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| T he series tells the audience at the very beginning what they are in for. Within the first eight minutes, the heroine, and that term is here used somewhat loosely, excitedly cries out to the heavens, "It's craaaaaaaaaap!" Inexperienced viewers might think that she's referring to the manure she's holding in her hands, but more judicious minds will take it as the sage warning it actually is. Paradise Ranch is very possibly THE ABSOLUTE WORST television program ever made. Whoever told Shim Chang-Min he had any acting talent should be arrested as a con artist. Shim's character should have been renamed Ddongk(똥)-Joo (Google Translate will help you get that joke). Sixteen hours of scowling, scoffing, pouting, mumbling, and yelling is not acting - it's a day spent with a 2-year-old. And before anybody says, "But that's the character," let it be said that NO, that is NOT a character. It's a caricature. There is a difference.
The writers, if they have a conscience, should just amputate the lower part of their legs so that they will be kneeling in apology to the viewing public for the rest of their natural lives. That the show expects the audience to believe that any woman could fall in love AGAIN with an overgrown, bad-tempered child who barely looks old enough to drive is only the start of how this show made the reviewer its enemy. This drama has no character growth whatsoever, and it is beyond the bounds of credulity how they expect the audience to believe this divorced couple would ever get back together. No, that's not a spoiler - something as bad as Paradise Ranch is incapable of being spoiled beyond what the writers, director, and cast have already done to it.
Does it make any sense for a country girl, a veterinarian, no less, to call her husband "pervert" just because he wants to consummate their marriage? Where does she think babies come from, the stork? It's barely acceptable in the first episode, with what one assumes to be a naive 18-year-old Da-Ji, but she goes on to pull the same nonsense in episode 16, after 6-7 years of what is laughably called maturing. COME ON. If nothing else, the intervening years should have at least informed her that humans make their babies in basically the same way as every other mammal on the planet.
It's not that everything in Paradise Ranch was bad. The scenery was gorgeous. The supporting cast was believable, save for Ahn Seok-Hwan's pathetically one-dimensional portrayal of Ddongk-Joo's dad. The horses were pretty. It's just irritating that THESE elements outshone the four lead characters. Far greater interest is found in the relationship between barman Sim Soo-Bong and middle-aged bar hostess Kang Yang-Ja; at least with those two, the viewer has a couple who remember what sex is AND who know that it's a good thing, to be shared by two people who love each other. If only the story had been focused on them instead...
Granted, a lot of fangirls will likely swoon over Shim Chang-Min. But does hormone-driven fan passion make for a hit? Not bloody likely. Regardless of juvenile enthusiasm from what can only be a shrinking fan base, this series is exceptionally awful, a complete waste of the time, energy, money, and oxygen it took to make. Once the teenage fans have grown up enough so as NOT to be controlled by rampaging hormones, they will no doubt see the true worth of Paradise Ranch, and be properly embarrassed that they ever gave this program their support. Hopefully by then, Hallyu will have put Chang-Min back into singing ONLY, and left the acting to those who can do it better...like trained chimps, for instance, or pet rocks.
My Rating: NEGATIVE 10 out of 10 stars. It actually lost 20 points on the 10-point scale. This reviewer wants those 16 hours back.
~LoonyLizard
This drama is available wherever low-grade manure poses as actual entertainment. |
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