Hotel Alice (2020)

Watch it, but don't take it too seriously.

I really wanted to give this show a good review. I honestly had enjoyed it up to about Episode 12, and did not understand why it got so many bad reviews here. Past that point, nothing made sense anymore and I was left very unsatisfied with the ending.

Would I recommend it? Sure, it starts off great, but be prepared for a terrible ending.

I think there was so much potential in the story. I was hooked on each episode in the beginning as the plot slowly began to unfold, but towards the middle characters started to act irrationally and couldn't understand what was right in front of their noses. I held onto the conviction that the plot would be fleshed out to a somewhat satisfactory ending, but it reached a climax somewhere halfway through and began going around in circles and circles for a few episodes.

Still, I think the production value is amazing. It's not easy to film and direct a time travel show, and I really appreciate the production team's and actors' efforts in seamlessly connecting each setting.

This is a drama that you'd want to binge in a weekend, but don't anticipate too much what is going to happen. Don't take it too seriously and don't get hooked on the supporting cast, because, unfortunately, they don't have very satisfying endings (particularly Doyeon... feel so sad for that girl). Anyway, just enjoy it for the thriller it is and don't think too much into it.

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Intriguing mix of MIB, Doctor Stranger and Matrix kind of Time Travel Drama ?

Story:
If you love watching time travel, sci-fi kind of drama then you must watch this drama. It is not a perfect plot though, there's some holes in the story and illogical scenes but still this drama gave me full of excitement, curiosity and all kinds of emotions from ep.1 to 16. I love that it has a clear lesson to convey to the viewers, - "don't dwell on the past that cannot be undone, appreciate more your present time and the persons around you." If you're a person who keeps turning back on your past, this drama might help you to get some realization.

Acting/Cast:
Perfect 10 for the main role especially to Joo Won and Kim Hee Seon. As always, you will never disappoint in their acting.

Music:
All OST are all good, but some of it are not my type of music.

Rewatch Value:
If I will miss watching Joo Won I will watch it again. I actually watched the first half 3x.

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What the F*** did I watch?

***WORD OF WARNING: ALL THE SPOILERS, BEWARE!!***

As a Sci-fi Lover, I was excited for an awesome time-travel/dimension-travel drama. Initially, it looked like it had all the makings of an exciting drama. The added element of a main character was someone with Alexithymia and how he developed that and his powers due to his mother's time-travel while he was in the womb was also an interesting concept. I was expecting a Fringe-like vibe, which was there in the beginning.

Then the whole thing went off the rails. At first, I thought it was time travel with paradoxes having to be prevented, which then became time travel with no paradox as a new reality was created. At least that was what I thought happened. At one point it fell like parallel dimensions where ppl came to experience what they lost in their universe, with time travel. It was like the writer could not keep track of the rules for how time travel worked and kept changing it as more characters and elements were added to the story. Sometimes, it felt like they retconned something, that that was stated as fact in the previous episode, in the very next one. The whole thing made me want to throw my laptop at a wall!!

Don't even get me started on the Old Jin Gyeom being the villain and killing him before he killed the mother was the solution to all their problems and erasure of time-travel agency. I am so turned around by what the hell happened, especially from episode 12 onwards. Did they travel back in time to different dimensions or their own? Did they change their own past? Also if the time travel agency disappeared which world did it disappear in? Did it just exist in one world? Also if it was erased, then how do Yoon Tae Yi and Park Jin Gyum exist, are both they were both born when they did because their mom's time travelled? Also even if we ignore Tae Yi's situation and assume she was made with a different mom in place of her time-traveling mom, if there is no time travel she wouldn't go back in time to have Jin Gyum in the past. So how is he there?? It would make more sense for her to meet Min Hyuk and maybe have a Jin Gyum in the future.

Also, how did Old Jun Gyeom go evil/crazy? His mother's death made him become a cop, was it the realization that he was the killer that made him lose his mind? Did he encourage the start of the agency to save his mom? Should he have unalived himself to prevent her death? Also wtf she killed herself?? Is that what happened originally or was it just what happened in whatever universe they are currently in?

Also confused about how both of them are the same, if she was the result of a time traveller becoming her mom, was it the same for the original? Also if Tae Yi invented time travel and her partner went on to become the pseudo-head of it, why was the mom version of her just an agent? Why was she not in charge? Or was it yet another Tae Yi who invented it?

Also, how was the tattoo appearing on her?? what is the explanation behind that? This is supposed to be Sci-fi, not fantasy and she is not the chosen one. And how in the world is she having memories of the mom?? Or did I just understand that wrong? This is not like Olivia from Fringe having Alt-Olivia's memories, there she is drugged w/ Cortexiphan as a child and then again as an adult causing the bleed-through of memories. Where is Alice's version of Cortexiphan for Tae Yi or some other phenomenon to explain the bleed-through? Especially because they are not near each other or anything when the memories come to Tae Yi.

Too many plot holes and no proper answers. This is not even like the open endings where you can just picture your version of how it ended or where it makes you consider different possibilities. This is more of the brain aneurysm-inducing confusion trying to figure out what the f*** just happened.

