if inner beauty is the message, why are cosmetics front & center
A middle schooler, Im Ju Gyeong, is relentlessly bullied for her "ugly" looks until she discovers the power of cosmetics, changes schools, and enters a whole new world of social acceptance.While everyone loves a makeover, this drama brings to light the questions of the value of appearance and how far one will go to be on top of the social pedestal. As the mother of a teen girl, my interest lay in exactly what message this drama would convey and how.
IJG's family is ignorant of her suffering at school. Her mother is most worried about her grades, her younger brother mocks her for being "pancaked" and he himself falls for Han Go Woon, a girl who looks similar to his sister's natural self. HGW is an interesting character in that she represents an alternate version of IJG, similarly afflicted in appearance & bullied for it, but stronger in her self-confidence & clearer in her view of the role of beauty standards in society. She's a talented singer and accepts cosmetics only for the stage which is purely performative, and remains her natural self in daily life at school.
IJG, however, views her cosmetics as life saving medication as it hides her true self from her new classmates & friends. She fears the unbearable abuse of her former school will return if her new school discovers her secret. IJG's family watches her fluctuate between her two extreme realities but do little to address her problems. The drama became more of a comedy of double identities, along with the best friend love triangle, teen edition.
I wondered if the drama will end with IJG making a choice of how she wants to appear, or does she actually progress beyond that. Can this drama really make a statement about beauty standards when it's cast with idols? How about casting a FL who is more realistically plain-looking without exaggerating a leprotic skin condition? The makeover would actually be more dramatic. And her inability to stand up for herself then sets up the character's need for a man to save her. There's a line in the show which says if you have beauty then the only talent you need is kindness. All of the characters around IJG have some sort of talent regardless of their appearance, but all IJG seems to have is kindness. Perhaps that's what attracts the school "god" since he seems to have everything but kindness in his life. But this just means IJG only exists to fulfill another's need.
I fear a deeper message will be that cosmetics are the answer to every middle school girl's problems (and we know it's now hitting girls much younger). One of IJG's victories over her former tormentor is to beat her at her own game in an Instagram beauty contest. Instagram is now known for being a highly toxic medium for teen girls, but this isn't recognized in the show. IJG's obsession with makeup becomes her career aspiration. I'm trying not to think of that as a bad thing, but for IJG, cosmetics are a lifeline, rather than an art. Will IJG progress to becoming an artist? Will she own the cosmetics, or will the cosmetics continue to own her?
However, toward the end of the drama, most of these disturbing questions do get addressed. IJG makes a choice, but rather than being in a place of fear, she chooses from a place of confidence. Here's also where the adults she most depends on come through, and she also gains clarity in who her true friends are. Unfortunately, this transition lasts for only one episode and the character's personality remains rather flat. IJG isn't involved in any sports, clubs, or community service; is having a boyfriend the only solution to lack of opportunities?
Overall, this drama is very bingeable as I really wanted to see how things turned out for the main character. The early bullying scenes were quite cringeworthy but I waited to see what phoenix would arise from that mess. Unfortunately there were no surprises. Perhaps just rising up to "normal" is enough, but how does that give any inspiration? In the end, her highest achievement is to just be present for her friends but I don't think the story generated as much sympathy for her character as it could've.
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A teenager story - that does end up standing out
As much as I don't consider myself part of the high-school series demographic as much as I have to say that I mainly enjoyed this sugar-coated, young love story.The storyline is quite simple but the actors, their interactions, personalities and quirks draw us in and keep the momentum going. Most of the series breezed by, although some episodes were on the slower side (and felt a bit like a drag).
After finishing all 16 episodes I do wonder what it is that makes this stand out - and it does end up standing out. I guess that it somehow feels genuine and doesn't try to be what it is not. It is a story of young love, a story of teenage hardships, a story of friendship. There is enough sweetness here to melt anyone while there is at least 1 episode where we inevitably end up crying our eyes out as well. Nothing more and nothing less.
The chemistry is there, and the supporting cast (especially the siblings of FL) definitely adds to the colourfulness of the story. The gender-reversed roles and quirkiness of the sister and her boyfriend were one of the special highlights.
