One Fine Week 2 (2020)

okay follow up

I liked the first season enough to look forward to One Fine Week 2. How the writers will approach "star dating a normie"?

One things I liked about first season was bit of twists and turns narrative that kept you guessing. But in second season they changed it up and things weren't up to debate much. It starts on a similar note, but as plot progresses, it kinda loses the spark.
The variety show setup is repeated, albeit the setting is changed and it does affect the story a bit. Idols are filmed 24/7 instead of having a crew around, which at the end of season starts to generate plot holes. What will they do with the footage of idols openly beefing or main characters being together?
The narrative highlighting struggles of being an idol is continued, but served more as a plot device than focus of the story. Yes, it's an important part still, but I felt like it happened in the background and real focus was the romance.

There are new characters. As much as I liked the acting of Woohee and Lee Ki Taek, they were just kinda there. Woohee especially, she was the helpful friend but that's it. Lee Ki Taek did a good job, I liked him in In Seoul and seeing him again was nice. His character was more developed, even though he lowkey felt into the second male lead cliche. He was more like School 2015 Gong Taekwang or Heirs Youngdo, the type of less approachable guy who magically opens up to female lead.
The two villains are bit cartoonish to me. Most of the time I wanted to skip their scenes but knew I needed context if their schemes come to life.
One thing is sure, I did felt the flustration from male lead. His relationship took a hit because of his idol status, and he didn't know what to so. However the chemistry the couple had last season was barely there? Maybe that was the point, as they were supposed to be exhaused by circumstances.

The pace picks up at the end, but in general I felt the story could be told in 6-8 episodes instead of 10. It lags a bit, and when a new episode dropped, I kept finding myself forgetting the plot of last episode. I just wasn't as engrossed in the story to remember every little detail or refresh the page to see if new episode is up.
As a stand alone webdrama, it's average. As a follow up, it's bit disappointing. It's not bad, but it kinda misses the mark. If you liked first season, give it a watch and see for yourself.

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Oh boy ...

*sighhhhhhhh* grab some snacks, this review will be lengthy ...

-______- ....

— Heads up before we get started, most of “One Fine Week s2” is blocked in the U.S. so you can’t watch it on YouTube, god knows why they did that *eyeroll lol,* you can watch it on VIKI though!

I don’t sugarcoat my reviews but I’m also not going to berate the series altogether because there were some good things, but not much folks, so when I say this season has to be one of the most disappointing continuations of a web-drama I’ve seen to date, clearly I’ve got to add context to what I say, which is what this review is for, so to start off, I’ll say this season had a lot of potential but was flushed down and wasted by an unnecessary love triangle, and poor writing.

Here’s why.

The first season, which I rated very differently, had character depth. Even though the main FL’s were switched, the reason they switched in s1 was due to their own internal struggles, in s2, the reason for their switch is incredibly poor ...
In s1 the reason for Byul/ Da Eun switching is because Byul was “sick” (though I personally think she wanted a break from her idol life), Da Eun excepted this switch because a) it was only for 7 days, b) she’ll just be stand-in and c) she’s never experienced the life of an idol star, and once again ... Byul is sick, so she cautiously accepts the offer even though she’s pressured into it really ... In this season? They switch because Da Eun wants to see Jungwoo because he’s gone awol (we’ll get to that) and because Byul’s image is being distorted and she doesn’t want to go on the variety show Jungwoo will be in ... Compared to the first season, there’s no depth in this switch, it’s just thrown into the plot and I think that’s what bothers me the most.

One thing I will say s2 did right was show the extent of idols dating normal people and how their lives can change instantly because of the companies reputation and overly zealous fans, that part was done well, but the relationship between Da Eun and Jungwoo is written so friggin poorly in this season I want to cry, in the first season we got the struggles of being an idol from Jungwoo point of view (and a bit of Byul’s too), he’s worried about being stalked everyday, he can’t live a normal life anymore, and he’s constantly taunted by anxiety of one of his former saesang “fans” stalking him in the past, he’s scared to go to sleep at night, the list goes on, his character had DEPTH ...

Which is what I loved about s1, it brought idol world issues, such as:
— saesangs
— dating life (toxic fans, not all SOME don’t come at me lol)
— company constraints, like scheduling
— mental health issues
— corruption in hierarchy (female idols being used to please “hierarchs” to keep their jobs, happens in real life btw and it’s sad as hell)
Where did this kind of realist sh—wander off too???

Besides these things, I think the biggest issue I had with s2 was how poorly Jungwoo’s character was written ... Compared to s1, he had no character depth whatsoever, none, in this season he was just a guy who follows what his company says, doesn’t fight for Da Eun, doesn’t fight for their love, gets jealous of Da Eun being around another guy, I mean like lmao, what kind of writing is this??? Seo Dohyun was a better written character, and he’s not even the ML y’all ... Honestly if him and Da Eun got together I would’ve clapped, sorry Jungwoo :’( you’re potential was wasted. As for Byul, she gets to see Ji Han again, but, lmao that’s about it ... And the second season doesn’t even reference her trauma to flash photography, which also irritated me because that should’ve been explored more, and Ji Han could help her overcome but ... NOPE said the writers. Just like they said nope to diving into Jungwoo’s trauma in s1 ... Both Byul & Jungwoo have had traumatic experiences as idols, but that is not explored even once in s2.

Also, the overall writing of s2 doesn’t even follow the first season either, someone new came in and wrote an entirely different story and it’s like the main characters from season 1 aren’t even themselves, their names are just used and that’s it *facepalm,* the love triangle was poorly executed and obviously thrown in for a plot filler too, but it literally had no purpose, the writers could’ve written Jungwoo and Da Eun’s relationship to be healthy, but they didn’t ... I liked there were repercussions to dating an idol, which we see in ep. 1 were Jungwoo has filming or is doing other things on a strict schedule and sometimes doesn’t have time for Da Eun, which she gets mad about, that his life can mess with Eun is psychological and physical ways, I hated the writers didn’t choose to make peace with these things though, for the characters to create alternate ways of being happy TOGETHER, and making dating an idol mostly negative without lightening the positives, which is why Da Eun goes and takes Byul’s place again to talk to Jungwoo on wtf is happening with their relationship ...

Another thing I liked in the s2 besides relationship struggles was having Byul’s former group member be a villain: Luni
In s1 we get a glimpse they’re not so “happy fun times” with each other and they casted the same actress to play her in s2 which I liked, but what’s her agenda for hating Byul? Her leadership? Jealousy? That’s the only reason she gets with Eden (a character I easily forgot btw) to get back at Byul and expose Da Eun? THAT’S IT? Once again, where’s the depth, where’s the development? Nowhere to be seen ... Her character is just a b— ... The only character that gets development in this series is Da Eun, and it’s not even full development, its barely there. So besides the shitty love triangle, we get a villain we don’t give two sh— about due to terrible writing ... The true villain of this season should’ve been Jungwoo’s company tbh, that would’ve made an overall better story, SMH.

To end this lengthy review, I advise you watch s2 and see for yourself what your final thoughts are, but don’t expect a lot compared to the the first season, pains me to say it .. :’(((

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