Korean Drama: 위대한 유혹자 The Great Seducer/Tempted (2018)
Genre: melodrama, romance
Starring: Woo Do Hwan, Joy, Moon Ga Young, Kim Min Jae
Episodes: 32 half hour episodes (=16 episodes)
Aired: March-May 2018 / MBC
Watched: June 2019 on Viki
I wanted this to be the first TV show/drama that I reviewed because I officially because a Woo Do Hwan fangirl because of this show. His voice is soooo hot. Other than Oguri Shun’s back during Hana Yori Dango which I watched in 2006, I don’t think I ever paid close attention to an actor’s voice before. The timbre of his voice is soooo nice and he does this “Mmm” (pondering/thinking sound) that’s sooo like heart-warming. Keke. </fangirling>
WATCHED IT BECAUSE...
I was waiting for more My Absolute Boyfriend episodes, so I needed something else to watch. I think I googled “Best kdramas 2018” and read a little snippet about this drama. From that review, I was choosing to watch either this next or Radio Star. I think this came up first on Viki, so I started to watch this. I didn’t know who Woo Do Hwan was at first and I didn’t even know Joy (Red Velvet) was in this drama until I saw her. The beginning was super intriguing, so I kept to it and I couldn’t stop watching it! (June 2016)
THE REVIEW
Holy junk. What a rollercoaster ride this drama was.
In the beginning, this was way different from the Korean dramas that I’m used to--so much more scandalous, revengeful, taboo-y than others. The premise of the drama (which most of the drama wiki sites don’t do a great job of describing) isn’t new--main guy (Kwon Shi Hyun played by Woo Do Hwan) tries to get a pretty girl (Eun Tae Hee played by Joy) to fall in love with him for some reason, and ends up really falling in love with her. Obviously, when she finds out, everything explodes. Ah, it’s also based on a French novel, but I didn’t really read what it was about because it was too confusing with the long French names and too many names. Wikipedia it yourself.
It starts with our main characters, Kwon Shi Hyun, Choi Soo Ji, and Lee Se Joo, in high school. (I totally forgot about The Heirs but I saw that some people described this as a meaner(?) version of The Heirs.) These three students are best friends, rich, and troublemakers. They’re super scandalous: they play jokes and blackmail their teachers; they like to go out and party. They don’t take relationships seriously, except their relationship with each other--they’re close and there for each other--it’s super cute and I would love to have had close friends like them (HAHA, what girl wouldn’t want to be surrounded by two hot, rich guys?! :P). It does depict Soo Ji as having some romantic interests, but they’re taboo (i.e., teacher/tutor), and then her mom comes into the picture. I would say it’s a combination between parents’ stupidity and Soo Ji’s relationships that sets the whole drama into motion.
A good portion of this drama (more than usual, I would say) shows the parents/grown ups’ storylines too, which was good because it added extra depth and scandal, but then these are the parts that aren’t as exciting to me because sometimes parents are stupid, and so you can see where the kids get it from.
Joy’s character, Eun Tae Hee, seems further removed from the picture in the beginning: I don’t think she even really shows up much in the first two episodes. High school passes quickly and most of the drama is about what would be their first year of college (because the guys don’t go to college). Her connection to the group of 3 is her friend Kyung-Joo, who is also rich and attended the same high school as the three.
I think their relationship is really cute. I’m not a good judge of acting, but I think Joy did a good job playing her role. The sad scenes were convincing, and not only is Eun Tae Hee a mostly happy character, but she also has her quirks (being super tough and blunt sometimes). Apparently she was super jaded by her parents’ relationship, but I think she fell in love with Shi Hyun pretty quickly (which is not Joy’s acting’s fault, but the writers’ fault, if you want to critique that).
SPOILERS
(highlight below to read)
“- Kwon Shi Hyun and Kyung Joo’s umma. Mad weird.
- Shi Hyun’s appa and Tae Hee’s umma. So weird. How small is the world that they live in? Also, Tae Hee’s dad is better looking than Shi Hyun’s IMO. The way they text each other was sooo cringy hahahahaha.
- The beginning of episode 25 is so sad. Woo Do Hwan’s narrative in the beginning—ugh, I die T_T.
- The big reveal: Tae Hee’s umma was still in love with Shi Hyun’s appa, and was waiting for his call. She was a butt to Tae Hee, so Tae Hee got angry and left the house. She found Shi Hyun’s umma mostly unconscious in her car, and while she was running to go get help (why couldn’t she have just used his mom’s phone???), she got hit by Soo Ji’s ma, who was also going to find Shi Hyun’s umma. But also, Soo Ji’s ma was the one who told Shi Hyun’s ma about Tae Hee’s ma, so that’s why Shi Hyun’s ma was on her way to meet the person who was stealing her husband’s heart.
- Another big reveal: Shi Hyun’s parents got a divorce, and because of the relationship above ^, in order to spite Shi Hyun’s dad, Shi Hyun’s ma gave him DNA results that said that Shi Hyun wasn’t his son. But he was, this whole time!
- The end of the drama skips forward FIVE YEARS. Wowza. Also, we can assume Shi Hyun’s appa is well at the end after getting a brain tumor(?) removed, but in real life, would he be, really?
- Happy ending. Yay. But five years is suchhhh a long time to wait. Did they really have no other relationships in the duration?”
</spoilers>
OST/MUSIC
* 양다일 Yang Da Il - 곁 With You
This is my favorite; usually plays during the most emotional parts. I think the lyrics, “I can feel you anywhere / I can feel you anywhen,” are cheese, but I actually really like the word “anywhen” now. Hehe.
* 도겸 Dokyum (SEVENTEEN) - 내가 먼저 I Should’ve First
Second favorite - also super pretty song, super sad :(. Good.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Another review said that they dropped this drama because after trying 10 episodes (5 hour-long episodes) it started to feel like a typical kdrama. My critique for this critique though is: Why do you watch kdramas then? Kdramas are known for being kdrama-y. So what’s wrong with it becoming a “typical kdrama”?
Also, trigger warning--there is abuse in this drama. Domestic: Se Joo’s family--what on earth. Also there’s substance abuse (other than alcohol; i.e., pills). And then there is a really bad violent scene which was :(((((. The directors/writers really love bleeding hands in this drama. I think all of the four main characters bled from their hands at least once (glass, cuts from other things, punching, etc.). That was a little groan-y.
Moon Ga Young is really pretty. She reminds me of Sunmi (Wonder Girls).
I can’t believe Jeon Mi Sun is gone (article @ Variety). The news came a few days after I finished watching this drama. She was Tae Hee’s mom in this drama, and in many other beloved dramas. She was so good at her roles and acting. May she rest in peace.
OVERALL
Did I cry? I can’t remember, but I think I teared 2-3 and then cry-cried once. This is one of those dramas where it’s constant sadness so I got all the moments that got my lachrymal glands working mixed up.
Should you watch it? YES! Especially if you want to hear a hot voice. Or if you like Joy from RV. Or if you haven’t watched a melodrama in a while and want to feel some sadness. Probably don’t watch this is you’ve been watching a lot of super dramatic stuff and need a break. But then take a break and watch something else, and then come back and watch this!
-huay