K-DRAMA REVIEW: “Frankly Speaking” Flaunts Feel Good But Forgettable Narrative

Our tale of frankness and new beginnings has come to an end. It might have gone off course along the ride, but it had a sweet romance keeping the drama from falling apart.

As we send off our leads, they promise to stay together forever, doing whatever makes them happy and being honest with each other.

• Main Leads: Go Kyung Pyo | Kang Han Na | Joo Jong Hyuk
• Addictive Meter:
• Overall Rating:
• Rewatch Value:
• K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: Pinocchio | Love is for Suckers | Oh! Young-sim

K-DRAMA FIRST LOOK: “Frankly Speaking” Entertains With Its Unique Hero’s Inability To Lie

Frankly Speaking Series Quick Recap

Song Ki-baek, a successful news anchor has his life turned upside down after an unfortunate accident leaving him unable to lie and too frank for his own good. Bad news to Ki-baek but good news to our variety show writer, On Woo-joo, who sees Ki-baek as the perfect opportunity to revive her show.

Frankly Speaking Series Highlights and Musings

On paper, Frankly Speaking was a promising tale about new beginnings after hitting unexpected situations. Yet, unfortunately, the drama went nowhere with this. Except for the scene of Ki-baek making a grand exit and quitting his job and a few touching conversations about doing what makes you happy and protecting your heart, we got nothing more on that arc.

Rather than watching Ki-baek think back on everything he went through and decide whether to pursue a new career or return to his old job with a fresh mindset, that arc was conveniently wrapped up with Ki-baek becoming so popular and working as a freelancer. Which is a pity since I looked forward to tagging along on Ki-baek’s self-discovery journey.

Likewise, we had Woo-joo, a variety show writer struggling to find a new concept for her next show. And while I liked Woo-joo’s resilience and optimism, I wish we had seen Woo-joo stand up for herself instead of the many passive reactions we got from her. Case in point: when Woo-joo’s boss threw the team an unfair ultimatum (take Woo-joo off the project and get a regular spot or keep Woo-joo and the show gets canceled), Woo-joo just took the news lying down without trying to fight back.

I knew Woo-joo was trying to protect her team from losing their jobs. And it was clear how this sentiment went two-way seeing how the rest of the team supported Woo-joo’s new project. But I wish we could see Woo-joo putting her foot down and staking a claim to the show she wrote by herself.

If anything, I was surprised the most about Jung-heon’s character arc. He was set up as an antagonist only to end up as the most interesting character in the show. Be it apologizing for hurting Woo-joo in the past despite having good intentions, how he gracefully came to accept that the train has left for him and Woo-joo now likes Ki-baek, having Jung-heon and Ki-baek reconcile and become friends again after their fallout, and finally his celebrity career with all the hardships that come with it.

One thing that kept the drama from falling apart was the central relationship featuring Ki-baek and Woo-joo. Both of them had their fair share of hardships. So, it felt nice watching them support and lean on each other though Woo-joo took a bit more time to open up to Ki-baek about her struggles. The romance here was more about comforting each other than grand gestures. It was also nice having Woo-joo’s touch be the switch turning off Ki-baek’s truth bombs.

On a less satisfying note, though, we have the entangling relationships connecting our main trio that weren’t handled with enough care. From the reason Woo-joo and Jung-heon broke up, the cause of the fallout between the boys during high school to the love triangle, it felt like the drama baited us and then wrapped everything abruptly without much context.

While it didn’t deliver on multiple fronts, I wouldn’t say Frankly Speaking was a terrible watch. It just chose to juggle too many subplots (the variety show, sneaky Cho-hui, truck of doom, and Woo-joo’s birth mother’s return) instead of focusing on its potential. And though a rewatch might be unlikely, it isn’t a show that left me frustrated enough to regret picking it up. At least, we got an amazing cameo by the much-talented Kwon Yul playing a non-prosecutor role this time.

Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama