Kdrama Feminist
England
A strong start with a somewhat average-mediocre finish. As with all reviews where I don't know what to say in proper sentences, A LIST!
THE GOOD:
- Baek Chan Mi is a really refreshing & charismatic character. She's basically the violent, hardened, wild-card type that's usually a role occupied by men so it's great to see it changed up here. Choi Kang Hee kills it and is definitely the star of the show. Even better, she's allowed to be soft and cry without it ever compromising what a badass she is. Loved her from start to finish, she has about 4 of my 6.5 stars all to herself.
- The chemistry between the 3 leads which grows naturally and stays strong throughout the show.
- I think Lee Sang Yeob is my favourite (male) actor. I'm just going to say it. He's played such diverse characters in everything I've seen him in & he kills it every time. His character here is the perfect fit for Chan Mi and their chemistry is the cute, lived-in type that's so fun.
- Most of the comedy is done well and is basically all off the back of the idea that this really is just a normal office romcom drama with a spy twist. Every joke begins there and I don't mind it, made me laugh!
- The action sequences. To be clear, I will never *not* be a sucker for ladies kicking ass. I feel both attracted to them and empowered in myself so it's a win-win everytime.
THE OKAY:
- The overall plot is a little weak and only gets weaker as the show goes on, but it's not completely atrocious, everything follows the correct story beats, so I can live with it.
- Hwang Mi Soon is the housewife spy and I mostly really enjoyed her, she's clearly the most experienced member of the team and it shows. But sometimes jokes were made at her expense instead of with her (shitty husband that a spy like her would never put up with; gags about her weight) that I blame on the writers and brought down her character.
- Ye Eun but only at the start when she got to use her skills & her storyline seemed to show promise.
THE BAD:
- Ye Eun when her storyline & characterisation was dropped in favour of just an AWFUL romance plot I started off not giving a shit about and ended up hating. I can forgive her being a crybaby and bad at fieldwork - she's a rookie. But in exchange she's supposed to be this excellent hacker/tech whiz. Spoiler alert: she's not. The team's actual tech whiz is more competent than she is and her storyline ultimately serves no purpose except as props to Chan Mi & WORST OF ALL... Woo Won.
- Woo Won. Hello most pointless character. Exists solely to piss me off. No relation to the main plot. Starts off whiny and immature and stays that way til the end but somehow gets a happy ending anyway? BS. Jun and his beautiful face is the only saving grace here. Nothing else.
- I won't spoil but the finale leaves a lot to be desired. Plus, this show should've been 12 episodes. As with so many kdramas before it, it suffered from its company mandated run-time and began to really lag in the middle-end stretch.
Overall, if you want a female-focused drama with hijinks, a soft male lead and some ass-kicking, check it out! Just be warned that it really isn't that deep and if you want Ye Eun to get her moment or think she knows more about what's happening because they told us she was super smart and you're waiting for that to turn up in the actual show... (it's okay, i'm fine, unfilled potential who?) then give up bc it'll never happen. Not bad. Not great. Only the cuteness puts it a few steps up from ok.
THE GOOD:
- Baek Chan Mi is a really refreshing & charismatic character. She's basically the violent, hardened, wild-card type that's usually a role occupied by men so it's great to see it changed up here. Choi Kang Hee kills it and is definitely the star of the show. Even better, she's allowed to be soft and cry without it ever compromising what a badass she is. Loved her from start to finish, she has about 4 of my 6.5 stars all to herself.
- The chemistry between the 3 leads which grows naturally and stays strong throughout the show.
- I think Lee Sang Yeob is my favourite (male) actor. I'm just going to say it. He's played such diverse characters in everything I've seen him in & he kills it every time. His character here is the perfect fit for Chan Mi and their chemistry is the cute, lived-in type that's so fun.
- Most of the comedy is done well and is basically all off the back of the idea that this really is just a normal office romcom drama with a spy twist. Every joke begins there and I don't mind it, made me laugh!
- The action sequences. To be clear, I will never *not* be a sucker for ladies kicking ass. I feel both attracted to them and empowered in myself so it's a win-win everytime.
THE OKAY:
- The overall plot is a little weak and only gets weaker as the show goes on, but it's not completely atrocious, everything follows the correct story beats, so I can live with it.
- Hwang Mi Soon is the housewife spy and I mostly really enjoyed her, she's clearly the most experienced member of the team and it shows. But sometimes jokes were made at her expense instead of with her (shitty husband that a spy like her would never put up with; gags about her weight) that I blame on the writers and brought down her character.
- Ye Eun but only at the start when she got to use her skills & her storyline seemed to show promise.
THE BAD:
- Ye Eun when her storyline & characterisation was dropped in favour of just an AWFUL romance plot I started off not giving a shit about and ended up hating. I can forgive her being a crybaby and bad at fieldwork - she's a rookie. But in exchange she's supposed to be this excellent hacker/tech whiz. Spoiler alert: she's not. The team's actual tech whiz is more competent than she is and her storyline ultimately serves no purpose except as props to Chan Mi & WORST OF ALL... Woo Won.
- Woo Won. Hello most pointless character. Exists solely to piss me off. No relation to the main plot. Starts off whiny and immature and stays that way til the end but somehow gets a happy ending anyway? BS. Jun and his beautiful face is the only saving grace here. Nothing else.
- I won't spoil but the finale leaves a lot to be desired. Plus, this show should've been 12 episodes. As with so many kdramas before it, it suffered from its company mandated run-time and began to really lag in the middle-end stretch.
Overall, if you want a female-focused drama with hijinks, a soft male lead and some ass-kicking, check it out! Just be warned that it really isn't that deep and if you want Ye Eun to get her moment or think she knows more about what's happening because they told us she was super smart and you're waiting for that to turn up in the actual show... (it's okay, i'm fine, unfilled potential who?) then give up bc it'll never happen. Not bad. Not great. Only the cuteness puts it a few steps up from ok.
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