A Star's Lover: Episodes 15-17 » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps

52 March 21, 2009January 24, 2016

A Star’s Lover: Episodes 15-17

by javabeans

I know it’s super-late, but I said I wouldn’t quit, and I haven’t. As much as this drama frustrates me, there’s something about it that makes me want to stick around to see the ending, even if it is mixed in with so many exasperating plot runarounds that just lead in circles. At the end of the day, this is a drama that you watch to find out plot, even if you may not enjoy the watching thereof. Plus,

SONG OF THE DAY

M (Lee Min-woo) – “Sad Song” [ Download ]

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EPISODES 15-17, IN SUMMARY

When we last left off, Mari had (finally!) run into Seo Woo-jin when she showed up to her photo shoot. Now that she comes face to face with him, she’s thrown into confusion, unsure how to deal with her ex-lover and Chul-soo at the same time… so she doesn’t. She avoids Chul-soo instead.

Woo-jin senses Mari’s conflicted feelings, but while he doesn’t make romantic overtures, he does ask to stay at her house while they shoot the photo book, saying they have a lot to catch up on. It’s an imposition, but Mari can’t quite refuse.

Fighting with her guilt, Mari ignores a series of messages from Chul-soo. She hasn’t broken up with him, but her inability to return his calls indicates that she can’t make up her mind.

So when Chul-soo hears about Woo-jin staying with her, Mari admits that she hadn’t told him because she was afraid of this very reaction. She has to be with Woo-jin right now, and asks for his understanding. Cynically, Chul-soo scoffs at her suggestion; it’s ridiculous for her to live with her ex while still dating him.

Mari’s determination to stay with Woo-jin hints at a greater reason, but this drama unfortunately has the bad habit of assuming its viewers are unable to string two thoughts together, and takes a painfully long time to reveal the cliché we all could have seen coming — Woo-jin is sick! He needs an operation! He might die! (A brain condition could (conveniently!) cause him to collapse at any moment.)

(Seo) Woo-jin explains to Chul-soo that he had left Mari years ago for her sake (not for the huge cash payoff, OH NO not at all) and has never regretted the decision. Somewhat surprisingly, Woo-jin asks Chul-soo to write the text for his photo book.

Chul-soo wants to reject the offer, but thanks to his plot device of a sister, whose surgery ain’t paying for itself, he reluctantly accepts. He delivers his completed work to Woo-jin, and the captions accompanying Mari’s photos essentially are an eloquent declaration of Chul-soo’s feelings for her. (For instance: “That’s when I learned that crossing the line meant that this relationship had become real.”)

After reading his words, Mari chases Chul-soo, overcome with emotion, and the two embrace…

But really, this drama should be called “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back,” because as soon as the next episode picks up from this dramatic moment, the two start fighting again.

Chul-soo pushes Mari away, and she interprets this as a rejection, asking if this means he wants to break up. Angrily, he tells her yes. Not only does he regret meeting her, he wishes he could turn back time to before he’d known her. Ouch.

On the other hand, Chul-soo does (finally!) agree to write a novel. Lordy, there has never been a writer with a greater existential crisis about whether he deserves to be a writer. He’s turned down all offers to author a book because the interest has all spawned from gossipy types who just want him to dish about his romance with Mari. One persistent editor insists that she loves his writing as it is.

Seo Woo-jin meets the other Woo-jin (Lee Ki-woo), and they bond over their mutual desire to protect Mari from Tae-seok. Seo Woo-jin hands over documents (from his own encounters with the overbearing CEO) to act as proof against Tae-seok.

Having worn out his dramatic usefulness, Woo-jin returns Japan. He explains that he’d come to see Mari one last time before his risky operation, but discourages her from accompanying him — he’s touched that she offered, but she doesn’t have to actually come along.

Byung-joon The Idiot has been working to find out the source of Mari’s ghostwriting scandal leak, which leads him to a phantom company that was established to be Tae-seok’s cover. He screws up his courage and chooses a press conference as his setting for the big reveal: Byung-joon stands up in middle of the press conference (where TS Entertainment announces its merger with Woo-jin’s ACN company), and charges Tae-seok with manipulating the scandal to exert control over Mari. Not only that, he’d done a similar thing in the past with other actors, to keep them under contract with him. The media flies into a frenzy over the story.

