Reviews

First Half was good then a sudden downturn on the second half

Another series, that got us hook on the first half of the series, I don't know what happened but during the last stretch of the show except the last 15 mins of the series, is a repeat of the other series.

A good story on the first half even brought in a strong cameo roles, but after the cameo role and after the surgery, the series sudden downturn in story is not what seems to be planned, if you remember an angry jealous suitor trying to get your wife then suddenly plotted a car accident, no context, the last 2 episode seems rushed, they could have extended it to 20 episode to give context on the accident, but it is what it is, series is over moving on

Cast is power house, can't say anything on the cast

Music, not so much, this is where i think the missing part of the series, a well composed OST that will ride the context of the story. even BGM is just ok.

Rewatch, May be episode 8 will be a rewatch that 10 min scene alone can be a rewatch value
another rewatch scene is the wife suddenly goes back to his husband and scolded by the parents,
this one scene just gets you.

Overall, its a good series, if you like the cast, but that's it.
story wise, it should have ended in 12 episodes instead of 16, or it should have been extended to 20.

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A lot of adorableness packed in 30 episodes of no silly misunderstandings.

The first 1 or 2 times I tried to watch the drama, I couldn't get past the first episode. Everyone on social media and in the comments were raving about it but I just didn't seem to like the vibe I got from the 1st episode. However, I wanted to watch them be all lovey dovey and decided to give it another go. Still not a fan of the first episode, but from the 2nd episode onwards it was such a good watch. It was warm for me.

Even though I liked them being together, his intense stares sometimes made me feel like this could have easily been a case of serial killer locking on his prey, but thankfully it wasn't.

The actors did such a good job in creating this beautiful drama that has shows such love for all characters, now matter who they were.

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Promising premise, but failed to deliver

Let me start by saying how much I wanted to watch this when I first heard about it. The plot sounded really interesting, but it quickly fell short of expectations.

I thought this drama was supposed to focus on the main couple and their story, but instead they wasted a lot of time on too many unnecessary plots and on that creep Eun-song, and the character development is poor. It seemed like the writer didn't know what to do after the first few episodes, and just decided to move the story forward with cliche after cliche so a lot of things didn't make sense. And I can't believe how the Hongs are that naive and stupid considering they are supposed to be one of the richest families in Korea.

I don't get the love triangle with Eun-song; he's just an annoying nuisance that adds nothing to the story. His obsession with Hae-in is pathetic and a total waste of time that could've been put to better use by focusing on the main couple's story instead of another love triangle trope. The ending is good enough, but I'm still disappointed because I expected better from the overall story.

The acting is superb, though. Kim Ji-won delivered a solid portrayal, while Kim Soo-hyun improved since I last saw him act. Their chemistry is just average for me—nothing special. And the supporting cast members did their job well.

Overall, I think this drama is overhyped because of the popularity of the lead actors and the writer who wrote many successful kdramas. Watch it if you like either Kim Ji-won or Kim Soo-hyun, but don't expect anything special, it's just a typical kdrama with overused tropes.

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Refreshingly Entertaining

After having seen so many series that follow the recipe of non-stop betrayals, it was quite refreshing to see a solid comradery play out. It was also just as refreshing to see subtle human touches being added to relationships between the mains and the supports. The pacing of the plot was nice and steady, without any overly dramatized cliffhangers or extremely long periods of nothingness. Although there's obvious non-realistic aspects to the autopsies which is one of the main highlights to the theme, it was done well enough to not deter. The other positive is although there was some romance, it wasn't overdone.

The only two qualms I had was that the role of the female coroner was lackluster. I haven't seen the actress enough to know if it's her acting or if it was just how the role was intended. And while the overall actors did a great job, there isn't much character development throughout the series. However, everyone stayed true to character and it was an enjoyable series with an ending that felt both slightly abrupt yet fitting. I look forward to how they plan to expand the story in the sequel.

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Refreshing and Riveting: A K-Drama That Defies Tropes and Delivers a Perfect Mix

I enjoy the series for its engaging plot, thrilling action scenes, and heartfelt emotional moments. What sets it apart is its refreshing storyline, which avoids the typical tropes seen in many other K-dramas focused solely on reincarnations. Instead, it offers a more realistic narrative by exploring the characters' childhoods and how they initially met. This aspect resonates with real-life experiences of reconnecting with people from our past. Additionally, it doesn't fall into the trap of the "poor girl marries CEO" or "annoying, clueless female lead" stereotypes. It strikes a perfect balance with comedy, action, thriller, and romance, creating a mix that's absolutely captivating. So, rather than complaining, I'd encourage everyone to give it a watch and see for themselves. Queen of tears, deserves all the hearts it’s won.❤️?

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Dramaturgically opaque fabric of a multi-dimensional plot tapestry

At first glance, "Hide" is none of the spectacular KDrama productions, yet on the solid side of KDramas, I consider this production first class.

We get an extremely complex crime thriller in which white-collar crime is intelligently mixed with many other criminal activities as well as incitement to and covering of criminal activities, plus fraud and adultery and even more. It is based on the Welsh television series “Keeping Faith” from 2018. However, the KDrama freely unfolds its own, definitely South Korean-tinged storyline. (There, of course, the Jaebeol shouldn't be missing, ...who, together with their henchmen, are significantly assigned the role which a gangster clan played in the Welsh series...)

“Hide” definitely offers a dramaturgically opaque fabric, where motives and entanglements reach beyond 'today', too. Continuously weaving surprising twists into the multi-dimensional plot tapestry turns out to be the great strength of “Hide”. Thanks to the entire production team in front of and behind the camera the story grippingly enfolds…and enfolds… and enfolds…

And in true KDrama-like style, no character remains one-dimensionally black or white - no matter how questionable or malicious they may act. Likewise, sooner or later we can relate to the motives of the different characters and why they were drawn into dishonest or even criminal actions. (Even if you don't have to approve of the actions, let alone like those characters.)

Complex. Dense. I would recommend this gripping crime thriller to fans of the genre, who like it with a topping of Korean emotionality.

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Overall this is a well-made drama, I especially loved the FL, loved the person she grew to become, loved how her relationship with her parents developed, and loved the actress, she led the narrative brilliantly, but there's two key issues:

1. The age gaps, both with the characters and the actors: Fukada Kyoko was 16 years old when she filmed this drama, and that's very important because the FL, who is also 16 years old, has multiple sexual relationships with adult men, which means the teen actress was put in situations where she had to kiss these men and film intimate scenes.

And within the narrative, the age gap between the characters was also never a problem, at no point the men are questioned or criticized for having sex with a minor, quite the opposite, even the man who pays for teen prostitutes and who gave the FL HIV is eventually portrayed as a good guy at heart.

This is probably a matter of time period, this is a 90s drama after all, but regardless I think it's important to note this aspect of the cast/story and how problematic it is, just because a story is old doesn't mean we have to shut down conversations about what's appropriate and what isn't.

2. The ending: If the goal was to kill the FL, there were so many ways to do it well, and show how horrific AIDS was prior to all the medication we currently have, that allows people living with HIV to have full, happy and healthy lives, the English series It's A Sin is a perfect example of a well-done HIV/AIDS storyline. Instead, I think the goal of the writers was to shock the audience, and that made the ending be very rushed, very random and very poor, so I wasn't sad for the FL and her loved ones, I was just dumfounded.

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Overhyped and Overrated

With the amount of hype this show was getting, I was really curious as to how good this show must be to boast being the highest rated TvN show of all time...but of course as usual it's nothing new. It seems like these days any show with a good looking cast and high budget set and cinematography is enough for people to rate it a 9, completely overlooking the lacking story, plotholes and clichés.

Initially the plot seemed promising, most k-dramas do not start out with the leads already being married. Although, the cold CEO fl and sunshine ml has been done before (ahem My Demon ahem). The hype seems to stem primarily from praise for the actors, cinematography and OST, which are important factors for a good show don't get me wrong but like...does anyone even care for the story? Nobody cares that when Haein awoke from brain surgery (although it was supposed radiation therapy) she looked fabulous? Perfectly normal? Perfect hair, makeup??? Did they even TRY to make it realistic?? Am I supposed to believe she just underwent a major brain surgery?? And oh god they didn't even try to make Park Sung Hoon's character interesting. Just made him an obsessive evil rat with no personality whatsoever, it was such a disappointment considering his character in The Glory, that's what I call a real villain. Everytime he came on screen it was excruciating to watch, but Park Sung Hoon's visuals make it a lot more bareable so there's that. The family is your typical chaebol money hungry ruthless evil family, who turn into a big happy family toward the end to unite against a mutual evil force. The progression in their characters was lackluster and more depth could have been added into Haein and her mother's reconcilation. The story is extremely lackluster and honestly I feel like 12 year olds on Wattpad could do a better job than Park Ji-Eun. Most overhyped show of 2024 fr.

It seems like the writer Park Ji-Eun doesn't know how pacing works, she wasted the initial 5 or 8 episodes making them completely meaningless, plotless, boring which added close to nothing of value or substance to the story, and then rushed a crucial plot point in the SECOND last episode?? AND THE ACCIDENT??? HELLO??? Shock factor does not equate to good storytelling. It just makes for pointless tension. I guess this is what writers had to do to stretch the show to be 16 episodes. I never found it interesting even in the initial episodes, I kept watching because the ml and fl couple were eye-candy and had great chemistry, but if you overlook that, this is nothing but mediocore, maybe even less than mediocore. I kept watching and watching hoping it would get better but nooo oh god. You all need to seriously pick better shows to make popular. It's My Demon all over again. A less than average clichéd show which gets popular because of the cast and high budget set. How superficial. Truly a disappointment. But I must give credit where credit is due and I will admit that the stellar cast did live up to their names by delivering an exceptional performance and the cinematography delivered, truly an eye-candy show. Overall, if you value your time, don't watch it.

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Reality with all the trope of Kdramaland

I was initially waiting for it to complete. but Kim Soo Hyun 's meme broke my control and I suffered the suffering of waiting for ep every week.

Tho the drama started of with the conflicts and lack of communication, it's a good watch because it always told everyone what makes the relationship stronger. what a family should be and how much space, time and communication given to them is important

Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji won....and Sorry Eun sung, I don't know your name. I thought you guys just loved the character. Seo choel ahhhh can I adopt you? You are just too much of a green planet that I can't handle you.

The OSTs are just the feast to ears. The most satisfying ending I got in recent times though we didn't get a lot of scenes of their sweet love phase. But the scenes we got never made me cringy but made me giggle.

Soo Hyun and Ji won are really good in making us cry...

Though I never Re-watch anything that I finished in general, I don't mind rewatch the ending. But TvN you better give us a special episode with BeakHong's scenes that we never got in the whole series

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