The Innocent Man (2012)

Most of the die-hard fans of this drama will hate me for this, but "Nice Guy" honestly isn't anything new in the world of revenge dramas. You have your typical hodgepodge of birth secrets, revenge stories, murders and amnesia- not just once, but twice. There are gaping plot holes, crazy scenarios and messed up character motivations, but if you abandon all reasoning and logical thinking, this drama can be one of the best you've seen.
Story: I liked the idea that Ma-Ru at the beginning was a much darker character than we've seen in other revenge dramas. He wasn't afraid to use people and was okay with being used himself. What made him interesting was watching his transition from a shell of a human to someone who had something to lose. I also loved Eun-Gi's character in the beginning, she was passionate yet cold, bitchy but kind, and was an amazing mix of all these opposite traits. I didn't particularly like her personality transformation in the second half of the drama because I felt like the writers only changed her to fit the plot and she became a puppet to the rest of the show's whims, but she swung back in my favor later.
Actors: Let's face it. "Nice Guy" would not have been as popular if Song Joong-Ki hadn't played the main lead. Because he is an A-list actor, it drew in a crowd, since he is a good actor, this drama kept its crowd. That being said, Joong-Ki is the actor that holds this drama together. I'm not saying that Moon Chae-won and Park Si-Yeon were bad- they were actually surprisingly good in their roles- it's just that Joong-Ki stole the show.
Music: Nice and dramatic, it was used well to tie together certain scenes in the show.
Rewatch Value: Since this show was one of the more unpredictable ones, the second time around will not be as good, but it will be alright.
Overall: I feel like "Nice Guy" should come with a big neon sign that says: "All ye who enter, abandon all logic here". Because honestly, the only way you will enjoy this drama is if you don't think about it too much and just go with it.

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* SPOILERS AHEAD. READ ONLY IF YOU'VE WATCHED THE SERIES*

Things that annoyed me about Innocent Man:
1) The heroine that was used as little more than a beauty prop. The heroine is basically introduced to us as this badass, ruthless businesswoman who's the sole heir to a multi-national company. She is supposed to be a complete WOP, strutting in her high heels donning a zero-fucks-given attitude. And at first, she legit got me shouting, 'That's ma girl!' And, then ofc it all came to an end as soon as the guy walked in. From there onward, started the four-staged transition of our heroine from a boss ass bitch to just another irrelevant not-that-pretty face. Dx 

Stage 1: When we realize that all the talk about her supposed badassery was just that, talk. For, when she is given a chance to actually prove her worth; she, despite being a Harvard graduate, famous child prodigy and an all-around genius, spends all her time banging her head against a desk and then, passes out in the garden. Whereas, the hero; a med school drop-out who doesn’t know the ABC of business, freaking flies from another country, learn everything about accounting and marketing on an hour-long phone call with his dumb best friend. And overnight, devises a fool-proof and practical investment plan. Like, m888 pls there's pushing it and then there is freaking bullshitting it to Hades and back. Ofc, all the while the heroine just stared at him; tongue wagging and hearty eyes shining.

Stage 2: Now obv, no-one can resist heartless badboys, so ofc she instantly falls in love with him. He is, unsurprisingly, using her for a revenge scheme against his ex (who's coincidentally also the heroine's step mom/sugar daddy's arm piece who wants to steal all her fortune) and ends up breaking her heart. Just seconds after the breakup, she gets a call that her father is on his death bed and wants her there with him but because she is just so fucking heartbroken, instead of going to her dying father she says fuck my privileged life and deliberately crashes into an oncoming car. (Ofc the car belonged to the hero and both of them then, dab their broken bones into the ICU)

Stage 3: Then came a nice dramatic twist where she loses all her memories 'cause of the car crash -joy- and is quickly transformed into a fragile, wimpy, spineless walking talking sob story who constantly whines about how much of a fragile, wimpy, spineless walking talking sob story she is. Double joy with happy tears on top.

Stage 4: Finally after 5, hour consuming episodes, she gets her memories back. And at this point, I was all pumped up and was like "Okay girl, let's bring the swag back on. This is your time to conquer and get back the billion-dollar company that was rightfully yours and show 'em who's the boss". But alas, I just got a stuck up, self-pitying brat who, instead of bringing her best revenge game just pouted, screamed and walked around with her arms crossed. #RIP Not to mention that after she gets her memories back and she finally remembers all that shit the hero did (he basically ruined her life), all she does is show a lil attitude and even in that duration, half of her thoughts are spent on pining after the dude. #RIPx2

2) The highly unnecessary martyr syndrome:
So at the end, both of our MC's realize that they can't live without each other (shocker), and they run around the city, tryna find the other when at last, their eyes connect over a heavily trafficked road. So, the red signal comes up and while all the other obviously dumb pedestrians rush to cross the road, these two geniuses start their slo-mo jaywalk towards each other. Conveniently, the killer (who wants to stab the heroine and take over her company) arrives just when they're steps away from embracing and then outta nowhere the hero magically lights nitrous under his ass, does a fancy little twirl in the air -where he spins the heroine a full 360 degree, while simultaneously giving her a bear hug- and gets stabbed in her place. BRAVO. I mean, I get that he needed his sixty seconds of stardom but in the time he did all that shit, he coulda just pushed her to the side and saved both of their sorry asses. #AllHailGlory

3) The horribly put together ending.
Like, if you're gonna invest in producing 30 hours of screen-time, the least you could do is film a proper ending. Instead, everything is wrapped up in a measly 15 minutes. We are teleported to seven years later; where apparently, it's the hero's turn to lose all his memories. LMAO. 100% Dead-ass. It is revealed that the accident they were involved in had apparently caused him some brain damage too (just like the heroine) and his surgery caused memory loss. How divine. So, basically, he forgets everything that happened and is now starting over with the heroine in a rural town. WTF.

There is no inkling as to where the multinational company (which was the whole focus of the show) went to. The heroine, who was a billionaire in her own right and was basically built to lead the business, is reduced to a giggling girl who spends her time baking horrible goods at a cheap store (that nobody buys) and not-so-discreetly snapping pictures of the hero. They also show the fail killer walking somewhere out of his own volition (hopefully to jail) and the drama ends with a "Love trumps all" moral.

So yes, Innocent Man does come with its fair share of flaws but it still wrenched a 7.0 rating out of me because even despite all of its ludicrousness, I somehow ended up enjoying the drama. The acting is satisfactory. Not a single episode is boring and it would keep you at the edge of your seat till the end. Even though Eun Chae lost her character half way through the show, she had got me on her side with her personality in the beginning and so I was still cheering her on till the end. Kang Ma Roo also had his moments.

Moon Chae Won and Soon Joong Ki are both good actors and even though they did appear rather blank sometimes, I feel like they played their roles nicely. Won't rewatch it all but I might revisit some of the more interesting scenes in the future. Who knows?

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