The Gentleman and the Lady (2021)

It was a frustrating fun watch if you adjust youre expectations.

This is my first time watching a 50+ ep drama, I usually only watch dramas no longer than 16-22 (and my first weekend drama) and I'm slightly amazed at the amount of people that are suprised this was not that good. I mean did you read the summary of this thing? Did that sound like the most original, plot driven drama of 2021 to you? Because to me it felt like something i read ages ago back when i was a teenager in Fanfiction . net im sorry. Im guessing (based on the comments) that most of the frustration comes from that amnesia plot which lets be honest WAS really annoying. But overall I feel like this delivered exactly what it promised to be TO ME. Now I am from latinamerica (Panama) -where this show is doing BIG NUMBERS- and im going to easily explain why that is. This feels exactly like a telenovela. Im not even kidding, up until early 2010s this was the way telenovelas would go. So to anyone who has sat through a whole 100+ episodes of a telenovela of that time, then they can easily walk through this. I think Netflix knew exatly what they were doing when they put this out. Earlier this year a telenovela remake of the 1990s (meaning it HAD all the usual cliches and stupid misunderstandings) called "CAFE CON AROMA A MUJER" did big numbers too (not to mention old telenovelas are always on the top 10). So this could be another niche market netflix might be soft focusing on and another way to introduce korean dramas to the general public. Would not be surprised if we see more of these dramas released in Netflix this year.

Well what did I enjoy about this? I felt that some actors were more than decent so much so that I wondered why some of them read the script and said yes im going to waste my talent in this?

Special mention 1: President Lee Young Guk (Ji Hyun-woo). Why? he was good. A little too stiff in the beginning but as the episodes go by he feels more comfortable with the kids and Dan Dan. Dont know if this is the usual for weekend dramas but there was a lot of crying, which was annoying at times, but im not that used to see the male lead cry as easy and as much as President Lee did and it looked very natural. He does need to work on his indoor voice though other than that i liked how much of a gentle giant he was with Dan dan, a total simp. As a character though he was frustrating....LIKE VERY FRUSTRATING. The amnesia plot was frustrating too but at the same time it was kinda fun getting to see a 22 year old president fall in love again with dan dan which adds to the whole he really loves her idea AND he was way more honest and fun. When it got annoying again he went back to 41 year old president so it was all good UP UNTIL THE VERY END WHEN THAT CRAZY WOMAN MADE SOME CRAZY ALLEGATIONS THATS WHEN I LOST IT.

Special Mentionn 2: Park Dan Dan( Lee Se Hee). This one i get why she took the job shes a lesser known rookie actress and this was a good(?) way to get her face known. GIRL i hope they kept a water bottle close to you at all times while shooting because the amount of TEARS you had to shed Im AMAZED you didnt suffer from dehydration. Park Dan Dan was the strongest (stupidest?) soldier because i wouldnt have been able to push through so MANY rejections. Her character was not one I loved but somehow she made me root for her and thats all thanks to Se Hee. Who SOMEHOW made her likeable to me. Dont ask me what it is. I read shes in D.O's new drama so I hope she gets to show her true abilities in that one.

Special Mention 3: THE KIDS!!!!!! EVERYONE HAS TO AGREE THE BIGGEST FORCE OF THIS SHOW WERE THE CHILDREN. I had seen the girl already in The king's affection and she blew me away there. She wasnt as present as the youngest ones but always showed up when needed. Se jeon and Se chan were the CUTEST. I cant explain how much i loved the show thanks to them.

Quick distinction: Anna Kim (Lee Il Hwa) The only mother who deserved forgiveness IMO because seriously what was wrong with the mothers here?!?!?! , Jo Sa Ra (Park Ha Na) she made me hate her guts no more explanation needed.

Also this drama, for its quality, had a great OST.


What I disliked. WELL theres A LOT. It was wayy too predictable and while some actors did a good job overall others DID NOT.

I was constantly wondering if the scriptwriter had some mama issues because the mothers here are some of the worst ive ever seen.
Oh and people said that the first 15 episodes were the best and i only agree a little because to me everything was moving along too fast so i wouldve change that and let those plot lines develop a little more and take up more episodes so that they didnt need that amnesia plot at all or not have it take up that many episodes.
I was baffled by the fact that we didnt get to see our happy couple that much in the end. they were focusing on everything BUT the main couple in ep 49is to the half of ep 51 which i found wierd because they were FINALLY together after everything.
To be honest i skipped some parts specially the ones were Sara was and there were too many relatives, everyone was related to somebody and it ended even more twisted because of the marriages. so that was weird.

In the end this series became an addiction, I enjoyed its ridiculousness and cliches The kids were a delight to watch and though I hated the "kissing scenes" the chemistry between Ji Hyun-woo and Lee Se Hee was THERE, they were the cutest together. So while im not rating this very high nor do I think this is THE drama. It is and easy and halfly enjoyable watch when you are looking for something simple to follow. And YES I think might watch this again some time in the future. as crazy as that sounds.

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