6
Park Min
Lands Between
Barely watchable
The drama main goal was to hit as many makjang tropes as possible even repeating some of them across multiple characters. Almost every single character has a hidden past/birth secret, even the support characters. The revenge was bad, there wasn't actually a revenge. The romance/relationship of the leads was as childish as you can imagine. The actress Jung Young Joo who played the mother as the main antagonist did a truly awful job. Her reactions/interactions were laughably bad. The four leads' performance was fine but nothing note worthy, they've done better elsewhere. There's nothing appealing about the story either since they don't even try. Also, I didn't like the ending or the entire last episode in general.Was this review helpful to you?
Meh
It's okay. Hyun Woo was unbelievably stiff. I wonder if he can show more than two emotions even under some laxatives. If you really want to force a break up there are plenty of easier and quicker ways but I guess it's a drama and they can't do that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Was this review helpful to you?
Meh
It had a decent start setting up the atmosphere. The drama was shot nicely too, try to grab the UXN 4K version if you can. The action was good although it was scarce. There was a lot of downtime between each event which almost ruined the drama. It was clear they had an abundance of free time that they started supplementing it with slice of life/comedic moments which were straight up bad and unfitting. The story wasn't as engaging as it was at the start, it somehow lost its direction midway through. Too many plot holes to count even when excluding the supernatural elements. The drama lacked a meaningful connection between characters. The least you would expect from a military themed drama is some comradeship which this drama failed to show. It's a hard watch since the drama doesn't have much to offer other than a good cast.Was this review helpful to you?
There was an attempt
The first half is what the drama should've been and the second half is what the drama shouldn't have become. The start was decent enough with a compelling concept and characters, however, everything began to crumble down after the first half. The pace significantly slowed down, an overwhelming amount of repetition and flashbacks was shoved in, the mystery was over at that point, the cat and mouse chase became boring and there was a general decrease in the collective IQ of the masses. Nonetheless, the story itself was weak and didn't explore any interesting ideas. The whole thing was infested with plot holes even after excluding all the supernatural elements. The inclusion of romance was a hit or miss at times. I'm disappointed that Park Won Sang didn't have a bigger role in the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Too dry
The drama sits in a weird position of not adhering to neither the long daily drama segmented formula nor to the standard 16-episodes weekly ones. It's closer to the latter except being a poorly stretched one. There were a handful of couples but most of them were bland without much chemistry or dynamic. The main story was too thin for the drama to function and it's clear that they didn't intend to invest much in it but rather just let it be driven by whatever the couples were doing. You can't consider it as a slice of life either because of the direction it took. It's hard to recommend when it's too dry.Was this review helpful to you?
They didn't even try
A very bland and uninspiring office romance drama. Absolutely nothing stands out about it, not even the chemistry. The backstories were boring as well. They sprinkled a few side stories at the beginning but only gave attention to the main one while the rest ended up being neglected. Even the main couple's story ended up being underdeveloped. On a side note, it's another drama where they draw parallels with Kim Tae Hee for being the beauty standard. For the past 20-something years, Korean writers are still placing Kim Tae Hee as the benchmark of beauty and I still don't know why.Was this review helpful to you?
A bag of air...
It started off like any other daily drama but somewhere around episode 60 everything stopped and almost nothing was happening anymore. The pace slowed down considerably, and the storyline became unbelievably tame and mundane. After which, there was no conflicts, no plots, no goals, no real progression, no real tension, no major events. Any events that did occur were swiftly resolved within 6-8 episodes, this included the conflict mentioned in the synopsis about the feud between the 2 families. It's unfortunate because I liked the set up and the characters. It would have been better if they turned it into a sitcom, they had enough characters and material for that.Was this review helpful to you?
Were they even trying?
It's never a good sign when a drama have a bad set up from the very beginning. At least that helped eliminating any expectations I had to begin with. Unfortunately, the drama failed to make any substantial recovery or improvement after its lackluster beginning. It can be deemed as one of the most soulless revenge dramas out there. Even trashy revenge soap operas have more to them compared to this disappointment. Furthermore, the cast and overall production of the drama were barely average, at best. One particular aspect that showed how lousy the writing was is how they felt obligated to pair everyone in the last episode despite the drama having no romance or similar direction.Was this review helpful to you?
