239. Legend of the Blue Sea 푸른 바다의 전설 (2016) Korean

Jun Ji Hyun, Lee Min Ho, Sung Dong Il, Lee Hee Joon, Shin Won Ho

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Why did I start this one?  Not for Lee Min Ho (obviously).  I do like Jun Ji Hyun, but not for her either.  It was because of Jo Jung Suk's cameo.  Also, Sung Dong Il was the bad guy.  Because of those two alone, I endured the rest of this.  Actually, it was much better than I thought it was going to be.  I actually really loved it up until the last half of it.  I liked the premise with fate repeating itself and flashing back and forth from their past lives to their current lives, etc.  So when the show was about the mermaid, I loved it.  When Sung Dong Il was the main bad guy, I loved it.  He is just an amazing actor who could take a psychopath and make him sympathetic.  Then the makjang took over with the evil mom and "hyung" (who totally looked younger than Lee Min Ho) and I actually forgot that she was a mermaid.  Now if the whole thing were about that makjang and not about the mermaid, I would have been fine with it, I like good (haha, I mean bad) makjang.  But when makjang takes over a different genre, then it becomes a problem.  I really forgot she was a mermaid (it wasn't important any more at that part) and I forgot he was a conman.  I always struggle with Lee Min Ho the most when he's being sad and serious (or mopey).  He is fine acting like a conman, and they were an adorable couple, but every time he cried I am not moved.  I just can't believe it.  He's not a good crier I guess.  I would be like "oh no, Lee Min Ho is sad now" and proceed to check the latest Twitter updates.  They wrapped up all the makjang really fast, as they realized that it was out of place, so our villain didn't even get the ending he deserved.  He was too cool to be wrapped up in that sloppy manner.  Sad day.  The last episode was really boring and drawn out.  Whatever.  So by the end of it I wasn't even paying attention that much and was playing Go Stop while watching.  So, while it probably started out a 7 or an 8, by the end it was probably a 5 or a 6.  Jo Jung Suk was a 10.  He outshone everyone in the scenes he was in.  I was like "who is that squid next to him?" when he was interacting with Lee Min Ho.  He was just too charismatic.  Overall everyone was great and the show was good, it just had the sloppy writing in the second half curse, like most dramas do.  I did wish that Tae Ho (aka my Shin Boo) had more screen time.  He makes good faces.