“Link: Eat Love Kill” Episode 1 And 2 Review- One Of The Weirdest Setups

Published Categorized as Kdrama Reviews
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Link: Eat Love Kill” has premiered this week, here is a review of its first and second episodes.

Its a fantasy romance drama about a man who suddenly begins to feel all types of emotions experienced by an unknown woman when the link phenomenon happens again for the first time after 18 years.

Yeo Jin Goo plays the role of Eun Gye Hoon, a restaurant sous-chef whose life changes after he begins to experience all sorts of emotions of an unfamiliar woman. Moon Ga Young plays the role of Jihwa Western Cuisine Restaurant’s probationary employee Noh Da Hyun. She claims she has no luck with men and struggles often with unfortunate events.

Now going in, I wasn’t personally that excited or that worried, the premise is definitely interesting so there is good potential there but I withheld my judgment. The premiere almost butchers all of the little expectations I had in the oddest ways possible. 2022 is weird.

“Link” left me with a very odd after-thought, I am just sitting here wondering why…. Why was it written like that?

Note: this article is a first-impression review, it doesn’t mean this is the writer’s final thoughts on the drama. This is a spoiler review.

What I liked

The screenwriter who worked on the script has previously worked on “Suspicious Partner” which was a cute drama with leads that shared good chemistry. Her other drama “Hello Monster” was definitely underrated and deserved more recognition, it was good. So the screenwriter is used to integrating romance, comedy and suspense/murder in the same package. She has a certain distinguishable style that I see in this drama too.

I liked the backstory of the siblings and their shared connection. I also liked how complicated Gye Hoon’s relationship is with his mother. I found his character not only interesting but unique.

Generally speaking, Yeo Jin Goo has very good taste in projects. His last two projects were immensely praised and loved by critics and audiences. So I have some faith he chose a good project.

On the other hand, we have my cutie Moon Ga Young who is an amazing actress but has had her fair share of what you can call projects that under-performed. Her leading woman career has been filled with ups and downs so I don’t know what to expect with her.

I found Dahyun very typical, your average kdrama female lead who is obviously struggling with every aspect of her life and is always at a disadvantageous position until prince charming comes and saves her.

I liked how the screenwriter set up the mood when it comes to the mystery behind every person in that neighborhood. The directing also does a very good job highlighting that. The way the mystery is integrated into the story is done nicely.

What I disliked and why

I have two issues with the writing thus far, I already acknowledge that they could be misdirection or misunderstandings created by the screenwriter deliberately but I still don’t like the way they were written.

The first and most important one is the way the entire ‘murder’ plot point was set up, it makes zero sense. Even with the suspense of disbelief, you’d have to be like 12 years old with no awareness of your surroundings to not see the glaring issues with this particular point.

It didn’t make sense to me how after she accidentally hit his head in self-defense, her first thought wasn’t to check if he’s breathing… or I don’t know…. call for an ambulance maybe?

Let us say she was shocked, okay, I get it, some people’s fight of flight response differs. Even with this in mind, it doesn’t make sense how she doesn’t realize she’s the victim in this situation and proceeds to acts in the most suspicious dumb way imaginable. Especially considering how lenient Korean law can be in such cases, she could walk out with a suspended sentence easily.

In South Korea, there has been a rise in numbers of attacks on women, stalking and murder, if you search it on google, you’ll see its always in the news. So I am pretty sure the average Korean woman is already aware of that and aware of her rights and how when the system can be either beneficial or against her.

Now if Dahyun had certain mental issues or delays in learning and comprehension it might explain her approach. Even after getting stalked, it didn’t even occur to her that it might be that she’s in danger and needs to let people around her know of the issues.

Someone like him is obviously delusional and I can’t understand how any woman would EVER let this slide especially if she came close to a very concerning interaction with him where he didn’t respect her boundaries. I just don’t get it.

Back to the ‘murder’

She can easily prove he stalked her, she can easily prove he sent her packages and spread rumors that they were dating when they weren’t. A simple investigation would yield results in her favor…. I don’t understand in what context it would ever make sense to her to just leave a body there and go to the police station to turn herself in. After contemplating the situation for a while.

Now if it had been that she actively tried to harm him, I might understand her approach but she didn’t and it was a mere accident while she was defending herself, her wounds could have also helped her. Then the adults proceed to butcher the situation even more by acting even more suspicious adding a plethora of charges against them for no good reason, now even if it was an accident or in self-defense, they’re now facing at least three more charges on top of that.

