Kim Nam-joo couldn't surpass his previous work 'Misty'

I chose her because I was drawn to her strong motherly love, but I ended up being buried in the dark. Actor Kim Nam-joo's return to MBC after 13 years, 'Wonderful World', is losing its initial solid momentum and plummeting. The story was based on the desperate sorrow of a mother who lost her son, and in the end, all that was left was adultery and revenge between the victims. It's time for a change of pace.

‘Wonderful World’ recorded 6.3% in episode 8. This is a significant drop compared to the highest viewership rating of 9.9% for the 5th episode. It needs to recover its viewership ratings over the remaining six episodes, but its competitors are also formidable.

'Wonderful World' has transformed from a narrative of salvation by Kim Nam-joo and Cha Eun-woo to a narrative of 'disgust' (hate relationship). This is when Cha Eun-woo (played by Kwon Seon-yul)'s true identity is revealed, not as a victim of the pension arson incident, but as the son of Kwon Ji-woong (played by Oh Man-seok), who was killed by Kim Nam-joo (played by Eun Soo-hyun).

The beginning of ‘Wonderful World’ was maternal love. Kim Nam-joo, who lost her child in an accident and personally punished the perpetrator who killed her son, expressed the despair of losing her son and the guilt of not being able to protect him, expressing her empty eyes and acting with tears pouring like a fountain with depth. As the saying goes, "I shed the most tears in any drama of all time," Kim Nam-joo shed tears so endlessly that they never dried.

And this maternal love suddenly transitions into adultery code when Kim Nam-joo is released from prison. The search for the husband's adulterous woman has begun. Although it purports to be a human mystery that seeks out the tangled mystery of that day, the main development is that until now, I thought the woman my husband was having an affair with was the woman next door, but it turned out to be Lim Se-mi (played by Han Yu-ri), who was like her own younger sister.

Added to this is that Cha Eun-woo and Kim Nam-joo are both perpetrators and victims of each other. I thought it was a relationship of salvation, but it was all Cha Eun-woo's ruse. In the end, it became a mud fight between the victims, the mother who lost her son and the son who lost his father.

Starting with maternal love and branching out, it becomes increasingly unclear what 'Wonderful World' is trying to say as each episode passes. If it had been a genre of romantic melodrama like the previous work 'Misty', the subject matter of adultery, murder, and betrayal would have been attractive, but the loss of a son was not enough, the betrayal of her husband, Cha Eun-woo pointing a knife at himself for revenge, maternal love, wounds, Healing has long been forgotten.

Codes of adultery and murder also appeared in 'Misty', but the texture was different from 'Wonderful World'. Detailed emotional lines between characters, intertwined relationships, misunderstandings, and ambitions for success were mixed to create a harmonious work.

However, even though 'Wonderful World' has reached its turning point, the main characters' inner feelings are not properly brought to life as the focus is only on revenge and adultery rather than curiosity about the mystery. Even with the powerful card that is Kim Nam-joo, it seems like he could only use it like this. Even though Cha Eun-woo is excellent at playing a cold-blooded, villain-like character in this work, there is something I don't understand about the justification for wanting to destroy Kim Nam-joo like that.

The public's interest in 'Wonderful World', which appears to be lacking in enthusiasm despite its good start, has already waned to hope for a recovery in viewership ratings.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr