K-Drama With Flaws
Out of all the dramas I’m watching every week, Love With Flaws is the one I don’t really look forward to anymore. The early season comedy seems to have almost completely dissipated and the attempts to try and rekindle that same vibe feels ill-placed and awkward. It doesn’t help either that there’s several subplots at work here that feel completely half-baked and the entire project feels like four different k-dramas wrapped up together in one tangled, tonally confusing mess. We begin the episodes with Kang Woo realizing that his Mother is the reason Seo-Yeon got scared and tried to break up with him. After an awkward conversation between the trio, he tells Seo-Yeon to go home. Only, en-route she notices Kang’s Mother in a car flashing her lights and they head out together for food where they come to an agreement. Meanwhile, Joo-Hee and Mi-Kyung wind up discussing Jang-Mi and her mysterious bag briefly before the latter greets Seo-Yeon as she heads home. At the same time, Min-Hyeok admits the truth to Kang-Woo before going on and telling him there’s no point in him being nice anymore. As he leaves the school, Seo-Yeon tries in vain to call Kang after overhearing the Vice Principal discuss his name and wondering why he keeps hanging out at the grounds. While Kang-Hee has a surprise visitor threaten to pull her business if Kang Woo continues to date Seo-Yeon, at school Seo-Yeon thanks Min-Hyeok for his help before he probes why she’s hurt and admits to being the one who told his Mother what’s going on between Seo-Yeon and Kang. Gritting her teeth, she looks him square in the face and tells him it’s none of his business. At school, Won-Suk stands up for Ho-Dol, leading him to confronting the lead bully in private and telling him he’ll get angry if he carries on. As he walks away, Seo-Yeon and Mi-Kyung have a heart to heart together, discussing her feelings regarding Kang-Woo and what to do. Meanwhile, Kang-Woo heads to see Dr Lee for advice of his own. While Seo-Yeon wallows in self-pity, eating food left by Min-Hyeok at the school, Kang-Woo stuffs his face while his parents look on disapprovingly. Outside, he winds up in a heart to heart with his Father, cursing himself for not wearing better clothes. Back home, Seo-Yeon and Mi-Kyung confront Jang-Mi over what’s happening before eventually deciding that she should leave the house. It turns out she does have a family and apologises for inconveniencing Seo-Yeon before walking out. Just before she does however, Seo-Yeon tells her she can take her time leaving and makes her promise not to get involved in familial issues. Outside, Kang-Woo confronts Seo-Yeon and eventually leaves her after revealing how he feels. However, she follows him to Hyun-Soo’s and sits outside, deciding she’s just going to stay there for a bit while he leaves. As Hyun-Soo gets in his car, he phones Kang-Woo who shouts down the phone and tells him not to answer the door. Instead, he spies on Seo-Yeon over the fence and wills her to leave. Only, she looks up and in doing so, surprises him and he stumbles off the chair, hurting his toe in the process. In the morning, Min-Hyeok continues to try and woo Seo-Yeon over, giving her an umbrella. However, she heads off to see Kang-Woo again and the two discuss their relationship. She tells him she doesn’t love him and that’s the reason they can’t be together. However, he mentions “my dear Kang Woo” and questions how she can say that without meaning it. Staring him down, she tells him to get a grip and walks away down the street as Min-Hyeok watches. Alone, she begins to cry as her tears mix with the rain that falls suddenly from the sky. However, Min-Hyeok arrives with the red umbrella and it’s here she tells him she likes Kang-Woo. Unfortunately, Kang sees this commotion unfold from afar where we leave things hanging in the balance. The love triangle angle just isn’t doing it for me. Infact Seo-Yeon, Kang Woo and Min-Hyeok are arguably the weakest characters here and the weird drama involving Jang-Mi feels like it’s ill-placed in a drama like this, barely explored in more detail and just feeling really bizarrely placed in this comedy. I say comedy, the show is barely funny anymore and the past few weeks has seen this shift much further into poignant drama instead, which certainly doesn’t suit this one. With only a few weeks left, I’ll of course stick it out to the end but Love With Flaws is a drama I just don’t care about anymore, which is a shame. There’s potential here for a quirky comedy but with no chemistry between the leads, a jumbled mess of half-baked plot lines and a confusing tone hanging over everything, Love With Flaws is one with too many flaws and not enough love.