By chance, Mari and Chul-soo run into each other in public, and despite their turbulent parting, by now they’ve calmed enough and they’re able to be polite. In fact, the encounter stirs a sort of nostalgia in them, and Mari asks if they could meet up again just to talk. Chul-soo agrees, so they set a rendezvous for their special place — the lake nearby the boarding house where they’d twice stayed.

However, this latest scandal regarding Tae-seok creates complications. Not only is Chul-soo’s book (again) in danger of not being published (sigh, now they’re just repeating their old plot over!), Mari’s name is once again fodder for the rumor mill. Although the news paints Tae-seok as the bad guy, this means that the ghostwriting scandal is by default dragged back into the public eye, which means Chul-soo’s name is back in the press.

Thus, (Jung) Woo-jin proposes another way out to Mari — what if they pre-empt all that ugly gossip from surfacing again by announcing their engagement? He points out all the reasons this is good: not only will it overshadow the uglier scandal, it will also protect Chul-soo, because their marriage news will add credibility to the claim that Chul-soo was never involved. It’ll put the focus on Mari’s relationship with Woo-jin instead.

I’m… not sure what he thinks will happen when they call off their faux-engagement… but why fix a plot problem today when it can be material for plot problems tomorrow? Thus Mari fails to show up at the lake, leaving Chul-soo waiting all day for her.

Or rather, she does come, but arrives about twenty seconds too late to see Chul-soo. Curse that perennially awful — but dramatically convenient — kdrama timing!

And then, we jump ahead a year.

Mari goes ahead with Woo-jin’s suggestion, and they announce that they are engaged. Not only that, they assert that their relationship actually dates back to before her ghostwriting scandal erupted, effectively quashing the Chul-soo scandal.

The Mari/Woo-jin relationship is merely a cover, but it does the trick. Life has settled into stability for both Mari and Chul-soo, who haven’t kept in touch. Mari hasn’t worked during this time — she just hasn’t been that interested — and Woo-jin hopes that she’ll return to acting. He also presents her with a diamond ring, and asks to make their engagement real.

Mari takes the ring, but asks for time to think about it. She also starts looking at some scripts, at Ye-rin’s urging. However, the script she likes best has a problem — the author of the book from which it is adapted opposes Mari’s casting.

It’s pretty obvious why, but they drag this out for a bit, too. Basically, Chul-soo has had some success in the past year, putting out a book that is now being produced as a film. Mari shows up to meet the director in person to see if they can work around the writer’s qualms, and is shocked to discover who he is.

What ensues is a very, very frustrating runaround of reversals:

First, Mari wants to persuade the writer to let her do the role because she feels the character resembles her. Chul-soo is opposed to Mari because bringing her to the production would stir up unnecessary drama. But after she finds out he’s the writer, he figures that they might as well proceed.

However, she hears the director refer to Chul-soo’s wife, and is hurt to find out that he’s married. She decides not to do the movie. Chul-soo calls her to withdraw his objection and encourage her to take the role.

Then, Mari hears that Chul-soo is NOT married — in fact, he’s adamant in staying single. Mari has assiduously avoided all mention of Chul-soo in the press in the past year, so she doesn’t know any of this.

So then Mari’s back on the movie project. And yet, when she shows up to join the cast and crew for a bonding retreat, Chul-soo is grumpy with her. GEEZ, you kiddos, you’re never gonna be happy with what you have, are you?

(It’s also here that Mari discovers that “wife” is just the director’s nickname for their assistants. Chul-soo had let her believe he was married since he figured… oh, whatever, it was the source of fake conflict for half an episode.)

At the retreat, the crew all bond over games, and Mari is enjoying herself too — until she spots Chul-soo smiling in her direction. Goodness knows a SMILING PERSON is unacceptable, because she immediately frowns and takes Chul-soo aside for another talk/argument.

Mari defends her actions in announcing her engagement, saying it was her only way out of the mess. But Chul-soo doesn’t rise to the bait, and remains calm and cool, saying he understands.

Mari wants a more honest reaction from him, so she continues to needle him at dinner, making swipes at the female character he’d written. She says he obviously doesn’t understand how women think at all — the character only says she loves the man, but doesn’t show it in her actions. Chul-soo retorts that that’s because she’s not actually in love — she just confused the circumstances for love.

Mari’s insulted — how can he deny that she loved? He fires back, “Who was the one who denied it first?” By this point, it’s clear they’re not really talking about the script anymore, so Chul-soo leaves in a sulk. Mari chases.

