For this show, although I heard of it last year, I didn't want to wait for the weekly updates and decided to watch it when it concluded. Then again, I forgot all about it until I was reminded of this recently.
It's been a while since I watched something which I thought could potentially be a good one in this genre. As in it doesn't rely on heavily-edited drama and still provides warm vibes with characters who seem kind with well intentions. However, what happened in the second half of this show was simply maddening because everything went downhill, thanks to 2 gaslighters who messed up things for many of the participants.
To begin with, this show had a very unusual setting in that you entered a sharehouse with your sibling and hid this relationship from the other residents. While seeking your own romantic adventure, you can help your sibling in their romantic pursuits. Although it may be awkward and you will feel self-conscious about courting a love interest in front of your sibling, the relationship dynamics between family members also serves to provide some fun entertainment and heartwarming vibes for the viewers.
Or so it seemed to be when everyone was in Seoul.
To be honest, the Seoul arc did have its fair share of drama on the romance side with some experiencing "unrequited love" while some seemed to have developed mutual interest in each other. And since the siblings were revealed very early in the show, it was interesting to observe how different pairs of siblings reacted and behaved towards each other. Along with their family stories, some a bit sadder while some looked like the typical happy family, it made these characters endearing and easy to empathise with. What's more, most of them were not models, influencers or aspiring actors so this sort of made the show feel a bit more "real" compared to other shows when the participants clearly looked more interested in boosting their name awareness or increasing their social media follower count rather than seeking romance. As such, it was quite surprising to hear the topic of "what happens to us after the show" being thrown up repeatedly because some of the participants were clearly looking for a relationship to last rather than matching up solely for the sake of this show. And this showed very clearly in how some of them approached their love interests with caution because they really wanted to be as sure as they could before declaring their feelings for the other party.
Just when you thought that this fun and fuzzy vibe would continue when the setting moved to Singapore, things just went haywire. Or as some participants of Korean dating shows said everyone goes crazy when they move to a place outside of Seoul.
The Singapore arc, albeit short, gave the participants ample time to date 24/7 because they didn't need to go to work during this period. While in Seoul, some participants were so busy that they hardly stayed in the house and could only date late at night or during pockets of free time. This created an unfair situation where those who had more time could cultivate relationships faster and better than the others. However, having all the time in the world certainly doesn't mean that everything will go well because you get to observe things that you probably don't see on a 2-hr date. And that with more time to talk, you find out some things, for better or worse which may change your mind. Maybe that's why people say that the best test of a relationship is when the couple goes on a holiday and spends time together 24/7.
While I do have favourite pairings at times, these people not ending up together may raise eyebrows for a brief moment but once the show finishes, there's nothing to feel unhappy or upset about anyway. However, what got me seriously mad from the Singapore arc was the behaviour of 2 gaslighters who eventually ended up together (good for them though and a blessing in disguise for those who got spurned!). It is the first time in a long while for a reality show like this that I had skipped most of this couple's scenes especially in the last three episodes because their behaviour was seriously off-putting.
While it is perfectly normal to change your mind and heart and like someone else other than your initial love interest, it is definitely not acceptable when you blame your initial love interest with ridiculous reasons for your change of heart instead of coming clean. And it's obvious that your true feelings lies elsewhere right from the start because you were being so disrespectful by talking about another woman constantly while on a date with someone else. To maintain this "consistent and faithful" image, you pretended to keep someone on the sidelines until the very end before blaming her for causing you to lose interest. It's as if you are trying to make the other party feel that everything is their fault through this kind of gaslighting behaviour. She already told you not to confuse her anymore and you kept flip-flopping and were so flippant with your attitude. What's with the open declaration to everyone that you had lost interest in her? More public humiliation for someone who spent a lot of time with you? Couldn't you have made this known only to her and your final choice because they were the only people who should know about this? And yet you can still claim to be honest and sincere in your actions when everything showed otherwise. Don't even get me started on that yellow dolphin-destiny rubbish because you would certainly have repacked your luggage to replace autumn/winter clothes in Seoul with summer ones for the Singapore climate and that bulky plushie couldn't have been slipped into your suitcase by mistake. This move already betrayed your intention to change your mind back when you were in Seoul so don't blame the Singapore trip and the increased exposure time with your initial love interest for this. To make sure that your final choice's second choice would be seen negatively, you even hurt your own sister by adding on to her humiliation in front of the group. That's hardly acceptable behaviour from someone whose onscreen image at first was a loving and protective elder brother.
On the other hand, the female version gaslighter had shifting goalposts on what kind of person she was looking for through this show and kept contradicting herself. It was clear that she was smitten with the male gaslighter right from the start but as he pretended to have the hots for someone else, she gave up and looked for a second choice. However, once the male gaslighter declared that he was on the market again, she swiftly found fault with her second choice and displayed such disinterested behaviour almost immediately yet blamed him for not doing what she expected. Frankly speaking, this just screamed dishonesty and a lack of basic respect for the other party and I felt so bad for the second choice who was still trying to convince her of his sincerity till the end. It was even worse when the second choice mentioned that his ex who resembled this female gaslighter had hurt him badly so I wouldn't be surprised if he became traumatised by the experience this time as a result. In addition, as she kept projecting her elder brother as someone who's so useless and not deserving of the praise and admiration from the rest of the group, it also came across quite evidently that if she had shown the slightest appreciation for her elder brother in any way, he would have reacted differently as well. The rest of the group could see her elder brother's good points (especially how he made meals for everyone - sometimes one by one at different timings, cared for them in various ways and even stood up for the male gaslighter's original love interest by encouraging her to lash out and flare up for how she was treated) and reciprocated accordingly. I certainly wouldn't want to do things for someone who disses me and shows zero appreciation for my efforts all the time.
As for the Singapore arc, while I really hated to see what happened between the participants, it was no doubt a good travelogue in a sense to showcase the sights here. In recent years, there have been quite a number of Korean shows which filmed in Singapore which I think it's good exposure for us to some extent. However, I also can't help but wonder why they keep going to the same few places to shoot especially some of which are not necessarily the top choice for locals. I felt bad for the cast and crew too because they clearly came during the year-end monsoon season when it would probably rain every day. Coupled with the high humidity after the rain, it was quite painful to see them sweating like mad because I know exactly how uncomfortable that feels. The scene when Cho-A was at Brewerkez One Fullerton was especially memorable. I can just imagine how hot it must be for her because her fringe was sticking to her forehead and her make-up looked like it was melting. Not to mention that the date she had there was simply annoying to sit through because of that male gaslighter.
If not for the gaslighting couple, I think I would have rated this show more highly based on the Seoul arc alone.
On an ending note, I just want to highlight that I really liked some of the siblings' interactions especially the two sets of Park siblings - Jae-hyung and Se-seung as well as Cho-A and Cheol-hyun. While Jae-hyung and Se-seung may poke fun of each other at times, they stand united as family and have each other's back when faced with a crisis. Likewise for Cho-A and Cheol-hyun who went through tough times, their love and support for each other became such a beautiful sight to behold. From brother-in-law hunter to brother-in-law killer...that was bittersweet but I'm glad Cheol-hyun called out the male gaslighter for his lack of sincerity towards Cho-A. I was really moved when they said that they wanted to show through this show how well they had grown up to be despite their difficult circumstances in the past. Truly impressive to rise against the odds.
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