Change Your Image
dianalyn79
Reviews
Habaekui Shinboo (2017)
This story had potential but I can't recommend this show.
TL;DR version: The acting/casting, writing, directing, and story oftentimes made this show hard to watch, though I did feel it had potential that was never tapped. I would not watch this again, nor would I recommend to anyone, unless you can handle
I had seen both Nam Joo-Hyuk and Shin Se-Kyung in other TV/Netflix shows and I thought they were fairly decent actors, so I also felt that this show might be decent. The story was intriguing, too.
However, while the story had potential, I often felt let down by the writing, directing, story progression, and sometimes the acting/casting. It was very hard to picture these very young actors in their respective "mature" roles, but I believe it had much more to do with the writing and directing than the actors themselves. There were a couple of romantic moments, but they didn't begin to compensate for the hard-to-watch moments.
-***Spoilers below, though I tried to keep them light***-
Nam Joo-Hyuk plays Habaek, a 2800-year old god and soon-to-be-king from a divine realm, but the somewhere between the writing, directing, and casting/acting, the show had a hard conveying the age and maturity that you'd expect come along with a god who is soon to be king. It's possible the writing intended for the main male lead to appear immature and incapable of commanding himself, let alone anyone else, but it was a bit of a let-down nonetheless. He very often came off with no authority at all, except a childish attempt at dominant authority over the female lead character, So-ah. His character did grow a bit, but I felt the character missed the mark many times.
Shin Se-Kyung plays So-ah, a psychiatrist with her own failing practice. It's soon understandable why her practice is failing, as she is a pretty awful psychiatrist, and she blatantly looks down on the basic principles of psychiatry. On top of that, she is clueless and often brainless, and there were episodes where I couldn't understand how this character tied her shoes in the morning. She lets the male lead, Habaek, pull her around (often literally) and always has the "Wait, what's going on? I don't understand." air about her, especially when it came to psychology (her specialty). She had no understanding of herself or her emotions. Her character is slightly redeemable periodically with a few good deeds and the very few breadcrumbs of good advice she gives. Her character does learn and grow, but not enough and not soon enough. This character is unbelievable as any kind of mental-health professional. It's sad how poorly this role is portrayed by this show (and I'll blame the writing/directing here).
So many times the show's characters had the opportunity to deepen and grow beyond their childishness and cluelessness. The one character I kept watching the show to see succeed got left out (in my opinion) in the end, which was Lim Ju-hwan's character Hoo-ye. Time and time again, this character was one I truly wanted to see win and be treated well. His character deserved much more than he got and I believe the actor did a wonderful job with this character. Krystal Jung's Moo Ra is a 2800 year-old goddess who has feelings for Habaek. Myoung Gong's Bi-ryum is a 2800 year old god who has feelings for Moo Ra. Habaek obviously does not feel the same way about Moo Ra but doesn't actually address Moo Ra's feelings, jealousy, and destruction when she doesn't get what she wants (which is him). Bi-ryum throws tantrums to get Moo Ra's attention and doesn't care who he hurts in the process, but he refuses to tell Moo Ra how he feels - he just does whatever he thinks will win her favor (whether it's the right thing to do or not). They do have some redeemable moments, but not enough and I wanted to like them by the end.
The ending also lacked quite a bit. All in all, if you're hoping for a generic mildly happy ending, you're in luck. However, the plot holes are like the feeling of a little sneeze that never comes, and you're left feeling unsatisfied.
Sweet Home Carolina (2017)
Diane is not a likeable character.
I love Paul Greene and he plays his part well but the main character, Diane, just isn't likeable or relatable. She isn't the most caring parent and she is incredibly selfish.