I could just cry. This show started out with SO much potential. It started off cute and funny with adorable leads that won my heart. Then about half way through, I started to worry. This is a 20 episode show and the story was starting to flounder. Surely, they will save it and all will be well - I believed this. And those leads - gosh, they are cute! Nearing the end, and I am really starting to get annoyed with Writer-nim. What the heck were you thinking Story-Writer??? And then the last episode comes, and I am so sadly disappointed in this show. If they had cut out most of the intense, glaring, staring contests maybe they could have written a tighter story. It's almost like the writer had so many ideas and tried to shove them all in to the show whether they fit or not. There were so many loose ends and "what the heck" moments that I could spend an hour listing them all.
I cannot, in good consciousness, recommend this show to anyone. I really wanted to. I was smitten with Nam Goong Min and Min Ah - those leads were the bright spot in the pile of poo this story became. (And incidentally, this is the first time I've seen either of them act. I've not seen NGM do his villainous roles, but I think comedy suits him.) The story is named after Gong Shim. However, the title character doesn't seem to be the focus of the show in the back half at all. And her sister, who is on the cover as a "main lead" - is relegated to an afterthought. Her story goes NOWHERE. Joon Soo, the other main lead, was likable, but mostly boring. The writers essentially did nothing with his character. The focus of the show ended up with Ahn Dan Tae. They described one story to us, and we got something completely different.
The ending was rushed and the last episode was completely and totally random and thrown together. I felt like they wanted to tie up a lot of loose ends, but they did not even do a good job of that. They had TWENTY episodes to finish this story. There was NO good reason that the ending should have been rushed. I feel sorry for the actors that were involved in this story. I would absolutely watch these actors do another show, and so wish that THIS story had been executed properly.
The Good:
The cast
The music
The comedic moments
The cuteness of the couple
The Bad:
The loose ends
The bait and switch story
The length
The unsatisfactory ending (happy ending, but not done correctly)
The Ugly:
Poorly executed storyline (throw it at the wall and see what sticks)
Characters backburnered and forgotten
Unending glares and stare-downs
What the Heck moments galore
I originally intended to give this drama a score of 7 because I WAS entertained and enjoyed ADT and GS so much. As my husband and I discussed it this morning, my rating dropped to a 6.5, and then by the end of our conversation I had to conclude that (as much as I hated to do it) that this story really only deserves, at best, a 5.5. Sorry show! I wanted to love you!
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