The tractors were just okay
Well I don't know what the hell I just watched but it was mildly entertaining I suppose.
Let me start off by saying that this show is pretty much entirely inoffensive (apart from some completely unnecessary remarks steeped in colourism, we absolutely could have done without those) but after watching it, all I was left with was the fleeting awareness of having grown some two odd hours older.
The dynamic between the two leads has a lot of potential that the show, in my humble opinion, entirely fails to live up to.
Yul is a man living out a perfectly standard K-drama life with all the emotions and pitfalls this encompasses, while literally everybody else around him (perhaps with the exception of Inseo) is clearly inhabiting a muppet movie world; over-the-top emotions, tongue-in-cheek silliness, visual gags and all.
Now, this concept can be, and very much has been, used to great effect. But here, all it does is create a strange tonal dissonance that permeates through the entire story.
The emotional moments have less impact because they are often directly followed or even interrupted by some off-colour joke or another. The deliberately humourous moments are harder to enjoy because, compared to the genuine emotion of some other scenes, they seem somewhat hollow.
Which is not to say that there is nothing to enjoy about the show at all! There are several sincerely funny and charming moments and the two main characters' relationship, when they are allowed to be alone together, is actually very sweet, and the performances, whatever my personal opinion, are all objectively quite strong.
I do understand why people enjoy this series and I certainly won't discourage anyone from watching it. I just also think there's a lot of better ways to spend a couple of hours.
So, if you think this specific brand of silliness will work for you, go ahead and watch Love Tractor.
But if not, then I'd probably give it a pass and watch Restart After Come Back Home instead, to scratch that countryside romance itch.
Let me start off by saying that this show is pretty much entirely inoffensive (apart from some completely unnecessary remarks steeped in colourism, we absolutely could have done without those) but after watching it, all I was left with was the fleeting awareness of having grown some two odd hours older.
The dynamic between the two leads has a lot of potential that the show, in my humble opinion, entirely fails to live up to.
Yul is a man living out a perfectly standard K-drama life with all the emotions and pitfalls this encompasses, while literally everybody else around him (perhaps with the exception of Inseo) is clearly inhabiting a muppet movie world; over-the-top emotions, tongue-in-cheek silliness, visual gags and all.
Now, this concept can be, and very much has been, used to great effect. But here, all it does is create a strange tonal dissonance that permeates through the entire story.
The emotional moments have less impact because they are often directly followed or even interrupted by some off-colour joke or another. The deliberately humourous moments are harder to enjoy because, compared to the genuine emotion of some other scenes, they seem somewhat hollow.
Which is not to say that there is nothing to enjoy about the show at all! There are several sincerely funny and charming moments and the two main characters' relationship, when they are allowed to be alone together, is actually very sweet, and the performances, whatever my personal opinion, are all objectively quite strong.
I do understand why people enjoy this series and I certainly won't discourage anyone from watching it. I just also think there's a lot of better ways to spend a couple of hours.
So, if you think this specific brand of silliness will work for you, go ahead and watch Love Tractor.
But if not, then I'd probably give it a pass and watch Restart After Come Back Home instead, to scratch that countryside romance itch.
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