Oh, I certainly discovered something.

Characters:

• Jung Yu Mi as Han Yeo Reum
• Eric Mun as Kang Tae Ha
• Sung Joon as Nam Ha Jin
• Yoon Jin Yi as Ahn Ah Rim
• Yoon Hyun Min as Do Joon Ho
• Kim Seul Gie as Yoon Sol

Details:

• Korean
• 16 episodes
• Original run: August 18, 2014 – October 7, 2014

Quick Rundown:

It’s always the bitter flame that never dies. When furniture designer, Han Yeo Reum, runs into her ex-boyfriend, Kang Tae Ha, what kind of sparks will fly? He clearly is not over her, but she is in a happy relationship with new man Nam Ha Jin, who is about to propose! Will Tae Ha’s sudden appearance wreck havoc in Yeo Reum’s life, or will it be a pleasant surprise for a second chance at true love?

Estelle’s Take

The last episode was probably my favorite because it had the real raw emotions that I was searching for the entire time I was watching this series. For the most part I couldn’t tell what this drama is trying to be; what kind of story is it trying to tell and what audience is it targeting. If the idea was to cast a wider net through this wishy washy story telling, then it has failed miserably because it probably did more harm than good in its attempt to attract a dedicated fan base. For every moment I thought it was finally getting itself together, there were ten minutes of this tug and war type of muggy, inconclusiveness often found in melos. Yet it was not decisively a melodrama because it would inject these adorable scenes reminiscent of a cute kdrama that leaves you fuzzy and warm on the inside. However, these scenes were always cut short and would leave me completely high and dry, totally unsatisfied and not in that cliff hanging kind of way.

I seriously could not put this drama in a box and tie a neat bow at the top because it is just a mess. I’m not saying every drama needs to fit in a specific category – there are many that fall in multiple groups – but this one was just a hotchpotch and I can’t even begin to sort out the story its trying to tell or the “lesson in life” its addressing. Not only that, I didn’t like the female lead, not because of the actress as I previously stated, but because her character experienced no growth whatsoever. The only thing that changed for her was perhaps her situation, which came to be through limited efforts of her own. Eric Mun’s character, Kang Tae Ha summed it all up pretty well when he said Han Yeo Reum loves herself the most. Sadly, I agreed with him. And while I believe that love itself is undeserving affection, I could not piece together why both Tae Ha and Ha Jin were in love with Yeo Reum, and they were not too convincing in expressing their love either. The plot had so many holes and pointless scenes (Ha Jin and Tae Ha became sworn brothers at one point, but that did not lead to any bromance for the rest of the story despite it being a great scene and having so much potential).

Maybe the only redeeming factor was the subplot. I loved both Yoon Hyun Min and Kim Seul Gie’s acting in this that I almost wished they are the main characters, not the crazy annoying love triangle forming at the center. If the point of this drama was to give that slice of life effect and leave me thinking about how this is so close to real life, then it has both succeeded and failed. It failed in that it is too meh that I wouldn’t want to watch it again or recommend this to anyone. It succeeded in that this story could happen in real life, but I don’t think the script was written well enough for any prolonged discussion about its meaning.

This & That:

• Eric Mun is the leader and rapper of famed boyband Shinhwa.
• Sung Joon recently starred in I Need Romance 3. He was also in Can We Get Married? with Han Groo of Marriage, Not Dating.
• Jung Yu Mi has enjoyed popularity in many big screen roles notably in Family Ties with Gong Hyo Jin of It’s Okay, That’s Love, romcom My Dear Desparado, and social justice film The Crucible/Silenced.
• Han Yeo Reum is the name of Jeong Jinwoon’s character in Marriage, Not Dating.