I always hope to love the dramas that I start, but I can say that this is one time where that was even more keenly true that usual.
That’s because so many of you loved this, that we had more than 100 – ONE HUNDRED! – comments on this show in the Deep-dive Zone alone. I do think that that’s a new record that you’ve set, my friends. 😁
And so of course FOMO poked me – hard! – and I decided that I wanted to join this party too.
Unfortunately for me, this party-joining hasn’t gone the way I’d hoped, and here I am, tapping out after watching 8 episodes of Show’s 12. 😅
Big-budgeted, glossy and peppered with big-name stars, Tempest was poised to be Disney’s big kdrama hit of the year.
Unfortunately, it does feel like, whichever camp you’re in – whether you’re in this for the romance, or the politics, or the mystery-thriller aspect of things – you’d likely come away from this one feeling not completely satisfied.
Also, whichever camp you’re in, you’re also likely to agree that Show seems to have been rather too ambitious, resulting in a rather uneven watch experience.
Not terrible, overall, but still a regrettable waste of potential.
Confession might look like a standard crime thriller sort of show, but as it turns out, it’s more heartfelt and more melodramatic, than one might first expect.
With your expectations tweaked (very important, and more on that in a bit), Show works out to be a solid watch that’s both interesting and absorbing.
Junho and Yoo Jae Myung anchor this story, and they are excellent, both individually and together. Their enemies-to-partners journey was one of my favorite arcs in this show; I just loved the idea of them putting their talents together, and working towards a shared goal. 🤩
Plus, the music in this show is a force to be reckoned with; I loved the atmospheric, dramatic nature of it all, and how precisely it’s all applied.
An underrated drama that deserves more love than it gets.
Show is a lot of things, and attempts a lot of things (some with more success than others), but one thing I can say for certain, is that Show is bold, and dares to try new things.
When the things that Show try don’t go so well, Show can come across as rather uneven, but when Show is at its best, it is a wild, absurd and completely absorbing ride of the best kind.
Our story world and our characters lean dark, yet this is all served up with strong lashings of screwball comedy. It sounds weird, but when Show makes it work, it’s glorious.
Our cast is very solid, but hands down, the one who shines the brightest, is Song Joong Ki, as our titular antihero. So much matter-of-fact, cool badassery, served up with a side of comedy; I just couldn’t look away.
Sometimes Show got uncomfortably dark for my taste, but Show gets brownie points, for unabashedly daring to be its own thing, for better or for worse.
An earnest, underdog story with lots of heart, Itaewon Class feels like a breath of fresh air, for a good part of its run.
Even though the backstory hinges on the idea of revenge, this always feels more like a story of an underdog trying to make good, while collecting a found family along the way.
In particular, I really appreciate the diversity that Itaewon Class embraces, in the course of peopling our drama world. I don’t think I’ve seen the same degree of diversity in another drama, to date.
Oddly, I feel like this drama is at once a Park Seo Joon vehicle, and yet, an ensemble drama, at the same time.
Our protagonist Park Sae Ro Yi is the backbone of this story, and it’s his journey, his thoughts, his philosophy and his unflagging determination that drives this story forward.
At the same time, it’s the ensemble of endearing characters around him that makes this drama world pop and come alive in such a heartwarming way. Altogether, an unusual dichotomy which I’m happy to embrace.
I felt the OTP loveline was rather too forced in Show’s final leg, and I also feel like Show’s focus shifts in the last stretch, such that Show loses some of its original charm, but I still enjoyed this one very well, overall.
Answer Me 1988 feels like a larger, bigger-hearted story than its predecessors, thanks to expanding its focus to its community of characters, rather than simply fixating on the leading lady’s husband and the lovelines that feed into it.
The adult characters get as much narrative care and attention as their kids, and that helps to make this drama world feel altogether pretty balanced and whole.
The entire cast is endearing and committed, and – despite a touch of green in spots with the delivery – exponentially add to Show’s generous earthy winsomeness.
It’s true that the handling of the ending is flawed, but overall, I still found this show to be charming, slice-of-life retro at its best.
