So I Watched 'Nevertheless'...

So, a few days ago I decided to watch the Korean drama, 'Nevertheless'. I could really feel that boredom was starting to get to me badly because I had been avoiding this drama like a PLAGUE ever since it came out. Witnessing the countless discourses online that was unleashed by the existence of this drama was sickening enough, so I could not bear to watch it, let alone finish it in one sitting. But here we are, doing that very same thing I swore not to do. Spoilers ahead!

Overall Rating

If I were to give a simple and honest rating of the entirety of the drama, from all aspects, I would most likely give it a solid 7/10. This drama was the most confident in its visual front. It is not hard to admit that it had some really beautiful shots, interesting sequences of clips, and a really colorful soundtrack. It's as simple as that. But if I were to talk about the characters... the plot... and all the other things, it would not be so simple.

The Plot

Plot-wise, this drama felt very natural to me. I mean, of course, it would be the case when this drama is clearly not in the fantasy or sci-fi genre. But even some 'regular' dramas sometimes still fail to make us viewers relate to the plot even more than a fantasy or sci-fi drama. The plot of the drama was very minuscule in size of legitimately any other issue an individual might have in their lives... but they did an amazing job at convincing us that it mattered. The gist of the story was that Yu Na-Bi (played by actress Han So-Hee) was struggling to find or reconcile with romance after a bitter relationship with her first boyfriend, and in the midst of that she meets Park Jae-Eon (played by actor Song Kang) who caught her eye, and from there they embark on a very ambiguous 'relationship' as Jae-Eon struggles to commit to Na-Bi.

Yes. This drama is about commitment issues. But it felt important! It felt real! I could relate to it! I didn't care if the entire show was about two students struggling to be together outside only for their physical needs, it felt like it was something bigger. Not to mention, the opening scene of this drama really set the tone well. It was such a strong opener, and definitely the right hook for a pilot.

Characters and Actors

Next, we get to the characters and their arcs. For our main characters, we have Yu Na-Bi (played by actress Han So-Hee) and Park Jae-Eon (played by actor Song Kang). If anyone knows me in real life, they know that I am absolutely in love with the actress Han So-Hee. I think she is absolutely phenomenal in what she does and she did not disappoint me this time either. I have close to zero complaints about her playing Yu Na-Bi. If there were any complaints about her character or her acting, it would be concerning the show's ending, which I WILL talk about later.

To be completely honest, Han So-Hee might be the one reason I even started watching this show, and I really truly stayed for her. She killed it. It all felt so natural to the point where she just melted into one with her character. I truly believe Yu Na-Bi was written for her. However, I can't really say the same for Song Kang. As an actor, I'm not as big of a fan of him as I am of Han So-Hee, that much is true. But his acting just never really convinced me. That goes the same for him in this show too. Jae-Eon was a barely convincing character to me. One of the reasons why the drama did well and carried on was because it seemed like almost the entirety of the show was told (and narrated) from Na-Bi's point of view. So technically, she did most of the work bringing the show to life.

I think, as a concept of a character, Park Jae-Eon is not too hard to sell. His character is pretty solid and realistic. The latter is of paramount importance. But in practice, his character really wasn't brought to life as well as I think he could be. Many of the lines delivered by the actor fell flat and emotionless. Although to some degree you could argue that that is the point of his character, but at some point that too sounds like a lazy excuse. Jae-Eon is a character known for his similarity to a butterfly, always flying around, never settling for just one nectar of a flower. Therefore he is shown many times sneaking around and being seen with multiple women all at the same time. It would make sense that for a character like that, he would be the kind of person to sweet-talk people and say empty words right to their faces just to get with them, painting him as a person void of any genuine emotions. So, acting emotionless pays off. But, not all the time.

In order to do what he does, Jae-Eon is the type of character who will do anything he can to get his way. He is used to getting things done his way. And there is no way in God's green earth that he can do that with multiple people all at once without manipulation. This is an important piece of his character that I could feel was only written but never properly executed. He is a character that will absolutely go out of his way to manipulate people, processes, and results. At some parts in the drama, this characteristic of his was shown, albeit not too well. Lines were written to illustrate this side of him, but they were not adequately performed. I will never be convinced that this man wants to sleep with multiple women all at once for fun when he sounds like he could not care less. He lies, hides things, and manipulates things and people even sometimes when he's not trying to. To some extent, it can even be seen that he does this to himself also. So this is a thing that he is used to doing, almost like it's just muscle memory for him to manipulate. All of this cannot be done emotionlessly.

