Backwards, outdated and downright misogynistic. AVOID.

(PSA: This is a rant rolled up as review bc i could not keep my cool writing about this cesspool of a show. Thus it contains some swear words. Just as a head's up.)

For a family drama written in 2022/2023, TRHC is oddly stuck somewhere in Joseon era, or 1970 if we are feeling generous. Worst of all is that all of these backwards views of the writer is covered under a mantle of pseudo LOOK HOW MODERN WE ARE progressiveness at first. But you always get glimpses of his true views here and there, those bits of misogyny, how a woman is not allowed to exist without a man and husband, can't do anything without a man. Or his obsession with bloodline superiority portrayed by the grandmother at first who feels like a writer mouthpiece of his own views in hindsight.

Because for a show supposedly about how family is chosen and that chosen family is just as valid as bloodlines, he does his damnest to portray adoption in the worst light. As something lesser and THE fatal flaw a person can have. Later on ML is also CONSTANTLY ridiculed for wanting to take over the father's role for FL's baby because he is not the true blooded father, not valid nor good enough and every character lets him know so. While the literal shithead of dna giver of the child is elevated to the writer's favorite pet the narrative tries to manipulate you into feeling sorry for a literal stalking, harassing, cheating, blackmailing, threatening and gaslighting abusive bastard who made the leads life hell for 30 eps plus. But he is the "father" of FL's child so he has a "i can do what i want" permit of the writer who seems to sympathize with abusive men treating women like shit and objects to possess waaaaay too much, if you ask me. Yikes. But of course none of the stalking and domestic violence is ever addressed or SML held accountable in any way or form, nope. Of course not. It was just there for shock value and to show you that this poor poor man just did all this because he was lonely, had a bad childhood (???), and was upset of not seeing his child or something. Awwww. F-- OFF. The trivialization of abuse (that starts not just at physical, mind) is staggering and super disgusting, but totally in line with this writer's overall misogynistic views.

Which perfectly shows in the complete obliteration of FL Yeondoo's personality in the second half as well, Because except for her apologizing and cowering to everyone no matter what and why, if she is allowed to speak at all, she does nothing, is allowed nothing. In latter eps you even have ML, her then legal husband, speaking FOR her even if she is directly addressed by others and yikes. Not to mention how her career fell sideways and was forgotten about in favor of her letting it housewiving out till the writer remembered she once was a star instructor five minutes before the very end. Which okay if a stay at home mom is what she wants there is no problem, but there was NEVER any discussion about her future, nor what she wants to do going forward. The complete lack of agency while two men have the worst written, and factually and law-wise incorrect, custody battle over HER child, for whom she is the sole custodian parent, is more than appalling. It is downright sexist. (In fact, no female character is allowed to exist or act without a man in here, again yikes.)

While the show was airing, we have talked at lengths in the comment section why the romance is not romancing, especially of the leads who are like roommates raising a baby together, post timejump. A lot of it comes down to this writer and simply baaaaaad directing, but there is more to that. It is the pure dislike of the writer for romance in general. Watching this, you get the clear impression that he always found romance and calm scenes boring, and not just in regards of the leads. Every romance subplot we had in the first half was dropped after the worlds worst and most unneeded timejump, and forgotten about. The singular one we had aside the leads (romance, what romance?) with the youngest couple was a trashfire of circular on/off nonsense going nowhere. But oh well that fitted into the rest of the repetitive narrative dragging on to the point of complete suffering. Which, coincidentally was THE motto and theme for the last quarter of TRHC. Joy was killed as was the lead's romance before it could ever fully bloom and develop by this hack. And it got replaced by a onslaught of perpetual misery piled on misery, especially for the leads. Whose actors looked progressively more exhausted the longer this overwrought, pointless drama dragged on, reflecting the audience perfectly. It feels from eps 1 to 50 AJH and BJH have aged several years, and with this abysmal script and dialogue they were forced to follow i am not surprised. Because for the viewer aka myself, it was also just pure suffering and exhaustion to watch the backyard bin Iteration of Groundhog Day with everything repeating over and over, down to what i would call the worst written drama in recent years after Woori The Virgin.

So, in case you are insane enough to still want to watch this trainwreck on top of a flaming pile of garbage... my advice is still to run away and find something better to do with your time. Like take a walk, work out, pet a dog. So much that you can accomplish in 50 hours that is not watching this dungfilled, backwards ass mess. Failing that however, you best watch eps 1-33, mentally slap a one year timejump under it and go to eps 39, watch that. Then jump to 41 to see the leads register their marriage and then go DIRECTLY to eps 50 for closure. Do not stop at start and look at the mUh bLoODliNEs Kim Junha writers pet show this drama becomes in the last ten eps. I repeat: DO NOT STOP AND GO DIRECTLY TO THE ENDING EPISODE and thank me later for having spared you ten hours of your life as nothing of value happens in there. Except a lot of pointless bs and abusive man apologia but that is right in line with this wreck of a writer. AVOID.

