1
bbchops
Dallas, TX
Interesting premise and strong start marred by uneven finish.
For the first 10 episodes this drama had me completely enamored. It wasn’t at all what I expected. The trailer features mostly Kim Tae Hee in the most comical elements of the show and barely hints at the melodrama and heartache that makes up the lion’s share of the story. Unlike most shows I choose to watch, I went into this one cold. I didn’t read any of the reviews beforehand. I’ve been on a Kim Tae Hee kick recently, and I wanted to see her in her first role since taking time off to start her family. For 10 to 12 episodes I was all in, then what had been a strong start fell apart nearly completely.
The premise is an interesting one. A young, first-time mother dies suddenly, then remains on earth as a ghost that inhabits the lives of the family and friends she left behind, helplessly watching them struggle with life without her. At first, her ghostly interaction with the world is played for comedic effect but as the story unfolds, we see how heartbreaking it is for her to watch the unbearable grief her sudden death caused for those she left behind, and the mood shifts from comedy to melodrama. In one of the more poignant moments, we learn that instead of being jealous of the woman who took her place, Yu Ri (Kim Tae Hee) is actually grateful that her husband and daughter now have someone as kind as Min Jung to take care of them.
This is fertile ground for exploring life, love, loss, gratitude, and regret, and the best parts of the story take full advantage of it. But somewhere around episode 11 or 12, things begin to feel repetitive. Plot lines that seemed full of promise—like Yu Ri’s promise to do one favor for each ghost—get abandoned, while others, like the character Guk Bong get introduced and dropped for no apparent reason. And there are tears. Lots and lots of tears and “I’m sorry” and more tears from nearly every character. (In hindsight I wonder how the script read on paper because in scene after scene, each character’s line seemed to consist of “I’m sorry [then cry].”) It wasn’t enough to save this drama, but the ship gets righted during the final episode, and the story comes to a more or less satisfying conclusion.
The cast is mostly terrific and the chemistry between them good as well. The exception was Lee Kyu Hyung as the widow Jo Gang Hwa. I didn’t think he had much chemistry with anyone other than Kim Tae Hee. Granted, the script called for him to mostly grieve and cry and 70% of his lines were “I’m sorry”, so I’m not sure how much of the problem was his or the script’s. Nevertheless, it was hard to buy into the love story between Gang Hwa and his second wife Min Jung. The only thing we had to go on was Yu Ri telling us repeatedly that even though no one else could tell that he loved her, she could.
This isn’t a bad drama, and it is worth a watch—especially for fans of Kim Tae Hee like I am. It is simply an OK drama that could have been much better. What started out so full of promise and could have been a very good 10- or 12-episode drama was stretched past the breaking point, ruining an interesting idea and mostly stellar performances by a very good cast.
The premise is an interesting one. A young, first-time mother dies suddenly, then remains on earth as a ghost that inhabits the lives of the family and friends she left behind, helplessly watching them struggle with life without her. At first, her ghostly interaction with the world is played for comedic effect but as the story unfolds, we see how heartbreaking it is for her to watch the unbearable grief her sudden death caused for those she left behind, and the mood shifts from comedy to melodrama. In one of the more poignant moments, we learn that instead of being jealous of the woman who took her place, Yu Ri (Kim Tae Hee) is actually grateful that her husband and daughter now have someone as kind as Min Jung to take care of them.
This is fertile ground for exploring life, love, loss, gratitude, and regret, and the best parts of the story take full advantage of it. But somewhere around episode 11 or 12, things begin to feel repetitive. Plot lines that seemed full of promise—like Yu Ri’s promise to do one favor for each ghost—get abandoned, while others, like the character Guk Bong get introduced and dropped for no apparent reason. And there are tears. Lots and lots of tears and “I’m sorry” and more tears from nearly every character. (In hindsight I wonder how the script read on paper because in scene after scene, each character’s line seemed to consist of “I’m sorry [then cry].”) It wasn’t enough to save this drama, but the ship gets righted during the final episode, and the story comes to a more or less satisfying conclusion.
The cast is mostly terrific and the chemistry between them good as well. The exception was Lee Kyu Hyung as the widow Jo Gang Hwa. I didn’t think he had much chemistry with anyone other than Kim Tae Hee. Granted, the script called for him to mostly grieve and cry and 70% of his lines were “I’m sorry”, so I’m not sure how much of the problem was his or the script’s. Nevertheless, it was hard to buy into the love story between Gang Hwa and his second wife Min Jung. The only thing we had to go on was Yu Ri telling us repeatedly that even though no one else could tell that he loved her, she could.
This isn’t a bad drama, and it is worth a watch—especially for fans of Kim Tae Hee like I am. It is simply an OK drama that could have been much better. What started out so full of promise and could have been a very good 10- or 12-episode drama was stretched past the breaking point, ruining an interesting idea and mostly stellar performances by a very good cast.
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