[REVIEW] MBC TV series "The Greatest Love" - 1st & 2nd Episode

A scene from MBC TV series "The Greatest Love" [MBC]

MBC TV series "The Greatest Love" - Wednesday/Thursday 9:55 p.m.

While the Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran sisters' previous TV series SBS "He's Beautiful" was about idol singers who live in a world of their own, "The Greatest Love" is about them after their days as idol stars, in other words, stars who have become adults and individuals in society. Goo Ae-jung (played by Kong Hyo-jin), the formerly highly popular member of a girl group, has come to be regarded an undesirable celebrity who gets ignored by her former groupmate Kang Se-ri (Yoo In-na) whose career is still going strong and gets humiliated by her impudent junior singer Candice after trying to advise her that she should greet her properly. The Hong sisters' unique way of describing the details of the entertainment industry shine further when they show that the producers for "Couple Making" try to use Goo's undesirable character to make people talk about their drama or Dokgo Jin (Cha Seung-won) does not want Park Tae-hwan to win a gold medal since Park may take his television commercial.

However, dramas with setups that in themselves already seem interesting enough, are often used to cover up the weaknesses a drama holds and function as deceptions. The repetition of conflicts getting mended too easily -- is seemed that it would be impossible to make Dokgo open his heart to someone but he agrees to take part in a quiz show after falling for Goo's persuasion so easily and he makes Goo sign with his agency in order to keep her quiet on him getting turned down by a popular director in Hollywood -- are becoming increasingly dull. Of course, what happens could be considered natural consequences given the fact that both characters are in show biz, a special industry which exists between fantasy and reality. But "The Greatest Love" revealed both its strengths and weaknesses in just two episodes by doing its best in giving realistic descriptions yet adopting easy setups when it comes to conflicts. Will the Hong sisters be able to overcome their limitations with the remaining 14 episodes and create another cheerful romantic comedy?

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Reporter : Hwang Hyo-jin seventeen@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@