The Real Deal Has Come!

I did not realize I would be watching a protracted soap opera when I started this Kdrama. Fifty episodes are WAY too many! Although I found the first few episodes intriguing, the subsequent installments became more and more melodramatic. In fact, the quality of the writing deteriorated so profoundly that I felt I would have to be a masochist to watch every episode.

The lead actress looks so pathetic most of the time it's difficult to watch. And it's difficult to imagine that the lead actor is actually maintaining a medical practice with all his absenteeism. Plus, the villains are completely despicable, with very little nuance to their performances.

Last, but not least, the soundtrack is overheated to the point it is reminiscent of the dramatic accompaniments of silent movies. Ugh!

This is the most non-romantic, romantic K-Drama I have ever seen. I stuck with it since always finish something I start. Will update after ending if need to. First, never really fond of shows that deal with father's that don't take responsibility for their children and there is definite much push from everyone around the FL regarding abortion despite the mother's feelings (from the father, her mother, & her brother). Kept watching as I knew there was hope due to the description of getting a "contract" marriage but low and behold, the meddling grandmother in that household was additionally telling the unwed mother to go in that direction, as well as another family member that is married that is threatening to do it because a divorce is pending So much sadness in the beginning. Something makes you want to keep watching to root for the baby because it seems that hardly no one else will other than the mother. The baby's gynecologist steps up to be the contracted husband (but he has reasons of his own for doing this). It takes 37 episodes before the mother gets a kiss from this man (way after the baby is born!). Of course this is when the "real" father "The Real Deal" appears. (The mother never told him in the first place). So how will this turn out?

Final Edit - Came back to change my 7 stars to 6 after watching entire series. Seems I am the only one here that felt bad for the "The Real" father. Jung Eui-jae deserves more praise for the role he played. I tuned in day after day only because of the great job he did. How cruel every single person in the script was to him - you can help but feel empathy for him who really loved his baby. Can you blame him for playing dirty tricks to try and get his child after being deceived for a year - never having been told in the first place that this was his child and only finding out by accident? Sure he made a comment to the FL when they broke up that was cruel at the time but he didn't know she was pregnant and it was a relationship of 5 years - not some fly by night relationship. FL should have told him from day one. So of course I did not like the ending. Can't say much for the script - cruel from day one to the very last episide!! Cruelest drama ever.

Oh Yeon-doo (Baek Jin-hee) is a successful teacher who finds she is pregenant after falling out with her boyfriend. Through circumstances she meets and agrees to enter a fake marriage with Gong Tae-ky (Ahn Jae-Hyun) this series stretches over fifty episodes and shows the conflict between and within the families of the two leads. I wish people would realise before they criticise that these type of dramas have shaky sets and often don't have the luxury of various takes to make sure the acting is always spot on. Overall the cast do a sterling job and even though I came to consider quitting it after the first ten episodes I decided to stick with it. It is a sweet story and the ending of each episode leaves you wanting to know what happens next, and this is what a good soap should do.

It's true that the script has flaws and may be a little annoying, but overall, this drama is one of those series where the slow rhythm is not boring and one is still eager to follow and see what happens in the next episodes. In general, I like dramas where the characters grow up and reach maturity, and this was a feature that everyone... I think everyone has their own taste, and maybe everyone doesn't like some genres, and other comments say, "Wow, fifty episodes is too much. The family series genre requires this many episodes. I've even seen series in this genre that go up to a hundred episodes."

I usually don't review shows that I didn't watch to the end. But this one is such a torture! I looked it up to find outhow many more painful episodes would be released and almost puked when I read 50. 50!!!! What the??!

Matter of factly, I coerced myself into watching because the actors speak a very vivid, realistic Korean. As a learner, I wanted to mimic their intonations and it works marvels. Still. The story, gosh!

So many useless characters, scenes, events. It's all a pathetic mess. No tension, no romance, no nothing. I read somewhere that dramas are made for brainless people and that most of them were just like that, both boring and ridiculously over the top. I so disagree. Despite their many flaws, most dramas are excellent, as they will pull your heart out. This one is an epic failure.

So... how is it rated 8??? I must be missing something. Still. I don't care. I can't have any more of this. I just can't.