Love in Trouble (Suspicious Partner)

After watching Healer, I'm now a fan of Ji Chang-wook and his cuteness. This one is his most recent drama before he entered the military for mandatory enlistment. It aired from May to July 2017. I initially panicked when I saw that it had 40 episodes but fortunately, only 30 minutes each (so technically, 20 regular episodes).

Noh Ji-wook (Ji Chang-wook) played a prosecutor who had the (mis)fortune to cross paths with lawyer, Eun Bong-hee (Nam Ji-hyun). He was then forced to make a choice that greatly impacted his life and career.

Personally, I like his pairing with Min-young more than Ji-hyun.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

Legal Learnings

Though I've watched Suits, this series gave me a better insight on how the justice system of Korea works. I found it interesting that the Prosecutors were left with the task to prove the guilt of the defendant. Moreover, their roles were clearly differentiated even in the court room, wherein the prosecutors also wear robes, although with more color compared to the judge.

The Lip Bite

This one I really noticed more. JCW bit his lip. A lot.

Jichangwook Lip Bite GIF from Jichangwook GIFs

The Supporting Cast

The lawyers in JCW's firm were so funny especially Mr. Byun and Mr. Bang. I found it especially entertaining when their meetings usually ended up with nothing vital being discussed much to Ji-wook's frustration as Mr. Byun would go on with his rants.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT

Everything

I finished this for the love of JCW. I don't know if it was because of the number of episodes or I was just biased for PMY but it took me 7 days to finish this series. That's already too much as I'm usually done in 3-4 days.

Come to think of it, I really don't know why I struggled so much to complete the drama. Though it did give me time to catch up with my blog.

Story-wise, maybe because I felt that it was stretched too much. Eun Bong-hee was falsely accused of a crime that she did not commit and Noh Ji-wook withdrew the case when the evidence that were found was tampered with. The whole series centered on Bong-hee finding the real culprit and clearing her name. Granted that there were suspenseful moments, I was still not crazy over it nor could give an objective or more lengthy review.

The second leads did a good job though. It did not take long for me to pick-up why Ji-wook despised Ji Eun-hyuk (Choi Tae-joon) so much. Apparently, Eun-hyuk stole Ji-wook's girlfriend, Cha Yoo-jung (Kwon Nara) from the former. However, I don't know if there was something lost in translation but such was not the case--or if it did happen, they wanted to seek forgiveness? I got confused for awhile. But they do they have good chemistry, not enough to save the drama for me.

RATING

I give this one tissue box. If you're going to watch it, watch it because of JCW.

Watched: August 15-22, 2018

Suits

This drama is a South Korean adaptation of a US television series with the same name by Aaron Korsh.

This series starred Jang Dong-gun and Park Hyung-sik. The former is the reason why I watched this as I was enamored by him after seeing him in Strong Woman Bong Soon.  It ran just this year from April to June 2018.

The story revolves around a distinguished lawyer, who after getting tired of all the graduates from the known universities, decided to hire a young inexperienced man who has no law degree but has a retentive memory. The plot line somehow follows that from the US TV series with a few local adjustments.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

Park Hyung-sik

He was just awesome here. Though there's something might be lost in translation, but I'm at awe on how he was able to memorize complicated law jargon and was able to deliver them with ease. I have often admired people with amazing memories because mine sucks. I remember failing my law subjects because I can't memorize the texts and flubbed the recitations. A direct contrast of my former fangirling life where I can quote the the episodes where my beloved love team appeared and what they were wearing in that specific episode.

I loved PHS's haircut here and his over-all look. Sharing a few screen-caps that I took with my iPad while watching the series.

The Bromance

I especially liked the interaction between PHS's character, Go Yeon-woo and Jang Dong-gun's, Choi Kang-seok. The latter never considered Mike Ross, errr..Yeon-woo as his weakness, even though he should be.

I particularly liked this scene where they eventually did a fist bump--which Yeon-woo has been wanting to do for the longest time.

The OST

Probably the only drama I've watched so far, with an English language song that I like.


WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT

Suspension of Disbelief

This was difficult to do considering the numbers of times that I should do it. I know that in watching movies or tv series, this is a given but some of the scenes were just too much.

One is that Yeon-woo was able to freely see the payslip of one of his colleagues. In my experience, a payslip is very confidential. We were always cautioned by our Human Resources to never show it to anyone (except when applying for loans). So to be able to just request to see it seems odd. But then, maybe they have a different culture in Korea that it's a norm.

Another is anyone not catching on that Yeon-woo is not a law graduate. It is HR's policy to do a background check and request for documentation as proof of one's degree. Though there were some that caught on but considering the amount of time that he has been working with the firm, it should've been caught early on.

The Comparison

I haven't watched that much episodes of the US version so there should be not much to compare on. But I can't help but compare Choi Kang-seok with Harvey Specter and I prefer the character portrayal of Gabriel Macht. He's smoother and more dashing. But then, maybe there's just something that's lost in translation

The Lack of Chemistry

I'm disappointed in the supporting female lead that served as the love interest of Yeon-woo. They lack chemistry and I told my friends that the PHS' kiss is wasted on her. Still shipping PHS with PBY.

RATING

Nevertheless, I'm hoping for a Season 2 to see where else they can bring this drama. Pordalab of Park Hyung-sik, I'm giving this a 2 tissue box rating.

Watched: July 29 - August 2, 2018