Really well written review, re Bora. I didn't realise how frustrated I was with SH awfully inconsistent character development, until you described it so accurately, because I knew what the writers were doing. A kind of prolonged, constipated ending. Somehow because the writing/acting/narrative re the leads was so excellent, I forgave all and just went along for the adorable ride of their bumpy/endearing romance. I totally ignored everyone else. What stood out between my FF'ing was Bomi is a relentless bitch , and Uri and boss, omg. You think Bora was bad writing, try Dr Cha....if you've seen it, each ep. is a tedious repetition, like a hamster on a treadmill, with narcissistic husband provided with a one trick pony response to all confrontations, that is to close his eyes and sigh. 14 eps so far of that response is enough to drive you insane. He has two timed his wife, dated, slept with his mistress, for years. Undermined his wife's career, basically treated her like garbage...and can only seem to sigh when confronted. I really think Kim Byung Chul is a good actor, so I'm not sure why he's accepted a part which is beyond stupid.
Why is god's name Dr Cha is still in this rubbish situation, and not in the arms of handsome, kind Dr Roy is only to be solved by asking the writers.
I thought the accuracy of Badminton and Tennis, training etc was amazing in Nothing but you, the way the business was run, etc really interesting. The overly saccharine relationship, which was kind of
no chemistry, chaste, made me drop it in the end. I think he might have chosen this in part because his character in Lighter and Princess was soooooo smug and repellant. Besides showing off the tennis prowess of course.
I recall your review of Little Women, which I have subsequently watched twice again. So interesting but I have watched it as if it was a fairytale, which means that the inconsistencies and crazy events are part of a magical fable. Each time I'm blown away by the acting, the intricacy of the plot, the OST,
the interesting locations, I'm a huge fan of Kim Go-Eun, and Wi Ha Joon which helps. When you compare this to what is on right now, it shines as a drama series. Anyway I'm sure this is a minority opinion, just my take.
I'm wondering if you have heard of kdrama One Day Off, it's just so good. Cheers!
I don't actually dislike Little Women. If I had, the ending would have been an easier pill to swallow. It's because I enjoyed much of the first 10 episodes, that the last two sank like the Titanic for me. I too watched it initially as a fairytale but I really wanted In-joo to ride off into the sunset with the roguish antihero that saved her bacon more than once. There were just too many characters in that show and not enough time to tie up their arcs. I can't hate it that much if I'm writing my second fanfic for it.
No, I hadn't heard of One Day Off until you mentioned it.
I didn’t hate the last two episodes as much as most people seem to. And in hindsight, I could understand where the writer was going with Soo Hyuk’s and Bora’s arc. I don’t disagree with your observations and I reacted in almost the same way. I can see some noble idiocy thrown in too.
However, in the grand scheme of things and after some more thought, I think I appreciated the writer more in NOT having SH behave differently just for the sake of a “romantic confession”. I thought it was sweet that he TRIED to. But alas, his best efforts of a drama-like confession was copying from two other characters of a drama. (I didn’t realize this until some people on Reddit pointed out these were from The Heirs and Lovers in Paris.) His own effort was better because it turned out to be more honest and sincere than the planned proposal that Bora’s ex gave her. Which she originally wanted in the beginning.
And I think this gave a picture of who SH really is. He is articulate but not when it comes to expressing his own emotions. It seems that he is not that way when they were going on pretend dates but that is precisely why— it is because he hides behind the guise of method acting that he is able to express himself.
I’m probably over-analyzing this already but I wondered if someone’s love language could only be understood if it was presented in the same way. That was why there was no reaction from SH when she confessed but he reacted immediately when he read her manuscript.
As for OTP’s conclusion, I’m of the mind that I think some writers do have trouble getting to a conclusion too early for the OTP. In some other dramas, there is some kind of separation between them through a stalker-ish ex or some thug causing physical injury on one of the leads or, my least favorite, they resort to cringe behavior for the couple. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to see two episodes of aegyo like what they did with Hometown Cha Cha Cha.