She confronts him, asking if he’s decided (retroactively) that it wasn’t love. Chul-soo frustratedly answers that the person he is now would not have fallen for their attraction — he wouldn’t have lost his mind and let himself succumb to such an absurd situation. He rationalizes that they had both mistaken their emotions for love because they’d been in extreme circumstances.

Hurt, Mari asks, “So if it was now, you wouldn’t have loved me?” Chul-soo starts, “If it were now…” but he can’t finish the thought, because DUH! Obviously he loves her.

However, at just this moment, Woo-jin shows up to witness their kiss.

(He had been growing more insistent with Mari to sign with his company, which is an idea she resists. She prefers remaining independent, and while he was okay with that decision over the past year, the moment Chul-soo reappears he’s fraught with nervous tension. He senses that Chul-soo’s the reason Mari is suddenly interested in working again — something that he, Woo-jin, was unable to convince her to do — and fears that what little ground he’s made with her is about to slip away.)

Other characters

Ye-rin and Jang-soo’s relationship is one of those things that is played purely for comic relief. It’s not meant to be serious so it’s not really worth much critique in and of itself.

On the other hand, I think this lame romance is indicative of one of the larger, overarching issues with A Star’s Lover — characters and plots are solely here to fulfill one purpose, and once that one purpose has been met, that’s it. No more effort goes into those elements. That makes them exceedingly flat, by which I mean that Ye-rin and Jang-soo are both people capable of having depth, but nobody’s deigned to give them any realism, rounded-out personalities, shades of personhood. Jang-soo’s the silly actor with the flirtation with the bitchy manager, and neither steps outside his or her narrow limits.

As a result, although I thought their flirty exchanges could have been cute, because their characters are so one-dimensional, I fail to care at all about whether they date, like each other, hate each other, die.

The two Woo-jins: what a pointless round-and-round dance. First, I think Philip Choi failed to materialize any sort of chemistry with Choi Ji-woo, and his storyline was brief and riddled with clichés. I see his casting as an experiment in fanservice (a la the Bae Yong-joon resemblance) that did not succeed.

But worse yet is how they’ve wasted Lee Ki-woo all series long. He’s never been a viable candidate for Mari’s affections, and I think that’s a shame, since with his childhood history, he was probably the only guy with a shot at challenging Chul-soo. (In that respect, he had a leg up over all her other suitors, who idolized her as a star but didn’t know her outside of that role.) In lots of (almost every?) kdrama, there’s the nice second-lead guy who pines for the heroine who never gets her, but who treats her much better than the lead guy. Here, Lee Ki-woo doesn’t really get that role; he isn’t particularly kind to or deserving of Mari — he’s just kinda there. It’s too bad.

The same conversation over, and over, and over…

The plot itself, summarized in broad strokes, may not seem too problematic. However, the WAY these plots are expressed in each episode… well, problematic.

One particular case of that is that Chul-soo and Mari have the same. Damn. Conversation. Over and over. Like with the ghostwriting of prior episodes — she wants him to do it, he gets mad. Eun-young wants him to do it, he gets mad. The editor wants him to do it, he gets mad. See the pattern here? Chul-soo may have anger issues.

Then, with the movie, we have another series of baffling reversals that ONLY serve to prolong reconciliation. When the ending is obvious and the delaying tactics so transparent, it’s difficult to enjoy the angst. Say what you will, I tend to think Boys Before Flowers has found a way to tap into that sweet spot of enjoyable angst. Here, though, it gets tiresome. Mari wants to do the movie, then she doesn’t, then she does again. Chul-soo is the exact same, only in the exact opposite order — he doesn’t want her to do it, then he does, then he doesn’t.

The crying, oh my god, the crying

On the one hand, the crying gets a little excessive. It’s not only that everyone cries, but that the reason for this turmoil is so often because people in this drama never TALK before wailing and beating their chests in anguish. For the entire Seo Woo-jin plot detour, Mari and Chul-soo could have saved themselves a lot of grief just by talking it out. Instead, she avoided him when he wanted to see her. Then things reversed and she wanted to talk, only by then HE didn’t want to see her. People cried. A year passed.

