One Shot Scandal (2023)

Comecei a ver pelo Jung Kyung Ho, fiquei pela história da protagonista.

Haeng-Seon é um mulher que abandonou os seus sonhos para cuidar do tio autista e da sobrinha após a morte da sua mãe. Ela, que era uma promessa para o handebol coreano, precisou deixar o esporte de lado para cuidar e sustentar a sua família nada convencional.

Agora, mais madura e bem estabelecida na vida, seu sonho se tornou o sucesso da sua filha/sobrinha, que está para terminar o ensino médio e ir para a faculdade. Haeng-Seon deseja que ela tenha todas as oportunidades que ela mesma não teve no passado, mesmo que isso signifique precisar aturar um professor egocêntrico e viciado no trabalho.

Choi Chi-Yeol é um professor “estrela” de matemática. Rico, bonito e popular, ele parece ter tudo o que deseja ao seu alcance, mas essa fachada bem-sucedida esconde muitos segredos, traumas e solidão.

A partir de uma premissa mais leve e divertida, a obra consegue equilibrar muito bem entre o drama e a comédia, chegando a abordar vários tópicos mais densos e complexos, como abandono, o que define uma família, a pressão colocada nos estudantes e a percepção da mídia sobre as pessoas. Tudo enquanto apresenta um romance divertido e personagens encantadores.

Foi uma surpresa muito boa, comecei esse dorama após ver um reels no instagram e descobrir que o protagonista masculino seria interpretado pelo Jung Kyung Ho, mas o que realmente me conquistou foi a história de Nam Haeng Sun com a sobrinha e sua dinâmica familiar nada convencional, mas muito especial.

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BEST ROM-COM WITH A TWIST OF MYSTERY. MUST WATCH.

I don't write reviews that much however, for this drama I feel like it's better to drop a review so that more people can watch this drama. Many people might say that the FL casting was bad or there were too many unnecessary sub-plots. But I will say that all those things added to the charm of the drama. Though it could pass it as only rom-com as well but I liked those small plots as well. They added seriousness to the issues that this drama wanted to address.
About the FL, I think she portrayed her role very well. She looked perfect as someone who had gone through so much in life and became older earlier. If you go through so much at a young age, your beauty bound to fade away and her casting was perfect for the show. Though I wish they could have dress up prettily at special ocassions but I still feel that the kind of style was her character.
She and Kyungho complimented each other so well and complete the drama. From bickering with each other to falling in love with each other, this couple gave us all kinds of butterfly emotions in stomach.
I also loved how the drama came to a perfect ending with all the characters falling in it's place. The best part was how mothers came to an understanding about their kids and how su-a, who was the most stressed one found a friend in Geon Wu. I am so happy that Hae Yi and Sun Jae was together as well. Our babies grew up so well.
For now I will say that this was the best rom-com of 2023 yet. I am sure we will get more rom-coms this year but for now, this will be on my top list. If you're wondering to watch or not, I will say go ahead and give it a try. After 2 episodes, you will be addicted to the drama yourself.

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Solid slice of life, interesting serial killer angel, cute romances but the chemistry was a bit off

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 South Korean comedy romance drama with 16, 70 Minute Episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then a review.

Synopsis
Nam Haeng-seon's (Jeon Do-yeon) has been all about supporting the niece her sister abandoned and her autistic brother. After giving up a spot on the national handball team to raise her niece and take care of her disabled brother, she carries on with the recipes her deceased mother used and runs a banchan shop that became a favorite of food bloggers. Money is tight as a single wage earner and the last thing she needs is to deal with an eccentric spoiled celebrity who breaks her autistic brother's phone following an misunderstanding. Or so she thinks. Choi Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho) works at an elite academy where people line up quite literally to get their child a prized spot in one of his tutor classes. The two are destined to interact though as Haeng-seon's niece requests a slot in Chi-yeol's sessions so she can bring up her scores and Chi-yeol finds that, for some reason, Haeng-seon's food is the only food that does not trigger his eating disorder. It provides a slice of life of South Korea's competitive educational system which provides a backdrop for an unlikely romance.

Review

Overall a very light hearted romantic comedy with a slice of life into the competitive world of academics. I found that view on how much power and influence wealthy parents can have interesting and not all that different than what you might see with ivy league colleges in the United States. I recommend it for anyone that likes straight forward romances, slice of life and family dynamics.

