can't remember the last time I rooted so desperately for a character. He embodied the torment of his story with perfection and at times I couldn't tell if he was acting or living the role. That's how strong his performance was.
Honorary mentions to the support cast as well, especially all the inmates who made this heavy drama breathable, Shin Rin Ah as Park Ha Yun who must be one of the most talented kid actors in the South Korean drama industry, Kim Min Seok as Lee Sung Gyu who absolutely stole my heart from the very first moment he came on screen, Jo Jae Yoon as Shin Chul Shik, THE best sidekick on the planet!
Now for the rest, which is unfortunately less positive.
Before I start I would like to say a few words about myself. I am one of those people that becomes absolutely livid whenever I see injustices so naturally I realized this show will be hard for me to watch as the entire premise of the plot is a framing of the main character and his attempt to clear his name, but I never in a million years expected to walk into one of THE most frustrating, emotionally heavy and scarring dramas I've ever seen.
I will put it bluntly, I think the tone of the story was WAY too dark, tethering on the edge of ridiculousness at some points. There was no balance whatsoever between the good guys making their moves and succeeding and the bad guys making their moves and succeeding. It was one tiny step forward from the good guys then 20 backwards. 70% of the time you feel like there's literally no hope at all. Everything is so desperate, gloomy and tragic that it becomes almost unbearable to watch, especially when coupled with the marvelous acting which makes you feel for their pain like nothing else. I oftentimes found myself stopping and wondering why I kept watching because of this reason. It was excruciating!
But the worst part of this show is the plot development. I have never seen a more nonsensical, ridiculous and convenient plot progress in my entire life. I realized early on this show would exercise a fair amount of suspension of disbelief but after a certain point it was downright absurd and pulled me out of the story completely. It's BAD! Half of the characters are useless for almost the entire show (especially those in position to help Prosecutor Park), characters make absurdly dumb decisions, the Prosecutors office, police and prison staff is made into a laughing stock that can be easily manipulated no matter the circumstances, where no one sees anything (and believe me there is a LOT of things happening that would never in a million years pass unnoticed), some of the most anticipated emotional scenes in the show are handled off screen which absolutely infuriated me, etc.
There is a tremendous amount of killing going on in this drama so besides holding your heart you also need to hold off your desperation at the absurdity with which the investigations of such killings are handled, which also conveniently disappear and are never talked about after a few episodes or even scenes. Some of the killings don't even make any sense. At ALL! They seem to be added as dramatic value. I am particularly pissed off about a specific one but I won't give any spoilers. Just know that if you do decide to start this drama exercise the same caution as with Game of Thrones: don't get attached to anyone.
It's a whole mess. I don't want to ramble too much on this aspect. I saw that not many people were bothered by this aspect but for me it's crucial in a drama of this kind. I am not asking for a perfect script but I do need the minimum of common sense otherwise it's pointless. Completely pointless.
Overall this drama left me with a bitter taste in my mouth and a hollow feeling in my heart. The 6 stars go to the cast for their absolutely incredible acting. All the rest was majorly disappointing
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This is a series that speaks volumes on what quality action drama should be, at least according to my taste. The stakes are high and the tension escalates from the story itself, which although fictitious it can easily be a portrayal of real life cases...which is what makes it both terrifying and satisfying to watch it unfold.
This is not a show for those that need action packed, explosions, car chases or overly dramatic sequences to be entertained. This show is for those that want to be challenged, that want to solve a mystery together with the protagonists, someone that values intelligent writing over dramatic writing. I loved every second of it and you can be sure that I will watch it again soon. Looking forward to Season 2 soon!
Give it a chance and you'll be surprised!
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I will be honest and say that I've managed to get through this drama because of two big reasons: Ji Chang Wook and Dong Ha. I re-started this series because after witnessing JCW's splendid acting in Healer I've decided to slowly go through his entire body of work. And since I wasn't able to finish this one in the past I decided to start off my journey with Suspicious Partner. Of course he didn't disappoint although I feel his acting capabilities were not really taken advantage of to their fullest in this one.
The acting on part of the cast is good and there are some really heartfelt moments. But the show stealers for me are definitely those two. This was my first drama with Dong Ha and I was really impressed with his acting! He was fantastic as the killer and I think his character had the most depth out of the entire lot. I definitely anticipated the scenes he was going to be in with great interest! I truly look forward to seeing him again.
The romance aspect of the drama was so so. I felt the leads had more chemistry as very good friends rather than romantic partners.
I think the real issue with this drama is its length. It was too long and there were many scenes that I felt had no relevance to moving the plot forward. It really felt like fillers. If this would have been a 16/32 or even less episode drama I believe it would have tightened up the story a lot more. As it is now the story just meanders through some seemingly established plot points and doesn't make use of its screen time to develop the characters or build the tension of the action scenes that inevitably happen in this type of series.
