It’s funny how I ended up watching Wonderful Days. After all, I wasn’t in a family drama sort of mood, nor had I heard lots of positive buzz about this show.
Basically, I was still sorta in a fond sort of haze over Lee Seo Jin after enjoying his recent, fabulously grumpy, and inadvertently cute variety appearances. On top of that, I’d happened to catch him being charismatic and smoldery in a romantic context in Love Forecast, in which he’d played a supporting role.
Lee Seo Jin actually acting romantic instead of being his fabulously grumpy self? Yes, please. I lapped up his (limited) screentime in Love Forecast and found myself hungry for more.
It hit me that I really, really wanted to see more of Lee Seo Jin being a romantic leading man, and I figured that Wonderful Days would be just the ticket.
Here’s the thing, though.
Lee Seo Jin and his character’s loveline in Wonderful Days never really did it, for me. (Ack. It hurts me to say it!)
Let’s just say that I came to this show for Lee Seo Jin, but ended up sticking around for a variety of other reasons instead.
STUFF THAT DIDN’T WORK SO WELL FOR ME
1. Lee Seo Jin as Dong Seok
I hate to admit it, but I didn’t find Lee Seo Jin all that appealing, in this show. I found both the writing around his character, and his delivery of the character, rather flat.
Delivery-wise, I found Lee Seo Jin a lot stiffer in the role than I prefer. While Dong Seok is portrayed as a rather stiff sort of character, and Park Bo Gum also delivered Teenage Dong Seok with a similar kind of stiffness, I found it all kind of boring and two-dimensional, especially over 50 episodes.
Even though Dong Seok’s character has several emotional scenes in the later stretch of the show, Lee Seo Jin’s delivery didn’t resonate with depth, to me, which took away from the believability of the scenes.
Additionally, the writing around his character’s trajectory didn’t feel very organic. I often found myself wondering how Dong Seok had arrived at a certain growth milestone, as many of these felt sudden and abrupt, instead of natural and well-earned.
2. Dong Seok’s Loveline
Given that Dong Seok’s loveline with Hae Won (Kim Hee Sun) is positioned as the main romantic relationship in this show (they’re even featured on this show’s poster, instead of the ensemble cast), I was extra disappointed with the way their loveline was written.
I found the relationship milestones between Dong Seok and Hae Won bemusing, at best.
[MODERATE SPOILERS]
Dong Seok and Hae Won spend a good number of early episodes avoiding each other and denying their feelings for each other. (Feelings which I personally didn’t find very convincingly portrayed, for the record.)
Not only does the romance take a really long time to actually get in gear, there is no strong lead-up to Dong Seok’s sudden change of heart, when he decides that he will no longer deny his feelings for Hae Won. Essentially, when he declares to Hae Won in episode 15, that he is going to henceforth proactively pursue her, I found myself asking in confusion, “Wait, where did that come from?”
The writing doesn’t do a good job – or any job, really – of making Dong Seok’s decision understandable and accessible to the audience, both in the moment and in hindsight. We just have to accept that it is what it is, which.. isn’t great.
Additionally, the romantic scenes between Dong Seok and Hae Won really aren’t very romantic at all.
The scene in episode 18, when Dong Seok interrogates Hae Won in his office, then ends the session by abruptly asking her to marry him, without even the slightest change in his blunt tone and All-Business Prosecutor facial expression, is completely underwhelming. I found myself asking, “Uh. Was that supposed to be romantic?” Coz it wasn’t.
[END SPOILER]
Generally, I think the writing is largely to blame, for how unexciting Dong Seok’s and Hae Won’s loveline turns out to be. At the same time, I didn’t feel that Lee Seo Jin and Kim Hee Sun shared much chemistry, sadly.
Bummer on both counts.
3. Weaknesses in the Writing
I’ve already alluded to the weaknesses in the writing in talking about Dong Seok’s character as well as his loveline with Hae Won. The thing is, the same weaknesses apply to the drama as a whole as well.
Character trajectories are generally rather jerky, with characters having changes of heart and sudden spurts of growth without sufficient context or build-up. This made watching the show a generally bemusing experience, coz you just never really know when someone’s going to start behaving in confusingly different ways.
A number of secondary arcs and characters also get picked up and then dropped without a trace.