Also, what's with the serious incest that was happening? I mean his fascination with a woman who looked like his mother is one thing, but the weird sexual/ motherly vibes their relationship gave at different points was just plain creepy. I don't care that she was an alternate-universe version of his mom. It's still a person, who has the same freaking DNA as her. It would be just as creepy if he was into his mother's identical twin sister who was raised separately. I'm not sure why they needed romance, they could have learned about the mother-son thing, and it would have been emotional and beautiful. This came off weird and creepy and trying too hard. Also, what was the point of Kim Do Yeon?? Was she just there to highlight that the only person Jin Gyum would fall in love with would be his mother look alike, who at times treated him like her son? Too much Oedipus complex for my taste, while trying to justify that it is not Oedipus cause she is not actually, his mother.

Despite all my hate for the plot, the acting was great, so was the OST. Kim Hee Sun and Joo Won both showed such emotional range and they portrayed them well. Overall, despite this the confusion I had to endure almost made me drop this, but I stayed true hoping I could understand something, anything.

When I first started Alice, I thought it would be unique, a trip to Wonderland. In a way it delivers. Alice drops you down the rabbit hole to Confuseland making you wish you could erase the part of your brain where it will now forever take up space as the most convoluted, nonsensical plot you had the misfortune of seeing. I don't think I have even read fanfiction that was the level of hell this plot was made on.

But despite this, if you still want a drama that is a Brain F*** that leaves you so turned around you don't know up from down and down and Wonderland from Outland, then this is the drama for you.

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Alice isn't what I was expecting, in a bad way!
This drama wasn't super awful since it started pretty well which hooked me since it had a pretty decent concept but then it went downhill up until the end. The fact that there are too many scenes that hint towards a potential romance between mother and son grossed me out, but I pulled through and watched it till the end.
Honestly, there were parts that were harder to understand the plot, but the actors did an amazing job considering what they were working with. Maybe the 16 episodes were too long for this plot which caused it to be a bit awkward?
Finally, the ending to me was a little vague since I was expecting something more concrete than this, to be honest.
So, if you're not grossed out by the possible incest or you don't mind the confusing plot, go ahead and watch it.

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Confusing levels of multi-dimensional taboo love

This drama was pretty good with an engaging story that often became super convoluted and confusing but was wrapped up really well at the end...apart from the whole in love with your mom thing. Like ok....so it's your mom from another dimension...it's still your mom and WTF you doing, boy? And like...once you figure out it's your mom why you still trying to get with her. IDC what dimension you're from, if you birthed me or any version of me I'm not DTF.

Apart from the romance, the drama's actual storyline was really fascinating. Any sci-fi theme show I'm down to watch, but I liked that this one had elements of sci-fi that you could envision being possible in present-day world with a few minor fantasy upgrades. I'd maybe watch this one again, if I can get past the taboo romance part.

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Underrated

I applaud the writers attempt of a more scientific approach to time travel. Even if there is some pseudo scientific entanglement for story reasons.

Ultimately though all time travel events are transitions into parallel universes (alternate timelines). And it is quite interesting to see the protagonists struggling with this concept and trying to fix things.

The acting is fine. No one stands out in particular though. The special effect are okay. Background music and sound effects are quite good in creating tension and suspense. The script is a bit heavy on dialog at times. I think 12 episodes would have been more than enough to tell the story.

It's one of the few shows that would linger in mind for some time after watching an episode. And is thus worth a 9/10.

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A fun ride

I personally found Alice to be a fun and exciting show. The first few episodes were especially good. It's towards the end that things became pretty complicated, and while I appreciated some of it, I also wanted more. For example, I wish that Jin Gyeom's past with his detective father-figure wasn't erased.
I also never read his relationship with his mother as romantic like some of the other viewers have, but it was sometimes too close for comfort. Jin Gyeom said he doesn't feel any romantic interest for anyone, which did provide some relief in that aspect.
I did enjoy the characters and the acting. I thought Joo Won did a really good job of balancing a lack of emotion with the character's more emotional moments. I also enjoyed Tae Yi as a smart and pretty capable character. I thought the show nicely balanced humor, emotion, and suspense.

This show certainly isn't flawless, but I don't really nitpick flaws and rather judge on enjoyment There are some things I would change about the ending, but I'd still recommend Alice as an exciting and enjoyable show.

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Sabe fiquei um tempo pensando em como começar resenhar esse dorama, a premissa é boa, viagem no tempo, múltiplos universos, loop de tempo, paradoxo, também me lembra O exterminador do futuro, mas ao contrário e até me fez conhecer o experimento “o gato de schrodinger” onde se pode está vivo ou morto ao mesmo tempo. Alice nos pais das maravilhas é citada e faz parte da composição obviamente.

Gostei bastante até a metade do episódio treze, mas daí inventaram de colocar um tipo de transtorno de personalidade que não condiz com a teoria que o Seok Oh Won disse no começo algo como. Cada vez que você viaja, você cria uma cópia diferente de sua linha do tempo, mas o original permanece o mesmo e não é alterado. Para mim o fim foi razoável até o do capítulo dezesseis depois só ladeira abaixo.