Overall a so so drama. Not too bad but not the greatest either. Will probably not rewatch it
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All the characters were perfect for this drama and while the acting was not something absolutely extraordinary, the performances from the entire cast reeled you in and before long you start wishing everyone has their happy ending.
I especially appreciated that there were no negative characters in this drama. They were all perfectly human and you can understand the hidden reasoning behind each of their actions.
The humor is another thing I appreciated a lot. I can't remember the last time I burst out laughing, tears in my eyes, in the middle of the night while watching a show. Any show. While I am easily amused in real life, I've found that making REAL humor on television is one of the most difficult things to achieve. So I don't always laugh at supposed humorous moments in dramas / tv shows / movies because I don't find them that funny. But the humor in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is so natural, SO real life centered that you can't keep a straight face. I LOVED that about this drama!
Overall Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is an excellent mood booster. Having watched it after finishing a very heavy drama it healed my heart completely. I fully recommend it to anyone looking for a love story that develops so natural you can't even tell when it happened (at least for one of the main characters). It's not the type of story I felt swoon-y over, but rather one that made me realize they would be together a LONG time if it happened in real life. That's how real, deep rooted it felt.
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I want to start this review by saying that the acting in this drama is really good! The entire major cast is talented and they brought a lot of emotion to their performances, no matter the situation. I actually teared up a few times because the performances were very intense, which I absolutely loved! I am fascinated with actors that are able to evoke such strong feelings through their interpretations. I really have nothing to say about the actors. They worked with what they had and did it splendidly.
Now the script & the story was clearly lacking. I won't give any spoilers but there are a lot of "huh?!" moments throughout this story that are brushed past and create unresolved gaps in the story. There are a lot of nonsensical moments on the detective's sides and how they handle things, the investigations that they do and how they should realistically come to realizations and breakthroughs in the cases. I really hoped for a more intelligent writing of the detective's actions.
The show is good and there are a few actually great episodes but most of them start after episode 7 (which remains my favorite of the entire drama!). The beginning is very slow and I honestly think most of the first episodes are wasted opportunities in building the proper suspense of the show and growing the "time travel" story, which severely lacked in my opinion. I have no idea why it was added. I didn't feel it added anything substantial to the plot and there are a lot of unanswered questions by the end of the show due to this element.
I realized who the real culprit was from very early on but that didn't deter me from enjoying the show. I was curious how it would progress and how the other characters would catch on. It seemed really obvious to me but then again there's very show dramas or shows of this kind that can really surprise me anymore in terms of twists and reveals.
Overall I had a good time watching this show and if you look past some things I can assure you can do so as well.
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1. Ji Chang Wook as Kim Je Ha
2. Song Yoon Ah as Choi Yoo Jin
Nothing more, nothing less.
For anyone knowing Ji Chang Wook from his other works I don't think I have to say a lot about him. He simply elevates any kind of project he works on. He's THAT magnificent as an actor. And while this drama offered him a relatively simple, cliche filled character, he still manages to make gold out of every time he's on screen. I started watching this drama because of him and because of him I was not disappointed.
But what a wonderful surprise Song Yoon Ah was! I had never seen before and she completely and irrevocably stole the show. I was looking forward to her scenes with bated breath, be them political intrigue, emotional moments or evil doing. She is a pleasure to watch. Such a versatile actress that made me root for her character instead of the main female lead. And believe me this RARELY happens with me. I usually love to hate my antagonists but she was such a powerful anti-hero that before I knew what was happening I was wishing she could turn her life around. I had times when I questioned my own morality LOL That's how much of an impact she had on me. Her character had exquisite depth, showed SO many layers that I couldn't help but love her to bits and desperately pray for a good ending for her. Alas that was not the case....
And the chemistry between Kim Je Ha & Choi Yoo Jin!! It was intense, electrifying from the first scene they shared. Without realizing it I came to crave more and more scenes with them. SO much wasted potential and missed opportunities from the writing team in exploring their story further. Their chemistry was off the charts. Based on what was established regarding Je Ha's character I know he would never have chosen her, at least romantically speaking. And in a way I didn't even need that. But what I DID want was a deeper exploration of their relationship. I feel like it could have been so much more had the writers tapped into their potential. There were many ways they could have turned the story around so that they at least end up earnest allies who recognized each other. But we don't always get what we want. It just frustrates me to no end when this happens!
This is not to say that the rest of the cast was bad. Everyone embodied their characters well and no fault is to be brought on the actors. But some of the characters they were given to play were lacking depth in order to make me really connect with them.
