Reviews

Very disappointed in this. I watched all episodes.

The plot idea is good. But unfortunately, thats where the good ends. The story falls flat after the betrayal by her assistant.

The male lead in this is Ji Chang-wook. I loved him in so many of his dramas. But even he couldn't make this one work. It was honestly that bad. If it had been his first drama, I wouldnt be too interested in seeing him again either. But normally I think he's great. He has been in great Kdramas such as Empress Ki, Suspicious Partner, The K2, Healer and Backstreet Rookie all of which I enjoyed.

The female lead (Shin Hae-Sun) is one of the worst South Korean actors I have seen in years. Perhaps the director is to blame and the script too. But honestly, she couldnt act her way out of a paper bag. She does not know how to portray real emotions. So often her facial expressions were just wrong. I have also seen Shin Hae-Sun in "Stranger" which was an excellent Kdrama. In that drama, she had a good role, that called for little or no acting. In "Stranger" she was very stoic and uptight (which did reflect the character she was playing). I thought at the time that she wasn't a good actor. But, "Welcome to Samdal-ri " just confirmed to me how bad an actor she is.

The other absolutely dreadful part of this drama is how it glorified and romanticised drinking until you pass out. Shin Hae-Sun drinks like this nearly EVERY night as well as many of the other characters. Its portrays alcohol as the panacea to all your problems. Coming from a family that has 3 deaths and 1 bankruptcy all related to alcohol, I find it disgraceful that this level of drinking is portrayed as fun and cool. By all means drink and enjoy it. But if you watch the series, you will see what I mean. I becomes seriously annoying and boring at times watching nearly every one of the main cast drink to excess all the time.

The script was poor too. There was absolutely no real romance between the 2 leads. If you met those 2 in real life you would not put them together as a couple. Zero chemistry on the love front. We also had 36 year olds acting like 15 year old when they feel embarrassed. Running and hiding from each other instead of talking. I found the lead male's father to be a very unlikable character. The lead female's mother equally was not a very endearing character(even considering the tragedy that caused the rift). So many luke warm or unlikable characters in this.

I did love the little girl. She was brilliant and sweet. Forced to worry about things a 9 your old shouldn't have to worry about. She had to try to be a grown up because of her drunken aunts and mother.

One final thing I want to mention is the huge amount of viewing time that is spent with the 2 main characters "reliving" events or having "flashbacks". We see the same scenes replayed multiple times throughout the drama as well as long periods of silence with music playing where the director is trying to create romance, nostalgia or remembering lost love or some other "dramatic moment" in their lives. Its just a directors trick to fill in film time and not real substance. I had to fast forward through so much "dead time".

Anyway, lets just say, Im glad that is over. If you want to watch a decent family Kdrama, go for "Hometown Cha Cha Cha" instead of this one. Actors who can act and a nice storyline with characters you can really be attracted to and relate to in a wonderful small town seaside setting.

I would be delighted if I never see that female lead (Shin Hae-Sun) again. She was terrible. South Korea has so many incredibly talented actors, I have to ask how she was even chosen for the lead.

I will start by saying that I like the plot. I know the writers use a ridiculous number of totally improbable coincidences to bring the plot to life, but what Korean drama doesn't do this? So I will just excuse it and move on.

I was not impressed with the 2 lead actors. The supporting cast were better though.

Shin Hye-Sun (Seo-Ri) has to be one of the worst actors I have ever seen. Everything is over acted. She use cheap tricks to try to overcome her awful acting. She speaks too slowly to emphasize seriousness or confusion or thoughtfulness. She acts over excited to try to display excitement or happiness. Her facial expressions are often forced. She jumps around also to try and show her excitement. When she is trying to be forlorn, upset, disappointed or lonely, we often see her shuffle or drag her feet. I saw her in "Stranger" season 1, which was an excellent show and she was a bit better there, but the director of that show was obviously good and didn't let her get away with such cheap tricks. Honestly, by episode 16, I couldn't stand her any more. She tried to portray cuteness but totally failed. I hope I never see her in anything again.

Yang Se-Jong (Woo-Jin) was a bit better, but his character was just incredibly dull and boring. He didnt often over act. He just acted miserable most of the time. Not very much there to endear his character to us. I dont rate him as an actor either.

Ahn Hyo-Seop (Chan) I liked in general. Most of the times that he over acted was with Seo Jin. Perhaps her pathetic acting style affected him, but in the more serious moments, you can see that he has good acting skills.

Ye Ji-Won (Jennifer) was by far the best. She is a quality actor and deserves plaudits for her performance. I liked her role and her skills.

Jung Eugene (Kang Hee-So boss of the media Company) was also a good actor. I really liked her performance and her character.

This would have been a much better show if the leads were properly cast. Were the acting displays of the leads due to their own lack of skill or was it down to the director being dreadful. Who knows? Perhaps a little of both.

I can criticize the script a bit for irritating me by regularly having the characters about to ask key questions multiple times and each time at the last second being interrupted or stopped from getting to the discovery of who each of them was to each other in the past. Its a cheap plot trick, but understandable if the writers/director wanted to drag out the discovery process and try to build some tension.

Overall, I would give this show a 5 out of 10.

I love Sci-Fi and evolution type dramas. I thought I was going to love this.

The story itself is interesting and it seemed like this was going to be a series I loved. However, it soon deteriorated into a series fixated on gay, lesbian and trans love and sex as well as some straight sex as well as a bunch of orgies involving all main cast members. Now, don't get me wrong, I strongly support LGBTQ rights in every way. I also have no problem saying that I love sex and enjoy porn too.

BUT BUT BUT, the initial story gets lost and subsumed by a director or writers obsessed with shoving sex scenes down our throats.

In the first 3 episodes of season 1, over 80% of the content was about the relationships and very little plot. The writers really seem just to want to explore many of the issues surrounding coming out as gay, the pain and prejudices involved in growing up as a trans woman as well as portraying everyone as having some sort of fantasy about orgy fests.

There is way too much focus on exploration of a persons sexuality or orientation and not enough plot. In fact, the plot is actually secondary to the focus on sexuality. The director and/or writers are just obsessed with this. Very disappointed that there is so little plot. I dont know if the plot was so thin that they added the LGBTQ issues and sex in to fluff it up and fill the time slot with something they thought would grab the headlines or perhaps they just got side tracked by the very real issues involved. Either way, the whole story or basis of the series pretty much gets lost in the mix. Very, very disappointing.

As a side note, the cast in general is really good. Miguel angel Silvestre - Lito is a particularly hot guy (as a straight guy, I can still appreciate that he is exceptionally handsome). Brian J Smith - Will was great in Stargate which I loved. Jamie Clayton - Nomi is a very attractive trans lady, Bae Doona - Sun - is a fantastic South Korean actor who has starred in some excellent movies and dramas such as Stranger. No idea why she would agree to be in this 2nd rate show. Aml Ameen - season 1 Capheus - was way better than the actor who took his place in season 2. Maybe he left because he felt the same way I do about the series losing its way. Another notable actor in this is Freema Agyeman who I always thought was stunningly beautiful and was in Dr Who and Torchwood.

What is it about Hollywood? Why do the leads always have to cheat on their partners? I actually find it pathetic that the scriptwriters in US dramas feel that they need to devolve into banal personal angst episodes of love triangles, cheating and lying.

I enjoy the ethical and moral issues raised during these business deals. Why cant we focus on the real meat? The work of being an M&A lawyer..

Goofs ....Teslas dont use keys ....England and Wales dont play their international rugby match until Feb or March. Not in November. There are Autumn Internationals, but they are usually Southern Hemisphere vs Northern Hemisphere.