[SPOILER ALERT]
The most obviously dropped characters are the ones tied to Hae Won’s revenge arc, which was never a very convincing one, to begin with. Once the revenge arc is chopped off from the story, the supporting characters involved in that arc, like Seung Hoon (Park Joo Hyung) and his father Chairman Oh (Go In Bum), are basically never seen again, even though they appear very regularly in the first half of the series.
[END SPOILER]
Another thing that didn’t help, is the sudden insertion of time skips in the later stretch of the show. The time skips are inserted when we least expect it, too. I mean, literally, we would end an episode in the midst of an important scene, and begin the next episode after a time skip. (Seriously. I’m talking about “One Year Later” type time skips! WTH, right?)
Worse, writer-nim did this not once, but twice. That just feels like lazy writing, to me. Contrary to what some writers seem to believe, let me just say that time skips do not solve everything..! :/
STUFF THAT KEPT ME GOING
Whew. There’s actually quite a lot that doesn’t work for me in this show, isn’t there? I honestly considered dropping Wonderful Days, at around the halfway mark. But, wouldn’t you know it, Show had just enough going for it, to keep me watching until the very end.
1. Dong Hui’s arc
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I cared about Dong Hui as a character.
Sure, Taecyeon’s delivery falls on the stiffer end of the scale, but I found Dong Hui’s fierce loyalty likable, and his pathos, surprisingly engaging. Even when I found myself disinterested in other characters’ arcs, I was always on board with Dong Hui’s story.
[SPOILER ALERT]
I really felt for Dong Hui. I mean, to feel abandoned by your bio mom, who’s really right there, but whom you hate, and, to feel desperately that you want to be a good dad to your kids, but to feel stuck coz the kids think you’re their loser brother? There was just so much that Dong Hui needed to deal with, and yet so many emotional scars that stunted his ability to deal properly, that I couldn’t help but root for him.
With each episode, I felt more interested in Dong Hui’s arcs with his kids and his bio mom, as well as his personal growth journey, and I stayed invested in his story all the way through.
[END SPOILER]
For the record, I went in wary of Taecyeon’s performance in this show, as I’d heard that he could be cringe-worthy to watch, especially when Dong Hui got mad at something or someone. Yet, I came away thinking that Taec actually did a solidly decent job of the role; he was definitely better than I’d expected. Also for the record, I do think that by the later stretch of the show, Taec had settled into Dong Hui’s skin reasonably well.
On a fangirly note, by the later part of the show, I also found myself remembering all over again how I find Taec’s brand of buff rather sexy.
My eyes, they did not complain. 😉
2. Young Chun’s arc
Young Chun is a character that I never expected to care about, but thanks to Young Chun’s backstory and Choi Hwa Jung’s heartfelt delivery, I found myself caring for Young Chun quite a lot indeed.
[SPOILER ALERT]
Once I realized that Young Chun was Dong Hui’s bio mom, I felt for her a whole lot. She so desperately desired a connection with her son, but had to silently watch as he showered love on another woman whom he believed to be his mother. To make things worse, her son hated her, and his treatment of her was consistently brusque and unfeeling.
The more we glimpsed her private pain beneath her chatty veneer, the more I rooted for her to stop blaming herself for the past. I felt invested in her journey of forgiveness and liberation, and I welcomed every little bit of progress she experienced, particularly in her process of reconciliation with Dong Hui.
When Dong Hui reluctantly gave Young Chun a hug in episode 14, and she sank tearfully into his arms, I cheered. And teared.
[END SPOILER]
3. Dong Ok’s arc
I was very much drawn to Dong Ok’s arc as well.
From being a secondary character who happened to be slow, Dong Ok comes to the forefront in a refreshing arc where we got to witness her sadness and struggle with being treated as slow.
Kim Ji Ho does a wonderful job as Dong Ok, imbuing her character with an innocence, sweetness and simplicity which I found natural and very believable. Additionally, when Dong Ok began to struggle with being slow and “stupid,” I found Kim Ji Ho’s delivery heartwrenchingly nuanced.
Dong Ok’s tears, as she struggled to find her self-worth, moved me. I found each little step of progress that Dong Ok made in her journey of growth and independence worthy of celebration, and I found her eventual self-sufficiency completely gratifying to witness.
