Hit the top?!! More like stuck in the murky middle

I would like to start of this review by saying I had such high hopes for this kdrama. When I watched the trailers, read the synopsis and saw the cast I was immediately sold! One of Cha EunWoo's very first dramas, YES! Kim MinJae?! Who literally carried, no SAVED Tempted/The Great Seducer, the only shining glory from that drama?! The storyline - KPOP and time travel - different and refreshing! And I KNEW, I just knew it was going to be hilarious with Yoon ShiYoon and Cha TaeHyun in the main roles. But about half way in, I realized this was a burning train heading towards a bridge over a canyon where tracks have been blown to pieces and the brakes don't work. Simply put, it did not end well.

The most glaring problem is quite common and a major reason I favor thriller/suspense/crime kdramas over romcom/sitcom dramas - I have noticed that romcom writers focus a little too much on the comedy and romance and not enough on story development or clean (SENSICAL) end. Simply put, Hit the Top lacked direction and had too many underdeveloped, unnecessary storylines. There was a strong beginning with distinct, relatable goals that viewers could be invested in but ending was tepid, uninteresting, and unimaginative. A singer whose time in the spotlight was cut short and trying to relive former glory; an experienced manager trying to revive a dying business with a passion and charm to change an industry for the better; a talented son who hid his dreams because of his father's disapproval and his two equally talented and aspiring best friend also overcoming obstacles in the attempt for glory; and the guy from the past, who essentially ruined their lives inadvertently, dropped in the future - a strange world where he must reckon with his character and fix the mistakes of his past self. Also there was mystery! Where did the money go? Where did he disappear to in 1994? It was so good and interesting in the beginning, it is frustrating to know how it ends!

All of it fell flat when the show shifted focus to this strange father-son-girl best friend love triangle which had me asking strange questions like if it is appropriate to be interested in your son's best friend, who he also has a crush on, if you are you from the past so you are actually around the same age but still your his father so technically you are about 20 years older but should he be dating anyway he is an idol-in-training bu ... AYYYYYY JJINJA SHIRO!!!!

I am still racking my brain, trying to understand the thought process behind how the screenwriter turned so many storylines ... aniyo ... ALL of the storylines bad. What was the purpose of the supporting cast if you were going to abandon them half way in? Why did you switch the 1st/2nd male/female romance leads to this strange love triangle? Like, the 1st male/female lead is SUPPOSED to be JiHoon and WooSeung and the 2nd male/female lead SHOULD HAVE BEEN Do HyeRi and MJ. Why did you set it up and then scatter it? (like MJ did with the puzzle art, ha!... sorry, my humor is as equally dry as MJ's LOL!) And MJ?? I will say that Cha EunWoo did carry this character and I love him for that but that does not negate that he literally terrorized WooSeung for what?? And I still don't get why he blocked JiHoon from debuting? Such an interesting action that is never addressed. OMG, and I just remembered he came to the rooftop at the end of that one episode and then ... NOTHING! Never addressed, never visited again, like it never happened. Why build such grandiose problems and then have such simple solutions? For example, we literally watched Drill bomb his monthly performance, get kicked out of the company, at his wit's end working part-time and hiding from his best friend, and he just ... gets over it???? Why such lackluster villainy? They failed so miserably at setting Park YeongJae and the chairwoman as the bad guys that every win felt ... eehh, mild. Also, I enjoyed the grandfather's presence very much but that does not change the fact that his story did nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, to drive the primary storyline. Like... I am assuming the main plot was supposed to be the entertainment industry is cutthroat and this person from the past has come to the future to fix his mistakes and help those that should have been great reach greatness. So what does the retired president of a dying agency having dementia have to do with the overall plot other than sprinkle sad, touching moments throughout the series? And this grand paragraph is just the surface of all that went wrong. I am still having flashbacks of the trivial continuity issues (if you see/saw it, you know what I mean, there were several).

I have to say I felt like Park Kyung Sun in "The Fiery Priest" - STREEEEESSSSSSSSSS!

It really hurt my spirit to finish this show because it's screenwriting 101 and they really missed the mark on what could have been a great romcom, sitcom, whatever it was trying to be.

One thing I will give DA BONG to is its comedic timing and predictability. Jokes landed where they were supposed to land and certain scenes had me going "oh no please don't tell me the wrote it in, don't do it, oh please... lol they did ha!" (i.e. when Da Bong fell through the roof on his own memorial altar - now THAT was comedy!) They relied heavily on tropes and cliches, either subverting them (i.e. the scene when he leaves the hospital and someone magically appears beside him to explain how he came to the future but is actually talking on the phone, ha!) or holding on to them dearly (i.e. the love triangle. It was fairly easy to spot the switch from the HyeRi-JiHoon-WooSeung-MJ to JiHoon-WooSeung-DoBong and also who would end up with who early on. Like COME ON, the sudden rain/umbrella trick, "helping" the other male lead get the girl he has been crushing on for ages, the adamant disapproval/hatred towards the female lead, ALL very obvious and truly tiring to see).

