Link (2022)

Everybody is suspicious

An interesting concept. The whole neighborhood is suspicious. I liked the characters - the mother and the grandma of the FL. It was funny at times. Although, it's one of those typical stories where "the ML always seems to find the FL when she's in danger and saves her at the right moment.

What bothered me was how the ML remained silent about the dead body in the fridge. Like he thought the fridge was his and took it in. Then, why not inform the police about this? Even after it was confirmed whether the FL was his sister or not (the answer is pretty obvious to the viewers from the beginning given that she was the FL), he should not have cooperated with her.

The murderer. I wanted to know what crimes he committed over the years. What exactly he did do to the father? Why didn't he do anything to the ML? Why weren't there more victims over the years?

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Snack on Cotton Candy & Put Stalkers On Ice °6.7° °good°

Assistant chef, Jin-Hu (Lee Suk-Hyeong from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha & Lovestruck in the City-7.3), is walking down the street in a tucked-away neighborhood. His boss's new restaurant is set to open there. He looks to the left at passersby: ‘That woman shoved a man's body in a refrigerator with the help of’ (his head moves from 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock) ‘her daughter and’ (1 o'clock) ‘granddaughter’. His head turns to 3 o'clock. ‘That woman tried to stab someone last night.’ His head keeps moving right to 4:30. ‘And that man struck a pedestrian with his car and attempted to bury him alive.’ Tough neighborhood. What do you even feed a crowd like that?

Eun Gye-Hoon & No Da-Hyun: Here's 2 people living a very unhealthy lifestyle. She can't sleep (stress, bills, past due notices, unpaid rent, lying to her mother about her office job - she quit - Oh, she's got a stalker, too). He can't sleep because he has this weird synchronicity thing where he's suddenly feeling her emotions, so when stress keeps her up, it keeps him up, too. When she cries he probably won't be able to hold back the waterworks, either. He's a chef, so he cooks to settle himself down. They aren't sleeping, and they are eating in the middle of every night.

That's not the beginning, though. As Link opens, EGH is buried in grief ever since his twin sister went missing, presumed murdered, at age 10. His family died that day. The family of his friend, Ji Won-Tak (Song Duk-Ho - May I Help You, Cheer Up) also died that day because Won-Tak's father was accused of the murder. Even though he was acquitted, the stigma remained, as the phrase “insufficient evidence” is not sufficient to clear a person's name. NDH is overshadowed by a shady past - it's literally shaded from her view. She has no memories of her childhood. She's only partially present and living. They are halves of a whole.

Link is a 2022 release that is rated 87 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 60ish-minute episodes. Yeo Jin-Goo (The Crowned Clown, Hotel Del Luna) is EGH, the ML. His voice is delicious. EGH is a high level chef. ("When the cook is emotional you can taste it. I won't tolerate any personal feelings in MY kitchen.” He sounds rough, but a moment later he tears up and passes out. What is that about?) Mr. Yeo looks completely different from his Hotel Del Luna days. The shape of his face used to be triangular; now it's more round. Triangle or circle, he usually plays a square, & he's pretty uptight as Link opens. FL, NDH, is brought to life by Mun Ka-Young (Welcome to Waikiki, True Beauty).

“These aren't my tears I'm crying right now.” EGH is tearing up and cracking up all at the wrong moments. He's been through this before. He once had synchronicity with his sister. He experienced her emotions and reactions as if they were his own. Now it's happening again. His sister couldn't be aIive, could she? No, he's certain she's gone. He felt it. He could feel her terror, and then the connection broke; that was 18 years ago. Now, he must get himself together in time for the Gourmet Fair.

‘You shouldn't be too perfect or you won't be approachable,’ NDH's mom points out. Little does mom know that NDH is far from perfect. That company job that mom is so proud of? NDH quit that a long time ago. She scrambles to work part-time jobs and she is behind on all of her bills. Hopefully she'll bring in some good tips from the Gourmet Fair. Soon she's slinging too many trashbags and dirty dishes to even think. Love? Notta thought. NDH has never had a good man in her life.