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«True Beauty» est comédie romantique avec pour message de fond, de s’accepter soi-même. On y parle de violence scolaire, d’intimidation, ce qu’a subi le personnage principal, malgré tout, le drama ne se concentre pas sur le sujet, plutôt sur les séquelles laissées par tout ça sur Joo Kyung, et comment ça se reflète encore sur sa vie. Malgré les sujets qui sont plus sérieux, entre autres également le suicide et le deuil, ce drama ne lésine pas sur le côté humoristique non plus ! Ce drama a réussi à me faire rire aux éclats plus d’une fois ! Et ce qui est intéressants, c’est que plus d’une romance est mise en avant, toutes uniques. Le tout, joués par des acteurs et des actrices qui ont tous été parfaits, je ne peux que recommander ce drama à ceux aimant le genre, et je sais que de mon côté, je finirai par le revoir prochainement !
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Avis Complet sur mon Blog :
https://lamagiedeshistoires.wordpress.com/2024/05/22/true-beauty-avis/
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Deliciously cliché
Does this drama have quite a few cliches? Yes.But ask yourself this, why are cliches used so often? Because they are appealing on some level to the general audience.
And that makes this drama deliciously cliche. Does it have a cliche love triangle with an oblivious female lead? Yes. But it's done well, and it's enjoyable to watch. And I'd make the same argument for the other cliches as well.
It won't be a show to philosophosize about or consider the greater impacts of politics on society or solve who murdered someone else, but sometimes you don't need all that. You just want a light hearted show to take you away from the dull reality of your own life or the problems you are facing. And in that situation, I'd say this is pretty perfect.
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OH MY GOODNESS
I recently complete watching this drama and this is too good i like its overall concept that its doesn't matter how you look only one thing matter that how much you good from your soul.Some time our society start judging us and because of that we start changing our self and also we know the thing we are doing not make us comfortable but we never listen our self and change our self from others opinion
I already watch this drama 3 times and i am also able to watch this again.
I think you should watch this .😊😊
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Good!
i really loved this kdrama. it had me in tears MULTIPLE times, and the acting was really good considering everything (like eunwoo, being an idol, for example) — the only reason its a 9 and not a 10 is because the last ending felt very rushed to me. i understand why the timeskip happened and everything, and that is completely fine! its just, i dont know, i feel like suhoo and ju-kyung couldve taken it a bit longer to rekindle their relationship and everything? i really wish we couldve seen more of how she was post breakup, breaking it to her friends, and so on. we did get a glimpse of her being comforted, but i wish there was more, yk? other than that i loved it and i will most likely rewatch! it was very comfortingVond je deze recentie nuttig?
True flaws yet entertaining and sweet
I am writing this review after re watching this, a rewarch that was highly enjoyable, entertaining and even though I knew what eould happen still had me pushing that next episode button as well as watching it in the passenger seat in the car just so I could watch a little bit more.Yet still I lowered the score from a 9,5 to a 9 as there are just a few too many high pitched chogia, over the top mimics and horrible elements for me to completely let them slide all things that could lower the score to a 6 or even 5 brought up by the high bingsbilsty, the combination of depth snd issues with sweet sweet romance and lovable side characters.
The older sister is deffenetly one to steel the show in her gender bender reveresed roles relationship Im Se Mi kills it and is far more interesting than the female lead.
The Secound male lead has given many SLS and is indeed a very entertaining and talanted boy to watch however the writers did him wrong with the conflict with the male lead. Making heím do and say some unforgivable things.
Our male lead is handsome, sweet and aweare of his flaws. Some say he is a green flagg, I say not really but close enough.. as he does have som communication and jellousey. All things the female lead handles pretty well but still a fun dramabiyfriend to watch and woo over but not relationship goals. At least not for my younger self.
The female lead has great dynamics with the people around her and she does have some fun moments when she lets out the tiger in her instead of running away scared. But to be honest it is hard to fully understand why both male leads fall for her, pretty or not pretty something is missing...
All in all an entertaining drama that despite all its true flaws has enough good in it to make it a 9 and that is actually pretty impressive!
