Red Swan (2024)

FINAL ROUND AND WITHOUT GAPS...

The title "Red Swan" can be interpreted as a metaphor for the main character, Oh Wan-soo. Just like a swan, she is seen as elegant and graceful on the surface, but underneath, she is fighting intensely, represented by the color red, which is often associated with anger and revenge. Therefore, the title "Red Swan" reflects the main character's emotional journey and the central themes of the drama. Could that have been the intention? It might have been, but the execution was far from it, we had a helpless and passive heroine played by an actress with few acting skills, she made some really cheesy faces. Her reaction to her brother's death was the same as receiving a credit card bill.

As for the drama and the plot itself, I really enjoyed it, the villains and their motives were well outlined and constructed, with a standout performance by "Rain" who, as I mentioned, I only knew as a mentor and judge on reality shows for boybands, he delivered a solid performance. I had doubts if the drama would be able to wrap everything up in 10 episodes and they did, everything was nicely concluded without loose ends, overall I liked it, no major complaints.

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Right as “Rain”

I went with some expectations since the trailers look good. I will just say that it did not disappoint me. The show has not dragged; it has kept moving. The action scenes are captivating. The chemistry between ML and FL is mature. Rest of the actors are doing their jobs quite well. Music is good too. So what’s not to like?

This drama is set in the world of the rich where most of them are jerks. People go to any lengths to get what they want, money is the ultimate goal and getting somebody killed is as easy as a cow pie. Our leads have their reasons for entering this world and staying there. ML is a bodyguard of our FL.

For me , Rain’s calm, controlled but deadly bodyguard is a treat to watch. It’s not a surprise that his action scenes are fantastic. His quiet tone of voice and understated performance does the trick here. And him in those suits is the cherry on the top. The man looks good, I tell ya. In the show he doesn’t smile much, (well, given the story line it’d be odd if he did smile a lot) so that one brief smile of his on the pier is just.. I (gasp) melted, you guys. He may not be conventionally good looking, but he is handsome and he has the presence.

In comparison, Kim Ha Neul’s Wan-Soo is not consistent, as in, she oscillates between ok to not so ok. She is quite graceful but at times, she comes across as a robot rather than stoic. On the other hand, I am really loving Jung Gyu-Woon here. He has captured Yong-Gook’s brokenness, deep layers and arguable sincerity perfectly. YG is a serial cheater which should get him beaten by a blunt object but you can’t help but pity him. I am passionately hating the baddies and that shows what good jobs they are doing.

With two episodes left I really hope they wrap it well. K-dramas have a tendency of fizzling out in the finale. I’d change my ratings if that happens.

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An action packed thriller to make you drool

The story of a pro golfer who gets married into an ultra-rich family and finds herself in a maze of love, betrayal, and scheme.
As Oh Wan Soo faces life life-threatening attack, an undercover cop Do Yoon appears and saves her from a fatal encounter.

The thriller opens extravagantly with a lavish house set up, magnanimous parties, and rich fountains adorning the place. Wan Soo who is called as Goddess of donation is aware that her husband has been cheating on her. But she cannot call off the wedding because of a promise she made to her father-in-law before his death. Soo Do Yoon plucks out issues around the death of the ex-CEO.
Helmed by Park Hong Kyun, who mostly tried his hand at romantic stories. The journey of Wan Soo has been melancholic and burning since its inception. With only foes surrounding her, the lovely woman is struggling hard to identify who wants to kill her. Kim Ha Neul as elegant and strong-willed Wan Soo adds a freshness to the character arc. She has not stopped loving her husband but the vicious gap is prominent in her eyes. It's been a while since to watched Rain in the shoes of such a tough nut character. As per the report, he portrayed his actions himself which is quite hot and lip-smacking. The silent bond between leads is sensuous and sizzling. Jung Gyu Yoon, the infamous husband of Korean dramas is back with another nasty arc. The man who is two-timing his wife is suffering from his childhood trauma. The confrontation scene between Yong Guk and Mi Ran encapsulates the darkness, the former is harboring throughout.
Away from the cliche revenge tale, this ten-episode series offers revenge served with a dash of romance. Perfect amalgamation of thriller, action and love- this latest serving is hot cake on plate.

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A fun revenge ride

So far I am enjoying this drama.
I have watched 8/10 episodes.
Unless this drama goes the way of some of the other ones that do well until the ending, I will keep my rating.
It is not a drama that you have to suspend belief in physics or logic to watch.
It’s just a fun revenge ride.
I think the actors and writer are doing a good job - I hate who I’m supposed to hate, I have a bit of empathy for who I’m supposed to empathize with, and I hope for a happy ending for those who have earned it.

Review of last two episodes:
It could have ended better.
It seems like the last two episodes of a lot of dramas feel rushed and the ending is meh.

The characters were just so evil, and some got what they deserved but …. I’m wishing for a more satisfying ending.

Lire davantage

Good drama, mystery-action and a lukewarm romance

Overall a good drama with great parts and a traditional time skip underwhelming ending imo.

While the action scenes and mystery parts were really done well, many mysteries remain just that at the end.

Forgetting the twist, turns and plot holes…the ending could have landed better. Especially for the romance tag on this drama.

While there was attraction, love, and respect between our leads… it was on simmer for most of the drama and occasionally it boiled for a second or two.

At the end, even though the FL was devastated from seeing the cheating husband she didn’t love or want to be married to, shot to death brutally in front of her… weeks (maybe) later the ML leaves her as a bodyguard and her lover (maybe that’s to strong).

Why? Never explained. They loved each other, there was no reason we are shown that they couldn’t be together.

Time Skip, ugh, one year later they meet seemingly randomly but it was planned. They look an each other they both have big smiles and are the happiest ever seen during the drama.

So I guess we can decide if they become involved from there or they don’t.
???

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Rain is pouring!!!!

I personally watched it because of Rain. He is the jack of all trade, he can siin, dance and act as well. I heard this drama originally tas longer number of episodes but they cut it and make it into 10 episodes, but still the outcome of the drama turns out to be great. The casting is great they picked one of the best. I like the action scenes is executed well enough and there moves are accurate.
The story is more focused oo the family issues ot the Hwain Group especially its riches and who will become the successor of it the romance is just a bonus. Yes I kilig by the leads but still I can't find their chemistry together. Maybe because the FL is lacking, her acting is not effective for me, there is something missing. I am looking for more. FL is a good actress but I can say that her acting in this drama is not effective. Well RAIN is super hot in here, his giving the action star material . His very efficient in his action scenes.
I feel Yong Guk's love for his wife but he can't show it because of his mother. But,still cheating is bad but I guess he just did that because that is what he saw growing up. His mother is not a good influence in him instead she teach him to be greedy.
Overall this drama is entertaining to watched.

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action packed melodrama!

finished 8.5/10 ?✨
In general the story was good, a classic melodrama full of intrigue and suspense
The majority of the cast did a great job, Rain's performance stood out ?✨
The action role looks amazing on him... Haneul also did a good job for me although she was criticized for being stoic and cold... I personally feel like her character was designed to be that way.
The ost was very good and the scenery was not bad.
The ending was realistic, which I liked. It removed a couple of scenes that could have been written differently, but everything together gave a good closure.

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Damn greed

I love protective men. This bodyguard (Rain) is so tough and gentle at the same time. I liked the scenes where the protagonist couple acts together.
In the last two episodes I found things that didn't add up to me and I lowered my rating a little. Examples: The "Chinese" bodyguard was stabbed and the next day he shows up at work like nothing? One shot from this men would have been enough for her to be killed or stopped but she always managed to escape. O Wan Su hears the shot and takes 10 minutes to get to the living room? She cries so much over her husband's murder that she doesn't realize the situation. Then the next day as if nothing had happened. The mother-in-law then forgives her illegitimate son for killing the beloved son to whom she wanted to give everything?
But all in all I recommend watching this series.

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This had potential to be great but....

I have had this drama in my mental watch list for awhile but I never had a chance to watch it cos my list is just becoming a pain.
I have mastered a strategy to alternate cdrama and kdrama..I will watch kdrama after every cdrama or Jdrama.Am a very fair person.
I was happy when i saw this and the clips around,cos finanny someone had cast people who are not 25 and 30.We had actors we the OG
can relate to..you know Oppa Rain and Kim Ha Neul are from our generation,but it turned out to be an OK project.
RAin did a great job but he was missmatched, am not an ageism person or anti women(as a woman myself) but I beleive that women
actresses dont carry the same vigor in the later years as the male counterpart..or its just this particular one cos i have see supporting
casts in their 60 and 70s do better for example the chairwoman in this drama,She is one of the people who carried this serie.
Maybe I should just stick to romantic or revenge plots which kdrama do very well in..The set was amazing though,all those beautiful mansions.
Overall its an Okay watch if you dont worry about a boring ending.Am rating an 8 cos of Oppa Rain

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Felt Rush, waste of time

Red Swan had so much potential if it could have been executed correctly. The story was rather cliche with the whole rich lady falls for her body guard, conglomerate family fighting for inheritance and some mystery murder thrown in just to cover all cases.

I had just finished watching Eve (another disappointment but better than this one) and was looking for my next revenge romance drama. I enjoyed the acting and that certain characters got character development throughout the series, the martial art part was also rather nice...but that's where all of the good things end.

10 episodes made this story feel rush, they left some plots loose, there was barely any romance especially between the FL and ML. Sometimes I genuinely wondered how ML who is supposed to be so good at martial arts would flop in certain scenes.

FL started off being strong will and badass but she quickly became one of those annoying damsel in distress type that spend the whole drama screeching and waiting to be helped. The music...personally for me felt too screechy and like it didn't flow with the drama but I will put that I have rather sensitive ears and tend to not be a fan of high pitch voices to begin with so that part might be my own bias.

I like the fact that they used actual English in scenes, there was some actresses that spoke fluent English (like FL sister in law) also with background characters they spoke rather good English which was rather refreshing to see and different English accent.

The ending...it's a rather abrupt, unsatisfying one. Overall, I'll give this show a 1 out of 10 with 10 being the best.

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