2018’s Lowest Rated and Critically Panned K-drama The Great Seducer Mercifully Ends
I gotta give credit to the cast and crew of MBC drama The Great Seducer for working so hard despite the awful to watch results. I give it an A for effort (I think) and only ask that the failed elements from writing, directing and acting not participate in future dramas. Perhaps leading lady Joy is the easiest target, the low hanging fruit of why idols should not also cross-over and try to act. Her few drama efforts fall so far short of good acting it should be a case study for aspiring actors to spot bad acting.
A promising young actor like Woo Do Hwan and Moon Ga Young couldn’t make a dent in lifting the weakness around them and in the end this hyped too much drama perhaps had one saving grace in that it’s lowest rated AGB nationwide rating of 1.5% did not break 2017 drama Manhole‘s lowest rating ever of 1.4%. Perhaps there is another win if rumors are true that Woo Do Hwan and Moon Ga Young are dating in real life thanks to meeting on this drama, but so far both sides have swiftly denied this juicy report.
Thank god, it’s finally ended. This drama is bad on every possible angles. The writing, directing and the unbelievably terrible acting by both leads. Joy definitely cannot act, it’s an insult to even refer her to as an actress and as for Woo Do Hwan….please relegate back to second lead and improve your acting skills with more supporting roles before thinking on headlining another drama. The boy still has a long way to go as a leading man. Definitely a strong contender for the title of the worst drama of 2018.
The second leads(Moon Ga Young and Kim Min Jae) in the hands of a better writer and director could actually make a good first lead pair.
As for Woo Do Hwan, aside from going back to second lead roles to gain more acting skills and gravitas.He needs to screen his roles better.Things like “seductive” role, the first actor that comes ro mind is Yoo Ah In.Case example is “Secret Love Affair”.The kind that can do those kinds of roles without looking cringe or try hard.
I think MBC and his agency were counting on him and his popularity from his previous dramas to hard carry the drama; because everything from director to writer to co lead star were weak.But as we have seen, that was a very bad move.Solution now is for him to give the best performance of his life in his upcoming movie(he is playing a villain) to regain his momentum.
The idea of this story was bad at the beginning. It’s not the kind of story that can be showed on public channel. They didn’t assume the darkness of the characters and at the end the characters were really bad written.
It’s sad for WDH because he was great in Mad Dog or Save Me. I think he can be a lead but the writter didn’t help him.
For Joy, her acting couldn’t match the intensity of the other characters. And I really can’t bear the way she speaks. I can’t help myself to think she’s a kid.
Was one of those who was excited in the early episodes, and thought this could be a surprise hit. But somewhere along the line, very early on, the drama train derailed. There just wasn’t enough there, there. There was no reasoning behind anyone’s actions, and the second leads were more interesting and a nicer watch than the leads.
Agreed!
SM should stop pushing their bad idol actresses everywhere and taking up leading roles. Joy missed the chance of her life by opting out from North-Korea concert for this shit drama.
Never fancied Woo Do Hwan but I feel sorry for him. He was almost becoming an it-boy with Save Me and Mad Dog. He should fire his agent or reflect upon himself for choosing such a shitty script with a subpar idol actress.
(Also, does this happen to others, when your comments don’t appear util hours later? I wonder why…)
Yeah Woo Do Hwan was incredible in Save Me and had great chemistry with Ryu Hwa Young in Mad Dog and Moon Ga Young here…but he really doesn’t suit whatever the writer was trying to make him with Joy.
As for Joy, it was painful to watch her, she was that bad – and worse in any scenes with Moon Ga Young or Kim Min Jae. Please banish her from major roles until she can learn how to act.
My comments also disappear sometimes/look like they don’t get posted but show up much later, it’s not just you.
me too… sometimes my comment may take a day to appear… don’t know why…
WDH might have jumped on the Lead wagon too quickly without checking who his partner was. Next time please check carefully to make sure she is an actress not an idol before signing on to any more rom-com. Otherwise, stay with Crime/Thriller genre coz for sure he will ace it 🙂
The scriptwriter and Director n Producer/Production company had a dream and took the risk but it tapered out into a nightmare. So through no fault of the actors (kudos to them all) the fault for the low ratings lies with the creative team that chose this story and the public tv station(MBC) to screen it. Had OCN or tvN had this drama with a different lead lady (Im sorry for mentioning this) we wouldn’t be having this post mortem. We would be celebrating instead.
I think despite everything, the lead cast came out as winners. Woo Dohwan, Moon Gayoung and Kim Minjae seem to have developed a strong friendship (and maybe relationship lol). MGY and KMJ also received praise for rising beyond the horrible script. WDW’s rise may have been stunted by this bad drama but he will be fine. Boy got a movie role before this drama even ended.
Joy seems to suffer the most. Not only did she miss out on her group’s most important milestones, she gained alot of antis. I don’t know which male actor will even dare to accept a drama knowing she is lead. I have no doubts MBC is going to continue to cast her though, since they seem to love casting idols in their dramas. So at least she don’t have to worry about being jobless.
i just don’t understand why give this drama title great seducer,if the story about childish thing
A lot of actors promise a lot but more than often never deliver..very easy for South Korean actors to get caught up in the celebrity trap which often takes away the focus of what they are actually meant to be doing well…hope that’s not the case here but they won’t be the fist or the last.Just my observation about the k Drama industry.
