No. of episodes: 16 (each 1 hour long)
This K-drama came as a suggestion on my Netflix Homepage, so I got curious after reading the plot and started watching it. The first episode seemed a bit boring and I started having second thoughts about continuing further. I asked people’s suggestions regarding it and almost everyone gave a positive review, so here I am giving it another try. I hope you will enjoy reading the blog :)
The Plot
The story revolves around three childhood best friends, Lee Se-Ju, Choe Su-ji, and Kwon Si-Hyeon, who are going through a family crisis and so they try to find warmth and support from each other. Su-ji and Si-Hyeon make a bet on Eun Tae-hui falling for Si-hyeon’s charms and that is how the story unveils its twists and turns. ══════════════════
About the Characters
Tae-hui is a practical and ambitious girl, who believes in working hard to achieve her dreams. She is bold, stands up for right and wrong, and does not feel shy to express her true mind.
Si-Hyeon though looks like a rich spoiled brat in the initial episodes but turns out to be a soft-hearted person as his character unfolds. He loves his best friends and is always worried that they will be disappointed if he gives too much attention to Tae-hui.
Su-ji has a lot of family crisis going on and has a strained relationship with her mother. Due to this, she finds warmth and support in her two best friends and gets constantly worried thinking that they will leave her someday.
Se-Ju loves his friends like family and is ready to do anything for them. At times he is the one holding the group together. He secretly likes Choe Su-ji but is afraid to show her his true feelings, I feel for him.═══════════════
What I liked about the Drama
I liked the characters of Si-Hyeon and Se-Ju especially, they have great comic timings and at times it is their ‘funny jokes’ which saves the drama.
All the scenes in the Old Age Home were very touching, especially the ones with Si-Hyeon. It was a warm feeling to see how all the grandmas were enjoying their time with each other. But it was also highlighted that though the elderly don’t express, they always wait for volunteers to come and spend some time with them. ══════════════════
What could have been improved
The first episode did not quite grab my attention and I almost ended up dropping it. Most of the dramas I have seen out of curiosity had an attention-grabbing pilot episode. That is one of the techniques to make viewers continue watching the rest of the story, so in this case, ‘Tempted’ had a weak start for me. But unlike the first episode, the last one was very intriguing and had a dramatic twist to it. It seemed to me as if the direction got better as the show progressed towards the end.
Also, there were many times when the scenes were cut short all of a sudden and the transition seemed messy. Later on, the left-out part of the initial scene would be added to another different storyline.══════════════════
Some Hard Truths
Sometimes parents work day and night to earn more money, thinking that their children will then live a comfortable life. But is that really what the children want? They want to have their parents by their side when they are happy or sad. They want their mothers to listen to them and their fathers to appreciate them for their achievements. ‘Just be with me’ — that’s all they want.
Love minds no age or conditions and true feelings never fade away, we just hide them to save ourselves from rejection and sadness. The drama showed how two middle-aged people, who loved each other 20 years ago still feel the same way about each other. Also, it showed how a middle-aged woman fell in love with her soon to be husband, when she already knew that the marriage was nothing more than a business deal.
There is a thin line between love and friendship and most of the time people’s lack of acknowledging this fragility is what destroys the relation. This was the case with Su-ji and Si-hyeon, they had been friends since childhood and thought it was their right to barge into each other’s personal lives until Tae-hui came. All these misunderstandings affected their friendship badly.
Special Mention
Woo Do-hwan’s voice is so good and I have such a big weakness for deep voices! Also, loved his emotional scenes, he shows huge potential. ════════════════
That is all for now, bye until next time!🤗
