al2000
We got more character development this episode, more complications, the introduction of an exciting-looking second-lead romance and a continually fast pace. There is a lack of background to explain WHY Rowoon's character is so in love with this woman, but I kind of find it refreshing and I don't really mind that the answer is: he just is. Really looking forward to future episodes!
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So far I am enjoying this drama, although I do really wish that I had started watching it after it all finished airing, so that I could binge watch it and understand the entire thing at once and get some perspective. This drama is a fairly typical period drama (throne plotting shenanigans, star-crossed lovers, important military guy, oaths), but I think it stands out from the crowd a bit in terms of its a) great chemistry between the leads, who don't do that much speaking but who do a LOT of eye acting and body language stuff, which is my absolute favourite and b) its pacing. This drama is really mostly focused on our leads, where they are and what they are doing. There are not that many scenes that don't feature one of our main characters, and when they do they are of vital importance. Too many unnecessary scenes with characters I don't care about gives me a headache. I don't care about plotting THAT much. Instead we get what sometimes feels like a slice of life drama? There are big time jumps and yet somehow it still feels gentle and careful and quiet, something you don't usually get with period dramas that need to have action and romance and rebellion, etc. so far, 8/10!
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She Would Never Know Episode 12
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This isn't the most plot-heavy show so I think it would be better suited to being binged all at once rather than watching it every week while it's airing. I think I'm finding it more meandering because I've been watching it bit by bit. HOWEVER, despite the plot feeling somewhat slow, I think the main characters and their relationships are very enjoyable to watch onscreen. Even though I don't really have a deep attachment to any of the characters, I like watching them be happy and do things together. I think that the leads have good chemistry and it's nice seeing them open up to each other.
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River Where the Moon Rises Episode 4
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I have really settled into the groove of this drama and my rating has improved since the last three episodes. A lot has unfolded and by now the groundwork has entirely been laid (with a few major plot points now set in motion) for our story. At this point I have seen a lot of historical dramas, many of which featured some kind of mistaken/forgotten identity and revenge. What I like about this and what I think sets it apart is that their road to the finale we saw at the beginning of episode one feels like it's going to be natural and really character-forward. So far we have gotten a chance to really dig into the psyche of our two leads, and the drama has benefited from spending the time with the FL while she works through the implications of discovering she is the princess. I also felt like the romance took on so much more dimension in this episode! I personally love On Dal and I think Kim Ji Soo does so well in those sort of puppy dog, himbo, sorts of roles. He is so good looking and so physically broad and tall while still having real dad at the bbq energy, which I love. So far we've seen a lot of his goofy, loyal and caring side (while Ga Jin has been fairly emotionally stunted and cold), which I think is a big part of both him as a person and the legacy of living out his father's dying wish. I loved the domestic scenes where they were cleaning out the house because it really highlighted their chemistry as a pair. His sweetness brings out HER sweetness, and I kind of felt like I was already watching a married couple. However, with the reveal that Ga Jin is actually the princess we get to see that their is an angrier and more intimidating version of On Dal that he mostly represses. In the moment where he stops Ga Jin from committing suicide and asking 'why does it have to be you?' I felt his tortured, regretful, conflicted feelings. When he later stops her from killing Go Geon -- angry that she seems to find it so easy to take a human life, basically commanding her to stop and ignoring Go Geon's orders that he be respectful of the princess -- he had the commanding presence of a general and I BELIEVED in him as the man we saw dying at the very beginning. Additionally, this episode really established the second male lead as a solid and interesting character. We see that he is conflicted about his role in the palace vs. his duty to his father, we see that he still clearly loves the princess and is loyal to her and sympathetic to what has happened to her, and we see that's he's willing to risk it all to do what he thinks is right for her and the kingdom (telling the emperor she is alive and preparing to bring her back on the emperor's command). Do I like his methods? Not really. Do I feel like he's actually doing what is right for HER? No, I feel like he's doing more what he thinks is the right thing for the kingdom, etc. But regardless, he's interesting. The villains are still pretty meh. I'm not that fussed about them, but I rarely am. The real meat of this drama is its character study of the leads, as well as a themes of morality and power. The villains really aren't the most important part, but I would welcome more development.