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Heartwarming and hilarious, but also deep
Things I disliked (or could be better)1) When being guilt-tripped by Seo Jun, on top of his already existing guilt regarding Se Yeon’s death, Suho decides to make Ju Gyeong distance herself from him by lying to her and saying that he only ‘looked out’ for her and ‘cared’ out of pity. But later when she confronts him about it and says how he shouldn’t ‘lead her on’, he doesn’t even give her a proper explanation for this. I was hoping he’d do that later in the series but he doesn’t, and I think he should have.
2) I did not like how Ju Gyeong refused to try to listen and understand Suho when he expressed that he was uncomfortable with her being around Seo Jun so much (working part time at the cafe together, doing a couple photoshoot together), and that he ‘didn’t like it’. She only acted defensive and was so dense that she couldn’t even realize that Suho’s jealousy and discomfort are totally reasonable? Especially considering the fact Seo Jun DOES like her, and after the school literally spreads tons of rumors about her and Seo Jun dating. Like, how does one not realize that?
Suho even literally said ‘So you don’t care about dating rumors between you and Seo Jun being spread, but announcing we are dating is not ok?’ which was a very valid point.
3) I found it weird how everyone in the class reacted so poorly and judgy after Ju Gyeong’s ‘true face’ was exposed as well as her bullied background at Jongpa. Yes, she did get selected as visual representative for the school and I get that some people may feel fishy and salty about it and judge, but her own classmates after getting along so well for a while already? Even Su Ah acted avoidant and I did not get why. Then in the end it had to be the teacher Han Joon Woo to ‘educate’ everyone to not judge and act like that. That was disappointing.
4) Suho and his dad honestly have a lot more complexity and tension to their relationship because of multiple things, not just because of the ‘Se Hyeon being falsely accused and forced to his death’ thing. Yes, his dad wasn’t aware that that’s what Director Oh did in order to cover up his own possible scandal (the photo with him bringing home a young actress). He does genuinely apologize for this to Suho, but to me their relationship seemed to heal too easily and too quickly. I can understand that when it comes to life and death you can disregard a lot of things, and considering his mom already died he only had his dad now. So when Suho’s dad gets a brain hemorrhage problem and has to be treated overseas he immediately comes along with him. But that still doesn’t erase all of the things his dad did previously in the past, when Suho was younger. For example the ‘affair’ he caught his dad having with some woman on the day his mom died. That’s just fucked up. How does that not get addressed?
5) The reason that Suho states when he breaks up with Ju Gyeong I honestly find quite weak and not convincing. Ju Gyeong expressed not minding to wait for him at all while he’s in America taking care of his dad, and yet he insists that waiting is ‘too painful for her’ and breaks up with her. I felt that was unnecessary, and that it wasn’t a right choice in the writing at that point in the drama. Considering point 4 (my previous point), I think the rest of the episodes should have addressed that instead of making up more ‘drama’ because of this.
6) Then after 2 years, when Suho comes back again he acts as if the breaking up and dumping Ju Gyeong and not replying for a full year just didn’t happen at all, and doesn’t even explain things and apologize to her right away as he should have. Instead, he tries to take her back like it's no big deal and I found that really hurtful and disrespectful. Ju Gyeong’s hurt reaction and avoidant behavior are totally reasonable and understandable. In the end they do make up, but I just didn’t like this.
7) It’s unclear what happened to the bullies from Jongpa High. Ju Gyeong does fight them and beat them up and teach them ‘a lesson’, but I feel it would have been better if the bullies got officially punished and addressed by the school or some legal authority. Bullying is something that will continue if serious measures aren’t taken by schools, or by other authorities. It is a happy ending for Ju Gyeong, but the bullies could still terrorize other people. Especially because this drama centers around this topic quite a bit I was hoping for some sort of ‘closure’ in that sense.
8) Even if Su Jin apologized to Ju Gyeong, it seemed off to me how everyone else, including Suho, were happy to see her when she appeared at Hee Gyeong’s wedding as a guest. I would imagine being quite disappointed and off-put by your childhood friend whom you’ve known for so long and cared for for so long to do something like that to your girlfriend. I would appreciate the apology (given that Ju Gyeong told Suho that Sujin apologized), but I’d still be stand off ish. But that’s just me. Suho’s reaction just didn’t seem realistic to me.
9) This isn’t a plot point, and I appreciate the amount of kissing scenes in the drama, but honestly they can be a lot better. Cha Eun Woo’s kissing is stiff and he barely even moves his lips when he kisses Ga Young, and if he does it looks kind of unnatural. We are way past the ‘peck and freeze’ era now, that’s literally so 2000s kdrama kissing style. Then their kiss at the end of the last episode also felt kind of awkward. He was holding a comic book in his right hand, but Ju Gyeong’s arms were free. She could at least put her arms around his neck or something like that, instead of once again freezing in the position and just staying like that (that being said I did like the kiss after he confessed to her during the school trip). Overall it could just be better.
Things I liked (or that were funny)
1) The ‘panty incident’ when Seo Jun dances by himself half naked when he’s out of the shower and then turns around and sees that Ju Gyeong is there, and then he continues to dance on his way to his room and then quickly ‘breaks’ character in embarrassment. That was hilarious.
2) Suho makes Ju Gyeong do stuff for him in return for keeping her bare face secret. But in reality he was just using those as excuses to see her and spend time with her. One time he even asks her to come to Prince Comic to bring him something but then she quickly leaves, not giving him time to invite her to eat ramen with him (which was his real intention). Then the camera zooms in on the two bowls of ramen that are prepped laying on the table.
3) Tae Hoon and Su Ah being THAT pda couple is cringe to some, but super adorable to me (ok Tae Hoon did have some cringey moments but I don’t mind it given his character setting lol). I loved the part where Tae Hoon prepared a whole surprise for their 100 day anniversary in the classroom, with all the other classmates and friends participating as well.
4) On the playground when Ju Gyeong trips while they are playing basketball and Suho catches her, but then he hugs her. Then he tries to play it off as making her smell his ‘new detergent’. Then the Prince Comic owner happens to pass by and he rushes over to hug him as well to make it look like he wasn’t specifically just hugging Ju Gyeong. LOL.
5) In episode 6 (and end of ep 5), when a singer at the school festival performs one of Se Yeon’s songs as a tribute, Suho gets a panic attack. Even after being told he only looked out for her ‘out of pity’ (which is a lie unexplained to her) and being hurt by it, Ju Gyeong still rushes to care for him. When he runs off and ends up on the rooftop crying alone, she finds him and stays with him, embracing him and comforting him. This really shows how much she loves Suho and that when push comes to shove she can put all things aside and still be there for him.
6) In episode 7, Suho goes to great lengths, from making everyone at school yell ‘apologize’, to hacking his computer during a game in an internet cafe, to telling on his dad, to the point of even losing sleep, just to make Lee Sung Yong apologize to Ju Gyeong for kidnapping her. That was true dedication.
7) In episode 10, Suho visits Ju Gyeong’s room for the first time and sees a photo of her younger self laying on a couch (that appears to be at Prince Comic). He finds out that Ju Gyeong was the same girl he met as a little boy at Prince Comic who called him a crybaby, and then tried to cheer him up by doing animal impressions. He then takes that photograph home with him.
8) In spite of point 3 from ‘things I disliked’, I love how Su Ah speaks up and confronts Sujin about her deeds. Even if Sujin doesn’t admit her fault or show remorse even then, Su Ah stands up for Ju Gyeong. Afterwards she reassures Ju Gyeong that she is not ‘that kind of person’ and admits feeling hurt that JG thought she’d be shallow, then they ‘make up’ and hug eachother.
9) In episode 13, Suho records an aegyo video at Prince Comic and it’s HONESTLY ADORABLE. He sends it to Ju Gyeong in order to cheer her up. (Ngl Cha Eun Woo pulls off aegyo really well and his voice also sounds cute when he does it.)
10) At some point Suho reenacts the animal impressions to Ju Gyeong, and Ju Gyeong finally realizes they’ve met before as kids. The way he did it is very cute.
11) In episode 14, when they are dating Suho itches to call Ju Gyeong, but then he imagines the worst case scenario where he ends up being ‘the tiring type’ (as said by Tae Hoon), in which Ju Gyeong runs off with Seo Jun on his motorcycle, leaving Suho alone on the track field. He then kneels down and screams ‘NO!!’.
