Thank you for the impressions. I don't plan to watch it because just the word "influencer" turns me off; it's a topic/world I have no interest in seeing--though I can understand why others could. Having said that, I'm one to not judge a drama's worth mainly by "does it have a message or social commentary I can support." To me, if it's entertaining and well-crafted, it can and should override "does it have a good message" criteria. We can all debate whether we like a particular message or not, but to me that's different than evaluating the quality of a show or only liking/watching shows whose message I approve. Of course, people are perfectly free to evaluate based on the message, but that'd make for pretty boring, agenda-driven, one-dimensional analysis.

No, you’re the cutie-patootie, @dramaddictally, for this weecap. I’ll happily give this a pass, for now, given what I’m reading. Too much else to watch!

Thanks for your witty review @dramaddictally as I also am on the fence for this drama. Just like I was pulled in to the world of fangirling in Her Private Life, this show is a fascinating peek into a way of life I want no part of. It is a blinged out production - great visual story telling and solid acting.
I wonder, will it simply be a Cinderella story with a faux murder mystery twist? Guess I will pop in from time to time to test my hypothesis.

I actually enjoyed the show except for the "romance" if it can be called that. The idea of influencers are fascinating because influencers do so many different things, but they showed a very select group of influencers in this drama and treated them like they do any conglomerate type drama we have seen. Some can be vapid disgusting people, others can change industries. For example without a great many darker-skinned black influencers, the make up industry would have continued to ignore black women. So the fact that they showed this select group and showcased the FANCIEST of PPL made me laugh.

I’ve almost finished watching Celebrity and it has been really entertaining. Plus I’ve discovered Kang Min-hyuk…wow. I also think it does a brilliant job of shining a spotlight on the world of influencing or the online salesman and the lengths human beings will go to in order to succeed. When you feel uncomfortable, that’s a sign that the script has been effectively written. Yes, some of the characters are completely unlikable but I’ve come to expect this from a lot of dramas and wish writers would create more nuanced characters but I digress.

Even if there was no deeper meaning I would have still watched this show. Not every show has to be some classic with a lesson. I’m also watching Mr Sunshine so this was a nice break from that show (which I’m also enjoying). I’ve watched well over 70 Korean dramas and some of these ‘healing dramas’ are frankly beyond boring.

The only "social media" platform I use is LinkedIn. I have no intention of getting anything else, and this show isn't changing my mind, but damned if it didn't suck me in from Episode 1.
Yeah, there's all the shallowness and bitchiness and cattiness expected from influencers, but there's also Kang Min Hyuk, and Park Kyu-young is doing a great job getting me invested in her rise and fall.
One of the commentators above said not every show has to have a lesson, and I have to say I heartily agree. I feel like a lot of criticism of content these days comes from the fact that there's no moral or takeaway or that it doesn't make any kind of stand or statement. Sometimes, there's no need for that. Sometimes, you just want to lie on the sofa on a Saturday and binge seven straight episodes of a "dead" influencer spilling the secrets of her former scandal-ridden coterie.

If I were ever on-board for this drama, that is solely bcoz I missed Kang Min Hyuk in dramaland for a longgggg time! He had more attraction under his sleeves compared to Park Hyung Shik during the Heirs drama.

Otherwise, I will be in the same questions as @dramaddictally regarding the moral of this drama. Same goes for The Glory, my finger couldn't click to press the play button as revenge in social life isn't really my cuppa of tea in dramaland 🥱

I am already Episode 8 . It was fun to watch so far because all characters seem extremely cartoonish ! How can I take them seriously :) Rival influencers only shouts or plots something terrible . Female Lead is also not so interesting whenever she got a revenge or managed to a step head of them I don't feel 'the victory' .

I am not sure we will watch this on either, although I did put it on my Netflix Watchlist. I am on the fence.

Could this be a good hate watch? Occasionally indulging in a good hate watch can be fun- and vastly increases my appreciation for a truly good show. That being said, I do not do very many hate watches, the fact that I only rarely do so is part of the fun.

In my own view,i really enjoyed the show it was an intriguing watch that drew me to watch the next episode until I watched it all in one day 😌, and I would say it's not necessary all the time for all the shows to have a moral lesson

Thanks for the first episode review. I decided to watch it and enjoyed it.

I watched the clips of the show in the morning on youtube and here I am, after binge watching all the 12 episodes. I am not on any social media so the series was my first introduction to the influencer culture. I didn't mind the 101 for dummies that they gave. It actually helped me understand who influencers are and how they work. For me the series was very addictive. The premise itself was interesting and the overlapping present-past narratives really kept me hooked. I was really anxious to find out what happened to Aa ri and how. The drama was layered in that it showed the psychology of the people that are around us. Not just influencers. As a person who has suffered from workplace politics and sabotage, I didn't find the villains cartoonish at all. It was the actual truth that how even bitter enemies can band together to tear down someone they perceive as a threat. People's jealousy and the extent to which they go to ruin someone should never be underestimated. Many reviewers online felt that the collective anger of the characters towards Aa ri was a unbelievable. But you have to understand the meteoric nature of her success. She had achieved great milestones in a very short time especially being from such a simple background while the others had used every crooked trick in their book to do the same. What also threatened them was Aa ri's talent. Many characters in the series had double standards. They considered Aa ri scum but felt dwarfed by her success anyway. They knew that the people they were otherwise surrounded with had no real talent whatsoever. They were only surviving by leeching off each other. Though Aa ri's relied on Min Hye in the beginning, there were a lot of things that she accomplished on her own. And nothing scares people more than genuinty. This is why they all rallied together to destroy Aa ri. It wasn't unrealistic to me at all.
Also I keep hearing people say that villains appear to be one dimensional. I disagree with this. Sometimes villains are just that- evil. Not every villain is an Arcane kind who has a complex motive and layered personality. There ARE some people in real life too which can be classified into black and white. Good people - who do not have flaws of grave consequence; Bad people - who do not have any merit of grave consequence. What's wrong with showing that in a story? In our childhood, all of us liked the story of the brave prince defeating the evil monster. Do we always have to show that the monster was not that evil or the prince was not that brave?
In this series too, I didn't find the villains to be one dimensional. They were simply THAT shallow and vain. Infact, they were consistently vain. They thrived by leeching off each other. Lived for ten minutes of fame even if it left them broke. They did everything they could think of to maintain their 'image' with no depth or character of their own. I found that to be an accurate description of many real life people especially those...

I feel like almost always with kdramas in these last few years is that they're able to create a very intriguing set up, then literally don't know what to do when they're told to create a story out of it. I feel like celebrity definitely felt this way though, it wasn't as bland as some other dramas I wouldnt name NAME.

Regardless, Park Gyuyoung will always be a yes for me and her breakthrough is long overdue (hopefully with squid game 2...? if there's one thing I would want to come outta from her joining that project is she got more recognition so more lead role yey!). And to be honest, I don't know how many times have I watched Lee Chungah with this kind of mysterious but also soft and borderline emotionally tortured woman and I love her every single time (they honestly couldve gotten more from how interesting her character was, meh). I would've wanted more Ari and Sihyun scheming together tbh.

It's a mindless binge watch. But wow is the romantic line weirdly written. There wasn't one time where you're like it make sense why she likes the male lead. And they get together because she pitched him an idea?? It's written in a way as if in the end he'd back stab her but ends up just being really into her? But also for no real reason? The ex backstory is also what?

Would have been more interesting if they just had the main storyline without all that nonsense. Or if they want have the ex and the male lead end up together. Would make way more sense then this dude trying to get her attention because she wore his ex outfit once and was confident.