michelleoc
Worth watching for the four main characters
Let me start by saying that I could watch and listen to Woo Do Hwan read the telephone book and be perfectly content. He is exquisitely attractive and he has a wonderful, deep voice. There are certain actors/actresses that you just feel drawn to, for whatever reason, and for me, he is one of them. This show is the Korean version of Dangerous Liaisons/Cruel Intentions, which almost kept me from watching it. I do not like to watch people being mean to others, especially without reason. I was pleasantly surprised by the triad friendship of Kwan Shi-Hyun (Woo Do Hwan), Choi Soo-Ji (Moon Ga Young) and Lee Se Joo (Kim Min Jae). To say they were each dysfunctional would be an understatement. There were a lot of very amusing scenes with the three of them interacting. These were scarred people that grew together as friends, to protect each other and build each other up. When the three of them were in scenes together, I felt sometimes like I was getting ready to watch a traffic accident - I didn't want to watch the way that they were behaving, but I just couldn't help myself. And when Shi-Hyun gets involved with Eun Tae-hee (Joy), their chemistry was smoldering. They were wonderful to watch. Woo Do Hwan's transition from cold and calculating to being in love was intense, and there were a few scenes of him trying to be "cool" that were funny. At the beginning, he's pretty emotionless (as a character, not the actor), but once he falls for Eun Tae-hee his smiles just light up the screen. I even thought the way he said her name was special. Joy reminded me a lot of Kim Go-eun from Goblin, and I found that a little distracting. I have to admit I was fascinated by the relationship of these four people, and I could have cared less about their families, and found myself fast forwarding through the family stuff. I'm not giving anything away to say there is a happy (though too rushed and short) ending, along with the obligatory separation for years. Seriously, why do they only give us four minutes for the ending?!?!?! And how many years have gone by? She says that she's made the same wish every year. They were such a lovely couple, I really wish they would have devoted more time to the ending.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Just my opinion
I know that a lot of people liked this show, but I couldn't, for the life of me, forgive the mess that I was watching. I was very disappointed in the writing, not the acting. Lee Jong Suk and Park Hae Jin were both wonderful in this mess of a drama. I'm all for suspending disbelief, but this show, in the first place, didn't seem to know in which direction it wanted to go. Baddies that don't die no matter what happens to them, a change in the focus of the show (N. Korea was a good starting place, but went horribly awry), things happening in a hospital that have absolutely no foundation in reality, name/identity changes (who can keep up with the names?), and it seemed like the inmates were running the asylum! The ending was very disappointing and caused an even further suspension of disbelief - the main characters disappear for a year - did no one look for them? Ugh!Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Really fun watch!!
Loved:1)Uhm Tae Goo as Ji Hwan. Tough on the outside, marshmallow on the inside. I loved watching his progression, not only in love, but in life in general. His little confused pout was so cute. He's got that deep, sexy voice going on, that goes along with his physical power to make him dangerous without lifting a finger.
2)Found family - Ji Hwan and his baby deer. Each of them played perfectly against the others. I cried a little a couple of times with these guys. I love how they took her in, took care of her and loved her.
3)Childhood friends. I know a lot of people hate this trope, but I love it!
4)ML and FL - I was disappointed in their lack of chemistry together, but they were so stinking cute!
5)The comedy. I'm not normally a big fan of slapstick comedy, but it's been a while since I have enjoyed a ROM-COM so much.
6)The OST. Didn't love the bubbly intro music, but the rest was beautiful.
7)Costuming for ML and the baby deer.
8) Im Chul Soo as the Meow Group boss - he was so amusingly over the top.
9)Eventual bromance between Ji Hwan and the prosecutor.
10) Hot scene between 2ML and 2FL.
11)Cute ending.
Didn't Love:
1)The content creator that wanted Ji Hwan.
2)The storyline of the second couple - ESPECIALLY the accidental pregnancy. It took away a lot of time that we could have been watching our main couple.
3)Not enough time for our main couple to be together.
4)The prosecutor took forever to grow on me. Finally, in the last couple of episodes, I was on board with him.