Moon Ga Young is the best thing in the drama. Most people wouldnt know her name despite she has been acting for 10+ years. But damn, she is gorgeous. Joy is hot as an idol but next to MGY, she is just another lady.
Everything is so bad about this. I keep watching but still has no clue whats going on. Joy voice is annoying. She say the words without any emotion or thought. Woo Do Hwan is crying all the time (is he done military yet?). KMJ is ok. The writing, the directing, the music. Even other actors are bad: Joy’s best friend is terrible at acting, even worse than Joy. And that odd rich daughter. And the mothers, father. Gosh, its terrible all the way around.
It’s funny, in photos Joy and Moon Ga Young look similar but the minute they’re on screen, there’s just so much of a difference and it’s not even about their styling, one looks like her character and the other just looks like she’s trying to find her best angles or decide whether to close her mouth.
Woo Do Hwan finished his military service in his early 20s, if he picks better projects after this
Tone down the white faces jeeez
Promising actor woo doo Hwan? In your last article you said joy was horrible and woo doo Hwan wasn’t much better. Out of curiosity, Why/how did that change to “promising actor?”
Based on his performances in Save Me and Mad Dog, he’s earned the right to still be called ‘promising’.
In general, k dramas just aren’t doing too good….
Promising actors woo do hwan? & moon ga young?
That’s kactor’s ass liking disease right there,!
There’s a rumor that Joy is being outcast by the other three leads.
It was just Red Velvet’s fans who weren’t happy because there were pictures of the 3 friends without Joy. But it was at the beginning of the filming when they had a lot of scenes without her. Idol’s fan are the most stupid ones…
They are retrending the topic now because of the latest BTS video. I hope it doesn’t become a big issue and damage the other actors’ reputation.
I guess they want a scapegoat to taje their anger out on now that the drama is a flop and everyone agrees Joy’s acting was shit. Moon Ga Young is the other girl in the cast and plays a bitch in the drama+is less famous = easy hate target.
That’s a non issue.Instead of worrying about unnecessary things, why didnt they patronise the drama to raise its ratings?1% average on prime time public broadcast bruh? Even cable channels lowest ratings are averaging at least 2% this year.I think from the back of my head, its only three cable dramas this year that have gone under 2%.
I think her fans are trying to divert the real issue that their idol continues to get lead roles when she does not have the skill set required for it.I doubt those allegations are true, but even if they are..there is no obligation for any cast on set to be friends.All they need is to deliver the goods and be professional.
If its true, it may also explain the lack of chemistry with Woo Do Hwan. Her acting couldve been saved had she at least had some type of chemistry with him but theres zero :/
Her fans were all over the place at the start of the drama claiming WDH was sooo comfortable and friendly with her because of some award ceremony or something, then they attacked Moon Ga Young for posting bts pictures from the trio scenes at the start of the drama claiming she’s outcasting Joy (when she wasn’t even filming with them yet), now they started with their persecution complex over Joy again and MGY makes an easy target because she’s less famous/has no fanbase. Ridiculous.
Joy looks so weird in that picture
They should seriously stop casting idol actors unless they have enough of experience ..??♀️??♀️ All the other three were good except joy ..her terrible expressionless acting did not help either. She should just stick to singing and dancing or play a side role not the main lead please ??
this type of low-budget drama can only cast k-pop idol, MBC is so cheap… I wonder how the heck Joy could ever pass an audition if it was not her agency who arranged for a lead role… so embassassing!
It seems SM and MBC still doesnt get it.Visuals and popularity are not enough in acting.You need a good director and writer who know their stuff, actors who are charismatic and have the acting skills required to lead roles.
Even after this though, they are still going to hire mediocre production team(writer/director) and visual “actors” and stick them in dramas when they cant act.
Agree, this type of garbage drama will continue as long as the budget remains low by hiring a weak writer/director. K-pop idols with delulu fans can bring in PPL. The channel may even make a profit despite poor ratings ? Oh well, SK produces so many dramas at any given time, there is always room for junk.
“low-budget drama can only cast kpop idol”
That’s the thing though. Rookie actors and aspiring actors are probably just AS CHEAP. But nope, fanbase > rookies with acting degrees or even experience.
In a day and age when people are willing to take unpaid internships, I bet some of those rookies would even act for free just for the experience or opportunity they so sorely need.
very well said… but unfortunately, rookies with no fanbase can only get supporting roles while k-pop idols get the lead roles! Rookies have talents will need to really steal the spotlight to catch attention
That fanbase thing can be said maybe relating to Suzy or Yoona.But how do we explain Hyeri and Joy constantly getting lead roles then?Their fanbase certainly did nothing to impact the viewership of the drama..nor do they have international export power..they are not even at the top in terms of brand power save from some serious media play on allkpop, soompi and naver.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s the same production company “Bon Factory Worldwide” that made The Liar and His Lover and The Great Seducer and in the both Joy was the lead.
