I‘m on episode 9 of this 16 episode series and so far I like none of the lead characters. Here’s the run down:
Noh Ae-jung (played by Song Ji Hyo) is a 30-something single mother of a precocious 14 year old daughter. So far chick likes to stutter and gasp when she should be speaking up and stating the obvious. She often stares at other characters blankly like she doesn’t understand the subtext of her interactions with them. Chick has 2 books (I mean men) in her hand and two possibles (spades card playing reference), but she can’t win a book for sh*t. She’s angry at her college ex-boyfriend, Oh Dae-oh, for how they broke up, but she won’t tell him why. I’m pretty sure that he’s her baby’s daddy, but her damn near impoverished ass is so selfish that she isn't even considering her daughter’s needs. Even if you ignore child support, can that kid know who her daddy is?! Ultimately what I dislike most about Ae-jung is that she’s a liar to her ex and to her kid.
Oh Dae-oh (played by Son Ho Joon) is the ex-boyfriend. If you aren’t turned off by his perpetual dead-eyed stare, then his petty personality will have you crossing this character off your Sexy List. Most men who meet their ex-girlfriend’s 14 year old daughter will at least ask her birthday and count backwards from nine months, but dude is too self absorbed! Maury Povich has a long-running show for dumb asses like this guy. He’s either ornery and mean to her, or he’s begging for a second chance. Dude stays shooting his shot with blanks!
Ryu Jin (played by Song Jong-ho), Dae-oh’s best friend, has a secret one-sided love for Ae-jung. He’s such an introvert that he can’t complete sentences. How this character is supposedly a famous actor, I have no idea. Everyone bullies him or controls his life. He’s soft AF. The sharpest thing about him are his fake cheek bones. Dude looks like he has his own suite at a Gangnam plastic surgery clinic.
Even Oh Yoon-woo (played by Koo Ja-sung) is more forceful than Jin. The junior of the group, in episode 7 or 8 he declared his love for Ae-jung and asked to be her last love. Although he’s from a wealthy family and has earnest intentions, he’s just too young for a single mom. And I do dislike that although unsaid, he should realize that Ae-jung really isn’t checking for him. In her spacey, non-verbal way she’s not giving him any play. Instead he is showing up to her home and doing chores behind her back. He’s in her home so much that I think Ae-jung’s mother is crushing on him!
Now Koo Pa-do (played by Kim Min-joo), on the other hand, is a grown ass man! Whew! He’s so fine he will make you sweat under your titties with a smoldering glance! But dude is an (ex?) gangster who is avenging his wife’s death (who happens to look like Ae-jung!!!). Between fighting off assassins and trying to reconnect with his traumatized son, dude has no space for love. I think he knows that so he tries to protect Ae-jung from an emotional distance. Of all the characters I like him the most.
Although I hate these plot devices I understand why writers leave big truths unsaid, create huge misunderstandings that keep lovers apart, and create instances where they just miss each other. But in this show it’s making the leads pretty unlikable and gives the whole drama an old fashioned feel.
The only reason I’m still watching is to see how it ends. I’m really hoping that the characters redeem themselves. Every episodes gets on my nerves while pulling me in deeper with promises that some character or another will finally get a damn clue.
Tell me what you think. Do you love the show and totally disagree with my assessment? Or do you see where I’m coming from and agree that it’s frustrating?
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