tvN Weekend Drama Hometown Cha Cha Cha Premieres to 6.281%, 6.666% First Two Episode Ratings as the Drama Delivers a Warm and Relaxing Watch But Lacking an Attention Grabbing Initial Setup

This is a first episode impression of tvN Sat-Sun drama Hometown Cha Cha Cha that consists of the Good, the Bad, and the Weird. First up the good is that the drama brought in ratings of 6.281%, 6.666% in the first two episodes, a good point above predecessor The Devil Judge, and the ratings went up between episodes so that’s a good trajectory. The good parts of the first episode were the beautiful seaside village scenery and real people going above their lives vibe of the denizens of Gongjin. Plus both leads are good upstanding people, as Shin Mina‘s Yoon Hye Jin quits her high powered dentist job because her boss wants her to prescribe more expensive dental treatments that will have harder consequences on the patient and Kim Sun Ho‘s Hong Du Shik is basically the town everything-man but seems to do it because he wants to aid others (for now, his motivation is not yet clear). The leads have a comfortable banter but no strong romantic (yet) chemistry in the first episode.

The bad aspects of this drama is that it’s just so……boring?!? I don’t know if it’s just me but I had to persevere to finish the first episode despite liking what I was seeing because I didn’t feel there was any energy or narrative momentum in the story. It is definitely slice-of-life and absolutely is the summer and less emo counterpart to When the Weather is Fine. I have episode 2 on standby and plan to keep watching, but wonder if I should marathon or live watch to better enjoy the drama. As for the weird, and probably I may be the small segment of K-drama bloggers who recognizes these bags on sight but Shin Mina was carrying Hermes purses in this drama and it’s just so out of place for both her profession and also in Gongjin. She started off with a Roulis 23 in Evercolor Taupe and then slung a Herbag 31 in Rouge Tomate wandering around all day, and apparently in episode 2 she busts out a Bolide 31 in Epsom Vert Criquet. Again, love those bags but it’s so distracting to be in this particular drama, fits in dramas like Mine and Sky Castle and all those rich people dramas but here it was actually the most entertaining aspect of episode 1 for me because I was worried she would get it wet or dirty. Clearly I was projecting lol. Anyhoo, so far the drama is a mix bag (pun intended) for me.