Un caballero y una joven dama

South Korea must be like some bizarre parallel universe. A major crisis ensues because Dan Dan is 27 and her potential beau is 41. It wouldn't rate a mention in Western culture but not so in this show! And the extent to which parents meddle in their children's love life beggars belief. Full marks to the script writers for the most astonishing and ridiculously delicious plot twists I have ever seen. It's like corn chips. So bad for you but you want more. And don't forget the cheesy music which sounds like a bad entry in The Voice, or something vaguely like Beethoven or Holst. And people in this show dress really well. It reminds my of when I went to Seoul and noticed just how much attention people paid to their loom.

This went from ridiculous to absolutely absurd the further you got into the series. I get that the Korean culture is based on respecting your elders, but come on...! The characters made me crazy with their antics and screaming and the Madam...there's just no words. I spent the entire series being frustrated and wanting to hit the writer really hard. 😳 I had been looking at this series for several months because Viki always seemed to be recommending it, but I was hesitant because it's 52 episodes. It started well and was initially funny albeit highly prejudicial. One thing that I love about Korean dramas is that the characters always get what's coming to them. In this series, you're waiting way too long for that and you're forced to endure ridiculous plot lines full of screaming, scheming, crying and characters allowing abuse to happen. In every plot line, the parents severely interfere with their children's lives to the extent that the children become more mature than the adults who are continually throwing temper tantrums and scheming to break up or force their children's relationships for their own selfish reasons. Seeing the parents happy after tearing apart their children's relationships was incredibly difficult to watch. I would have told my family to take a flying flip off a rolling doughnut from the get go! I wonder if the actors had trouble acting those ridiculous scenes? I certainly would have. 🙄 The children were great and I really liked the 2 leads. I thought they all had great chemistry. By episode 38 though, I started forwarding through most scenes that didn't involve the main characters because the other scenes were too embarrassing to watch and all promises were empty ones. So much drama over a 14 year age gap and a fraudulent engagement. It is the most frustrating and convoluted story I have ever watched. If you love crying, screaming, manipulation, repetitive script (and I mean over and over and over...) and characters doing the exact opposite of what they've been told to do steady, I'd skip this one for your own piece of mind. It will seriously make you crazy.

But so moorish, unlike, "Our Blues", there is very little social commentary. Initially I thought it was going to be a soap version of the movie, "Parasite", but it deviated substantially from that plot. There was only one actor I had seen before, everyone else was new to me. But a stand out actor was Park Ha-na, who played a baddie, hoping she doesn't get type cast, but can't find another series with her in it on Netflix. Orphan/abandoned babies at a young age are common themes with K-Dramas. One aspect which always, in my opinion that detracts from K-Dramas, is the over acting of the senior cast members, thankfully there were only one or two in this series cast. Also, something I noticed, some of the interior sets are very similar to, "My Golden Life". The front living/dining/kitchen of the mansions and the living/dining/kitchen of the lower economic home. Another negative of K-Dramas, is why do female cast always have to have white facial make up applied? But if you love pure soap, give this series a go, be warned, it's 52 episodes.

Too much screaming, yelling, stupidity, conniving, backstabbing scenes, which is the writer Kim Sa Kyung fault. Shocked she got 2021 KBS Drama Best Writer Award.

Poor acting overall, which is the director's fault, along with casting personnel and producers. Exception to the poor acting was for the three children actors who portrayed the Chairman's children. The children were excellent and two of the children won awards during 2021 KBS Drama awards.

Chief Jo is a pathetic, abusive, lying, devious, alcoholic character; the actress who portrays her has no skills as an actress at all. Unbelievable that she got the 2021 KBS Drama Excellence Award for Actress in a Long-Form Drama.

Chief Jo's mother and the step-mother of the Chairman are screaming, yelling, scheming, cheating, stealing, hurting, abusive, fraudulent characters; the individuals portraying them are terrible actresses.

Park Dan Dan character cries 75% of the time and is dumb as a block; the actress Park Ha Na can't act.

Park Dan Dan's father and step-mother are the same as the daughter's character, just plain dumb; actor and actress can't act either.

The step-brother and the rest of Park Dan Dan's extended step-family/almost family members are overall decent characters, to include Lee Se-Ryun character; the actors and actresses portraying them were overall good.

The biological mother of Park Dan Dan is a fraud; lying, unrepentantable, selfish, deplorable character; the actress is borderline with her acting skills.

The Chairman character is unappealing physically and morally and stupid; the actor has limited skills as an actor, which it is utter disbelief that the Chairman actor Ji Hyun Woo received the 2021 KBS Daesang Grand Prize for the Young Lady and Gentleman.

Also, that Ji Hyun Woo and Lee Se Hee got the Best Couple award for 2021 KBS Drama is a joke!

Be ready to throw things in desparate loathing at those characters you love to hate! (I suggest socks so as not to harm your screen). Looking for a serious down to earth drama? Go elsewhere. This ludicrous piece is totally for fun.

Please don't dis the actors for doing the phenomenal job of portraying well the malicious and conniving and just aweful humans in this soapiest of soaps. We all hate those characters for good reason and one of them is the actors are doing great at their craft!

The writer will leave no trope unturned, this is ridiculously funny. Just when you think to yourself at any place in the story,"Finally, finally, this is getting back on track and going the way I want it to"... well, forget it! Got a character you think is kind of okay? Hah, don't even try to make a connection. The writer pulls the rug out from under you every single time you wish to have even a little bit of satisfaction!

A rollicking great satire! Move away quickly if you can not take human beings being exposed in all their wretched flaws!