As Três Irmãs (2022)

little women but real humans

both this drama and the 2020 adaptation of the novel 'little women' were really good and feminist in nature. i don't have to explain why the 2020 movie was so revolutionary because really it speaks for itself but in this drama, the feminist tones are more subtle in nature.

our main character (albeit disliked by a lot) was someone who openly defied the usual female main character mold for whom money does not matter at all. she openly claims to like money and is willing to play a little dirty to get it. also, she has been divorced, she works a normal job and she openly states wanting to marry a rich man! what an unusual main character! she is not a superhuman though. she's just normal, average and ordinary. she isn't sending people flying with just one punch, she's just trying to live her life and provide for her younger sisters. she likes girly things (she is LIKE the other girls), she likes lip glosses and she still likes to binge on ice cream. she knows she's popular among men, she isn't modest about it. yet, she knows she is not very intelligent and is honest about her depositions. injoo feels like a real person. she is not a blank slate you can project on, she is not the quirky 'not like other girls' character, she isn't park shin hye's 'the heirs' character. she's somewhere in the middle. she is an amalgamation of all the heroines who weren't given a chance to be themselves, who were put in a box, who were just there to be the male lead's arm candy- the difference is that she was actually allowed to be who she was. she is oh injoo and she is a real person trying to get by.

our second sister is oh inkyung. now oh inkyung is a badass, okay? for me, she is the most relatable out of the three sisters. i could see so much of myself in her that her scenes were sometimes hard to watch. as a highly sensitive person, navigating the world could be hard. when every single thing affects you and you let yourself be affected by it, your life is anything but a smooth sailing ride. ignorance isn't for us. inkyung is tough yet soft, she is determined yet wavering. she has a strong sense of justice and for her, justice is more important than money. although, she juggles between what is more important: her family or justice which is understandable. she is rash and makes some horrible decisions but they come from a place of wanting to do the right thing. inkyung loses and loses during the entirety of the show but her morals never lose. she's what i call a 'strong female lead'. she is a superwoman but not in the sense that she can land a punch on you and you are done (sorry saebom from happiness, this all feels targeted at you) or even using a bitchy attitude to overpower you. she uses facts, logic and yes, emotions to defeat her nemeses. and although it's slow, she surely wins at the wind which is so satisfying to watch.

our third sister is oh inhye. to inhye, her sisters' love is suffocating. it is a burden. she can be immature at times but that is okay, she is just a teenager. she is our meg march. although, she is still very different from the actual meg march. she too chooses true love over anything else. for inhye, chosen family is much more important than your real family. while it is an obligation for injoo and inkyung to love her and provide for her, hyorin loves her for who she is so sets off with the love of her life. it's a fairytale come true and although, a lot of people might think that her art is more important to her than anything else, it is actually her love for hyorin and vice versa that is the single most important thing in her life.

so these are our three sisters and who make this show what it is. there are other characters as well but none of them are written as well as our three main leads. all three of them are very different from each other, yet all three have something that connects them to each other. it is love, familiarity, obligation and duty. as the plot progresses, we see where each character's priority lies and how differently they interact with different situations and characters.

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Perhaps the only significant misstep is in the title

There's scant overlap between the source material of "Little Women" and the Korean drama that bears its name. Louisa May Alcott's novel has three sisters that struggle in a family afflicted by poverty, but there's only scattered other parallels between the present drama and either the novel or previous adaptations. And perhaps the most jarring twist in an almost endless string of them is the one that hits quite early on - that this is not at all what a viewer would expect from something called "Little Women".

Kim Go Eun, Nami Ji Hyun and Park Ji Hoo play the sisters In Joo, In Kyung and In Hye respectively. In Joo is a bookkeeper in a corporate office but an outcast among the staff. In Kyung is a reporter at a news station where she seems to get the worst possible assignments like covering a typhoon from the middle of the typhoon. In Hye is a prodigy at oil painting but resents that her older sisters sacrifice for her to pursue her art.

The narrative kicks off with In Joo's only friend at work nonchalantly asking her to help with a side business project she's been working on. And then bad things start happening and it's not clear who's behind them, but there's little question that the Won family and Uhm Ki Joon's Park Jae Sang who has married in to the family are involved. Before long, each of the In sisters entangles herself with this clan and it very likely will not be a healthy relationship.

Kim Hee Won directs and does so masterfully. The production value across the board is flawless. It is exceptionally well shot. The sound editing and score are sublime. The wardrobe, hair and makeup crews killed it. Each episode is a compelling watch in isolation and as the tension builds quite quickly early on, it only ratchets tighter as the series progresses.

The cast is led by some big names like Kim Go Eun and Nam Ji Hyun and Wi Ha Joon. Of those three, Nam Ji Hyun stands out, although all are very good. There's some terrific performances by supporting cast too. Gong Min Jung is a viciously combative colleague of In Kyung. Kim Mye Sook plays a distant, wealthy relative of the In sisters and is terrific. Park Bo Kyung is a frightening operative working for Park Jae Sang.

But the most captivating work is by Uhm Ji Won. Her Won Sang A is definitely not a mentally well person. Is she simply a spoiled princess of the powerful Won family? There's a lot more than that (A WHOLE LOT MORE) and while plenty of mystery surrounds the character, when she's on screen, everything else shrinks. It is hands down the best supporting performance in the genre this year.

If there are flaws, it's that the screenplay gets a little too tricksy at times to feint this way and that. Most often, things are adequately explained, but not always. And there's some inconsistencies in how much control a powerful group holds over courts and judges and prosecutors and the media. At times, it is unlimited and a moment later, they are no more powerful than a corner convenience store.