So much issues with this drama lol… Mercifully ending is a nice term to describe it hah!
First few episodes, I was ready for a hot mess but guilty pleasure, fun to watch drama then it just completely fell apart after a few episodes. I would not be surprised if the screenwriter, Kim Bo Yeon was blacklisted for awhile.
I always love hearing about cast-members becoming close friends due to starring in a drama together even if it’s a bad one. Anyway thank God it’s over and I think most of the main cast will rebound ok. They just need to be careful choosing future roles and need to really work on their acting strengths and weaknesses that were exposed by this overall horrible script.
Hopefully this is a serious wake up call for SM, Idol agencies and networks, stop putting these idols in roles that you know they cannot handle!!!
Of course there are people out there who genuinely enjoyed this so at least people were entertained out there (*whispers* but at what cost?)
Last I checked, the drama still had a 9.3ish rating on viki which is pretty remarkable in a bad way.
VIKI ratings are the most unreliable. Only people who watched it give ratings so, if more fans then actual viewers watched it, the ratings will be higher. Basically, they are fake ratings.
Am I missing something here? Joy obviously didn’t do so great–many thought she wouldn’t and she didn’t. BUT Woo Do Hwan was seriously horrible in this drama as well. I can’t be the only one that thinks this, right? If anything, he was more disappointing than Joy because he SHOULD have done better as he’s obviously a better actor than Joy. However, he quite frankly, bombed as well.
So why shit on Joy but then say nothing about WDH? He didn’t exceed expectations and was super underwhelming. Sure the script was horrible and his character was written poorly BUT even MGY and KMJ were able to some extent salvage their also poorly written characters sooo???? It must just be that oppar isn’t as amazing an actor as all his fangirls want the world to believe?
My point is: both lead actors were bad. Don’t play favorites and destroy one while shielding the other.
to be fair (not a fan of WDH), WDH has received lots of negative comments about doing so poorly in this drama and that he cannot be a lead etc etc… BUT we have seen him able to act well in Save Me (have you watched Save Me?). For Joy, gimme a break, when have you seen her doing a decent acting job? Don’t say who SHOULD have done it better. As a lead, it is expected certain level of acting and Joy has not proven anything ever…
My point is: we can see who is hopeless and who may still have potential to do well in different genre… Both are bad, but one is definitely the worst!
joy is fine imo, mgy is the one that disappointed me the most, she just Red [again], her character in jealousy incarnate and people praise that?
people just want to blame without watching till the end, I finished it and joy seriously did the emotional moment while moon ga young is just another Red + sad attitude
….unlike Joy who’s gone a 2 out of 2 in dud acting performances, Moon Ga Young has done a greater variety of roles than Palgang and Sooji (not least in her short dramas and web dramas) so calling her ‘disappointing’ while Joy the literal waste of film stock is around, is doubly ridiculous.
Sorry WDH was nominated in the 54th Baeksang Awards as Best new actor for his performance in ‘Save Me’. Now to be relegated to now known by some of you as a ‘terrible and bad’ actor then that makes a mockery out of his nomination. Please note that he received rave reviews for his support in ‘Save Me’ so much that he signed on for ‘Mad Dog’ before the season ended so of course that was testament to his acting capability and new found popularity. If you want to go way back to when Joy was cast in TGS the doubts and reservations were clearly spelt out from the get go on Koala’s forum; Soompi; Asianwiki etc…We were concerned at the pairing and voiced our concerns then. But the PD was so sure of his decision to cast his lead lady the train had already left the station. And with the train wreck that resulted everyone is firing blame in all directions. I wrote this before; this sorry ass tragedy lies with the scriptwriter; PD; production company and MBC. Wanna take shots aim for the aforementioned above. Peace all ❤️
I was one of the ones who got really excited about this drama at first but Joy and her friend’s awful acting grated on my nerves until I couldn’t take it anymore. Woo Do Hwan chose a poor lead role, I think he is actually a very good actor but he cannot yet carry a whole drama if everything is a mess. Kim Min Jae and Moon Ga Young are really good actors, I would still definitely continue to follow their work and avoid anything with Joy!
I really felt the writing missed the mark with this drama. The breaking up and getting back together so frequently, I felt was really unrealistic. If something like that is happening in real life, the couple would definitely break up and not get back together and move on with their separate lives.
And what sense did it make for this guy to, out of the blue, beat up the male lead??? None in my eyes. He didn’t have that much of a role in the drama, so why did he suddenly get a prominent role as the chief bad guy? Because they didn’t have the heart to make the parents take that role which is how it started out??? So confusing and sketchy that writing.
As to the acting, Just like Mystery Queen Season 2, bad writing can cause even the best acting team to be looked upon poorly. That’s all I have to say about that.
I always thought Joy was super pretty because if the MVs and stage performances. But looking her up at close even in those journalist pictures apart from the drama, she’s so flat and wide. Esp when she puts a pony, you can see her balding scalp and her front profle is like a flat plate on too of that the horrible acting and tone. Please don’t act again
I liked the drama *shrug*