Welcome to Hotel Del Luna! Where the facilities are so good, you’d wish you were dead, literally. It’s a hotel for the dead, like a one stop shop on your way to heaven or hell. Its five-star too…

Synopsis

Hotel del Luna, located in the middle of Seoul, looks to all the world to be an old and dilapidated building. However, it holds a glamorous interior, one that the living can’t enjoy because the hotel only caters to ghostly clientele. Jang Man Wol is the owner of Hotel del Luna, who is bound to the establishment for committing a grave sin a very long time ago. She is fickle, suspicious, and greedy, with a horrible temper and a tendency to sulk. She’ll be joined by a new hotel manager, Goo Chan Seong, who unexpectedly ends up at Hotel del Luna following their meteoric rise of becoming the youngest-ever hotel assistant manager of an international chain. A perfectionist of the highest degree, Chan Seong appears rational and logic-driven on the surface but is a pushover and faint of heart.

Source: dramabeans.com

http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/03/iu-yeo-jin-gu-confirm-lead-roles-in-hong-sisters-fantasy-drama/

Thoughts

I suspect the scriptwriters have some sort of idea for this world they’ve created and I’m sure that the rules will be further explained as the story progresses, but for now, this is my take on what I’ve seen so far. Criticisms of my analysis are welcome.

What I Like

IU! (Jang Man Wol, owner of the hotel), Oh IU! How much do I love thee! Let me count the ways… The fierceness of her character in this drama is a beautiful thing to behold. I’m a sucker for great female leads, and she just might take the cup this year. She’s calm, she fearless, she wears red lipstick (you know what they say about women who wear red lipstick) and speaks in a cool yet authoritative tone. She’s lived longer than anyone alive, and she owns it. I can’t wait to learn more about her back story. The best part about leads with good energy is that everyone around them feeds off it. And if they don’t, then fuck it, you won’t even notice. I pray that they won’t turn her into a whole mush ball when her love scenes with our male protagonist (Goo Chang Seong) come up. Yes, we all know there’ll be love scenes. I just hope they won’t be over the top and cliché.

The main story line hasn’t quite been established yet, but it’s quite clear that many different characters will be coming through the set. I can’t wait to see all the different stories that come up, and more importantly, what they teach us about our characters. We already know that Man Wol is a caring boss, she just screams a lot. And I think after a couple thousand years of having to smile at strangers and pretend to like them, being passive and rude becomes a lifestyle choice. Why be nice to humans? They don’t pay her bills. Goo Chan Seong on the other hand, walks into this drama as an angel (figuratively). He’s a kind kid with a shit dad, but he grows up well. Let’s have some of these ghosts coming through the hotel teach him a thing or two about himself, maybe something he won’t like?

I love how animals are considered great beings with souls that deserve to live on in the afterlife.

Opinion: I think the idea behind the tiger coming to the hotel was to show how characters are not to be judged as less than human. The afterlife and the idea of heaven and hell transcend the understanding of mere mortals anyway. You never know what’s on the other side until you get there, so treat everything around you with care. The life of many living things that you don’t deem as such could be counted against you upon your judgement.

What I Don’t Like

Shitty parents. I can’t stand good for nothing parents. And I LOATHE parents who use their kids as a scapegoat for themselves. Chan Seong’s dad gives him away to a mystical woman near a weird looking tree in a hotel that looks almost unreal. Even in a dream parents don’t sell out their own kids to save their skin. Am I being too optimistic about parenting here? What the actual Hell?! It’s bad enough that he was a thief. But even drug lords raise their kids proper. This is some bullshit man….

Our handsome Goo Chan Seong is summoned to Del Luna to replace the old man who has been serving Man Wol for the past 70 years. As soon as he arrives, the old man dies. WHAAAAA?… you couldn’t even give him until episode 6 or something? Where’s his story? Doesn’t he need to teach our rookie the ropes? I feel like this was a missed opportunity at fun storytelling. I’m disappointed.

