Episode 5.

Okay, I thought I could give this show at least 6 episodes before quitting, but nope, watching the first 26 minutes of this Episode 5 is like going through Dante’s nine circles of hell only to find that there’s no end in sight.

This is the absolute the worst kdrama on the current Monday/Tuesday timeslot. I would NOT recommend this for the smart bitches here.

You know I’m going to give you my reasons for this. I don’t pan a kdrama without good reasons.

First, the actress, Chae SooBin. She puts on this “helpless, woe-be-gone girl” demeanor that is 100% grating and 0% charming. I’ve seen other actresses portray such a role, most recently, Song HaYoon as GgiBbeum in Devilish Joy. But Song HaYoon comes off as simpatica while Chae SooBin comes across bratty and phony.

This is the second time she had turned me off. I skipped “I’m Not a Robot” because of her although I liked the lead actor there. I thought I should give her another try in this show, but in hindsight, I wish I hadn’t. She’s on my blacklist now of Can’t-Stand-Her! kdrama actress along with Yoo In-Na.

Those quivering eyebrows. Those watery eyes. That trembling voice. As an actress, her reactions are so studied and contrived. She over-emotes. She should copy Nam JiHYun’s crying jags in 100 Days My Prince.

Second, her character. I’m so done with this girl. Her personality fits the second female lead in the kdramas. Self-absorbed, high-maintenance, needy bitch. GgiBbeum in Devilish Joy, no matter how out-of-whack she was, was a likeable character. This girl ain’t.

The final straw for me in the first half episode was her desire to go to the crash site to look for her mother. There were other passengers on board that plane with family members just as worried as she was.

But she had the nerve to beg her boss to allow her to seek her mother. This showed that her emotions were unstable, and her judgment was impaired. Her manager was right. Either she was there to do her job, or she could go to the family waiting area. I couldn’t even watch her after this.

Third, the lead male character.

To me, it’s not credible that he would fall in love with such a toxic girl. The fact that he’s already emotional involved with her lend me to question his taste and wisdom. As it stands, he broke a cardinal rule of professionalism when he went to the crash site and started looking for the girl’s mother because he felt sorry of the girl.

Ugh! See how toxic the girl is?? She spreads her brand of lunacy to others.

Dumb. This is an emergency situation. Get the hell out of the way. 

Fourth, the bionic arm. The premise of this story is lame. As I said in an earlier post, it’s not believable that his bionic arm is the main reason for his desire to seclude himself from the world. It makes a mockery of disabled people, blighted with a fate much worse than his, but still struggling to live courageously. The paralyzed brother in Third Charm who sells coffee and aspires to be a writer, is more heroic than this dude.

Fifth, the forced relevancy. Above all, I hate that this scriptwriter used the pressing issues of the day as NOTHING MORE than superficial theme to tie in the narrative in each episode.

For instance, in Episode 1, there was the mental health issue. Two mentally-ill passengers disrupted the smooth operation at the airport. I would have thought that the script would have dwelt more into this but nope.

In Episode 2, there was the security threat. This is a major concern for many travelers. How safe is an airport and what are the security measures in place? But here in this episode it turned out to be a fake issue. The lead girl’s PETTY argument over stanchions with the female security officer reduced the whole episode into one ridiculous catfight between girls. Ugh!

In Episode 3, there was this undercurrent of workplace harassment from the female lead’s ex-boss. The lead girl said that her ex-boss hated her because she was a woman, when IMO, she inspired disgust and exasperation regardless of her sex due to her incompetence.

It was further insinuated in this Episode 2 that she had been unfairly docked two-month salary by InWoo (the unscrupulous Big Brother) when she was in fact the one who had been assaulted. Again, I thought this would have been an interesting topic to explore in-depth but nope. The workplace harassment was only USED as an expedient tie-in.

Same with Episode 4 and illegal immigration. I thought again that the writer would have given more attention to it but nope. Such a serious topic turned into a schmaltzy metaphor of the two leads’ opposite personalities. The great lesson the viewers took away from the story of a family denied reunification at the airport was that the lead girl was an “open borders” type and the male lead wasn’t. Was he willing to step outside his boundaries? Ugh!!

To me, the topical issues were reduced to 10 second soundbites. We should treat our mental patients better! Crime doesn’t pay, smuggling isn’t good! No sexual harassment! No borders!

If the writer had nothing better to add to the usual tripe, then he’s wasting my time. Get out of my screen! 🙅‍♀️

Sixth, the increasing negative impression of Incheon International Airport. Frankly, I don’t know why management allowed this kind of drama. It portrayed their employees not only as incompetent and unprofessional, but also rash and willful individuals.

But looking at the bright (/sarc) side, it’s proving this meme true:

“In American medical dramas, the doctor cures the patient.
In American investigative dramas, the investigator solves a crime.
In Korean medical dramas, the doctor falls in love and goes on dates.
In Korean investigative dramas, the investigator falls in love and goes on dates.”

In Korean airport dramas, airline workers fall in love and go on dates. This kdrama could have potential but poor script and lousy lead female did it in. Park Bo Gum and Suzy Bae had a narrow escape when they pulled out of this project.

My final grade for this kdrama:

V for vacuous.