All of the above coupled with a nonsensical plot progression, some terrible decisions on camera angles, filming and editing, a seemingly unstoppable desire from the writer to shove K2 into the superhuman fighter mold rather than spend time exploring more of his emotional side and developing his character, a gross disregard for the main female lead who was left to be a crying, running, kidnapped, damsel in distress type throughout the show, I was left with a pretty sour taste in my mouth. If someone were to edit out all of Chang Wook and Yoon Ah's scenes and make a compilation of them, that's the only way I'd rewatch this willingly. Really sad right now :( It makes me want to go out there and write the whole damned thing again myself!
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This was a drama that I've watched mostly from in between my tears because it as a very strong emotional tone that sustains the entire plot line. Coupled with the absolutely stunning acting from Ji Sung who interpreted every single alter of Cha Do Hyun with the widest range of emotions and behaviors that you can imagine, you have a story that will completely draw you in and dehydrate you to the maximum from all the tears you will shed.
The entire cast did a very good job but Ji Sung stole the show with his interpretation of all the facets of Cha Do Hyun's personality. While all the alters had distinctive outer features you could recognize them by when they appeared, the masterful acting from Ji Sung resided in his facial expressions. He managed to capture and express the uniqueness of each personality with just his facial expressions and his eyes. I was completely mesmerized with him! I LOVED his acting in Defendant and was expecting nothing less than amazing from him in this series, which is insanely famous for him, but it exceeded my expectations completely! What an actor!!
Hwang Jung Eum did a very good job portraying Oh Ri Jin as well. Albeit some of her behaviors seemed a bit exaggerated in some scenes it does not deter from her beautiful portrayal of emotions that she displays throughout the series. Her crying scenes were so convincing that I could feel tears welling up the moment she got emotional. Well done!
And of course the incredible Park Seo Joon as Oh Ri On, Ri Jin's brother! I'm sure I don't have to say a lot about his excellent acting skills! I especially felt very close to the character he played in this drama. Without spoiling anything he is a very mature, grounded, loving character that you will not be able but love with all your heart.
The plot closely connected to the two main characters is very well done and quite intricate. For a while I could not fully figure out the entire story behind what had transpired in their past to push them to the limits of their sanity but once you get to know everything you understand the tragedy of their childhood and you are hit, like a thousand bricks, with anguish and hopelessness of their childhood years.
However I did duck some points from the drama because I was not satisfied at all with the ending of some of the characters that had a direct or indirect hand in producing the tragedy in our two main leads' lives. I won't say anymore because I don't want to give any spoilers but I feel some characters were either let off the hook too easily or their ending was not presented at all. There was no paying or atonement for what they had done and that's infuriating to me, especially when you experience the immense heartbreak that Cha Do Hyun and Oh Ri Jin went through because of them.
All in all a gorgeous, poignant, incredibly well acted drama that is totally worth seeing and re-watching!
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This is a very sweet drama that literally makes you feel good. I felt my heart swelling every episode because everything from the acting, the characters, the music and the story progression create a very innocent, heartfelt world you want to immerse yourself in.
This drama is, for me, the epitome of pure love. The progression of Seo-ri and Woo-jin's relationship feels natural and flows from the events they live together (and separately). And it's one of the sweetest, most innocent loves I've seen portrayed in a korean drama. When I was looking at their romantic scenes I could not help but feel years younger. The main leads chemistry have the quality to transport you to a world where everything seems pure, and innocent and love is truly disinterested. When I finished Thirty But Seventeen I couldn't help but feel purified.
The plot is refreshing as well and one of the many reasons I enjoyed this drama so much is the lack of "negative" character trope. While there is someone that tries to create disturbance in the main female lead's life, their actions too are understandable and you can empathize with her choices. Every character feels human in their choices and that is a huge plus for me when watching any kind of film / series.
I do however feel that at points the plot was dragging and there were too many, annoyingly missed opportunities for resolution of the conflict which created the feeling that the story went a bit longer than needed. But this did not take away much from the beauty of the story, which is why I still rated it high and dearly recommend it!
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If you're hesitant to start it please have faith and take the plunge. I can almost guarantee you won't be disappointed. The hype around it is well deserved. Everything from the intricate and complex storyline, to the breathtaking acting, the superb score, the setting, the beautiful cinematography interweave to tell a heart-aching story about fate, love that can transcend time, karma, the power to change one's own destiny and the strong bond of friendship. Everything in this drama is intentional and everything serves a purpose. Every scene helps set the tone of the overarching story and helps develop the characters in meaningful ways. You will find yourself holding your breath more than once!
I will however warn that this drama is not for the weak of heart. The story is heavy with emotion and you will find yourself crying almost every episode. So if you are not looking for an emotionally heavy drama, this might not be for you. But in my opinion every tear is worth it. You will be sucked into a world that you will never want to get out of.
Truly a masterpiece! I think I will be hard pressed to find another drama that can evoke the kind of feelings this one made me experience.
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