Many dramas feature some sort of narration or voiceover, but to me, none seem to be woven into the very fabric of the story as much as Cheese in the Trap. Voiceovers in other dramas often seem to be of the philosophical musings variety—a tidy little soundbite about discovering the meaning of love or friendship, for example, that wraps up an episode on a reflective note. Characters will often trade off narration, too, with one episode featuring the inner voice of a certain character, and the next episode featuring the thoughts of another.
In Cheese in the Trap, the narrator is undisputedly Seol. We hear occasional snippets of voiceover from other characters, but it’s Seol’s inner monologue that really drives the story. Her voice leads us through each episode as she shares her thoughts and observations. And we hear them all, not just the profound. All of Seol’s world-weary anxieties and fears, her frustrated paranoia and indecision—we’re privy to Seol’s most private feelings. It’s like reading her diary, and there is almost a sense of shared secrecy on the part of the viewer, as she reveals more to us than she does to those around her. Listening to Seol’s internal monologue, I feel like I know her in a way that I don’t always feel with other characters.
I don’t really want to get into the behind-the-scenes drama that plagued the latter half of Cheese in the Trap, but I do think it’s a shame that it overshadowed Seol’s character. Because at the end of the day, the story was never about the male leads anyways. It was Seol’s story to tell, and I’m glad we got the chance to listen.
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