Thirty-Nine (2022)

Don't be fooled by the cast or ratings

I'm going to start off by saying that I think the rating for this drama is higher than it deserves & is high because of the great acting, which was the saving grace of the drama & part of the reason why I didn't drop it (the other reason being that I had nothing else to watch while it was airing.)

I think most of us thought that this was going to be a nice drama full of fun moments between the three friends & that wasn't what we got (though that isn't the reason why I feel the way I do about this drama). I didn't have a problem with this story being Mijo centric, though I did find her character bland, as she dealt with the sad news about her friend. However, it was off-putting that Joo Hee, who I personally thought was the most interesting character of the three, was pushed aside & that screen time was for Seon Woo & his sister. (I didn't care for that arc at all nor thought that it added anything to the story.)

I would say my biggest issue with this drama was that I wasn't able to feel a connection to the characters, like they were telling me that I should feel sad (or a certain emotion) about what was happening & I didn't feel much (& I'm a sensitive person.) The acting was great but not enough to make me feel for the characters or story. In particular, it was difficult to really feel bad for Chanyoung when they used her illness as a way to justify her actions, including the emotional cheating. (Also, just because Jin Seok's wife was terrible it doesn't make his unfaithfulness okay.) I know some said this drama was showing realistic actions yet sometimes it was over-the-top that it didn't feel realistic. For example, the scene when they broke the window to the bakery & the bakery owner was pretty calm about it once hearing the reason behind it.

This had potential to be good yet the writing & direction fell flat. The start was okay & the ending was decent, but it's not a must watch or something I'd recommend. I don't remember any of the songs used & I had no choice but to give it a 1 for the rewatch value.

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It's 20 stories mashed into one...

The drama was a one big tournament of who had it the worst. Whose misery is worse than the next person? Who should be the saddest? Who is the least fortunate? It was a constant competition where everyone was competing for these misery points. This is the drama's biggest downfall, having a handful of "sad" stories competing against the main story of the trio. It misses up with the emotional direction the characters were meant to carry and shifts the focus outside the scoop of the drama. It was nothing but laughable and disingenuous when a certain character had to react to 2 sad events at once. The problem also extends to the casual relationships of everyone around them. There was simply just too much interference with the main story to make the drama work. Outside of the misery, there were a few romantic plot-lines that didn't have a place but was forced anyway. Mi Jo & Seon Woo had a full romance story along side all of the sadness going around. It wouldn't be much of a problem if it was good but their story and romance was tasteless, uncomfortable, tacky and most importantly, lacking the chemistry, easily the worst part of the drama. The drama was also leaning a bit too much onto throwing in a handful of plot conveniences when it really didn't need to. These instances could've been written naturally and it wouldn't stick out as much. The most obvious example was Seon Woo's introduction and his initial connection to other characters. The drama sure does look pretty and attractive but lacks a defining identity. The main trio were good while the rest of the support cast were okay.

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I'm not crying, my eyes are just teary :")

Even though I cried when watching the story, too bad, this drama isn't written well and it has more cons than pros.

Pros:
1. Okay. The last episode is the best episode. It really makes me cry.
2. This drama really knows how to make the watchers keep watching till the end of the drama.
3. Jeon Mido.

Cons:
1. I don't know it's me who fell asleep when watching it or there's a really big titanic plot hole. One of the examples: The death of someone isn't explained well. Is it death because of an accident or a disease?
2. Unnecessary romance. If only the writer removed the romance aspect and went with a story full of friendship, I believe this drama would be super interesting and touching.
3. Loose plot. I believe this drama can only have 6 episodes with a solid plot instead of 12 loose-plot episodes.
4. Incompleted anti-climax. Bruh, there are a ton of conflicts that don't get solved well, unless this drama has its 2nd season.
5. Because of its loose plot, the drama can be boring in the middle.
6. Glamorous life of its characters doesn't match the theme of this drama. I believe "friendship" + "struggling in life, escaping from poverty" would make a better combination.

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More than just a drama about friendship

This will be a relatively short review because I don’t want to write spoilers and I think reviewers have written most of what is to expect.