You can argue with me all you want about the direction of his acting or whether he was truly acting emotionless or not, but as a viewer, I truly disagree with the direction the actor was taking with this side of his character. Everything just felt very low-effort and plain to me. Sometimes, I'll see him bringing out emotions when needed, I see him putting in the work and things feel right. Jae-Eon feels right, and real. And I think to myself, "Yes! This is it! This is how Jae-Eon is supposed to be!" but that doesn't happen all the time. When he brings it, it's good. But he doesn't bring it all of the time.

And also... can we talk about this tattoo? It's ugly! But maybe I'm just a hater.

Now... where were we? Yes, the characters. Aside from all the things I've mentioned above about Jae-Eon's character and the actor's acting, I have no problem with him. Except with his character in the ending of the show, which again, I will talk about in-depth later on.

There are other important things to talk about. 

Them... yes. My beautiful, beautiful angels. As much as I love this couple, I will not be biased when it comes to judging the quality of their story. With them, it's fifty-fifty. I look at them and divide their story into two parts. Pre and Post dating. Everything was a-okay Pre-dating, but Post-dating, everything went downhill. The build-up to their relationship was perfect. All of the micro-interactions, lines, and small subplots were executed perfectly. The yearning, God it was just the perfect amount! My little heart was definitely toyed with by the show with their story. 

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love that they ended up together. But the quality of the writing Post-dating just sometimes makes me wonder if it would be better for them not to end up together... God, what a horrible thought! As if these little babies haven't gone through enough. But trust me when I say that for some reason in this show, when these two are miserable and are completely in the dark about each other, the writing is superb. But as soon as they were aware of each other's feelings and ended up together by proxy, the writing turned into complete trash! Even the dialogue was soooo awkward and stiff. I don't blame the actresses for acting stiff too. I can't picture anyone delivering those lines with ease. Something in me says that this might be tied to why the ending of the show is what it is. And thus, why I don't like it.

So, what's the deal with the ending? Why do I keep mentioning it?

It's safe to say that I was not satisfied with the ending, nor was I prepared for it. The ending tells us a story in which Na-Bi and Jae-Eon reconcile and get together officially, at last. Supposedly, this is due to a change in Jae-Eon's character, because it can be clearly seen that in this ending, he is fully committed to Na-Bi and their relationship. As a concept, in theory, do I think that this is a bad ending? That I would rather have Na-Bi end up with another person, perhaps her childhood friend? Not really. What makes this ending bad is that it is so out of character. It feels incredibly foreign. I know it is cliche to say, but it really did feel rushed. 

If I were to watch only the first 5 episodes of the show and I had to guess the ending, I would most likely guess an open ending was dawning. Following the (original) nature of the show, it seemed like the only choice that would make sense. But we're expected to believe that in one or two episodes, Jae-Eon has changed magically, and is now fully committed to Na-Bi? I know they had to do with 10 episodes, but they really could have done better.

As a viewer, it does not make sense that I am expected to buy this ending when NONE is shown about Jae-Eon's 'character development'. As much as I love the fact that this show is told from Na-Bi's point of view, this discounts us a chance to learn about Jae-Eon. We rarely get to know about him deeper as a character, as the things we know of him are the things that Na-Bi knows, hears, and observes. But I thought that if they wanted to do an ending like this they had to somehow change that choice of directing and give us a little peek at his life.

That is to say, of course, I am not ignoring the fact that Jae-Eon did narrate in the drama. But it was so little that it felt almost insignificant. And also, it's not like the only way for us to know what was happening with Jae-Eon was through narration, but they literally could have done anything else to add to it to convince us better. With his lackluster character that is already barely convincing, to throw this into the ring was just too much. It doesn't surprise me if there was a change of crew members working on the show for the ending, as it felt totally and completely unnatural.

I definitely do not think that the substance of the ending, Park Jae-Eon and Yu Na-Bi getting together is distasteful, no. But the show - that is so bent on showing and telling the realities of youth romance, even the ugly parts - is acting like that has always been the goal for this drama and is hoping for us to just go along with it. It feels like, this is one of those shows that in the end, just fall prey to popular and cliche tropes. The ending didn't feel like it was creatively written but publicly demanded. 

All in all, I avoided this drama because I thought it would stress me the f out! But good news, it didn't! It was still a lot of fun and served as a nice holiday treat. 

- E