Comments

I’m really only in this to see IU at this point, but it will have to take more than her fabulous acting to keep me. But for now, I’m watching…

Let me know what you think in the comments. Let’s chat K Community

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2 episodes in and I’m so in love with this drama! Yay dramas that shine spotlights on controversy!

This drama takes us back to high school and shows us what it’s like to be a teenager these days. And boy am I glad I’m done with school. Kids these days are SCARY.

Synopsis

Ki Moo-Hyeok is a lawyer with a high winning rate. He only cares about money and fame. Due to a murder case at a high school which he deals with, his reputation as a lawyer hits rock bottom. In order to regain his good name as a lawyer, he sneaks into the high school and begins to work as a temporary teacher. He soon starts noticing ill behaviour among the kids and discovers that they all have a secret. In so doing, Ki Moo-Hyeok gets involved with Teacher Ha So Hyun, the P.E. teacher who loves her students. Ki Moo-Hyeok and Ha So-Hyun work together to uncover the secret and the real murderer.

Thoughts

What I Like

The drama starts us off by telling us exactly what we need to know. In the first scene, we see the core of our map, a student is stabbed, and bleeding and a boy is arrested for the attempted murder. All roads will lead to this opening scene. And as we move into new character arcs, we learn that our protagonists will tie themselves to each individual story with shocking results (for both them and the audience). This premise is so simple, yet it will tell a great story. Story lines don’t have to be complicated to keep us interested. 

Ki Moo Hyeok is such a lively character, it’s going to be fun watching him make a 180 degree turn in his demeanour for this drama. He starts off as a charismatic hot shot lawyer, money hungry and driven by his want for fame. We soon learn that this façade is all because of his miserable past as a child. He’s lively because he needs to be, and when pushed into a corner, a dark side to him emerges. He has so many layers, I can’t wait to see them peeled back.

I love how the drama isn’t shying away from highlighting the flaws in the Korean schooling system. Sometimes many private schools that excel in academics tend to focus on numbers. High school, in a sense, is still a business after all. So, smart students with great grades get away with murder, both figuratively and literally in this case. This is the main issue the drama will address. I suspect the prosecutor in this drama (led by our female protagonist) to change her tune very quickly in seeing that the real enemy isn’t the kids (as the first scene suggests), but the system that allows these kids to think that they can get away with such behaviour and crimes. The sad part is that the kids actually get away with some very gruesome things, to the point where most of them have become desensitised to committing petty and heavy crimes. Even worse, the school decides to turn a blind eye to all this. Our villain is definitely a school student, but beyond that, our instigator is the authority that lets this school student get away with murdering someone, all for the sake of money and reputation.

What I Don’t Like

A delinquent boy becomes the main suspect in this drama, and I refuse to believe that none of the teachers, not a single one, was allowed to go to the trial. It’s a high-profile case. No reporter is asking where the school is in this matter? This is a case involving minors! And for all the emphasis Korea puts on its teachers to be an extension of the parent, none of them show up? I get that the teachers were forbidden by the school to get involved in any way, but that seems like a stupid thing for the school to try to do. This case in no way elicits a low profile from the school. If anything, they should be in damage control mode. Have you met K drama moms? There is no way this particular incident has been kept from the kimbap serving ahjummas of the Korean drama world, and they spread rumour like wildfire. And where’s our nosy reporter who can miraculously uncover any secret? There’s always a reporter with a compass that points due north sticking their nose in things they shouldn’t. The suspension of disbelief is too much. The school should have been the first to be implicated.

Though the poster for the drama takes on an ominous look, the first 10 minutes took on a very upbeat, comedic tone (very funny Dooly the Dinosaur knock off reference in there as well). It gives the impression that the drama will have both a heavy note and a light one at times, but that was all. Just those ten minutes were happy. Everything from that point on takes on the form of a serious crime thriller. I don’t dispute the drama’s choice in making the first few scenes light. I’m arguing the slapstick way in which they did it. I mean, there was a huge man in a baby dinosaur t-shirt at a settlement hearing. Then tears, a coke slam, titty twisters… It was all too much. And after that, nothing but dark frames and suspense music. It’s safe to say they overacted the first few scenes.  