Really lovely.
4. Yoon Yeo Jung as Mom
Yoon Yeo Jung is simply amazing as the mother of the household.
Beneath her gruff exterior, Mom is an admirable, selfless and loving woman, and Yoon Yeo Jung’s portrayal of Mom’s layers is nothing short of fantastic. It’s all in how Yoon Yeo Jung plays it, with unspoken emotion that’s tamped down yet leaks out through Mom’s gaze and body language. The moments of vulnerability, where she says nothing at all, are some of the most poignant and powerful in the series.
[SPOILER ALERT]
Except for a brief bout of noble idiocy towards the end (which I contend was shoe-horned in to mess with the audience more than anything else), I found Mom’s trajectory admirable and moving.
Yes, there were times when I didn’t agree with her actions, like when she kept kneeling before Hae Won’s very unreasonable mother (Noh Kyung Joo) earlier in the series, but I couldn’t help but admire her big heart. Most notably, I found it amazing that she could not only accept her husband’s mistress into the family, but genuinely love Young Chun as if she were her own child. Her efforts to give Young Chun opportunities to build her relationship with Dong Hui, even when Young Chun’s real relationship with Dong Hui was still a secret, also moved me.
I liked that by the end of the show, Mom had the chance to finally do the things that she’d always wanted, like learn to read and write. Sure, I don’t think the divorce was all that necessary, but I did like the fact that through it all, Mom’s relationship with Young Chun remained as strong and as close as ever.
[END SPOILER]
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Overall, I liked Wonderful Days in a mild, fairly muted sort of way.
Despite the main loveline – which I’d originally tuned in for – turning out to be the arc that interested me the least, most of the characters grew on me, so much so that even when the writing was a mess and I felt like the story was making little sense, I cared enough about the characters to want to know what happened to them.
The final bunch of episodes got a bit too shouty for my taste, and I really wish that writer-nim had chosen to use the screen time in other ways instead. Like exploring the future of Dong Hui’s relationship with Ma Ri (Lee Elliya), for instance, &/or the future of Dong Ok’s relationship with Woo Jin (Choi Woong), instead of all the back-and-forth that we got with these couples. Or showing us more of Dong Hui’s relationship with Young Chun, post-reconciliation. I would’ve really, really loved to have seen some of that.
I get that Show wanted to demonstrate that Dong Seok had come full-circle, in its final scenes. From dreading his journey home in episode 1, he was now looking forward to seeing his family, in episode 50. It’s a neat callback, and a nice touch. If I’d felt more engaged with Dong Seok’s journey through Show’s run, I would’ve probably found this quite a lovely note on which to end the show.
What I would’ve preferred for Show’s final scene, though, is if we could’ve seen the entire family together in all of their noisy, hodge-podge, gruffly lovable glory. I felt like that was a missed opportunity, since these were the very relationships that Show was celebrating. It’s too bad that – as with some other rather important stuff in the show – I had to enact that in my imagination instead.
THE FINAL VERDICT:
A bit of a narrative mess, but manages to sort of get under your skin anyway.
FINAL GRADE: C++
TRAILER:
MV:
EPISODE 1:
The entire show is available subbed, and in HD, on YouTube. Here’s episode 1, if you’d like to try on the show for size:
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How about Park Seo Joon in She Was Pretty? I like him, but this time I’m really disappointed. And it’s not about PSJ only, it’s about the whole drama. And I’m quite confused: there is a real frenzy around Siwon’s performance (in this show, I mean) among girls around the world wich I just don’t get it. They are all trying too hard (Siwon included), this is my opinion and we can see that effort every moment. I know, I know, I’m quite picky, but it’s how I feel about it. I’ll watch She Was Pretty till the end, just because I translate it and I can’t give up. Otherwise… I hope something will be different in the second half.
But I do like a new drama and this is Sassy Go Go! Did you watch it? Do you like it? I know you wrote a pure-pretty post about the talented Ji Soo and I think he’s doing a great job in Sassy Go Go.
Thanks for your recommandations about family dramas! Hugs!