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River Where the Moon Rises Episode 1
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I really enjoyed the first episode! I loved the fast pace and interesting backstory, which well established our main characters as adults. This whole setup (revenge, betrayal, traumatic childhood, hidden identity, etc) is very typical of the genre and I've seen it many times, but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it again if it's done well. This, so far, is done well. The cinematography is excellent, and the show feels very big in scope (more akin to a Chinese historical drama, in my opinion, than the typical Korean one). I love the use of landscapes as well as the closeup work. There's a vast feeling to the story so far which I'm really enjoying.I am already excited to see the leads get together and I am happy that they have already met. I was also happy that the male lead recognized the female lead right away, because if he didn't I would've been angry. She looks exactly like her mom! There is NO WAY she wouldn't be recognized by someone who knew her as a kid, let alone who knew what her mom looked like. I think the leads are also really well cast. Kim So Hyun has this great warmth and intensity at the same time, which I think suits the character she's playing very well. She's fierce and single focused on being an assassin at the moment, but she has this empathetic, lovely sweetness to her on the inside. I also love Kim Ji Soo as the male lead. He's a funny actor who also comes across as very physically imposing and brawny while also being warm. I've often thought that he would do really well as a main lead in a historical drama in a fighting role, ever since seeing him in Scarlet Heart Ryeo. I'm excited to see them onscreen together! My only quibbles or things I'm wary of is the weird amnesia. It feels so coincidental that she would forget her past (?) and then grow up to still be an assassin that is trying to get revenge against the people in power. I mean, I know it was somewhat explained - she still rightfully thinks her family was murdered by them, she just doesn't remember HER family - but I just feels like it has the potential to become tropey and ridiculous. Hoping that it gets cleared up in a satisfying and timely manner!
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The high melodrama of the first few episodes is being replaced by a softer, warmer, sweeter dynamic between the leads that is much better. I have no doubt that in the future the High Melodrama will return as the professional stakes get higher and the love story gets deeper, but I am enjoying the foundation they're laying here. This still feels like it falls into the Something in the Rain category (bit of a moody mixed bag, but with great chemistry between the leads and a lush look and feeling), but it's growing on me more and more. Getting to know the characters and their motivations more is helping me feel more empathetic toward them, and I appreciate that the flashbacks have been very limited. I do wish that some of this character development had happened earlier and that some of the action in episodes 1 & 2 had occurred with more nuance, but I'm happy with where things have gone from there. I am honestly looking forward to future episodes for a few reasons: I like the vibe between the leads and I enjoy them both separately and together; I'm excited to see the development of the other romance between the ML's sister and the CEO; and I'm nervous for the fiancé to find out the extent of the FL's relationship with her soon-to-be husband. That line in the first episode where the other woman says that dating in the workplace always leads to the woman getting hurt... I have a bad feeling that that is going to become even more true. If people find out that the lead and her semi-boss where dating when he was engaged to be married everyone will think she's an immoral mistress, when the reality was she was completely ignorant and fooled by him and thought they were in love. It's upsetting, but I'm happy that I'm getting invested.
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This is definitely a show that makes me on edge. I am not sure if it's going to end up being a good drama or a trash fire, but so far I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and continuing to watch. So far there is some good and some bad, but I think the potential is pretty huge. The cons of the show have already been detailed by a lot of viewers: the male lead is pushy, meddling, over-protective and gets into the female lead's personal space without consent. The first two episodes especially I felt a little out of touch with what was going through the male lead's head. Also, just because he's not that much worse than a lot of other male lead's doesn't mean it's okay, but I think a lot of the reason that viewers had issues with his behaviours was because it's happening early on in the show. We're used to this kind of behaviour around the episode 8-9 mark. Not right off the bat! However, I do feel like the show really mellows out in episodes 3 and 4. The female lead tells the male lead to back off and get out of her business and for all intents and purposes he does. He apologizes for being out of line and asks her permission to help her out when her ex-boyfriend is getting aggressive. It's her that makes the move to grab her hand. At this point I'm willing to see where things go because there seems to be an improvement in the vibe and energy between the two of them. The pros are that it's fast-paced, with most of the drama being laid out in the open right off the bat, it's gorgeous to look at with great cinematography, costumes and makeup, and there's great chemistry between the leads. I like the complexity of the second male lead and I really enjoy the other romance subplot with the CEO and the ML's sister. Excited to see what kind of shenanigans they get up to. All in all, I'm still looking forward to more episodes. If it stays the quality of episodes 3 & 4 for a couple more episodes, we might be out of the woods. But it could still take a turn for the worse.
