Final verdict on the Temperature of Love (E31-E40)
They barely saved this one. They continued the glimmer of hope that I saw in the 3rd quartile of this show and held on by a thread. They also added realistic drama to the romance of the main leads that did help keep the story going. But my initial fear that the show was slotted too long also turned out to be true. The last two hours could’ve been easily finished in like twenty minutes. This show could have shined a bit more if it was a 16/32 episode order.
I’m not sure how much they changed the story along the way, but I’m glad that they continued the “minimize Director Park’s love interest in Writer Lee”. Instead of the “I’m out to get my revenge” mode, Director Park turned into the “passive and receive everything as is second male lead”. It’s disappointing that that’s all they could do, but it cured the poison in the well.
But honestly, the second half was a bit of a drag…no, the last 3/4ths of the show was a drag. It had little moments here and there, particularly the romance story between the two leads, that kept me going, but it just plodded along. Like, if this were a 12/16 episode show purely about the love story of the leads without the drama of the secondaries, this could’ve been well executed…
It’s what makes it disappointing, because the core storyline was actually done pretty well, with some realistic drama, but the secondary story lines just kept ruining it. Both Director Park and Writer Ji ruined the drama. I’ve already barked on Director Park, but Writer Ji’s character was an annoying mess as well :\.
In the beginning, it felt like they were making out Writer Ji to be that “annoying, bratty character who matures”, but they never got her to “mature”. That’s why when she finds love in the end, you’re not really rooting for her. They were trying to show that love that’s been built over a long time is hard to overcome, but with how the drama was progressing, it would’ve been the perfect opportunity to show that that kind of love can be overcome when the other party doesn’t deserve that love. So, how they utilized sommelier Soo Jung as the potential love interest for Sous Chef Choi was a big disappointment.
So, the story line that kept this going for me: the main lead’s romance. I did like the wrench that they put in during this last stage of the show. It was realistic, cause I think it’s a relatively common problem that couples can go through, particularly in Asian culture. The problem? That the guy has a hard time sharing his burdens with the girl.
The part that I did not like, though, was how easily she took him back when he didn’t really seem to fix the problem…that it was more, “We can’t live without each other, so we’ll figure it out”. But, you can explain that away by the irrationality of love.
It was barely enough to keep me watching, but just very dissatisfied all around. Would I suggest you to watch it? If you want to watch a half decent romance story (the one between the main leads) and you don’t mind plodding through the other portions of the show, then sure…but if not, I’d stay away. Basically then…no, I don’t recommend it. There are other shows that do as good of a job with the romance story without a compromised overall story :).
I blame most of this on the writer :\ cause the leads and director did a good job with what they were given and even the supporting cast tried…but in the end, the writer couldn’t bring life to the supporting cast.
OVERALL: 6.5/10
- STORY: 5.5/10
- DIRECTING: 7.5/10
- LEAD Actors: 7.5/10
- SUPPORTING Cast: 6.5/10
- CINEMATOGRAPHY: 7.5/10
- MUSIC: not doing enough at crucial moments
The rundown: one good romance story line between the leads, but the parts around it fell flat on their face.