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Consent Is Sexy

I have rarely seen, if ever, such a mature, openly communicative with consent and comfortableness for both partners at the forefront relationship portrayed in a kdrama. Conflicts, fears and issues between the leads never festered but were discussed and solved as quickly as possible (starting noble idiocy of ML aside.) They were affectionate, playful and compassionate with each other, as well as also challenging each other to become their better selves. They had an adult relationship that did not stop at holding hands and blushing which is still rare in kdramaland and openly discussed their needs/wishes regarding intimacy while always heeding the others boundaries.

The way the drama handled consent and how much importance it put on it... it is sadly the first time i have ever seen this in a kdrama to this extent. (Dali And The Cocky Prince comes to mind here too, but it wasn't as integral as it is in TLC) Which honestly, makes me sad as it should not be the exception but the rule and the way the drama subverted typical romcom tropes and viewers expectations regarding that was well-done. It was clear from the start that this is the story of the two leads and their journey of overcoming the demons of their past in order to find together above all else. Since the drama is obviously home in slice of life romance genre more than anything else don't expect a complex law drama nor plot. So go into watching with the correct expectations of it being very character driven instead of having a heavy plot. Slice of life, as said.

And yet the drama managed to address a wide range of social issues in the out of court cases that are still prevalent in today's society, Korea or elsewhere. (Especially the SA case was handled with the gravitas and framing it needed to be) Each of the cases were also mirrored with what the leads currently struggled with, to let them grow alongside in handling it. It never got too dark, no matter how heavy the social topics were because in between situational comedy gave much needed levity. And this without ever ridiculing the issue at hand. The main plot is the weakest link in it all and drawn out too much, but overall that took little away from the refreshingly modern take on the writing of the leads/their relationship for me. The side characters are lovely too and i enjoyed my time with them (minus uncle, however well acted)

I can only hope that other writers of romcom kdramas take note of this one here in regard of how it handled consent, because implicit clear consent is sexy and we direly need more of it in this medium/genre in the future.

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Avoid It Like A Traffic Accident...

This drama is a mess and then some. ML was an emotionally constipated jerk with anger issues, FL had zero self esteem nor any respect for herself, plus her favorite hobbies were drinking all the time to the point of alcoholism, sobbing and wallowing in self-pity to a masochistic degree. Which, tbh, fits the narrative of EVERYONE and their cat using her as their punching bag without her ever fighting back. SFL was a fake ass barbie who creeped me out with her toxic positivity, need for attention and obsession over ML, and SML only trait is "woe is meeeee" while having the personality of a blank drywall. ML's sister needed therapy and AA lifetime meetings/counseling. Actually they all needed therapy, or in ML's case a better therapist because whatever tf he is doing it was clearly NOT working.

And while we are at it: the characters' consumption amount of alcohol is downright on a "yall have a serious alcoholism problem danger level. I hate hate HATE how this drama depicts drinking, like korean drinking culture is one thing/unhealthy enough, but to show characters "solving/drowning" their problems in alcohol to the point of them blacking out EVERY SINGLE TIME/NIGHT is downright dangerous and irresponsible.

I have rarely seen such a concentration of unsympathetic characters in one single drama, be it side or main characters. The romance with its push and pull/back and forth and outright refusal of any communication (mostly from ML's side) and her dependency on ML to feel any happiness was frustrating and very unhealthy too. And yet, and yet I couldn't stop watching it and i didn't even know why. For some unknown reason, I kept rushing from one episode to the next, fascinated by the mess one single writer could create while oddly STILL rooting for any characters to get a grip. Well, in the end, it has never happened, to no one's surprise, not even my own. So i guess this must have been the famous traffic accident (pun intended, given its plot) effect, where one should look away but can't. And imo, this sums up this show best.

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Logic? What logic?

You know i actually thought it would be more about the time travel and how they live their year instead of it just being an one episode premise for a serial killer case of batshit crazy whodunnit with leads last people standing horror movie kinda vibe. It was actually a wild enjoyable rollercoaster until the last few episodes where it took an inane turn and turn and turn and never stopped spinning in its absurd plot twists for the plot twists sake anymore that the rollercoaster derailed and crashed in flames down a cliff. While i could not roll my eyes fast enough to spin along with all the waaaaaay too makjang-y events on screen happening. Characters acted all idiotic (save for the leads) believing everything they were told, and against their own interest with zero self preservation skills whatsoever as they walked alone outside at night with a serial killer at large. Because this is what you do when you know you are dead-flagged of course :) Logic has left the chat. In fact it was never really present in the storytelling to begin with.

