When the Phone Rings (2024)

This was good TV

I am only going to list out everything I liked about this kdrama. I love the OSTs 'See the Light' and 'Numb'. I loved the cinematography. And all the meaningful details they put in with thought that enhanced the love story, mainly The wedding ring. Great chemsitry between the leads- it was old school electric.

Mostly I loved all the side characters(love to hate the evil Baeks tho But not my Frankenstein's psycho- hes tragic in his own way). They are all well-rounded and I got attached and was so happy the final episode gave every single one(not 'em Baeks) a happy ending. I love how the step-sister turned out to not be nefarious. And I loved how gentle the second leads were and I only wish they had got more screentime both for themselves and to show more their interactions(I wanted to see Sang-woo see the real grown up kidnapper at least once and also meet his No. 1 fan and fellow commiserant Park Do-jae. And for Yu-ri to finally have that long convo with Hee-joo...). The way boundaries were respected and their feelings were dealt with was refreshing. Reporter Jang is the MVP of the drama. Real Sa-eon's actor(Park Jae-yoon) also gets my respect on his brilliant portrayal which made me feel for him and wishes on his future.

More than anything I love, love, love Mr. Kang and Park Do-jae. Together and separately. I love their stupid bromance and every bit of second-hand cringe war over Sa-eon they are in together. I felt sorry for Do-jae after the reveal. And Mr Kang is a pure ray of sunshine and goodwill. And I adore Mr Kang's 🥕 pens.

But most of all I love Hong Hee-joo and her absolute boss attitude. I called her eonni-ya with utmost respect in my mind.

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LONG thread debunking this whole mess before MBC releases a statement (if they do):

1. It began this way: I translated the image and it said the opposite: "Korean militants kidnapped by Izmael + the arrow goes from Izmael to Paltima"

2. I couldn't find a single article about this in Korean. Only comments from Koreans shocked at the misinformation. Also, a choice like this likely comes from higher-ups, not necessarily the director or the writer. Throwing shade at Israel's government too seems risky, and it's surprising that Koreans are the ones who dared. If this fake news was true, let me tell you: The staff isn't as free as you think they are. Why would they risk so much, by their own will? It doesn't make any sense. Let me tell you: Do you even realize how important the international audience is, compared to the Korean one? This would literally be the best way to get the entire crew's career ruined from a boycott. Even MBC would get into big troubles. It wouldn't just be about "getting their money."

3. A Korean said that it's part of the web novel, but the web novel ended not long before Israel started bombing Gaza. However, if this claim is true (they used a translator so it could be inaccurate), the drama has nothing to do with it, although they could have changed the names for sure and it is unlikely that they are unaware to the point of not realizing (I think that MBC is supposed to check the content before release too). Even if Korea usually seems to be unaware or misinformed about what happens overseas.

4. The only post in Korean that claims this fake news is a tweet with 30K likes and only international comments (the original tweet that started everything). They say that the arrow shows Izmael being bombed. This is FALSE. Just like this article which didn't fact check anything. Also, if Lily Alice already didn't have a good reputation, this is by far her worst. Thankfully, there are people like me who used their common sense and media literacy skills when the so-called journalists couldn't, nor did they take any responsability. Others (way too many, which is concerning) are spamming (with the help of bots but they are being cleared by MDL apparently) the drama of 1/10s on sites such as MDL and IMDB along with writing hateful comments and harassing the cast/production team/broadcaster.

5. I watched the scene. Here's what the presenter says: "[...] The ongoing Paltima airstrikes are taking place in Izmael (more like from but it's not "wrong"), where Korean nationals have been kidnapped by armed militants. (implies who are the bad ones) [...]” Time: 1:01:19, Episode 12 - Netflix translation

6. https://x.com/Yeonseok411_IFC/status/1875859602530763112. It seems that Netflix messed up and they corrected the English translation. Explanation for the possible mistranslation: https://x.com/sjsskaz/status/1875763260169056482.

7. "but a specific scene from the last episode has sparked outrage from international viewers." International is key here.

8. https://mydramalist.com/discussions/the-number-you-have-dialed/133942-netflix-mistranslated-izmael-kidnapped-koreans?pid=3219108&page=1#p3219108- A more detailed translation. (from Badass Bunny, scroll down to the Twitter DMs screenshots) - The sentence is ambiguous because of the Korean language, and because the news are presented in a quick and straightforward manner. Here, the context to clarify the sentence is on the image.

9. I watched the scene where we see the kidnappers and they clearly aren't Palestinians. But well, it's not like the sentence on the bottom of the image wasn't clear enough. There was no controversy about this in Korea, so unless the situation is bad enough, MBC won't say anything because that's how it usually works. They will be the ones to speak up if it's needed because the crew can't reach a wide audience, they don't even have public SNS. Korean communication also can be very bizarre, so I can't explain it any better. Hopefully they will say something to stop this nonsense.

