Reactions to Kang Ji Hwan in "Lie To Me"

1) Are he and Eun Hye dating?
2) Is he gay?

LOL.... yep. Anyway, I clearly don't understand this article but it looks like something about costars dating and Ji Hwan + Eun Hye and Micky Yoochun + Lee Da Hae (yeah, right) are mentioned and it looks like their agencies have denied that they are dating.

Of course, as we know, an agency's denial carries no weight. 

How important is the writing in a drama?

For me, the writing is most important which is why unless the chemistry is really bad, I can ship any couple the writer wants me to ship as long as the writer gives me a real reason to. Which is why you won't find me complaining about the chemistry between leads as long as the writing indicates that the characters should be together. I guess you can say I often get swept up more by the writing than the actors. Of course, there are instances this might not work if the girl looks 16 but the guy looks 40 and I might end up being too distracted by the mismatch to notice the amazing writing.

And this leads me to Lie To Me. Clearly, the writer was lost at the beginning and everyone was pissed. This cost the production the Korean audience who was willing to give the drama a chance at first. But something else is going on. While the Korean audience no longer seems that interested, the online audience is rabid. Why is this so? It can't be the writing because although the writing has improved, it's still not awesome. Korean dramas often recycle stuff but there's still nothing particularly different or even engaging about this drama. So what is it?

I think it's the YEH factor. Ah Jung, in my opinion, is not the type of girl I wish I was but she's played by YEH whose got a certain appeal that many fans love. Plus the chemistry with Kang Ji Hwan is pretty damn good. So is that enough for us to be interested in the story? Not really the meat of the drama but the gravy? Not the actual cake but the frosting?

So in the end, the actors often play a role in how successful a drama might be. Anyone who watched Secret Garden had to agree that the actors really made that drama shine. Not even their actual acting talents but simply who they were. But that writer did it much better. She made sure the first few episodes were interesting enough to capture the audience before she started writing repetitive scenes to fill up time. By then, all factions of the audience (writing lovers and actor lovers) were emotionally invested in the story and even when the writing didn't do much, the actors could cover the difference.

So what's the point of this post other than stating the obvious? I guess I'm just wondering why this drama has such a huge online presence that many better written dramas do not have. Is it really the power of YEH? Which is not to say that the Korean viewers with Neilsen boxes aren't charmed by YEH but maybe majority of them are writing lovers.

One of my favorite songs...

... and I wonder if this is more of my current philosophy which is why in Lie To Me I would prefer he get back with his ex? I wonder if I watched MNIKSS for the first time this year... I wonder if I would hate his ex at first sight like I did when I saw it 5 years ago.

But then again, maybe not. Maybe it's just because actor chemistry aside, the writer hasn't really given me a reason to want them to be together like say Kang and Ji Hyun or Yoon Sung and Na Na or even Soon Geum and Gun Woo even though he's being an ass right now (still haven't watched ep 8 of RT yet, though).

Hmm... this is what happens when I watch too many dramas at the same time. But speaking of OTPs, I'm not even sure who the OTP of Asuko March is but I guess I can take either guy.

She has all her romantic angst with one guy but you can never trust jdramas. They can have the girl have all the romantic drama with a guy for 9 episodes then in the last 2 episodes, she realizes she really loves the guy who's been a good friend the whole time. So with this drama, I'll just be a casual viewer with no ship. 

Yoon Joo and Sang Hee

I've been very adamant about not wanting these two to end up together but seeing this picture makes me want to ship them. I'm so pathetic. :(

This Is Really Goodbye, Lie To Me OST by M to M

This is currently the only song I like off the soundtrack. It's a sad song about letting go of love. It was played during both girls' scenes. lol. Ki Joon you bastard, stop hurting the women who love you. lol. I just feel bad for Yoon Joo and know I will keep feeling bad for her throughout the drama. Poor girl. I just hope she doesn't turn crazy and become really evil.



lol, I read a comment on youtube where someone hoped it wouldn't end like Coffee House where LJS ended up with the old girl. lmao, but isn't it as clear as a bright, summer day that Ki Joon and Ah Jung will end up together or someone in their right mind will have YEH end up alone while the unknown girl ends up with the guy? Wake up, Worry worts! lol

Lie To Me vs Romance Town

What do you do when you have a large ensemble cast but one central love story? You establish a relationship between the leads very early on.

Romance Town has a bunch of maids and a bunch of plots but the OTP is Soon Geum and Gun Woo. We need to establish backgrounds and stories for the numerous characters but to keep us from feeling that it's all just a waste of time, by episode 2, it was made clear that these two had some positive feelings for each other. And done in a realistic fashion. So while we might be looking forward to their love story unfolding, we aren't as anxious.

Lie To Me, on the other hand, has a multitude of plots but can't seem to figure out a way to put the leads together. If they spend 5 minutes together in an episode, it must be a gift from Santa. So when they spend time on all the other plots, it all just feels like filler. And it's suffering from the opposite illness of Greatest Love which I felt stuck the leads together for far too long in the earlier episodes. But when it comes to kdramas and OTP, too much is definitely better than too little.