Kmuse and I are always down for a good con-artist drama. Especially, if our favorite k-actors are deceiving each other and being all sexy while doing it. Sadly, I’m not sure this is the drama we were looking for. Come see what we thought about Private Lives.

The Set-Up

Seohyun (Girl’s Generation member) plays Cha Joo Eun, the daughter of con artists who have her star in their “documentaries” to con people out of money. They aren’t very big into the game, they seem to just pull petty scams for the most part. Then her dad is roped into a bigger scheme. A couple has him act like a beggar who is an ex-pastor, and hard on his luck. He sweeps the hearts (and pockets) of thousands of people and ends up taking his role a little too seriously. When the people who are controlling him say they’re going to open up a big church with him as the pastor, he invests their family fortune. You can guess what comes next. The couple he’s working with runs off with the money and leaves dear-old-dad to take the blame.

Drama Geek: This set-up needed me to feel sorry for the dad, and for me to sympathize with his daughter. Yes, she can’t help what her parents did for a living, but the actress never quit brought me over to her side. As for the dad, he gleefully took money from thousands of gullible people. He was a part of every step of the plot, except not building the church they promised. I don’t think he should have gone to prison alone, but I honestly wasn’t upset that he did go away.

Kmuse: You hit the nail on the head. I don’t feel that her dad didn’t deserve what he got. He was doing some sketchy illegal stuff. I didn’t dislike the actress and was willing to give the story a bit of time. However, it just didn’t progress to a point where I cared.

Revenge

Joo Eun teams up with her mom’s partner, a retired wrestler who seems to have a crush on her. He trains her in all the ways of con-artistry so they can eventually take down the people responsible for putting her dad in prison. After YEARS of training, she finally gets the opportunity to get them by joining their pyramid scheme company. Things seem to be going good, but just like her dad, Joo Eun is caught by the police for the pyramid scheme and her nemesis is nowhere to found. Joo Eun gets eighteen months for her part in the scheme.

Drama Geek: This part also fell flat for me. It took her a really long time to hone her craft and it just wasn’t a fun journey to watch. I think it could be the actress, or maybe just that the directing wasn’t dynamic enough.

Kmuse: We had to sit and watch so many scenes where nothing was really happening. I began to wonder when we were going to get to something significant. Two episodes in, and I still feel like I am waiting.

A Chance Meeting?

Finally in episode two our leading man enters. He sees Joo Eun in a bar and tries to get her phone number. She blows him off, but he just happens to show up as the contact for her next con job. They both play it off that they don’t know why their bosses want them to meet that way, and the courtship begins. You can tell she loves his shy ordinary ways, and begins to fall pretty fast for him. She eventually agrees to marry him, and wants to live an honest life.

Drama Geek: I stuck out episode one because the previews made these two look sooooo sexy. Like he was this master deceiver and they played off each other in a perfect dance. That did NOT happen. Now, I will concede that this was still set up and that very well could happen in episode three and four. I just don’t know if I care enough to see that far.

Kmuse: The set up is taking so blooming long. I still am not positive if there is more to him then meets the eye. But like Drama Geek, I am not sure I care at this point.

The Twist! :/

The entire time you’re watching these two fall in love, you keep asking yourself what the twist is. The drama would be boring without one. If it’s that he finds out who she really is and dumps her, then the rest of the drama is her trying to win him back. I won’t spoil how episode two ends, but there is the twist that we were waiting for. Is it enough?

Drama Geek: I wanted the end of two to come packed with a huge sexy punch. Sorry, I find guys smiling with deceit alight in their eyes sexy. I was very let down, and again, maybe episode three will have what I was looking for.

Kmuse: The set up is so so slow. At least I loved the styling while I was waiting for something to happen. All of the main girl’s clothes are gorgeous.

Will We Be Watching?

Drama Geek: I will not. There are already a ton of dramas on my plate, and more starting soon. The first two episodes just didn’t hook me, and I’m going to move on to the next drama.

Kmuse: There are way too many shows that I am watching to bother with one that doesn’t deliver. I won’t be continuing unless I hear that it picks up.

Please let us know if you watch more, and feel we need to rethink our choice. We’re always open to feedback.

Drama Geek & Kmuse

Dramas With a Side of Kimchi