Highly recommended for the above reasons as well as what is unquestionably the cameo appearance of 2022. "Little Women" is almost certainly the best drama of 2022.

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The Clickbait

Little Women is a Korean Thriller Drama adapted from the novel "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, until it wasn’t.

Before reviewing the drama itself, I will try to define this matter without spoiling anything from the novel and the drama.

~Novel & Drama Comparison~

The novel revolves around the life of 4 sisters from a poor family. Each of them has her own personality, flaws, charms, worries and dreams, creating her own path in life. All of them together create a chaotic & dynamic companionship filled with many happy, sad, comforting but above all, sisterhood moments. The novel is set in the 1860s, but the core of its story is timeless. Thus, whatever changes plot wise, as long as the adaptation stays true to the original story’s vibes, it will successfully deliver the original message.

But this particular adaptation, despite having Little Women’s family tree (kind of), has nothing else in common with the novel. It’s a pure Makjang with a completely independent story, which is not even slightly inspired from the novel as its conflict between poor and rich is the most common theme in Makjang. It looks like the writers had a story already planned in mind and used the novel as a reference in order to promote it.

The Drama production should have mentioned the novel only for copyright purposes and of course, they should have used a different title. The fact that they didn’t, was a foul move which makes the drama a clickbait, something I personally can’t ignore.

I’d advise you to not start the drama thinking it is a modern retelling of Little Women. Think of the drama as another Makjang and don’t get scammed by the drama’s sly marketing. This way, you will enjoy the drama, or not, but at least the reason of deciding to watch Little Women will be sincere.

~The Story~

So where to start and where to finish with that chaotic mess which is called "story"? Ι have many issues with it and to set the record straight, the drama not being actually a modern adaptation of Little Women didn’t affect the story’s rating more than 1 point in my books.

~Main theme & escalation

Little Women consists of 12 episodes and its story is actually very fast paced as a lot of things are happening in a very short amount of time. The first 2 episodes gave the drama a very promising start while they set a thrillery and mysterious aura around the main characters. Also, the sisters were presented having different personalities and problems, that could be explored through the story. But unfortunately all these didn't last long.

As the story escalated, it turned into a vendetta between the poor sisters and the wealthiest family in the nation. And that’s all folks, nothing else is going to happen except from a series of unfortunate plot twists alongside stupid actions (and some plot holes, because why not?).

In the name of suspense and uprediction the writer made a story with more ups and downs than a harmonic oscillation diagram. The result of it was two, 1) to make an unfocused story with an unclear goal from the writer's perspective which couldn't lead to any conclusion 2) to make the story complicated and confusing without any specific reason. In addition, the story consisted of some fiction elements which made it even more unrealistic and far-fetched.

The climax of the above was the final act, the last 2 episodes. As the story was processing it got messier and messier to the point that there wasn't any way for the story to reach an epilogue. So, what happened? A plot twist coming straight from the Neverland worked as Deus ex machina and saved the day with the most simple and canceling way possible.

~The Characters

Even though at first it seemed that the Sisters were well written characters, they weren't. Generally, the drama was very plot driven (not that it had a certain plot as I said but anyway) so actually none of the characters had any space to grow and develop. Oh In Joo, the main character from the sisters, was bound to be naive girl who loves money, her sisters and making stupid decitions. Oh In Kyung was supposed to be the cleverest sister but oh well, at least she tried. The little sister Oh In Hye could draw, that's it, she was a moving puppet during the whole drama.

The flatness of the main heroines didn't bother me so much though. What frustrated me most was the poor reference to the phenomenon of alcoholism which is a very serious matter that can't be portrayed in a drama as lightly as it was portrayed in Little Women. The story had the easiest solution to alcohol addiction: just to forget that it was ever mentioned in the previous episodes. This just proves how much the writer cared about giving the drama a decent story and an ending that would respect the time which viewers had spent on it.

~The Production~

Production wise, Little Women is masterfully made. From visuals to music, to styling, to framing and directing, Little Women is one of the most exceptional Korean productions I have ever witnessed till now. Thus the drama was very captivating and putting aside the plot, very enjoyable to watch. But if you care the slightest about the plot, the drama felt like a present with extraordinarily beautiful wrapping which was empty inside.

~Conclusion~

Well, Little Women is not a drama that I would recommend in general as I believe the story doesn't have anything to offer. I tend to ignore things that bother me in the stories, trying to find the meaning behind everything the writer wanted to do and tell through their story, but Little Women hit me under the belt countless times, so in the end, I couldn't ignore any of these triggers.

On the other hand, if you are willing to turn off your brain and enjoy the view, maybe Little Women can be an enjoyable and visually beautiful ride for you, as it was from the eyes of many other people who watched it.

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Sisterhood caught up in a conspiracy

Likes:
1) Kim Go Eun and Nam Ji Hyun being in the same drama - When I heard that 2 of my favorite actresses were going to star in the same kdrama, I was elated with excitement because that rarely ever happens. I absolutely loved watching the sisterhood or womance between them and their natural acting continues to shine in my eyes.
2) Wi Ha Joon - this guy is so hot! Not only is he great at acting, but he's also so versatile and he's good at action. I thought he perfectly portrayed his character. You never knew which side he was on. I look forward to seeing him showcase more of his abilities in the future (Maybe a bigger role in Squid games 2?)
3) The interactions between In Joo and Choi Do Il. Although the romance is light as this is a conspiracy mystery, I was completely hooked on the question of will they or won't they.
4) All the twists. I really enjoyed not knowing where the story would end up...that is until I found out who the villain was which brings me to:

Dislikes:
1) Once the Villain is revealed in the latter half, the story becomes a bit too over the top. You will def have to suspend your belief and overlook some ridiculous loopholes at the very end.
2) Having the title Little Women, you would expect more similarities to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, but I didn't find that to be the case, but it has been awhile since I've read that book.
3) The character development could have been better. There were a handful of times where the character was doing something that seemed "out of" character. We weren't shown enough to understand why they were acting a certain way.

