Delightfully Deceitful

Review

I found Delightfully Deceitful to be a disappointing watch. The premise of a con artist with no empathy teaming up with an overly empathetic lawyer for revenge sounded intriguing, but the execution fell flat.The female lead, Lee Ro-woom, is portrayed as cold and distant, with a backstory meant to justify her behavior, but it didn’t resonate with me. Han Moo-young, the male lead, is incredibly kind and patient, but her stand-offish and sometimes cruel attitude towards him became increasingly frustrating, especially since it persisted well beyond the halfway point, when I decided to stop watching.The plot is undeniably complex, with numerous twists and turns, but this complexity doesn’t translate into excitement. Instead, it often feels convoluted and slow-moving, making it hard to follow and, frankly, boring at times. Watching with my daughter, we frequently found ourselves taking breaks, only to return and realize we had missed crucial plot points because the show was so tedious.From what I’ve read in other reviews, the final episodes drag on unnecessarily, which only reinforces my decision to quit when I did. Additionally, many viewers noted that the drama loses its initial psychological depth and becomes more formulaic, which might explain why it feels less engaging as it progresses.

If you’re a fan of the revenge trope and can tolerate a slow pace, you might enjoy it more than I did. However, for me, it was a struggle to get through, and I wouldn’t recommend it to others. In fact, if it were on, I’d probably change the channel.

Spoilers

One of the major issues I had with the series is how Han Moo-young, a character who is supposed to be principled and upright, ends up compromising his values for Lee Ro-woom. Even considering their past connection when they were younger, I didn’t see why he would go to such lengths for her. Her character didn’t have enough depth or charm to warrant such devotion, in my opinion.

From the very first episode, I found the storyline lackluster. I kept hoping it would pick up and become more engaging, but it never did. The complexity of the plot required intense focus, as missing even a small detail could leave you lost. Normally, this would add to the excitement, but in this series, it only made the experience more tedious. Watching with my daughter, we often found ourselves taking breaks, asking each other to summarize what happened, only to realize that even when we were paying attention, the significance of events was unclear, and new characters were introduced without proper context. It felt like my brain checked out, even though my eyes were still on the screen—that’s how uninteresting I found it at times.

Synopsis

This is a 2023 South Korean series with crime, drama, thriller, and even some comedy elements. Major themes in this drama include justice, revenge and deception. The series has 16, 60 to 70 minute episodes.

Lee Row oom (Chun Woo hee) was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of her parents when she was actually herself a victim. To survive prison, she allowed the others to believe she was an unfeeling psychopath. Angry at her fate though, she does become a very charismatic and cunning con artist. After 10 years of time in prison for a crime she did not commit, new evidence, that indicates the actual killer, leads to her release. Once released, Ro woom teams up with the attorney who helped free her, Han Moo-yeong (Kim Dong wook) to bring to justice the group that ended and ruined her family's lives. Initially very different, a passionate empathic lawyer and a cold devious con artist, they evolve both personally and together through the series. The story weaves through mysteries, betrayals and many twists and has the surprising element of Ro woom breaking the 4th wall and talking to viewers.

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