Halfway check-in: No Tail to Tell & Idol I

No Tail to Tell

Romantic comedy, Fantasy
Watched ep 5/12

As a fan of fantasy, I really enjoy Gumiho dramas so I was looking forward to seeing Kim Hye Yoon as Eun Ho, a MZ-style Gumiho who doesn't want to become human and instead focuses on living in luxury and comfort by granting wishes to the rich and powerful. This is my second time watching Kim Hye-Yoon since Lovely Runner, I like her a lot in comedic scenes and she was so good at the more serious scenes in the aforementioned show, but in both shows I don't find the romance convincing - in this case with her co-star Lomon, their scenes together often feel forced and Kim Hye Yoon's acting in particular overly dramatic. As much as I enjoy watching her play an arrogant, sassy and cynical Gumiho, it's a bit overdone and the chemistry so far is lacklustre. Story wise, I liked Eun Ho's backstory and how it was set up - the unfolding plot seems ok so far but the editing is atrocious, the pacing is jumping all over the place making the story a bit confusing to follow. My first time watching Lomon, so I can't speak to his other acting works but as Kang Si Yeol, he is incredibly flat and boring. At this point in the show, we're meant to root for our lead characters, I just don't care about his football career success, his friend Hyn U Seok has a far more interesting dilemma and backstory. Feeling a bit disappointed with this show so far and hope it will get better in the next episode!

Idol I

Romantic comedy, suspense, mystery
Watched ep 7/12

The title is a clever pun combining the English word "Idol" and Korean word "dol-i" which is slang for a crazy person, this perfectly describes the early part of the show as the main character Do Ra-ik, is a K-pop star who is basically losing it from the immense pressures of fame. He becomes embroiled in a murder and his defense lawyer, Maeng Se-na played by Choi Soo-young is secretly a super fan of Do Ra-ik and his band, Gold Boys, must confront the shocking reality behind the idol she worships.

Kim Jae Yeong as K-pop idol Ra-ik starts off insufferable - arrogant, reckless and prickly but as the story progresses we discover he is fundamentally a warm person who deeply cares for those around him. He harbours a lot of hidden pain and trauma beneath his stage persona - Kim Jae Yeong did a great job at portraying not only Laik's loneliness but also his craving for simple ordinary happiness. For a rom-com dealing with more real life themes, I thought the story was good at balancing the cute romance with mental health themes.

Choi Soo-young just plays the cool type with a warm heart so well, I loved her character in If You Wish upon me (2022) and similarly here, I enjoyed watching her contrasting personalities as a long term fangirl and in her professional life as a cynical sharp lawyer. I also really like how this story dealt with the childhood connection, usually I find the trope a little cringe because it's typically used in a heavy handed way but it was nice to have some context to why Sen-na was motivated to prove Laik's innocence.

The murder mystery started off pretty interesting, you can tell the story is setting up some characters as potential suspects but so far it's fallen a bit short, the story is more romance focusing on the couple's stories with some thriller and barely any legal drama. A fun rom-com when you want something easy and enjoyable to watch!