I tried, I really tried, but realized I didn't care when the viki subs weren't up fully for episode 4. AHHHH, well I hope it does well for Jo Bo Ah, I'm a fan of hers.

Forest has a 2.0 rating in Dramabeans already?

When they revealed the reason why he becomes an emergency worker at the end of episode 4, that's when I lost all hopes.

We aren't getting a tree house and no Tarzan and Jane. Instead, we're getting Hot Cold CEO with Cha Eun Jae v.2. And that Forest? Gorgeous as it may be, I am not interested in the corporate shenanigans that evolve around it. I am out. Better luck next time, oppa!

This is not a GOOD show by any measure and Jo Bo Ah's character is supremely annoying but I still kept going back to Viki, waiting for subs, in order to watch it. So the show certainly has SOMETHING. I'm not yet sure what - maybe the potential for it to go batcap crazy at any moment?

I did laugh out loud at the ghost story scene though. That was cute.

If you're going to make trope salad at least toss those ingredients up good and put some new dressing on it. Otherwise what you get is boring; like a green salad with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. Toss it all you want - it's still just a mixed up green salad with generic ingredients.

The scene at the hospital discipline committee where our FL admits to her mistake- and gets "fired" was actually bang on. We had previously seen her make a mistake during surgery (and it was not the first time) due to her disorder so when our lead character is treated unfairly -the usual trope- the twist on that trope is that she has NOT been treated unfairly- because the committee's concerns are quite accurate. Nor do they actually fire her- instead she is simply sent to a place where she will do no harm, so in a way they are actually trying to do right by her as well. It is exile but not punishment.

In the same manner the company Chairman also has a very legitimate concern regarding out male lead as well. Again the 'unfair' treatment really is not- and, if anything, the chairman's manipulation could even be seen as his attempt to get the male lead to face his problem (which male lead refuses to do).

So we begin our story with a 'usual trope' that has actually been turned on its head. Interesting. I am not really sure where this story is actually headed but it looks like we may see some unusual twists.

It is kind of fun to see tropes turned upside down. For instance, the Chaebol-poor girl set-up usually has a significant problem with the rich family accepting the 'unsuitable' girl. But in WHAT'S WRONG WITH SECRETARY KIM the parents of our male lead do everything short of hanging a neon sign over the poor girl's head- on that would read MARRY OUIR SON, PLEASE- and probably wonder what is wrong with their son that he cannot see what is right in front of him. In ONE PERCENT OF SOMETHING the Chaebol Grandpa is actually the one who is shoving a reluctant Cinderella in front of his grandson. Trope reversals like these make the story more fun.

This particular reversal of a trope is probably not as central to the story, but probably does tell us what the story will NOT be about: This will not be about our leads somehow triumphing over their unfair treatment. There is a mystery to FOREST but that is not it- and I for one am puzzled as to what it is.

What I would like to see:

x Young-jae put on some sensible shoes for walking down forest roads; time to lose the stiletto boots
x Young-jae put out some chairs in the waiting room, turn on the heat, and change the channel so all the elderly folks will line up for care
x KSH realize that he actually likes flying around in a helicopter, saving lives and forests, more than finance.
x KSH decide to save the forest from development

Meanwhile, just wondering, who kept the forest house clean and the plants green and growing? How does Dad fit into all this, since he has a firefighting suit? Did Mom and Dad adopt Young-jae after her birth parent tried to commit suicide with her? Was it Dad who pulled her out of the submerged car? And last but not least, how far into the story do we have to get before we find out their childhood tragedies were connected, and they even (gasp) were friends long ago.

Well so far I have decided that Young-jae is an arrogant, self centered, stupid, and clueless person. And the writing is just SO bad. As someone noted in another thread, she is a candy without any redeeming qualities. Will give it one more try next week, but so far the show seems to be nothing but a collection of over used tropes and cliches from the last 10 years of k-dramas.

do you think PHJ picks his own dramas? Used to be a time in India when a good actor did a really crap movie they used to say maybe it was mafia funded. What’s PHJ deal?

@missvictrix Thank you for recapping. Love your snarky insights. Can you stay with us till the end? Oppa would be grateful.

Oppa.

Sigh.

I'm so sorry, Oppa.

This drama marks a first for me where you are concerned, Oppa.