Aw, really? Sorry to hear you’re not enjoying She Was Pretty, serena! I’m actually liking it quite well, despite it’s fairly broad-stroked approach, and its OTT tendencies. I mean, I find the story fairly predictable, and the relationship development as well, and the approach is definitely more OTT than my usual taste, but somehow, I find it enjoyable to watch. Despite Hwang Jung Eum’s OTT delivery, I find Hye Jin a likable character that makes me want to root for her. I feel they made Sung Joon too mean, but PSJ’s delivery in the gentler moments makes up for a lot (though I still don’t excuse the meanness). I find Siwon’s character pretty hilarious, particularly in the earlier episodes.
I think it might help if you could adjust your lens to allow for the campiness and just take it as a larger-than-life sort of world. Coz I do find the more heartfelt moments quite lovely, and I genuinely like the themes of self-worth and acceptance, so far. 🙂
I haven’t yet checked out Sassy Go Go, but I’ve heard good things, and I will definitely check it out. Not only do I enjoy Ji Soo, I also have a soft spot for Jung Eun Ji, and it sounds like Show is doing really nicely! 🙂
I started this drama for two reasons: for curiousity (it was the first family drama I watched) and for Taecyeon, of course. I dropped it after 35 or something episodes. I couldn’t endure more. Sometimes it was cute and touching, but sometimes it was awful and almost boring. I agree, the writing wasn’t the best, but from my point of view, the cast was lacking as well: the mother of the household (an excellent actress, btw), Kim Ji Ho as Dong Ok and Kim Hee Sun are older than their characters (KHS is really pathetic wearing clothes for teen girls, trying hard to look younger).
Briefly, what I liked the most was Taecyeon’s performance, way better than I expected, the younger version of Dong Seok delivered by Park Bo Gum, I think and those adorable children. But it wasn’t enough to make me watch this drama to the end.
About LSJ, I’m sorry, I can’t see his charm and I don’t want to say anything else that may hurt other people’s feelings. But I think Koala is right: he can be a good choice for the main lead in the K-drama version of An Officer and a Gentleman, set in a marine university in Busan. A completely different story, a really special character. My personal preference is for someone else, but i understand why LSJ was in talks for this drama. He rejected this offer, if I remember well.
And if it’s not LSJ, who do you think might be the best option for the k-version of An Officer and a Gentleman?
Aw, yeah, this is not one of the best family dramas I’ve seen. If you’re still game to try a family drama, serena, I highly recommend Life Is Beautiful and Ojakgyo Brothers. Those are my 2 favorite family dramas to date.
Despite my fondness for Lee Seo Jin, I was rather underwhelmed by his role and performance in this show too, so I don’t blame you for not seeing his appeal! I haven’t seen that many of his shows, but loved him in Lovers. And I was rather charmed by his smolder as a supporting character in Love Forecast.
As for the k-version of An Office and A Gentleman.. I’m gonna say Park Seo Joon.. He’s got the height to carry off a uniform really nicely, and is a fantastic actor. I’d love to see him in the role! <3
I was wondering if it would be a good idea to just fast forward, but I didn’t know which parts to skip so thanks for the advice! It’ll be interesting to see how many episodes I can cut it down to, plus I haven’t seen Taecyeon in a drama since Dream High so I’ll give it a try! It’ll be interesting to watch both him and LSJ in a drama!
No problem! If you’re skipping those things, you might also want to skip stuff to do with the ditzy vice-principal, the vegetable seller lady and Hae Won’s elder sister, coz those are the other halves of the lovelines for the twin uncles and Dong Tak. That ought to help you focus a little better 🙂 I do think that overall Taec’s a little better than in Dream High. Just, he’s still got a ways to go with the acting. But he’s very lovely to look at. Mm. 😉
Man, I soooo wanted to watch this for the same reasons you started it, I was dying to see Lee Seo Jin in a drama after watching and loving him in variety shows. And that Taecyeon was cast as well didn’t hurt either. If the series were shorter I’d probably still give it a shot, especially as you liked Taecyeon’s plot line and I’m a sucker for good stories dealing with parent/child relationship’s, but I think over 40 episodes may be too much of a commitment for me if I don’t absolutely love it. I might still check it out, but for now, I will take note of the other drama you mentioned Seo Jin was in and check out that one. Thanks for the review!