Teve coisas que atrapalharam, as pontas soltas são normais nesse tipo de tema, universos paralelos, tempos paralelos por isso não me incomodou, tirando o fato de me perguntar quem escreveu o livro, se 2050 era o ano deles porque ela era tão jovem? Mas o escritor se atrapalhou em algumas dessas pontas e até acabou criando um paradoxo sobre a mãe do principal, se filha de uma viajante, como poderá nascer de novo com o fim da Alice? E também tem o Yoo Min Hyuk quando ele se encaixa no Alice, pior ainda para que criar um clima estranho nos capítulos cinco e seis nos forçando acreditar que a doutora estava gostando romanticamente do detetive, que em tese seria seu futuro filho. Como ele a esqueceu se ela tem a mesma cara de sua mãe?

Tive a mesma sensação de Born Again, onde eles estragam tudo no final.

Em resumo se fosse mudar o final primeiro não criaria essa estória da principal ser filha de uma viajante, quando desse reset, ela esqueceria tudo e de alguma forma conhecesse o Yoo Min Hyuk e então nasceria o principal.

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What no?! that's your mother!

There was no satisfying end to Alice I'm thinking it's one of those shows that mess with your mind to the end then pulls it all together and it all make sense and worth it in the end I was wrong I'm actually quite disturbed by the ending I mean it wouldn't have been so bad if they just cut out that last highly suggestive incestuous scene. don't even get me started on the space-time conflicts within the show it's like no! time doesn't work like that what are you doing?!

if your future self travels to the past and kills your past self HOW DOES FUTURE SELF EXIST?! it gave me a headache just trying to wrap my head around all the nonsense going on I kept watching because I was wanting it all to make sense eventually it never did.

like someone else said I'd like to go back in time and tell myself not to waste 16+ hours of my life on this series!


lessons learned.

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A Really Poor Series…

I’m a big fan of hare-brained ideas and sci-fi fantasy shows. Some people mind find them absurd but I think that they have a certain peculiar charm to them.

I think that Alice was one of those shows which on paper and in the initial reading sounded brilliant. In fact I really liked the concept of the detective meeting his mother’s doppelgänger and the mystery element to the sci-fi fantasy action.

On the other hand I felt as though that even the screenwriters weren’t entirely sure what they were going with here. The plot logic seemed to be out the window. For example let’s cover the basis of the main leads’ parentage. I can’t believe for a minute that the female lead’s mother could’ve been THE ONLY female time traveller ever in the agency to be pregnant when time travelling, so why did it affect her of all people?

A lot of plot ties which seemed important in early episodes was rarely touched upon in the next episode . I think what made this funnier was the fact that despite seemingly being revolved around some big brained scientists who are main characters or have an active role in the events of the series a lot of evident matters with time travel such as paradoxes and the problem of the butterfly effect were often left disregarded.

I didn’t think the acting was entirely bad here but it was hard to feel anything authentic with the onscreen relationship between our leads!? I don’t know if I blame the actors entirely as it seemed as though the dialogue was a bit wooden and the slow pacing was an immediate turn off for me.

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Could be...sorry spoiler

This is my opinion...I know it may seem unfair but for me the writer that write this story perhaps have different views about pararel universe and time travel.
I compare it to the flash who use concept of ime travel and pararel universe which is very good.
In the beginning it was interesting...specially kwak si yang as min hyuk since i like him frim the era wgm with kim so yeon. But it becomes weird and confusing for me...i have no problem with the actors and they did a good job but i am so confused with the cocept of the writer...is he trying to use time travel in the same universe or is he trying to mixed it woth pararel universe...or probably the poor translation that made me confused....seeing tae yi in the past and future and present admiting as they are different but then the will face the same event in the prophecy make me confuse...suddenly there is a to version of each character of bad and good...it did not solified the effect of wormhole or blackhole because the baby from the future was born and raised in the past...and why does it took so long for the writer to unite father and son..even until ep 14...gin gyeom still have no clue that his father was mjn hyuk...i mean...why is he more giving a vibe of rimance between a woman with the mom's face ...it is siçk...unless gin gyeom have mother complex sindrom which just not possible since he has a mental problem regarding his emotionless...i mean there is no info to help me as an audience to understand the background timeline....gosh...it has a lot of potential but if you are used to see the flash and like it ..believe me you wilk compliant like me..but if you are here because of kwak si yang and joo won...very recommended but just donot analyse...overall the cast is really good specially kwak si yang...his aura is different...if you watch wgm him with kim so yeon....so different....he is so manly 🥰🥰🥰...and he does not appeared much but he shines the same as the lead.....nice acting 👏👏👏

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absolutely underrated!

I'm halfway through this drama and it definitely has me wanting to see more and more.
I don't understand why people that have actually watch this drama would give it low ratings.
I'm so glad that I read at least one rating that had good things to say about this amazing drama!!

There is everything you want in a drama. I've had a hard time shutting off at night, I always have to watch one more episode. That's the kind of drama that deserves a top rating. Even if I don't understand what's happening at times, it still has you wanting for more and more.

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