6
Park Min
Lands Between
This review may contain spoilers
Alright
Great performance from Yoon So Yi, I love her bug face. This was much better than expected. Compared to the writer's and director's other project "Love Twist" this is definitely better. However, there were many problems holding it back other than the usual drag of the 2nd half of all dailies. There were a disgusting amount of time-skips which made it a big turn off especially with that last time-skip of 3 years which also led to a cold ending. This is a great example of what not to do with time-skips. The other big problem was rape! They went through the worst possible way to set up the story. Once again, it's acceptable in Kdramas to rape a guy while being passed out then get pregnant to force him into marriage and create plethora of subsequent shenanigans. I've seen this maneuver repeated step by step so many times and Korean writers keep getting away with it! Anyway, the drama is decent despite the big misses.Was this review helpful to you?
huh.....
This is the type of revenge story were the villain commit double digits crimes yet they don't get a worthy punishment after 100 episodes pain. The drama was okay for the first half but unfortunately the second half was doomed to fail because everything became inside a corporate setting. I yearn for the day drama writers realize that 2 parties fighting each other inside a company is boring as fuck! About 40-50 episodes were wasted on these random fights. The drama initially included the kids heavily but shortly after they were completely dropped to never be seen again on screen until the last scene. Anyway, only the 1st half was watchable.Was this review helpful to you?
If only....
The drama was fine until Seung Joo married around episode 22 then everything fell off along with my interest. After that, the drama solely focused on her entangled relationships and love square while ignoring most of the other stories/characters and turning them to a side story. This change of direction ruined the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
It's alright....
Well, the cast did a lot of heavy lifting because the story is too damn scuffed. That wedding scene at the end was insanity! Who would accept such a thing?! Anyway, it's kinda a light drama from the leads perspective since they don't seek revenge. Instead, karma takes its course throughout the entire run. The drama separates the baddies from others for the most part, each carry on their story line without intertwining much until the later parts. Which makes it enjoyable watching the husband sinking into his demise very slowly instead of the usual quick payoff at the end. Although it's called Happy Sisters but they rarely ever interact or have scenes together. I thought we would be seeing some dynamic between them but there was none. The drama was fine for the most part and it's pretty much smooth sailing after the divorce.Was this review helpful to you?
Deja vu
The first problem became apparent very quickly. Both male leads were severely lacking both in regard of their performance and character writing. Meanwhile the female lead was unnecessarily excessively talkative. It's been a while since I've seen a love pentagon. I guess it was needed because there was nothing happening. Another daily drama with forced last minute birth secret. It felt like they were absolutely obligated to include it as if it's written in the contract.Was this review helpful to you?
If only....
I liked the earlier parts with its silly scenes but once the drama got serious and melodramatic it lost its charm. It would have been better if they kept the lighter tone going on for the entire run. They overdone it with amount of twists and over complicated relations in the last 20-30 episodes which kinda ruined the vibes. The ending and the time skip were weak.Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Watchable...
Apparently being a doctor is overrated. The parents (Jung Do & Choo Ja) had a great chemistry that really made the family alive. Doo Na chaotic behavior was a treat, although I didn't like her love story. I wish there was a better family dynamic that also included all the sisters since the other two sisters were kinda neglected outside their brief non-family related side story. All the love relationships sucked and all of them ended up being underdeveloped because there was no room for them since the drama heavily focus on the handful of scattered secrets which occupied the entire runtime. The drama had a big problem in tying loose threads most of which were neglected until the end which resulted in a rushed ending trying to tie all the loose threads quickly. Speaking of the ending, it kinda sucked and really rushed without much thought put into it. The drama had nice moments when it comes to "family" scenes but unfortunately it's lacking a lot in all of the other areas.Was this review helpful to you?
Maybe watchable?
There wasn't enough "plot" to fill 102 episodes and keep the viewers engaged. The last 5 episodes were painfully slow, they felt like eternity. Jang Jin Gook must be one of the poorest written characters out there. The relationships between all of the 6 leads were just bad. I don't ask from such dramas to be believable (they're never meant to be) but there's a certain limit of blatant stupidity shouldn't be crossed unless you are making a mobbit show.Was this review helpful to you?
You know how it goes...
Coming to this after "Shady Mom-in-Law", I actually kinda liked it for the first 38 episodes although the story was very similar but it did everything "Shady Mom-in-Law" failed to do with the daughter-mother dynamic. Unfortunately, after episode 38 things slowed down a lot and got boring until the last 20 episodes were things started moving again. I'm too used to see Cha Ye Ryun playing the baddie as a 2nd FL across many projects but it's nice seeing her being the lead for a change. Anyway, none of the 4 young leads had any chemistry to begin with. That's the problem with most of these dailies. For the drama itself, don't expect too much it's your typical daily makjang were most things just don't make sense, especially when it comes to legal matter. The main theme of this drama is revenge and I think it was its weakest aspect, I wish it went all out on that aspect without holding back. The ending was alright, although I wish if it had been better.Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Decent
It's much better than expected. The most important thing is that its events don't loop through corporate hell, it's actually balanced. I wish there was more attention and development to the side stories. You may think the young couple are the main focus but that's only for a short while before switching to the older cast. There was a slow period of about 20 episodes in the middle where things were very slow, it would have been better to build the characters more. I thought the female lead would have a bigger role and a better story of her relationship with her mother but that felt it was cut short. At least the drama didn't have yucky triangles. Nonetheless, the drama was decent with a good cast.Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
