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Mar 25, 2022Liked by 40somethingahjumma

Wow.. you actually did squeeze out interesting content from this drama, and I’m not surprised. For me, at first this show was a no-no. But it strangely grew on me, maybe because I’ve been super tired from work lately and I get to enjoy a little no-brainer every Monday Tuesday. I’ve never actually focused on the how’s and why’s of this drama, I was content with the over the top visuals, honestly. I was simply satisfied because even though this has got a cliché story line, supporting characters built in order to get the main leads together, it still is a drama which runs at a fair pace, no unnecessary dragging, no useless flashbacks (something I’ve personally always disliked).

But your observation here is impressive and showed me another angle of the show which, I’m now coming to realise, is in fact, logical.

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Mar 25, 2022·edited Mar 25, 2022Author

Thank you for the comment.

I am the sort of drama watcher that loves stories and and storytelling. For me it's obvious that every story no matter how ludicrous, contains some kind of message. It has to in order to resonate with people. Stories are the means by which we transmit what our respective cultures value and to, if you like, indoctrinate them with pretty pictures as in the case of a drama like this.

In all honesty, there are only a few things i really like about this show. Whatever tropes it deploys, it does them well but it doesn't do anything groundbreaking with the genre nor does it have to, to succeed. However, I really like how Kang Tae-mu is written and Kim Se-young is pulling out all the stops in the acting department. I also like Sung-hoon but I'm not a fan of the secondary romance. It's taken me a while to really warm up to the show with Episode 7 being my favourite.

All of this probably sounds a bit schizophrenic but I am a fan of contract relationships and as long as most of the elements are properly played out, it usually works even if the script isn't stellar. I'm partial to the idea that two people who barely know each other can fall in love when they're placed in a situation where they have to collaborate. This is for me the magic of the contract relationship trope.

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Your last observation - "What Ha-ri wants, whether she knew it or not, is to be wanted… to be loved passionately… and to be kissed." - really moved me. I was quite annoyed by Min-woo's appearance in the show because he just enjoys having Ha-ri nearby. But Ha-ri is meant to be deeply loved and cared, and Tae-mu is here for that!

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Absolutely.

Thanks for swinging by.

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