Love Forecast is a movie, so it’s a low-commitment way to get a bit of Lee Seo Jin on your screen. He’s a supporting character, not a main, so you don’t see a whole lot of him.. But when he does appear, he’s quite charismatic for the most part. 🙂
If your tolerance is up to 40 eps, I’m thinking that you might want to consider checking out the show while employing your trusty Fast Forward button, and just skip stuff that doesn’t interest you? That way, you get to watch Taec’s character’s arc, and check out LSJ’s role for yourself. 🙂 I’d say, skip the stories of the twin uncles, and eldest brother Dong Tak. Those arcs interested me the least, overall, even though there were a few times when I found the twin uncles mildly amusing. I also wasn’t very interested in Hae Won’s revenge arc. If you cut away all those, I’m sure your final commitment would add up to less than 40 eps 😉 Just a thought!
I agree with you that there is much lacking and the female lead left a lot to be desired in the “chemistry” with LSJ. The character was a well written character but poorly directed. I thought LSJ did a great job of portraying a character quite different and much more subtle than many of his other characters. I put a lot of blame on one of the sloppiest directing jobs I’ve seen. It was so old fashioned, unfocused poorly done. The writer had a really good concept but lost focus and tried to do too much. Too many characters, too many story lines. It’s the directors job to push them into a coherent story – to help them focus. This director did not. It’s the directors job to notice the worst job of filling out a set I’ve ever seen (in one scene there are 6 copies of Catcher on the Rye in the office of the protagonist and the next day an encyclopedia. There are brand new kitchen utensils everywhere and labels left on thermos – a kids room with books that have never been touched by a child that’s a voracious reader – let alone the ridiculous and scientifically impossible twin scenario. I don’t know where the director was – but it certainly wasn’t focused on this show.
With a better director I think this could have been really great. The fact that there were some great actors who were able to transcend all the mistakes by the writer and director makes it worth watching and why it is kind of endearing. The son forced to come home, the first love, mother, cheating husband and a complicated family, a mother who has given all to her children and now wants a life just for herself and loving relationships. I enjoyed it – I just fast forward through the really ridiculous stuff. Focus on the scenes in the early years, the grandfather, mother, returning father, 2nd mother, LSJ and Taec and the young kids. There’s a lot of good stuff there.
Wow, you’ve got quite a sharp eye for detail, Mary! I hadn’t noticed the set inconsistencies that you mentioned – quite possibly because this was mostly my drama nightcap, and I often watched this while sleepy. XD
I agree that the writer tried to do too much, and overall, there was just a lack of focus. With better writing and directing – and with some characters, acting too – this could’ve been a much better show. Even so, I agree with you that this show is rather endearing. I think exactly how endearing we find it varies from person to person, but there’re definitely some characters and themes that I found engaging and that tugged at my heartstrings. No regrets checking this one out, in spite of its flaws. 🙂
Hmmm, I’ve been debating if I should watch this drama. I’ve heard a lot of response on both ends of the spectrum. At 50 eps, it’s a big commitment with so many other dramas to watch! lol
Oh yes, there’s quite a diverse set of reactions out there, to this show! I’ve seen big love for this show, as well as a lot of meh. I fall into the big in-between with this one, I think. I was very much underwhelmed by some of the main characters and their stories, but there was definitely enough in there to keep me interested. I guess the only way to find out is to dip your toes in? A 50-episode drama usually takes about 8 eps to complete set-up, and Wonderful Days pretty much kept to that milestone. If you’re really curious, maybe an 8-ep dip will help you decide whether you like it enough to keep going? 🙂
Another drama I put on the side and probably will never pick up again as I’m just not interested enough anymore to continue, probably for all the reasons you stated here.
You know, I saw this post in my feed and immediately thought “Dang, she picked up that instead of Yoo Na’s Street?!” LOL!
Lol. Yeah, if you’ve already checked this one out and put it aside, it probably doesn’t have enough to pull you back in. It’s that kind of mildly entertaining show for when you’re in a mild sort of mood, I think. I marathoned the last stretch of episodes back to back, coz I was recently really tired out and my brain was too awake for me to take a nap, but my body was too tired for me to do anything productive. This show fit that little niche perfectly, coz it was mildly entertaining, with just enough stuff in it that I cared about. If I had a more analytical or harsher lens on, I would’ve probably ended up dropping it! XD
Ah, Yoo Na’s Street! Y’know, it didn’t occur to me to pick up Yoo Na’s Street coz when I picked up this one, it was purely for the sake of seeing Lee Seo Jin (Oppa~!) in a romantic leading man sort of role, rather than because I was specifically looking for a family drama. Your comment sent me searching for a copy of Yoo Na’s Street, which you’ll be pleased to know I found and have now added to my collection. I’m now poised to finally start on Yoo Na’s Street! Woot! (I don’t feel too badly about waiting, coz I noticed that AT just added the DSS subs to this show 2 weeks ago, and even so, they say that some of the episodes are only 90% QCed. I think I’ll be ok tho!)
I think Lee Seo Jin was my main reason to give Wonerful Days a go. I was feeling rather lukewarm towards it and then I piced up YNS and promptly lost any interest in WD. Yoo Na’s Street was just so much better! You’ll see once you start it. *g* I’m pretty sure 90% QCed subs will be more than sufficient, they did a pretty good job with them over all. Which reminds me that I’ve still got about 15 epis I haven’t rewatched with subs…
You started Wonderful Days for Lee Seo Jin too!! That was TOTALLY the only reason I decided to give it a go. I was sooo disappointed that I didn’t find him very charismatic or engaging in this role :/ Still, it wasn’t a terrible watch. I’m sure Yoo Na’s Street is better, since you love it so much! ^^ I will probably check out the first episode tonight – family dramas make good drama nightcaps, I find, so I’ll test out its nightcap suitability ^^ Yeah, 90% sounds very decent. At least, it shouldn’t be gibberish! XD
Well, YNS isn’t your garden variety family drama, the ‘family’ is a bit different and mostly not blood related at all. 😀
Can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
I watched E1, and I like it! It’s definitely got a hook to it, and OMG I don’t know if I can watch this as a drama nightcap. I put on E1, thinking I was about to unwind, and found myself holding my breath, and my heart-rate going up fast, with all the running that went on in the first bunch of scenes! XD But yes, I definitely like what I’m seeing so far!
Yay! You are liking it… so far anyway. ^^
I did ponder if I should ‘warn’ you that it’s not exactly a nighcap drama, LOL! Even without all the action it makes you think, which probably isn’t the best thing when you are about to try and get some Zzzz… 🙂
Ikr??? It might have the opposite of keeping me awake, by being too engaging/thought-provoking/exciting! XD I need to rethink my strategy with this show. For now, though, it’ll be one of my travel-with-me shows. I’m off for a 9-day work trip tomorrow, and I’ll be bringing this one with me for when I have some drama downtime 🙂
OMG omg omg omg you saw Wonderful Days! Imo WD was the best weekend family dramas I saw last year. Yeah, Taec got me going! He was my energizer but the story is all wonderful and calm. I didn’t like Dong Seok’s love story. He was flat and rather weak of the bunch of characters in this show. His mom was great, and so was Dong Ok. Glad you saw it!
You know what fascinates me, Nelly? It’s how our enjoyment levels of this show are quite different (I liked it mildly, while you liked it a lot), and yet, we actually pretty much agree on all the parts that we liked and didn’t like! How cool is that! Coz absolutely yes, Taec’s character (and eye candy quotient!) kept me going in the show, while I found Dong Seok’s story rather uninteresting. I also loved Mom and Dong Ok, both were great characters that were really well-acted. Even though a lot of this show was a mess, I don’t regret checking it out 🙂
I put aside mess, which I rather not think of it, and focused mainly on the characters I loved dearly. You know I’m easily pleased, right? 😝 I think why I loved it a lot lot was because WD served as my gateway drama while watching other crazy, unbelievably daily dramas. Those are scary ones lol
Hee. Yes, I know you’ve got a big heart & lots of drama patience! More than I usually do, for sure! And OMG your daily dramas! I am amazed at how many you manage to watch! I mean, people talk about family dramas being big commitments at around 50 eps each, but those dailies are easily at least 100 eps each! The only daily I’ve completed is the first High Kick, and that took me almost a year, HAHA! XD I just don’t know how you do it!
I saw it too! Awesome!! Loving Dong Ok.
She sure is awesome. I hated the way they wrote her love life though.
Dong Ok is lovely, I must agree <3 She was one of my favorite characters in this show. 🙂