On the other hand, I felt the only thing holding much of these episodes together was Choi Ji-woo’s master crying ability. For instance, although I don’t feel anything from her reunion with Seo Woo-jin, at least her tears do a great job telling me what I ought to be feeling. Choi, along with Yoo Ji-tae, hold this mopey mess of a story together, although I have to gripe that they have ruined Chul-soo for me! I love Yoo Ji-tae and think he’s a great actor, but his character is such a bitter pill that it’s in danger of tainting my affection for the actor. But at least these leads are pulling their weight, because I don’t think the writing is — the plot just feels like it’s going through the motions.

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1 Peeps!``

March 21, 2009 at 6:57 PM

Er... kind of unexpected. HAHA. Reading it anyway. Thanks!

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2 Peeps!``

March 21, 2009 at 7:10 PM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!! I don't know how you do it, but you made me laugh so hard throughout the recap even though the story's a bit frustrating.
"The crying, oh my god, the crying". <-- Haha!! Classic!

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3 lidge_fan

March 21, 2009 at 7:19 PM

thanks for taking the time to do the review, javabeans....hope you 'll finish!

I only saw up to ep. 7 and only know the rest by your recaps....yeah, BOF is predictable but it's so silly/ fun/ ridiculous that we can't help but love it while Star's Lovers is predictable but sooo boring

I'll try to finish one day but don't know when....I do think CJW looks pretty good with YJT....a bit disappointed for CJW that she hasn't had a hit series since Winter Sonata because I like her

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4 jusash

March 21, 2009 at 8:29 PM

Woohoo! :)
Hey THANKS for taking this up again - I missed reading your synopses after you stopped.

Was as quite exasperated with it after ep 13 or so, but stuck it out (for that chemistry and Yoo Ji Tae) .... all the way to the ' too perfect to be believable' saccharine ending.

While I am a huge sucker for those happily-ever-after conclusions ...
This one's build-up to its 'too simplistic' end was just not believable.

Esp NOT after injecting and reiterating so many unneccesary (melo)dramatic twists ==> which totally wrecked the early enjoyable plot and chemistry between the two.

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5 bjharm

March 21, 2009 at 8:45 PM

I never bother much about korea 'plot' they are so viewer money time related they can not keep any plot simple or without holes big enough to drive a bus though. And if they have corporate sponsorship you get bits with them standing outside of certain places with huge logo all over the place, for no more reason than to keep those sponsors happy.

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6 Priki

March 21, 2009 at 9:16 PM

Thank you so much for going back and doing this. I kinda lost interest at about the same poit you did (about 2 episodes later, though), and only recently went back to it and wached the ending. I admit I did like the ending, even if to get to it I had to go through episodes 16-18 (the only thing I actually like about these episodes is the last scene of episode 17 [which I found quite lovely], and they managed to screw that up right in the beginning of episode 18... ).

I dunno, I think this could have been a really sweet relatively simple story about these two falling in love and overcoming the obstacles to be together, but I guess they decided to go with the "we've got the queen of melodrama here, and we GOTSTA use that" card, and then got lost in the sea of tears (or, as you so brilliantly put it in "The crying, oh my god, the crying" - HA!)

Maybe the writers should have kept this drama simple; maybe it should have lasted not 20, but 16 episodes so they wouldn't have to repeat the conversations or the plot devices so much; maybe they should have just given us shots of Yoo Ji-tae looking professoral (God knows I can never have too much of THAT!) instead of cring over stuff that should already have been talked about instead of cried about in silence. At any rate, something might have had been done, but it was't, and it's a shame. Choi Ji-woo and Yoo Ji-tae had such great chemistry, and it somehow got wasted in a not very well written story.

Anyway, I hope you do finish the recaps, even if just for us to have a laugh over your comments and thoughts on the ending!

Thank you so much for your hard work!

(Geez, I'm long winded!)

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7 popcorn

March 21, 2009 at 10:34 PM

I never started on it. Too much crying as seen from your recaps...my life doesn't need any more crazy sadness of tears. -_-

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8 dogstar

March 21, 2009 at 10:44 PM

i feel sooooo bad for you... i gave up a while ago, but i do want to know hat happens... thank youu

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9 maria

March 21, 2009 at 11:04 PM

omg, i'd forgotten abut this shmitz.. will rererad past entries again now, and figure out why i;'m jonesing to read this one too when i can't remember anything but ALL THAT DAMN CRYING! LOl

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10 autumn

March 21, 2009 at 11:39 PM

"there’s the nice second-lead guy who pines for the heroine who never gets her, but who treats her much better than the lead guy."

sounds like boys before flowers. :D sometimes i just wish JiHoo would get Jandi. but wait! we are talking out A Star's Lovers here!

