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This show of 32 less than 30 minute episodes, available with subtitles at the time of writing on viki, deserves a 10 because its invention and constant laugh out loud jokes (almost) never flag. The leads, Yoo Seung-ho and the extraordinary Chae Soo-bin, shine and the supporting cast is great, with characters worthy of their performances. Really, this will enchant and surprise you at every turn. One slightly slow patch in the early 20s before it regains its breath and roars to the finish line. The extended scene in Episode 27 where our heroine, Jo Ji-ah (Chae), finally explains herself to our hero, Kim Min-kyu (Yoo), is brilliantly acted and written with exquisite delicacy, and ends with a wondrous full-throated declaration of love which made even a hard case like me tear up - and believe me, as all the people who hated my negative review of alleged tearjerker "I'll Go to You When the Weather is Nice" will attest, I am not swayed by gorgeous but expressionless actresses with nothing to say in supposedly triple hanky weepfests. I've watched that episode half a dozen times without tiring of it and never without a lump in my throat.
This was a case of unstoppable giggles interspersed with moving moments, a perfectly paced love story, and, if you dig a little deeper, some meditation on what it means to be human.
What else about this show makes it stand out? The story calls for us to believe that our supposedly very smart hero, mostly isolated from the rest of humanity for 15 years because of his allergy to humans, is fooled for numerous episodes into believing that a beautiful girl is really a highly advanced android robot. Not only that, but on numerous occasions, the girl or the team that developed the robot pretty much give away the game and yet he continues to believe. It is an absurd premise and if you can't accept it, you will hate this show. (You probably ought to skip fantasies - this is not a show for the literal minded.) But if you are willing to accept it as he does, the rest of the story proceeds with logical consistency packed tight with belly laughs aplenty and many genuine moments of emotion. As I said earlier, the invention never flags. And really no words of praise are too high for Yoo Seung-ho and especially Chae Soo-bin, who plays three roles - the girl, the girl as robot, and the robot - with perfect pitch.
If there is a weakness, it's the bad guys competing for control of the hero's company, perhaps not as convincing in their dastardliness as one might have wished, with no really standout performance among the villains. (My number one corporate villain in Kdramas is Bae Jong-ok as Han Je-gook in Graceful Family - no topping her character or her performance.)
But elsewhere, there are many fine performances that give life to their characters. I'd single out Seo Dong-won playing Ji-ah's put upon older brother, Jo Jin-bae, who works for Min-kyu, is pulled hither and thither by his capricious boss, henpecked by his family, and has a troubled but eventually loving relationship with his sister. The robot team are all fine, led by Um Ki-joon as Hong Baek-kyun, but special praise for his mostly fierce assistant, Angela Jin, aka "Pi", played with a terrific combination of cool and eventual warmth by Park Se-wan (and a fun transformation from ugly duckling to swan at the end).
The odd trite moment notwithstanding, this is a splendid story, skillfully told, and engaging until the very last moment. Just keep that disbelief suspended.
score 10/10
mjkarlin 11 July 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5898068/ |
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4-11-2020 20:39:09