If the Korean prosecution (of law) in real life is anything like the one in this drama, then I fear for the people of the country. Talk about being two faced Cha Hyun Jung. You easily dish out a 20-year sentence to a high school student in the name of justice (the original sentence suggested by her superior was 10 years), yet you failed to investigate the case in its entirety? Bullshit, I say! You can’t be portrayed as a righteous prosecutor, then drive your cases by the need to win. I blame the writers for this though. 20 minutes later she sits at a bar with our male lead and she spills parts of the case that didn’t add up. So, she knew about the flaws in her case and still wanted to send the boy to jail for his entire young adulthood. We need to pick a side here Prosecutor Cha. Are we good people or bad people?

Comments

I’m in! I’m all in! I want to see how this drama can shed light on something that I hear is slowly becoming a social norm. And even if they didn’t intend for it to raise many concerns outside their own community, I hope it does. Big ups for dramas that advocate social change and challenge the status quo

Let me know what you think in the comments. Let’s chat K Community

Anyone who knows me well knows I’m a hopeless romantic.  So, when I first watched this movie, my heart swayed and I felt like a teenage girl again. I’ve watched this movie too many times to count. And as I get older I learn more from it than I did in the beginning.

What I learned from Finding Kim Jong Wook

Travel! Alone if possible

Want to know what the scariest thing about being alone in a new place is? Having to depend on yourself. Being alone in a new place forces you to get to know yourself. I learned this from Ji Woo. Her conservative nature in this movie doesn’t reflect who she is. Being in a whole new country on her own showed her how strong she was. And being in the arms of a stranger showed her how she could take risks. She wasn’t always boxed in by the expectations and perceptions of those around her. That is what had made her into the person she was ten years later.

Find what you love and do it

Min Jae finds it so hard to do any kind of job, not because he isn’t dedicated, but because he just isn’t feeling any of the jobs he has to do. I’m not really one to go out on a limb and quit my job just because I don’t like it. Most people wouldn’t. But I think that’s the beauty of his character. He reminds me in a sense that I’m not living life on my own terms. Being a part of the system never served anyone’s dreams. Min Jae isn’t afraid to just walk away from any job that doesn’t make him happy.

Ji Woo does the same, though she’s more subtle about it. One of her colleagues ask her at some point in the movie “why do you do this? Why do you come to work here at the theatre?” Her response is “I just love music” What a straightforward answer. It’s not sugar-coated in a long history of doubt and need for acceptance or stability. She just loves music. And it’s that simple for her. She does what she loves, and that’s the essence to being happy.

That’s the greatest thing about both our characters, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to adopt for myself.

First Loves are Important

When I was 24 I fell head over heels in love with my college sweetheart. We were so into each other it felt like nothing and no one could ever separate us. But we ended up breaking up, much like our protagonist here. And though her story probably differs from mine (or yours), the message is all the same. She’s not the same person she was before and after she meets him. This staunch character actually took a risk and found out things about herself on that trip with her Mister Destiny that she would not have found out otherwise. And that’s what first loves are about. They are about looking back and realising that you grew from the experience. Most people might think it stupid to hold onto something as long as she did, life goes on after all. But what’s wrong with holding onto memories that made you into the great person you are today? I don’t regret the mistakes I made with my first love. They were important mistakes to make. They taught me so much about myself. My first love makes me who I am today.

Comments

You don’t have to buy into the movie as much as I did. I’m a hopeless romantic, and that always sways my opinion. But if you’re looking for a feel good movie to lift your spirits on a bad day, watch this. You might find something in there that you learn for you.

Let me know what you think in the comments. Let’s chat K community.