12) The beach date was honestly so wholesome and romantic as well, I loved seeing them go on an ‘official’ date like that.
13) 'OH MY EYEEEEES, OH SHIIIIIIIT' - Im Ju Yeong
14) While my previous points in the ‘things I disliked’ still stand, I did enjoy watching how the show extended beyond the high school setting. I really loved seeing Ju Gyeong pursue her ambition and passion in makeup. I also loved seeing Seo Jun make his way back to music and eventually debut, and that Suho decides to pursue music again too. I also really enjoyed the sub-plot of the relationship between Hee Gyeong and Han Joon Woo and how it progresses to them getting married. The show wraps up in a lovely way.
Final thoughts
Visually, I enjoyed it in all aspects.
Firstly, the cast. I haven’t read the webtoon (yet) but I think the casting is just perfect when comparing the actors to the drawn versions of their characters. Cha Eun Woo is literally perfect as Suho, I don’t think anyone else can match better. Ga Young and Hwang In Youp are perfect as Ju Gyeong and Seo Jun as well. Even the casting for the side characters match super well. For example Goo Woon, or Hee Gyeong. Even Selena’s actress pulled off the vibe really well. The acting was also really good, I was especially impressed by how well Cha Eun Woo did considering his performance in some previous roles were underwhelming.
Secondly, the cinematography is beautiful, the colors are soft but vibrant.
Thirdly, the fashion is also on point most of the time (some of Suho’s outerwear and outfits are kind of questionable tho imo). Also, I don’t know how Ju Gyeong suddenly leveled up her fashion sense by 100 after ‘the makeover’, but I did really enjoy her cute outfits. I especially liked her academic outfit variations. I like how she wore different colored knee socks, sometimes grey and sometimes white. Her matching pastel colored outerwear goes well with her uniforms too.
The soundtrack is also very memorable, both songs with vocals as well as atmospheric instrumental tracks.
I loved the characters. First of all, I need to give a big shout out to Seo Jun for being such a respectable and good character. Even if he loves Ju Gyeong, he never acts selfishly by crossing the line or boundaries and always respects her and Suho.
He also does so much for her behind the scenes, it's admirable.
The side characters are awesome too. Ju Gyeong's sister and brother are also so fun and have unique personalities as well. Hee Gyeong (older sis) is very confident, tomboyish and funny with her interactions with Han Joon Woo (the teacher), but she has a really righteous side. Ju Yeong (younger brother) is a goof and banters with Ju Gyeong a lot and seems like the usual 'obnoxious' sibling, but he definitely shows a more serious, mature and caring side to him as well. For example when he tells Suho to not play around with Ju Gyeong's feelings and actually be serious if he really likes her, or when he fights someone at school when they talk shit about Ju Gyeong (after she got 'exposed'). His protective side definitely shows.
Then another side chara I especially liked is Yoon Tae Hoon, he was hilarious. He was a bro to Suho as well, trying to give him tips and help him out. That scene where they broke the 4th wall talking about drama cliches was HILARIOUS.
Plot wise, as I’ve stated in the points before, it’s not perfect. However, the characters and their backgrounds and personalities are very well developed and I think that really uplifts the show and carries it in places where it lacks plot structure.
This show gave me many laughs, especially in the first half. It also gave me some tears. There are definitely a lot of cliche moments like in a lot of kdramas, but those honestly didn’t bother me.
Finally, I just loved how organically and naturally Ju Gyeong and Suho’s romance develops throughout the show, it doesn’t feel forced at all. I loved seeing their relationship and interactions change from ‘cold’ and ‘on edge’ to being warm and fluffy and silly. Suho definitely learns to ‘let loose’ and show a more playful and cute side when their relationship progresses. It was also relieving and heartwarming to see him and Seo Jun reconcile in the end and become friends again.
All in all, despite having some flaws, True Beauty is a show that has a great combination of fluffiness/comedy and deeper themes. I honestly didn’t expect it to address things like panic attacks, trauma, serious family issues and OCD. However these are real things that happen on a daily basis for many people and I can fully appreciate the show addressing these, while still being balanced with the more lighthearted side of it. I enjoyed this show a lot and I’m going to miss it.
