I enjoyed both seasons, but for some reason season 2 was not as consistent as season 1. In fact, it was a bit of a mess. It tried to do much more but failed. I found myself skipping whole chunks of minutes of play every so often.
The male leads in both seasons were wonderful. Ahn Bo Hyun as the dorky but sincere boyfriend Woong who wanted only the best for Yumi was so loveable that I could not help but root for him even in season 2. My heart broke to pieces when he decided to break up from Yumi (in season 1) because he felt inadequate for her. Park Jinyoung as Babi, was equally charming as the impossibly ideal next boyfriend. Of course, Kim Go-eun is Kim Go-eun. She was equally wonderful in season 2. But it must be said that these 3 actors barely managed to pull off a weak script for season 2.
The writer went overboard with the cells in Season 2. Season 1's cells were all about emotions: love, anger etc. Fashion and a few others were stray non-emotion cells but that was ok, because there were only a few of them. The premise set in season 1 was clear, crisp, and tight. Emotions and reason dictate our decisions and actions.
In season 2, there was an abundance of cells that did not make sense at all because they had no connection with how a person decides on her actions (there were even "feet" cells!). Then there was a "Writer" cell who eventually took top priority over the Love cell. Again, "Writer" isn't an emotion. It is a person. So you now have a person within a person. After breaking up and losing Love, Yumi needed to have another priority. If she decided to focus on writing, then I'd think a "Determination" cell (not quite an emotion, but close to it) would have been more appropriate, rather than a "Writer" cell.
The introduction of cells of other characters of the story such as that of Editor-in-Chief's ruined things. What on earth was that for? And instead of them looking like "cells", they were made to look like a bunch of Marvel comics characters.
The writer lost the essence behind the cells and they all became one messy group of characters. And they all tended to overpower/overwhelm the real life characters.
Too bad they messed around with the success of the cell characters of Season 1. They should have kept them the way they were: sincere and heartfelt emotions.
Then there is the matter of the break-ups and the irrational, shallow reasons behind them. First, Yumi was so insecure that she could not trust Babi enough. He was honest by admitting, upon her quizzing, that yes, he felt that spark of attraction towards his intern. But he did not act on it. In fact, he did his best to avoid it. Emotions can be unexpected and cannot be avoided when they spring on you out of nowhere. But how you react and what you do with them are what matter. And Babi chose to stay true and loyal to Yumi. And neither did he say a word when Yumi felt she needed to see Woong when he called, while she and Babi were preparing dinner on Christmas Eve. She could have simply said she can't.
Then next time around, Yumi decides that she feels nothing when she saw Babi's intern's name flashing on his phone, calling Babi while he was out buying beer. And she concludes that she does not love him. This, after Babi took care of her the night before because she was ill, and she reciprocated with heartfelt gratitude. Huh? It was as if the writer needed a reason for them to break up and could not find anything deeper than "Oh, I wasn't bothered that Ms. Intern called my boyfriend so I conclude that I do not love him. I will now break up with him."
In many ways I think the script's writer became lazy or was pressured to complete season 2.
There are positives, though:
- Our 3 leads. They carried everything, definitely. Kim Go-eun was clearly a star here.
- Lighting and cinematography - the choice of light, sometimes hazy hues was in keeping with Yumi's often cheerful disposition.
- Supporting characters. Control Z eventually grew on me. The one character that did nothing for me was Editor in Chief. Ruby, I learned to love despite her annoying aegyo in season 1. But by season 2, I realize she wasn't a bad person, and I got used to her aegyo.
- Lots and lots of sparks of humor in the cell communities. Yes, I did laugh out loud on many occasions, even in season 2.
- Season 2 ending. Closed, but not quite. Clear signs that Yumi will be meeting boyfriend number 3.
A season 3 perhaps? I hope not. They should quit while they are still slightly ahead.
Missteps notwithstanding, Season 2 is still worth the watch if only for our 3 endearing characters.
4 out of 5 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
