Cliched Writing failed to live up to my hopes
I could not MAKE myself like the FL – despite having certain "strengths" (damn good in a fist fight, good at interrogation – so long as she can use illegal tactics, successful prosecutor working on her wits – but merrily taking bribes), she is crude, insensitive, corrupt and I can't particularly see how she is supposed to be 'elite'. Even though she is beautiful, I started to even find her face annoying because she used a lot of overly animated expressions – but repeated the same ones all the time. Frankly she was a bit of a slapstick character for me. And unfunny. She has friends who have been nothing but loyal, but – without being abusive – she mostly just uses them, including her colleague and old college pal and her 'uncles' from her dad's old gang.ML was engaging enough, but a bit dull. We know he is here (from the states) to try to clear up his doubts about his father's death, and that he has some business nouse (and money), but we don't really get to see much personality. In fact perhaps that's the crux of this drama's weakness for me: if a character can't be played really broad almost like a panto character, they seem to be very bland. It's too much focussed on the FL who is herself rather one-dimensional. Even though we get her backstory and motivation, there's not much to her character except self-interest and a pretty hefty dose of selfishness as well.
The writing is full of cliches and thus pretty poor. Poor-but-driven (and deeply smug) prosecutor, conglomerate exile back-to-make-good, toxic family and in-laws, thug gangs running round in crap clothes beating people up with big sticks, underlings either passively allowing or actively supporting wrongdoing, Hanju using underlings' family to keep them in line, police routinely arresting no one or the wrong one, and either making no investigation or total incompetence, corrupt officials openly accepting bribes and doing no work in the pay of the super rich. Also too many apparent debacles for the 'good guys' later revealed as actually strategies they have set up so that the 'triumph' is overturned ... but even after that the Hanju group drop another bombshell, etc etc etc.
I managed to finish this, but the ending was a bit odd. The FL, at first feisty, has to modify her feisty half way through in order to seem to conform a bit, but at around that point (which is also when she and ML start to get closer) the plot gets a little odd, with lots of what I can only call filler because it doesn't move things forward very much. And it's a bit boring. Eventually everything comes more or less right, but the decision of ML to go back to the states, and the FL to follow him leaves me a bit flat. And the final scene of the whole shebang quite frankly confused my last brain cell quite a lot. But also I didn't really care by that point.
By half way through I had to use the Netflix speedup button to take me through this – still, that is a better result than having to abandon it outright.
Most of the cast acted very competently, with some tried and trusted familiar faces doing sterling work. Sadly I was disappointed with the FL though I suspect she was doing what she could with the material and the direction
Sadly, for me, only a 6.5 out f 10
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Weak
I was losing my mind by the sheer amount of repeated flashbacks from their past. The exact same sequence of flashbacks was played more than any amount considered to be normal. The doubleganger didn't really have an active role in the drama, you see her once at the beginning and at the end. The chemistry between the leads was quite right. The introduction was interesting enough but once they switched the events to the family it fell apart. There were a handful of members in the family of which none of them were interesting or appealing, which is unfortunate because they occupy most of the runtime. All of them were a copy-paste of the exact bad-rich-scumbag character.Was this review helpful to you?
ANNOYING
I truly don't understand the high ratings and popularity of this drama. The FL is one of the most annoying characters I have come across. Imagine a 10 times worse FL of Vincenso with most screen time, replacing the ML. Although she was given hilarious script but due to her abrasive personality, over the top acting and loud dialogue delivery, it made the drama barely watchable.I for one would not be able to work with such a person much less than admire her. Her facial expressions made me annoyed most of the time.
The plot was nonsensical, full of loop holes and impossible to suspend belief, in spite of my best efforts. Many tough topics were dealt with crassness and no emotional depth. The ML was significantly disappointing as well with a limited range of facial expressions. I have seen him in few other dramas and he has disspointed me each time. There was no chemistry. Imagine leads who looked like in their late 40s acting as high schoolers (The FL was shocked after her first kiss). Her response to the confession of the second ML was beyond rude and uncaring.
All the side characters also displayed significantly poor acting skills. The only bearable side character was the second ML and the mentor of ML. You may watch it if you like some funny dialogues and can tolerate the characters after first few episodes.
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Light Comedy
It's not a well written drama, but I enjoyed it. I like how most of the actors put a lot of effort in their character. Especially the chief prosecutor, even in his saddest moments, he is still really funny without having to act funny. I think he is the best actor in the drama. I enjoyed each character played, except for the ML, it's the only character that's disappoint me. It's a light comedy drama, and that's how i enjoyed it. Give it a try, don't think too much about the storyline, just have a good laugh.Was this review helpful to you?
Not Good Enough
Korean Drama " One The Woman " is a makjang-action drama.The series starts out quite strongly, with the introduction of the main characters and the big mix up. It was funny and had the viewer frustrated over the family and how they treated their daughter in law.
However, the drama quickly went downhill. It got boring and predictable. The plot also felt dated with eye rolling twists. The action scenes were okay, but not enough to save the drama.
At least the leading lady was enjoyable enough to carry the show when things got too boring.
So, overall, three out of ten.
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Twist here and there
I know it is a mid fantasy drama, so I will take it as an entertainment only.The drama gave a lot of backflash to make you understand the context as they don't reveal it directly after a scene and make you in questions sometime.
Firstly is rather slow pace, but it keep it faster towards the end and a lot of twist here and there. I think some questions is not answered yet, but okay.
Lee Hani ofc carried the show and yes, I'm a fan of her. I watched her Fiery Priest and also Extreme Job and she is always excel in those comedic role. Perhaps this is her comfort zone.
I agree it get the hype on the local and quite deserved. And if you want fresh comedy, you can give it try!