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Per chi ha subito bullismo o lo sta subendo.
Sono di parte, indubbiamente. Il motivo? Questo drama tratta un argomento vicinissimo a me, ovvero il bulismo e tutto ciò legato al sentirsi inadeguati, diversi, "mostri". Questo drama può sembrare molto semplice, a tratti banale, ma chi ha subito lo stesso trattamento della protagonista o qualcosa di molto simile si ritroverà vicinissimo ad essa e non potrà non simpatizzare e sentirsi lui/lei stesso protagonista di questa storia. Si parla anche di amicizia, di accettazione di se stessi, dei primi amori e delle prime delusioni, del futuro e di come superare l'adolescenza. Ho faticato non poco a trovare le parole giusto per invogliarvi a vederlo, ma mi sono resa conto che non posso farlo. Sta a voi vedere qualcosa in più in questo drama. Certamente ha delle sue pecche, come alcuni attori che dovrebbero imparare a recitare un po' di più: un esempio, Cha Eun Woo sarà anche il più bel ragazzo della Corea ma quanto a recitazione cala un po' siccome mi sembrava di rivedere il principe Yi Rim di Rookie Historian (drama storico/romance super consiglliato).In the end, per chi pratico di manga, potrebbe sembrare di vedere uno shojo scolastico tra i più classici prendere vita (forse perchè deriva da un webtoon?) e questa cosa mi è piaciuta molto. Messo in lista per un prossimo rewatch.
Ah.
Ovviamente team Seo Jun ;)
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An Interesting Feel Good drama about high school love and self motivation!
It's a good drama. It had it's ups and downs so I cannot say it's a very good but it's definitely above average to a good category. The characters and story was interesting but execution was not great. It had a lot of potential to touch important high school issues but it didn't explored them, which I think was intentional from the creators. They wanted to keep it as a light hearted story which is totally fine. This is one of very few stories very second lead was equally good as the main lead, sometimes second lead overshadowed the main lead which is a great thing.I really liked the character of elder sister and her love story. In the last episode when everyone started dancing at the wedding that was very wholesome moment and I will definitely remember as one of the best wedding celebration.
Overall It's a good watch!
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AMAZING AND AWESOME SHOW..........
Amazing! just so amazing! this is literally the best thing i've ever watched in my life! THE STORYLINE AND CHARACTERS ARE SO AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGG ! once u start watching, you cannot stop!!!!!! the cast choice was awesome! I highly recommend watching this drama because it has everything! from depression to happiness, from liking to loving, YOU'LL FIND EVERYTHING YOU CAN DREAM OF! plus, this drama is very funny and emotional at the same time!!! One time when I was eating Chocos w/ milk while watching,I laughed so hard that I had to spil the milk and chocos out of my mouth to stop them from entering my wind pipe because I was laughing so hard! There'll be times when you will feel so sad for characters and sometimes you'll laugh so hard. I'm still addicted to the drama and still IN LOVE with the OST--MISSING U..............Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Why is this considered a classic in the kdrama fanbase?
First of all why was this so fucking long like damn. I'm so glad we got rid of forcing every single kdrama to have 16 episodes. The story was dumb as fuck and didn't go anywhere. Every single cliche you could think of was present here. The worst of all: the miscommunication trope: CHECK!!!! YAYYYY!!!! Like we're TIRED. It's also the fact that they tried to convince me that girl is ugly because she got some pimples and glasses and when she put makeup on everybody gagging all of a sudden like no ma'am! Mun Ka Young being the fl does NOT help this show, in fact she's the reason why it was hard to keep watching and i had to force myself to finish it. Cha Eun Woo is (as we know) not the best actor either so he didn't help either. Park You Na is a good actress but her character is fake as hell so I didn't care for her either. Hwang In Youp was definitely the selling point here even though his ass was annoying asf too like he FAILED to drop the douchebag act for one second and then was surprised when she ain't pick him!!! And I was mad too!! Like that's how badly written the show is. I'm rooting for the fl to end up with the antagonist chi-Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
