People are getting a little salty and sneery about the casts in this Kdrama project and most of the netizens with that opinion are those that watched Penthouse, another Kdrama that made a good name for itself. Penthouse got people talking and fans enjoyed it with a surge of anticipation.
However, the Kdrama I'm highlighting in this review is not the same as Penthouse. Fans just don't wanna give it a chance because they don't like the fact that a lot of the major characters from Penthouse were reintroduced to work together in this show.
As far as I'm concerned, I don't care about that in any way. I was genuinely interested in seeing how each of the characters will fit into a role that is completely different from the one they got in Penthouse.
Drama: Pandora: Beneath the Paradise
Genre: Action, Thriller, Drama, Melodrama.
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Release Date: March 11 - April 30, 2023
When I saw the synopsis for this show and the major characters, I didn't hesitate to fit it into my watchlist. However, when I was about to start seeing the show, I checked how folks were reacting to it and the viewers were like a house divided amongst itself. Some were really into it, while others didn't feel so good about it.
For me, I wasn't too bothered because the worst that would happen is to bash the production crew for wasting my time with the project. However, after watching the 16 episodes of the show, I must admit that the show is fairly decent to watch on a good day.
It wasn't some mind-blowing storyline for someone like myself that has seen a lot of melodramatic thrilling Kdrama. This is also not the kinda show you would nominate for an award, but it's a worthy recommendation for anyone that wants something decent to watch over the weekend.
The scripting though... The scriptwriter adds bits about Plastic surgery, illegal human test subjects and memory tampering to the show. While that was meant to play a big part in the story, it ended up being an overcomplication of a rather simple storyline. It was an unnecessary distraction.
The storyline got dragged into 16 episodes, for crying out loud. It wasn't too loose, but come on! 12 episodes would have been more compact and interesting for the kinda 'simple' story presented by the scriptwriter. I never felt a surge of anticipation while watching this. The plot twists also didn't tick the box for me.
For some reason, I still rate this as a fairly decent show. It was just unlucky to be released in 2023 when all other Kdramas are hitting the spot.
Well, the job is done on this one and I would give it 6.9/10.
Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop Or Comma. Both Images are taken from MyDramaList
