Scandal (2024)

Don't bother

I am a believer that if you can't say anything positive... say nothing. However, once in a great while, I feel compelled. I have watched scores of kdramas; some were horrible, some were amazing and the rest fell somewhere in between. There have been only 2 dramas that frustrated me to the point that I needed to comment. The first was "Wild Romance" where Lee Si Young's character acting was so bad that I had to discontinue it because I was continuously yelling at the television. This one is the second. I need to ask viewers, "am I missing something?" because the acting, the story line, the totally unrealistic situations made this more of a farce than a drama. Even if I stretch my imagination until it snaps, I just don't get it. I had high hopes from the beginning because the storyline, though not unique, was my kind of drama. However, from the beginning, the actors were so over the top, I couldn't see an ounce of "truth" in their performances. Let's start with the FL. It's hard to believe she has several dramas in her repertoire because she was such a rookie. She spent the entire 80 episodes (as of now), teary-eyed, shaky-voiced and breathy. I didn't believe she experienced one bit of what she was portraying. I felt no pity whatsoever for her circumstance BUT, I did however, want to make her some chamomille tea and give her some oxygen. The ML didn't seem to know what his character was supposed to do. He was just a blank space. Handsome doesn't make you talented. The rest of the cast seemed to just be following the stage direction. (smile here, yell here, throw something here, ) My deepest thoughts during the entire drama: Would Han Chae Young's face be in a permanent sneer after the drama ended? Does anyone know how to knock? The male lead's bedroom is a revolving door. The FL's writing studio is as busy as an airport. Why does the enemy constantly come there and why, for God's sake does she buzz them in?!?! What is the purpose of the SML? SFL?? and the FL's extended family? Comic relief? Didn't work. Two characters that were doing their best to tread water were Jin Joo Hyung and Oh Young Joo. They did their best, but neither of them had anyone connected to their characters to work off of.
I like some of the actors' past performances which makes this even sadder. I really don't know what happened to a show that might have had some success if anyone knew what they were supposed to be doing.
You might ask why I am continuing to watch it? I have to... I just have to. I've made it this far, so I will see it through to the end. If a miracle happens and this show is redeemed, I will return with all of its good points. I promise. Fair is fair.

Final words: I finished watching all of the episodes and I can say, it didn't really get better. I think some of the characters began to get their footing at about the 95th episode, but obviously it was too late to rescue the sinking ship. In my honest opinion, after giving it some more thought, I would put the blame at about 70% writer/director and 30% actors. A good director can draw out better performances from their stars. I think expediency was their main objective, not craft. The ending wasn't too bad, but the relationship between FL and ML was never believable enough from the beginning to justify what happens. I challenge it fiercely. I also challenge their life choices as well. Again, not believeable. As the one actor is driving away ( I won't tell who!) , he gets half of the way down the driveway and chuckles a bit to himself. I think the director wants you to take this as, "oh well, it is what it is". I personally think he is smiling because it was his last scene and he was FREE.

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