#sama commentary

and how much that pisses. me. off.

I just watched Ep.12 - Romeo & Juliet and the way I cried through a solid 70% of it...

The way I relate so deeply with Gang Tae it’s unsettling & the way I empathise and sympathise so much with all these broken people populating this world. I mean, that ptsd scene had me weeping and during the revelation scene I couldn’t breathe.

Damn this drama really has a way of growing its way deep into my heart and squeezing. I genuinely don’t know a lot of the time if I’m even enjoying myself watching it because I’m too emotionally wrapped up in it.

But I do know that after ever episode I feel that sense of lightness following tears and know I’ll need at least a week or maybe two before I’m ready for the next one.

It’s not perfect by any means. Some of the illnesses could be better explored. I don’t care one bit about the kdrama-mandated secondary romance. Some characters are pointless in the grand scheme of things.

But the directing, the cinematography, the soundtrack, the writing and the acting...

I’m just going to go ahead & drown in my own tears now.

—

I kind of knew this was coming? From the moment we established that Gang-tae was an unreliable narrator, I knew his trauma ran deeper than just being this super repressed kid who’d resigned himself to a life as his brother’s carer.

He never allows himself to feel anything really. Even though it’s obvious he loves Sang-tae and treasures Jaesu and is falling in love with Munyeong, he never really lets himself feel things all the way - he always stops short. And in the same way, every ugly moment that became too much for him as a kid, he’s repressed or has chosen to remember differently all in order to keep himself going.

Like misremembering the fact that his mum loved and cared about both of them not just his hyung because that was an easier memory for him to deal with. It lets him move on from her death because he doesn’t have to grieve so hard if she becomes someone he can hate. Then when Sang-tae reminds him of the reality - he breaks.

And once again, he’s fashioned himself into his brother’s keeper to keep himself going which means his memory of the lake is the version where he’s the hero and victim. Otherwise, like we saw, he breaks.

I really love his character bc he’s I think a rep of the majority of people in society. Most people don’t need to take up residence in psychiatric hospitals when they’re ill. Though cases of autism like Sang-tae’s exist, it’s a spectrum where neurodivergent people might not be as obvious. Someone as eccentric as Munyeong with her anti-social disorder is rare.

But there are so many Gang-taes. People who seem “okay” on the outside. Laughing and talking and working as normal. But who carry heavy burdens and battle with deep scars and mental illnesses that aren’t so obvious or easier to hide. It’s so important people like that get help too. They’re as injured as anyone else.

As much as I adore Gang-tae x Munyeong - the real endgame I need is for him to seek therapy by the end. To admit he’s not okay just like the people he loves.

The heavy focus on the FL instead of the ML. Next week looks like we’ll be seeing things from Kyung Pyo’s POV but considering Seohyun is billed at 1 I wonder if the trend will continue?

Usually with romantic leads, the guy always gets the bulk of the story/character building even if both have been promoted as equal main leads (and his circle is the one that’s most developed) over the FL. He’s the singular protagonist & she’s the secondary one.

(Sometimes she can even be demoted to third if the second male lead has emotional ties or history with the first lead)

E.g I’m watch Do You Like Brahms atm and though Park Eun Bin’s triangle was billed as being main leads along with Minjae’s - they’re clearly supporting and the central circle surrounds him and all his problems.

It’d be interesting if this is switched! I can’t think of another drama where the same thing happens unless it’s very specifically made as like a “girl crush/girl boss” type drama.

I guess this is the downside of having a blank slate character as a protag... his mysteriousness is kind of boring me instead of interesting me. He really doesn’t seem to serve a purpose beyond serving Dan Oh which is my least favourite love interest type. The few cute bits don’t make up for it... his romance with Dan Oh is also boring and kind of out of nowhere.

I don’t really get SLS and nor do I ship it really BUT I do think Baek Kyung has the potential to be way more interesting. He’s written as this absolute shitty person with an awful family - how much might he change once he “wakes up”!

& in an exciting turn of events there’s finally a tortured bad boy who I genuinely can’t blame his for his bullying & being an asshole bc for the one and only time it’s literally not his fault! (yet. He might stay that way after he has his ego but that’s so boring I hope the writer doesn’t do that.)

I’m getting goblin vibes in that I like most things except the lead romance & being as how that’s like 80% of the drama.... meh

I think a big part is that I just don’t care about reincarnation romance bc the writers ALWAYS use it as an excuse to use that as a crutch for insta-love instead of giving me the romantic build up kdramas are otherwise usually so good at!

now that I’ve finished it I couldn’t stop thinking about the potential dylb had! Technically I could write a fic but I have no time to do that so... as a novice writer with a fairly well-read interest in HOW TO PLOT here’s how this drama *shouldve* gone in your basic 3-Act Structure:

Act 1: Character intros, relationship status quo establishment, the build-up of the main leads, the beginnings of future problems being seeded ending with the leads getting together!

(this part the drama did well! I really enjoyed the entire first half tbh but in hindsight I think the first third was where it really shined...)

Act 2: The problems become full forced barriers. Song Ah’s insecurities & low confidence... Joon Young’s secret keeping & closed-off nature... the problems of the supporting cast. Misery & problems are fine in dramas and they belong here to eventually reach a crescendo of just - angst & mess! This is where the problems of the leads get in the way of their relationship and they break up

(Instead of you know... the misery just persisting for like 5 more eps & no break up happening until the drama’s penultimate week)

Act 3: Healing time! The leads begin to grow, learn & heal apart as does the supporting cast. They fix some problems or learn to move on. Eventually they realise their love & happiness together outweighs the problems but MORE IMPORTANT they have grown as people that those problems aren’t there anymore! SongAh’s insecurity & JoonYoung’s secrets are not longer the problems they once were. Then together they solve the outstanding problems remaining.

(Instead they just got back together? I think I’m supposed to believe their 1 ep long breakup was the period of growth but... I didn’t see it. I’m just supposed to hear them say it & believe I guess but showing is much more effective that telling.)

The writer was forced to fix everything in 1 episode bc they spent so much of the runtime on misery! It isn’t satisfying at all! Ofc I’m happy my darling introvert musicians got their happy ending. But it wasn’t enough to fix the problems before sadly.

Just imagine if those relationship problems had been solved first! Then they could have been an openly communicative couple who faced other problems (giving up violin, joonyoung’s parents, both their professors) TOGETHER!!! Ugh the show we should’ve gotten.

Apparently the writer said the second half of the drama was about the healing process of the characters. Well I would’ve liked to see it. Jung Kyung is the only one I’d say genuinely got to heal a little bit & even she got hit with death bc I guess she hasn’t suffered enough!!

Once again it’s another drama of what could have been.

I really wish writers would stop assigning mental health problems to (usually male) leads as if it’s like an extra spice to the recipe. Just make him a cool & logical male lead - it’s not like we’ve not seen it before?