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GrumpyInsomniac

GrumpyInsomniac

Link: Eat, Love, Kill korean drama review
Completed
Link: Eat, Love, Kill
3 people found this review helpful
by GrumpyInsomniac
Dec 8, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 4.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.5

Promising black comedy became a poorly written serious drama

This show began as a relatively enjoyable black comedy about a woman who kills someone and then proceeds to do a lousy job covering up her crime. It managed to blend mystery, suspense and comedy pretty well and the central characters were likeable enough. It was slight but entertaining. However it took a sharp turn about half way through and became a very different show with a serious tone, without developing the characters enough for me to care much about what happened to them.

The acting was pretty good throughout. The leads were called upon to cry prettily in about half their scenes and they did a fine job. However the characters never developed as the story progressed and both the leads were increasingly defined merely by the bad things that happened to them. The FL started as an endearingly fickle, rather ditsy, compulsive liar but by the second half she mostly stared blankly, wept, or walked alone through dark alleys. The ML became primarily stoic and sad by the later episodes, despite the strong performance by Yeo Jin Goo. I never grew to care about these characters, and I grew less invested in what happened to them as the show went on and they became more passive and one dimensional. My favourite performance was probably Lee Suk Hyeong as Jin Hoo, the ML's side kick who served as light relief and a rare voice of reason, and stole every scene he was in for me. I also enjoyed the FL's mum and grandma played by Kim Ji Young and Ye Soo Jung, especially in the first half when they were either plotting to kill people, wandering around armed and ready for battle, or smiling terrifyingly in an attempt to be friendly.

The central romance was unnecessary and felt forced; the characters fell for each other via montage rather than conversation and they seemed unsuited. The show only managed to put them together in the second half by removing almost all noticeable aspects of their characters. Pretty people staring at each other does not constitute a convincing romance.

Plot wise, I was enjoying the silly supernatural connection between the main characters and the creepy Schrodinger's Cat stalker of the first half, but the latter half of the show focused on much more serious plot elements and I missed the days when everyone was staring at a fridge in horror. The absence of comedy and character development left me with far too much time to focus on the many plot holes. And there were many indeed. The final nail in the coffin of my enjoyment was the levels of stupidity and disregard for their own safety displayed by the leads. They spent half the show walking alone through dark alleys at night. They never once thought to lock their doors (okay grandma did, but not the leads!) The fact that they did this in full knowledge of the fact that they were being targeted by a dangerous murderer did occasionally leave me thinking maybe they just wanted to die. I don't think I'd have cared too much if they did.

This show would have been an enjoyable watch if it maintained the darkly funny tone of the first half and developed the characters along the way. Alas, it did neither.
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