Week in Review (Apr 18 – 24, 2021)

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

Once Again (2020) – Ep 1-24

My first ever weekend family drama has been an interesting watch so far. I started this show because of the charm of Lee Cho-hee and Lee Sang-yi, after the latter caught my eye in To.Jenny, and I am living for the adorable sadon couple.

While things move relatively slowly on the show, and there are several storylines I’m enjoying. I’m watching the show very passively, and taking all the cute and fun moments I get. The performances definitely feel stilted at times, but I was aware that would be the case going into the show, which is making me a bit more forgiving of them. The strongest performers so far are Lee Jung-eun (unsurprising, considering her incredible turn in Parasite the year before) and Lee Sang-yeob, both of whom have found a good balance between the dramatic and the down to earth.

I’m really liking how writer Yang Hee-seung is teasing out both the Da-hee/Jae-seok and Kyu-jin/Na-hee (Lee Min-jung) pairings. Because the format of the show is much longer (at a whopping 100 35-minute episodes), there is definitely a lot more time for slow-burn tension-building than there is in a 16-episode drama. 

The look of the show is definitely giving me daytime soap vibes, and a lot of the plot threads support that look. Long-lost brother and sister reuniting, down-on-his-luck older brother, struggling single-mother older sister, this show has the works. While none of these are fully engaging me at the moment, with proper addressing they have a lot of potential.

The main purpose of these shows is of course the drama, and the show makes sure to move things along quickly. I’m enjoying the quick pace of the show, so that even if there is something I’m not liking, at least they move on from it before it becomes tiresome. Now that the show has done it’s big reveal of Na-hee and Kyu-jin’s divorce, we can finally get into the aftermath of their actions as well as their inevitable reconciliation.

And of course, I can’t wait for our sadon pairing to begin their journey together.