But overall, I enjoyed 75% of this drama. I liked all the twists and cliffhangers leading up to the villain reveal, but especially loved seeing 3 of my fav people in a drama together.

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Outrageous but interesting plot led by three unlikable sisters.

My final review after the series completion. I’ll just list some questions and comments and end it.

1. Deep down, I knew they were going to bring back Hwa Yong. I was so hoping not but they did it. And the explanation about another woman who was suicidal she met happened to be at her place to be killed? Maybe I missed some details but major sigh.

2. So everyone saw Sang A murdering someone. I get that it was a video they couldn’t verify but at least, she’d get detained for investigation? She just walked out of the courthouse and business as usual. This enabled her to go on (almost) a murder spree.

3. Speaking of Sang A, how is she so powerful and rich? I get that her dad set up some stuff and his people infiltrated the society at different levels for a long time but I’m not sure if that explains the influence and wealth. Does she own Samsung? Hyundai or both?

4. If she’s so powerful, why did they try so hard to be the mayor and then the president? Apparently, it wasn’t that important at the end because she casually “killed” her husband.

5. Is the Orchid Society a cult? How do they control the members so that they would just give their lives? What were they promised? Eternal life? Maybe some members may feel like they owe a lot to the general but really?

6. If Sang A owns the police and the media and whatever else, why didn’t she own the judicial system?

7. When Haw Young entered the courtroom, she was given the most underwhelming response to her being alive by other characters, especially by Sang A. I would’ve fallen off the chair and screamed at the least.

8. I think, ultimately, the writer and director just fell in love with their crazy ideas and kept adding more and more shocking/convoluted stuff and things got away from there. I wish they actually thought about how all these ideas would work together or were even remotely feasible in that fictional world before they kept adding.

9. Maybe Kim Go Eun’s movie career is winding down? I think she’s great and she’s acted well here but this show feels like it’s beneath her?

10. So Sang A was so nuts that her father’s people didn’t choose her as the successor. But they left her to do her crazy stuff and risked ruining everything? Which she did. Hmm.

Review after Ep. 10

So I came to realize that this is a soap opera rather than a drama. Soap operas often sacrifice logic and realism for the sake of sensationalism. Storyline has gotten more and more convoluted and extreme with constant bait and switch. Rating lowered to 5.

Review after Ep. 8

This show just became one of the dumbest show ever.

The main character is literally the dumbest person ever. She thought her friend was alive after seeing her dead. She walks in to her dead friend’s apartment and drinks an iced drink without asking why or who made it. OMG.

And, of course, it’s the wife of the bad guy…. I knew it. This is nuts. I see the rating dropping but we’ll see.

Initial review after Ep. 5

For whatever reason, I thought this was a comedy. So I was a bit dumbfounded after the first two episodes. I’m looking forward to how the storyline unfolds. I do think it’s a bit coincidence heavy with every sister being involved with the villain’s (?) family but it is K-drama’s favorite way to advance the plot so…

I hope the villains don’t turn out to be the usual bad people. I hope they try a bit harder to be creative this time. But so far, the shadowy villain seems all powerful so most likely not.

Kim Go-Eun is such a great actress. She’s so natural but I feel like she’s overacting here, especially, when she’s in trouble. The way her face contorts basically shows she’s guilty. Also, the character she plays isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. She can’t put two and two together and can’t act cool if her life depended on it and it literally depends on her trying to hide the fact that she’s got the money. And the way she just brought a pile of cash to a strange woman right after being told to be careful with money! Wow. It’s like she wants everyone to know she has a pile of cash.

And by all means, let’s talk about the secret ledger in the middle of a freaking cafeteria loudly! But the plot must advance, I guess.

I can’t figure out the middle sister. She seems like the smart one but we’ll see what role she plays here. The youngest one seems to be there just to play the impressionable kid acting like a pawn. Not interesting at all.

The biggest flaw of this show, so far, is that none of three sister is likable. The oldest is dumb and clueless, the second is a drunk, pseudo-activist hothead and the youngest one lives in an alternate reality. It’s like she’s not affected by the way her friend’s parents act. She’d rather live with violent rich people rather than her poor sisters. They want us to sympathize with them but failed miserably.

Where are they going with the orchid? Is it super natural? Drug induced hallucinations? They keep digging deeper and deeper to make everyone suspicious but I hope they know what they’re doing and tie all this up in a satisfying way.

Hope it goes well. It’s promising that it’s a 12 episode show so hoping for a tight storyline without much fluff.

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March sisters walked so Oh sisters could run.

The first report about this remake had me excited to the seven heavens; I was overjoyed not only to have a Korean version of one of my favorite classic novels plus movie adaptations but also to see how exactly they blend it into a sageuk (historical). Was a little upset upon learning that it’ll be based in modern urban times but it didn’t take long me to make terms with it. However, starting the drama and finishing two episodes left me very confused and had me pondering about the intentions of the makers. Not long after, I had to realize that only a few elements of the original have been picked up for the so-called remake and hence this one deserves no comparison. So, what are the similarities?

