A witches' brew that turned into banana milk

EDIT: My original review was a little rant after watching the first 12 episodes. I have since completed the series. The following is an edited version of my original review plus my final thoughts on the last 4 eps and the Show as a whole.

I start watching this show because of Park Min-young (PMY). I loved her in Secretary Kim and Her Private Life is one of my favourites. Her more recent projects have been a mixed bag.

The first few episodes got me excited. PMY was front and centre showcasing her many talents. The zany plot looks like fun! This could be the PMY starrer I've been waiting for.

However, after the promising start, the plot became quite makjang by mid way and got more so as the show progressed.
Part of the problem is that the FL is a martyr to everyone's cause except her own. She sometimes sends the wrong message to the wrong people unintentionally. She can be very straight talking or very obtuse depending on the script. No wonder we are perplexed by the hole she is digging for herself.

Madam Yoo is an opaque and unsettling character at this point. Her concept of identity and affection is totally warped. She ruined PMY’s life 13 years ago and she seems to be doing it again. It beggars one's mind when you consider the FL is 30 years old.

The 2ML is a man-child. An entitled, low EQ, ill adjusted top star. His idea of love is a crush which turned into an obsession. His earlier actions and behaviours made him unlikeable.

Parachuting the ML’s ex-wife into this witches' brew was the last thing we need. Even after ruining their marriage, she still thinks he has feelings for her, and they deserve a second chance.

I cringed when the Show drops moments of comedy in the midst of piled on angst and horrible machinations. There is an unpleasant and dissonant note to the script.

This is my impressions up to ep.12 and I was considering dropping the show.
Then ep.13 happened.

It is like the writer-nim had an epiphany and realised that the show is heading to story hell and hit the brakes. Within the span of several scenes, the Show has flipped on its axis and gone full rom-com again.

All the funny, sweet and swoon-y bits are back in the show. Almost all the characters are realigned. I don’t mean the usual redemption arc but a full rehabilitation. Madam Yoo became a caring but eccentric lady who was just misunderstood. The 2ML became an obedient son and a top business executive without a trace of his top star baggage. The ML’s ex is now his biggest supporter with no hard feelings. The list goes on. Even the main antagonist is bundled out of the way without making a fuss. It was as if nothing nasty ever happened and no serious repercussions to all concerned.

I’m happy that the OTP’s love line remained sweet and engaging. The ML is no longer deadpan and their growing love filled us with joy. Their skinship is heartfelt and swoon worthy. It won’t be a k-drama if we didn’t have a mini breakup but it didn’t last long and both characters grew from the experience.

The FL’s gay flatmate is sensible and sensitive. Unfortunately, he usually ended up being the punching bag. What really annoyed me though is that he is not allowed to be gay openly, he is in limbo. His sisters still harangue him and his parents considered him their failure. That is until they found out that he might become an idol singer. What kind of message is that? He is still living a lie. There is potential for greater harm to befall him once he is famous.

In the end, this Show is better than Forecast Love but the Show as a whole doesn't sit comfortably with me. The tonal shift and character rehabilitation later in the show was jarring. I’m glad that I didn’t drop the show, but it did leave me with a sour taste that is only partially remedied by the last few episodes and the sweet HEA ending.

As a fan of KMY, I loved her performance but as a jaded drama viewer I am disappointed. Her recent script choices is also concerning.

While the makjang plots took half the show to develop, they literally disappeared with the snap of a finger. Those plots were troubling and uncomfortable to watch but they were there for a reason . . . I hope. Am I short changed? It is good to end on a high note, but the path there feels inelegant and forced.

The production quality is high, but the number of PPL is also high which can be irritating. OST is good. I can’t sit through the whole show again but a swoon-y highlight reel would be nice.

I have increased the show's final score. :)

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Watch a nude portrait drying is more engaging and sexier

As you would expect, the first couple of episodes were quite cute and set up the contract marriage scenario. To say the two leads are introverts is an understatement. They have low emotional intelligence and barely adequate social skills.

Contract marriage is a staple of j/k/c-dramas so it is a well worn path. There are certain expectations when we watch such a show. The journey of the OTP is never going to be easy, but it is their growing love for each other and their eventual coming together that give us the raison d’etre to watch. It is in this regard that the show left us wanting.

In terms of production and acting, they are both fine. It is up to the usual j-drama standard. The actors played their roles well enough and mostly by the book. The problem lies mostly with the script.

In essence, the writer-san want to show us a different style of marriage/relationship where the couple continue to lead independent lives and only meet up when the mood suits them. This is happening more and more with mature aged couples who have established home and a comfortable work/life routine. They don’t want to upend their lives completely just for the sake of a relationship. However, in this case, it goes beyond that, our leads just don’t know how to live with other people.

They are constantly confused about their feelings and in denial. They internalise everything and hide behind excuses even when their hearts are shouting for attention.

Misunderstanding is a given. The noble idiot card is being playing repeatedly. Almost every subplot is about failed relationship or difficult romances which undermine their house of cards. It was cute for a while, but it soon become draining and unproductive. They do get jealous when the SF/ML shows up but the effect is never consistent. Sometimes it is productive but other times they are self-destructive. Most cliché plot device that normally would bring the OTP closer together are foiled.

In the end, the lack of chemistry between the leads is the killer blow. They have the odd sweet moment but most of the time they are just awkward around each other and pushing each other away. Their relationship is just flat. The ML is a wet mop. You can’t get a rise out of him if you fill him with helium. Just about every romantic trope used is muted.

Every thread are closed with a pink bow in the last episode. Happy ending is a given. Sadly, the main love line remains anticlimactic unto the bitter end. The proposal is a damp squib and there wasn’t even a kiss to seal the deal. Of course, they live apart after they got married (sans wedding ceremony). Even when they meet up on their days off, they behave like acquaintances, polite acquaintances to be sure. There is no PDA and definitely no skinship. All the while the voiceover (FL) is telling us how much they are in love. Indeed! I’m not even going to ask if they have ever slept together. From the viewer’s point of view, there is scant reward after sitting through 10 episodes.

The Show is dull, tropey but watchable. The travelogue is nice and there are cute moments. Regrettably, the show is just not very rewarding from a viewer's perspective.

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Jekyll & Hyde show that is doing my head in

To say that I'm torn about this show is an understatement. I have seldom seen a series that managed to succeed in one key area and yet screw up another. Please allow me to explain.

This series is built on two drama staples. Swoon worthy romance and the time traveling do-overs.

It nails the first with aplomb. Our leads' chemistry is undeniable and when it works, it is meltingly good. Time and again, when I start to suffer, the writer-nim would bring on the amore and we are floating on a pink cloud. . . until we crash back to earth due to the ham-fisted way the show handles the timey-wimey stuff.

The problem is not that the show tripped up on some high temporal concept but rather simple plot management. To wit, the show used weaponised time travel like a blunt instrument. Internal logic and intersecting plots be damned.

It worked ok the first go around but after each do-over, the narrative got more convoluted. It basically tied itself in knots. Did events change? Did time correct itself? Does someone know or cares?! I'm sure the writer doesn't. Forget about time traveling taboos, it was a road kill right from the start.

Another contributor to this mess is the serial killer/kidnapper subplot. How I wish k-dramas would stop using this trope, but I digress. As before, his first couple of appearances was impactful and fits within the context of the central premise. However, one of the fundamental purposes of a do-over is to change the timeline so that history does not repeat itself. In this case, the plot around the killer is more like a rubber band. It is a millstone.

It doesn't help when the antagonist is a "faceless" bogeyman. I get that he is obsessed with the FL, but the rationale is lost in the mist of plot disarray. He has a name but no backstory, no motivation for any of his actions. They shouldn't have met, or he should be in jail as each timeline changes. Then what happened to him in the 15 years since he may or may not have kidnapped the FL? Did he killed more girls or just looked for the FL all those years. What are the police doing? Watching reruns of Dr. Who?!

The antagonist finally got his just deserts in the last EP but how I wish it happened 6 eps earlier. The last EP is total fan service on steroids! It speed-run through a stack of dating tropes and it is total guilty pleasure. It compensates for some of the mid show confusions.

There is a decent amount of skinship throughout the run and they felt right. Not the most passionate I have seen but swoon-y nevertheless.

In terms of acting, it is the same split personality. I love the leads to bits, but the support cast is all over the place. The grandma is sweet. The mum is bearable. The ML's dad is a buffoon who goes for the cheap laughs. The FL's bestie and her brother are so cringy. Their roles get more and more exaggerated as the show progresses. Are they 13 or 30? I groan during some of their scenes.

The kidnapper deserves his own paragraph. He is so one dimensional. Basically, a cardboard cutout. He shows up, does the Death Stare with bonus grimace and retires to a dark corner to await his next money shot. So little effort yet so pivotal a role.

In the end, if they do a director's cut of our leads’ romantic journey, it would be 10/10. I would be a happy couch potato watching it on repeat. The rest gets a 6/10. In view of balance, the show gets an 8/10.

I can totally understand the hype and attention surrounding the show but I also get why some would defer as well. I need therapy.

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Who said found footage doesn’t work?

I tend to watch coming-of-age dramas in bursts then I'd swear I'll never watch another one! I must be in my manic phase when I watched 3 such dramas recently . . . in a row.

Let’s focus on this show for now. Our leads are 16 years old high school students when we meet them. Typically, such shows would cover the period leading up to the all prevailing college entrance exams and some would go beyond that. This show walks the same well-trodden path. What sets this apart is a well written script that contains all the usual tropes, but it uses them rather than being subsumed by them.

On top of that, the leads played their roles well and they infused a certain warmth and je ne sais quoi to their story. The FL is in her elements. Her spunky personality and infectious smile make her so lovable. She takes no prisoners when it comes to dealing with love rivals, but she'd let her suitors down gently.

The pacing of the show is nice and steady. This is helped by a shortish 24 episodes run. There is little need for mindless filler subplots. However, I would venture to say that they probably spend too much time in their early years. Two third of the show is taken up with the first 2 years of their senior high school. The critical Gao Kao year is greatly compressed. Ditto their college years. The first year did get some attention but then it largely skips ahead to their college graduation. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with this because their school related plots are quite constrained as some topics are simply too taboo for the censors. They can finally explore their relationship to the full after they left school.

Acting overall is solid from the ensemble cast. The 2CP is well matched but they are a bit awkward around each other until they finally confessed their feelings and change status from friends to lovers. Overall, the show is very cute and sweet. The FL's parents are gems. The ML's more problematic but they do change for the better later on.

As I mentioned before, most of the plots are well written with one exception. When the FL worked as an intern, she was taken to a banquet for a big client. The setup is the classic honey trap with the pretty young thing sitting next to the middle-aged client. Of course, he starts to get handsy. This is nothing new to c-dramas and many nasty subplots start from there. Luckily, she managed to excuse herself but her manager later sent her a text saying that she is in the wrong and should self-reflect on her mistake.

Ok, I’m not a prude but in a show full of positive messages about youths and new horizons, this stood out like a sore thumb. How can a young intern be at fault when she is a victim of harassment? Should she have seduced the client instead?! This just served to propagate the horrid cliché. I understand that it allows the ML to play hero and comes to her rescue but the payoff is not worth it, IMHO.

Nevertheless, I still consider this to be a superior show. The positives far outweigh the negatives. I can recommend this show wholeheartedly. OST is nice and catchy. Rewatch will not be a chore.

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Some shows are created great, some achieve greatness, this one needs to try harder

Let’s start with the good bits. This Show is watchable. It is not too long. It has swoon worthy moments and a bit of skinship. The ML is handsome and charismatic. The use of antique restoration is an interesting backdrop. If those statements feel a bit like faint praises that’s because while the Show does nothing drastically wrong, there is little substance to sink your teeth into.

Now let’s move on to the not-so-good bits. While the Show is watchable, the plot is tropey and uninspired. It started well enough and there are some nice plot developments early on but then it got tedious and is not helped by some loose storytelling.

There is an overarching thread about antique fraud, but it is not hard hitting at all. To be honest, it is fairly amateurish in execution. Any twists are telegraphed well in advance. Some side plots and scenes feel like busy-work as if they are drawn randomly from a shoebox of plot ideas. Can a show suffer from FOMO?

While the ML is handsome and charismatic, his role suffers towards the last 1/3 of the show. After his confession, his character becomes a bit capricious. I get that people can behave a bit “funny” when they are in love, but his portrayal is stilted and hammy. I’m inclined to blame the director for some iffy instructions. The personality shift does not sit comfortably with his style.

The FL has the feisty, street-smart girl role down pat. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the experience nor the range yet to give her role real depth. She can smile and cry on cue, but you can sense that she is being told what to do rather than owning the role. This contributes to my next point.

I don’t ship the OTP wholeheartedly. The script would have us believe that they are madly in love, but I don’t sense a strong chemistry between them. Yes, they went through all the typical rom-com tropes, and they say all the right things, but it is not convincing. I also dislike the script’s propensity of leading the actors to the brink of confession and then pull back hard only to have the leads suffer from some misunderstanding in the next scene. All that can be avoided if their feelings are clear. Once more around that blasted mulberry bush we go. As someone who wanted to ship them, it is frustrating and unrewarding.

Speaking of CP’s. I can see the writer wants to push the opposite attracts trope so 2CP is a mismatch and tiresome to watch. Of course, they will get together in the end, the drama gods have spoken! I get more chemistry while watching dough rise.

Sometimes, a show can be lifted by a good ensemble cast but the secondary characters here are problematic. The 2ML won’t take no for an answer and is delusional. The cousin of the FL is the main troublemaker. He is not evil, but he is stupid, greedy and inept. Yet the Show paints him as a loveable rogue. Even though he does so much damage, he is always forgiven and handled with kid gloves. Most of the secondary characters are one dimensional and farmed out to actors with limited abilities. It is not a happy confluence.

The antique restoration theme is largely used as a plot device. They try to make it educational, but the titbits of information soon feel superfluous. They should put a disclaimer before the show to make sure viewers DO NOT try this at home.

Am I being harsh? Yes. I’m not mincing words because the Show is not trying to do better. You can find B grade shows that is hitting above its weight or really awful shows that should never be made. It is the crowded middle that is a quagmire for mediocre shows to sink out of sight.

I don’t believe in dismissing shows just because it doesn’t have top stars or a big budget. I have been pleasantly surprised by a number of second or even third tier productions. Nevertheless, It is a waste when you pair decent actors with a decent production and you still ended up with an insipid mishmash.

OST is serviceable. Rewatch? You jest. Peace out.

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Cute, easy to watch rom-com that took the path of least resistance

The start of this show is actually the best part. The premise of an overbearing highflyer who flew too close to the sun, crash and burn to become a lowly live-in caretaker of a share house is interesting.

The fish out of water trope generated a few laughs. The injection of a FL who held a grudge against the ML sounds spicy but that's about as angsty as it got. Yes, there was a bit of payback fun and resultant character growth and healing but it is a tropey rom-com to its core so it is no surprise that the rest of the plotlines follow the well thumbed playbook.

I'm not saying that it is bad, to the contrary, it is quite light and an easy watch. The "problem" is that it doesn't push hard in any direction. The revenge plot is half hearted because the FL is too nice. The SML/SFL are too understanding and they just take the hint and move on. A bit of distraction and that's about it. The romance of the OTP is nice but not particularly passionate. Even the skinship is more coincidental than full on passionate affairs. I normally hate "angst for angst sake" type of writing but this show swings a little too far in the opposite direction.

Naturally, the ML is a changed man by the end of the show and we get the mandatory HEA ending. Totally fine and a bit of fan service but this puts it squarely in the middle of a very crowded space with little to separate it from the rest.
Worth the one time watch but hard to come back for seconds.

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Ordinary show about ordinary people suffering extraordinarily

Sea change and tree change are popular themes of recent dramas. Lying flat is now popular amongst the young as a way of escaping the rat race. I assume the writer-nim wanted to explore these themes and Summer Strike was born.

The combination of those two themes can lead to some interesting scenarios but the writer/director tried too hard to break from the clichés by making the Show gritty and true to life. It meant that we are presented with a parade of difficult, belligerent characters who lives in a dull and rundown seaside village. Add physical/domestic violence, bullying, murders and all manners of societal ills and we have a place that tourists will choose to avoid. Yes, as the show progresses, some of the locals will show their true colours and they are not a bad bunch but most of them are still taciturn.

So rather than the show hooking us with fun in the sun, we ended up with a morbid fascination on how low can the FL go. Of course, it will not hit rock bottom, this is not Eve after all, but the first few episodes are not recommended viewing for anyone suffering from depressions. Even after the FL’s life start to turn around and she made new friends in the village, the focus simply moved to the complicated lives of the villagers. There are not a lot of unicorns frolicking around that village, that's for sure. There are certainly progress amongst the melodramas, but it is a mixed bag of pros and cons.

Typical of this type of shows, there is a turning point where the writer-nim realised that they have gone far enough with the pain and suffering and needs a way out. While she did a decent job turning the ship around, the resolution seems contrived and expeditious. The FL is once again the key to unravelling a years old mystery.

The last episode is pure fan service with the writer-nim regaling us with the theme of the show. The unicorns are finally let out and they milled around uncertainly for quite awhile. This is because the way the Show handles relationship is very ambiguous. The OTP is obviously attracted to each other, but we get the BFF vibe most of the time. It was literally in the dying minute of the Show when we get the confirmation that they have finally move up a pay grade. Even then, there is next to no skinship. The relationship between the librarian and the shopkeeper with the cute son is even more muddled. The SFL pointedly asked him several times whether she should move to Seoul, and he kept deflecting it or resorted to the “Go! Go! See if I care” cliché replies. Why? It was painful to watch the poor man suffer. Surprisingly, it is the senior high schooler couple who is much more forthright with their relationship. It isn’t smooth sailing for them neither (nothing in this show is ever easy) but at least we know where they stand.

There are some high impact and emotional scenes which the actors did well enough. It is the more mundane scenes that I find lack energy. Both the leads are trying to keep a low profile in the community which didn’t help the energy level whatsoever. The ML is very handsome, and he can certainly act cute but I find him a bit stiff when it comes to really emotional scenes.
The OST is unobtrusive to the point that I can’t recall any of the tunes. It is a one-time watch for me.

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Inoffensive Chinese Mills and Boon

With 16, 25mins episodes there is not a lot of air-time to play with. The issue here is not the length of the show but the number of tropes and clichés the writer tries to stuff into the script. It is a cookie cutter show with the lot.

Being a rom-com to its core, we are served a smorgasbord of romances. The OTP is preordained from the first minutes. The main plot then focuses on the inability of the ML to confess to the FL. It is frustrating to watch as EVERYONE knows he loves her and tries to help. Nobody is working against them, other than the ML’s inner demons. After drunken kisses, aborted confessions and many other tropey tell-tales, we only get the true confession at the end of ep.12. I rate this 1 "sigh of relief" out of 10.

The 2OTP is the typical noona romance with the obligatory drunken tryst and birthing a super clingy 2ML. The 3OTP is only there to park the SFL somewhere out of the OTP’s way. They all have their CP moments. Sometimes they are cute and occasionally swoon-y. Their progress is on rails and their chemistry is questionable. I’m too jaded to ship them unreservedly.
The token antagonist is one-note and transparent. He appears when the Show needed a bit of angst, advanced the plot and promptly exits stage right. The trials of the ML's shop are unrealistic. If they are the #1 dessert shop in the city, I’ll return my mail-order MBA. ;)

On the positive side, I do like how the ML creates desserts that mirrors his feelings. The young kid is cute and not in your face which I’m eternally grateful. He has some of the better scenes.

Another “positive” is how inoffensive the Show is, but this is a double-edged sword. For instance, there is a SML who might have spiced things up, but he is rejected offhand by the FL. He took it on his chin and is SO understanding. No fuss, no try-harder. This means the whole subplot is a non-event and the SML is instantly forgettable. Ditto the FL’s parents. OMG, they are so sweet and understanding! Yes, they get excited once in a while and can be a little shouty but when the crunch comes, they are saints. Not a whiff of drama from that quarter. I’m getting a tooth decay just typing this paragraph. ;)

As you can imagine, the budget for the Show is limited and it shows. The production value is ok but feels a bit bland. There are only a handful of sets, and they get a workout. OST is ok but they pump up the volume on the love songs as soon as a hint of romance is on screen.

Acting ranges from amateurish to workmanlike. Nothing offensive but no breakouts either.

I was once in a walking tour of Paris. We walked for hours and visited many landmarks. However, we were not allowed to go inside any of them. We got the iconic photos of the Notre Dame and more. It was all about the facades and ticking boxes. Would I do it again? Non, merci. This is how I feel after watching this show. Peace out.

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Pantomime, Korean style

From time to time, I’ve made remake like “your mileage will differ” in my reviews and it applies doubly to this Show.
The reason being the Show amps up certain aspects of various genres like a pantomime. It has over the top characters, barely there plots, questionable logic and even a dose of magic/superpowers. Yes, it is a mashup that can do your head in, or it can be a lot of fun. It really depends on what you are looking for and your tolerance of this style of production.

Without spoilers, it is a fish out of water type tale with both leads finding out what life is like outside of their respective "bubbles”, and what bubbles they are! One is a superstar with a troubled upbringing and a basic distrust and distain for people while the other is a country bumkin (their words) who lives on a tiny island lost in time (the 80/90’s).

Of course, romance is a foregone conclusion once the initial push-pull is over. It is this romantic thread that tied the show together. Without it, it is just a bunch of weird subplots, standing jokes and crass humour. Because of this. the storylines and cast of characters probably will resonate much more with the local audience rather than an international one. Speaking of the cast, some of the roles are so exaggerated that they are caricatures. I’m sure the older cast members had a blast playing those roles. I almost half expecting them to break the fourth wall and give us a wink. Both leads put in solid performances.

My only real gripe (other than the overuse of toilet humour) is the application of the misunderstanding/noble idiot trope around the 2/3 mark. It was the only real angst in an otherwise swoon-y love line. It was resolved satisfactorily within a couple of episodes, but it felt heavy-handed while it runs its course.

Production and OST are both fine. Rewatch is possible but a liberal application of the skip button is probably a good idea when it comes to some of the banalities and silly side plots. The last episode is worthy of a rewatch.

In the end, it is a harmless and mostly enjoyable romp for me. Some may love and laud it while others will disagree strongly. Individual taste will be the ultimate test in this case and (wait for it....) your mileage will differ. :D

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Cliché rom-com with the memory of a goldfish

First of all, apologies to all my goldfish friends. ;)
I'm ambivalent about this show. On one hand, taken moment by moment, it is light, fluffy and swoon worthy. On the other hand, the script is weak and too tropey, has pacing issues, plot holes big enough to drive through and one dimensional characters. After episode 5 until around ep. 19, I watched the show at 1.5-2x speed. I didn't skip scenes but I can't be bothered to sit through them at normal speed either.
The start of the show is way too fantastical (I didn't say it was fantastic). It all happened at breakneck speed with tropey meet-cute, accidental first kiss, cohabitation, faked illness, falling into each other's arms (repeatedly) all done and dusted by the end of episode 2. It was bordering on non-sensical. By the fifth episode, the OTP was signed, sealed and delivered. What a shame that the show then expanded all its energy on creating road blocks for the CP. Nothing new there but it was done with little finesse. The simple plots were transparent and with the ML's Super Intelligence™, he was always one step ahead of the antagonists. It might be satisfying to watch piecewise but it also reduced any tension to near zero as you knew the ML will win every time.
Speaking of antagonists, it was very claustrophobic. There are about 6 key characters (plus the usual family, best friends and close associates) but they are from just 2 families and they all grew up together and most of them have a crush/unrequited love of some one else in that group. Even with numerous rejections, the circle just goes around and around and nobody takes no for an answer.
Disappointingly, the FL felt muted. Zhao Lu Si has a lot of screen time but her character was not strong and easily manipulated. Normally, she plays the feisty, bubbly FL that throws down the gauntlet to the world but not this time. There are glimpses of that but on the whole, she was overshadowed by the ML and more suffering than dishing it out. She was totally manipulated by the ML in the early episodes, then she became his pretty partner and cheerleader. She has her own achievements but it was small scale by comparison. I think she was underutilised and frankly didn't shine.
I have no doubt many viewers will ship the OTP but my cynical eyes kept seeing the writer's hand in pushing them onto us. Creating those "moments" that will be talked about and shared.
On top of that, there were endless business shenanigans (just within the key players). Once again, very poorly constructed and involved expositions on some wicked machination and magically, the other company's shares will crash. It paints the Chinese business world in pretty grim lights, TBH. Of course, the ML came through (again and again) and made his enemies look stupid (and they were). That is why I mentioned gold fish memory as all these were done in small cycles. Confession/rejection, business gain/loss, family politics, rinse and repeat.
It got better in the last few episodes but the tone is set and it is really just a race to the finish line of closures and CP happiness.
The secondary pairings provided some relieve but they didn't do much more than that. You don't really feel invested in them.
OST was mostly happy tunes and rewatch is not really there unless you want to watch some of the CP highlights. There were some egregious PPL as well.
Like I said before, moment by moment, it is not bad but sadly, the whole is less than the sum of the parts.

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Light rom-com to bring a smile to your face

This show is the distilled essence of a rom-com packaged in neat bite size instalments. It doesn't have a convoluted plot but a reasonably fleshed out story. It covered most rom-com tropes but the fast pace doesn't allow the tropes to linger and turn sour. Twelve 15-16 minutes episodes doesn't give you a lot of time to present a story and it is light weight fluff but it never pretended to be serious drama in the first place. The story moved along at pace and the editing is tight. Not much time is wasted. The OTP has awesome chemistry, both are lovely on screen. Their confession will bring you joy, their romantic scenes are swoon worthy. Support actors are good, they did their job to move the plot along. You don't need to wear rose coloured glasses but it is pointless to compare it to a masterpiece. Judge it for what it is. All in all, totally rewatchable and it will only take you a lazy afternoon to binge the whole show. Highly recommended!

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Oh Mighty Drama gods, give me strength

This Show starts with a bang. We have murders, chases, fights and the ubiquitous death-defying escape. It is certainly a rollercoaster ride. If the first couple of episodes didn’t hook you then you are watching the wrong show.

We are introduced to intrigues both at the imperial court as well as on a personal level. The interplay between the leads is certainly a highlight. There is obvious attraction between them, and they spend the bulk of the Show exploring their feelings and dancing around each other, searching for clarity.

The problem here is that they really stick to the Joseon rules. Most pairing of the upper class is just a power game between dynastic families. Courting is a minefield and love has little to do with it, unless you count forbidden love which is theme du jour of so many historical dramas. This means the ML can only long for the FL but he is not allowed to express his true feelings. On the other hand, even if the FL confessed her love for him, she would need a miracle to see it to fruition. This is an impasse that dragged on for too long in this show. It might be historically “accurate” (heck, that didn’t stop other dramas from turning up the skinship dial) but as viewers, we are left dangling and more than a little frustrated. We waited and waited but there is little reward for our patience. Consider we didn’t get any fan service until the literal dying minute of the Show. It is very poor return for our dedication.

To be honest, the Show is too slow. I can accept the need to build up the mystery and allow time for all the clues to be found and the puzzle pieces to fall into place. The issue is that we are also watching from the sideline, and we can see the bigger picture. So, while our protagonists are expounding their nascent theories and being spoon fed more clues, we are way ahead of them. Maybe we don’t have the smallest details but the overall plotline is fairly obvious to us well before the final confrontation.

This is not helped by the fact that the show is 20 episodes long instead of the usual 16. Honestly, the Show would have been better off being only 16 eps long. There are easily 4 episodes worth of filler material that can be cut with minimal impact to the narrative.

In terms of acting, the ML carries the Show on his broad shoulders. His character has more depth and he certainly has a more challenging role. The FL is good but she spent too long cross-dressed as an eunuch. While she is reasonably convincing, it does makes it hard for us to adjust when she resumes her life as a lady. Your mind yo-yo between the image of the eunnch and her normal female form.

Unfortunately, most of the antagonists are straight out of central casting. Evil officials on one side while the good ‘uns are on the other. Their roles are about as predictable as you'd expect. We do get some twist regarding a couple of key characters, but the longer runtime dilutes the impact of the revelations as we already guess their hidden identities before the official reveal.

So far so sageuk, you might say but the sting is literally in the tail. The ending of this Show is definitely the weaker link. Good guys are rewarded, and the bad ones get their just deserts. All the loose threads are tied up, so, job done, right? The complication lies in the actual delivery. It feels awkward and uneven. We got there at the end but it doesn’t feel right. I get the impression that the writer-nim struggled to make the ending work within the allotted time and resources. The ideas are there but something is lost in translation.

Other than the less than stellar ending, there is one other thing that has been bugging me for some time. Byeokcheon is the key to the main storyline. An army was dispatch from the capitol to suppress a rebellion there which kickstarts the overarching plot. However, it seems to change from a district to a town to (in the end) nothing more than a village. The show even has the people of Byeokcheon gather for a “town” meeting at one stage and they all fit inside one simple room. The scale feels wrong and inconsistent. Maybe I fail at ancient Joseon geography, but the Show’s own interpretation also seems to be somewhat rubbery.

In the end, it is watchable and reasonably entertaining. It could and should have been better with a tighter script and a shorter run. If you are a fan of the leads then it is a must watch and you would be well satisfied. However, there is not a lot there to warrant a rewatch for anyone else. Peace out.

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A video essay or voyeurism?

This show position itself as a romance drama with a strong “what-if” element. It is build upon the fantasy that a person can change gender spontaneously. Not via a sex change operation but an instantaneous and complete body reconfiguration including a different face.

This allows the show to post all kinds of hypothetical questions about discrimination, friendship, love and marriage of the same sex due to this sudden gender realignment. This is a double-edged sword as the fantastical and abrupt nature lessen some of its impact.

The Show then proceeded to put a number of protagonists through the spin cycle and force them to confront their changed circumstances. The most obvious is what will you do if your wife becomes a man, or your best mate is now an attractive woman. The bulk of the show is basically an exploration of these questions and its ramifications.

In many cases, this is what the LGBTQ+ community is confronted with on a daily basis so while the Show is set up to address a hypothetical gender change, it is really more about the LGBTQ+ community’s interaction within itself and with the larger society as a whole.

Even though the Show is not overly preachy, it can feel like the questions are asked just so that we can hear the answers from the coalface. While the informative aspect is laudable, there are many conversations and it can be a bit repetitive with the views seesawing back and fore.

It is no surprise that our protagonists all found love or at least contentment in the end. I sensed that the Show does not want to push any views too hard so for each success, we are presented with failures. This means this is largely a thought experiment. In the end, it comes down to the timeless notion of True Love Will Conquer All . . . most of the time . . . maybe.

This brings us to the voyeuristic aspect of the show. Yes, there are bed scenes involving same sex as well as straight couples. It does provide some titillation especially when it involved pairings that might be considered taboo in some societies. It is not exploitative nor egregious. You have to form your own opinion whether this is integral to the storytelling.

The Show is generally subdued in tone and the acting is solid. The fish out of water aspect does bring about some lighter moments. OST is fine.

The show is watchable but a slow burn. The ending is satisfying if predictable. Whether you find this show worth watching will depend on your expectations and reason for watching in the first place. It is a one time watch for me.
Peace out.

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The bang became a whimper

This show started as promising as you'd expect. Decent actors, interesting plot premises and genre hopping opportunities.

