“Alice” episode 3 and 4 have aired two days ago and I am here to discuss the latest developments and share my thoughts on the drama’s attempts to explain Alice.

Appreciating SBS bold attempts

“Alice” has been continuously enjoyable and I have to praise SBS for actually trying to make something different. The results show in the ratings, “Alice” has surpassed the 10% mark with its 4^th episode and I believe that it can even reach 15% or 20% if it keeps up with the pace it created for itself and continuously bring such entertaining episodes.

I think some of the most expensive Productions of 2020 came out from SBS. Every drama that came out in this time slot had expensive production including “The King Eternal Monarch.” The fact that SBS is trying to do bold risky scripts is a testimony of them taking things seriously. On the other hand we have KBS and MBC who continue to fumble through 2020 with scripts that belong to 2004.

Attempting to explain the plot

As I said in my premiere review last week, I still don’t understand a lot about Alice. Time travel dramas/movies [in any language] often become nonsense towards the end; the issue with this particular premise is the difficulty that lies in attempting to make it make sense while remaining enjoyable to the masses.

I am the type of person who likes to understand what she’s watching, others might not really care and that’s also okay. I said I’ll continue to watch “Alice” as long as it continues to attempt to make sense of its premise.

By the 3^rd episode ending, I was wondering how on earth someone can kill her past self but still exist. The writer attempts to explain this in the 4^th episode but I honestly still don’t comprehend the idea. The existence of multiple verses defeats the purpose of the effect that it could ever have on the past or the future because you already exist in an identical but parallel universe, which means that time travel shouldn’t/can’t have any effect on the future.

If this is what the writer is going for, then it’ll be a good explanation to those who understand it, and enough of an explanation to the skeptics like me who still don’t quite get it but understand why “Alice” employees can toy around with people in the year 2020 without actually giving a fuck.  

But this argument is also flawed because it’ll take away a fundamental core issue that all time travel dramas/movies attempt to address, the fact that whatever you mess with in the present can affect the future, if this is out of the equation, does it really serve the same purpose? A lot of the heightened tension will dissipate as a result.    

Aside from that, “Alice” episode 3 and 4 were so much fun, I was having fun with all those action scenes and heartfelt moments in between, the writer is deliberately keeping us in the dark about “Alice” and it’s only making me more curious about it. The introduction of Seok O Won’s character was nicely done and the end of episode 4 is making me super excited about next week’s episodes.

Joo Won

This might be kinda weird, but… one of the first thoughts I had watching this week’s episodes was just how much I missed seeing Joo Won on screen. He is simply an amazing actor and someone who can literally captivate you and pull you in. I feel for his character and I love love his relationship with his co-stars.

I also want to commend the writer for not trying to use the same old personality disorder to explain why he doesn’t feel things like everyone else. I’m glad that they did not include antisocial personality disorder; you guys remember when we talked about in “It’s Okay Not To Be Okay” review.

We talked about the main character’s antisocial personality disorder and discussed it with a licensed psychologist who said that personality disorders aren’t treatable, so I’m really glad that the writer didn’t go in that direction.

The characters aren’t special yet

There is something I’d like to comment on…. the fact that there is honestly nothing that special about Joo Won’s character yet or for the matter, the majority of the characters in this drama. They can feel soulless sometimes, this doesn’t mean the actors performances suck, not at all, but even with their amazing performances, I sense that the characters are typical thus far.

The issue for me is that the character description for Joo Won is very similar to many other drama characters. We always have this main lead who is a stubborn emotionless detective who investigates cases until the very end.

There are at least 7 kdramas with basically the characters descriptions down to the sidekick who kicks ass but is ignored by the detective, to the older wiser figure in the force who helps out our main lead till the very end even if it kills him.

Joo Won’s character description itself is not interesting to me anymore, and I find this quite sad because his performance is one of the highlights of this drama this far, but if we replaced Joo Won with any other actor his level, I wouldn’t notice the difference.

I don’t see anything special yet about his character, anything that’ll remotely make it HIS character and make it difficult for me to believe that any other actor could play it as well…. if this makes sense to you guys. I know many won’t like this point I am making.

Kim Hee Seon’s character is the only one that has a slight hint of uniqueness if we could call it that…. the interesting thing to me is how having a child drastically changed her character from the one we see right now. I am more interested in finding out more about how the mother lived her life quietly in an environment that is so different from what she’s used to.

I would definitely like to see more character development in the future especially for Joo Won, something that would make me appreciate the character itself beyond just appreciating the actor behind it.

Pairing Joo Won and Kim Hee Seon

A lot of people seem to have had some complaints about the pairing of the actors and I was skeptical too, but I’m really glad that their relationship is that of a mother and son.

It would’ve been extremely awkward and weird if it was something entirely different or had he fallen in love with his mother in the current time. I think I would have found this extremely sick be honest with you, but I’m glad it’s not going in that direction.

So far, I am enjoying the drama and I think I’m going to continue reviewing it and I also have a feeling I’m going to watch this drama until the very end, something I can’t say about any other kdrama I am watching these days.

The only reason I might stop watching this drama in the future would be if it stopped making sense or if the inconsistencies and the potholes grew too big and became something I couldn’t ignore anymore. I appreciate it when the plot is consistent.

So these are my thoughts on “Alice” episode 3 and 4, what about you guys? are you enjoying this drama?