Spoilers

The male and female lead had a 10 year age gap in the actual ages of the actors with the Jeon Do-Yeon being 10 years older than Jung Kung-ho. Do yeon is a beautiful and elegant lady but she looks her age. Kung-ho has a young face that looked even younger than his age and made the gap seem even larger. Both did an amazing job acting but the physical appearance of the age gap really disrupted the chemistry in my opinion. It was more sweet than passionate.

It was a little disappointing that the issue with Chi-yeol's assistant Ji-Dong Hee (Shin Jae-ha) ended with suicide. It felt like too little for everything he had done.

The chemistry between Haeng-seong's best friend, Kim Yong-joo (Lee Bong-ryun) and her brother, Nam Jae-woo (Oh Eui-shick) was also off. With the brother's autism it would have taken a slow build over the series with them slowly showing feelings for each other. Her abruptly expressing interest in him seemed like she was doing it only out of loneliness and his reciprocation wound up feeling like pity. There was no "ah finally" when they became a couple because it really wasn't that much of the series where she expressed interest in him, he initially rejected her, then they were together.

As a fan of the reality dating show "Heart Signal" I was fan girling when Bae Yoon-kyung had a role as Chi-yeol's blind date and 2nd romantic interest. I am excited her acting career has taken off and I thought she did a great job in this show.

I loved the relationship between the daughter/nice, Nam Hae-Yi (Roh Yoon-seo) and her aunt/mother Nan Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon). If you love and raise a child biology does not matter. And, an aunt, because of dominant and recessive genes can be more closely genetically related to their niece or nephew than the mother anyway.

I loved the relationship between the daughter/niece, Nam Hae-Yi (Roh Yoon-seo) and her aunt/mother Nan Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon). If you love and raise a child biology does not matter. And, an aunt, because of dominant and recessive genes can be more closely genetically related to their niece or nephew than the mother anyway. did I not want to see Hae-Yi try to fix him or feel like she owed anyone that, I felt like he wasn't there for her during some really key times when he withdrew and basically ghosted her. That is why I was more a fan of her dating the ice hockey player and fellow student Seo Geon-hu (Lee Min-jae) because he was more straight forward with his feelings, always there for her, and I thought he would have been very good for the often too serious and underconfident Hae-yi. Instead he wound up with selfish and spoiled and almost mean girl Bang Soo-ah (Kang Na-eon) who he claimed was nice but, aside from one time when she welcomed back Hae-yi when she returned from the hospital and gave her notes, never showed a kind side. I thought the ice hockey playing, lovable and handsome Geon-hu deserved better.

The friendship between Geon-hu and Seon-jae was cute as it developed out of their rivalry over Hae-ri. I felt like Geon-hu gave up Hae-ri as he could tell her hear was with Seon-jae but also he started to like Seon-jae as a friend and was willing to give up the girl for the friendship. Still I wish he hadn't settled for a character I did not find likeable. Hae-ri's loyal girl friend Jang Dan Ji (Ryu Da-In) would have been a better choice as she was consistently nice and loyal and he did seem to have a flirty friendship going on with her before he suddenly switched to Soo-ah.

#CrashCourseInRomance
#JeonDoYeon
#JungKyungHo
#RohYoonSeo
#LeeChaeMin
#ShinJaeHa
#OhEuiShick
#LeeMinJae

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The union of my expectation and reality

This review is going to be different from my usual style. I don’t want to go through and dissect the show point by point because it would be nitpicking. I want a broader approach because the show affects me at a more visceral level.

Fundamentally, my overall emotion after completed this show is disappointment. On paper, this show should be one of the biggest hit of 2023. Indeed, the ratings and the online chatters all points to a buzzworthy show. That is to be expected when you start with an award winning script writer who has penned hits like Once Again, Oh My Ghost and Weightlifting Fairy, then add the power coupling of Jeon Do-yeon and Jung Kyung-ho. Throw in a laundry list of veteran support actors and you have one heady mix. This should yield nothing short of perfection. I should be able to just write QED and adjourn to the Union Bar for some (cough) intellectual discords.