First, I laughed at your fire hands. I'm so sorry, Oppa. I tried, I tried so hard to hold it in, because you were in pain, but I started to laugh. I couldn't stop. And when you shrieked aloud, "My hand is on fire", that was it, Oppa. I fell off my chair, wheezing. I have never laughed at you before, Oppa, not unless you wanted me to. But I did it this time. I feel so bad, Oppa, but maybe if you toned it down, I 'll stop laughing. I can't promise, but I'll try.

I fastforwarded your scenes, Oppa. There. I have admitted it. I'm so sorry, Oppa. I have never fastforwarded your scenes. Never, ever, ever. But I did it this time. It was the part you droned on and on about your business thingy and whatever with that group of shady men in suits in a darkened office, and I just zoned out. They talked so long, Oppa. I had to do it. I feel so bad. The show made me do it. Not you, Oppa.

Other things that grated were the heroine's brash, loud, feisty over the top antics. I found her annoying. The side characters just kept coming and coming. There were scenes that were supposed to be funny, but I wasn't laughing. The coffee PPL. The switch from Cold Oppa to Cute Oppa, from Confident Oppa to Needy Oppa. Too many Oppas. It makes my head hurt.

The scenes I liked were the stunning visuals of the mountains and the forest, and Oppa. The best part of the drama so far was the skimpy bathrobe. Rocking those legs, Oppa!

I can see from the comments that this is just the drama comeback that PHJ need to reignite his hands career. Or maybe not.

Everything in this drama is weird... Poor forest, it will have a lot of work to do!

Reading the comments made me realize, whatever I watch that makes me go, "Hmm..." makes everyone else go, "This show freaking sucks!" Apparently I have a much low key reaction to trash.

But I was annoyed for the first 10 minutes thinking "great, how am I supposed to barrel through all these overused Kdrama troupes?" I'm not hooked but I'd most likely watch the next episode when it comes out. Cuz I am BORED.

I think everyone’s snarky comments are going to be the best thing about this show 😉

Seeeeee....he has fire hands!!! 😆 @yyishere @msrabbit

That first scene is extremely difficult to watch after watching months of savage fires on news in Australia.

In ep 2, Young-jae was fired from her job for saving the little boy [ even though police cleared it as self defense] and because she ate medicine for panic disorder?????? It was a board of doctors so clearly they should understand doctor Young-Jae isn't "mad", just has a mental health issue which is easily fixed with medicine.
Just couldn't understand the fundamentals of Hospital management. This type of firing of doctors is shown often in Korean dramas, is it really the norm in Korea? Just firing doctors at whims of management? OR is it just for drama?
In my country doctors aren't easy to get so any hospital would fire a doctor only in case extreme need to fire for negligence/malpractice/corruption. Are there too many docs in Korea??? Or is it just whim of Drama writer to show that way??

In initial episodes character of San-hyuk comes across as extremely obnoxious megalomaniac in the hospital and even in front of the psychiatrist. Let's see if he becomes bearable in later episodes.

Lesson learned 1:
If a surgeon gets sever panic attacks and nearly causes death of a patient, the ideal job for her would be in a desolate forest hospital. You don’t need psychological evaluation or therapy/medication. You can perform surgeries without any supervision.
In case something goes wrong, don’t worry you are surrounded by the forest. It is perfect job site for a part-time serial killer.
Lesson learned 2:
If you have serious issues and you get sever panic attacks (I am not sure about exact term here) that needs you to be sedated,
I have bad news for you- You cannot do business deals but upside is you can totally become rescue worker.

I watched till the middle of episode 3.... Here's a transcript of me trying to make heads & tails of it with @yyishere

Yaya your Oppa is boring me with logistics & revenue inflation
But first why did he have to be a genius linguist who can listen to French & one other language & just roply back in Korean
Yet another traumatised professional
Do your damn job people!!
If you have a fire trauma how can you be allowed to be a fireman?!

He's like the head of a logistics company. It delivers 🚚 parcels. Now for some reason,A huge conglomerate is interested in buying a piece of forest land & hiked up its price from 30 million won to 100 million KRW.
The drama doesn't tell us why your oppa is interested.
Because he wasn't eyeing the land - He literally got market gossip/spy report from his employee.