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So far I'm really enjoying the show! There are definitely a lot of questions that we don't have answers to and a lot of plot threads that haven't really connected yet, but there's enough information established that I'm looking forward to more, not just confused and annoyed. Our main characters are the greatest strength of the show so far. I think that Han Tae Sul (Jo Seung Woo) is a compelling character who seems genuinely fucked up, but also intelligent and driven enough to feel like a worthy protagonist. I think they did a really good job of setting up his love and regret for his brother, which explains why he so willing to risk it all to hunt down information pertaining to him, even at the possible cost of his life. Jo Seung Woo is such an incredible actor that he makes what could have been a hollow character really come to life. There's so much nuance to his mannerisms and facial expressions, he's endearing and empathetic despite kind of being an arrogant dick. Kang Seo Hae is a nice counterpart to Han Tae Sul, but I think there is a lot more about her that we don't understand, which puts a bit of distance between her and the viewer. A lot of her motivations are still murky so it's hard to really know where she stands. However, Park Shin Hye is a talented actress and in the emotional moments (her goodbye to her dad, looking at the tomato plants) we really get to see into the heart of this character. She's also pretty convincing in the action sequences, even though I think that the actual choreography and logic of those scenes leaves something to be desired. Additionally, I am really enjoying the side characters, particularly Sun (Chae Jong Hyeop) who has great comedic timing and is lovable despite being a bit of a coward. He's fun and entertaining to watch onscreen and I'm looking forward to more of him. I also love Yeo Bong Seon (Tae Won Seok) as Han Tae Sul's bodyguard. He is so wonderful and sweet in a role that normally would be pretty nondescript. I love that he's genuinely huge, and can be threatening (like when they ran into the co-pilot), but also seems like he genuinely cares about his boss and wants to help him. I love the show for more fully fleshing out his character! The world they've established feels very fully-formed, which is promising. I've been disappointed by sci-fi dramas in the past so I was wary to start this one, but I think that so far the Control Bureau and the people from the future being (digitally?) sent back in time is very original and compelling. I hope that as the show progresses the villain develops and feels really threatening, I'm hoping for plenty of twists and turns. A few quibbles. There is something off about the action sequences that I can't quite put my finger on. Despite the apparent competence of the Control Bureau the stakes don't feel that high in the actual fight scenes. When a whole squad of them arrived at Sun's apartment both Sun and Kang Seo Hae should have been doomed. The idea that that many armed men wouldn't be able to just shoot and kill those two is insane, and there were so many moments when they had a clear shot and for some reason didn't take it. Because of this I felt very little impact or stress from the scene. I didn't feel like there was much of a threat for our heroes, despite the fact that I should have been very scared for them under the circumstances. This also applies to the train yard scene and the plane crash. In both of those scenarios the tone felt off, and the way it was directed took a lot of the tension out of what should have been high-adrenaline sequences. I think the show feels like viewers won't take things seriously unless they throw in fifty guys with guns, but that's not true.