However, by the half way mark, I can’t ignore a growing sense of unease and it only intensified as the story unfolds further. What bothers and concerns me is not the acting, which is solid, nor a bad script but it is just so . . . . underwhelming. It lacks that magical quality I'd expect from our writer-nim. To be brutally honest, this is not her best work. Most plots are tropey, the majority of support roles are one dimensional, the murder mystery is hardly suspenseful and why do we even need one? She pushes the button hard on the exam hell suffered by many senior students but she offered little redress. If anything, the ML is a hypocrite because while fully acknowledging how unfair and stressful the CSAT system is, he also makes an obscene amount of money tutoring and basks in his status as a top star teacher.

Similarly, after all the trials and tribulations relating to the exam system, everyone comes up roses. All the young protagonists gets into college courses of their choice. Even the sport jock who failed the exam is now a hardworking lad who won't give up. Hwaiting! It is not exactly a warts and all exposé, is it?

This spills over into the murder mystery. I was really expecting a tight and suspenseful whodunit but it soon becomes clear that the murderer’s identity and even his raison d’etre are fairly obvious. The only people who are fooled by the numerous red herrings are the local police. Of course this leads to some soul searching by the leads but in the end, the punishment fits the crime and we collectively moved on without a backward glance.

This is a recurring issue. While the show decries certain issues, the message is conflicting and diluted. The murderer was tormented and abused but because he committed heinous crimes, he is the one to blame. Everyone else is a victim. Ditto, the helicopter parents who drove their kids to distraction or worse are mostly given hall passes. The Show concludes with scenes of our long-suffering young cohorts being happy, well-adjusted college students enjoying themselves. Is the Show condemning the system or supporting it?

As a piece of entertainment, it is buzz worthy and very watchable and ticked all the boxes. It gets the Monday morning water cooler seal of approval, but I find it wanting. It pains me to have to write this review. It should have been a celebration of a great script and wonderful acting. To be fair, there is an lovely autumn romance with its fair share of swoon worthy moments. The amount of chemistry is up for debate but I digress. There are tensions and high dramas but they are also weakened by some inelegant story telling.

If I had known nothing about the writer and the ensemble actors then I'd be happy to watch it as a decent k-drama with its fair share of foibles but, alas, I do know better. This makes it all the harder to be placated by the last episode which I can only describe as sugar overload. Everyone is gifted with a HEA ending whether they deserved it or not. I, for one, cannot unsee the scene of the pregnant FL's BFF chatting with one of the gang-of-mums about her marriage. I literally groaned out loud.

One final thought. Whomever is the FL’s stylist needs to be locked away in a dank dark dungeon. It takes a herculean effort to dress the FL in the most frumpy anti-fashion way. That, my friend, is THE true crime.

Peace out.

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A crash plot but directed it well enough to watch

The show is a one time watch at the most. If I am going to talk about the story it is a not an intriguing plot nor has any exciting element. Just a basic plot to watch when you don't have many exciting series going on. But one thing they did well is execution and pace. The director should be credited for this.

The story is highly predictable after first four episodes including who is the serial killer.

I have two biggest complaints, first the final episodes were a wrap fest. So many subplots ending are rushed to wrap too quickly and abusive parents are forgiven just like that and turned into good people at the end. But we all know a parent who is been abusive for many years will never change. And it's not just one parent, almost all of the over bearing parents turned into caring parents in the end.

My other complaint would be although it seemed a romantic series with title and description, most of the time frame education pressure has been a concerned topic in this drama, they showed different sufferings students had to endure yet nonetheless the show never truly focused on the education system of Korea nor it focused properly on the romance development. I mean if they showed that much suffering of students at least education system should be made as focus but the show never went deep.

The drama doesn't have strong subjective frame of what the storyline it is going to narrate or it's purpose. The only sentence that will describe this drama is "let's make a drama that has thriller, romance, soap, a mix of basic plot that is just enough for people to not dismiss it quickly and direct it well enough so it won't bore them."

the higher ratings would be probably due to fact that both actors are quite famous in Korea and second would be there aren't many light hearted romance kdramas with neat pace like this one these days and lastly student education pressure is always been an accepting drama is korea.

my overall review is if you are okay with ight hearted drama that as quite alright pace, this is good drama to watch. Don't expect a strong plot and great narrative.