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11 X-press

March 21, 2009 at 11:54 PM

Thanks for doing the recap again. It's a shame that the story could have not been more robust because there was so much potential in the beginning. Further, the acting of CJW and YJT in SL is exceptional and their chemistry is phenomenal. I don't remember when was the last time I saw such a strong pair like these two lovebirds. If it hadn't been for CJW &YJT, I would have stopped watching a while ago. Having said that, I don't regret watching SL because their love still moves me and I see a man and woman in love through the eyes of CJW and YJT. Sometimes you watch a movie because of the storyline but sometimes you watch a movie because you want to be moved by the actors. The story doesn't get better until episode 19 but then it goes around the circle again in the first half of episode 20 but then wrapped beautifully in the end. I am such a sucker for the ending though.
This is the drama that you should watch not for the storyline but for good acting and sizzling chemistry.

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12 Susu

March 22, 2009 at 12:19 AM

The only thing I can say is that Yoo Ji Tae is an incredible actor. This guy doesn't need a lot of dialogue. His expressions, hand gestures, and tone of his voice are enough to send me to heaven. This one hot guy surely can kiss with open mouth and all. He's just too hot to handle for me! ha..ha..

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13 Atsirk

March 22, 2009 at 3:01 AM

I finished watching the drama on ViiKii...

I actually liked it but it could've been better if they toned down on the on-again/off-again thing between Chul-soo and Ma-ri...

And yes, I agree with Susu...Yoo Ji-tae is effin awesome :)

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14 deeta

March 22, 2009 at 3:26 AM

wow, i get tired from the drama just reading the recaps. how painful it must be to have to watch the real thing.

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15 chajjye

March 22, 2009 at 5:59 AM

ooh...thanks javabeans! yeah, i agree the plot goes round and round on the same things..if it wasn't for the directing (as compared to bof), ost and chemistry, i would have skipped this. but my habit is to always watch till the ending.

it's a disappointing drama but i prefer this drama way than her stairway to heaven n winter sonata. but if it was 16 epis, i think it would have been much better.

@4: epi 19 was quite okay though. enjoyed the happiness they have together...but yes, i feel the same bout the saccharine ending part. i was also baffled at how it ended. like... so what happened didn't matter huh. hmm. wouldn't it be better if she had confessed in like...episode 13.

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16 KTX

March 22, 2009 at 7:02 AM

I agree, Chul Soo is a bitter pill and he DOES have anger issues!!! That character annoyed the crap out of me and I never felt one ounce of sympathy for him AT ALL. And Yoo Ji Tae just does not do it for me...his face looks the same all the time. But maybe I'm just biased because of this drama...maybe I should watch him in other stuff like movies.

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17 SL Fan

March 22, 2009 at 9:00 AM

I think the fact is, YJT has managed to sweep so many female fans off their feet. Don't believe me? Well, sorry but you've really been living in a vacuum. Of course there are the dissenters (and seems like most of them congregate here), but it's really the majority opinion that controls.

This drama isn't for everyone. Just like that pretty boys and silly girls one. So discuss. Don't disparage.

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18 Bolt

March 22, 2009 at 9:52 AM

Thanks Javabeans for not quiting.

Frankly, I think from Episode 11, the drama has become so chessy, draggy, long-winded, albeit very addictive. Am so glad that life is back to normal, no more CJW's drama for me for another year perhaps. ^_________^

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19 m

March 22, 2009 at 11:29 AM

yoo ji tae must be sorely regretting he'd taken up this lame drama. i thought the fact that queen of tears choi ji woo was in this would have scared him off. pity it didn't. i hope he never suffers another drama of such crap quality.

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20 N

March 22, 2009 at 11:57 AM

Yoo Ji Tae didn't regret taking a role of Chul Soo in Sta's Lover. He said it himself in his site. In fact, he still keeps in touch with the PD and the Star's Lover fans. Sometimes you do the best you can as an actor but may not result in high ratings. The ratings have no reflection in your ability to act nor should be a gauge for your success as an actor. YJT is mature enough to be able to see it from that perspective. A lot of his movies aren't a good feel movies, in fact, his movies are racy and controversial - not for everyone. he did it anyway to prove to himself of his acting ability and not to prove to gain everyone's approval. On the other hand the acting of actors in BBF sucks to the core...can't even watch it. The story is good but oh my goodness...the actors who play Gum Jan Di and Jun Pyo are terrible...no chemistry whatsoever. For one, he surely didn't deserve to win the newcomer actor award (Baeksang). I guess popularity wins sometimes..BUT not a reflection of how good of an actor he is.

