The Drama Notes

As a major Yoo Inna fan, I went in determined to love this drama. And the first 3 episodes gave me a lot of hope! Yoo Inna's Bora was a successful radio host and writer who blew up her career after a really bad breakup. The fact that the show spent almost 4 episodes dealing with her devastation and grief without allowing the screenplay to get dull or sad is incredible. I especially loved the final argument between Bora and her ex, because it started out full of pathos and ended with both of them childishly calling each other names and trying to climb into a garbage truck. It was heartbreaking yet hilarious. However that's where all the fun pretty much ended. After episode 3 the drama decided to put Yoo Inna through every embarrassing situation they could think of, while always having the male lead, Su-hyeok, witness each one of them. It got to a point where I began betting that if Bora is about to do this humiliating thing then Su-hyeok MUST be nearby - and yep, there he was. All great stories show their leads as flawed characters, but by episode 8 Bora! Deborah had proved that the sole focus of the writer and PD was to constantly humiliate the female lead, hurt the male lead, and have both of them make extremely idiotic assumptions about the other. Even when the show forgets to make the characters cringe-worthy for a second and gives us a romantic kiss, you can be sure that it will be followed with an episode full of such annoying miscommunication that you'll have thrown your shoe at the screen before you know it. And don't even get me started on the portrayal of the other couples on the show, especially Bora's best friend and her husband. I've repeatedly heard this couple's story line described by fans as realistic, but I've yet to see anyone explain what the point of showing this horrible relationship is. There seems to be no arc of introspection or healing happening between the two of them. It's very clear that the show doesn't think the relationship is terrible. After lying and manipulating each other constantly, one fit of jealousy by the husband "affirms the couple's feelings for each other." Those are the show's words not mine. So, they aren't showing a realistic toxic couple, they're showing a married couple the writer seems to think just needs to show more jealousy in their relationship. Like what the-! *Deep breath* Some people don't take issue with kind of storytelling. For those who do, I would suggest maybe watching a different Yoo Inna drama, like Queen In-hyun's Man or the lovely Touch Your Heart!