koolie-86995

Am up to episode 7. The series started slow and seemed a bit tacky; I wasn't sure I wanted to invest my time after episode 1 but I stuck it out and boy does it pay off! A love quadrangle, some absolutely hilarious physical comedy and randomly joyful moments (if you like offbeat humour) that appear out of nowhere mid-scene making me laugh out loud, and blazing chemistry between the two leads. While the female lead (Lee Sun Bin) starts out as unlikeable in the first episode, she makes a meal out of her role as the series continues - she is incredibly versatile, tender, ferocious, funny, vulnerable and absolutely brilliant with her comedic timing. The male lead (Kang Tae Oh) doesn't have much to do but look good and smoulder - and boy does he smoulder. I must say, though, that he's pretty game to be ridiculous every once in a while in this role. This series is carried on the shoulders of Lee, and she delivers. The rest of the cast is good; not all necessary characters (e.g. The ex-wife of a protagonist) but maybe there's a payoff that I will see as the series progresses. The writing is uneven - the female characters are well written but the male characters are all really one-dimensional and it's a bit irksome. There are some lovely moments of sensitivity and intelligence in the writing, but again, an equal measure of really flat plot lines. Still, I'm hooked for episode 8 and I can't wait to see the villains get their comeuppance (as I am hoping as with all good k-dramas, the couple come together and soundly trounce their common enemy - after a few misunderstandings of course). God I love the predictability of Korean romcoms!

UPDATE 8 April 2025: Just finished the series. I take back what I said about predictable plot lines! This series ends so sweetly - and totally unlike your typical kdrama after all. This really is an intelligently written series with some really sweet moments. Kang Tae Oh turns in a superb performance in the last few episodes, matching Lee Sun Bin'd energy and passion. The second female and female lead are delightful as well with great comedic timing. As for the other cast - now I want to see a spin off about them!

I can forgive Death in Paradise for having glossy headshots of actors on their suspects board, but a gritty drama like Strike? And how did they get a hold of these headshots? Did they ask the actors to bring them in? This was a question that preoccupied me, as I also watched with increasing impatience their uncovering of the killer, whom I'd guessed as soon as I saw the character, because of obvious diffidence, frequent appearances but no talking lines, and then of course, being easily discounted as a suspect (like many others) because of a video game that looks like it was designed by a 3rd grader. Oh god, I just lost 4 hours of good sleep to binge watch this. Thank god for the eye candies that are Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger.