Jealousy Incarnate (2016)

Just finished watching Jealousy incarnate for the sevond time, and Man how I enjoyed it!
This is a drama that could have easily gotten a 10 from me.

Story
The story is one of the strongest aspects of this drama simply because it had a lot of unique ideas and original approaches to them, and second because the mixture of such different concepts was done perfectly and with a nice balance.
First, the main lead suffers from a disease highly uncommon for men to retract (breast cancer), and the drama focuses on his struggle to receive treatment under great pressure. That concept was by far the most original, full of surprises whether comical or dramatic.
The story also focuses in 2/3 of it on a love triangle, a concept constantly used by many romance Kdramas, but here they tried to spice it up by making the two males involved best friends, while the female had gotten over her crush on one and dating the other.
It is also part workplace drama, where all the main characters are working or somehow related to a broadcasting station (reporters, announcers, news casters, directors and sponsors). It gave a nice glimpse on the world of news creation, it was very entertaining and edifying.
But for me, what made the drama shine the most was the romance. It made my heart skip, made me swoon, made me shed tears, and made smile and laugh big time, it was simply PERFECT! Also other than the great chemistry between the OTP, the whole concept of switching places in one-sided crushes, whether through gestures done in secret or words expressed openly, gave a very fresh vibe to the love equation. In the past it was she who was head over heals for him, now it's the other way around.
 
The drama also featured a side story that involves a relatively large number of side characters. This particular sode plot had its cons and pros, among the pros was the fact that it featured a very fun combination, like two ex-s of the same man who recently passed away, rivals in life and work, both having the wish to bond with their (step)daughter, and even fighting for the same guy now. Where else can you find such a crazy couple! Also, how their characters and relationship evolves was certainly fun to watch, they may have started off as 2 annoying and noisy ajummas, but later they start to grow on you. As for the  cons, the whole plot-line kind of developed totally separately from the main plot-line, so the more the main plot-line developed and gained steam, the more you get the urge to fast-forward their scenes. Not saying it was a necessarily boring plot, but while they brought a comedic and near the end a bit dramatic air to the drama, they sometimes kind of felt like a distraction. let me just say that most probably re-watching this drama will involve a lot of fast-forwarding, or at least that's how it was in my case.

Acting
Perfect!!!
Gong Hyo Jin-nim goes without saying shines here as usual. she was funny, lovable, cute, crazy, and sometimes frustrating. I could feel the wish to hug her, pat her on the shoulders, send he a "fighting" yell, and sometimes even slap her on the face, just like how she made her male partners feel at certain moments.
Jo Jung Suk won me over in this drama completely. He delivered a multi-layered character, with many sides to him, perfectly and with great ease. He was believable in every word, movement and action he took (maybe it helped that the writing for his character was one of the best in the drama)
Go Kyung Pyo, did a pretty well job here as well, but I have to be honest, his was not the toughest of characters to play. But he still made me feel for him, and sometimes respect him great time as a character.

Characterization
As I mentioned earlier I found the main lead Hwa Shin (JJS's character) by far the best.
He had his flawed traits of course, but they were all very relatable, and though his character showed seemingly contradicting moments, that in its own sense was the most believable part, he simply felt human, maybe the most in this drama, he felt like he was not just a character on paper but he could actually exist somewhere.
As for our other male lead and third angle of the triangle Go Jeong Wo, he was the perfect rich gentleman, that could have as well easily ended up as the common everyday KDrama chaebol (The guy born with a silver spoon, tsun-dere and hiding a lonely side to him + maybe family issues), but thanks to his friendship with Hwa Shin, this character was given much more deepness. He was a very understanding, kind and open-minded guy who cherishes his best friend above all, and despite the big gap in economic background between them, still makes him feel at home even after meeting in a long time. He simply made me wish I was his pal, for goodness sake.
Pyo Na Ri! Here is a character that most of the time I simply adored and cheered on, and some other times I nearly hated.
She's a strong, independent and hardworking Noona who takes care of her little-bro, and chases after her dreams with all she's got. She's a realistic person, who doesn't live in fantasies, and has a strong sense of her capabilities and aims, bold and always not afraid of expressing herself, whether through words or actions, while at the same time maintaining a strong sense of self-awareness of who she is and where she falls in her workplace. She's a lovable and relatable character through and through, and that's maybe why I couldn't bring myself to hate even when during a certain part of the drama (around episodes 14~20 to be more precise), her character kind of warped and the Pyo Na Ri who always knew how she felt, and never lost sight of what she wanted, her strong will and common sense, just flew out the window, and was replaced by an indecisive and selfish bi**h all of sudden, she was irritating at times, and other times downright  obnoxious . It might have been a calculated move by the writer, but sometimes I just felt like screaming at her "Come on already Nari! that's just not so like you".

Writing
Very good script, and highly entertaining story, not to forget a beautiful ending. The pace here was mostly excellent during most of the drama but, I felt like the love traingle tug of war may have lasted a bit too long, it felt kind of draggy and was a source of frustration (thanks to Pyo Na Ri's sudden loss of self-awareness). This particular chunk of the story,  I suppose served in giving more sense to the drama's title (other than the incarnate/Hwa Shin pun); because the two main male leads turned into two lumps of Jealousy childishly fighting over a woman, and the full grown-up woman acting dumb like a teenager experiencing her first romance! And though I admit this part had a ton of fun and even hilarious scenes, I nearly hated my favorite female lead! Don't get me wrong but I personally believe that this drama could have nicely fit in a 20 episode format.

Direction
Excellent  camerawork and amazing props, but above all what left the most impression on me was something else.
A scene succeeds to be funny or sad thanks to a witty or heartfelt conversation, plus of course the right portrayal and acting from the actors involved, but here this director adds the +alpha factor. combining the right BGM or sound effects, and sometimes making use of signs on screen to express certain notions or feelings of the  characters on screen, it was always fun to watch and gave a fresh vibe to the drama.

Music
Another OST full of favorite tracks, especially vocals. Fitting lyrics and scores, as usual (One of the things I really appreciate about KDramas)
 
So, final say.
Jealousy incarnate is an excellent Rom-Com, unique story and interesting characters with a witty script and full of memorable scenes. Not to forget perfect acting, and a very nice chemistry between the leads. It was by far one of the funniest Rom-Com dramas that I have watched, and would totally recommend. It will make you LOL, cringe, cover face in embarrassment, and make your heart melt and flutter constantly.

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