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What an impressive pilot episode! There is a lot introduced here, and a lot that has yet to be explained. I love that in an opener to a show: give me enough solid ground for me to feel some sense of the show, but enough intriguing questions to make me want to keep watching. I think that they accomplished that here. I was very wary to actually watch this show because I have been burned by high concept Korean sci-fi in the past, but I saw a clip of it by accident and was so charmed by Park Shin Hye's performance that I had to give it a shot. I am happy that I did, although I still have some trepidation. You can never really know if a show is good until the last episode has aired, after all. So far both the leads are excellent. The last role I saw of Jo Seung Woo's was in Stranger, where he plays a character who is basically emotionless, very quiet and reserved. Here he is completely different: arrogant, emotional, pretty fucked up in an ugly way, addicted to pills, a genius, witty and flippant -- his energy is suddenly huge and he's very physical, as opposed to in Stranger where he felt focused, fussy and precise. It's amazing how a great actor can seem to physically transform from character to character, even without the help of prosthetics. Park Shin Hye is also very good, but we've gotten to see less of her inner psyche. I can already tell that she will be well-suited to the physical aspect of her role and I thought she nailed her performance in her scene with her father. I am really excited to see her character develop and to see these two meet. Overall, I really loved the episode. There were some quibbles that I had (the trainyard scene was strangely directed, the airplane crash when he's talking on the phone felt like it was pushing my suspension of disbelief a little too much), but on the whole I thought it was great.
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I attempted to watch this show twice and got stuck about ten minutes in each time, because the modern day setting confused me and the intro with him as a baby - while interesting - was also confusing. I didn't know what was going on. Is this a time travel story? Is this fiction? Either way, it didn't really grab me. However, upon a third watch I made through the whole episode and after that I was hooked. This is a great opener because I think it sets up a number of things very effectively: 1. Who Fan Xian is as a person. The child actor playing young Fan Xian is unbelievably good, and so well cast and well suited to the role. Often I find the backstories in dramas boring because they are basically a vehicle for exposition. This one certainly had exposition, but it left you with more questions than answers and did a lot to establish some of our central characters all while happening (mostly) in the lead's childhood. Fan Xian is clearly very bold, smart, innovative and talkative, sneaky and determined. We get to seem struggle and fail, as well as persevere and succeed, all the while being hilarious. But there is a discerning edge and depth to him that hides beneath the surface, which we get to see more of as the series progresses. 2. The world is established for us. Believing in and being intrigued by the world of Joy of Life is part of why I enjoy this show so much. There are so many interesting politics and people and histories to explore, most of which get revealed over the course of the show. In this way it reminds me a bit of the early seasons of Game of Thrones, when there is this vast world and history and cast that feels like it's being unearthed bit by bit for us. I'm always left with so many burning questions at the end of every episode. Who was the man in the wheelchair? What is the Overwatch council? Why is his father only sending for him now, and is there a greater significance to the Red Knights? Who is Uncle Wu Zu, REALLY, and why does he never age? Perhaps greatest of all, who was Fan Xian's mother and how did she die? 3. The tone is set. This show manages a very delicate balance of comedy and drama that I think few others have. The comedy is actually, genuinely, hilarious, and that lightheartedness is a key part of the show because it's a key part of who Fan Xian is as a person and his outlook on life (to live in the moment, to have joy in life). However, there is an ominous aspect to the show that I think is also established in this episode. We get this sense of foreboding from his teacher and from his grandmother, the feeling that there is a storm coming for Fan Xian, and some kind of dark force or power that wants him dead. Overall, just a stunning opening episode. So much is established, so many questions are raised that I'm desperate to get answers to, and you end the episode with the feeling that you're on the edge of something great.
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I really enjoyed this first episode. I like how quickly all of the characters were introduced and the setting was established. It was an action-packed episode. Rowoon does a good job as our lead. Not only is he absolutely gorgeous, he very clearly establishes his character with very few words. His body language, gaze and facial expressions express a lot that his never actually says out loud, even though he is pretty forthright with his feelings. I really feel for him and pity him. It's difficult to get a read on the female lead. Even though we've seen plenty of her she's not really sympathetic yet. Although she isn't mean to Rowoon's character (her trainee), she is cold and professional. We see glimmers of her caring about him this episode, but they don't feel that natural or genuine because we haven't really gotten a chance to see what's going on inside her head. Rowoon feels like a more central character at the moment. I really liked how the setting was established while still leaving room for expansion. The competitiveness of the office is firmly shown, which makes the secrecy of the office romance more understandable (as well as the female lead's reluctance to be anything but highly professional, she's under more pressure not to be implicated in rumours). Rowoon's character's relationship with his sisters is also efficiently established.I'm not sure where things will go in quality from here. I feel like they could go way up or way down, but I'm excited to keep watching!
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