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21 Adios

March 22, 2009 at 12:23 PM

#19 - Star's Lover is not of crap quality. Obviously, you haven't seen the drama yet so I hate it when people think they know what they are talking about when they haven't even seen it! Choi Ji Woo IS the reason YJT took in this drama. It's rare for movie actors to be doing drama because it's usually the other way around. He took this drama because of CJW which will give him an exposure to international fans. I believe that he has gained a lot of new non-korean fans who had never heard of him before. Is that a loss cause??? I think NOT

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22 m

March 22, 2009 at 12:50 PM

i'm sorry to hear yoo ji tae still feels he needs greater exposure to international fans, rather than let his work speak for itself. i respect him for his film work and still think his foray into drama deserves a much better script than the maudlin Star's Lover. he's too professional to say anything negative, obviously. that doesn't detract from the fact that he's a quality actor who really deserves better, and i don't mean ratings.

anyway, whatever i say will be refuted by ardent Star's Lover and choi ji woo fans, so i'm done.

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23 Bolt

March 22, 2009 at 12:51 PM

Just checked Soompi's SL Crazy Club, hehe....am sure the troop will be starting to ~bomb~this thread upon reading the "bitter pills" comments. So, Javabeans be prepared!!

Those crazy clubbers appear to adore Chul-soo much more than LMR. They are in deep comatose fantazing about CS and LMR and re-writing all the kissing, hugging and even now the bed scenes!!

Based on my observations, many of them are actually suffering from some sort of mental disorders. This sickness has deterred them from distinguishing between what is real and what is unreal!! The seriousness of their mental disorder has progressed from fantasizing to hallucinating....

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24 Trek

March 22, 2009 at 12:59 PM

thank you so much, javabeans for picking this up again. although i've finished this one a while back, i was still curious to hear your critique on it. your recaps have such good insights and wit that sometimes it's half the fun of watching a show. "the crying, oh my god, the crying" cracked me up because i've forgotten how much crying was involved in these 3 episodes. some made sense, others were definitely a little excessive. i still believe that this was a good, not great drama. I hope you do too.

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25 SL Fan

March 22, 2009 at 1:00 PM

#19, for you to call SL a drama "of such crap quality" reflects just how much of a thoughtful person you are. You are truly a person of depth may I add, for being able to see "crap" out of a treasure to many. We shall meet for some tutoring, for I'd also love to have your penetrating eyesight. True a drama's appeal depends on one's own subjective likings, but for someone who hasn't given the drama the air time it deserves, no yapping about what a failure it was on your part is justified.

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26 Dear Bolt

March 22, 2009 at 1:02 PM

Why air your impotence here? Go back to where your comments belong, and let us feed you some Viagra.

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27 Ciera

March 22, 2009 at 3:37 PM

LOL, to me it don't matter if you're late to me 'cuz I, myself have stopped watching since like 17 LOL and have yet to pick back up.
*must finish...break da cycle..*
haha ya'lI can be mean, I still like it, it's um "high quality" crap instead.

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28 Solange Lee

March 22, 2009 at 6:03 PM

Choi Ji Woo and Yoo Ji Tae please my eyes and my heart and hence, I will continue to watch until the end. I have often been surprised but very pleased that Lee Mari's character can be assertive and speak from strength about her love for Chul soo. And he, I believe, fuels her strength (I love a strong man). This is a love story that we, the viewers, are peering into and of course, we can see the flaws and weaknesses but of the script. Sure there are a lot of back and forths in their shifting love positions, but is the road of real life love ever without the uncertainties and the inequalities? Nevertheless, I love a good romance and CJW and YJT fulfill my fantasies about love and the obstacles that must be overcome to be together.

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29

March 22, 2009 at 6:30 PM

Ugh, I hope the bitter soompi folks don't flood here with their blind fan ardor! To be honest their vicious treatment of dissenting opinions turned me off this drama more than the crying and the slow plots. Leave this thread alone for the rational, objective fans and leave the insults and defensiveness for the soompi threads please.