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Crash Course is a drama that has everything that you can think of packed into one show. Scandals, crazy moms, romance, school drama, murder mystery... It can seem like a lot, but it is honestly quite an enjoyable watch. I only found myself being really bothered by 3 plot points overall.

Why bring in other plots right at the last 2 episodes? I've always hated this in other dramas as I feel it takes away from the main story you're wanting to see. Especially towards the end of the show. While time could've been spent towards more interesting storylines such as Soo-Ah's illness-stress-thing going on. Even more scenes of Haeng-Seon and Chi-Yeol would've been better than the random plot they threw in for seemingly no reason. Also, one of the main plot points in this drama is that he cannot eat any food without getting sick besides Haeng-Seon's and her mom's, but that's never really explained or given a good explanation entirely other than it's just used as a purpose of him being in the shop all the time + lovers fate trope..

The acting in this show is amazing especially the Male lead, Jung Kyung Ho. I loved watching him and his character in Hospital Playlist and it was nice seeing him play a character that's quite the opposite from that one. He portrays the snobby yet only cute and sweet towards you character really well. The side characters honestly shined the most though, which I always tend to favor them in dramas more anyways. Roh Yoon Seo as Hae-Yi did an incredible job and I was hooked on seeing who she would choose in the end. Lee Bong Ryun always steals the show in any drama that she's in and I loved watching Kim Young-Joo find love. Especially not with someone I was expecting. It was an exciting surprise in the story for me. Oh Eui Shik also did a great job playing Haeng-Seon's younger brother.

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Tough one. Stuck with it - Kinda...

This one was a tough one to watch. In the beginning, some of the characters are so irritating that I was disappointed to find that they would be a love interest or, still in the story 4 episodes later. I thought, casting wise, this group was a bit of a mess. Maybe, closer to reality? But, I just couldn't see the two leads together - at all. She was so mean and so unforgiving. He went out of his way to continue to patronize her business, replace the phone, etc. and she still couldn't let anything go. Who cares if we see a character show regret if they don't follow through? A character should not be rewarded for being a thorn in someone's side.

As usual - some stellar performances - the only reason I watched a portion of every episode. , Ji Dong-hee (Shin Jae-ha) was brilliant. To change his personality on a dime like that - perfect. I could understand why he chose to die in the end. All the actors/actresses for the high school characters were perfect. Lee Chae-Min's breakdown while taking the exam was perfection - you really felt what he was going through.

Jeon Do-yeon's Nam Haeng-soon and Jung Kyung-ho's Choi Chi-yeol - did not work for me. I could not get to the point of accepting that they were suitable for each other as a couple. I could see them helping each other out in their own ways but, it would have been nicer to see them end up with other people. The late addition of the true mother was a waste of time on everyone's part. It wasn't even needed - especially, since she had zero redeeming qualities. Jae-Woo(Oh Eui-Sik) - eh - did not like that his issues all pertained to what the story needed to keep moving. Writer's convenience = lazy.

Also, regardless if it is life-like or, what - just because characters are together in a scene - you don't have to fill every waking moment with their nonstop conversation. I got to the point every time certain characters showed up - I knew I could fast forward through their whole time and not miss a single thing.

Really hated how hard the writers worked at making the whole cast have a happy, fairytale existence in the end. Villain? Takes his own life. Leads? Happy successful life. Teens? Exciting happy college life - not a speck or, mention of therapy or, how they healed anywhere. Parent's - awful to the core - ruined people's lives? All forgiven. Ruined and nearly put your own children in the hospital or, the morgue? All forgiven. Ruined marriages because you focused on all the wrong things? No worries.

Thank goodness for the fast forward button.

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A drama with romance, murder and mayhem.

What's not to like here? This K-drama is amazing the acting is good.

The story follows a popular middle-aged male teacher and a woman with a restaurant as their romance develops. A town full of kids being pressured to get the highest grade by their parents and if you want to be successful then he is the teacher you need in private school.

While the romance is slowly percolating between adults and of course students. Can't have a school setting without a little romance drama and my favorite unrequited love.

There is some mayhem and murder and other sad events. This drama is full of the crazy pressure these kids face from their parents and peers and some of its effects.

Differently a good watch.

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É bom, mas faltou...