10. I'm not against the original intent. They would have received so many praises for being brave and noble if it wasn't for this fake news, along with the mistranslation from Netflix (how surprising coming from them...I'm joking). It was their only way to do it, indirectly of course, in a fictional scenario. You couldn't expect more than what was shown whatsoever for obvious reasons. It was still a good choice originally to bring awareness by influencing K-Drama fans, and most importantly it could spark discussion in Korea, especially for those still unaware or misinformed. I can't know if there was anything else going on behind this choice. It's hypocritical how people wanted such things in media, but now that they believed those lies, even if they somehow get to the truth, they will still talk shit. Whoever decided that, little did they know what Netflix would do... Truly evil if not a mistake.

11. https://x.com/ma42401494/status/1875589432239386740 Here's the "Korean" tweet. There is actually 0 Korean comment. The account is not Korean (they even posted a screenshot showing the MDL page with the cast, you can see what time they posted). The only retweet in Korean is also not a Korean account. People BELIEVE this account is Korean. Hence why they trust it. Hence my clarifications.

12. This comment is from a Korean: https://mydramalist.com/article/when-the-phone-rings-sparks-outrage-for-misrepresentation-of-israel-palestine-conflict#comment-20093496

13. Some people are so obsessed with hating on the drama and find reasons to be scandalized. So they started using "Argan" as an argument. Don't tell me you're offended by that. "Argan" sounds cool, that's it. It's most likely taken from the web novel, too. Fictional names are often inspired from real ones and usually, poor countries or countries with a war situation tend to be either in Africa or Middle East, and that does not mean every country is like that, it's just some parts. Also because it's more believable. Not to mention that "Argan" is not necessarily taken from Afghanistan. The hate against K-Dramas truly goes crazy. Literally no one was offended by that initially- oh wait, maybe on MDL. Just a quick research, one example out of many: "Homeland" (2011–2020): This TV show often uses real countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq as settings for terrorism, war, and espionage narratives. - THEY USED THE REAL NAMES, HOW SCANDALIZING! Oh wait no, it's not a Korean drama so it's fine.

14. I remembered that I do know someone Korean from a community on Discord so I asked him too even though we were not friends. He confirmed the fake news and I got informations that helped me write this thread - including the fact that many young people in Korea support Palestine. I wonder where are the complaints if the fake news is true? Because all I can see are Koreans shocked at the misinformation :)

15. Even ChatGPT agrees without the context of the image. "속보입니다. 팔티마 공습이 이루어지고 있는 이즈마엘에서 한국인들이 무장 세력에게 납치되었습니다." -> "Breaking news: In Izmael, where the Paltima airstrikes are taking place, Koreans have been kidnapped by armed forces."

16. I'm actually unsure what was the first translation or if it was ever corrected. I'm wondering if the account on Twitter just decided to crucify them because of some ambiguity. If so, it's even worse than I initially thought.

17. https://mydramalist.com/article/when-the-phone-rings-sparks-outrage-for-misrepresentation-of-israel-palestine-conflict#comment-20109222 - Another comment like mine, sorry for the ones I missed.

18. "Breaking news: In Ismail, where airstrikes are taking place against/on Paltima, South Koreans have been kidnapped by militants." -> This should be the version without any ambiguity. The current translation is still ambiguous, because while it implies that Koreans are kidnapped by Izmael, therefore implying as well that the airstrikes are against Paltima, it's not clear enough. I hope they can update the translation to something clearer soon. It's not like foreigners understand what's on the image nor do they use a Google Translate app to fact check, even though they should, with how obviously false it seems that they would do this.

19. https://mydramalist.com/766179-the-number-you-have-dialed#comment-20147240 - This person also spoke the truth about how not all Koreans are ignorant or support Israel. Many support Palestine (especially the younger generation) and not as many support Israel like some liars want you to think because of their hateful biases. With Korea's history, it sounds more right for them to support Palestine.

Edit: Their comment has been deleted just like mine. (on the drama's page)

20. Blame Netflix, the so-called journalists, the original tweet and haters not willing to fact check either.

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loved this drama! ? was ep 12 perfect? not even close.

loved loved loved this drama! 😍 was ep 12 perfect? not even close. most of it was great but I think we can all agree (surely?) some of the random bits thrown in there (whether part of the original novel or not) felt out of place and not keeping with the same atmosphere/pacing as the previous 11 episodes.

