[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Dating Agency: Cyrano" Episode 8

Well, it's finally happened. I've gotten tired of the goofy antics of "Dating Agency: Cyrano". Perhaps it's just because the current storyline didn't go the way I was expecting it to. After numerous hints indicating that the current client's request was unreasonable and childish, it ends on a near-storybook note with no real hitches. What's worse, this time, the rmanipulation was, to me, distinctly implausible and suspicious in that it was so obviously manipulative.

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Let's take the setpiece of the last episode. The reason it worked so well (as demonstrated by the shopgirl's perplexed expression) is because the scheme didn't feel like manipulation. It didn't really feel like anything- it was this very bizarre and eccentric situation that just existed. Now, obviously, we in the audience know better, but for anyone actually in the scene, the superficial layer of the situation seemed by far to be the most logical, however improbable it was.

The setpiece of this episode is another matter entirely. It was clearly designed to manipulate and impress her. It's not even a terribly complicated scheme. It's also absolutely probable that the guy managed it all on his own. Given what we've seen of the woman's icy personality, it seems far more likely that she would respond with skepticism and anger than what she actually does. The best explanation I can come up with is that, as a dork, it's unlikely our tall bespectacled client could scheme this well on his own, and she has no reason to believe an agency is involved. But this just isn't enough for me.

The main cast is good, as usual. Byeong-Hoon and Min-Yeong have very good repartee here, even if at times it veers to the cheesy. An opportunity shows up early on to introduce this into the main manipulation plot, but unfortunately this goes nowhere. From the way this episode ends, it doesn't look like they'll be able to weasel out of the circumstances quite so easily next time, though that's hard to say for sure. It's hard to guess how they're interpreting these interactions, given that they clearly don't accept the obvious explanation.

There's a marked change in tone at the end, as we move from wacky silly to wacky spooky with the spectre of the next love manipulation lurking nearby. The timing is quite good- after the disappointment of the current storyline, I'm looking forward to one that, in nearly every concievable way, is entirely different from what we've seen so far.

Review by William Schwartz

"Dating Agency: Cyrano" is directed by Kang Kyeong-hoon, written by Shin Jae-won and features Lee Jong-hyuk, Choi Soo-young, Hong Jong-hyun and Jo Yoon-woo.