5)Kisses were poorly done.
6)What was with the pink satin suit on Ji Hwan!?! He looked gorgeous in everything else, but was he going to prom or something?
7)FL bangs and clothing. The bangs looked like something from the 70's and they dressed her in the worst, oversized, unattractive outfits.
8)Drunk kisses.
Hated:
1)Ji Hwan's father.
2)Episode 15. We moved from a rom-com into a violent drama in the blink of an eye. I felt like someone else had written that episode and it belonged in another drama. Unnecessarily bloody and violent. There were any number of ways that they could have brought some tension to our characters without changing the feel of the entire show. This is why I had to drop my rating.
However, I can heartily recommend this (if I had to do it over again, I'd just skip episode 15) rom-com, because it did the comedy so well. I also always like seeing so many actors that I've seen in other works.
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Loved it!
I didn't read anything about this ahead of time, and I'll be honest, I've no idea why I suddenly decided to watch something about traffic cops! I am so glad I did, though. I watched it on Hulu in the US.First, there were multiple different cases in every couple of episodes, with an overarching mystery that is woven through each episode and finally solved at the end.
I LOVED the TCI team! They all made significant contributions to each of the cases, and you could tell they had a lot of respect for one another. I'm not a big fan of Lee Min Ki - he's the same character in each drama of his that I've seen. He did his usual job, and I really liked each of the other characters. They managed to make the two women smart and competent without being witchy. There were three actors that really departed from other works I've seen them in - Kang Gi Doong, Oi Eui Shik and Lee Yoo Joon. Hats off to them, especially Kang Gi Doong - wow, he was a piece of work!
I found the public service announcement at the end of each episode very interesting, with statistics about hit-and-run, drunk driving, etc.
The car chases were excellent.
No romance - thank you!
I'm not a big fan of shows that have a second season, but I'd be up for a season 2 from this show!
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Shadow Detective Season 2
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Personally, I found Season 1 so much better
And this is why. Multiple corrupt police and government officials got promoted following season 1 and continued their corrupt ways. We, as the audience, already knew they were corrupt. Then, they added more corrupt people. As I mentioned in my review for Season 1, the same people tend to play the same type of characters from drama to drama. You see an actor come up on screen and you already know he's corrupt. There is such a thing as overkill on the corruption story, and I think this season surpassed their quota.There wasn't as much police procedure in this season, just a lot of time spent on the bad guys, showing how they are always a step ahead of the police.
ML was excellent. He'd lost weight since Season 1, but he still had that "worn out" look about him. I missed him having so much interaction with the two police that he worked with in season 1. He was more of a lone wolf in this season.
I loved Go Gyu Pil and Hyun Bong Sik in their roles again this season. They are always good for comic relief.
Perhaps, if I hadn't watched this right on the heels of Season 1, I might have enjoyed it more.
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Very suspenseful
This drama had more twists and turns than a corkscrew! I must say, corruption isn't my favorite thing to watch, but I watched an episode every day on the treadmill and didn't have to fast forward at all. I would not recommend binging it. You kind of have to let things marinate after you watch an episode. It was very dark, with pervasive tones of grays and blues, which was effective to the feel of the story. A note of warning, don't get too cocky and think that you know what is going on, and who the bad guys are, because you'll probably be wrong!Acting: Lee Sung Min as Taek Rok - I've only seen him in a couple of guest roles, and he was fabulous in this. A tired, overweight, chain-smoking, disheveled, grizzled cop just trying to move to retirement without making waves. That quickly falls by the wayside when he gets blamed for the murder of a co-worker. Then the cat and mouse game begins. There was something sad yet endearing about his character. His loneliness was almost palpable.
Jin Goo as Jin Han - he was very good. I really liked the developing bromance between him and Taek Rok.
And, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Go Gyu Pil as the dormitory manager. I love him, and he brought some levity into all the seriousness.
Somewhat of a cliffhanger ending, since there is a season 2. I hope that we get a different case rather than a continuation of the case from season 1. I'm ready to move on.