Link is cotton candy, not gourmet fare. It's loosely linked together, but it will pass the time pleasantly for many. It wasn't until the later episodes that it started wearing on me. Here's yet another show that suffers from too many bread crumbs in the meatballs. They don't have enough good content for 16 episodes, but its problems go beyond a good edit. After 10 eps or so, it degenerates into decline & collapse mode, like a botched soufflé. The supposed premise of the show, his synchronicity with her and his ability to feel what she's feeling, adds very little excitement through ep11. It's almost besides the point. Perhaps it helped draw him to her, but people fall for eachother anyway. Synchronicity need not apply. They don't clearly lay out how he knows he's feeling /her/ emotions. The first couple eps are slightly haphazard. The logic behind some of the actions, reactions, and motivations is weak, unconvincing, and downright tasteless. I was stuck in Link’s terminal lukewarmness - it wasn't bad enough for me to abandon but neither was it good enough to enjoy. By the end I lost hope that it would recover and was dreading watching the 1 ep/day I forced on myself like bad leftovers. Worst of all, Link attempts to lighten the load of heartbreak, but it comes right up to the line of making light of heartbreak. The plot is sad, and what happens stings. What's most sad is that it could have been better.

It's ironic that this show features a top level chef, yet the show itself is barebones. No extras. No garnish, no special sauce, no BAM. The premise of the stalker and the refrigerator is a tad weak. Jingeun is irritating. How does NDH's family even make enough to live? Nobody is ever in the restaurant. They should have some weirdo regulars. They don't do a good job building up the tension. This is a town where everyone should be a suspect. We should get to know each one and be shocked when the true killer is revealed. The bad guys shouldn't drop from nowhere when the show is 60% done. It feels like cheating. We don’t know this person. We know this person has done bad things but we are detached. We don't hate, like, or fear this person.

Formulaic is a criticism, but there are formulas for good storytelling. If show creators want to deviate from the formula, it had better be good. Link isn't all that good. Ep15 is VG. It starts out weak because it must clear up a mess left by previous eps, but it puts the show back on track. Ep16 is also good. It's mostly a wrap-up, something sorely missing from many prior years’ Kdramas. They also had more opportunities for laughs and better romantic moments. Hong Jong-Chan also directed Her Private Life-8 and Live Up To Your Name-7.6, two shows that are rock solid with few deficiencies. Writer Kwon Ki-Young's Hello Monster & Suspicious Partner are quite popular. This is just an off project for them.

Link Is not fusion food; it will only feed romance junkies. It doesn't cross genres well and it will not attract new regulars to Korean programming. Anyone who doesn't like romantic and somewhat sentimental features might want to skip it. Still… I believe it's worth watching once. Some of the tastier selections include NDH's Oma and grandma, who seem like they have a dark side. Grandma turns out to be a profoundly good person. They manage a plot twist or two. Their first date: urgent care and a CT scan. We learn that we can't bury everyone who bothers us - the problem is there's not enough land. I like the secondary relationship with the cops.

“I don't have the courage to be happy,” EGH admits. Truth is the 1st step in healing. The average person tells three lies a day, and some psychologists say that we lie more than 200 times a day, we're told. That includes the lies we tell ourselves. The most common lie that men and women tell is: “I'm okay.“

“Some people don't look forward, they look backwards. They live with regrets, bitterness and longing.” It occurs to NDH that these people do not see her, they see someone missing from their past; NDH is just a placeholder. In ep15 they cover if, if, IF ~>> Endless self-reproach, accusations, and regret. One character had faced cruel and entirely unfair judgment and cannot forgive h/hself. There are a couple of characters who feel a weight of responsibility when they did nothing wrong. In a vat of self-absorption, they feel compelled to turn themselves in, and it is less than convincing.

The vibe is somewhere between offbeat and strange. The characters are not fully developed. Mom and grandmother are a bit inconsistent but they grew on me. They're somewhat ridiculous but charmingly ruthless (Ye Soo-Jung from Stranger and Mine(8) is always good, and she's having the time of her life in this role). This is not Gordon Ramsay's kitchen, it's more Flo's diner. However, I appreciate the good, which outweighs the bad. It does contain some of the most romantic words I've ever heard: “Do you want anything to eat? Whatever you want, I'll cook for you.” Whew. ‘Scuse me while I sit and fan myself…


〰️QUOTES〰️

Yummy food brings you joy.

