Dynamite Kiss is a delightful explosion of humor, fun and romance that grabs your attention from the very first episode. It has its shortcomings and is chockfull of tropes but it is truly an enjoyable ride that’s laced with quirky characters.

ABOUT

Go Da Rim (Ahn Eun Jin) is a single woman who is preparing for civil services exams for a few years but hasn’t been able to succeed. Circumstances lead her to meet Gong Ji Hyeok (Jang Ki Yong) in Jeju Island. They both feel attracted towards each other and they even kiss. But she has to run back to Seoul suddenly when she gets a call about her mother getting a heart attack, without any time to explain this to him. He tries to find her but fails to do so. Meanwhile, she is in desperate need of money for her mother’s treatment and other reasons, and this leads her to disguise as a married mother to secure a job, only to discover that her new boss is none other than Ji Hyeok.

REVIEW

Dynamite Kiss starts out fine and gets really good once the main story is set — when Da Rim starts working in Ji Hyeok’s company, pretending to be married and a mom. The circumstances leading to this are well explained. Normally I’m not a fan of fast-burn romance but the angst that comes later — as Ji Hyeok thinks she is married and she cannot say anything as he is her employer — is really good and interesting.

Ji Hyeok is someone who doesn’t believe in love but falls deeply for Da Rim after spending some time with her and observing how caring and pure she is and ultimately after their ‘dynamite kiss’. I loved him and Jang Ki Yong‘s amazing performance. His pettiness, confusion, desperation, jealousy, brooding, care and later on being so in love — I had such great time watching it. Da Rim is not as interesting as him but I did find her likeable and cute. She is a talented employee even if she never got the chance before to show her capabilities.

The whole track when Ji Hyeok thinks she is married, meets her fake husband, thinks he is cheating on her, cannot resist his feelings for her and vice versa — it’s so funny, entertaining and fun. The show has lots of hilarious situations and moments; I found myself laughing out loud many times.

I loved the chemistry between Ahn Eun Jin and Jang Ki Yong which is charming and natural. Their banter, angst, romance (once everything is revealed) — it’s perfectly done. There’s an interesting shift where the early episodes deliver bold romantic moments between them, but the relationship itself is portrayed in a surprisingly modest way when they start dating. It is a bit disappointing.

The Natural BeBe Mother TF Team is also fun to watch, their scenes infused with wit, camaraderie, compassion and team spirit. I loved the bonding and friendship between the two moms of our leads.

The second leads are formed by Kim Seon U (Kim Mu Jun) and Yoo Ha Yeong (Woo Da Vi). I was shipping them too but the drama disappoints with how their story culminates. They could have given us a beautiful second lead love story but the show wants to keep emphasizing on the love triangle with the main leads/ Seon U and gives an open ending of sorts with no satisfactory conclusion. She is such an adorable character; I liked him until a certain point with his gentle and soft-hearted nature but he started to frustrate me by the end with his overly long unrequited feelings for Da Rim.

The villains are lackluster and have cliched, sometimes over the top scenes. I did enjoy how Ha Yeong’s mom has a change of heart after meeting and observing Seon U — that was refreshing to see.

While enjoyable, the series is undeniably packed with familiar tropes and cliché moments. In the same vain, it brings in unnecessary noble idiocy and amnesia tropes in last few episodes, which reduces the overall enjoyment of the drama. I did love the ending credits segment that shows all the characters dancing!

IN A NUTSHELL

Funny and entertaining overall, the weaker final episodes hold it back from a strong finish.

MY RATING: 8.5 out of 10.