MaryMeKpop

Oh “Tastefully Yours”… what happened to the drama that I loved?

I’m quite bummed at how this drama turned out because it started off so well and used to be quite good (once upon a time, I know). Then it went off the rails with episodes 5-7 to the point where I didn’t recognize it anymore. Then it attempted to bounce back with episode 8 and although there were some good individual moments sprinkled here and there, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I felt like the drama had lost my trust and I’m having a hard time giving it back. I unfortunately don’t think I can trust this drama anymore.

A part of that was because I just felt so betrayed with episodes 5-7 once Yeon-joo’s ex-boyfriend, Jeon Min, came into the picture and got involved. It just felt so random, so unnecessary, so out of nowhere and took up so much time in the drama that I felt discouraged. It made me lose all my trust and attention; it made me question what happened to the drama and why there was this sudden shift and pivot. Why did the drama decide to just drop everything and focus on the sub-plot with Jeon Min? It wasn’t even interesting. There really wasn’t even a point to it. And yet, the drama devoted so much time to it. And for what? What did the drama gain out of it?

The hard part about watching episode 7 was that there were some individual scenes alone that were great. I’ll admit that even though I didn’t agree with Yeon-joo’s decision to go to Japan with Jeon Min to visit her former head chef who wasn’t the nicest to her, it was a little touching seeing her cook the ramen dish for him that made him remember her. I’ll admit that even though I didn’t care for Jeon Min all that much, the farewell scene in the car between him and Yeon-joo made me feel something because of the implications that it had on Yeon-joo and Beom-woo’s relationship. In that moment, Yeon-joo indirectly expressed her feelings for Beom-woo and made it clear that she had moved on from Jeon Min. I also loved the scene when Yeon-joo laid her head on Beom-woo’s shoulder on the flight back to their restaurant. Although the episode in general wasn’t my favorite and not all that fun or entertaining, I could at least appreciate some of the scenes.

Then we returned back to our regular programming in episode 8 once Jeon Min was taken out of the picture. But by this time, I was already a little tired. I wasn’t sure what the drama was going to do next or what other curveballs it would throw at us. The more I watched episode 8, the more the whole Jeon Min sub-plot continued to baffle and confuse me because we finally returned to the arson sub-plot and learned who started it (mind you, this was introduced back in episode 3 and then never talked about again until episode 8, lol). And then we finally got some more bonding time between our Jungjae team as well as Beom-woo’s reveal to Yeon-joo about his original intentions of being at her restaurant.

As one would expect, Yeon-joo felt betrayed and devastated upon learning the truth and the angst was angsty-ing. Things got angsty and emotional between the two and just like I lost my trust in the drama, Yeon-joo lost her trust in Beom-woo. But prior to the reveal, there were still some of the humor and comedic moments which I liked. There were also some really really good moments such as all the moments where Beom-woo attempted to tell the truth to Yeon-joo. Kang Ha-neul did such a wonderful job portraying the hesitant and scared Beom-woo who wanted to be honest with Yeon-joo but was afraid of what her reaction would be. There was one specific scene in episode 8 where she cooked him some mung bean porridge since he claimed that he was sick and he was going to tell her in this moment about his secret and ugh, it was just so good. Kang Ha-neul’s subtle face expressions are great and it was nice to see a more serious and vulnerable side to Beom-woo in this episode. I love the funny and humorous and unpredictable Beom-woo but there’s also just something that hits different about a serious Beom-woo.

When our Jungjae team went on a little trip together to the temple where Yeon-joo was raised and grew up, Beom-woo and Yeon-joo sat together outside her room. This was another really great scene between the two where Beom-woo attempted to come clean to Yeon-joo once again but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it because he knew how much it would hurt Yeon-joo. And plus, he created this really special connection and relationship with not only her but also Myeong-sook and Chun-seung (speaking of Myeong-sook and Chun-seung, they continued to deliver in terms of the comedy. They were so funny together, I literally laughed out loud at some of their interactions in the 2 recent episodes). Beom-woo wasn’t expecting to get as close to them as he did and he wasn’t sure how to go about telling the truth to the person who he liked, was grateful for, and appreciated.

I’m still a little hurt by how odd the drama got and as much as I want to get this bitter taste out of my mouth, I’m not sure if my watching experience for the final two episodes will get any better. Unfortunately, I think all my excitement for this drama has fallen down the drain after watching episodes 5-7. It just hasn’t been the same ever since and now the drama will rush things in the final two 2 episodes to wrap everything up. Even if the drama somehow manages to do a little bit better with episodes 9 and 10, I don’t think it’ll be enough for me. It somehow feels a little too late.

The pacing for the drama was odd and pretty bad; the sudden decision to throw Jeon Min into the picture sort of ruined everything. I just couldn’t understand why the drama did what it did and it’s one of those things where I’m going to ask myself this question for a while. Why did the drama feel the need to go in the direction that it did? With the drama already being short enough with only 10 episodes, it could have shown us more bonding time between our Jungjae team as well as Yeon-joo and Beom-woo. The fight between them at the end of episode 8 was heartbreaking and sad, but I think the emotional impact would have been even greater if the drama had devoted more time to their relationship development. I felt for them when they fought but imagine just how much better the scene would have been had the drama actually focused on their relationship like it should have done all along?

It’s been such an interesting and odd watching experience for “Tastefully Yours” because it went from being one of my favorites to me suddenly having this love-hate relationship with it. And it hurts because I really liked this drama so I wanted it to continue being good and maintain the pace that it was at. I really just wanted it to stay the way that it was but then it decided to be something else that nobody wanted nor that it needed to be. And it hurts even more because I don’t think any of us expected it to turn out this way. We really could have had it all. Even though we’re only halfway into the year, I’m already thinking about my end-of-the-year review post and sadly enough, I think I know which category I’m going to place “Tastefully Yours” in.