My only minor quibbles:
1) Why do the same people always play the bad guys? There are a couple of the actors that when I see that they are in a drama, I know that they are corrupt.
2) Oh, so many names to keep straight! I finally just decided that as long as I knew what was going on with the main characters, that's all I needed.
3) The psychiatrist was under-utilized. That whole storyline didn't make much sense and was never completely fleshed out.
Do yourself a favor and watch this. And, if possible, watch it in a dark room, because some of the scenes are too dark to make out faces or what is going on.
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Almost wore out my fast forward button
What I liked:1) Cui Yi Xin as Quan Quan. What an adorable little boy!! He was absolutely the highlight of the show. I didn't like his tendency to call his parents by their first names, but his interactions with them were cute.
2) The main couple, when they weren't fighting. They were sweet together, not fire chemistry, but no fish kisses.
3) We got a wedding!
Not so much:
1) Wow! So much extraneous stuff. I didn't care for the two side couples. This one went on entirely too long
2) The sleazy sexual predator males.
3) All three women seemed like they took turns "playing" their boyfriends. Stupid reasons for breakups (2nd couple), stalker (3rd couple), the FL decides arbitrarily that she doesn't want to see the ML anymore for no apparent reason and makes him jump through hoop after hoop to try to win her over.
4) Dubbing. A couple of the ladies sounded like Minnie Mouse on helium.
5) The doctor has liked Min Hui for years, then suddenly he likes the irritating woman that has been stalking him.
6) Small, yet irritating thing. They weren't wearing their wedding rings in the scenes following the wedding.
7) He went to another country for six months to have surgery, but she didn't go?! However, their reunion was cute.
8) Way too much "we're together", "we're breaking up", we're together.
I realize I'm in the minority here, but I can't recommend this one, except for the little boy.
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All I can say is watch it!
This one took me by surprise, I admit. When I think badminton, I remember back to playing in school - basically trying to just get the birdie over the net. There was so much strength and power watching the badminton tournaments, and watching all they did while practicing. But badminton takes a back seat to the friendships and the community. I laughed and I cried, a lot.The young ML character of Yoon Hae Kang starts playing badminton after moving to the country. He was a middle school baseball star, so starting badminton (with his dad as the coach) didn't start out well. He started out with a big chip on his shoulder, and I wondered how long I'd have to put up with that behavior. He kept his cockiness throughout, but watching him develop actual deep, meaningful friendships was such a lovely thing to watch.
Friendships, first love, separating from your parent's help, bullying, corruption. This drama has it all.
The acting was so good all the way around. I loved the friendships between the boys, but I also loved the villagers. You know, the typical quirky characters, but each person had their own story that blended in so well with the others. The sad young couple that come to live in the village for mysterious reasons - I loved their story development and how they integrated into the community. I also loved the old lady that made a playroom, and the kids would go there, because she had Wi-Fi. How the kids were absorbed in their own lives, but also cared about the elders in the village.
I do have to say that at the beginning I hated the dad/coach. He just seemed so stupid to me. But the more I watched, the more memories it brought back of me and my own parents - how they tried to be cool and fit into my world, but all it did was cause embarrassment. I think you'll feel this more, the further you watch.
I loved watching the friendships between the boys develop, especially since Yoon Hae Kang was an outsider and didn't want to be there. As he let the other boys into his life, then it progressed to the boys letting others in as well. I just can't say enough about the friendships.
I loved the BTS music and references. The actors breaking the fourth wall and looking at the camera was funny throughout, but never more funny than when the coach said he thought the boys were cooler than BTS. The boys got really nervous and said he should never say things like that, because it could be really bad (protective Army reference!), and the dad looks straight into the camera, apologizes, and runs away.
I held off watching this for the longest time, thinking it was just a sports drama. It turned out to be so much more to me.
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Romance by Romance (Movie)
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Didn't like the FL at all!