◆ Sisters (4 there, 3 here) living with their mother; father long gone to places.
◆ An artist among the sisters (2nd one there, 3rd one here).
◆ Poverty-stricken lifestyle, hard ways of earning food and necessities.
◆ The great grand-aunt who favors the middle sister for her intelligence and tenacity.
◆ The prince charming with not-so-significant role, two distinct male leads here.

Let me know if I missed out any ;)

Developed and produced by ‘Studio Dragon’,” Little Women (작은 아씨들)” is supposedly a loose adaptation of the 1868 classic novel of the same title by Louisa May Alcott. Screenwriter Chung Seo Kyung creates the story in a modern Seoul-styled Korean backdrop with essence of thriller, melodrama and makjang while Kim Hee Won takes charge of direction. The 12-episode drama was originally broadcasted on tvN and internationally distributed by Netflix. Several parts of the major happenings of the drama were also filmed in Singapore.

The original plot is about struggles, love, compassion and dreams, whereas this adaption is about greed, goals, urges, fear, somewhere love and of course, dreams. The story follows a poor Oh family of three sisters with separate professional goals who, without their consciousness, get involved with the richest family of Korea and a supposed cult that is connected trough a mysterious orchid, which starts with a missing sum of 70 billion won.

Oh In Joo (Kim Go Eun), the eldest sister, works for a salaried office job and having lived in extreme poverty, she dreams about money and wishes to live an ordinary life. Oh In Kyung (Nam Ji Hyun), the middle sister, is a righteous reporter who doesn’t value money and starts working on a case that was long-forgotten in order to unveil the truth. Oh In Hye (Park Ji Hu), the youngest sister, is an aspiring artist who gets acknowledged for her natural skills though she is a realist and considers her sisters’ love for her as a burden.

Choi Do Il (Wi Ha Joon) is a part of Wonryong Group whereas Oh Hye Suk (Kim Mi Sook) is the Great Grand Aunt and Ha Jong Ho (Kang Hoon) is her neighbor and childhood friend of In-kyung. Park Jae Sang (Um Ki Joon) is a politician aspiring to become Seoul’s Mayor while his wife Won Sang A (Uhm Ji Won) is the daughter of Wonryong Group, created by her father Commander General Won Ki Sun (Lee Do Yeop); Park Hyo Rin (Jeon Chae Yeon) is their daughter, also an artist who is In-hye’s best friend.

Other familiar faces in the drama are Jo Seung Yun, Gong Min Jung, Park Bo Kyung, Park Ji Young, Lee Min Woo, Kim Myung Soo, etc. Several big faces have made special appearances: Song Joong Ki, Oh Jung Se, Choo Ja Hyun and Jang Gwang.

Its initially mystifying and allows one to think what might be the intentions of the writer though the follow-up picks up very entertaining and baffling elements creating arousing intrigues within the mind. The furtherance was as amazing with gradual disclosure of more engaging facts about several plotlines, major or minor, and what perplexed me the most was the storytelling and its naturalness despite a mixture of idealistic, realistic and real factors. There was this episode around the interval, that I clearly don’t recall, did felt a little off; the period where things were static and nothing huge seemed to be on its way, not like it became boring or something though. The later half was definitely much more marvelous with each episode bearing several peaks and each of them competing to excel. I was personally taken aback at episode 8 and how the presentations got the best of me, so this is my most favorite, though the show kept surprising even more in the rest 4 episodes. The ending

Writer virtuoso Jung Seo Kyung, known for her prodigious portrayals in staggering women-centric scripts, has once again proved how efficient her skills are to bewitch the audience and finest her creations to stagger the viewers. Admittedly and provenly, a copy-paste remake ain’t her style as reflected in “The Handmaiden”, so the decision to convert a classic English melodrama into a contemporary thriller with justifying dynamics and stupefying elements which turns out to be an appealing and positively appalling masterpiece.
Fascinating character arcs are a specialization of jakka-nim which undoubtfully is finely incorporated with satisfying development. The script is a bag full of whiplash twists, evenly distributed throughout and the picturesque convulsions that serve as delicious dishes of a sumptuous brunch. The theme creation is as bemusing as we see the ghost orchid, its backstory, the people it connects to and how it is at the center of everything.

Acquiring great skills despite less experience within a short period of time, is what Kim Hee Won known for. However, her previous work was a blunder that was finally recognised as a trumpery; though the script was hugely to blame. To see her work of creativity has always been a pleasure and without a second thought she strives to better. On that note, the cinematography of the drama is mesmerizing, from aesthetic shots to extravagant frames and swift yet detailed movement/shift, everything did their job in minds. The screenplay was visibly well-planned as the progression is periodic rather than episodic, seizing the viewer into one plotline but confusingly forcing them to other, albeit the manner was very comfortable thereby maintaining the quality.
What I also loved about the visuals are the reasoned and well-defined backdrops and setups. The Seoul-ic vistas of light and dark hue with polychromatic shades were very eye-savoring outside while rather plain and simplistic colors inside the mansions and buildings also did exhibit the contrast in between. The attempts to draw frame-wise parallels within the same show between the two halves were very ecstatic; admittedly, I wouldn’t have noticed if not for one of the users’ feed posts here.

