1
manicmuse
NYC!
I'm only here for Jung Hae In.
After watching "One Spring Night" I almost felt obligated to watch "Something in The Rain" too. The main reason I wanted to watch was to see more of Jung Hae-in who I have a newfound appreciation for, even if these dramas aren't actually new. I loved him so much in "One Spring Night", and I knew this was similar, so I wanted to see him in this too. In that respect, I definitely wasn't disappointed. Unlike "A Piece of Your Mind", where I thought his talent was wasted, I think he really shines in this one. I'm definitely glad I watched and got hooked pretty quickly, but he is literally the only thing that made me want to keep watching... and I know that's ironic considering who's in my profile pic!
I will just start with this drama's biggest flaw for me, and that's Son Ye Jin as Yoon Jin Ah. It's hard to get into a romantic story when the main character irritates you as much as Jin Ah irritated me. Not only was she written to be selfish, immature, and annoying, but Son Ye Jin kept trying to play her as cute and silly and quirky which just made her even more annoying. She just seemed way too mature in age to be acing so childishly, which was a huge contrast to baby faced Hae In acting more mature in comparison. Maybe that's intentional but it was definitely hard to root for, even if their chemistry was amazing. It also could be cultural since I can't relate to how controlled by her parents she was as a grown-up, or how classism was so normalized. I usually like flawed characters too but It was hard to find redeeming qualities in Jin Ah. Joon Hee is a flawed character too, but I just kept wanting him to dump her and date someone better.
The supporting cast is generally good, but because the story is so weak I wasn't too impressed. My favorite member of the supporting cast was Jang So Yeon, she was great as sister and BFF, I just wish she had more of her own storyline. Jin Ah's family had some good performances, especially Kil Hae Yeon playing such a different mom from "One Spring Night", but the writing made her so repetitive that her performance just became an overdone trope, all she needed was a money envelope and to throw water in someone face. The writing definitely made me underwhelmed by certain performances. Oh Ryoong as her boyfriend at the beginning of the drama was pretty bad, but that also could be blamed on bad writing. There was also a lot of the story and many characters that I didn't care about at all, especially at her job.
To be honest, this whole story could have been a movie, but instead, it's drawn out into 16 episodes. The good thing is that watching their relationship build is entertaining. There are lots of cute, sexy, and romantic scenes to fill the time. There is also a random plot about sexual harassment that drags and feels like filler. No part of that story was interesting to me, and the whole coffee company subplot felt like product placement, not the empowering story it was meant to be, but that could be my cultural bias too. I know this is the exact same writer and director as "One Spring Night", but I definitely feel like the story and direction are not as good in this drama, and I don't think that would have changed if I saw this first. The direction is still great, with some beautiful shots, but not as moving.
Would I watch this again? No. I would watch a few scenes again, but I definitely couldn't sit through all 16 episodes without skipping most of it. The most annoying thing would be hearing "Save the Last Dance" and "Stand by Your Man" over and over again ad nauseam! It didn't help that in my head I kept changing the lyrics to "Stand By Your Man" to "Please Date her friend" (meaning Bo Ra), but the obnoxiously played English soundtrack is another thing this drama has in common with "One Spring Night". Some of the songs were good, but too often were misused in a distracting way.
Overall, if you're a fan of Jung Hae In this is still worth watching. I think this is his first starring role, and his babyfaced charm is perfect for a Noona-romance lead! Maybe bigger fans of Son Ye Jin will like her in this role as well, but I just couldn't empathize with her at all, nor understand what he even liked about her. If you are looking for chemistry, that is this dramas main appeal! If you're looking for an original story, you won't find much originality here. This writer also seems to want to tackle serious issues like abuse and sexism, but the evil male caricatures make these plots hard to take seriously. "Something In The Rain" has passion but no plot. The ending also didn't feel very satisfying after so many frustrating episodes. It has attractive leads in a story that goes nowhere slowly, which may be enough for some viewers. I think this was supposed to be Jin Ah's journey to independence but in reality, I didn't see much growth with her character, it was more about me waiting for more scenes with Joon Hee and rooting for him to finally move on. Every scene with him was worth watching, and I now officially consider him an actor favorite. Without him, this drama is easily dropable. Maybe constantly playing "Stand by your Man" was subliminally keeping me watching after all. However, "La la la... laaa ..." how I wished it would've ended 6 episodes sooner. I really wanted to like this drama much more based on how it started but I was definitely ready to leave it all behind by the end and await whatever is next for Jung Hae In.
