Crash Course in Romance, or its literal title, One-shot Scandal, is a drama I thoroughly enjoyed after a year of not watching kdramas. I really loved the characters and the varied focus it had. I loved seeing the spotlight on the high schoolers as well as their parents, even though in the beginning their parents made me want to tear my hair out by their ridiculousness. Although many people did not like the additional side of a murder mystery, I am always a fan to see it, so I didn't dislike it as much. It was pretty obvious to guess halfway through the series who was the actual killer even though there were red herrings.

I personally loved the actors and their portrayal of their characters. Even though most people were hung up on the casting of Jeon Do Yeon as Nam Haeng Seon, I didn't think it was an extremely big deal since I think she was nailing it regardless of her age. She was fantastic as a mom to Hae Yi, sister to Jae Woo, and friend to Young Joo. She was pretty realistic with her relationship with Chi Yeol, which Jung Kyung Ho nailed by the way as an ego-filled star teacher turn puppy for love. I also loved Shin Jae Ha as Ji Dong Hee. He was a refreshing character, although I have to admit, he was done dirty by the writers at the end. I wish we were able to him face the consequences of his actions. The kids were amazing, and I really loved Hae Yi's whole arc and would wait every week just to see the kids instead of the main romance lol. Although I did hate the moms, I do have to applaud them for doing a great job since we were supposed to.

In terms of romance, it was pretty simple. Starting with a misunderstanding, getting closer, denying the feelings, and obstacles to overcome. The mystery had some plot holes lol. The girl that gets murdered in the first few episodes, we never hear about again, which made me sad even though she was annoying. The kid and teacher who get murdered after get more screen time with the police searching into their deaths. Heck, Hae Yi's abduction wasn't looked into properly, and we never see it resolved on screen. It seems she would have gotten some trauma from that. While I understand that since the main focus is romance and a police procedural, we're not going to see a lot of it, but I wish there was a bit more resolvement of this storyline rather than justing killing off the killer. Up to episode 14, it seems like everything would be wrapped up nicely in a bow, but I was personally thinking how they could cover everything in 2 more episodes, and they didn't because they added extra subplots that weren't necessary. A lot of the side stories with the parents and their parents felt good but lackluster. It seems like the writer wanted a nice bow on everything and redeem everyone, and hey I liked it, but it didn't feel necessary.

Overall I really did like the mother-daughter relationship with Haeng Seon and Hae Yi, especially the flashback scenes, and the high school plot, which overshadowed everything else for me. I would definitely suggest watching this if you are looking for a feel-good family drama, since it felt like it at times, with a splash of mystery and realistic portrayal of the Korean education system.