Beautiful Gong Shim (2016)

The best way I can describe this show is by asking you to picture a house. It's a very nice house, but over time the foundation seems to crumble. Then one day, the entire building can't hold itself up anymore and collapses in on itself until it's just a pile of separate, broken parts that used to make a beautiful whole.

Beautiful Gong Shim began as a drama with infinite promise in the rom-com area. The two main characters are quirky and at first glance, you just expect a cute little romance that you can enjoy without much thought. I'll also point out that the first few episodes included some of the most ridiculously funny moments I've ever experienced in any drama, so my expectations were incredibly high as the rest of the episodes came out.

A little past halfway through it, though, the plot tried way too hard to be serious and suspenseful, thus losing its initial humorous merits. The feeling is somewhat like listening to your grandparents tell stories: at first, you're pretty interested, but it quickly gets boring, yet you feel an obligation to sit there until the very last word. I stopped finding things to laugh at. The romantic moments were less rewarding in the midst of the mess of the conspiracy plot the writers drew up for no apparent reason. The characters deteriorated and lost every trait that made them unique.

If there were one redeeming aspect of this drama, I'd have to say that it's Nam Goong Min. Usually a professional in depicting a psycho serial killer in other dramas, this time he's the lead male with a fair amount of goofballness. He was a joy to watch, but his character was not spared in the enormous *let's-make-everyone-generic* massacre. Everyone else fulfilled their roles nicely, but Goong Min's really the star of this show. (Which is interesting, as I thought the directors would give Minah more of a spotlight but she really dropped off the radar late into the drama. I could say less of the wig they made her wear though.)

The music was fun; there were multiple tracks that cheered me up along the way and altogether, they were nice to listen to.

In general, I'd recommend watching maybe the first ten episodes, if not less. The beginning is worth watching, as it puts a smile on your face pretty frequently. It's just the second half that becomes appallingly boring (trust me, you probably wouldn't even miss anything if you skipped straight to the last episode as soon as the story even starts to drag).

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Its a struggle to decide a fair score. It would depend on your expectations. I started not really expecting much and found myself surprised by Min Ah who made Gong shim very endearing and cute. Then theres Nam goon Min's Ahn Dan tae, super goofball that makes him different among many k dramas over the years. This was a pairing i wasnt sure will work on paper but onscreen their sparring hair pulling and banter was an easy watch. Throw in a second male lead Jun Soo that was puppy cute and a nicely written bromance with Dan tae. Suddenly im game for more episodes.

Then the focus was lost or shall i say shifted. The Dan tae birth secret and uncovering culprit should have and would have made an okay side plot. Instead this thin plot with an unremarkable antagonist (that was transparent and revealed very early on) was stretch to fill many episodes. If they had stared true on the Gong shim path, more on her character development, growth in career and confidence and interactions with both Dan tae and Jun soo this drama would have been better. Instead she became a prop, mostly on the sidelines and only utilise when the writers feel like it.

Overall the storyline is forgettable but i will remember the wig, the brush Gong shim used to brush her teeth and some of the cuter moments of the trio.

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