Life is a comedy in the long-shot and a tragedy in close-up. ~Buster Keaton~

Questions are more important than answers ~Einstein~


✏〰 IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 6.5
Writing 6.5
Acting 7.5
Romance 5.3
Flutters 5
Art 6
Sound & music 7.3
Ending 7.7

LEVELS
Warmth 4.5
Action 5
Laughs 2
Tears 6
Fright 4.7
Tension T Anxiety 3
Gore 3
Thought provocation 4
Snores 3

📣6.5 📝6.5 🎭7.5 💓5.3 🦋5 🎨6 🎵/🔊7.3 🔚7.7 ♦ 🌞4.5 ⚡5 😅2 😭6 😱4.7 😯3 😖3 🤔4 💤3

Age 14+ Scary and violent elements; Language: $h!+

Re-watch? This one's in the good-to-pass-the-time category, but I may never pass this way again….

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Top 10 for 2022

For 2022, this is going to be in my top 10 of the year. This was an unexpected drama that took me on a rollercoaster of a ride... It started off a bit scary, then a lot of twists and turns and maybe it gets a little slow and sickening in the middle, but in the end, the ride comes to a stop and you're overwhelmed with emotion but definitely satisfied. I walked away learning that when ppl face real danger, they take it on without much logic or reasoning or much regret, I think that's the message I'm going to take away from it. This was also my first drama with Yeo Gin Goo, so I was just stunned by his stellar acting. I think that also contributed to my high marks.
Viva la fridge!

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Good Enough

Korean Drama " Link: Eat, Love, Kill " is a fantasy, romance drama with lots of food.

The drama had a bumpy start, but finds quickly its footing. And even though the romance is weak, fueled by the fantasy element that was awkward, cheesy at times, and not well explained, the friendship between the characters was enjoyable, as was the family bonds between the mother, grandmother, and daughter.

The criminal case was pretty interesting as well, very dark and twisted. It was what kept the interest high, as the romance and the rest of the story got boring and full of cliches.

The performances, in addition, were all great and the couple had chemistry.

So, overall, six out of ten.

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The story was unique and it had it's moments but it all felt kinda weak. It started out pretty clean and good. But it felt weak and draggy towards the middle. And many moments were straight up unrealistic. Idk much about trauma or other issues but this drama didn't enlighten those moments. (Like how the victim just faces the predator.) The romance was good and didn't feel lacking (much). Many things were not explained and rushed the ending. I love the cast and YGJ crying is soo good. I mean it just feels so sad and he's so pretty crying. And the bg music were also spot on. I don't really rewatch mystery/thriller dramas so that's NO for me. But I really think the writers could've made the story better or shorten it. Personally the ending was not justified. More like didn't make sense.
If you love the genre you go for it or maybe if you're curious of what happened just watch the last 2 eps. Everything is there. Also a small dumb FL alert.

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Got better at the end

In the middle of the drama, I had to start listing my complaints about what was happening. I never do that, but there was so much I was irritated by. Some of my issues: Soooo many red herrings! Everyone in the whole town is suspicious, and only one person is a culprit. The townspeople seem like cartoon characters, each is more strange than the last. Trying to fit too much in – romance, drama, comedy, thriller, mystery – so much that it doesn’t do any one genre justice. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched something that made me yell at my tv with the implausible things going on. There is a stalker on the loose, but you go wandering in dark alleyways by yourself (every night, it seems). The stalker appears and no one recognizes him?!?!? Her saying, “Let’s end this”. She repeats this in numerous episodes. What are they ending, exactly? They aren’t in a relationship.

Midway through the show, I was thinking that I would probably rate this show a 6, maybe a little higher due to the excellent acting. Upon completion, my rating had to go up. I loved the way they tied up everyone’s storyline and the ending wasn’t totally rushed. It’s been awhile since a drama has made me cry, this one got to me. I got stuck on, how do you move on from a tragedy of that magnitude? I loved the voice over work that let us in on some of the internal dialog of our main couple.
Once we were let in on what happened exactly, the behavior of the townspeople made a lot more sense, and I kind of had to say that I forgave their ridiculous antics from earlier on.

