Korean title: 진심이 닿다
- 16 episodes
- Aired on tvN
- From 2019 Feb to March
Main cast:
- Yoo In Na as Oh Jin Shim / Oh Yoon Seo
- Lee Dong Wook as Kwon Jung Rok
- Lee Sang Woo as Kim Se Won
- Son Sung Yoon as Yoo Yeo Reum
- Oh Jung Se as Yun Joon Kyu
- Shim Hyung Tak as Choi Yoon Hyuk
- Park Kyung Hye as Dan Moon Hee
- Park Ji Hwan as Lee Doo Sub
- Jang So Yun as Yang Eun Ji
- Kim Hee Jung as Kim Hae Young
- Lee Joon Hyuk as Yun Joon Suk
- Oh Ui Shik as Kong Hyuk Joon
Production credits:
- Executive Producers: Lee Joon Ho, Han Suk Won ; Chief Producer: Jang Jung Do ; Producer: Jung Da Hyung
- Director: Park Joon Hwa
- Screenwriters: Lee Myung Sook, Choi Bo Rim
Notes:
- Based on a web novel by Yegeo (예거).
- Full disclosure: I started to watch this drama because of Shim Hyun Tak. I liked him a lot in Good Witch. Side note: why does his DramaWiki profile pic is this, on the left, when my screenshots of him looks like this? (sorry for the bad formatting, it hurts me too but Blogger is what it is.)
Anyway, this drama and my foray into K-pop made me realise that I tend to find men more attractive when their forehead is exposed. I'm sure you're happy to know this.
- I was well into the first episode when I realised that the lead actress was Girl's best friend from Secret garden. I was pleased since I liked her and she brings the same qualities to her character in this drama (while Shim Hyun Tak plays a character so different that I got whiplash. But it shows his versatility.)
- Yoo In Na and Lee Dong Wook were previously in the popular drama Goblin, which I intend to watch at some point.
- So, like with Dating agency: Cyrano, I stopped to rewatch an old favourite (this time, My lucky star, which I binged in a few days) and didn't really want to go back to this drama so...
Review : DNF after the 6th episode
Title: I'm not sure what the title refers to. Google translate tells me that the Korean title is "Be sincere" and it may be a play on words since Girl's birth name means "sincerely" and Boy is the only one who insists on calling her by that name. There are also some talks about people being able to see Girl's sincerity.
Girl: She's a famous actress who had her career ruined because of a scandal. In order to win a role, she takes a job as a secretary of a lawyer. She's nice, cute, bubbly and quite smart.
Boy: I didn't connect with him at all. As I said, stoic types are hard to make engaging and Boy comes off as blank. He's smart, clueless about feelings, not the worst person and that's about it.
Other girl and other boy: They're supposed to be the second leads but they have very little screen time and characterisation, at least to this point. They were friends with Boy. They are ambitious. They were in a relationship but broke up but are still in love though they don't admit it.
Relationship/plot: The plot is the progress of the relationship, with some legal cases thrown in the mix. Problem is, there is not enough drama. People are nice, Girl and Boy like each other but don't say anything for whatever reason. And the legal cases aren't interesting enough.
Funny? Side characters are comic reliefs. It's funny at first, but then, the same notes are played again and again and I gave up on actual fleshing up of these characters.
Music: Fine. It goes well with the light tone of the drama.
What ? I complained before about the inconsistency with famous characters who are sometimes recognised and sometimes not at all. At least, this drama is consistent about Girl's need to conceal herself.
Bottom line: This drama and its characters had potential. I really like the first episodes. But it didn't develop fast enough to keep me interesting. There are so many characters that could have been spotlighted and threads that could have been explored, but these 6 episodes didn't show me that they would do it. I could have been invested in the second main couple, in the coworkers and in Girl's scandal if only I'd been shown more. I seriously have no idea how they're going to fill 10 more episodes. It was too chill for me. Maybe it works better with a week-to-week watching experience instead of binge-watching. Anyway, finishing the 6th episode was a chore for me. DNF.
Interestingly, even someone who has enjoyed this drama recognises it. Belinda C, in her review of the final episodes, writes: "Now let’s be honest. While the writing does have its moments, there’s
barely any real content. The cases in the earlier episodes were always
wrapped too conveniently and within 20 minutes of their introduction.
Characters like Yeo Reum and Gang Joon (the stalker) were obviously set
up to be significant players, but lost steam before they even kicked
into gear."
Link to her review and my thoughts on what she says happen in the last episodes after the jump, due to SPOILERS of the ending.
