Lazy Unnie’s Couch: Crash Course in Romance

After retiring from her career as a national athlete, Nam Haeng Sun now owns a humble side dish store. Her cheerful personality and boundless energy catch the attention of Choi Chi Yeol, a popular and hardworking private instructor known as the “1 Billion Won Man.” Despite his reputation, Choi Chi Yeol has become increasingly aloof and irritable due to his growing success. As Nam Haeng Sun embarks on a new career in the private education field, she unexpectedly finds herself drawn to Choi Chi Yeol. Though they have very different teaching styles, their shared passion for education brings them closer together. As they work alongside each other, they begin to discover a deeper connection that blossoms into a romance. However, their relationship is not without challenges. As they navigate the ups and downs of their personal and professional lives, they must learn to confront their own shortcomings and trust in each other’s strengths. Will their love be enough to overcome the obstacles in their path?
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Starring: Jeon Do Yeon | Jung Kyung Ho | Oh Eui Shik | Lee Bong Ryun | Shin Jae Ha | Roh Yoon Seo
Episodes: 16 (1 hr. 15 mins. )
Aired: January 14 – March 5, 2023
Network: tvN
Where to Watch: Netflix

Since we are in a Kyung Ho loving era, I knew I was going to watch this. And after watching the first few episodes, I was hooked on the cute enemies-to-lovers trope they were serving. For the last couple of months, this was the only show that had enough going on to keep me watching weekly. Almost salivating over it. However, as the weeks went on, I started to see that maybe I was overstuffing myself with it and it took on a sour taste. And by that, I mean the latter half of the show.

There is nothing bad to say about the acting and this cast because they worked really well off of each other. You just had a lot of layered characters and with that, this should have been a home run but when you give them an overbearing plot with so many useless holes, there is nowhere to go but down, right? I loved Choi Chi Yeol. Kyung Ho was great at showing a man who had lost a lot but still held on to his passion for his career. However to the point where it was damaging to his health. Nam Haeng Seon was a little less likable for me but I thought her stepping up and raising her sister’s daughter as her own was great. Honestly, I can’t really say anything bad about the acting because everyone was on point. I hated Soo Ah’s mom and I was supposed to.

I really fell in love with watching the enemies-to-lovers story between Haeng Seon and Chiyeol. It was cute to see Chiyeol go from hating the idea of any relationship to going all simp over the side dish store owner. Of course, they had a connection when younger but it wasn’t annoying like most. Just that her mom took care of him while he was studying. And that wasn’t even the end of connections that ran in this show and I think that’s where it faltered. Not only did we have a romance plot with the adults, but we had ones with the kids. Then the moms in the neighborhood had their own dramas. Sunjae’s mom was ALL up in the plots. Not only was she having a shitty marriage, but there were cheating scandals and murder trials. ALL of it.

Speaking of, why did they feel the need to have so many treads of things? I felt like I was watching the multiverse unravel. I was okay with the murder plot because I was really intrigued by it in the beginning. For a small time, I really thought it was Sunjae’s brother but then that felt too obvious. Then when the murderer was revealed I was like, yep makes sense. BUT the end of that storyline felt so rushed. Then by the last 4 episodes or so, the writers felt like they were just throwing in all the tropes and realized they wrote themselves into a corner and exploded their way out of it. Enter the useless returning sister plot.

There was such a disservice to the plot. They could have scrapped a lot of what they put in and only focused on the few bigger subplots and could have still gotten the same result. Putting the characters through unnecessary plot devices was insulting to well-thought-out characters. Especially Young Joo and Jae woo. Don’t get me wrong, I love that both of them had a love line but I really didn’t need them to have it together.

Either way, I really ate this show up. I thought the cinematography was on point but expected it from a Netflix show. They aren’t giving us cheap. It really made me laugh and swoon at a lot of moments. But I feel like I would have to rewatch to remember every little thing that happened because there was just SO much happening. Maybe they should have split this into two seasons and fleshed out some of those plots instead of doing a time jump at the end. At least I can say at the end of this, I still have no understanding of math.