Good
The drama started with a compelling and impactful beginning, yet the subsequent portions failed to maintain the same level. It's also being heavily carried by Kim Seo Hyung while other elements gradually started to fall apart in one way or another. The hotel plotline felt somewhat unconvincing within the overarching narrative, lacking a sufficient sense of coherence. Moreover, the drama exhibited a lack of dedicated investment in any particular genre, instead dabbling intermittently in different genres. Although the characters were well fleshed out, yet, the baddies group, aside from the main guy, came across as somewhat exaggerated and cartoonish. The drama also needed some consistency with its direction, it was swinging between serious and symbolic distraction. Nonetheless, there are still several commendable aspects to appreciate within the drama. The calm and immersive investigative atmosphere, supported by engaging dialogue and captivating cinematography are amongst the things to look forward to.Was this review helpful to you?
Good
The best thing about this drama is that it wasn't from the student perspective but from the teachers' perspective. It does a lot right and delivers a decent package. However, it is worth noting that, given its lengthy runtime of over 20 hours, there are moments where the narrative can become monotonous or lose its momentum. Additionally, a minor thing that irked me a bit is how certain students looked a bit too old to be a teenager.Was this review helpful to you?
.
The key here is to approach this drama with tempered expectations. Its primary driving forces lie within a heavy love triangle and a big play on "memories from past lives". If you can't tolerate either elements then maybe you should skip it.However, what stood out the most to me is who wrote this drama. I noticed that, this writer, across her other previous projects, she harbors a discernible aversion towards the institution of marriage, a sentiment that seems to have a deeply personal resonance for her. This notion was amplified even further in this particular drama. She took it even further by carrying her agenda across all of the side couples blatantly. Speaking of agendas and taking things personal, this writer really likes to shove her owns while disregarding its effect on the coherency. Another example, the whole ordeal with both male leads at the beginning. There were other examples as well.
While any writer is entitled to hold any opinions or take a stance on social matters they want, it can become a headache and burdensome when these viewpoints are overtly thrust upon the audience without contributing anything substantial to the broader conversation. They just end up shouting into an echo chamber eventually.
The final episode, unfortunately, proved to be an insufferably superficial culmination of the drama.
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There are better melos out there...
Cheap melodrama, its narrative shortcomings are somewhat forgivable due to the inept writer's apparent limitations in using other means to occupy its duration. However, the same can't be said for its conclusion, which regrettably left the viewers with a palpable sense of disappointment. The only thing you'll be getting is a stinging sour aftertaste.Was this review helpful to you?
.
Super juiced with a ridiculous endless ride of never ending twists. It definitely started to feel overwhelming in the second half. At some point, I just wanted it to end already because there was nothing new or innovative about these twists anymore. I wish some characters had a bigger role in the story, like the detective's wife and the ex in-law detective.Was this review helpful to you?
If only....
Decent family drama with a big cast and a handful of varied stories, or that's what we were promised from watching the first few episodes! It started off great but it ended up over promising and under delivering. Almost every single story was neglected or ended up being under developed after 10-15 episodes, except two stories. Sa Ya's story and the eldest son Dong Jin's story, the latter one was terrible and boring. If you are excited to see Lee Min Jung then don't, she got ripped off of screen-time and was barely seen later on. From a first glance, there was a lot to like about the drama but it really ended up being disappointing.Was this review helpful to you?
Started good but...
It started off great, the likable characters were likable and the unlikable ones were unlikable. However, that didn't last very long before the drama started showing its cracks. Once we got a few scenes in the bread company I knew where things were going and what to expect. The usual cyclical corporate hell, love to hate them. The story wasn't eventful enough to fill its runtime, more often than not the writer ran into a corner and had to throw something random to stir the pot. An example of that is the end of ep69, completely random and unprompted. This also resulted into some strange pacing issues. All of the four leads got into a relationship and reached the "I love you" stage illogically fast despite them having a very recent ex-partner. Meanwhile, the next stage took a millennial to get to. How does the writer expect us to care about the couples if they don't let their relationship develop initially? The pacing issues continue when the main conflict of the drama concluded almost halfway through!Some characters were so damn worthless and redundant, such as Chae Won's friend (Bang Sook) who served no purpose other than being a feedback loop (literally) and then she was never seen again in the second half! Speaking of characters, Jin Woo's father had the worst plotline. During which, the drama hit rock bottom and the female antagonist was almost never seen. Therefore, there wasn't much tension after that and things got really stale. The lack of tension also resulted into a weak climax, or kinda no climax? I would rather watch Gyung Joo being a trashy menace and a headache over the cringy father. Most people would stick around just for the main couple Chae Won & Jin Woo being cute.
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