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Cheese in the Trap
I finished watching Cheese in the Trap a couple weeks ago and I decided to give you my honest opinion about this Korean drama.
This romantic drama is based on a webtoon of the same name and it aired on the 4th January 2016 and ended on 1st March 2016. Even though it’s based on a webtoon, the drama has a different ending because at that time the webtoon was not finished. The main cast is composed of Park Hae-jin, Kim Go-eun, Seo Kang-joon and Lee Sung-kyung.
Synopsis:
The drama centres in the lives of a group of university students. There is a special focus on the delicate relationship between Hong Seol and Yoo Jung. In the beginning, Hong Seol assumes that Yoo Jung hates her. However, as the drama proceeds, they start developing feelings for each other. This relationship is then affected by the appearance of Jun’s childhood friends: the siblings Baek In Ho and Baek In Ha.
Unrequited love, identity issues, family conflicts, failed relationships and adult life are some of the topics depicted in the drama.
*Contains some spoilers*
Review:
I didn’t read the webtoon, so I can’t actually talk about the fidelity of the drama but as a university student I could relate to the storyline and I think that’s the main reason I like Cheese in the Trap.
Hong Seol is the main female character in the drama. She is intelligent, hardworking, innocent and most of the times submissive. In fact, she was the top student in the business department at her university. To secure her scholarship, she worked really hard to receive excellent grades. However, in group projects, she would be the one doing everything simply because the others did not feel in the “mood” to work. This made me feel bad for her because I’ve been in this position before and it is so annoying and stressful to be the one doing all the hard work and others can benefit from it.
As for the main male character of the drama, Yoo Jun, sometimes I questioned his mental sanity. Just like Hong Seol, he is very smart but at the same time he is manipulative and cold. His father was the owner of Taerang Group and although he seemed to live the perfect life, he grew up used to the fact that people only talked to him because of his intelligence and money. He hated fake people and that’s why he played a lot of mind tricks to take revenge.
Even though I was torn between liking him or not, I started to understand why he acted that way but I do have to say that his methods sometimes were a bit extreme. If he wanted others to learn their lesson, he could have done it in another way without being too drastic. As opposed to some people who watched the drama, I don’t think he was evil, he just wanted to be accepted for who he really was. His positive and negative traits. Unfortunately, in a world where money and power rule, that was not possible.
Hong Seol and Yoo Jun’s relationship, in my opinion, was a bit awkward, especially in the beginning. Yoo Jun wanted to date Hong Seol because in his mind they were very alike. Indeed they had things in common, the main difference was the way they handled issues. Although both characters knew they were being used by others, Yoo Jun was not capable of directly confronting people as opposed to Hong Seol. Plus, she disliked when Yoo Jun lied to her and avoided talking about the problems in their relationship.
Nevertheless, Yoo Jun did love Hong Seol and this is possible to notice towards the end of the drama when he decides to end the relationship in order to work on himself and become someone better.
Baek In Ho gives this ‘bad boy’ vibe. He is extroverted, charismatic, carefree and truly cares about the people he likes. Unfortunately, sometimes I felt that world was against him. His sister always took the little money he earned; Jung warned him to leave Hong Seol; he even had to stop playing the piano. Furthermore, I felt bad for his unrequited love. I felt that his relationship with Hong Seol seemed more honest and real even though they were just friends.
On the other hand, Baek In Ha is the complete opposite of her brother. She is materialistic, immature and aggressive. She always relied on other people’s money instead of finding a job for herself or continue her studies. It was like she expected others to do everything for her.
She had a long-term crush on Yoo Jun and that’s why she hates his girlfriend and does everything she can to separate them. In the penultimate episode, she went a bit overboard by almost killing Hong Seol. I understand that she only pushed her and did not intend her to get hit by a car. However, this is not an excuse. She needed to move on and I’m glad that in the end, she found someone that cared about her.
Another character I have to mention is Yoo Jun’s dad, Yoo Young-soo. I personally believe that he is the main reason for the fragile relationship between Yoo Jung, Baek In Ho and Baek In Ha. He wanted his son to be perfect. That’s why he was strict and rarely complimented him. He even used Baek In Ho and Baek In Ha to monitor Jung’s behaviour. Moreover, when Hong Seol was hit by a car, Jung’s father was worried about the reputation of his business.
The ending of the drama was upsetting. Yoo Jun ends his relationship with Hong Seol in order to re-evaluate his actions. There is also a time jumping in the story. Three years later, we can see Seol working in a company that she dreamed of, however, she seemed unhappy. I would have liked to know if, during those three years, Jun had changed. Also, it would have been interesting to see a reunion of those two characters.
What do you think about this drama?
I hope you have a lovely day! (:
Jesika x
K-Dramas
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