I enjoyed this drama too so I'm not a hater, but it's pretty obvious this was really flawed. and if anyone says it was perfect and wonderful without admitting there were problems, i just can't give their opinion too much weight because it's obviously out of touch with reality.

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30 Pikaboo..I see you!

March 22, 2009 at 7:43 PM

Can't we all get along? ;)
Both the Soompi forum and DramaBeans bring up good points. In the end, it's really just a difference in opinion. There's no need to make fun of some of the posters here and some of the posters in Soompi. In the end, it's all about the love of Kdramas and nothing else.

I do quite enjoy drama but it's definitely not for the story. I kinda wished they'd gone with their original plan with some of the plots (some plots were changed as found in Soompi). The chemistry of Choi Ji Woo and Yoo Ji Tae is explosive! I can't remember a Kdrama that had this kind of chemistry.

I definitely agree with cheremaman. There were flaws in the script but the acting in it is top notch. It was because of this drama that I've started to watch some of Yoo Ji Tae's previous works.

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31 Oh Bother!

March 22, 2009 at 8:15 PM

If there are SL lovers, there are SL haters...that's life so what's the big deal here? If you enjoyed SL, good for you...if you hated it, that's okay too...but please let us put personalities aside...we all don't know each other to even give an opinion or assumption of what or who we are...like mental disorder?....bitter pill?....blind fan ardor?...what brought these out? Tsk, tsk...

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32 Nordelm

March 22, 2009 at 9:51 PM

lidge - fan #3 , Stairway to Heaven was another hit drama for Choi Ji Woo not only in S. Korea, but also in Japan & other Asian countries. As a matter of fact, the rating of Stairway to Heaven in S. Korea was higher than Winter Sonata. Choi Ji Woo won the best actress award for Stairway to Heaven just like she did in Winter Sonata. She had 3 dramas that are still on the top ten according to the last Japanese poll. 1) Winter Sonata 3) Stairway to Heaven 7) Beautiful Days. I'm sure she'll have another drama that will be successful. She always bounce back.

About Star's Lover, I enjoyed it. Great chemistry between the 2 lead actors, CJW & YJT. Star's Lover introduced me to YJT, who I didn't know before. He's a good actor. As always, CJW did great acting on this drama.

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33 Just relax

March 22, 2009 at 10:53 PM

#28 I agree with you about the character of Lee Ma Ri being so assertive. In fact, I admire LMR's character who knows what she wants and goes after it. Even when CS keeps pushing her away, she never gives up. Why? because she knows that deep down he loves her too. Unlike the typical K-drama women who are very passive and timid in love, I find LMR character to be courageous and that's very refreshing. Finally..no more shy Korean women ..welcome independent, strong, assertive Korean women.

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34 Hello

March 22, 2009 at 10:55 PM

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35 jb

March 23, 2009 at 6:51 AM

Thank you for continuing to blog on Star's Lover...made my day...no matter how lame you and others find it...I like the tender moments between CJW and YJT's CHARACTERS (lest pple start fantasizing about them again...)...thanks again. I remain your faithful reader :)

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36 alphabet

March 24, 2009 at 12:36 AM

popcorn
if you never started it, why you keep bothering to left a post here ? boring life ? so GET A LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! rather than bashing nonselessly to someone or something that even not familiar to you.

Bolt
are you really haters ? because as a haters, you are really wasting so many times to hate...are you really that a hatefull person ? hahahahaha...just poor you..that's all i can say. a man with a very hate skill like you

m
iam sorry to tell you that the greater of YJT (you called it) never even known in my country so that he needs CJW to be known. YES THAT CJW WHO'S CRYING HURTING YOUR EYES...so, better take it or leave it. which means, watching it AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH UP..

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37 Bolt

March 24, 2009 at 2:02 PM

#36: Hate is never in my dictionary. I am a loving and peaceful soul!! Cheers!!

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38 whoa

March 24, 2009 at 10:08 PM

#36: You liked the drama. They didn't. They have a right to an opinion (and to air it) as much as you and other fans do.

Telling people to shut up while lecturing about hate isn't exactly helping your cause.

