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Wasted potential and focus on the incorrect character
As stated by others: This entire show is one huge wasted opportunity.
At first I was so excited to see a show about women in their 30s (almost 40s!). And with every episode I kept hoping that the show would get a little better. No such luck.
In terms of pluses:
The two "supporting" female leads were astonishingly excellent in terms of acting. Not being familiar with their prior work, it really took me by surprise -- I looked them up just to see what else I can catch them in.
The Joo-hee storyline was, by far, the most engaging. Again, as others have written, it was the story that made the most sense / was most realistic, and that made one care about the character.
The lovely, functional, supportive, and loving families depicted around the characters were a nice change from many Kdramas.
Now, for the negatives....
Primarily, the focus on MiJoo. How is it, that a supposed lead in a drama is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she is not the true lead of the show??? Or at least on equal footing with anyone else? Maybe if MiJoo's story were more compelling, it could have worked out, but her story (and there is no "arc" to it, or character development) is just as many (boring) reveals and opportunities to show the character cry as the writers could cram into the script.
Unfortunately, the show's strength is also a weakness here: Because Kim Ji-hyun and Jeon Mi-do do such a spectacular job acting in their parts, it is somewhat jarring to compare Son Ye-jin's performance -- one can see how artificial it is in contrast to the realistic acting style of the other two actresses. I have seen SYJ in other shows, which I enjoyed more -- I think she was somewhat miscast here, with the part asking too much of her. I tended to speed through her bits in the later episodes.
Secondarily: The story is just so boring. Not depressing (which would make sense), but just -- eh.
I will not be rewatching -- have a feeling that I would get even more frustrated with the show. Maybe can find a compilation of just Kim Ji-hyun's scenes somewhere on YouTube.
At first I was so excited to see a show about women in their 30s (almost 40s!). And with every episode I kept hoping that the show would get a little better. No such luck.
In terms of pluses:
The two "supporting" female leads were astonishingly excellent in terms of acting. Not being familiar with their prior work, it really took me by surprise -- I looked them up just to see what else I can catch them in.
The Joo-hee storyline was, by far, the most engaging. Again, as others have written, it was the story that made the most sense / was most realistic, and that made one care about the character.
The lovely, functional, supportive, and loving families depicted around the characters were a nice change from many Kdramas.
Now, for the negatives....
Primarily, the focus on MiJoo. How is it, that a supposed lead in a drama is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she is not the true lead of the show??? Or at least on equal footing with anyone else? Maybe if MiJoo's story were more compelling, it could have worked out, but her story (and there is no "arc" to it, or character development) is just as many (boring) reveals and opportunities to show the character cry as the writers could cram into the script.
Unfortunately, the show's strength is also a weakness here: Because Kim Ji-hyun and Jeon Mi-do do such a spectacular job acting in their parts, it is somewhat jarring to compare Son Ye-jin's performance -- one can see how artificial it is in contrast to the realistic acting style of the other two actresses. I have seen SYJ in other shows, which I enjoyed more -- I think she was somewhat miscast here, with the part asking too much of her. I tended to speed through her bits in the later episodes.
Secondarily: The story is just so boring. Not depressing (which would make sense), but just -- eh.
I will not be rewatching -- have a feeling that I would get even more frustrated with the show. Maybe can find a compilation of just Kim Ji-hyun's scenes somewhere on YouTube.
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