Have you ever just jumped into a relationship without thinking twice? Only to find out that you didn’t actually jump, but that you slowly walked in? No? Watch this drama. You’ll know what I mean.
For someone who is a huge fan of everything love, I thought I understood it. But it took me fifteen episodes of this drama to fully understand what it was trying to teach me. That falling in love is just as easy as it is hard. And taking both ways for granted is a mistake you will make, even though you can’t afford to.
Synopsis
One Spring Night centres around two people in love and the story of their romance. Lee Jung-in, played by Han Ji Min, is a realist who finds happiness in the little, everyday things in life. She believes that the purpose of life is living on your own terms. Yoo Ji-ho is played by Jung Hae In. He’s a thoughtful and polite man, but once someone catches his attention, he won’t hesitate to pursue and make his interest known.

Spoilers ahead…

Thoughts

What I liked

I love how the drama makes our leads seem so ordinary in order to have them make extraordinary choices (within context of the drama of course). People are simple in the way that others perceive them. Jeong In is a beautiful librarian. She has the perfect boyfriend. Her life is moving according to plan. She will marry her perfect boyfriend and be the perfect wife. It’s that simple, except it’s not. Ji Ho is a pharmacist with a complicated past which continuously mars his present and future. It’s that simple, except it’s not. I think this is where Gi Seok’s (Jeong In’s initial boyfriend) understanding of the situation makes him short circuit in a sense. He sees what is happening and follows the norm of the situation. He is from a prominent family, dating the perfect girl, who he will marry, and he will become the perfect husband. It’s that simple, except… you get the idea.
I’m also learning that Ji Ho has a vulnerability to him that he seems to never want to admit to having. He has to be strong, but he’s really not. It feels like a false resilience that he’s created, but it only lasts him for the day. Then he goes home and builds it up again. It’s cute and heartfelt. I think that’s what makes it so easy to fall in love with his character. Especially when Jeong In comes in and breaks down the walls he tries to create on the daily. She’d do it hourly if she could, but she has a day job.

Jeong In to me is a mess, but a welcome one. I’ve never seen a character take to their flaws so well and wear them like a badge of honour. It’s refreshing to see. “Yes, I am a mess. So what? You’re a mess too, you just hide it better.” Is basically how she lives. It’s great to see.

I’m 100% on Seo In’s (Jeong In’s older sister) side. I hope her crummy husband ends up behind bars, reputation be damned! I’d rather be alive and hated than dead because of an asshole. The kind of steps she takes to lessen the blow of the situation she’s about to walk into really baffles me. It’s something I’ve never seen before. When I watched the scenes where she hands in her resignation, petitions for divorce and files for assault. It’s a process she’s had to think out and one where she’s had to choose her words carefully. Where most of us wouldn’t think twice about the consequences of such actions, she strategically plans what needs to happen not because she won’t do it, but because if she rushes into such decisions she will suffer. I didn’t know Korean society was this harsh on the single divorced parent. But seeing how her parents react to the situation with such little tact, I’m assuming it’s true. This is a shocker, and something about Korean culture I’m yet to understand.

What I didn’t like

Can anyone in Korea even keep a secret? I mean, come on! News travels way too easy. It may be for plot convenience sake, but it’s way too convenient. How can the whole of Seoul know everything about Jeong In and Ji Ho’s relationship?

I hate how everyone else’s relationships are determined by the outcome of the main one. What? Nobody else has a life? Is this all everyone else can do with their life? Wait for things to happen? That’s a lie. Please give other people proper character arcs. There should be at least two other story arcs running apart from the two main ones. It may be for the sake of the story developing in the right direction, but as far as I see it, the two main leads didn’t need as much screen time as the drama made it seem. The montages of them being all happy in parks were unnecessary, because the time they stole from other characters in the drama made most of them insignificant. Both Ji Ho and Jeong In’s friends became irrelevant in this story. We could have easily had one of the main characters narrate and get rid of the rest of the cast.