Like, there is a limit how ridiculous you can get with a story and its twists, even when the genre is fantasy/Sci fi. Or at least there should have been, since it would have been more believable and better constructed and not something from drawn from a cheap kbs daily drama plot-wise employing shocking twists for shock value only to construct a "tune in next" cliffhanger, logically held together by little more than spit and ductape. Sadly it had a sore lack of a white truck of doom trope for several of these a-holes within here that should have met the fate to make it actually entertaining. The leads were cute tho and actually smart, for once. Which sadly is a rarity in the thriller kdrama genre. I liked it till halfway through since i could not figure out why and where and who but then it started to get veeeeery nonsensical and goofy. Could not take it seriously, which is actually not a good hallmark for a thriller that tried to be all that it its tone. Resounding meeeeh. Even the mutt was stupid/useless and a brat (causing an accident as it constantly ran away.

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It is ridiculous and fun. Just roll with it

I normally don't write reviews, but with people being so absurd and prematurely hating on this drama without any capability to chill even a little, I felt the need to say something. (I will update this review with my impressions as the drama goes on and of course after its ending two months from now.)

First thing first: Don't go into this drama with the expectation to see a solemn fantasy epic unfolding here, even if it has the typical tropes of past tragic love and loss and reincarnation do-over romance. Because in order to be able to truly enjoy this show, you have to roll with its irreverence and madness it throws at you in abundance already. The tone of the drama is often quirky and ridiculous, but it's not trying to be anything else either! It knows exactly that it is not to be taken serious, and bears its kdrama-crack identity with flying colors. Yes, it does sprinkle in some minuscule tragedy/sad backstory and detestable criminals as Kkokdu's killing targets for flavor, but it is not before long it goes back to more humorous shenanigans between its characters.

To find a lighthearted, goofy drama that runs with that silliness, nor pretends to be deep or grim on top of it, in the current kdrama landscape of doom and gloom is already rare and hard enough. So don't deprive yourself of its fun just because of a chaotic first episode. The second is already so much better, building up on the prior with more suitable pacing. and more backstory for Kkokdu. Also give its plot time to develop. A story-arc is not finished with one or two episodes, especially when there are sixteen episodes and hours in total room for this to happen. So this impatience and criticism due to it being not 100% perfect from the start and a bit rough around the edges is way too overblown and unbecoming, as is the hatred/bias toward FL/actress.

I, for my part, have been wanting to watch and eventually started this drama solely for Kim Jung Hyun. I am so happy about the comeback, since I missed this fantastic, versatile actor and his screen presence so much. Been way too long since Mr. Queen, seriously. His comedic timing, microexpressions and physical comedy has always been something else—and it is so very natural here too. At two episodes in KJH is already a one-man show riot in his interpretation of Kkokdu; a cynic, 10000% done grinch of death who just wants some R&R during his 99 days on earth but is unable to get due to his job/task he so openly and amusingly detests. And on the other side, he seems a tad unhinged with his high-pitched always-on-the-verge-of-hysteria voice coupled with teen girl giggles and anger management issues. He has plenty of reasons to be like this, however. He does have amnesia, hears crazy voices, kills villains every day each 99 years. Who wouldn't go a little cooky?

Once KJH is/was freed from the timid shackles of his human character Do Jin Woo at the end of episode 1, the fun (and true story) starts. It totally shows is that Junghyun has had so much joy playing the petty, blunt, ready for murder immortal, because his acting as Kkokdu has so much energy, vividness, sheer glee and the right amount of world-weary jadedness. It is his comedic and general acting chops that are also bringing out the best in his co-stars (yay for Mr. Queen reunion between the three gods, they are my chaotic faves rn). Even Im Soo-hyang, whose acting hadn't impressed me before, seemed to go toe-to-toe with Jung-hyun once the story picked up. She definitely isn’t as skilled as Junghyun at delivering all the tiny micro expressions that sell the humor of their bickering and squabbling. Even so, these two are pretty fun to watch and with FL exerting her controlling power over his reluctant, unwilling cynic self it's gonna be even more amusing... not for him, though xD

We are just getting started tho, so of course there is not much development in the rom part of the com, but it is bound to happen as a fated lovers kind of deal they are. I just hope we will see more of their bickering rap battles before the inevitable shift of tone to more angst happens. I will definitely stick around to see how the characters and story develop, as tropey as it is, it is simply and simple fun. And sometimes that is all a kdrama has to be to be enjoyable, yknow?

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