Gloria is a 2010 Korean TV series about a young poor woman given a chance to become a singer/performer.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Honestly, I'm having a hard time remembering a whole lot about this show. I'm sure I watched all of it (which I recall being somewhat of a masochistic endeavor), and this was only 2 years ago or so, but it obviously did not leave a very indelible impression on me for whatever reason. To be fair, I should probably watch it again before writing a review, but, there's just no way in hell I'm going to sit through 50 episodes again for something I've already seen that didn't stick with me the first time around.
The main problem with this show should be obvious, i.e. it's just too freaking long. A fifty episode series is a bit cumbersome in this day and age of televised Korean melodramas. I don't have ADHD or anything, but this particular genre is just generally not suited to be stretched out for such a long period of time. I think the "sweet spot" for these K-drama shows is in the 12-16 episode range (maybe a little more or less on occasion). Sometimes, lengthier shows can work well if done right, but they are much more the exception rather than the rule. As it stands, 50 episodes did not work very well at all here, and as such, this show is stuck in some kind of "no man's land" territory of being somewhat epic in length, but not epic enough in story to match its run time.
Here's your basic story and outline of this show (which will perhaps be the worst and most lazily summary I've written on this site): Bae Doo-na stars in the lead role as the soon to be named Gloria character. She's the poor girl working all kinds of odd jobs to help herself and her handicapped sister simply survive. "Gloria" eventually gets the chance to become a stage singer, but I can't quite remember how or why this exactly happens. She soon starts performing at a local club and also gets a contract/job with some record label or something that's run by a rich handsome dude who takes a liking to her. Gloria and the young record company owner are the main leads, and I'm pretty sure they eventually fall in love, have their trials & tribulations along the way, then probably live happily ever. There are 2 other secondary leads as well: Gloria's poor childhood male friend, and some pretty rich girl who decides to slum it for whatever reason, and falls in love with the poor male friend. There are family problems & secrets, side characters with hidden agendas, some singing along the way, resolutions to various love angles, typical melodrama, etc. Eventually, the poor boy has to go on the run for some reason, and, somebody owns a chicken restaurant at some point that all the characters frequent, and, blah, blah, blah!
This show is probably 2 to 3 times longer than it should be in order to be effective. As a result, it's often rather bland and moves along at a snail's pace. It's also chock full of stock story lines and stereotypical characters; I am sick and tired of these K-drama shows rolling out the same 2 patriarchal characters over and over again (i.e. the poor worthless degenerate gambling scheming drunk vs. the rich entitled demanding snob who has to have things his way). If you based your real world view of Asian familial culture on the older male characters that frequently appear in these K-dramas, you'd wonder why anyone in Asia would have any respect for their elders at all.
I did not really hate this show. I'd say indifference, or ambivalence, is more of my overriding opinion of it. There are some bright spots here and there, and basic story would have been very workable in a shorter format. Acting is solid enough (aside from the annoying cookie cutter old dudes and the gangsters from central casting). All of the 4 young protagonists are mostly easy enough to root for, and everybody involved did what they were supposed to. The plot repeats itself endlessly though, and it all just ends up dragging on forever. There came a time that I just didn't/couldn't care about this show anymore (somewhere about halfway through the show's run time). It eventually becomes more of a chore to keep following as it crawls along to completion, and, you'll almost certainly find yourself just "going through the motions" in order to finish watching it.
I see this show is often summarized elsewhere using the buzz word "intense" (i.e. "intense story", "intense lives", etc). Frankly, that's laughable!...This series is no more intense, or set apart in any way, than any other standard K-drama show from this era. Truthfully, it's all very "status quo" in nature, except that it's so long in run time that it ends up being little more than downright tedious & boring when all is said and done.
Bottom Line: If you have a 50 some hour show with the terrific Bae Doona at your disposal, and nothing really ends up being memorable, then your show has some problems...namely, that its 50 some hours long!
Unless you're a Doona filmography completest, don't bother watching this. Your time could be much better spent watching 3 other similar modern K-drama shows which are much more economical, streamlined, and better, than this series is.
6 out of 10 stars!
P.S. This show is just WAY TOO LONG (in case I haven't made myself clear yet)!