The entire scene where she went to find him was super jarring/felt like it was from a different show/not the "wrapping up" episode of an epic romance & thriller drama with only 12 short episodes. While the 1st 11 episodes did "short drama" in a most brilliant fashion with character arches, pacing, etc... episode 12 fell victim to what MOST shorter dramas do and that's throw a bunch of nonsensical scenes in there for the "dramatic effect" which instead of keeping us on the edge of our seat like it hoped to accomplish, it instead ice-water-to-the-face pulled us out of the beautiful story we were ENGROSSED in for 11 straight episodes/weeks of watching/obsessing over and that's unfortunate.

If they literally cut out that ENTIRE portion of the episode, it would have been 1000x better of a finale and NOTHING would have changed plot-wise or pacing-wise in the 12 episodes. The decision to shoot/leave those scenes was unfortunate BUT not unfortunate enough for me to hate or even "dislike" this drama. It's still one of those dramas I guarantee I'll watch many more times in the future! I'll just skip about 1/2 of the final episode when I do hahaha

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right person. right writer. right casting. right chemistry.

The drama is a captivating blend of exceptional acting and innovative storytelling. Yoo Yeon Seok masterfully embodies the character of Baek Sa Eo, a man who projects an aura of coldness and indifference, his body language perfectly mirroring this persona. In contrast, Chae Soo Bin portrays Hong Hui Ju, a woman who appears soft and lacking in confidence, yet harbors a hidden strength and determination. She skillfully plays the part expected of her, all the while maintaining a calculated control beneath the surface, revealing a resilience as she navigates her circumstances.

The drama's unique artistry lies in its unconventional approach, employing a mobile phone as the catalyst for action. This inventive use of technology serves as a constant reminder of the characters' communication dynamics, or rather, the lack thereof. They engage in endless exchanges through their phones, yet remain emotionally distant, revealing their innermost selves to strangers rather than to each other, creating a poignant contrast between constant connectivity and profound disconnection.

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OH MY GWAD!!! HEAR ME OUT!

GUYS I'm just so behind bcz of my exams but i can't stop myself from yapping about this anymore, i have watched only 5 episodes and the spoilers, acting, story, ost and EVERYTHING IS PERFECT and i have probably never got excited about a kdrama THIS MUCH before, every minute of this kdrama is amazing till now and I'm not dropping it. If a kdrama is getting me into only first few episodes like this... it's really A HIT. ALSO, I GOT AN UNHEALTHY OBSESSION. This is the best kdrama of this year for me!!! If you still haven't watched it or think it's not worth it, what are you doing with your life man?? JUST GO AHEAD AND WATCH IT BRUH 🎀😭😭✋🏻

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WATTPAD MEETS K-DRAMA

This k-drama is only two episodes in and I am already HOOKED!! It has all my favorite tropes: arranged marriage, she fell first he fell harder, cold male lead who secretly cares for the female lead, etc. The acting and the chemistry between Yoo Yeon Seok and Chae Soo Bin is so good! I am living for the tension and Baek Sa Eon's possessiveness/protectiveness! AND THE PLOT TWISTS!? SO GOOD!! It is also a plot that I have never seen before, especially in a k-drama. Overall, such a good k-drama that has me hooked since episode one!

Review update now that I have finished:

First off I want to thank this drama for giving me something to look forward to every weekend! It is one of my new favorites and will always hold a special place in my heart! Now onto the review!

I did take off .5 stars from my initial 10/10 rating since the imagination/dream bit was a bit repetitive and some things were rushed in the final episodes (In my opinion, it needed at least 16 episodes so a lot of the plot wasn’t so rushed towards the end). However, they still did a great job in executing everything with the limited episodes that they had!

This drama had ALL THE TROPES. Arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, etc. and all the tropes, in my humble opinion, were done tastefully! War trope was also thrown in last minute, but Yoo Yeon Seok and Chae Soo Bin actually executed it so well and not going to lie I ate it up!!

Speaking of Yoo Yeon Seok and Chae Soo Bin, their chemistry and acting was so good in this drama!! All the emotional scenes (especially the cliff scene) were done so well and the yearning and the tension was carried out so good! Cannot give them enough praise for the acting they did for WTPR!

They also used a lot of symbolism in this drama and a lot of the details were done with intention which I loved and appreciated!

Overall, this drama was a really good one and a plot I have never seen before in another k-drama! It’s interesting from beginning to end and one I would highly recommend for people to try and watch!

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Best drama I've seen in 5 years!

When I read the caption of this drama I thought the story sounded intrestning and I started to watch it casually. As I watched episode by episode the story evolved, there's so much more story than the caption says and I was blown away. Completely hooked and I had to pause whatever I was doing to watch the drama properly. This drama is a true gem, this is the first time I would say the story is 10/11! This is definitly the best drama I've seen in 5 years! I'm giving the drama overall a 9,5 because sometimes (maybe due to language barrier) it was hard to understand, because the story was a bit complicated. You will regret it if you don't watch this masterpiece.

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