Composed by Park Se Joon, there are two OSTs in the drama:
# “Enough” by Zior Park
# “La vie” by SOLE

(70 billion won-Truth-Art: Money-Justice-Dreams) … This is how I will draw the outline of the way the three sisters were connected to the show; one who thought money could solve all the problems, one who believed justice will bring everything to peace and one who desired art will help her escape. The combination could result in only one thing, money laundering through art pieces, haha. But the drama is much more than just power trip, greed for wealth and artistic perspective. Indeed, with her cinematic excellence, the writer uses the tool of social sin and the feelings of superior connivance in order to establish a story that reminds us how human mind is a complex matter that could cause catastrophes in the world while only truth and remain constants of time.

Oh In Joo was the most natural of a character in my opinion and apparently Kim Go Eun was the most suitable person for the role, provided her ongoing saga in “Yumi’s Cells” is also one hell of a realistic thing. From her desire for money to her being clueless and from acting cautiously to strangers to being overtly sensitive to everything, just average human being. Clearly, the best character development given to the one at the exact center, performed and excelled.

Nam Ji Hyun could have been used better, not like she was underwhelming or something, but in a way, I believed, both the character Oh In Kyung and the actress herself held lot more potential than what we saw. There were instances Inkyung was just pure dumb, as in dumb for someone who was a journalist plus it was visible the way she struggled a bit at first, which was a given since I don’t recall her playing such a fierce character(?). Anyways, it was satisfying to see her in action at times and how she changed from the beginning to end.

Oh In Hye had a magnificent arc to begin with and the actress did perform very well with her expressions and delivery. However, I was a little upset the way she was limited in the latter half; as in they forgot about her existence for some time and brought her back absurdly like oh she is a part too? All I mean her share of screentime did not suffice as someone who is tagged as a main character everywhere. Otherwise, her dynamics were naturally that of a rebelling teenager. Also loved how the makers decided to end the show with her prologue story and monologue note. The actress playing Hyorin did not have anything significant about her but she was good nevertheless.

Choi Do Il as a character is probably one of the most mysterious you will ever see and Wi Ha Joon should be commended for carrying it very well. His on and off dimension will apparently become the reason half of the audience will develop trust issues in real life. The introduction wasn’t really grand, rather felt he’d be only playing on the surface (to me at least), but the maker’s way of playing with their audiences’ mind worked like some sort of crazy drugs wow. I am not sure whether I should be saying that I was impressed but there was a point I just decided to sit at a corner with popcorn in m hand and see what he is upto. Nonetheless, I was happy at them screaming how he loves only one thing at the end of the day.

The drama is a heavy thriller; although it offered few bright and comforting elements, it mostly exhibited dystopia. Some events could be very frustrating like you are gonna drag a character out and beat the organs outta them. The plot devices like the orchid, the red heel and the architecture did serve as amazing scopes in order to create an artful story filled with thrills and excitement. And the progression is very unpredictable and mysterious for the current trend in K-thrillers, no doubt the screenwriter is a cinema maker; loved the suspense at the end of each episode as well. A galore of twists might even feel like burden in some episodes but their outcomes are relieving in some way. Again, the symbolisms, backed by their ingenious metaphors make the drama more entertaining.

The group of antagonists were not really one of a kind but the performance of the cast was what made them lively. Both Uhm and Um for the seasoned actors they are, did put forward an enthralling and captivating show, and the bad times we had clenching our teeth stands witness to it.

I believe March sisters’ struggle to keep up their dining table occupied helped Oh sisters to not just protest but fight against capitalism as they indulged themselves with the evil, for the sake of prosperity and justice though separately. Their dispute with reality urges them to opt paths they thought would be treacherous and relying on a single straw they not only strive to remain true to themselves but also thrive like a single blade of grass in the dessert. Through thick and thins, this remake remains grounded to the original in portraying how the littleness of everyone leads to a grand world of big beauties

The finale was as satisfying in the sense, it was not rushed, or even dragged unnecessarily, rather every bit of it felt good. It is not an open ending either as some people might think though in my opinion they left one plothole regarding the burried pendrive. But again, in a way, the evidence was not really useful. The ending sequence was smooth and also made mr realize that Choi Do Il's efforts were equalized with his manupulative and intelligent skills.

A personal and silly observation about the show that I made towards the ending, was that the in-situ viewership was very accurately concurrent with the qualitative graph that I have made in my mind, i. e. my episode-wise rating. Idk why I thought it was necessary to mention it here but here you go TT.

Final Remarks… A show made by women, led by women and prospered by women was quite a piece of thrilling experience as Little Women hits the floor this time around. The time will cite the show as something that is not a good remake but nevertheless a great show, which is a perfect balance between the original and the adaptation. From high production values to outstanding presentation and from enchanting performance to entertaining outcomes, this was a unique approach and definitely a must watch and easily one of the best thrillers of 2022.

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More Alice in Wonderland than Little Women

Loosely based on Little Women is the sort of loose that happens when the elastic in your trackies gives way and they drop to your ankles in a wrinkled heap. Yes they are still trackies, but not obviously so. I spent the first episode distracted by trying to unsuccessfully work out how this drama maps to the book. But I was looking in the wrong place, because, although there are parallels to be found, the map is really in the theme: the significance of money.

This is fundamentally a story about money and its sidekick—power (the perennial obsessions of K-dramas, well maybe most dramas actually…). How and why it shapes lives, morals, choices and character. How poverty shapes your mentality and expectations. What you are willing to let it buy and what that does to your integrity. What risks you are willing to take to acquire and keep it. Under what conditions you will let it go. The price that your decisions exact from both you and those around you.

It puts the protectors, helpers, underminers and benefactors of the wealthy centre stage and examines their motives and desires. This is a rare perspective and I can only remember it being the centre of a drama in one other totally brilliant case, “Secret Love Affair” (if you are interested in this aspect, watch SLA, it will not disappoint, although it’s not a thriller).

