“She Would Never Know” K-Drama Critique
Since this is an in-depth critique there will be spoilers.
Let’s cut straight to the chase. As of March 2023, I watched my first 4 k-drama shows over the course of 2 weeks. It would be a lie if I said I loved every K-drama that I saw. Though it features an actor from my number two favorite show thus far… here is one K-drama that was quite simply hard to chew.
The K-drama She would never know. Let me tell you something guys… she knows. And it’s bad. The protagonist has been scarred from childhood memories of her father’s infidelity and death, as well as her mother’s over-protective nature. Her junior co-worker whom she trains happens to be in love with her and the premise of the show revolves around him trying to win her wounded heart over with his charm.
Now, I know this sounds like the premise of an above-decent Rom-Com. However, for me, it just wasn’t strong.
1. The script needed more development in terms of the continuity of the story and world-building. When that lacks, the Romance has to depend heavily on the chemistry of the two actors. And honestly speaking, they didn’t have a strong enough chemistry to keep the show actively engaging. Don’t get me wrong, the very punchy romantic one-liners from the male lead were sweet the first and maybe the second time around, but by episode 10 it was not enough to keep me engaged for a one-hour viewing.
When I tried to find solace in the secondary characters’ story arc to keep me engaged in the show,(because after episode 11 I almost gave up) I found that I could only… if barely, care for certain situations that I realized, in the long run, had little to nothing to do with the main character and the show’s overall plot. It dragged on so much that by the time the main character gave junior a chance, I was more interested in Ji-Seung, (one of the side character’s arcs) for the mere fact that her love life was slightly more believable. In the end, I kind of hoped that they wouldn’t end up together and I’m sure that’s not what the writers had intended. However, it would have been more satisfying as a viewer in terms of a realistic end and maybe saved the story/plot from feeling incredibly one-sided and lacking.
2. The writing. I would have written the show to follow the male lead Chae Hyun-Seung instead of the female protagonist, Yoon Song-Ah… then given his character’s personality deeper more complex layers by writing the show following the lives of him and his 2 sisters. Their love stories were equally and at times, more interesting, yet we got such little time with them. In terms of casting, I would have cast the show a bit differently, in fact, the male actor, Kang Tae-oh who was the lead in Woo Young Woo would have been great for her. Though I do see how individually she and Rowoon matched the characters they were cast for… together their chemistry wasn’t quite believable, no matter how many times they make out or the male lead says something sweet.
3. The cinematography. It seemed as though they were trying hard to make up for a semi-solid script and not great casting. But it wasn’t enough. The subtle romantic moments lingered way too long almost all the time. So much so, that it made me want to click out, and at times I did, because I wondered “where is the story?”.
Now I say all this to say do I regret giving K-dramas a chance? No. Will I be watching more of them in the future? Well, it depends.
If they continue to follow suit after the Western-worlds depiction of what is beautiful and sexy then it will have to be a hard pass as I am tired of watching people do or insinuate unnecessary sexual situations for shock value. However, if these shows continue to prioritize story and plot as opposed to shock value, and let the characters’ love show organically… with intimacy only used strategically as a necessary tool instead of a cheesy cop-out.. then maybe just maybe I will, and happily so.
