God’s Gift: 14 Days is a suspense drama about a woman (Lee Bo Young) whose daughter is kidnapped and murdered, but she gets the opportunity to go back in time and try to prevent her daughter’s death with the help of a detective (Jo Seung Woo).
God’s Gift: 14 Days is one of those dramas that has been on my watch list pretty much since it came out, but I just never made it around to watching it. Well, I finally did, but sadly, the drama was a big disappointment. So let’s get into it.
Lee Bo Young plays Kim Soo Hyun who works for a crime solving TV show. Her life is turned upside down when her daughter is kidnapped and ultimately murdered. But when she gets the chance to relive the time leading up to that, she desperately works to save her.
Jo Seung Woo is Ki Dong Chan who is a has-been detective that finds himself mixed up with Soo Hyun and her daughter. He’s a lively character who is very rough around the edges, but he has a good heart and carries around some trauma.
So why didn’t God’s Gift: 14 Days work for me? First, I just plain struggled to get into this drama from start to finish. I’ve seen it described as being very suspenseful repeatedly, but it didn’t feel very intense to me. It should have since the stakes are quite high and there is plenty of action, but it just didn’t. I got more bored as it went along despite the thickening story and a whole lot going on.
This was also a rare case for me where the story felt very forced. There are so many convenient plot devices used one right after the other. It really was too much and made everything feel so unnatural. And the police work and logic was pretty awful too.
The characters in this drama also make some very illogical choices, and quite a few of them at that. Soo Hyun certainly made her fair share of bad decisions. I found Soo Hyun’s husband Ji Hoo (Kim Tae Woo) to be a difficult character as he does some very questionable things that just didn’t make sense, especially if he even remotely cared for his wife. I know he was meant to cause additional conflict, but he was too much.
On the plus side, the drama is plotted pretty well with new things always going on. There is actually a pretty elaborate mystery in place with a lot of layers of the story to peel back. This does allow for some twists and big reveals.
It’s like the concept of the story is good, but much of the details and how it unfolds is what is not so great. I thought the way the story was laid out was a tad confusing and certain story elements weren’t adequately explained.
There were many times that I wondered why things happened and was kind of left in the dark. Just enough was explained to get the gist of things, but the full explanation remained cloudy. Then everything just gets so complicated and crazy that I found it all to be pretty ridiculous.
Now all of the actors were wonderful in the drama. Everyone is cast well, and they go all in for their characters. Lee Bo Young was particularly good as our leading lady. I could really feel her desperation to save her daughter.
Jo Seung Woo was also very enjoyable with his lively character that added a bit of levity in the beginning and then progressed to being quite intense in the latter part. Jo Seung Woo and Lee Bo Young also made a pretty good team and worked well together.
Then there’s the central relationship of a mother and her daughter. It’s a relationship that starts out quite strained, but then losing Saet Byul (Kim Yoo Bin) opens Soo Hyun’s eyes to what’s important. And Soo Hyun will do anything to save Saet Byul. Her love for her daughter is very moving.
Although I do have to mention that this child has a bad a habit of getting herself in dangerous situations and really doesn’t make it easy to avoid getting kidnapped. She’s a sweet kid, but she sure doesn’t listen, breaks the rules, sneaks out, and cries a whole lot. It certainly makes the bad guy’s job easier and mom’s job a lot harder.
So aside from this drama being known as a suspenseful and thrilling tale, the other big thing it is known for is its ending. Without spoiling it, for those who don’t like somewhat open and rushed endings, this drama will be a big disappointment. I’ve heard about that from fans many times over the years and it is understandable considering how much build up there is for the ending.
Since I wasn’t really feeling the drama, I was actually kind of hoping it would just go all out be completely crazy and terrible after all that discontent from fans. But I was disappointed again, lol. Like I said, it’s rushed, left open, and doesn’t explain things well. But I mostly felt neutral towards it. I can see why others would be far more disappointed than me though, especially if you were enjoying the drama.
As you can see, I had quite a few issues with God’s Gift: 14 Days. It’s disappointing since I was expecting a pretty high quality thriller and instead got an overly complicated, messy, and un-engaging drama. But there are a whole lot of people who loved this drama and enjoyed it for the most part. So maybe give it a go, but watch out for that ending!
My Rating: 5/10
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