This show is so . . . weird. It’s hard to describe, define, or even decide if I like it. Revolutionary Love mixes comedy, action, romance, and melodrama at a dizzying speed, and I think it will take another episode for me to decide if it’s worth my time.
The Alpha-Alba Girl
Our heroine spends her life shuttling from one “alba” or part-time job to the next. Never mind that she has a college degree. She’d rather make her own way than clean up rich people’s messes. Bake Joon chases down delinquent bosses, dumps trash in the hotel room of bratty customers, and feeds pork ear soup to hapless comrades when they don’t have a cent to their name. In short, she rocks.
The Hero?
I say this with a question mark, because I’m not sure Byun Hyuk is actually the hero of this story. It takes a long time for him to appear, and quite a bit of the premiere’s focus is on the other characters. This pampered, pathetic rich boy seems good-hearted, but completely useless in the real world. Sure, he’s funny. Choi Si Won spends a delightful amount of time mugging for the camera. But he’s not exactly that swoony kind of spoiled chaebol that you know is a diamond in the rough. This guy seems more like the prize in a crackerjack box. Fun for a minute, but not really worth much.
Or maybe this guy is the hero?
If you knew nothing about Choi Si Won and his return from army service and were blindly watching the first episode, you might think Section Chief Kwon Je Hoon is the hero. I’m not sure myself. He and the heroine connect from the beginning. It’s revealed that she confessed to him when they were younger. And he gets an inordinate amount of screen time for a mere second lead. I get nervous when I can’t tell who the main couple is supposed to be from the get go. I want to be left smiling at the end, so I try not to back the loser.
Huh?
Odd choices abound in this show. It’s almost like the director has a bunch of inside jokes that I’m not privy to. What’s with the poetic monologues while characters appear on the side of the screen? Why all the freeze frames with loud sound effects? The shots are pretty, but distracting. And switching to a fantasy sequence where the hero is repeatedly shot in front of a bullseye is unsettling, to say the least.
Revolutionary Love bothered me a few times. Like when the rich father beats Kwon with a baseball bat. It didn’t seem to fit in a romantic comedy. There’s quite a lot of bitter undercurrent running through this show. That’s fine, as long as they can mesh the tones together. Along with many others, I’m enjoying While You Were Sleeping and how seamlessly it weaves tragic moments with sweet surprises. I feel like Revolutionary Love should take a few notes, because it feels a little too frenetic in the beginning, but I’m willing to watch a little longer. Hopefully, it finds its footing in Episode 2.
Keep the K-love Alive!
Dramarookie
I felt exactly the same. I would be a lot more on board if they had not put in the abusive father scene and made our guy a little bit savvy. Hope it ends up meshing better as time goes on
I was deeply disturbed by the baseball bat scene. There have been other scenes in other dramas where a boss will hit an employee. Is this behavior really allowed in Korea?
I want to love this drama, but it didn’t get off to a good start for me. Because it’s Choi Si won, I will continue to watch in hopes it redeems itself.
I think it made it even worse that he made the guy bring the baseball bat to him. It was all so calculated, rather than just hitting someone on the spur of the moment. I really hated that part.
Ugh that’s what bothers me most about Hospital Ship…female lead who is a top surgeon is always getting hit by her superiors (who are men) in her flashbacks of being in the hospital she used to work at. It’s so unsettling to me that I don’t think I can finish the drama.
That particular baseball scene was hard to watch here in Revolutionary Love too 🙁
I gave up on Hospital Ship awhile ago. Looks like i made the right decision.
Oops I meant to say baseball bat scene*
The first episode left me feeling the same way. I found myself yearning for Siwon’s character in She Was Pretty. Goofy, and really endearing. His character in this leaves a lot to be desired and I’m not sure he’ll be able to pull me in. There’s another abusive scene is episode 2 that leaves with a bad taste in my mouth too.