As you can guess by now, it is not the plot that makes this drama special, (more about that later) although you can simply watch it as a thriller. It’s the examination and unfolding of motive behind the fight for freedom and opportunity in a world that values money over the individual. A society that insists we fight for limited resources to fulfil not only our dreams but our basic survival as well.

It’s almost impossible for us to imagine a society not based on money. But money itself is not of course concretely real, it is simply a universally accepted system of sharing resources that becomes meaningless if we lose trust in it. It is the illusion around which our reality and dreams are built. And if you are going to be fanciful, you could watch this drama as a commentary on the system’s strengths and weaknesses and the approach people take to best work it. Given that it is compulsory to engage in this system, the question as to what is morally acceptable and what is personally justified is core to the unfolding of the narrative.

Having said all that, there are problems in my opinion with how the drama is written and presented. There’s a vibe of the sisters being ordinary people (a reference to Little Women perhaps) who are unwittingly and sometimes unwillingly mixed up in something big.

However, through most of the drama, the sisters don’t display enough realistic, long-term emotional reactions to support their ordinariness in the extraordinary and violent situations that surround them. In a normal thriller we suspend disbelief because the whole thing is not related to any recognisable reality in the first place. Here, particularly in the middle section, I am being made aware of the gap between quasi normality and the world of the story with the result that I am also very aware of suspending my disbelief. And at times I found the approach is not subtle enough to make it work.

Because the women are presented as relative amateurs, there are moments that stretched my credulity to breaking point. For instance, without any preparation and seemingly without backup, they are willing to confront people they think are probably murderers. There are scenes where professionals who would never disclose information to anyone let alone the naive woman in front of them, disclose it. Etc, etc.

There’s an odd mix of the ordinary, the extraordinary and the completely surreal. The more surreal it gets the less the ordinary women at the heart of it are credible. It turns into conspiracy theory central with hallucinogens thrown in for good measure. Whether this was intended as a reflection of the madness that money creates in people is debatable.

The plot gets increasingly bizarre and takes off in strange directions and at times loses impetus. This has a fragmenting effect which leaks tension and can be frustrating. But at other times the sense of confusion and powerlessness is very effective in putting you into the shoes of the protagonists.

Overall, this is an ambitious drama and when it works it really works, and when it doesn’t, it really doesn’t. I’m someone who is prepared to put up with stuff not always working well if an attempt is being made to experiment with something new and different. I think this drama tries to do that, so I was happy to give it the benefit of the doubt, but even my goodwill was tested beyond its limits by the end.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Leia Mais

not gonna hold my breath

Without comparing this to the novel Little Women, here is my apparently unpopular opinion:

T꙯H꙯E꙯ G꙯O꙯O꙯D꙯:
• Wi Ha Joon character was written to perfection! Now if this drama gets rewritten from his point of view as the main lead, this whole circus would’ve taken a turn towards something I would be invested in. Uncovering his story and the way he kept making me question his intentions is the sole reason that kept me watching.

T꙯H꙯E꙯ B꙯A꙯D꙯:
• The writer adapted the 3 main characters from a book and focused on ONE FREAKING personality trait for each sister and ran the whole show with it.

> InJoo: naive and money driven.
> InKyung: righteous and stubborn.
> InHye: ungrateful little brat.

Me: “Ever heard of character development?”
Writer: “Yes! I’ll just add some changes in the end and you interpret it as growth ;)”
Me: “Clever..”

• The mystery about the secret flower society was interesting but the investigation process lacked excitement & the progression was slowww. 2 sisters were too busy with their lives and our reporter was not good at being discreet or discovering shit, which made me pull my hair out and use it as a rope to hang myself. Did anyone else sleep during the majority of ep11, or was it only me? & for anyone who watched this, did the blue flower have hallucination effect or that wasn’t explained?

T꙯H꙯E꙯ M꙯E꙯H꙯:
• Unoriginal to the core. The writer binged Series of Unfortunate Events, Penthouse and then read Little Women & Cinderella.

Writer: *lightbulb* *writes script*
Producer: “You came up with all that! Let me contact typecasted actors (Uhm Ki Joon) with popular kids and we are all set! Just add some spicy scenes & substance with suicide, cause we are aiming for Netflix.”

• ACTING! Or the lack of it. Easily forgettable performances by ALL (except HaJoon).

> I love Nam Ji Hyun but I have never seen her deliver lines so flat and emotionless like her portrayal of this role. It was painful to watch her suck the life out of everything around here in this drama.
> Kim Go Eun plays the same character in everything I’ve watched so far. I dunno if I’m biased against her but she never impressed me since GoBlin days.

R꙯A꙯T꙯I꙯N꙯G꙯:
1/10. Woot! The only joy from this experience is rating this low :p

Leia Mais

Forget about the book this is not your typical slice of life drama.

Before I begin...Is there someone else who also thought Jang Ho (neighbour friend) was kinda SUS throughout the series? I mean he was giving me this weird feeling haha...well maybe it's just me.

To sum up this show- Spoonfuls of penthouse, little bit of Alcott's novel and pinch of squid games= perfect mixture of Little women ready.