I will just start with this drama's biggest flaw for me, and that's Son Ye Jin as Yoon Jin Ah. It's hard to get into a romantic story when the main character irritates you as much as Jin Ah irritated me. Not only was she written to be selfish, immature, and annoying, but Son Ye Jin kept trying to play her as cute and silly and quirky which just made her even more annoying. She just seemed way too mature in age to be acing so childishly, which was a huge contrast to baby faced Hae In acting more mature in comparison. Maybe that's intentional but it was definitely hard to root for, even if their chemistry was amazing. It also could be cultural since I can't relate to how controlled by her parents she was as a grown-up, or how classism was so normalized. I usually like flawed characters too but It was hard to find redeeming qualities in Jin Ah. Joon Hee is a flawed character too, but I just kept wanting him to dump her and date someone better.
The supporting cast is generally good, but because the story is so weak I wasn't too impressed. My favorite member of the supporting cast was Jang So Yeon, she was great as sister and BFF, I just wish she had more of her own storyline. Jin Ah's family had some good performances, especially Kil Hae Yeon playing such a different mom from "One Spring Night", but the writing made her so repetitive that her performance just became an overdone trope, all she needed was a money envelope and to throw water in someone face. The writing definitely made me underwhelmed by certain performances. Oh Ryoong as her boyfriend at the beginning of the drama was pretty bad, but that also could be blamed on bad writing. There was also a lot of the story and many characters that I didn't care about at all, especially at her job.
To be honest, this whole story could have been a movie, but instead, it's drawn out into 16 episodes. The good thing is that watching their relationship build is entertaining. There are lots of cute, sexy, and romantic scenes to fill the time. There is also a random plot about sexual harassment that drags and feels like filler. No part of that story was interesting to me, and the whole coffee company subplot felt like product placement, not the empowering story it was meant to be, but that could be my cultural bias too. I know this is the exact same writer and director as "One Spring Night", but I definitely feel like the story and direction are not as good in this drama, and I don't think that would have changed if I saw this first. The direction is still great, with some beautiful shots, but not as moving.
Would I watch this again? No. I would watch a few scenes again, but I definitely couldn't sit through all 16 episodes without skipping most of it. The most annoying thing would be hearing "Save the Last Dance" and "Stand by Your Man" over and over again ad nauseam! It didn't help that in my head I kept changing the lyrics to "Stand By Your Man" to "Please Date her friend" (meaning Bo Ra), but the obnoxiously played English soundtrack is another thing this drama has in common with "One Spring Night". Some of the songs were good, but too often were misused in a distracting way.
Overall, if you're a fan of Jung Hae In this is still worth watching. I think this is his first starring role, and his babyfaced charm is perfect for a Noona-romance lead! Maybe bigger fans of Son Ye Jin will like her in this role as well, but I just couldn't empathize with her at all, nor understand what he even liked about her. If you are looking for chemistry, that is this dramas main appeal! If you're looking for an original story, you won't find much originality here. This writer also seems to want to tackle serious issues like abuse and sexism, but the evil male caricatures make these plots hard to take seriously. "Something In The Rain" has passion but no plot. The ending also didn't feel very satisfying after so many frustrating episodes. It has attractive leads in a story that goes nowhere slowly, which may be enough for some viewers. I think this was supposed to be Jin Ah's journey to independence but in reality, I didn't see much growth with her character, it was more about me waiting for more scenes with Joon Hee and rooting for him to finally move on. Every scene with him was worth watching, and I now officially consider him an actor favorite. Without him, this drama is easily dropable. Maybe constantly playing "Stand by your Man" was subliminally keeping me watching after all. However, "La la la... laaa ..." how I wished it would've ended 6 episodes sooner. I really wanted to like this drama much more based on how it started but I was definitely ready to leave it all behind by the end and await whatever is next for Jung Hae In.
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