Early Access: My Lovely Liar E1-2 (Patreon)

E1-2. Ooh, fun. I like this one right away, you guys, and I'm with Trent, in that if there'd been more episodes available at the time that I finished episode 2, I would have happily kept going. 😁

Before starting on my watch, I'd had a few concerns floating around in my mind.

For one thing, I'd heard the grumbles, that Minhyun's acting leaves a lot to be desired, and I wondered if this would have a negative effect on my watch.

Honestly, having watched these two episodes, I have no real complaints about Minhyun's acting.

Sure, it's nothing award-winning at this point, but I do think that he's pretty well-cast. His character Do Ha is on the reserved, reticent side of things, and he's pulling that off reasonably well.

I do think that the role works with Minhyun's strengths, and while his limited acting experience might be more stark in a different role, I'm perfectly happy with him in this role.

I can believe that he's our male lead Do Ha, who's reserved, and has a lot of hidden pain.

Also, so far, I don't feel like Kim So Hyun's overshadowing him, when they share scenes. That's important, and we're off to a promising start.

Another thing I'd been a little concerned about, is whether I'd be able to see Kim So Hyun in an grown-up space.

The problem with watching Kim So Hyun grow up on my screen, is that in my head, I keep thinking of her as a young teenager.

The last time I attempted a rom-com in which she starred as the female lead was Radio Romance, which I dropped pretty quickly.

She wasn't the reason I dropped the show, of course, but I did watch enough of it to register that I felt oddly weirded out from seeing her play an adult woman, instead of a teenaged girl. 😅

So yes, it's not her fault at all; it was all in my head.

I'm happy to report that I'm not feeling that, this time around.

I find it easy to like her character Sol Hee, who just happens to be born with the ability to hear if someone's telling a lie.

The third thing I'd been concerned about, is whether Show would be able to work its premise in a way that I found engaging and interesting.

After all, the central premise does sound a little fantastical.

I'm pleased to report that I'm having a fun time with the premise, and I think Show's doing a really nice job of making it pop, coz I'm completely sold on this premise, and interested to know what happens next.

In terms of Sol Hee's special powers, I'm tickled by the explanation, that her pregnant mom had been so desperate for her child to be born with a special talent that could serve as a livelihood, that she prayed to all the deities she knew of - and that's how Sol Hee got her powers.

Hahaha. I like how simple that explanation is; no weird curse or superpower passed on through generations. Just the desperate prayers of a mom who prayed so hard to every higher power, that they don't even know who granted Sol Hee her powers.

It's extra amusing to me, that Sol Hee now has to come up with a cover story for her powers, because no one will believe that she just has the ability to detect lies. And so, she has to pretend to be a shaman, lol.

A consultant shaman, to be more precise, coz the way she conducts business, is very much like a high-end consultant who's paid big money for her input. And, she even has a chauffeur to drive her to her appointments too. 😁

How ironic, though, that Sol Hee's own mom is out trying to scam people for a living, and is racking up credit card debt on Sol Hee's card, which is why Sol Hee isn't rolling in as much money as one would imagine, judging from her high-end consulting shaman business.

On another note, I know that I've been talking about preferring rom-coms without a side of murder, and I realize that this show technically isn't without its murder case.

It appears that Do Ha's been wrongfully accused of being involved in the murder of some girl, and that's why he goes around with a mask at all times, and that's also why he feels compelled to hide, as much as possible.

So.. there's been a murder at some point, but importantly, it doesn't seem to be overtaking our story.

Rather, it seems to form Do Ha's backstory, so that we understand why he is the way he is, and why he might be drawn to Sol Hee.

I do feel bad for Do Ha, because he seems quite tormented by the ghosts of his past.

And it does endear him to me, to see that he genuinely finds comfort and release from making music onstage. He's a true music soul, and I like that.

Instead of a childhood connection, we have a much more recent connection, where, as young adults, Sol Hee defends Do Ha from getting beaten up, for allegedly cheating on some guy's sister.

I actually really like the idea, that several years later, they're thrown into each other's orbit, when Do Ha, now a mysterious and famous songwriter, moves into the apartment next to Sol Hee's, in a bid to get away from prowling paparazzi, curious about his alleged relationship with singer Syaon.

It's drama coincidence, of course, that Do Ha gets mistaken for the masked pervert who's been attacking women in the neighborhood, but that's how Sol Hee ends up defending him again, because she can tell that he's telling the truth.

And of course, it's her signature soundbite - "If I say so, then it is" - that causes him to remember her, from before.

I like that right away, we see that they have football in common, even though they are fans of opposing teams.

The way they both stay up to watch the live matches, and order fried chicken to munch on while they cheer on their respective teams, is pretty cute.

The way that even their chicken orders are direct opposites, is pretty cute too. It's like they're alike, but they're also so different?

I was possibly most tickled by the arc when Sol Hee's hired to be the lie detector during Songwriter Park's hard-won meeting with Do Ha, only for her to have no lies to detect, because Do Ha seems honest to a fault, and with nothing much to hide.

Songwriter Park's increasing frustration was pretty entertaining to me, not gonna lie. 😁

I mean, he's established himself so quickly and effectively as a manipulative scheming jerk, that I'm already at the point that him getting foiled in his bad plans, is enough to give me a thrill. 😁

It's funny for a while, that Sol Hee assumes that Do Ha's in debt and running away from creditors, and that's why she sees him having his car taken away, when in actual fact, Do Ha's exchanging cars with his CEO (Yun Ji On playing a nice-ish guy, for once, heh), because his own blue sports car is too flashy.

But, I am pretty glad that this misunderstanding doesn't get dragged out for the funnies.

Instead, we have Sol Hee putting the pieces together, and coming to the correct conclusion pretty quickly, that her new next door neighbor, is, in fact, that famous celebrity songwriter, Kim Do Ha.

How tantalizing, that at the close of episode 2, Sol Hee, unable to resist the temptation, removes Do Ha's mask, to finally see his face - which is when he opens his eyes, and grabs her wrist, in wide-eyed shock.

Ooh, where do we go from here, I wonder? Will we have Sol Hee and Do Ha working together already, to prove his innocence, so that he won't be held hostage by false rumors and accusations? I'm curious to see!

Next episode notes will be out on: Thursday, 17 August 2023!

* This show will be covered on the VIP Early Access (US$15) Tier *