This show is everything what Penthouse should be with less screaming, less over the top and unnecessary twists. The way people were coming back alive I was literally taken aback sometimes to see how similar it was to Penthouse and I still blame Joo Dan Tae... hahaha no he was not that crazy here. (Maybe a little). Please give him some good roles for god's sake but he is really good with his antagonist characters. His wife in the show however was really amazing actor I must say its been a while when I liked a negative character this much. She was the real definition of crazy. This show is star studded for sure and you know that they just cannot disappoint you. Special mention for Wa Hi Joon...this guy was like everywhere, helping everyone, rescuing everyone with a swag. He was just slaying every scene. All three female leads were amazing in their roles. You end up praying for them, cry with them, sympathize with them and annoyed with them and enjoyed with them. That was the sort of connection they build with the viewers. While one was naive the second was upright and third ambitious they remained true to their characters till the end.
Out of all three I believe third sister had it the best throughout the show. She was adored by her sisters who tried their best to make all sort of sacrifice just for her. She was even treated in the best way by the antagonists. She never looked back to see the condition of her sisters even in their worst times. So yes, she had the least character growth among them. But the ending will surely make it up to some extent. I loved the grandma the way she made everyone nervous around her. She was the definition of Domineering. I loved her.
The twists will definitely make you doubt people again and again and you will be at the edge of your seat thinking who is friend or not or when will there come a new betrayal...this show did a great job in keeping the attention of the viewers. In the end its been a while when I truly enjoyed a kdrama.
So don't be misled by the name of the show this is not what Louisa May Alcott had written. Its not the slice of life drama you will expect with the name. So go watch it you will definitely enjoy it.

Leia Mais

A Flawed and Twisted Tale of Dumb, Dumber and Ingrate

First of all, this kdrama has next to no connection to the classical American novel of the same name. It only loosely based its characters on it, namely - the three poor sisters, their rich great aunt and a male friend of the family who simps over one of the sisters. The rest is pure fiction with popular contrived tropes used in kdramas:
-evil chaebols;
-corruption;
-secret organization with unlimited power;
-off their rockers villains;
-makjang.

PLOT:
The first half of the show is great and promises a potential masterpiece. It starts fresh, with relevant topics raised about poverty, social issues and is mixed with murder mystery. Every episode manages to rile up new emotions in the audience with unexpected plot twists and sympathy for the characters suffering injustice. Small niggle starts to appear with the introduction of the conspiracy theory trope - the powerful secret society (#Illuminati), and fantastical properties of blue orchids.
And after a shocking finale of superb episode 8 it rapidly starts to go downhill with reveal that the main villain is just a deeply deranged person who likes to play with the victims before killing them. Absurdity, increased usage of makjang tropes, dumb circus and public shows are introduced in the next episodes until it all culminates in a cringey finale where none of the villains get what they deserve (they all die instead of rotting in prison for their crimes) and little women get what they deserve (money!) but at the cost of other people's fortune.
The tale of the ill gotten money, that is the catalyst of this whole plot, is a long winded one, but in the end the three sisters get their hands on it with the help of ML, even though originally it belonged to the victims of the bank made bankrupt by the villains.
The final message was supposed to be that ill gotten money is evil, it's not worth chasing if it costs someone's life, better live in honest poverty than dead or rotting in jail. But that message is completely negated by giving said money to the sisters anyway in the end. The hypocricy is apparently lost on everybody in the end, because that's where the show conveniently ends.

CHARACTERS:
First of all, lead female characters here are deliberately made dumb, flawed and reckless. It was script writer's conscious decision as was reported in the interview with her.

The dumbest of them all is the bookkeeper eldest sister, who throughout the whole drama made only 1 smart decision (to swap the cash with bricks), the rest was sheer luck or help from other characters. But what her character lacks in intelligence, is compensated by her love of her friends and family. She manages to forgive and save her friend, who basically set her up big time and put her in great danger, from certain death. And she'd do absolutely anything for her sisters. Being poor through all her life though, her next greatest love understandably is money and she makes a lot of stupid mistakes after a very large ill gotten sum of it is suddenly left to her as a gift. But stupidity must be punished, so in the end her character does suffer a bit to reflect on what she did wrong according to law. She's rewarded with her material dream by the end of the show.

The reporter middle-sister is a bit smarter than her elder sister. She is self righteous and claims to have unbending integrity and high morals, but they are heavily tested as her sisters get themselves in trouble and lawless methods that villains use make her fail to expose them again and again. In the end she succeeds in her investigation and gets together with a male long time family friend who helped/followed her throughout the episodes. However their romance from friends to lovers is very weak and that male character is one of the most useless in the whole drama.

The youngest sister is the epitome of a teenager during "a phase" - an ungrateful little brat who throughout the whole drama never once said a grateful word to her sisters who'd do absolutely anything for her. Instead, her grand plan was to get away from her poor family and get rich and comfy life quick by befriending the villains daughter. And she did succeed in that in the end without too much of a hassle, so I guess she was the smartest of them all. Some people claim that she did thank her sisters in the end by getting each of them a share of that ill gotten money. But she didn't actually, it was all ML who just accidentaly met them running away and decided to use her friend's account for a while (though he could have as easily have done it by himself). In the end her role was downsized to a minimum, a pretty selfish and consistently ungrateful character, who just had to be there because there had to be 3 sisters.

The villains of the evil secret society were several, but in the end only the main one is worthy of note. The society itself turned out to be not as powerful and omniprescient as was advertised. It's a drama about women, from women's perspective and so the main villain is also a woman. Her character development from a prim and proper house wife, that stands in support of her brilliant husband, to a crazy deranged psycho was entertaining to watch, but in the end, after her husband died for the cause, her house of cards crumbled easily and the final showdown with her was a total cringefest on par to the cringiest of the makjang dramas out there. Guess her character wasn't smart either without outside help.

