The "Overdose" Takeover Has Begun Everyone!

It's almost midnight and I should really go to bed but I just watched EXO's new MV (a bad decision really)
and I had to write this piece while I still have all my initial thoughts in my head. They actually already had their showcase quite a few weeks ago and were just about to release the album and single when the tragic ferry accident happened. EXO-M has actively begun their promotions in China, but everything has, as you know, been put on hold back in Korea. However, now it seems that things are slowly going back to normal, and so EXO's new material was finally released.




I really didn't have any expectations at all for this video because the teaser didn't pull me in all too much, and I'm kind of glad I didn't because I would probably have been a bit disappointed. The video opens with all the members trapped in a maze (having the same shape as their album cover logo which is pretty cool), and they seem quite frustrated about it. Kris is punching the maze walls and Suho is punching an invisible wall while D.O empties out some sand from a box. Although a bit overdramatic, the opening premise is pretty cool, and it also feels connected to the theme of the song. However, after the intro is finished and every member has had their moment in the spotlight, things take a turn for the worse. There's a lot of aspects to the main part of the video in need of dissection, and here I am, willing to do the dirty work for you.

Let's talk about the styling, shall we? There's just so much going on here, and nothing seems to be working together either. I mean, the simple black and white outfits worn in the teaser photos and at the showcase were maybe not the most attractive, but they worked. You can hardly ever go wrong with that kind of concept, so I was happy at the time being. I didn't want to go back to the time where the boys had to wear baggy shirts and harem pants, yet here we are anyway. It's hard to figure out how on earth those colorful, 90's haunted sweatshirts and trousers found their way into a 2014 music video, and it's even harder to figure out their connection to the other outfits worn in the video. Those suits were perfect, and there's no need to fix what isn't broken, right?  I mean, I thought Baekhyun was a fisherman and couldn't even recognize Luhan with that ponytail (although I must say he looked surprisingly attractive).


Apart from the horrendous wardrobe choices, there's isn't really that much about the video that sticks out, unfortunately. It's a dance video, from the beginning to the end, and there's not any real solo shots of the members either. I have to praise the camerawork though, because it really made the video a lot more interesting that it actually is, thanks to the nice angles, quick movements and zooming. It's not all shot in one take like Growl, but some of the scenes do not feature different cuts although it feels like it due to the rapid camera movement. It did make it a slightly tricky to catch the choreography, which I happen find a bit underwhelming anyway. It just comes off as a bit strange, and although I think the intention was for it to be unique and original, some of the moves are just downright bizarre. Also, it looks really difficult, and I wonder if they'll be able to pull it off live.

After i finished watching the video, I was left with much confusion and many questions. The overall feeling was disconnection, because I had no idea what the plot or even the theme of the video was. There seemed to be nothing holding the different parts together, and the maze scenes felt a bit out of place with the dancing part (or possibly the other way around). I think there was a lot of potential to actually take this "stuck in a maze" plot and make that the main focus of the video, but clearly dancing in ugly clothes in flashy rooms felt more fitting. The song is about that kind of dangerous love, so it would have made sense to do something in connection to that, but it is SM were talking about here. Now we just have to settle with this messy outcome, and it feels really unfair to the song, the boys and the fans.


I suppose at the end of the day, this is what this company has to offer in terms of MV's, and if you don't like it than that sucks for you. I've sort of come to the conclusion that I most probably won't see any real out-of-the-box (pun intended) videos from my favorite artists, but there are still plenty of ways to make a box video interesting. I just find it strange that for a company with so much power and money, it wouldn't seem difficult to find another location to shoot in, like outdoors for example. However, this just seems to be SM's thing, and I feel like they're not going to ditch the box anytime soon.

Overall, not a great video, even if it's a SM group we're talking about after all. To be honest, I was kind of laughing throughout the whole thing, because it was that strange and ridiculous. Nothing really makes sense and the clothes are, for the most part, absolutely hideous. I wanted to at least say that all the boys look great, but I feel like there's nothing in here that really allows them to show their looks. It's also a shame because the song itself is not bad at all, but this just makes me really unexcited. And I was just starting to genuinely like EXO!

Song: 3,2/5
MV: 2.5/5