As you can see, I’m already biased and more forgiving of this show because Soo Hyuk is as close to a perfect male character for me, as far as K dramas go. He’s smart. He’s kind and sensitive. Though not a pushover. He’s the kind of friend or partner who would actually stand up for someone when injustice or unfair situations present itself. Words are meaningless until they are proven to be true is probably his motto. He is very good at demonstration. Hence, the ring inside the mittens. If his major fault was not speaking up during a confession for fear of getting hurt or messing things up then I’d take that over a boorish character like Du Shik any day!
Thank you for your analysis and you've obviously given it a lot of thought. I'm flattered that you've taken the time to write so much on someone else's blog. You're a legend.
Frankly, I think you're far more generous about the writing than the show deserves. To back that up I point to how all the other characters were written in the show especially in Episode 13 and 14. Putting aside the leads, the other relationship arcs suffered from a lack of substantive development. Only the married couple finally dealt with something that had been building up all throughout the show. Those last two episodes felt rushed partly as a result of the show introducing new conflict to maintain audience interest to the end. Episode 13 in particular was very shouty. As if to drag the viewer back into conflict mode for one last hurrah. All of that to put the characters on edge and by extension the audience. For me at least, the story logic isn't there to support the idea that the writer was doing something clever or insightful with the Su-hyeok character. I did and still do... find it hard to believe that Su-hyeok would be so naive to believe anything that comes out of Ju-hwan's lips after being there with Bo-ra right from the beginning and seeing how she worked so hard to move on. This is my insurmountable road block. It speaks to plotting because 13 in particular is deeply flawed as a whole. The reinsertion of Ju-hwan in the narrative was not that well-handled. It's the same with Little Women when they brought back a character into the show at the end to make crucial reveals who wasn't there for most of it.
I think there were better ways to end the series and I talk about that in the most recent podcast.
Really well written review, re Bora. I didn't realise how frustrated I was with SH awfully inconsistent character development, until you described it so accurately, because I knew what the writers were doing. A kind of prolonged, constipated ending. Somehow because the writing/acting/narrative re the leads was so excellent, I forgave all and just went along for the adorable ride of their bumpy/endearing romance. I totally ignored everyone else. What stood out between my FF'ing was Bomi is a relentless bitch , and Uri and boss, omg. You think Bora was bad writing, try Dr Cha....if you've seen it, each ep. is a tedious repetition, like a hamster on a treadmill, with narcissistic husband provided with a one trick pony response to all confrontations, that is to close his eyes and sigh. 14 eps so far of that response is enough to drive you insane. He has two timed his wife, dated, slept with his mistress, for years. Undermined his wife's career, basically treated her like garbage...and can only seem to sigh when confronted. I really think Kim Byung Chul is a good actor, so I'm not sure why he's accepted a part which is beyond stupid.
Why is god's name Dr Cha is still in this rubbish situation, and not in the arms of handsome, kind Dr Roy is only to be solved by asking the writers.
I thought the accuracy of Badminton and Tennis, training etc was amazing in Nothing but you, the way the business was run, etc really interesting. The overly saccharine relationship, which was kind of
no chemistry, chaste, made me drop it in the end. I think he might have chosen this in part because his character in Lighter and Princess was soooooo smug and repellant. Besides showing off the tennis prowess of course.
I recall your review of Little Women, which I have subsequently watched twice again. So interesting but I have watched it as if it was a fairytale, which means that the inconsistencies and crazy events are part of a magical fable. Each time I'm blown away by the acting, the intricacy of the plot, the OST,
the interesting locations, I'm a huge fan of Kim Go-Eun, and Wi Ha Joon which helps. When you compare this to what is on right now, it shines as a drama series. Anyway I'm sure this is a minority opinion, just my take.
I'm wondering if you have heard of kdrama One Day Off, it's just so good. Cheers!
I don't actually dislike Little Women. If I had, the ending would have been an easier pill to swallow. It's because I enjoyed much of the first 10 episodes, that the last two sank like the Titanic for me. I too watched it initially as a fairytale but I really wanted In-joo to ride off into the sunset with the roguish antihero that saved her bacon more than once. There were just too many characters in that show and not enough time to tie up their arcs. I can't hate it that much if I'm writing my second fanfic for it.
No, I hadn't heard of One Day Off until you mentioned it.
I didn’t hate the last two episodes as much as most people seem to. And in hindsight, I could understand where the writer was going with Soo Hyuk’s and Bora’s arc. I don’t disagree with your observations and I reacted in almost the same way. I can see some noble idiocy thrown in too.
However, in the grand scheme of things and after some more thought, I think I appreciated the writer more in NOT having SH behave differently just for the sake of a “romantic confession”. I thought it was sweet that he TRIED to. But alas, his best efforts of a drama-like confession was copying from two other characters of a drama. (I didn’t realize this until some people on Reddit pointed out these were from The Heirs and Lovers in Paris.) His own effort was better because it turned out to be more honest and sincere than the planned proposal that Bora’s ex gave her. Which she originally wanted in the beginning.
And I think this gave a picture of who SH really is. He is articulate but not when it comes to expressing his own emotions. It seems that he is not that way when they were going on pretend dates but that is precisely why— it is because he hides behind the guise of method acting that he is able to express himself.
I’m probably over-analyzing this already but I wondered if someone’s love language could only be understood if it was presented in the same way. That was why there was no reaction from SH when she confessed but he reacted immediately when he read her manuscript.
As for OTP’s conclusion, I’m of the mind that I think some writers do have trouble getting to a conclusion too early for the OTP. In some other dramas, there is some kind of separation between them through a stalker-ish ex or some thug causing physical injury on one of the leads or, my least favorite, they resort to cringe behavior for the couple. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to see two episodes of aegyo like what they did with Hometown Cha Cha Cha.
As you can see, I’m already biased and more forgiving of this show because Soo Hyuk is as close to a perfect male character for me, as far as K dramas go. He’s smart. He’s kind and sensitive. Though not a pushover. He’s the kind of friend or partner who would actually stand up for someone when injustice or unfair situations present itself. Words are meaningless until they are proven to be true is probably his motto. He is very good at demonstration. Hence, the ring inside the mittens. If his major fault was not speaking up during a confession for fear of getting hurt or messing things up then I’d take that over a boorish character like Du Shik any day!
Thank you for your analysis and you've obviously given it a lot of thought. I'm flattered that you've taken the time to write so much on someone else's blog. You're a legend.
Frankly, I think you're far more generous about the writing than the show deserves. To back that up I point to how all the other characters were written in the show especially in Episode 13 and 14. Putting aside the leads, the other relationship arcs suffered from a lack of substantive development. Only the married couple finally dealt with something that had been building up all throughout the show. Those last two episodes felt rushed partly as a result of the show introducing new conflict to maintain audience interest to the end. Episode 13 in particular was very shouty. As if to drag the viewer back into conflict mode for one last hurrah. All of that to put the characters on edge and by extension the audience. For me at least, the story logic isn't there to support the idea that the writer was doing something clever or insightful with the Su-hyeok character. I did and still do... find it hard to believe that Su-hyeok would be so naive to believe anything that comes out of Ju-hwan's lips after being there with Bo-ra right from the beginning and seeing how she worked so hard to move on. This is my insurmountable road block. It speaks to plotting because 13 in particular is deeply flawed as a whole. The reinsertion of Ju-hwan in the narrative was not that well-handled. It's the same with Little Women when they brought back a character into the show at the end to make crucial reveals who wasn't there for most of it.
I think there were better ways to end the series and I talk about that in the most recent podcast.