Three long time friends Kwon Shi-Hyun (Woo Do-Hyun), Choi Soo-Ji (Moon Ga-Young), Lee Se-Joo (Kim Min-Jae) are all from very privileged, wealthy families. To all appearances, they "have it all." They stick together through thick and thin, doing many wild things, push the envelope for boundaries on a regular basis, and are pretty outrageous in their behavior while always having each other's backs. Lacking nothing materially, we learn quickly that they have another area of common ground - emotional holes and needs.
For various reasons, each one has at least one area of abandonment by a parent, if not outright abuse. This has strengthened their bond to each other as they have supported each other through many instances of pain and suffering in their young lives. Shi-Hyun's mother died when he was younger at the same time that his father rejected him. Soo-Ji's living with her doctor mother who is consumed with her career and new love. Se-Joo is the whipping boy for his abusive father and family, who does his best to lay low and stay out of reach as much as possible, not always succeeding.
Due to their incredible good looks and very affluent pocketbooks, these kids have lived some wild times that many adults have not.
Into this scenario, Soo-Ji is dumped by a guy (whom she's better off without!) and to recover her pride tasks Shi-Hyun to go after the new girlfriend and win her away from Soo-Ji's ex. Only problem is, they don't know they have the wrong girl - or do they?
Enter Eun Tae-hee (Red Velvet's Joy), a very levelheaded young lady with her own pain-filled past. She's smart, savvy, and very skeptical of Shi-Hyun's tricks and charm. Instead of melting in a puddle or falling at his feet like most people do, she throws him repeated curves, challenges and leaves him scratching his head. The more time he spends with her, the more intrigued he becomes, which presents its own problems with his two friends.
Being intrigued with her differences keeps him returning to her like a moth to a flame, falling deeper all the time, a real problem when the original task was to love her and leave her.
A secondary love story in this is the long-term unrequited love of See-Jo for Soo-Ji. The hiccup is that Soo-Ji thinks she's in love with See-Jo's best friend Shi-Hyun, and See-Jo knows this. To keep from losing his two friends completely, he stays in the background, remaining supportive to them both and holds his love for Soo-Ji, and his wounds about that love, closely in his own heart.
The story gives us the opportunity to see how past as well as present trauma and pain affect people, affect how our characters respond to challenges, to others, what choices are available to them in each situation, then what choice they make and what outcome that brings. Overall, this is a story of the character of each one involved when presented with life's hurdles, set-backs and disappointments - which road will they take? It gives us the opportunity to ask ourselves, "What would I do?"
Ultimately, the main story is a Gidget kind of story, which is one of my favorite scenarios - a good girl changes a "bad boy" into a better man. With Joy as the leading lady, it shouldn't be a surprise that there are also some really good songs included. I think Tempted is a show with some real depth, presenting some real-life issues to ponder along with a pretty powerful romance.
2 out of 3 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink