crayrules
THIS AIN'T NO JOSEON ERA KIND OF SHOW
(Update Added)
So far, so good. It's refreshing to see a different kind of female lead!
This series plays a joke on the usual K-dramas that somewhat seem "behind-the-times". This ain't no "is-this-a-shouting-competition-are-we-still-in-the-Joseon-era" kind of show. Honey Lee plays her characters, Mi Na/Yeon Ju, brilliantly with quiet strength, confusion, and no-nonsense kick ass. Yeon Ju is mistaken as Mi Na, landing squarely in the enemy territory of her in-laws. She unexpectedly finds herself in verbally abusive situations, and yet dodges or handles it expertly with a "no-holds-barred" kind of attitude and won't tolerate any form of physical abuse. (I mean isn't it time to start writing those kinds of abuse unacceptable in any form anyways?) Her sassy temper and sharp mind pull out the stops against the schemes of her terrible in-laws and even her own remaining family.
As Yeon Ju takes the place of Mi Na, she is comedic, innocent yet downright scary. Although she suffers from amnesia, her heart, intelligence, and toughness all shine through as the core of who she really is. Her chameleon character changes effortlessly like the different languages she unwittingly and surprisingly speaks. As the story unfolds, it's interesting and entertaining to watch Yeon Ju "swimming with the sharks" so to speak as she works to save Mi Na's place as a rightful heiress while navigating the schemes of the terrible in-laws.
I'm enjoying this show immensely and I commend the cast, the writers, and those behind-the-scenes for a job well done so far. As of writing, I've finished EP 7 and will update my review when the show concludes. Make sure to watch the endings with the epilogue after each episode!
"One The Woman" is definitely "One To Watch"!!
(Update)
Because of my original heading and reference in the show about this not being a "Joseon era kind of show", I had to laugh when the "Joseon Era" scene was added later in the show! Hilarious!! I literally laughed out loud!
So to update my review, I lowered it from a 9.5 to an 8.0 rating. For me, I think that as soon as the FL found out she wasn't Kang Mi Na, the story changed and we didn't see as many "stand your ground" moments from the FL anymore. In my opinion, that's what made the FL so interesting and endearing. I had really enjoyed her as Mi Na when she went up against anyone who stood in her way but the story shifted more to her being Prosecutor Yeon Ju; I felt that the writers could've given the character Yeon Ju a bit more "valiant" moments just like they had done for Mi Na's character previously. I think that's where the show lost its lustre for me personally. The second half dragged a bit. I also didn't feel as much chemistry between the two leads so the romance storyline wasn't enough to keep me interested or invested in them as a couple. I did, however, love the chemistry of Yoo Jun, (played by Lee Won Keun), and Yeon Ju, (Lee Ha Nee). (On a side note: Put these two together in another k-drama romantic comedy where a younger man unintentionally falls in love with an older woman and I'm all for it! I could totally see these two in a rom-com where Ha Nee plays a sassy older lady who acts younger and carefree and Won Keun is the calm and more mature one who's so serious all the time and neither of them wants to admit they're falling for each other. I ship them in that kind of story... Yup, I said it... so someone better get on that stat!)
Okay back to the review... the Han family. They didn't contribute much to the storyline in the second half of the show and felt they were just added on as fillers. It would've been better to see Alex/ Seung Wook unseat Chairman Han personally. The Chairman, Seong Hye, and Chief Prosecutor Seung Deok's endings could've been more punishing. However, I do commend all the actors and I love watching Kim Won Hae, Kim Chang Wan, and Ye Soo Jung in any roles they play!
Overall the show had a great start and mild pace in the middle but didn't finish as strong in the end as I had hoped.
On another personal side note, a lot of the time, we often see a strong FL but as soon as a man comes along, her character becomes unrecognizable. (*cringe) I'm still glad however that we got to see a different kind of female lead in this show and look forward to seeing more of these stronger women types in future k-dramas!
So far, so good. It's refreshing to see a different kind of female lead!
This series plays a joke on the usual K-dramas that somewhat seem "behind-the-times". This ain't no "is-this-a-shouting-competition-are-we-still-in-the-Joseon-era" kind of show. Honey Lee plays her characters, Mi Na/Yeon Ju, brilliantly with quiet strength, confusion, and no-nonsense kick ass. Yeon Ju is mistaken as Mi Na, landing squarely in the enemy territory of her in-laws. She unexpectedly finds herself in verbally abusive situations, and yet dodges or handles it expertly with a "no-holds-barred" kind of attitude and won't tolerate any form of physical abuse. (I mean isn't it time to start writing those kinds of abuse unacceptable in any form anyways?) Her sassy temper and sharp mind pull out the stops against the schemes of her terrible in-laws and even her own remaining family.
As Yeon Ju takes the place of Mi Na, she is comedic, innocent yet downright scary. Although she suffers from amnesia, her heart, intelligence, and toughness all shine through as the core of who she really is. Her chameleon character changes effortlessly like the different languages she unwittingly and surprisingly speaks. As the story unfolds, it's interesting and entertaining to watch Yeon Ju "swimming with the sharks" so to speak as she works to save Mi Na's place as a rightful heiress while navigating the schemes of the terrible in-laws.
I'm enjoying this show immensely and I commend the cast, the writers, and those behind-the-scenes for a job well done so far. As of writing, I've finished EP 7 and will update my review when the show concludes. Make sure to watch the endings with the epilogue after each episode!
"One The Woman" is definitely "One To Watch"!!
(Update)
Because of my original heading and reference in the show about this not being a "Joseon era kind of show", I had to laugh when the "Joseon Era" scene was added later in the show! Hilarious!! I literally laughed out loud!
So to update my review, I lowered it from a 9.5 to an 8.0 rating. For me, I think that as soon as the FL found out she wasn't Kang Mi Na, the story changed and we didn't see as many "stand your ground" moments from the FL anymore. In my opinion, that's what made the FL so interesting and endearing. I had really enjoyed her as Mi Na when she went up against anyone who stood in her way but the story shifted more to her being Prosecutor Yeon Ju; I felt that the writers could've given the character Yeon Ju a bit more "valiant" moments just like they had done for Mi Na's character previously. I think that's where the show lost its lustre for me personally. The second half dragged a bit. I also didn't feel as much chemistry between the two leads so the romance storyline wasn't enough to keep me interested or invested in them as a couple. I did, however, love the chemistry of Yoo Jun, (played by Lee Won Keun), and Yeon Ju, (Lee Ha Nee). (On a side note: Put these two together in another k-drama romantic comedy where a younger man unintentionally falls in love with an older woman and I'm all for it! I could totally see these two in a rom-com where Ha Nee plays a sassy older lady who acts younger and carefree and Won Keun is the calm and more mature one who's so serious all the time and neither of them wants to admit they're falling for each other. I ship them in that kind of story... Yup, I said it... so someone better get on that stat!)
Okay back to the review... the Han family. They didn't contribute much to the storyline in the second half of the show and felt they were just added on as fillers. It would've been better to see Alex/ Seung Wook unseat Chairman Han personally. The Chairman, Seong Hye, and Chief Prosecutor Seung Deok's endings could've been more punishing. However, I do commend all the actors and I love watching Kim Won Hae, Kim Chang Wan, and Ye Soo Jung in any roles they play!
Overall the show had a great start and mild pace in the middle but didn't finish as strong in the end as I had hoped.
On another personal side note, a lot of the time, we often see a strong FL but as soon as a man comes along, her character becomes unrecognizable. (*cringe) I'm still glad however that we got to see a different kind of female lead in this show and look forward to seeing more of these stronger women types in future k-dramas!
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