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The definition of over hyped
I hated this drama. I tried so hard to finish it just to see if I was missing something, but I wasn't. This show was full of all the tropes I hate the most in shows, and it wasn't even done well.First of all, my number 1 pet peeve in dramas is whens someone falls in love with a jerk. This happens a lot in Kdramas, especially older ones, but can we please out grow that? Why can't people just fall in love with someone because they are actually a decent person? The ML goes to the ends of the earth and falls in love with the FL when all she ever is is snobby and mean. They try at some point in the show to "redeem" her by showing how she came to be such a total b***h (she was made fun of for being poor) but it doesn't change the fact that she is a horrible person who is materialistic and only cares about herself. She also never really changes. People just get used to her snobbery, but that doesn't make it OK.
Outside of the male and female leads every single character is unlikeable. Almost all of the supporting cast play annoying characters who are caricatures of anyone you might hate from your own life. Honestly the only redeemable character in the whole show is the girl who was a closeted lesbian and she didn't even get a happy ending (just goes to show how much this screenwriter hates a healthy relationship).
2nd ML and his plot line also makes no sense. He basically friend-zones a girl his whole career and when she decides to move on like a mature person he doesn't allow her to leave? Why is everyone in this show so selfish?
My number 2 pet peeve is when someone's big bad dark secret isn't bad at all and just a sign of their immaturity. The ML blames themselves for "killing" someone when in reality the person died in an accident that is in no way his fault. I get the guilt he must have felt but if after all those years in therapy he still blames himself, he needs to fire his therapist.
My number 3 pet peeve is when a screenwriter makes a character sexually assault women to be the bad guy. Can we please stop dramatizing attacks against woman? It's lazy screenwriting (there are better ways to write threatening characters), and it's traumatizing for actual women watching the show.
Honestly every single character in this show was either annoying, nonsensical, selfish, poorly written or overdramatic. If I could take back the hours of my life I spent watching this show, I would.
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My favorite Kdrama of all time
This Kdrama was made for me, but I understand that most people won't like it. I actually have recommended this drama to many of my friends and family, and no one I know who has watched it has liked it. But I feel the need to say why I loved it.1) I don't think the FL is actually a psycho, even though she's pretty much established as such. Other than dismembering butterflies as a child (OK that's a little serial killer-y), everything she does in the show makes total sense. If anything, I think she is more relatable and human than any other FL I've ever seen in a drama, but people don't like her because she is basically just very honest. She openly talks about wanting to have sex with the ML, she stops someone from murdering his own daughter, she stops people from attacking someone with Autism, she writes Tim Burton-esque children's stories, and she lets someone who is mentally ill be themselves in public so that their family can no longer act like he doesn't exist. And for these reasons... she's crazy? I'm sorry but y'all are crazy. I related to this character so much. I think the FL was a great illustration of how much our society loves drama, and hates honesty (and also hates people suffering from mental illness, which is why we hide them away instead of helping them heal). (I get that the actress playing this role had some scandals in real life, and I actually think she's a really bad person in real life, but personally I never rate dramas based on what's going on in the actors' personal lives).
2) This drama does the BEST job at showing mental illness from many perspectives, and has a very modern take on what it means to heal from trauma. Basically the whole show is about people from different backgrounds coming to their own understanding that they cannot run away from their problems, and that by facing their fears and themselves, they can heal. It's honestly so beautiful to watch this healing play out across different characters (including ones who are not hospitalized for mental illness in the show, and are considered "normal" people, like the ML).
3) There is so much chemistry between the ML and the FL lead. You really can tell that they love each other, but they are guarded because of the trauma of their past. I think the complexity of this is really something to watch. Plus, pretty much every character in the show has an actual, fully realized character arc that makes sense.
I get that people feel this show is too dark, and too triggering. Honestly, I think that has more to do with the people watching the show rather than the show itself.
The show is also gorgeous. I didn't find the OST particularly memorable, but it also doesn't hinder the show, which is a pretty good thing in my opinion.
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