I truly feel it was a waste of the time and attention I invested. Reflecting on it, it really should have been written so much differently. Maybe it is just me but I think HyeRi, JiHoon, WooSeung, and MJ should have been the leads, focused on them plus Drill trying to resolve their respective problems, DoBong and GwangJae are the strong comedic support who help rectify the mistakes of the past and give the kids the momentum they need to succeed, BoHee's career revival actually HAPPENS, and then MalSook and haraboji have the cute sparks of wisdom/enlightenment moments. SEE! I have reduced the trillion storylines to three (and we would get more EunWoo-MinJae scenes. My eyes are already watery thinking about what we lost, disrespectful).

Thank goodness it's a pandemic and I am on vacation so I had nothing better to do or I would be even more bitter than I am now.

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Not gonna lie you had me in the first half... was quite enjoyable to watch in retrospect

Within the first 30 minutes of watching the premiere, I thought this show was going to be a train wreck. In fact, until about episode 13, I was unsure of where the writers were trying to go with the script. But by the time the series wrapped, I realized how much I actually enjoyed this show. In fact it had potential to be a great drama, if it weren't for a few, critical writing and directorial choices. I found myself thinking, "if they had just focused on this instead of this," or "if they had just cut these scenes and developed this storyline more," or "if they didn't make this scene so predictable." Like, TWO FIGHTS, bffr, bsffr! Gosh, I'm saddened thinking about how great this story could have been.

Indulge in this idea for a second. If you watch this series with a suspension of disbelief - which is required for 100% of kdramas because the thought process, decision making, and story arcs lack critical thinking in most stories - this series makes a lot of sense. This isn't a drama about love and rivalry, in a roundabout way, it's about friendship and how those you rely on and confide in are integral to your own self-growth and value system. It's the reason behind a lot of the decisions made. "If XX had just been honest, would Y have happened? If Z was more confident in their talent where would they be? Honestly, it's a refreshing take to an idol drama."

The main problem, as noted in other reviews, is that they wasted time on the wrong storyline. If they had focused on Luice, SoRin, and SiWoo overcoming their individual challenges instead of that trite, overused love triangle, it would have been a wonderful drama. Like that little rivalry should have been a B or C story, not the driving narrative for over half the drama.

HOWEVER, I will say that the actors did what they had to do with the materials they had. I came for Kang Min Ah, but remained seated because of the lovely dynamics between her, Chani, Hwiyoung, and Oh So Hyun, whom affectionately dubbed the Three Musketeers. Like that one scene between the four of them in episode 14 had me grinning from ear-to-ear, I just love seeing friends support each other and persevere. I also thoroughly enjoyed two SF9 members playing opposite each other
재미있었요!

The only thing that still pains me, and I have tried so hard to reach that level of nonsensical, is how Luice can be a renowned Korean pop artist, a global sensation with impeccable fluency in Korean, and never have lived there. Like, what do you mean this it's his first time in Korea???? How is a global sensation and NEVER HELD A CONCERT IN KOREA??????!!!!!!! Still can't wrap my head around it.

To wrap up this long review, I recommend this drama if you're looking for a lighthearted, slice-of-life drama that doesn't take itself too seriously and has a very attractive cast, this is the drama for you!

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Now THAT’S what I call great screenwriting!

Wow ... just wow! Since I don’t know where to start with explaining how remarkably good this drama was and believe a genuine, thorough review will only end as a dissertation, I will keep it as short and sweet as possible and ask fellow curious viewers to abandon what you think/hope will happen and just watch the show!

A race against time where a life is always on the line. Hidden danger illuminated by a little foresight. Will everything come to light? Will everyone live? Will justice be served? Love how the answers is not a simple yes! I am warning you now - it will be frustrating. It will have you shouting “WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? HOW? WHHHHHHHYYYYY?” If you come with preconceived notions, YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED because it probably won’t happen the way you think it will. The only way to find the truth is to watch it all!

Now a “light” review:

Nam Gyu Ri is AN??ACT??OR?? WOW! Just every moment, she bodied that character with her lil band of sociopathic serial killers.

I really wish I could get into the cinematography aspect of this drama as well but that would require many, many words. In short, give them all the awards... ALL OF EM! I’m still thinking about the lighting in the cafe scene, DAEBAK!

What I loved most about the series is that it lacked long-term predictability. What I mean by that is, because of the main characters’ ability to communicate through time and space, an action that we would deem significant in an early episode may turn out to be of no importance later on and vice versa. Only in the “present” moment can you accurately predict what’s going to happen, which I love since I usually spend my time pointing at the screen saying “they’re the real criminal,” and at the end of the series, lo and behold, they are in fact the culprit.

Only three things, to my recollection, did I see coming early on and ended the way I expected - why these two people, who is most likely to die, and who the “final/real” villain is. Spoiler: it’s always a shared tragic, traumatic childhood experience, the loyal/lovesick friend/family member, and the old, rich guy. Is that really a spoiler or just tired tropes?

My ONLY beef is Ahn Bo Hyun’s storyline. Did he really have to act that way ‘til the very end ... I guuuueeeeeessss?? Was it necessary? Absolutely not! Like I get, I understand, it makes sense - that’s does not negate the fact I dislike people like his character and it sort of feels like a cop out, he really didn’t have to be extra like that and some actions had more plot value than it needed to be.

Overall, this is a top 5 2020 kdrama for me!

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