I’m not sure why Korean parents have to be painted in such a light, but I’ve met quite a few of them. They might be conservative yes, but not for the sake of conservatism. Jeong In’s parents seem to take the cake when it comes to being asshole parents. I include her mother in this, though she changes her tune once she sees what Ji Hoon has been doing to her daughter. I can’t ever imagine anyone marrying off their daughter to someone just because of either a job or because of social standing. I know some will argue how chaebol families do this all the time, but it’s not the same thing. Chaebol families do it so that both families have something to gain. Most kids who are born into such families understand the implications of their marriages. Both families will benefit financially. What Jeong In’s parents were doing is pawning off their daughters to the highest bidder. That’s wrong on so many levels. I’m not even sure how to react to the idea that Jeong In’s father was willing to hear nothing of Seo In’s abuse at the hands of a man she was supposed to have been living with. That disgusts me, and I feel I have every right to be angry at him, and in a sense call him out as one of the villains of this piece. I’m angered by his ignorance of the situation, and how despite everything that happens to his kids, he looks out for himself first. What a coward. This surely cannot be a real depiction of Korean values and morals. And surely it’s not what the writers would want us to think of Korean families and the hierarchal system they’ve silently put in place. I’m disgusted.

Yay or Nay?

This drama is very slowly paced, so if that’s not your thing, you’ll fall asleep. Trust me you will. But for those of you who, much like me, enjoy romance in its truest form, sans slapstick clichés in slow motion, watch this. I give it two solid thumbs up.

Let me know what you think of it if you have watched it in the comments. If not, give it a try. Let’s chat K community.

If you never wanted to eat every Korean food, this movie will take care of that in a short 2 hours.  This movie will also make sure that you never trust anyone ever again, no matter how long you’ve been in a relationship. Intimate Strangers challenges the idea of being completely open with the people you love. In essence, how much of yourself are you willing to reveal? And are the people you love willing to accept you completely?

Plot Summary

A group of childhood friends meet up after 34 years for a housewarming at Seok Ho and Ye Jin’s new apartment. Tae Su and Soo Hyun have been married since college. Jun Mo recently married Se Kyung. Young Bae is recently divorced. Over dinner, one of the friends suggest they play a game: all members of the party should put their phones on the table and reveal any contact from the outside that comes in, calls, emails, messages. The game starts off fun but stirs up a lot of drama and misunderstanding as the night progresses and secrets are slowly revealed, making them all feel more like strangers.

This movie is an adaptation of the Italian film Perfect Strangers (Perfitti Sconoscuiti).

Thoughts

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

I would like to state for the record that the characters in this movie are all assholes! And yet…

Is it funny how I see a lot of myself in many of these characters? The men mostly. Things that I saw in each of them, good or bad, were things that I realised as I continued watching that I need to fix about myself. I’m concerned about some of the implications of this movie though…

First, what do conventional norms say about sexuality? And is it still such a taboo in Korea? Are we still surprised by the idea of a gay man? I feel sorry for Young Bae, having to let his friends find out that he’s gay. Predefined roles in society can really wreck someone. Young Bae basically lived his life in a box. A box he couldn’t even come out of in the company of his closest friends. That makes me feel so sad. I have quite a few friends in the same situation. The idea of them having to explain themselves to people is unimaginable.

I’m still scared by the reaction of many men when the idea of gayness is brought up. Jun Mo takes Tae Su’s announcement so personally, like it’s a slight that his best friend would not have told them about it all this time. But it hurts to see how he’s more hurt at the fact that their history together seems tarnished, like everything they shared together growing up is somehow different because he’s gay.  If Young Bae had told his friends from the very beginning that he was gay, would the reactions have been any different? Would he have still been a part of their friendship? Tae Su’s being gay for all of two hours almost crushed him. How could he possibly imagine being gay all his life? I personally believe that all straight men need one gay friend in their lives. Just so that they know how to adjust to it (how sad that’s its still something the straight community needs to adjust to). I understand the situation in the movie is heightened by the fact that Tae Su is actually married and not gay, but even in that situation, he would rather have wrecked his own marriage than have his friend revealed as gay. In an intimate setting of close friends.

