“She is free in her wildness, she is a wanderess, a drop of free water. She knows nothing of borders and cares nothing for rules or customs. 'Time' for her isn’t something to fight against. Her life flows clean, with passion, like fresh water.”
― Roman Payne

Produced by 'Studio Dragon' and 'C-JeS Ent.', "EVE (이브)" is a melodrama cum revenge show with essence of Korean makjang (not a typical makjang). Written by Yoon Young Mi and directed by Park Bong Seop, the show was originally broadcasted on tvN.

The story follows the arduous life of Lee Ra Il (Seo Yea Ji), a Tango dancer, a daughter, a wife and a mother who has the aura that can bewitch even the cupid. Coming from an infamous background, she suddenly garners overwhelming amount of attention of everyone but behind the glamorous façade, she hides a formidable past and burns in her heart, the fire of misery. As life becomes cruel to her at an early age, she comes back with master plans to seek revenge from the devil and make them crumble.

LY Group Chairman Kang Yoon Kyum (Park Byung Eun) is Ra-Il’s prime target who without his awareness serves as the greatest cause to the tragedy. Han So Ra (Yoo Sun) is Yoon Kyum’s wife who can go to any length to save her marriage and her father Han Pan Ro (Jeon Gook Hwan) is the mastermind to every evil deed. Seo Eun Pyeong (Lee Sang Yeob) is an assemblyman and Laa Il’s old acquaintance who is eager to help her by any means. Jang Moon Hee (Lee Il Hwa) is La Il’s foster mother and her partner in conspiracy. Kim Jung Chul (Jung Hae Kyun) and Kim Gye Young (So Hee Jung) are aides to Pan Ro and Eun Pyeong, respectively.

Plot development is amazing at first, in fact stayed the same for the first half; I’d say I loved it till the 12th episode. With a steady flow and several peaks, the pilot episode and the beginning sequences, including the starting scene, were all intriguing and captivating. As La-Il continues to step up, ticking off her list of plans, the show keeps getting more interesting with each episode. There were moments of uncertainties for the characters’ pasts but the way they were dealt with must be acknowledged. The furtherance of the story was as amazing, though there were instances of possible labefaction and the writer seemed lost in her own story. Admittedly, the somehow felt a little draggy two week before finale, as if nothing major was happening, and with everything out to the surface, things were only getting messed. This surely is reflected in my ratings but I also felt the overall quality never went beyond the average mark.

With an experience of over 1.5 decades, Yoon Young Mi jakka-nim seems like a lover of makjang pieces. And as she chose to make Yea Ji the star of her event, she surely has hit a huge with the show that for sure was well decorated by the rookie director Park Bong Seop PD-nim. The show is not exactly character-driven but the characters surely hold the leashes to every mightiness that the viewers were offered throughout. The background narration, the manner of portrayal and the execution as well as storytelling were pleasing to their best. The cinematography with dazzling bright hue accompanied by sumptuous eye-enticing editing were joyful visual treats. The problem with writing is that the last quarter of the show turned typical, with a moderate rush they made it a complex mess where characters went berserk and acted crazy

There are a total of 4 OSTs in the drama and all of them are truly likable, narrating the natures of the four main characters that you see in the show’s main poster. Notably, the pure instrumentals of these tracks are as alleviating.

# My most favourite is “Hold Me Tight” by again, one of my favourite vocalist, Kim Ye Ji is an English track meant for La-Il telling her intentions to make her enemy suffer through lies.
# “Adios Amante” sung by Shin Youme is an awfully intriguing track that begins with piano notes depicting confusions and suspicions and meant for So Ra. Both the lyrics and vocal are strikingly beautiful.
# As a song of remorse “Want to be your everyday” with soft vocals of Sondia is a way for Yoon Kyum to seek the presence of someone who understands and wilfully comforts him for life.
# Lee Hyun sings “Only Way” as Eun Pyeong calls for acknowledgement of his emotions that he realizes are genuine. The track is immensely soulful as well as soulful.

The aesthetics of the show was focused on Seo Yea Ji and does it sound like a complaint? Hell NO! I am beyond happy. The lady is already so gracious and the outfits she wore, were what chose her and defined her. Goosebumps kept coming in and going out every time she came into the frame. How can someone be so graceful? Her character arc as Ra-il is as beguiling and appreciable skills of hers are what should be credited. However, the aura of the character sadly faded in the later half, slowly getting diluted with typicality of the show. I loved that she stayed vengeful till the end, but the initial undertone felt lost.

Byung Eun is undoubtedly one of the best in terms of acting and as pleasing was his performance as Yoon Kyum, a man deprived of love and a man seeking liberty of worldly things through his leaning towards music and dance. A man who holds himself back knowing what is demanded of him but for the sake of acknowledgement, he suffers of misery, with no one to lean on. I would have loved to see a character development but unfortunately he stayed the same, with all the expressions and thinking process, the only change that he exhibited was the change in heart and his views of love.

Yoo Sun as Sora did a good representation of someone with multiple complexes and severe mental health issues, who seeks nothing but care and attention from her family. Sang Yeob as a sane character playing the man of influence contributed to the quality of the show but I couldn’t see anything appealing out of his character that would make me want more; his character could have been better written and provided with more screen-time.

One thing I loved the most was the inclusion of Piazzolla’s bandoneon and the underlying legend. The way the writer used that tale to narrate the lives of both leads was ecstatic even though it lasted only for an episode. Also, bringing the deep essence of ‘tango’ and narrating the story in artistic sense was also beautiful.

Some of my favourite dialogues from the show are…
“Dance is a form of rebellion by nature. People who obey orders, don't dance.”
“Love cannot be hidden, it's madly impulsive.”
“There are three things that can't be hidden: poverty, sneezes and love.”
“I will be the master. Not you.”

Final Remarks… I think it’d be wrong to forget the amazing start and the gracious furtherance of the show just because the ending faced a downfall, and rightfully so, I understand why people are mad. But, rationally speaking, I am not gonna rate it absurdly low for the unsatisfactory ending. Despite everything, it was a good show in overall. One problem is that many here perceived this as a makjang story with several moxed genre, where the makers made clear that it is a revenge melodrama. I think it is worth the time and you can speed up after 12 episodes if you want but this is not bad.