Let me begin with what I liked – the ending was really cute. I also liked cameo appearances of some of the actors I’ve seen in other dramas. And the music was good. The acting was okay, which I will cover in greater detail under CAST.
WRITING: I felt that the growth between the two characters was sorely lacking. The only time they communicated was when they were drunk, and they were drunk A LOT. There were too many unlikeable/pitiful people, and sadly this included the lead characters. There should be someone at the beginning of the story that you want to root for, and I didn’t feel that way about any of the characters. The show was rife with the standard K-drama tropes - wrist grabs, drunk confessions, bullying (sorry, but it’s NEVER acceptable for a man to hit a woman), parent troubles, brother troubles, misunderstandings due to lack of communication, best friends becoming enemies, enemies becoming lovers, crooked CEO’s, tragic medical conditions, love triangles, time jumps, rushed endings. You name it, you’ll find it here!
What stuck out most to me was how dysfunctional the relationships were. Granted, this show is about three years old and was just released, but even three years ago I would hope that writers would start to address the importance of honesty, respect, and communication in a relationship.
MAIN COUPLE: He was a mess, and was not nice to her in any way, shape or form at the beginning. Jumping to conclusions, emotional blackmail, and shutting yourself off from someone that you supposedly love to disappear and handle problems on your own, are not signs of a healthy relationship. Sadly, K-dramas use the time jump in almost every show, and it just doesn’t ring true that when you’ve been desperate to win the love of your life that you’d disappear for months/years at a time to “resolve” things and then just show up out of the blue without having contact with your significant other. In this age of cell phones, texting, social media and FaceTime, this is definitely an overused ploy. She was a mess and a doormat. She was pretty much treated badly by everyone, and she just took it. Get a spine!
SECOND COUPLE: Just no! This was the epitome of a toxic relationship and the police should have gotten involved.
CAST: Choi Tae Joon as idol Hoo Joon. I didn’t feel that he was strong enough to carry the role of male lead. He lacked “presence”. I found myself watching everyone around him in the scenes he was in. I’ve seen him in other things and enjoyed his acting, but this wasn’t a good fit for him.
Choi Soo-young as Lee Geun-Young. I had more problems with the way her character was written, rather than her acting. She is a beautiful woman, and there is an intrinsic sweetness about her that was a positive addition to her character.
Chansung as JJ. As an abusive, possessive, jealous boyfriend, I felt that he was a bit much, but it was the way he was written. However, I will say that toward the end, when something happens to him, that is where his acting really shone. He did a wonderful job of displaying the fear, despair, and vulnerability of his character which actually made you somewhat change the way you thought of him.
Han Ji An as Oh In-hyung. Of all the characters, the writers fell down on the job most with In-hyung. She was spineless and an emotional wreck and I couldn’t believe that anyone would fall for her or that she had the strength to take on being an idol star. Add to that Ji An’s acting, and I felt like it was a bit of a train wreck. Her facial expressions were flat throughout the show and her doe eyes just screamed “poor me”. There were a couple of scenes where she was walking away from the actor she had been talking to, and even her gait was unnatural.
Again, the ending was the saving grace.