It's short and doesn't take too much time involvement, but while I was watching it, I kept wondering how soon before it was going to be over. Overall, my complaints were with the writing.1) My biggest gripe is the way the FL is written. Desperate, clingy, immature - I got the feeling that she was more afraid of being alone than anything else. To try to hang onto someone that doesn't want to be with you is so sad.
2) Cha Hun's acting was really bad. His face remained emotionless, his movements were wooden, and watching him try to act was just uncomfortable.
3) FL and her best friend - he's stuck with her through NUMEROUS relationship disasters. Their relationship was cute to watch, but her having that many ex-boyfriends would give me pause before getting involved with her. She's kind of a "love the one you're with girl." Basically, I had a hard time believing in a romantic relationship between them.
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BEYOND pleasantly surprised!
The trailers looked silly, and Ahn Bo Hyun has never been one of my favorites. He's always been that support character that I've enjoyed well enough, but he hasn't wowed me when he's been the lead. All of that has changed with Flexx Cop. But let's back up a little to initial thoughts.STORY: A chaebol that is used to playing RPG, suddenly finds himself as a cop. This could have gone quickly bad if he had been made out to be stupid. I loved how he was able to look at cases from a different perspective that the cops hadn't thought of. I also loved how he seemed to throw money at almost every case, providing help/resources that only his massive wealth could bring. I'm a big fan of having a case take just a little over an episode. This keeps it from being drawn out needlessly and keeps things moving.
Friendships: I loved to watch the development with the four main characters. Impatience/mistrust/dislike turn to caring and trust. I was halfway through the drama when it struck me how organically the friendships developed. With each case, the other cops grew to like Yi Soo. I love how they came to appreciate/like Yi Soo and were there to support him and keep him safe when he was struggling.
Romance: Hmmm. Okay, so I'll admit I'm a dyed-in-the-wool romantic. I thought the story line of the cop and the medical examiner was cute. However, I wasn't feeling it between Yi Soo and Kang Hyun. I think the writers purposely didn't develop in, knowing that they would have a season 2. I just really enjoyed them getting to know one another and coming to depend on each other.
ACTING: Excellent. Ahn Bo Hyun owned this role. He could have come off as obnoxious, but he played it so innocent that you couldn't help but like him from the get-go. He really had to run the gamut of emotions in this role, and he nailed every one of them. The scene toward the end with Yi Soo and Kang Hyun's mother just about broke my heart. Everyone was excellent in their roles, Kwak Shi Yang as Seung Joo kept me guessing for quite some time. I was disappointed in the direction he took, but I realize that's the only way it could go. I really liked the casting of Kim Shin Bi as Hyung Jin, the youngest cop of the group. He had the sweet innocence that played nicely against the more seasoned and jaded cops. The hero worship he had for Yi Soo was so fun.
MUSIC: There were some nice songs that faded into the background.
REWATCH VALUE: Usually, the only shows I rewatch are the good romantic scenes from shows I've watched. However, this was so good I'm going to watch it again right away!
WISH LIST FOR SEASON TWO: I'm not normally a fan of a show having a second season, because it's all been done in season one. Going from dislike to working together as a team - that was a big part of this season, and one of the things that made it so enjoyable. I don't know how the writers plan to do this, but I hope that they keep the format of a case an episode. And if you can't give us a good, hot, chemistry-filled, believable romance, just leave the romance out. They are great as friends.
Honestly, I can't get over how much I enjoyed this show!
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Hot, except when it wasn't
I thought Mysterious Love was much better than this one. The script/story were so ridiculous, I spent an inordinate amount of time writing down things I couldn't believe about it. Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but the characters kept doing such stupid things it was irritating. I could feel brain cells dying...ACTING:
Tsao Yu Ning as Jin Yan - let's be honest, he doesn't have to do much more than stand, stare, and look hunky, which he has down to an art form. He's basically the same character from Mysterious Love.
Yilia Yu as XiXi/An Yue - I thought she did a good job differentiating between the two characters.
CHEMISTRY: Hot, but it seemed like they were together less than they were in Mysterious Love. These two are seriously good together, they chemistry is definitely chemistry-ing!