I’m also put off by the idea of having to be in a marriage that is constant reminder of my faults and shortcomings. Or is it that the person I’m with would see them as shortcomings? Tae Su does a great job of reminding his wife that she messed up, now everything she does is a reflection of the one incident. The people you love really end up hurting you the most. Soo Hyun has lived with regret about night she hit someone with her car. But she feels like the worst criminal because Tae Su will never let her forget it. The guilt must really weigh on her if she’s more comfortable with her husband being gay than him not forgiving her.

I do enjoy the idea of cheating being such a big no-no in this movie. Yay for morality and sticking to the sanctity of marriage. Infidelity almost seems like a trend these days. I mean, its been around for the longest time, but had always been frowned upon. Yet here we are in the 21^st century, Instagramming our affairs with other women’s husbands like it’s a normal thing to be doing. I’m not disputing the idea of being in open relationships. Most of the cultures in my country condone polygamy. But there’s a line we should be drawing, especially when what we are doing puts our feelings and desires above everything else, including the feelings of those closest to us. Se Kyung didn’t deserve to be hurt like that. It made no sense for Jun Mo to cheat on her and wreck their marriage the way he did. Sleeping with so many women at the same time made no sense. He can at some point tell himself that he lived a full life. At what cost though? Was it worth it? The way people are living now cannot be healthy.

Side note: Until 2015, spouses in Korea were able to open a police file against their partner if they caught them cheating. Yep, cheating in Korea used to be a criminal offense. This law was removed not so long ago because it was meant to protect women, who were during that time financially dependent on their husbands. Though times have changed, adultery is still frowned upon in Korean society

Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/south-korea-legalises-adultery

Seok Ho as a father makes me proud (and a bit jealous). His conversation with his daughter brought forth so many emotions that I had to pause the movie a bit. I hope that fathers can cherish their daughters the way that he does his. (This is a fictional character; I’m getting too emotional). Every time I hear about fathers, its always in relation to how they should raise their sons right. But having fathers raising their daughters right is just as important. Girls need the right type of reference when meeting boys and where else should they find it if not their own fathers?

This movie shows that there’s a side to everyone that nobody wants to share, not even with the people closest to them. And that’s fine. Some things are meant to be a secret. It would have been wonderful for the result of all these secrets being revealed to be a mutual understanding of each other. But human nature sometimes does not allow people to act rationally. It shows how much easier it is for us to compartmentalise our lives. We pick out of everything that we are things that we think would be ok for others to know. Because the opinions of people closest to us matters the most. The rest we hide and enjoy in small doses, away from judgemental eyes, because we know that someone won’t understand us the way we understand ourselves, even our ugliness.

At the end of the movie, the whole evening is turned back and the dinner is shown to have gone smoothly without the game having been played. All members of the party go home and continue with their lives. And that’s okay too. In a world where people are perfect, it would be understandable to want to know everything about your partner. But we are imperfect beings, and if the truth does more harm than good, its okay to keep it to yourself.

“People live three lives: a public life, a private life and a secret life”

Intimate Strangers

Let me know what you think in the comment section. Let’s chat K community.

Take 3 badass ladies, 2 conglomerate web companies, 1 kickass suit designer, and what do you get? An unbelievable explosion of power and feminism. Search Query: WWW is the new TVN drama about the kind of woman I’ve always wanted to be… You know, if I was motivated, and rich, and pretty….

Synopsis

The synopsis provided by YTN is very misleading, especially after having watched the first few episodes. A lot of the character descriptions are correct in some sense but are extremely unrelatable to what we see and how the story itself progresses.

“ This is a romance drama that depicts 3 career women who specialise in trending portal sites and the men that shake up their lives.”  

You can read the rest of the press release at the link below

Reference: https://www.ytn.co.kr/_sn/0117_201902261036232814

Thoughts

What I liked

What a fresh drama. It’s well-paced, different and imaginative in its writing. In stark contrast to Korean family values, this drama takes us on a trip through the lives of people who are not a norm in Korea. Career women? Yes, until you get married. But not here. In this drama, women get to decide for themselves what they want to be, and they do it in designer outfits with bitching attitudes. 