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Fantastic binge watch
I watched this one for the FL lead I am a huge fan of this actress after her 2024 project Knight Flower.I have now completed her older projects. The ones that sounded interesting to me that is.
This one has the plot of well known Teolonovels I grew up watching as a kid with a twist. The female lead does take trash from anyone! ??
Lee Hanee anything this one women is in becomes gold and the ratings go up while airing.
The acting, humor, writing and ending were all to my liking. A good one time watch for me. Also that cameo in ep with her costar from The Fiery Priest ????? was perfection. Especially sense I had just finished that series very recently. ??
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This review may contain spoilers
IT'S AN OK
A female prosecutor who mastered in kicking ass, law, 4 languages, as well manipulation. She started from the bottom to get where she was, she strive to find the killer of her grandmother's hit and run car accident that lead her to the bigger scheme of big establishments which included prosecutor who ignore investigation her Grandmother's hit & run. Losing her memory after a car accident, she woke up in the family of strangers that treated her like s**t, that use her for bargaining chip for the family, later found out she's identical look alike of a heir daughter in law Kang Mi-Na. While Cho YeonJoo tried to figure out who she's, she managed to get to know cousin in law (Han SeongWook) who happened to be in love with the real MiNa but realized the girl in front of him definitely was not her. Seong Wook just came back to Korea to discover who's behind the horrific death of his father's as well as the heir of biggest share holder of Yumin company where Kang Mi-Na hold 32% after the plane accident that befallen into her family. The real Kang Mi-Na on the run to China, went into plastic surgery to change her entire face, planning to come back to fight her inheritance - to bad her character was pretty weak - big ambition without action. Nothing but substance....nothing but failure to her after all the shitty things she had to endure from in-laws.The collaboration between them uncovered the greed of Han family, corruption of Prosecutors, mismanagement of company, as well as family dynamic. It's good drama, finished it within a week, not a memorable one but watchable. I like Honey Lee the FL, she's a better Korean actress and comical.
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This review may contain spoilers
Can someone help me understand how Lee Sang Yoon's face works?
Can someone help me understand how Lee Sang Yoon's face works? Seriously...it's the strangest thing I've ever seen. Dude smiles a ton, but the corners of his mouth like...never move. His entire face smiles while his lips are busy frowning like they haven't got the memo. And sometimes...the universe basically flips over and the little guy seriously smiles upside down. Like in most people, that's a frown. How is it even possible to smile upside down?? 100% my brain is like, this dude is smiling. Like it's unmistakable dude is for sure smiling...why his mouth corners point down when he smiles idk. Some strange metaphysics BS going on here.Don't take this as hate though, like definitely the guy can do a range of emotions and is a good actor. Just playfully negging on his smile because it legit breaks my actual brain to look at.
This drama was so much fun to watch. Anything with Honey Lee in it is honestly fun to watch, she has such a fun personality. It always impresses me that someone so beautiful can pull off slapstick humor the way she does. She brightens up the screen the moment she's in the shot and you can't wait to see what she'll do next. They definitely cast her perfectly in this role and played up every advantage she had to offer. From the first minute to the last second of the epilogue the entire thing was impressively well done.
The side characters were phenomenal as well...although to be fair I absolutely adore Na Young Hee and Kim Won Hae in everything they've pretty much ever been in. They have such a broad range, the both of them. Although I was a tiny tiny bit disappointed they didn't ham up Kim Won Hae's character a little more. His character, as written, was a little too shallowly portrayed to really take advantage of the actor's innate skills. The household director was great, the gang members were super funny, the prosecutor sidekick little dude was insanely handsome and did great with his role as well.
The OST was pretty banal, which was disappointing, but not a show stopper. The sets and costumes were colorful and expertly meshed with the various personalities (like come on, the widow of the eldest son and those constant massive puffy sleeves fit her timid-but-trying personality very well). I wish there had been more fight scenes though, like I really wanted to see the FL rescue the ML in a 1 vs 17 fight and watch his expression of amazement.
Overall, this drama is definitely worth a watch! It's engaging and fun and breaks out of serious moments with the sweetest interactions while constantly promoting one of the most supportive and healthy romance relationships I've seen in a kdrama. I think this style of "never mind about the tropes" romance suits both the characters and lead actors very well.
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Not bad
Amazing cast and plot with a lot of funny scenes. The plot had a bit of loophole. Lawyer No Hak Tae and Ryu Seong Dyuk have seen Kim Mina and Cho Yeon Ju before but they have failed to notice that they look extremely alike. Casts seems to have a very good team work and chemistry. Only issue about the acting is that Lee Hwa Kyum didn’t manage to look like Kang Mina acted by Lee Na Hee. It was only at the last episode that she started looking like Kang Mina. They should use voice over for Lee Hwa Kyum as they sounded very different and Lee Hwa Kyum’s built seems to be smaller than Lee Na Hee. Should have picked a pair that is similar in height to play Kang Min Ah.Was this review helpful to you?
Nothing special, but - HaNee!
Lee HaNee is always worth watching. She's clever, funny, and creates delightful characters. The drama itself is nothing special, but it's a pleasant thing to watch. Kim Won-Hae is another actor who can always be depended on for a great performance, here an increasingly demented prosecutor. I have a particular affection for Kim Chang-Won because in addition to being a good actor, he's a great classic rock guitarist. If you like rock, look for him! There are a couple of other standout actors in smaller roles. Jin Seo-Yeon is marvelously evil, but she handles the pre-evil bits well and you feel sorry for her - she was made evil and didn't start out that way. A nice performance. The cast is well worth the trip here, and even th eplot has a twist or two I didn't see coming. The gangsters are delightful - as gangster cooks should be.I enjoyed it, likely you will too.
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