For me, I was there for the main couple and was disappointed in the relatively small amount of time they spent together. First, there was the convoluted storyline involving a lot of people. THEN we had the second couple which was just WRONG! They got entirely too much screen time and I didn't care about them at all. In fact, there was a triangle, and, in my opinion, she ended up with the wrong guy!
I won't try to steer anyone clear of this drama but be prepared for a festival of eye rolling.
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Wow! What a convoluted story, and not in a good way.
My rating on this was all over the place. I can pretty much suspend disbelief when I watch a drama, but this was like watching a telenovela, with over-the-top characters, consequences for evil too long in coming, and don't even get me started on the "is this my fate? Is it your fate? What do I have to do to correct my fate? Maybe if I try this..." It's fate, for the love of Pete, you're not supposed to be able to figure it out! My rating started pretty high, the story was interesting, and the acting was fun, for the most part. However, when Ha Ye Ji showed up in episode 12 onward, my rating fell like a rock. It was like they had determined that they didn't want to finish the story at 12 episodes, so let's add another random psycho to the mix. The only reason this drama even got the rating from me that it did is that it redeemed itself in the end with a wedding (can we just talk about how stunning her dress was?), and children, rather than the usual hurried final 15 minutes.I love Park Min Young, but have you ever noticed how, in addition to the ridiculous amount of product placement, they continually show her hands? It's like they are their own version of product placement. Granted, her hands are beautiful, but come on. I hope that in future roles she gains some of her weight back, because even after she went back in time, she looked entirely too thin. Her character in her original life was pathetic, and in her new life, there were so many times I wanted to tell her to grow a spine. Why continue to say the guy is your boyfriend when he obviously gives you the creeps? I guess it gets back to her trying to make fate work in her favor.
Na In Woo as Ji Huyk. I've never seen this actor in anything else, but BOY was his character boring! Bad hair, bad glasses, bad suits, pretty much one expression throughout.
Chemistry between leads - for me, I didn't feel the chemistry at all. I did appreciate that they took time to talk to one another, that they supported each other, and they planned things together. That said, I didn't believe the romance. Kisses were okay (not dead fish kisses), but to me, this relationship didn't bring the heat.
Now, for chemistry, I thought Lee Gi Kwang as Chef Eun Ho and Choi Ghu Ri as Hee Yeon were precious together. I LOVED her energy. I would have liked to have seen more of them.
STANDOUTS - Lee Yi Kyung as Min Hwan and Song Ha Yoon as Soo Min. Oh, my goodness, they brought the passion, the pathos, the greed, and the degeneration into insanity. His anger was scary, honestly. And I normally don't like actresses that scream, but her out-of-control screams here were excellent. The cat and mouse game they played throughout the drama was very entertaining...what will they do next? Just when you think someone can't sink any lower, they prove you wrong.
Oh, and I loved the BTS songs and BTS references. Very cleverly done.
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Not enough romance for me
Disclaimer: this is my own opinion. Everyone's tastes are different. If asked, I wouldn't tell anyone to run away from watching it, but it was a disappointment to me. I think it was the writing that let this show down for me. It was drawn out, and often uneven. Was it a comedy? A drama? It couldn't seem to make up its mind. The story was somewhat interesting, but, in my opinion, could have been improved with some editing.What I liked:
Kim Hye Yoon as Kim Jo Yi. I really like this actress, and her voice is great. I liked them turning the tables and making a woman in a historical show be the strong one. She was strong, outspoken and was willing to fight for what she wanted. Sometimes her wide-open, doe-eyed looks were overdone.
OK TaecYeon as Ra Yi Eon was okay here. I've never been blown away by his acting (I think I need to watch Vincenzo), and he managed to portray a wide-eye innocent well here. Some of his expressions were over the top, which worked when they were trying for comedy, but not when they were attempting seriousness. The scene with him and the bad guy (one of the MANY bad guys) on the edge of the cliff was seriously overacted.