Like most reviewers, the friendship shared by the 3 women (main leads) was amazing. I don’t think I’ll be able to find friends like that in my entire life. Their love lives were toned down a lot, as in everything about their love lives was almost smooth-sailing, because this drama was supposed to focus more on their friendship.

For me, such dramas on friendships of a group of main leads would usually just be about their lives plus incidents here and there throughout and it will make up the entire show, so I actually did not expect the loss the main leads had to experience in this drama. Neither the title nor the synopsis gave this idea, but the preparations towards, the sheer overwhelming loss itself, the very believable acting of the main leads and the OST called That’s All sung by Choi Yuri – all of which made my tears literally flowed from episode 2 to the end of the show. I especially liked the ample amount of time given to the preparations of the loss. I think they were portrayed realistically albeit sadly and a reminder to us again that life is short and unpredictable.

The entire vibe of the drama was sad yet very heartwarming because of the heartfelt dialogues and actions between the main leads. I didn’t find this drama slow-paced except one or at most two episodes when nothing new was happening. You would still keep going, nevertheless, because you would want to see the ending despite knowing what would happen - this drama has this charm.

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I loved the friendship between the women.

I don’t know why I kept avoiding this drama because I was immediately hooked because of the three strong female leads. I loved how their friendship stayed at the forefront throughout the drama. Even the moms were strong and they had strong family support.

I also liked how the men in their lives let them be who they were and respected their friendship.

I’m not sure how to say this but even though one of their friends dies, it was still a feel good story.

I was glad that the bad parents didn’t get in the way of their relationships.

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Slow & Boring

This was a disappointment for me. It was slow and boring.

The acting is stellar. Especially from Lee Moo Saeng. He played SML Jin Seok and I felt him in all of his scenes. He emotes very well. I was more interested in his and 2FL Chan Young's story than the main relationship.

At any rate, I wanted to watch this drama b/c I thought it was an ensemble piece about older, female friendship but it's just a sob story about FL Mi-Jo and her anxiety. The writers put more weight on that than a woman dying of pancreatric cancer. And yes I get that Son Ye Jin was the star and the series was made for her but this had so much wasted potential in the friendship arena. Plus they almost competely left out the 3rd FL Kim Ji Hyun who played Joo Hee in most instances where friendship matters.

I wanted something more adult honestly, sometimes the Mi-Jo character behaved like she was still in her 20s and it was annoying.

7/30/23

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Need Season 2.

OMG this beautiful drama of three friends ❤ journey as friends fro. Childhood and school days to adulthood had it all for me I embraced each episode of their lives unfolded with what was to be and the unexpected and sadness ? I laughed and cried with them all the way through to the very end ? with the passing of a precious friend . Will watch this show again fro. Start to finish with wine and tissue ? box . I would love to see a season 2 with the remainder cast friendship and lives continuing there's a piano concert to come wedding ? adoption . How it all unravels ..please please give us a SEASON 2.

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Thirty-Nine (2022) - The drama is heartwearming for me, I could really see the friendship that was built through the years. I like the adoption theme part on the drama. I did cry watching it but there are parts in the drama that are quite questionable for me that is why it didn't air for a week. Still if I could comment on the drama's entirety, in the span of just 12 episodes there were a lot of what's going on and they put all the elements in the drama. The actors are all so great, acting wise very good. I like it but I was not amazed by it. It's nice but that's it.

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Such an important message

I have never written a review but because I have seen a lot of bad ones on this one I felt compelled to leave mine here.

The characters go through a lot of hardship but also a lot of happiness and companionship, just like how life works.

Because the main plot (warning: an extremely sad one) is so dear to my heart, so relevant and so touching I can't help but leave this drama with bittersweet tears. The way the writers chose the words in the last two episodes and the way they gave the characters the emotions they had...makes me completely forget about other little things that bothered me during the show. The ending was too real and too beautiful.

This is, although a sad story, undoubtedly a friendship story.
While I understand that a lot of people feel like the /big sad discovery/ killed the mood in the drama, I also believe that this topic brings a lot of light onto how humans feel and express all kinds of emotions from anger to grief.

I highly recommend you watch this show if you are up for a beautiful story about love and, most importantly, unconditional friendship (and if you are okay with crying every 2 episodes).

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