Drama com um romance com personagens mais maduros (em termos de idade), adolescente vivendo dramas de adolescentes de pressão por excelência escolar com pais muito exigentes e uma dose de suspense que manteve as coisas interessantes. Acho que foi um bom equilíbrio. Um drama família, de fato. Minha única reclamação diz respeito aos último episódios. Acho que a resolução dos crimes não teve um final satisfatório. O Ji Dong Hee devia ter sido preso pelos crimes que ele cometeu, o final dele não foi o que eu esperava. E toda a parte da investigação foi esquecida num piscar de olhos como se não tivesse sido uma parte importante da trama. Acho que deviam ter usado mais tempo de tela para finalizar esse plot ao invés de perder tempo explorando a mãe da Nam Hae Yi, uma personagem totalmente desnecessária que nem devia ter aparecido "do nada". Além disso, acho que merecíamos ver o casório da Nam Haeng Seon com o Choi Chi Yeol.

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Started Out Better Than It Ended

I was loving this show up until about ep 10 or 11. It reversed some expectations. It was funny, it was light, it was heartfelt. The cast is brilliant. Jung Kyung Ho knocked it out of the park from start to finish. That being said, I didn't really feel much chemistry between him and Jeon Do Yeon... She's a good actress, but their relationship had "mommy issues" vibes. Anyway, the whole cast was great. The guy who played Jang Hui Jae, for someone who barely had any lines, was stellar.

I was really enjoying the humour, the plot, everything. I was invested in the stupid scandal being solved. I was invested in the education system plot. I LOVED that the "villains" (the mom group) had a strong motive and were believable.

So, what went wrong? Three things. It kind of went off the rails in 3 different directions in the last quarter of the show.

1. I felt the murder plot was unnecessary. That time would have been better spent fleshing out characters like Su-ah. They had so much material that they could have worked with in an engaging way... but they went the murder plot route, which cheapened the storyline.

2. Why bring back the mom for a brief moment? And why did Hae-e need to end up in a coma? This all felt so unnecessary. I would have really enjoyed if they used that time to better flesh out the dynamics of the teen group. That felt hurriedly wrapped up, which brings me to my last point...

3. Not everyone needed to be paired up in the last 10 minutes... that was awkward and unnecessary. Also, Nam Hae-e and Geon-hu had good chemistry, and it would have been sweet to see his hard work in school pay off with a kiss from Hae-e. Conversely, Sun-jae and her never had anything other than friendship vibes. Having Yeon-ju hook up with Jae-woo was just unrealistic. That whole last episode was bizarre and unnatural.

Actually, 4 things.

4. Not everyone needed a redemption arc and a happy ending! I was looking forward to seeing Su-a's mom unmasked for the jerk she was by her friend group. Yes, she had a messy scene and was shamed, but it's not the same. Instead, everyone ends up with their happy little ending, everything neatly packaged and wrapped up and tied in a bow. Su-a's mental/stress issues magically vanish and school is fine. Hui-jae goes into the army, etc. you get it. It just felt very hallmarky and kind of undersold how nuanced the story could have been.

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Well I loved it

I'm in the UK and initially I was put off by the eccentric characters and weird storyline but in 2 or 3 episodes I was finding this series funny and well worth watching. It was a touching romance and a brutal picture of how parents can behave in South Korea. Certainly an eye opener. I appreciated the fact that suicide wasn't shied away from and that sometimes the youngsters were the best people to help. The damage done by teasing, gossiping, and plotting was chilling to watch.
I warmed to all the main characters and thought they were acted with thoughtful evolution through the series. You can still fall in love if you're a bit weird. All the masses of students who did not have speaking parts did seem to represent a real institution. So well done everybody.

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I liked this one.

Crash Course in Romance had K-drama from the 2012-2016 vibes, including all the annoying tropes that I’m not sure work as well in 2023, but it made me happy and nostalgic watching this show so I’m definitely tossing it into the recommendation pile. I’m not sure I will ever understand the competitive nature of college entry in South Korea, and I will certainly never be able to wrap my head around math… but it was cool to learn about these study schools and watch this struggling lady strive to ensure the best possible future for her teenager. The romance between the celebrity math tutor (I know, right? what a weird world) and this hardworking middle aged lady made me kick my feet in the air it was so cute and stupidly adorable. What can I say… late to love stories work for me.

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