My Dearest Part 2 (2023)

I'm being super generous.

This is a cohesive review for both parts of the show.

This show means business when it comes to tragedy, so watch out!

As some other people have pointed out this show is wayyyy better in the first half. I think the main issue that comes up in ep 10 onwards, is that the story relies on people making dumb choices for drama's sake. Characters that you've gotten to know will dead-ass look at the camera and make the dumbest choices you've ever seen.

Due to that there are a lot of scenes where I'm bored or angry. Not to mention how many coincidences there are to help the characters float along.

Despites the flaws this drama was still incredibly compelling. Every episode moved me or made me physically ill from the stress of watching. I thought the ending was pushing the limits of believability, BUT I was satisfied!

One of the best Korean dramas in YEARS!

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CAMBIO LA TRAYECTORIA DE MI VIDA

la cinematografía 10/10
la actuación 10/10
y claramente 10 para la historia también, este drama sabe como mantenerte atrapado durante una hora y q los capítulos se sientan eternos pero no in bad way, la historia es tan desgarradora y grafica en algunos momentos que me dieron ganas de vomitarme y llorar al mismo tiempo.
creo firmemente que la temporada 2 es mucho mejor que la , empezando por el desarrollo de personaje de gilchae, el como paso de ser una niña mimada rodeada de flores a una mujer valiente que sufrio TANTO.
El protagonista una total green flag definitivamente mi fav boy de kdrama historico, el amor tan genuino que él tenia hacia ella es imposible no patalear de emoción al verlo.

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Halfway and I lost interest, too much self-pity and crying

I wasn't loving part 1 as I found the dynamic between the lead is a bit childish and drags. Part 2 comes and first 4 episodes hit me with massive emotional train wreck, so painful yet so beautiful. What stands out to me compared to the previous season is this new dynamic among the hunter woman, Jang Hyun ang Gil Chae. She has so much passion and her motivation is interesting, so she elevate the stake. I'm in for their painful future stories.

Cinematography is just as stunning as the previous part. The shots are very captivating, that you can't help but admired. Trigger warning: the torture scenes realistically gruesome, comparable to few historicals Mr. Sunshine and Empress Ki. I guess it is to highlight the degradation that Joseon went through during this historical time. Great and emotional acting by all cast! Namkoong Min has rightly been receiving praise for his accolade and I enjoyed his chemistry with Lee Chung Ah. Honestly, they look great together in all situations.

Even if it won't happily ever after, at least I hope the struggles of our heroes come to an end soon because all of them goes through so much pain already. Every little hopeful moment counts, even though I don't know how it's going to end.

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twists, angst,separation,bravery,and somewhat happy conclusion

I am glad that the main couple got a happy end but I felt really bad for Ryan eum, its sad how they left him in that cell still wondering what happened to lee jang hyun.it was so unfair to leave him there without closure.
Also I would not have minded if nam yeon committed sucide, he ended becoming such a useless and irritating character, Gil Chae should be grateful he never chose her.
I do think she has poor taste in men because both nam neon and that her ex-husband were such sorry excuse for men. That's why I felt it was stupid choice to choose him over LJH, it didn't come as a shock to see that he abandoned her when she needed him most he always saw as a beautiful possession and not an actual human being.
I felt sad for the crown prince and crown princess and how they met such a terrible end without even getting justice, worse her son didn't even inherit the throne and the evil concubine just got away with everything's terrible.
I didn't like the unnecessary double amnesia plot and to me it didn't add anything relevant to the storyline.
Also I loved the acting of nam koong min, His ability to make his eyes and face convey so much emotions without even uttering any words was so brilliant.
I felt like part 1 was much stronger than part 2 but overall this was interesting, heartbreaking ,emotional and beautiful story to watch and It was totally worth the journey.

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The Chemistry between the leads is the best thing in the show

I will try keeping it Simple and Short :

Watched this show since the first episode of Part 1 dropped and good lord there wasn't a slight moment where i regretted it.
After P1 ended with a huge heartbreak, and P2's date was announced, damn I felt like ML from the show feeling the pain of waiting for P2 to drop.

As for the show you feel all the emotions, happiness, sadness, anger, pain, hatred, thrill, suspense, butterflies, heartbreaks. You will laugh and cry for the characters especially the main leads.

Both the main actors nailed their roles, each and every emotion was shown so beautifully. The story, acting and production value was top notch.

The show is a slowburn and filled with moments of heartbreaks and separations. Till the end you don't know whether there will be a happy or a tragic ending. So if you can handle that then this is the show for you.

