Kdrama Review: W

Title: W

Also Known As: W – Two Worlds , W-두 개의 세계 , W – Two Worlds Apart
Screenwriters: Jo Jung Joo
Directors: Cha Young Hoon
Genres: Action, Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Cardiothoracic surgeon Oh Yeon Joo's father mysteriously went missing while writing the last chapter of his webtoon "W". Yeon Joo goes to his office and is shocked to see a scene of a bloodied Kang Cheol, the main character of W, on her father's monitor. While reading something left behind by her father, a hand from the monitor pulled her in. She found herself on the rooftop of a building, next to a man lying down in blood. She manages to save him and realizes that the person she saved was Kang Cheol. She later discovers she can only enter and leave the webtoon depending on Kang Cheol's feelings.

Despite the fact that Lee Jong Suk's ability to pull off your conventionally perfect protagonist role is unparalleled, and although I stand by my belief that all of the dramas he acts in are solid watches, unfortunately, W is the exception to that rule. There were parts that I enjoyed, such as the cinematic effects, but the plot was a disappointing and incoherent mess that left a distasteful impression.

The drama completely defies logic and blurs the line between reality and fiction, leaving the audience in a tangle of frustration at the drama. Even though that's the whole concept of the drama and its unique plot, that perhaps is too ambitious for its own good. Although it's fast-paced storyline is catered towards action fans, most of the action was "action for action's sake" without any sort of narrative significance. This drama is the first to do what it has done with the law-defying plot in kdrama land that is wild for even "supernatural" standards. It will leave many questions unanswered and boggle minds and will leave the audience asking "Who and why?" for the entirety of the show. Why do the things happen? Who is making up these rules to the connection between the real world and the manhwa world? These questions will never be incessantly asked and incessantly never answered, which was tremendously frustrating. The journey was wild with all the fighting scenes and world traveling which seemed to occur without an explanation. Too much of it was done for convenience. Personally, I enjoyed the whole set up of the drama and its storyline in the first half. There was potential for a unique sci-fi thriller plot and romance; however, when the story kept oscillating and wavering on its own progression, my attention could not keep up and my interest dwindled.

The story becomes plain terrible as it attempts to arrive at a conclusion. Small obstacles keep capriciously appearing, preventing the story from ending as if to prolong the drama!!! W should have ended at episode 12 and the last 4 episodes were just filler to make a statement of a disorganized story that can go anyway because its set up of "blurring reality and fiction" allows it to do so.

Again, as much as I am a stan of Lee Jong Suk, his character could not save the poorly executed romance which became progressively worse from start to end. The relationship between Kang Chul and Yeon Joo had some potential, but as W progressed, their chemistry became lost and their reason for loving each other dissipated. Instead of the ditzy, playful relationship in the few beginning episodes, it sadly did not transcribe to the second half of the drama and lost its charm. As the plot became increasingly far-fetched and confusing, the romance completely flopped because incoherent action did not allow for it to flourish. And so, we are left with a flat romance that is there just because there needs to be one in the drama, which I was disappointed about because I absolutely loved the initial relationship. In a fast-paced plotline knowing no bounds, there was no place for a romance as the tone became increasingly grim.

I would not rewatch this drama due to the unnecessary stress and anxiety from its "plot" but go check it out if an ambitious plot with Lee Jong Suk visuals is to your liking.