Acting: The acting was good by everyone, though as mentioned before, the townspeople (and her family) were over-the-top. Yeo Jin Goo as Eun Gye Hoon – he does understated very well, because he doesn’t have much facial expression. Expressive eyes, however. And the episode early on where he laughed out loud? So cute! Moon Ga Young as Noh Da Hyun – I love this actress. Her character, I vacillated back and forth between she was full of naivete or she was just stupid. I have to say that her hair bothered me (dyed VERY black). Special mention to Shin Jae Hwi as the stalker – oh my goodness he was excellent and creepy. He had a knack for changing his facial expressions from friendly to dark in just a moment and it made my flesh crawl.
Chemistry: Cute chemistry between the main leads, though, again, too many “let’s break up” moments.

Music: I loved the music. There were some really beautiful songs. But strangely, the standout to me was Unknown World by Janet Suhh – kind of a whispery, nursery rhyme-y scary song played at the end of each cliffhanger episode. I found myself humming that…a lot. I found myself appreciating the music a lot more in the episodes toward the end, when there wasn’t so much going on. It’s a wonderful OST.
Rewatch value: If I need a Eun Gye Hoon or Moon Ga Young fix, I’d watch some of the scenes, but they could have cut this down to 12 episodes to make the writing a bit tighter and the whole drama more enjoyable.

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Todos têm sua maneira de sentir dor

O que é conviver com alguém que simplesmente desaparece da sua vida? Quantas pessoas no mundo convivem com esse drama. A dor é individual, dói de maneira diferente em cada um e não cabe julgar quem sente mais e quem sente menos ou quem deveria ou não sentir. Realmente só coloco minha opinião em conteúdos que falem algo e que valham a pena falar. Perder alguém é uma dor imensurável, ainda mais sem explicação, e uma ferida com a dor que nunca vai sumir, diminuir ou melhorar, ela sempre estará lá, e dependendo do seu grau de sensibilidade sangrará mais ou menos vezes. Deixo aqui meus sinceros sentimentos a todos que perderam de forma trágica seus entes queridos, meu coração se solidariza com o seus e peço, que Deus seja complacente com sua dor. Vale muito a pena ver, principalmente levando em consideração o baixo índice de violência na Coreia do Sul, mas que no Brasil ainda é muito recorrente, o desaparecimento de crianças... :( TT TT TT TT

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Boring and dragged on until the end

Usually I'm not picky at all when it comes to kseries. I can watch almost anything even those series that got low review scores. But this one is just too boring. There were a lot of mysterious acts from all the characters, but no hints were dropped to keep viewer interested. I had to drop at ep.7 becuase there were no plot development for too long I felt annoyed. And after reading reviews, I skipped to ep.12 just to watch the ending out of curiosity and still couldn't keep watching until the end LOL

So, for me, I will not recommend anyone to watch this serie, let alone rewatch it.

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A Mixed Feeling :-(

Actually overall a mixed feeling for me. I can't give a worth watch tag for this drama. Because apart from any other drama, this particular one's binge and ongoing watching experience must be totally different for sure. But it's a decent drama, if your liked the plot and have no complaints about it's slowness and drag then you can watch this for sure.

Start to atleast 10 or 12th Episodes the mystery and the narrative style is quite interesting. Because i sense some healing nature of story telling drama from beginning. As a big fan of that genre i enjoyed a lot in the start. But after sometime it started to get drag. They don't have anything at all to reveal actually it keep pushing the mystery hard. A total faild mystery attempt to be honest. So story wise it's a complete let down. But coming to the screenplay the emotions really worked. The cast looks stunning. Still there was drag but they managed to deliver some good heartwarming scenes in the last some episodes.

Finale Episode ended with a decent note. Not completely satisfied but got a decent ending but again emotions are still refreshing to watch. Not just emotions also romance is cute as well.

Note : Expect the dragging before watching.

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For those who like deep psychological and funny dramas

I cried a lot because of the heavy emotions that characters conveyed...The past that they carried since their childhood and those traumas are really dramatic and it felt like i was experiencing everything with them. So I would recommend this drama to everyone who likes deep and thoughtful stories 🥰 This drama is funny sometimes as well. I really love it ❤
I havent finished it yet, I'm still at 10th episode but i don't want this drama to finish, cause i like everything, the vibe, the story, the characters. This drama became like home to me or like a warm blanket. Im so grateful to actors and crew for creating this masterpiece 🌟

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