SongofSixpence
This review may contain spoilers
The don't make them like this anymore... and I'm glad they don't.
After I Hear Your Voice I was looking forward to another drama by the same writer/PD team and with the same ML, but Pinocchio is kind of a hot mess:
1. Red flag romance where FL is alternately ML's emotional punching bag or cheerleader while ML can't decide between punishing her or himself for their relationship.
2. A plot that's a series of coincidences explained by the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is... a choice.
3. Guessing game of "who's the real villain" where the real villain turns out to be the most cliche option possible.
5/10 for an important underlying message about journalistic integrity, touching side stories and a strong ensemble cast. Otherwise, it was hit or miss for me and mostly miss. The story picks up pace after a slow start, but then drags to the point where by Ep12 it lost the thread, by Ep16 it should have been a wrap and at Ep18 it was simply dead in the water. There's some compelling plot lines that get abruptly cut off and a total change of focus in the second half that replaces the previous themes with a revelation that's nothing more than another generic corruption plot. Yawn.
The romance was more rage inducing than yawn inducing. I'm wary of older dramas exactly because of dynamics like this one. ML is an emotionally immature jerk who every once in a while makes a grand gesture which magically redeems all his other behavior. Yes, he has tough circumstances - but continually taking out your trauma on someone else is a HUGE red flag. And FL just rolls with the punches - she even apologizes to him (more than once!) for not being more understanding. There's a few scenes where she asserts herself but she's mostly a sponge for ML's man pain.
Speaking of FL, I expected her to play a much larger role in this drama considering it's literally about her family and she's the one with the titular Pinocchio syndrome but somehow ML is always the center of attention. FL struggles for years to get a job in journalism - genius ML does it in three months. FL builds a relationship with her mom - she torches it in favor of ML's revenge. FL's family is torn apart when ML's identity comes out - she's more worried about him than them. She isn't given much agency or identity outside of her romance with ML which is another HUGE red flag.
Even SML and SFL exist just to provide comic relief or act as plot devices to further ML's story. The rest of the ensemble cast is great and frankly far more interesting, but to waste two leads like that is incredibly lazy writing.
The best thing I can say about Pinocchio is it has a good message and tries to portray people in tough situations attempting to do the right thing. But that gets drowned in the noise of the other needless drama.
1. Red flag romance where FL is alternately ML's emotional punching bag or cheerleader while ML can't decide between punishing her or himself for their relationship.
2. A plot that's a series of coincidences explained by the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is... a choice.
3. Guessing game of "who's the real villain" where the real villain turns out to be the most cliche option possible.
5/10 for an important underlying message about journalistic integrity, touching side stories and a strong ensemble cast. Otherwise, it was hit or miss for me and mostly miss. The story picks up pace after a slow start, but then drags to the point where by Ep12 it lost the thread, by Ep16 it should have been a wrap and at Ep18 it was simply dead in the water. There's some compelling plot lines that get abruptly cut off and a total change of focus in the second half that replaces the previous themes with a revelation that's nothing more than another generic corruption plot. Yawn.
The romance was more rage inducing than yawn inducing. I'm wary of older dramas exactly because of dynamics like this one. ML is an emotionally immature jerk who every once in a while makes a grand gesture which magically redeems all his other behavior. Yes, he has tough circumstances - but continually taking out your trauma on someone else is a HUGE red flag. And FL just rolls with the punches - she even apologizes to him (more than once!) for not being more understanding. There's a few scenes where she asserts herself but she's mostly a sponge for ML's man pain.
Speaking of FL, I expected her to play a much larger role in this drama considering it's literally about her family and she's the one with the titular Pinocchio syndrome but somehow ML is always the center of attention. FL struggles for years to get a job in journalism - genius ML does it in three months. FL builds a relationship with her mom - she torches it in favor of ML's revenge. FL's family is torn apart when ML's identity comes out - she's more worried about him than them. She isn't given much agency or identity outside of her romance with ML which is another HUGE red flag.
Even SML and SFL exist just to provide comic relief or act as plot devices to further ML's story. The rest of the ensemble cast is great and frankly far more interesting, but to waste two leads like that is incredibly lazy writing.
The best thing I can say about Pinocchio is it has a good message and tries to portray people in tough situations attempting to do the right thing. But that gets drowned in the noise of the other needless drama.
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