Jealousy Incarnate

Title: Jealousy Incarnate

Genre: Romance, Drama

Leads: ‎Jo Jung Suk, Gong Hyo Jin, Go Kyung Pyo

Premise:  Getting ahead in a broadcasting station is tough and the competition is fierce -- but when a news anchor and meteorologist start to fall for each other, things get much more complicated.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐☆ (3.5)

Describe the show with a hashtag: #LoveTriangle

Plot *minor spoilers ahead*

Lee Hwa Shin and Pyo Na Ri are co-workers at a broadcasting station. Na Ri had a crush on Hwa Shin for about 3 years but Hwa Shin did not feel the same way and was pretty rude and cold about the whole thing. Hwa Shin and Go Jung Won are best friends and both end up falling in love with Na Ri. Hwa Shin and Na Ri have a bond based on a shared secret that keeps them in each other's lives so Hwa Shin finds it impossible to stop his feelings for Na Ri, although he encouraged her to date Go Jung. This show follows the three of them in their personal and professional lives.

My Feelings

I was very torn about this drama. I had no idea what it was about when I started watching it (Drama fever's mini synopsis really tells you nothing close to what the show is really about), which is a good thing because if I knew the main premise was a love triangle, between friends no less, I definitely won't have bothered watching it, but boy am I glad I did. I HATE love triangle storylines, even more so when it's between friends, I mean, they all seem so unrealistic. The girl is clueless, the other guy gives in and confesses one day after he is willing to let her go but just wants her to know, bla bla bla. None of that here. This show is what I imagine a real love triangle would look like, it is torture to the other guy, and torture to the girl when she finds out, especially when the second guy is one you have known longer and have had feelings for in the past. 

The 3 main leads played their roles to perfection, you could feel the love in the friendship between the two guys and you could see the damage their love issues were causing and their struggle to hold on to their friendship. Hyo Jin is absolutely perfect in this role, I loved her in Master's Sun and I loved her here. She isn't overdramatic or under dramatic, her expressions pass across the feelings they should and you can't help but feel her pain when she realizes she has "two hearts". I found the living together scenario a bit much and was skeptical at first but it was pulled off perfectly and ended exactly the way I would have imagined it would if it happened in real life.

Jung Suk, the handsome, sexy man that he is was able to set the screen on fire whenever he had a "steamy" scene with Hyo Jin, you could almost feel their chemistry through the screen. It wasn't overtly sexual but they made it clear he wasn't playing around either. Their hospital dressing room scene was 🔥🔥🔥🔥.

Jung Suk also played the sad and dramatic parts perfectly that you couldn't help but wonder why these things were happening to his character. Even though he started the show as a douche bag, you couldn't help but root for him, or cry with him. I won't say I had second lead syndrome for Jung Won, however, I could see how he and Na Ri would have made a perfectly happy cute couple...but a boring one.

Kudos to the writers and director of this show, none of the characters were one-dimensional, they didn't make the other roles boring or insignificant. Everyone showed growth and had their own stories and they all blended in very nicely.

Conclusion

I would most definitely recommend this show, even if you're not a fan of the love triangle storyline, you can give this one a shot, there's more going on to keep you interested. Lots of laughter, sadness, drama and lessons to be learned about love, life and family, and yes, there's a cute little boy in the show 🙂

Annyeong

Naija Noona