(The show and cast deserve all the awards they are getting)

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While retaining the poetic beauty of the original, this second half is a painful epilogue . . .

At this point, I'm convinced the writers are sadists, and I can't stand to watch anymore just to see it all come to a bad end one last time. In sum, the random twists and turns that started cropping up in the last episodes of the first season, multiply in the second half. Hurdle, after hurdle, after hurdle. Just nonsensically raising hopes and dashing them. Will there be scenes that stick with me? Yes. Did I vow to stop watch multiple times? Also yes.

The acting, production values, cinematography, and some key pieces of dialogue are excellent. There are some powerful scenes that will linger on - but we're talking all of 10-15 minutes in 8 hrs of viewing. The key theme of the show is to always persist and survive as there could be the best moments of your life just around the corner.

I feel vaguely guilty, therefore, of not persisting to the end of this one, but frustration and dread was growing with every episode, and life is too short. I ended it at a high point, and I don't have strength to see if things fall apart once again. I would still highly recommend watching the first half/season 1 - it stands on its own and is a true gem of a K -Drama.

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PART 2 CRINGE FROM PART 1 - the power of domination

"watching people want to live when they have been taken captive, seems so pathetic in my eyes"

Part 2 always cringe. And my beloved Princess Qing, is right, it is pathetic indeed, to be a slave.
Always stupid and ridiculous characters, eithout any development and positive elements
The ministers are more reasonable and normal characters. You have been conquered, accept your fate as slaves and deportation.
Some of the useless characters lose their lives (finally).
The two protagonists are the same as the first episode of part 1, without development or maturity.
It is also annoying that they are still called "intruders" when we are almost completely conquered in China (end of 1642-1643). The Han of the Ming Dynasty would have the right to do so, not the slaves. How beautiful the market was❤️
The only nice thing is to see the Qing conquest after a few years, and the few Qing that are seen. CONQUEST POWER.
The Princess of the Qing Dynasty is the only decent woman, and decent character, in the whole drama, along with those of the Qing Dynasty. The drama, in the first part, deals with the years 1636-1637, in the second part 1642-1645.
The useless Crown Prince and Princess die, and they deserve it.
The ML protagonist remembers of creepy stalkers, it's as trashy as the drama (unwatchable). The story is not at all believable from any point of view ( what kind of behaviours??)
Princess Qing is literally the best, strong, pragmatic although kind-hearted. She much better than all the spineless Korean characters, both male and female. 0 courage.
Nonsense ending fanservice for the fans of an actor ( are they arelly actors?) who doesn't even know how to act, like the whole cast. Inaccuracy of the costumes can be clearly seen.
Not recommended at all. This is too comic relief.

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Not as good as part 1

While I absolutely loved part 1, part 2 felt disjointed. ML and FL had a lot more interactions but before they did, but the story had way too many useless characters and frustrating plotlines.

There were a lot of scenes where ML and FL almost met but missed each other by a hair. At first, it was ok, but later became very frustrating because the writers overdid it. Some characters and storylines were pointless. What was the deal with the Chinese princess and her unrequited love for Jang Hyun? It didn't move the plot forward, but created unnecessary conflict that was more frustrating than meaningful. The princess got no character development and her arc ended in a very underwhelming way. She was cruel and selfish, and I expected Jang Hyun to deal with her in a smart way. But he told her he was leaving and she accepted it, the end. Gil Chae getting abducted to Qing also felt off. It was a tool for her to meet Jan Hyun, but the plotline felt like a forced cop out, rather than a natural story progression.

It also felt like the writers changed their mind with the direction of the story. They made a big deal about women being abused in one household because of a jealous wife. But Gil Chae spent very little time there, then left, and that was it. The arc with Gil Chae marrying the sergeant was also completely pointless. It was another tool to keep ML and FL apart for a bit longer without serving any other purpose.

The entire part 2 felt like a forced attempt to continue with the story post war, except there was not as much conflict and action. A lot of story arcs felt uninspired and forced. I wish the war plotline wouldn't have ended in part 1. This was when the story was at its best.

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A review of both part 1 and 2

What both stunned and impressed me the most about the kdrama My Dearest, right at the very start, was how focused it was on the ordinary people and how they deal with war. And what the war does to them. It makes it less of a war epic and more of a human tale of self-preservation and hope at a trying time. which I found to be quite a fresh approach to this kind of historical drama, although many will no doubt find it rather slow and dry in its execution and style.

