Chicago Typewriter (2017) 시카고 타자기
Directed by Kim Cheol-kyu, starring Yoo Ah-in, Lim Soo-jung and Go Kyung-pyo.
Watched 1 - 11 January 2023 — 16 episodes (YOUTUBE)
*The high ratings and rave reviews online had let me believe this was some kind of masterpiece, so my expectations were really high. Unfortunately the interesting story premise didn’t live up to its full potential. The plot feels unbalanced, meandering and at times confusing and messy. It just didn’t go anywhere at first. Also, the present-day character of the male lead Yoo Ah-in was unlikeable at times. Still, overall I did enjoy this show and things definitely get better around episode 7/8 when more is being revealed about the past lives of the main characters.
*I had a hard time warming up to the actor Yoo Ah-in. Besides not liking his present-day character very much, I also didn’t really like his looks nor his awful present-day hairdo. In the end I’d gotten used to him, but I preferred the second male lead Go Kyung-pyo. I loved his sweet and often adorable ghost character and his looks. In fact, he was my favourite character and completely stole the show.
*I loved Yoo Ah-in in the scene where his 1930s character breaks down in tears and lets his emotions run free, remembering moments of him and the female lead Lim Soo-jung together.
*I like Lim Soo-jung. But her character in the past as a sniper is so much more interesting than her fangirl character in the present.
*I was a bit let down with the romance. It wasn’t very convincing and Yoo Ah-in and Lim Soo-jung didn’t really feel like a romantic couple (I did like their kiss when their past characters were running away from the police). I actually liked the bromance better between the male leads.
*I thought that the past would be more ingrained into the story from the beginning. Yet the past storyline only took over in the last two episodes of the show which made for some really thrilling and dramatic moments. (The past storyline is better plotted than the present one.) It even made me teary-eyed.
*Seriously, the second part of the show is much better and less uneven. It made me care more about the characters (especially Go Kyung-pyo’s ghost character), and I was almost sorry the show was over. Fortunately the ending was satisfying, yet I would have loved to see Go Kyung-pyo make a last appearance, reborn as a human being.
*The series suffers from tonal issues (as well as pacing issues), not blending the humour and drama very well. It’s much lighter in tone than I thought it would be, and I hadn’t expected the humorous parts with the ghost.
*The manager character is really over the top.
*Love the sets with the display of rows and rows of books!
*Love the OST! It has a couple of really nice songs.