For some reasonHe decides to go to the forest to check out the reason he thinks the land is triple its price & why the conglomerate is so after it to get it.
I dunno why.

Is he a botanist? Horticulturist? Geologist?
Your oppa is the rich guy.
Anyways he decides with his big commerce brain that he'll go & survey the forest to make it spill its secrets

Now there he meets a guy in orange who is part of a special rescue team & is running an operation or drill there so the orange 🍊 guy tells him to stop clicking pics & move back.
He's oppa so he can't take No, So he talks about suing etc.
The Orange guy laughs
In the midst of this argument, Your oppa lands in dung

So now he's unsatisfied but interested in the mysterious rescue guys *for some reason*
Because it's totally odd for a thick forest to have a special rescue team.... Its not like people live nearby or anything, Or don't trek or hike 🙄

@missvictrix Thank you for such fun recap. Please continue to bring sunshine into my life with your witty words and pictures of oppa with fiery hand.

I watched about 50 minutes of this drama and hated every moment and got stress headache, so, decided to first see if it is worth it by coming here.

Looks like it is going to be really worth it. Not the drama but the comments. I really really hope some of you will watch and continue to comment or weecap...

I had such a blast reading the comments. Relieved my headache.

First 50 minutes of the drama really were terrible. If some of you said second ep is worse, I can not even imagine it.

But I will be here to read comments if it gets weecap'ed again.

Thank you all. You are a fun bunch.

So far, my favourite thing in this drama is the house Young-jae is brought to to live in. Best doctor digs ever.

I really tried.
Well, really may be too much to describe it. But I tried.
I didn't make it to episode 2.
I've already watched Melting Me Softly and Fox Bride Star.
Enough for me.
I wanted to like this, but I don't. At all.
But I love your comments. You're all great.
I'm gonna visit every post.

And I thought Melty was bad, this drama didn't make any sense and it was boring premiere. I'm not holding out much hope for the rest of the series.

Isn't anyone going to live in a treehouse and climb trees?
Where are the people? Did ghosts eat the villagers?

I wondered why there was over 100 comments already - surely this show is good. But no, it seems ya'll are having a great time trashing it. And I thought it was only full of predictable tropes because I've seen so many that they're easily recognized.
But it's been great fun reading the comments. Does this mean I can look forward to more laughter next recap??
Poor predictable show - I'm sure they all worked very hard. Wait, didn't I read somewhere 2020 was going to be more quality, not quantity? Epic fail already.

Me, I didn't have great expectations, that is why I am not utterly disappointed. Of course, I find the business plot boring and the reason why he wants to be part of the rescue team stupid. But I am willing to watch this weeks episodes and see what they bring.
For the premiere we all can realize this is not exactly a great drama, but, if we keep on watching, maybe there will be some surprises. I doubt it could be as bad as "Abyss" or "Meltly me softly".😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂..

@missvictrix I have to confess I read the comments before I read your Open Thread - and now I get it, where all the ahem "snarky" comments came from.
Very nicely done, keep up the good work! Enjoyed your thread immensely.

I persisted in watching. And for me (like most here) Ep1-4 was haphazard and slightly crazy with flash forwards and flashbacks. But I stuck with it in spite of the cringey second leads and weird business politics. I stayed because PHJ intrigued me...in his softer moments. When he spoke to his carer at the memorial. When he stood there with his coffee cup catching the sunbeams. When he hugged FL and sang a nursery rhyme (?). When he recounted ghost stories in the rural hospital. Moments when he connects with her. Ep5/6 for me is where the drama hit its groove (It is billed as a rom com)...when much of the action happens in the forest/rural area. It slows and I can sit back and revel in the misty magic and the 2 leads start to emote at their best so I am withholding judgement till later. I like the 2 of them together. In their moments of quiet apart from the hullabaloo of their professional lives and the bizarre side plots/characters.

I skipped the first four episodes and started watching at ep 5. Guess I'll have to quit this complaint forum, because I discovered I like the drama.

I read all of your comments, start to end, without skipping. I wish i could say the same about Forest. You guys are way more fun and entertaining than this drama. Bye bye Oppa... one of these days I'll enjoy watching you like i did before. Please fired whoever it is that helped you choose your new projects after Cheese.

Hi,

I came to the thread because I was confused about a weird editing transition that didn't make sense.

Now I know, it's not me, it's the show.