My theory is… he’s alive… or the entire neighborhood is just crazy. Either way, the entire portion of how such an integral point of the drama was set up felt iffy at best and this is me being generous. It has no business being this illogical. Its astounding really.

The other thing is… I would say is more of a personal opinion above all else and many of you will likely disagree with me. I Don’t Like It When Screenwriters Confuse Potential Romantic Partners As Possible Siblings.

I’ve seen this before in kdrama land and its one of my least favorite plot devices ever. I recall being disgusted watching Park Shin Hye’s “You’re Beautiful” because the screenwriter used a similar approach to this one used in this drama only for it to turn out to have been a false alarm.

What could possibly compel a screenwriter to deliberately make fans so wary of shipping what would eventually become partners? Like why? When is it ever a good idea to toy around with the potential that they could be long-lost siblings?

I know the screenwriter is going to keep this up for a couple of more episodes and the thought of it infuriates me. I am about 90% sure they’re not siblings but its so odd to me that you’d deliberately take such a route in terms of writing. There is a reason this plot device isn’t used often.

Because if some viewers might think there is a good possibility they’re actually siblings, its going to deter them from getting emotionally invested in their story with the attachment the screenwriter is possibly aiming for.

There is a slim possibility they’re siblings. If it turns out to be true then… consider me wrong on this one and I’ll clarify that if it happens because if it does, then I’d give her that, the screenwriter actually dared do that.

Added to this, I know that the way he treats her will eventually make her fall for him. He takes care of her as a potential long lost sibling and she sees him as a potential romantic partner…. Do you see why I have an issue with this?

I feel so sorry for him because he’s now convinced she could be his sister while she’s convinced he’s actually fallen for her. And I am sure he’s going to do and say stuff that unintentionally lead her on while she’s none the wiser.

It could be that he has a connection to more than one person but I don’t see it as anything more than an arbitrary reason at this point if its the case. If I am corrected, I welcome it happily.

And this is why “Link” left a weird after-taste. I don’t know how to feel about this. I seriously don’t like it when at the premiere of episodes, we already have some serious issues with writing on this level. If this is how its starting, I can’t even imagine how dumber it might get.

So these are my thoughts on the premiere of link , so what about you guys? did you like the episodes? let me know what you thought in the comment section below.

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By Jass K.

Hi, I am Jass k. I discuss some of the hottest currently airing kdramas on this site in form of reviews an/or recaps, join me in the discussion~

3 comments

  1. I really think it’s the heart of his sibling in moon ka young’s body becoz i can’t find any other possible explanation for them not being siblings.

  2. Omg..i totally agree with this review. The feeling i had after 2 episodes is more of uneasy rather than looking fwd for next week. The neighborhood ppl also seemed creepy rather than engaging..and the cops couple..that one is also rather disturbing..i am not sure how to swallow all the plot lines actually..on top of that, though i like moon ga young..but to make her character this coward and dare i say to say “dumb”?? is too much..if she was shaken by all what happen that night before, then she would still be shaken the next day..instead she had the energy to try and trick the boys for keys and passcode..i dont see the logic there..my theory for all this is that she has the twin sister’s heart or something. The sister might be kidnapped to save her. Dahyun’s grandma and her mom looked guilty even in the past..

  3. I’m actually really enjoying the quirkiness and mystery of the drama. I also like the shared emotions aspect, it’s a cool way to build a connection. So far overall the show appears to be a commentary on domestic violence, I think that is what links everyone. And perhaps that’s why the outlandish response to the “dead” body, a commentary on the rising violence but a lack of protection for victims under the law in SK maybe? I agree though that it’s hard to believe that FL’s first action wouldn’t be to call an emergency number.

    Also, another scene that really bothered me was when they were taken into the police station with their “weapons”, and despite said weapons having no blood on them, this wasn’t noted by the police or raised by the women in their defence either. I mean obviously they were suspicious but the police acted like they were guilty until proven innocent.

    Even though I know the FL wasn’t his sister, I secretly hoped she was, and that instead of a romance drama, the focus could be on reunited siblings, neither falling for the other, but just finally being whole again, as twin siblings. I think the sister is dead tho so I don’t think any of the other characters are her either.

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