EtoileNoire
The Most Nonsensical Show Ever
While the premise of the show seemed engaging enough, nothing about how the plot unfolded made a lick of sense; plus all the characters behaved stupidly. The women who were head over heels for Oh Soo were the only ones whose actions were even remotely understandable. I don't know how the actors managed to plod through it, but a paycheck's a paycheck, I guess.A decent premise and a good cast were completely wasted on this very poorly written and executed drama. Don't waste your time on this one.
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Great Performances
Ji Sung, Ju Ji-hoon, and Lee Kwang-soo blew me away with their performances. They were all absolutely amazing.Frankly, I would have been quite happy to watch the three of them getting into innocent, madcap adventures. Tragically, we get a far better story and we’re all the more devastated for it.
The moral of the story: if you can’t cut loose your friends of questionable ethics, at least keep them at arm’s length because you never know when - not if - they’ll drag you down with them.
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"The Rational Life" is a well-written and well-acted drama that covers office politics, sabotage, and sexual discrimination with a budding romance winding its way throughout.The first two-thirds of the of the series was well-paced and held my attention completely. The last third featured excellent character development, but was slow at moments.
Notably, the working partnership between Shen Ruo Xin and Qi Xiao was dynamic & exciting. The dialogue was cracking, the chemistry was off the charts, and you had the feeling that you were really seeing two people fall for each other while dealing with realistic workplace issues.
Unfortunately, the romance overwhelmed later episodes as the couple faced pointless obstacles and they (yawn) talked their way out of them. The couple didn't really "do" anything together once Xiao left Zenpro. This was a shame because their interactions while working on the common project of establishing the electric car business were what made the show so compelling.
Dylan Wang is not the best actor, but he has a ton of charisma and was extremely convincing as mature 20-something Qi Xiao falling in love with his 30-something boss.
Chen Peng Wan Li who played Su Yang moped his way through the entire series but had a shining moment in the scene with his parents. It's a shame his back story wasn't better developed because he showed he had the chops to carry some of the show.
Watching the friendship develop between Zhou Yi Lan (Ruo Xin's mother) and Du Li Ting (Xiao's mother) was delightful. Both actresses gave beautiful, heartwarming performances as the sometimes infuriating but mostly lovable matriarchs.
The slower pacing of the last third as well as some missed opportunities and overdone story lines - Xu & Gu love interests why? - lead me to rate this series 8.5/10.
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Although I didn’t understand Wako’s romantic and sexual interest in Yumeaki, I enjoyed their interactions - the good, the bad, & the ugly - but particularly their shared love of cinema.The relationship which spurred Wako to change was handled with a deft touch that neither approved nor disapproved and didn’t feel exploitative.
Initially, I found Wako unlikeable & dull, but I loved her evolution & growth as a person.
The ending was beautiful - the best happy end I’ve seen in a long time.
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