What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:
*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*
TV
Lovestruck in the City (2020) – Ep 13-16
I was a bit torn about whether or not I should review the episodes this week or if I should just save it for next week since there is only one more left to go. Episode 16 really did feel like a finale. It saw some resolutions, it saw some partings, and overall it left me feeling , if not satisfied, at least with a sense of closure.
The pacing of the show was definitely something that I had issues with. The beginning was a whole lot of nothing, and then all of a sudden these last few episodes felt like everything had been crammed into them. Especially this last week, Jae-won (Ji Chang-wook) and Eun-oh (Kim Ji-won) met again. They got angry, the talked through things and they even finally seem to be on the mend. But it feels unearned in many ways.
Rin-i (So Ju-yeon) and Kyeong-jun (Kim Min-suk) finally had their big conversation, where he confronts her about the way that she lives her life, since it’s embarrassing him, and she decides that she doesn’t want to conform to either his or societies expectations of her. She’d already experienced it at her mother’s hand once and had been extremely hurt by it, so she can’t continue her relationship with him if that’s his opinion of her. It was quite satisfying to see her stand up for herself that way, but I also wanted maybe a bit more lead-up to it, since it seemed to come out of nowhere.
And finally Geon (Ryu Gyeong-su) and Seon-yeong (Han Ji-eun), not only reconciled but then they amicably parted ways again, which I thought was a bit odd, since they both seemed reluctant, and only seemed to be doing it for the sake of the other person. But they also seemed like they might find a way back to each other once they are both in better places. In that sense, their relationship was quite hopeful.
However, it did seem like a strange mix of relationships in the show. We saw some bizarre dynamics between the three couples that were covered, but none felt entirely developed and I never fully invested in any of them. I’m not sure what message the writer was going for, but overall, it didn’t really seem like it had much direction. It felt like a slice-of-life kind of show, where you’ve placed a camera in this universe and some things just happened in front of it.
The one thing that I wish had been more consistent was the placement of said camera, the mockumentary style that they’d set up. As I’d predicted, the mockumentary style did eventually go away, except for the occasional reminder that yes! there was an interviewer, and the characters *do* need to talk about their feelings in an organic way rather than just rambling like madmen in the streets. But eventually that was done pretty much done away with and there really wasn’t any motivation for where the camera was. There were so many times when they would show situations where the characters would definitely not have allowed them or they would have been unable to access. How did we get flashbacks or how did they get into their houses during intimate moments like the candle lighting or when they’d already gone to sleep? Of course the PPL jokes were funny, but other than that, they didn’t really make full use of the format, rather just planting a foot in both camps and hoping no one really noticed. It probably seemed like a cool idea when they started, but then they wanted to show more that the limitation of the genre allows, and they decided that they don’t need to follow it fully. I wish the director had made the decision earlier on that they didn’t need this arbitrary stylistic choice since it doesn’t compliment the writing.
The biggest takeaway from the show for me (even though there is still one more episode that may change my mind) was that the show was just fine. That seems quite negative, but I actually like that the show didn’t actively annoy me, save for some of the characters making dumb choices, but even that at least made me engage with the show. It was fun, it was cute, it was frustrating at times and overall there was just enough to grab my attention to bring me back each week. I’m going to call that a success.
Colourful Granny 