With so many new dramas flooding the dramascape these days, I honestly wasn’t sure if you guys would be interested in a review of this web drama. After all, most of us are already drowning in our monster watch lists, right?
But, it really isn’t often that a little web drama with a total running time of less than an hour (54 minutes and 57 seconds, to be exact – yes, I calculated!) manages to not only make an impression but leave a thought-provoking sort of aftertaste, so I thought it’d be worth putting out there, just in case some of you are looking for a drama snack, in between your full-length dramas.
Fair warning that this one leans bittersweet, so if poignance and pathos are your thing, you might like this one.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Hyo Min (Han Bo Reum) is suffering from amnesia and her long-time friend Bo Seok (Yoon Jong Hoon) spends time with her at the hospital trying to help her regain her memories.
STUFF I LIKED
1. We get a good feel for the characters, despite Show’s short running time.
2. Yoon Jong Hoon and Han Bo Reum both deliver very solid performances.
3. We get a good sense of the journey of friendship between Hyo Min and Bo Seok, as Hyo Min revisits various key memories that they’ve shared. Even though we technically spend most of the story in hospital, where Bo Seok is helping Hyo Min regain her memories, we get to see many of their important milestones via flashbacks. This helps their connection come alive to us as an audience.
STUFF I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH
1. We don’t get a lot of time with our characters, since this is a web drama format.
2. Probably because of that, Show relies on quite a few tropes to tell us its story, and that can make Show feel a bit predictable.
3. [MAJOR SPOILER: HIGHLIGHT TO READ] Show’s use of the Truck of Doom was particularly tropey and I honestly felt that Show could’ve done better.
THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]
I think I was about halfway through my watch when it dawned on me that Hyo Min was in some sort of dreamscape at the hospital, and Bo Seok was probably dead.
The little oddities in our drama world started adding up in my head: the fact that she appears to be in some kind of psychiatric hospital instead of a proper hospital; the fact that her doctor is so zany; the fact that her memories are coming back so quickly, with each conversation with Bo Seok; the fact that Bo Seok is in a hurry, saying that there isn’t much time left; the fact that the look in Bo Seok’s eyes gets sadder and sadder, as we go. The realization didn’t hit me like a ton of bricks; rather it was more like an insistent drip that I eventually became cognizant of. I thought this was nicely done.
Once I knew in my gut that Bo Seok was dead, and was, in death, still selflessly helping Hyo Min, because he loves her that much, I really felt the wistfulness in his gaze.
In the end, Hyo Min and Bo Seok say a tearful goodbye, where he tells her to live an amazing life in his stead, and we see Hyo Min, fully recovered, carrying his memory with her, everywhere she goes.
Augh. It’s a poignant message that Show leaves us with, that we should live and love to the fullest, while we have the time, because even though they say that love is all about timing, sometimes, that’s just an excuse we give ourselves, to rationalize our cowardice.
And, if Show can leave us such a powerful message in under an hour of screen time, I kinda hafta say that that’s a job well done.
THE FINAL VERDICT:
A bittersweet little watch that manages to linger with you.
FINAL GRADE: B
TEASER:
You can check out the teaser here.
WHERE TO WATCH:
You can watch the show on Viki here.
Thanks for the rec….this looks very much in the mode of shows that I like. I always appreciate short “palate cleanser” dramas between shows (especially if just finishing a big course like “Reply 1988”) and will need one again reasonably soon.
Along similar lines, two great examples that I watched upon your recommendation was were “Sharply Graceful Girl” and “Splash Splash Love”. One that is not so well known, and not that beloved, but which I appreciated is “Cheers to Me”, which is a series of 20 min episodes, during which not much happens. Rather, it’s all feels and mood, almost a tone poem of a drama, but it covered an emotional space that spoke to me.
Oh, that’s great that this looks like something that’s up your alley! This should work nicely as a palate cleanser, I think. 😊
Also, I’m glad that you enjoyed Sharply Graceful Girl and Splash Splash Love! 😄 I haven’t seen Cheers to Me, but it sounds quite interesting and different, if it’s all feels and mood.
Other small-serve dramas that I’ve enjoyed, that I think might work nicely for you between big courses, are: Page Turner, If We Were A Season, Little Forest (a movie), Queen of the Ring, Star of the Universe, Two Lights: Relúmĭno. I hope that helps! 😊
We’ll definitely watch this. Thanks. FYI, I’d never heard the term “web drama” before.
Oh, web dramas are basically small mini dramas that don’t usually get broadcast on the network’s regular TV schedule where most full-fledged dramas get broadcast. The mini dramas are broadcast through internet channels instead, and that’s why they’re called web dramas. Sometimes the web dramas that do well also get a second airing on the broadcast channel proper, as a drama special. I hope that helps to de-mystify the web drama! 😊
Very clear, thanks. I wonder how they make any money on them. Are these premium channels?
This sounds like such a nice drama! With web dramas there’s never enough time to flesh out characters nicely, so it’s hard to make an audience connect to the character in the way a K-drama does. I think I’ll definitely watch the drama since you reviewed it so nicely, since I have less time on my hands nowadays and web dramas are short enough to fit my schedule. I’ve only watched school dramas and Two Lights: Relumino (I know I probably didn’t spell that right) so this sounds like a good drama to watch when I’m in a melo-hungry mood.
This sounds like such a nice drama! With web dramas there’s never enough time to flesh out characters nicely, so it’s hard to make an audience connect to the character in the way a K-drama does. I think I’ll definitely watch the drama since you reviewed it so nicely, since I have less time on my hands nowadays and web dramas are short enough to fit my schedule. I’ve only watched school dramas and Two Lights: Relumino (I know I probably didn’t spell that right) so this sounds like a good drama to watch when I’m in my I-want-to-watch-something-very-sad mood (I usually go to Uncontrollably Fond and end up skipping right to Kim Woo-bin’s shirtless scenes)
Ahahaha! That’s so cute, that you’d go to Uncontrollably Fond to get a dose of melancholy, only to end up skipping to Woob’s shirtless scenes! 😂😂 Yes, this one would fit the bill, I think, if you’re in the mood for a spot of heartachey feels, but don’t have a lot of time on your hands. I hope you’ll enjoy it, I thought it was surprisingly well done, for something so short! 😊