Choi Tae Hwan and Park Do Soo. Hated him with a passion, which was the intention. This was a character that was definitely a hamburger short of a happy meal. Absolutely no conscience, he kind of lived in his own psychopathic world. His smiles at absolutely inappropriate times were chilling.
The friendships. The sidekicks, the friendships made along their journey, found family. I liked watching these relationships develop.
What I didn't like:
Way too much palace intrigue. I was surprised, because by all the clips I'd seen, this seemed like it was going to be very light. It started out that way, and then turned pretty heavy for most of the rest of the episodes. And how many scheming bad guys does one show need?
The romance felt like it was added as an afterthought at times. We got some cute scenes of them realizing that they liked each other, then episodes full of neither one of them wanting to get married, then a rushed, unsatisfactory ending.
They talked about how all he wanted to do was cook, that's what he wanted to do with his life. Suddenly, it was forgotten. We never got to see evidence of that passion until the very end, and even then, I didn't think it was portrayed correctly.
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Give it a try
Mostly all reviews praise this show, with a lot of comparisons with Hometown Cha Cha Cha (and rightfully so). There was a lot to like about it, but there were numerous things that really bothered me, hence my lower score.What I liked:
-The acting by all was very good, but I did find Shin Hye Sun's constant pursed lip/pout talking very irritating after a while. I have loved her in other things she's done and never noticed her doing it before. I loved the friends, the families, the townspeople, and Samdal-Ri's little niece was just precious.
-Jeju. The cinematography was just stunning, and if this doesn't increase tourism, I don't know what will.
-I really like the idea of friends that have known each other for years, supportive of one another when apart, and then coming back together like no times has passed.
-2ML. I may have seen this actor in another role at some point in time, but I really liked him here. He had that almost palpable sadness surrounding him. Though it's not really realistic for someone to have one-sided love for that many years, the romantic in me just loved it. I also like how he was at odds with himself as to whether he should tell her or not. On top of that, he was just such a good friend to both the ML and FL.
-The sisters' storylines were well-developed and didn't feel wasted.
-Happy, though lackluster, ending.
-The friendship between the ML and FL. Which brings me to...
What I didn't like:
-For me, there was no chemistry between the leads. I loved them as friends but didn't buy them as a couple at all. Add to that that he thought she broke up with him, she thought he broke up with her, and all I could think was "how hard is it to just talk to each other?"
-So much drinking
-Drunk confessions
-The way the FL was written was problematic for me. She was portrayed as this strong, independent woman, but yet she slinks quietly away when the woman made up lies about her? She doesn't stand up for herself. She attended a long pity party for herself. I realize that the lie was pretty much the whole premise for the show, but it could have been written much better.
-Working with your ex? Nah.
-There needed to be a more satisfactory ending for the evil girl, she just kind of went away. I'm not a big revenge person but come on!
-After the 8-year (I think that was the amount of time it was supposed to be) time skip, we get another two-year time skip at the end. And that one made no sense. Suddenly he's going away to "realize his dream". Throughout the first part of the show, I really got the feeling that he NEVER wanted to leave Jeju.
-The ML's father's story line. It was immature and went on too long. If he was that troubled by Samdal-Ri's family, I'd think he would have moved away or something.
If you are still reading, I'd say give it a try, you might love it. I'm definitely in the minority.
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Watching this I thought I was frozen in time
For me, this was so slow. I felt like I'd been watching it forever, imagine my surprise when I was only on episode 5! I stuck it out, hoping it would improve, again, I'm only speaking for myself, it didn't.There were a couple of positives:
1) Chae Jong Hyeop. He had the great ability to go from nerdy to "spy" in a moment. He did a lot of switching back and forth. One minute he's someone that has no drive, just wants money, then the next he is standing up for the underdog.
2) I loved Im Chul Soo's scene in the last episode when the police asked him what other jobs he's had, and he referenced his characters from other dramas. That was so funny!
Otherwise, too many bad guys, a wasted and useless romance (romance is my favorite genre, but don't try to fit it in where it doesn't belong), lots of repetition, and I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending.
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