An enjoyable watch not for its mystery, but for the relationship of the kidnapper and kidnappee.

"The Kidnapping Day" falls short of standing out in the mystery murder genre. The storyline is decently maintained and mostly coherent, but the main antagonist lacks memorability, possibly intentionally, given the presence of the other morally ambiguous characters revolving around Rohee intended to add mystery. That particular antagonist seemed more like a device to drive the plot rather than a fully developed character.

However, the real gem of the show lies in the heartfelt journey of Rohee and Myeong Jun. Myeong Jun's character is portrayed as your typical, unequivocally morally upright father. There were a few scenes that hinted at something potentially more from him, but it was never brought up again which is truly a shame. However, despite the unexplored storyline regarding Myeong Jun, the chemistry as a father-daughter duo was more than enough to carry the show in my eyes. Rohee, in particular, will be an actress I will most likely keep an on in the future.

While the final episode and the resolution of the main story might not have been satisfying in my eyes, my overall rating remained unaffected as the show neared its end. I had already given it an 8 in my head because of the journey shared by Rohee and Myeong Jun in the drama. If you're seeking a compelling mystery, this might not be your best choice, but for the touching relationship dynamic, "The Kidnapping Day" is worth a watch.

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A lot of angst, not a lot of substance

I should preface, I don't hate the show. I don't believe there is anything that is glaringly bad, but I also don't think there is anything worth talking about either. I want to go over what I liked and disliked, but it has to be mentioned that the end couples have to be spoil, if it really is even a spoiler, because ultimately the show felt like a means to an end, without the ending monologue the show genuinely has no purpose of existing, which I'll elaborate more on later. I first want to get out of the way what I liked about the show.

The actors, the main couple was fine, no issues there, the side characters were a bit much for me. Also, the fact that the main couple didn't get back together, that would've instantly plunged this rating down to a 5.

Now on to the bad. The main issues this show suffers from is boredom, nothing really happens. And I think that stems from 2 main things, it's trying to be grounded and realistic, and it focuses too much on love. What do I mean by that. When you watch those YouTube videos of "Here's a day in the life of blah blah blah", that is rarely ever a day that is perfectly representative of their day. Why? Because it'd be too boring to show you an average day. Shows, and especially Kdramas, try to filter out the mundane and cut to the more dramatic parts. This show does not. The guy mops around for 5 episodes reminiscing and drinking. The girl is trying to stay strong, but she's clearly also affected by the breakup, and we have to see her go from "I'm fine" and crying for the same duration. Realistically, yes, two normal mature adults going through a breakup are upset and coping. The issue is why could that constitute as a show? Nothing ever really happens; you're just dragged along by 2 sad people and their own thoughts about a breakup. A breakup that is somewhat validated. There was no driving event, they just grew tired of each other.

Which segways into the 2nd issue, the show ONLY focuses on romantic relationships. They don't introduce anything new to the show conceptually. Maybe now that they are apart you show the effect on their friend group, or maybe their worklife? Nope they just stop hanging out as a group, and when the guys/girls get together separately, the conversation starts as "huh we all don't see each other anymore" straight into "so how's everyone relationship going. The guy tries to start working on his company, nope, can't forget his ex who he used to work with. The girl goes to a new company to pursue her original dream, nope ex-college friend who wants to be in a relationship with her and that's the only time you see her working, when he's in frame as well. Nothing is happening, the story is told through the perspective of the 2 main characters to the detriment of the show. We never see other people's perspectives and there are no external conflicts being addressed.

The final scene ends with a standard monologue, something you could see happening 6 episodes back. To me it felt like they found some random buzzword quotes on a 14-year old's Tumblr page about love and went backwards from there to tell a relationship that would satisfy the ending. You could've easily condensed this show into 3 episodes for each of the couples and ended with the monologue and had the same exact effect. The show simply dragged on nothing for too long.

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