The Show has potential, to be sure. Different ideas worked for a few episodes and then fade away. Just when you thought this is getting interesting, it’d change tack. Case in point, the idea that magic acts were done by ghosts manipulating the props was cute and clever. That soon changed to talking about magic tricks rather than doing the deed. Similarly, several crimes were solved by communicating directly with the recently deceased. That is not new but the potential is there to create some engaging subplots and it did work for a while but that too petered out. The idea that the ghosts have their own set of rules was intriguing but towards the end, the ghost just behave like normal people. Probably the most disappointing aspect is the overarching Big Evil Spirit revenge plot which was so diminished by the end that it was more like little evil.

The Show also suffers from tonal shifts. I get that it is a rom-com at heart but it also tried to include fantasy, sageuk, crime/corruption and other social issues. A lot of the time, the impact of these themes is diminished because the show would suddenly switch to slapstick comedy or a sweet romantic scene just after a poignant moment. It does make you wonder what’s the point of the transition.

Speaking of romantic scenes, the leads do have decent chemistry but the Show swings from heavy push-pull to aegyo overload in record speed. You want it to happen but you also feel that it was not very natural. The 2OTP was a done deal and they are cute together.

The last couple of episodes were largely fan service. Most threads were closed with pink bows. I like the way they provided the ghosts closure and reward them justly. It was as sweet an ending as you could ask for but it got messy towards the end and added more plot holes. Some scenes are shoehorned in with scant logic. While some closures are heartfelt, others are farcical. The final demise of the Big Evil Spirit was a cop out.

To be fair, it is a decent, enjoyable show but it could have been better. IMHO, it felt like the writer has good ideas and they tried some out but whether it was budget constraint or difficulties in tying the various threads together, the show decided to play it safe, watered it down and fall back onto the standard rom-com tropes in the end. Am I being harsh on this Show? In a sense, yes, but not because I hated the Show. Quite to the contrary, I really liked the Show and the beginning hooked me straight away but I can also see where and how it changed over the course of the run and it wasn't for the better. The Show could have ended with a bang but, in the end, it was a sugar coated whimper.

It is not a rewatch for me. I’ll let those ghosts RIP.

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Awkward rom-com saved by a heart transplant mid run

I know some of you will think that I judged this show too harshly but please allow me to explain.

For a rom-com to be good in my book, I have to care for and want to ship the OTP and the story has to be engaging. That might sound like platitude but the more rom-coms I consumed, the more I felt that this is more elusive than we take for granted. For me, Moonlight missed that mark.

On paper the OTP was a decent pairing. A cute, idealistic new grad in her first job meets a prickly but handsome writer. The issue here is that the setting was very contrived. The FL landed an editor job in a publishing house without an interview and no relevant qualifications, in Shanghai, of all places. Does that really happen in RL? We have seen all the tropey meet-cutes with the ML running over the FL on a bike or the FL trip and fell into the ML's lap with a hot drink, etc but this is the backbone of this script so it needs to be believable and plausible. Of course she overcame every challenge placed in her way. Her storyline was not exactly subtle.

The ML's story was the standard handsome, awkward, egotistical man-child. The writer also threw in a "fated" backstory just to seal the deal. I can accept cliché characters and we all know that Chinese rom-coms have more than its fair share but these were not characters endearing to me. Especially the ML who had a crush on the FL but at the same time did his best to deny this (point blank to the FL's face) and pushed her away repeatedly. Not only was it cliché but the way it was done was wearing. The ML would then pulled a face that said "what have I done?!" and I have to ask that same question too.

The pacing for the first half of the show was glacial. Nothing reached any real highs or lows. Stuff happened and sub-plots came and went. We knew where the show was heading but it just took its sweet time. Honestly, it was just as well that the leads were good looking and they could act. At least they made it bearable. Even then, I was seriously considering dropping it by the halfway mark. Then something happened around ep.19/20. At the start of that "turning point", the plot got so bad that I was having WTF moments. Then it felt like someone sat the writer down and had a "good chat" and the tone, pacing and plot just changed overnight. By the end of episode 20, it was as if a new rom-com was born with the same characters but most of what happened before was a dream.

The last few episodes were sugar sweet and tied up all the loose ends. Just about everyone had a happy ending and moved on in life, love and career. It also meant that it was quite tropey but I can accept that as reward for sitting through the first half of the show. IMHO, if they condensed the first 19 episodes, add it to the last 16 and made it a 20 episodes drama, it would be a decent and very watchable rom-com.

Moonlight wasn't bad, it just didn't resonate with me. Rather than being immersed in their budding romantic journey, I was mostly bored and a little annoyed for a good half of the show. I can't, in all honesty, score the first 19 episode a high mark but the last 16 was a solid 8.5 so in balance, it ended up being a 7.5.

On a positive note, I do like the use of the actors' real voices and ambient sounds. Dubbing can be overused in c-dramas especially if the same voice actor is used for many shows. OST was good. The FL also sang the title song. Rewatch value is low for me. 

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