And lastly whom I'd call the real main hero of this whole drama, the male lead, the guy who will give you major trust issues trauma throughout the episodes, the mysterious, the most confident and smartest of them all, the man with the plan - Choi Do-Il. He was a real safe haven of rationality and smart decisions in this drama plot's sea of random dumbassery and craziness. Probably the most favorite character of them all in this drama.
Of course, there was also his cool and badass commando father, but he was conveniently swept under the rug and forgotten about in the craziness of the last episode.

PRODUCTION VALUE:
It was excellent and just screamed quality. Cinematography was one of the best I've seen in kdramas, very well made.
Music was also very good and catchy.
Actors work overall was great as well. Kim Go Eun finally landed a role she was not a miscast for. The villains actors were absolutely infuriating to watch, they did really great, loved to hate them.
The only one who I think could have done better was the youngest sister's actress - Park Ji Hoo. She was too stiff and had samey facial expressions all the time. But since she's an underage noob I'll give her some slack.

Overall, it's an exciting and flashy drama, that reveals one shocking and unexpected twist after another at a breakneck speed, hoping you won't notice plot holes, dumbassery and shallowness under the surface. And introduction of certain badly chosen cringey tropes in later episodes ruined its twisted mess of a plot in the end. Could have been a true masterpiece otherwise, a shame. I give it a generous 8 out 10 overall.

Leia Mais

Brilliant Writing

This show deserves a great amount of love for its many things, but primarily for its innovative, suspenseful and beautifully crafted plot line. Very few kdramas pull of the intricacy of such a complex story (especially in a mere 12 episodes). There’s too much to praise so I’m just going to list my top 5 favourite things about the show:
1. Completely original, women-centric story which is mainly concerned with socio-economic issues and the desire to be wealthy. It is an age-old tale of poor people wanting more, but because of the female perspective, you can see it in an entirely new light
2. The flawed characters: Some people might dislike the 3 FL’s but that’s kind of the point. How many people in the real world read every contract thoroughly, or wouldn’t take a chance to drastically better their lives?! The sisters are relatable in their imperfections and most people irl aren’t very different. We all have our individual set of values, they can be realistic like In-Joo’s or selfish like In-Hye, and sometimes stupidly brave like In-Kyung’s. The beauty here is that they represent real women, who should be allowed to make mistakes and grow cause that’s only natural
3. The ML’s: Opposite to the FL’s with obvious issues, the ML’s are perfect and won’t ever disappoint you which creates a really nice balance between the characters
4. The villains get applause of their own, of course! I wanted to constantly murder all of them, especially the main antagonist. And that really speaks to her acting skills and how amazingly she portrayed a character so completely evil. Great work from all the negative characters
5. The eerie sound-track and the flower symbolism gets an honourable mention cause it truly tied the direction with the script and enhanced the final product very well.
(Bonus: This needs a sismance tag for all the lasting and heartfelt friendships they portrayed. Female characters supporting and truly ‘loving’ each other is a big part of the show and that’s a nice change from the stereotypes).
Lastly, this show is criminally underrated, I’m guessing because of its lack of cheesy romance and the lesser role of ML’s. People looking for that stuff will undoubtedly be disappointed. But, if someone is looking for a more adult suspense/thriller with very prominent class struggle themes, then this show is certainly worth a watch!

Leia Mais

Psychological thriller with a hell lot of money problems...

Little Women (by Louisa May Alcott) is by far one of my favourite classic literary novels and although this cannot be considered an "adaptation" or "remake" of any sort because of the vast differential cleft between the two plotlines, but I very much enjoyed the constant thrill I engaged with, while watching this concise yet fulfilling drama

The story in itself was portrayed beautifully, in my opinion by showing the very evident discrepancy between the two different money classes, statuses and families. It was interesting how they showed that while poor people dream of becoming rich, rich people dream of becoming richer and going even higher in the hierarchy of society. The innocence of the 'kids' (hyorin and inhye), and how only the people with wealth (Mr. Park and his wife) would have been able to fabricate their way towards their goals.. along with how every single scene in the drama happened for a purpose/ was a part of someone's VERY meticulous plan (will not be spoiling so do go watch it!) Every single episode left me on the edge of my seat and every shocking revelation had me pausing the episode and either screaming or gasping really loud LMFAO!! You can also literally not trust ANYONE in the show, it's traumatic.

Let's talk about how throughout the drama, Injoo thinks that other people favour her and "toy" with her because she believes she's slow-witted but she's actually undeniably one of the smartest people in the drama. Being an older sister AND without any support from her parents, she's handled her sisters and herself throughout and her decision making skills are top-notch and she really doesn't need to be book-smart for that. The chemistry with Choi Do Il was OVERFLOWING though and I was really sad because I thought they liked each other (I still think they do LOL considering he still wants to see her again but that's for our interpretation). Inkyung's character is super brash but overall, it was definitely for the better holistic cause for the plot.

The funniest thing was though.. how did Injoo take out and put in 2 WHOLE BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF BILLS IN THE LOCKER WITHOUT ANYONE SEEING? Like literally did no one suspect her? I was SO glad that Inhye and Hyorin (I actually didn't like her at the start but I sympathised with her towards the end) left the horrible corrupted mess left by the adults and I'm happy they're living a happy life together! So satisfactory that I even shed a tear towards the end! I did despise Inhye a lot because her actions always came off as rude and ungrateful towards her sisters' love towards her though.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a bit of a psychological-crime-thriller rollercoaster ride!! The casting was absolutely PERFECT and they played their roles better than I thought they would!!

Leia Mais