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39 rambutan

March 24, 2009 at 10:59 PM

This series has great strengths and weaknesses. The biggest strengths: Choi Ji Woo and YTJ's acting/chemistry were second to none. The kisses and intimate moments were all yummy. In fact, they are best I have seen in Korean drama and I have watched very many series, mind you. Without these two leads, I would have hated or abandoned the series. Why? The series was too draggy. There were too many (repetitive) "let's break up", "I'm angry with you", "I can't be with you", and then "let's make up" lovey dovey scenes. The drama would have ranked amongst my "best of all times" if it were shortened to 16 or 14 ep. (keep all the kissing and bed scenes in!). So between the sizzling, lovey dovey chemistry of the two leads and dragginess of the plot/story, would I watch SL over again and again? You bet I would! What's the f/f button for?!

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40 cosmopolite

March 25, 2009 at 1:06 AM

I have to SERIOUSLY applaud you for keeping up with this.....I'm not even joking. I would have died or at least lost all of my hair watching this.

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41 quicksilver18

March 25, 2009 at 8:15 AM

Thanks for the episode recaps, Javabeans. And boy...they really did put out all the cliches in this drama...what happened to originality?

Well...I guess that's what you get when the drama is following a similar plot such as Notting Hill. Except in my opinion, Notting Hill was somewhat more entertaining than A Star's Lover. Well, at least Ji-Woo hime was able to shine brightly amongst her Japanese ah-jooma fans.

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42 kellyb

March 30, 2009 at 9:33 AM

I must defend Star's Lover. At first, I didn't want to watch this drama because I thought it would be another typical CJW drama. You know, love, cancer, death. I started watching this drama from Episode 6 and I was hooked!! She is so lovable! Then I watched episode 5 then 4 then started from episode 1. I loved the little details. What I loved about Mari is that even with her star status in the drama, she was so down to earth with Chulsoo. I loved seeing that about her character. She doesn't wear other people's clothes but when she asks for Chulsoo's coat in Ep5, when she cooks for Chulsoo and loves to watch him eat, I knew that she loved him. Also, her wardrobe was great. Looooved her brown leather jacket, and her shearling coat. Thought I saw Burberry, Prada, Jacobs bag, Louboutin, Chanel hooded jacket, etc. This drama was fun just for the wardrobe. Also, I didn't know who YJT was, and that he was a real movie star. He was so great as Chulsoo, I was very impressed. Finally, someone manly, someone that wasn't thinner than his leading actress, someone that's not "pretty" and boyish. I think he impressed many, many viewers. I can ramble on and analyze every episode, but I think Star's Lover deserves a closer look. The details in this drama is really great. Really enjoyed CJW and YJT. And thank GOD for the happy ending. It deserved a happy ending.

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43 CG

May 14, 2009 at 8:16 PM

Wow. lol This story reminds me a little bit of Autumn Tale or Witch Yoo Hee. Great dramas but boy can they be TEDIOUS with their forever-running-in-a-circle plot lines. I've never watched this series but I don't think I need to. lol

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44 SweetHome

May 18, 2009 at 5:16 AM

Just to say that I'm grateful for all the recaps so far. I enjoy reading them a lot. Your insightful and sometimes sarcastically funny comments very entertaining. I thank you for your time and efforts and looking forward to your next recap. I think I just became one of your fan now :)

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45 SweetHome

May 18, 2009 at 5:53 AM

Hey Bolt, your comment is so funny, I like it a lot.

As for this drma, I think YJT performed stronger then CW, and yeah, there are crazy SL fans out there. I like this drama because of YJT, like Air City because of Lee Jung Jae and Lee Jin Wook, but I like CW in Stairway to Heaven though.

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46 strawberryfieldsforever

June 1, 2009 at 6:11 AM

it was a big mistake when i decided to see this drama..and it was a mistake that i didn't read your review of this one first! waaaaah!! i was bored to death and all i wanted was to finish my agony by fast forwarding most of the scenes in this drama! btw, i like your recaps..they're really good..and entertaining!

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47

November 28, 2009 at 5:14 PM

lol i had watched this half wat but after readin tha recaps am so not watchun this

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48 Anon

March 10, 2010 at 10:35 AM

Why didn't you finish the recap!? so few episodes left... the chemistry is great... def slow moving plot - but they are cute together!

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49 chuddy

June 27, 2015 at 11:06 AM

thnks to everyone here. yuh guys just made my day.

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50 Lols

August 25, 2015 at 1:34 AM

oh my god this drama is so frustrating!!!! I am only watching it because i love CJW and YJT! I want to slap all of the fictitious hated characters and the writer for his stupidity!!!!

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