February 2025 Drama Reviews
February 2025 Drama Reviews
Check in Hanyang
This drama is about Hong Deok-Su (Kim Ji-Eun) who had a tragedy in her family at a young age and has had to dress up like a boy/man for her whole life and has decided to take revenge on the person that has caused this tragedy. For her to be able to do this she has to start working at Yongcheonru which is the most impressive guesthouse in Joseon. She meets some other people there that are hiding their identities like Lee Eun (Bae In Hyuk) who is a Prince but is going to undercover for a mission. There is also Cheon Jun Hwa (Jung Gun-Joo) who is actually the successor of the guesthouse and is starting to learn the business.
This drama was actually 16 episodes which seems rare these days since most dramas seem to be 12 episodes now and I have to say they should have just made this drama only 12 episodes. It was way too long and drawn out with the same flashbacks over and over that it gets tiring. I think the drama started out decent and I enjoyed the camaraderie between the apprentices and the ways they could get sabotaged and how they could overcome it all. The way she had to overcome hiding her identity as a woman. I think the drama had the foundation to be a great drama but it loses steam when it would focus on the revenge plot/politics. I am starting to really dislike historical korean dramas because all they do is focus on taking over the throne or old men that play politics. It is literally always the same story wrapped up slightly different. I mean prince as the background story is fine but when they make it the complete focus it just is boring. I think it would have been better if they had made the story about the guesthouse and them trying to help different guests.
I also found the romance kinda weird and I just didn’t really feel it and found it to be boring, there was not much chemistry in my opinion. I was really disappointed because it could have been much better than what they presented. There were glimmers of interesting aspects of the story but overall it got really draggy and boring.
It is a fine drama if you love historical dramas with all those palace politics.
Namib
This drama is about a producer Kang Su-Hyun (Ko Hyun-Jung) who founded Pandora Entertainment is talented in finding talented idols. She gets pushed out of her company and takes Yoo Jin-Woo (Ryeo Un) with her from the company and sees that he is talented and has the potential to be a star even with his faults and baggage.
So I found this drama to be fun and interesting and I think it needed more episodes because they needed more time for them to explore the story completely. Instead they had to close things up a little too quickly and hasty and that was a shame because this could have been a great drama. It was interesting to see how the characters could grow and become better people and find their own success. It was interesting to see how they overcome their obstacles and are able to find solutions to problems and help each other. I think it was interesting because it focused on the people and their relationships and how they needed each other. I love dramas that focus on family and building relationships with each other and it was heart warming to watch.
The one problem I have with this drama is the toxicity of the entertainment world and I don’t know if they really showed how that culture is so unhealthy. I was really bothered that they never took Jin-Woo to see a therapist to help with his problem especially when they became aware of it. He needs some major therapy and becoming an idol would have made his problem so much worse not better. In reality there are so many celebrities committing suicide in south korea and this drama does not help and show how people need help. To be a celebrity you have to the most strong emotionally and physically because of how hard is to become in the spotlight and every move you make is watched and judged by the whole country. I think this drama does a disservice to what is happening in society now and how toxic the idol industry is currently.
This is a good drama and is pretty interesting even though there are some things I disagree with in the drama.
Love Scout
This drama is about Kang Ji-Yun (Han Ji-Min) who is a headhunter and is the CEO of her company. She will do anything to get the job done and other than her work she doesn’t have much of a life outside of work and doesn’t really care for other people. It also stars Yu Eun-Ho (Lee Jun-Hyuk) who is a single dad and is treated bad in his current company because he took off time to take of his child so he finds a new job as Ji-Yun’s secretary and he does his best to help Ji-Yun who is resistant but admittedly benefits greatly from his help.
This is a really great drama and pleasantly surprised as I wasn’t sure if it was going to be about just headhunting and boring but it was really good. It really had all the elements to make it a good drama and doesn’t spend too much time on any element like there is some business, politics, romance and family relationships. It was a balanced drama that kept my interest pretty much through every episode. Honestly Eun-Ho’s character was really attractive and would be one of the reasons women would go to South Korea to find a partner even though he is just a character. Unfortunately it wouldn’t matter which country you would try and find a man like that they would be really rare and I doubt to many exist like him
The side characters were also lovable and interesting that helped with the story line. The only thing I think was unrealistic is when kids have single parents I can’t see them welcoming a new parent/step parent into their lives that well, they would not like sharing their parent that they always had to themselves. They always make it seem like kids would welcome it so easily and I just think that it would not be as easy for the child the way they portray it.
Overall this a pretty entertaining drama that stays interesting and endearing to the end.
Motel California
This drama is about Ji Gang-Hee (Lee Se-Young) who grew up in small town and lived at Motel California. She was never treated well in the community because her mother was foreign and not Korean. She has a quick temper and left the town she was 20 and lived a hard life in Seoul and did whatever she could to become an interior designer but hasn’t been treated well but most companies. She ends up having to go back to her hometown for work and reunites with Chun Yeon Soo (Na In-Woo) who is her childhood sweetheart and friend and he works as a veterinarian in the village. He has received a lot of love from the village and he is stuck on Ji Gang-Hee and is still in love with after 12 years of being apart.
This is a really weird drama it gives off weird vibes since the beginning and was kinda disturbed about Ji Gang-Hee’s actions since the first episode. She was very selfish and has not treated Yeon Soo well and I almost was going to stop watching it after the first episode. I decided to continue because I thought maybe they just wanted to shock the audience in the first episode and it kinda seemed to be that way. Even the way the cinematography was it seems dark and depressing and somewhat hopeless. I really couldn’t even support the love story between Gang-Hee and Yeon-Soo since it seemed so toxic and wrong. I also think it is so unrealistic to carry such a strong torch for Yeon-Soo when they haven’t seen each other in 12 years. I don’t think it is romantic it is somewhat creepy to me because it seems more like an obsession rather than true love since he doesn’t know who she is anymore since people change over time.
I just found it hard to like Gang Hee through the whole drama and I think you can start to think about her more in the last couple of episodes. I have to admit the last two episodes had me in some tears and was really sad to think about. So this drama does become a tearjerker at the end so it means I did start to connect emotionally to the characters. I guess we get to see some growth in Gang-Hee and even with the villagers. I did like the ending and enjoyed the growth of all the characters. I think the ending did make up for some the things I didn’t like in the beginning of the drama. I feel like the drama does become more hopeful at the end. So obviously I have mixed feelings about this drama but I think it was worth it to keep watching it.
Upcoming Dramas
The Witch
This drama is about a high school student that seems to have disaster follow her wherever she goes and everyone start calling her a witch since men that talk to her end up getting hurt. When they become adults one of the students from her school has worried about her and wants to prove that she is not a witch through data and research.
My Dearest Nemesis
This drama is about a woman that finds love in an online game and finds out that the person she was in love with was a middle schooler and is traumatized. She ends up working in a company where she is labelled as a manager killer since she is stands up to people and is excellent at her job. She meets her new boss and he has some secrets that she finds out and he wants to fire her because of this but they end up working well with each other instead.
The Art of Negotiation
It is about a man that is an expert in mergers and acquisitions in the business world. They have to deal with high stakes in the corporate world and have to deal with rival companies, ethical problems, and internal conflicts . His job is to skillfully secure deals.