The characters are introduced in such bold ways. It makes it easy for me as a spectator to pick a side. Bae Ta Mi is fierce; she is revered by her colleagues and loves her job above all else. She’s certainly not a hard character to understand. You can tell straight off the bat that she’s a force to be reckoned with. And boy does she prove it. She not only takes a stand against a government that dictates whenever it suits them but sticks it to the very people that thought she would comply to be a scapegoat. That’s badass. And I get her. For all the money and power KU Group can buy, they can’t make someone say the things they want. I like how the writers use Bae Ta Mi’s trial to show that conglomerates only hold the amount of power people afford them. Money only does so much.

There’s more to be said about Scarlett but considering that her story line is pretty thin at the moment, I can’t say I’ve made out anything about her. I do love how she just loves beating people up, that’s always fun to watch.

I’m yet to conclude how I feel about my male lead. I mean, he’s younger, he’s handsome. He’s almost one dimensional. I feel like the writers will have to make his story arc a big one for me to take him seriously. From what I’ve seen so far, he’s too young. Even in his mannerisms. Like, how am I supposed to take this child seriously? Does he know what happens in a board meeting? I get it, he’s supposed to be in love with her, and its cute. For the first 2 episodes. After that, he’s just an annoying love-struck puppy that follows you around everywhere. Its cute for the first hour or so. After that you just want your puppy to go do things other puppies do.

I’m happy to see that Song Ga Gyeong knows the weight of the consequences of her actions (not to say she’s the villain per se’, but she’s doing pretty villainous things at the moment, so… if the shoe fits). She’s aware that she’s a pawn and has no power. She’s also well aware that by doing so, she’s giving up a whole set of ethics. She knows. But she chooses to anyway. And I think that’s what makes her my favourite character for now. Because I foresee a change in her in the near future that’s going to redeem her. For now, she’s ok with just being a bitch, because she’s chosen to be one (coping mechanisms).

What I didn’t like

I don’t have any real complaints about the drama as a whole at the moment (there will be in the future, trust me). I am a bit put off by the lack of proper character development though. I don’t know if it was purposeful, but I was able to describe Ta Mi’s character within the first 5 minutes of episode 1. Maybe because she’s the protagonist? But is that it, Search WWW? That’s all she’s going to be? I certainly hope not. I hope that at some point characters such as Brian, Scarlett, and even Oh Jin Woo (Song Ga Gyeong’s husband – there’s a story there, I tell you) get their 2 minutes of fame. Their characters are integral to the plot. Please, writers, don’t leave them bare. I might be nit-picking. There’s only so much time that can be given to building a character, the show must go on. But build your characters fully and I promise you the story will basically drive itself.

Though our villains seem to have a duality to them that is a bit jarring, its hard for me to ever have to believe that circumstance determines the choices you make. I call bullshit on how people think they don’t have a choice. Yes, the consequences may be dire (Bae Ta Mi loses her job, so…), but the right choice is there to be made. I suspect this will happen at some point. If you push someone to the edge, they’ll fight back eventually. I can’t wait for that moment (fingers crossed for an interesting mid-drama episode) because it will show the true nature of each character (if written well enough).

One could argue that our villains choose to be such, yes. But that doesn’t excuse some of the things that happen for the sake of happening. Jin Woo needs to man up and tell his mother where to get off. Song Ga Gyeong is a pawn, yes, but she doesn’t need to take orders AND be kicked around. Let’s show some class rich people!

Am I the only one who thinks the cameraman is drunk in many of the scenes? I’m jarred a bit by the filming technique. It’s done so purposefully, I get it, but it’s starting to make me feel like I’ve been smoking something… just a thought. The scenes are still beautiful though, save for a few cuts into other scenes.

Yay or Nay?

It’s a top-notch drama! Of course, this is just my humble opinion. And a definite must-watch for me! I will be seeing this drama through, even if just to see our main characters in fresh tailor-made suits.

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