The story is ruthless in its realism and harshness with how it seems to paint the world. The narrative is very willing to comment on several aspects within society that it tells it’s tale, the nobility and their uselessness, the lack of care that a certain position within society seems to push into you for the people that live around them, as well as society’s attitude towards women in wartimes and just their position in society both outside of that as well. The way it uses these elements to shape itself, the details it shares throughout the story is very tangible, interesting but also poignant. It is incredibly well thought out and effective within the narrative to stir up further emotions both with the characters and the viewers.

These are not the heroes that poems are sung about, but seem to be more everyday heroes of the common folk. Most of their influence is not great within the grand scheme of things, but it is the people who knew them who will always remember them with kindness and love. They are the ones who will tell the stories about them until they disappear from human memory and are forgotten.

At some point, despite their intelligence and strength, as the war and the hardships seem to tighten more and more around them, the characters seem to wear down a bit. But they never lose who they are, their will to fight but how they go about fighting, how they deal with situations changes a little. All that happens very slowly and works very realistically within the story. It’s a really well-handled look at character, as well as how normal people deal with such situations.

The characters do feel sharp and manage to be both a fresh take on the traditional characters that we get in a Korean historical dramas, but at the same time they have quite a bit of the characteristics that we are used to seeing; Jang-hyun may come across as smug and aloof, and Gil-chae may come across as snobbish and somewhat self-interested. But there’s a lot more to them and their flaws are very presant within the story. Overall there are plenty of multi-layered characters that make My Dearest a rather worthwhile and heart-wrenching watch. Everyone has something to say in their own way and all have some point to emphasize within the story. The story touches your heart from beginning to end if people just allow themselves to enter this cruel, realistic world with these characters as a guiding light.

The plot itself goes through its ups and downs, and it does hit a bit of a lull within the second half where the story tends to repeat itself quite often. Characters almost miss each other a few times over the course of few episodes in order to create tension and longing within the viewers, and since the story is already slow by nature it might make some people really struggle. It makes it seem like the story has lost steam and doesn’t really pick up fully until right near the end. But if the characters manage to grab you and make you completely fall for them in the first half of the story, it’s perfectly tolerable.

The story never seems to fall into being too epic or too grandiose in its approach to the narrative, as some costume dramas tend to do to make their heroes seem bigger. Much rather My Dearest seems so focused on being realistic and grounded in reality like it has a bit of an obsession with the human spirit and the lengths to which people will go to survive. It run through the very heart of the series. And the love story, which is really successful on its own, reflects that. It’s very slow and down to earth and it’s quite unusual for a kdrama in lots of ways.

The story takes its time, sometimes excessively so, and repeats itself a bit too often, but even if it takes the story a good while it manages to underline every point that the drama set out to make really well. The story always seemed to know what it wanted to say. And the humanity that this series carries with it and manages to reflect within the narrative does make you cry many times. It’s gorgeous, it’s heartwarming and filled with hope for brighter days that is always enveloped by a little bit of sadness.

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Lost steam from Part 1, but still a worthy watch

After a heart-breaking finish to Season 1, the story turns once again to the Qing invasion and the atrocities committed in the aftermath on a chaotic, fractured, and helpless Joseon. Only the efforts of officials and people on the ground like Jang Hyun, working with the hostage Crown Prince, are tenuously holding the country together. Despite the horrific suffering of Joseon prisoners of war, Gil Chae manages to rebuild some of the comfortable lifestyle she was accustomed to but is shockingly reminded that class is meaningless in an oppressed state. There are also stark reminders of how women are truly expendible victims. I was waiting to see what choices the characters made when pushed to extremes and this season had some of the most riveting scenes. The tone was lightened at times with romantic tropes (pretending to be sick to get attention) which seemed out of place in a drama of this caliber.

At around Ep15 I suddenly remembered the opening scene of Ep1 which takes place more than 20 years after the 1637 invasion. It was worth a re-watch to find hints at a very tragic conclusion for our heroes. The announcement of an extension came after Ep8 aired and I wondered if there would be a hopeful epilogue. Unfortuately, after Ep20 the Ep1 opening sequence was not yet reached in the story and I was left wondering if the extension had already been inserted. There was no added value to Eps 19&20 and they could easily have been combined into one. Ep1 is recapped in the finale, Ep21.

At times throughout the drama I kept feeling a disconnect between Gil Chae and Jang Hyun's relationship and their surroundings, like I was watching 2 separate shows. Political events deeply affected each of them separately and this was infused into how they dealt with each other during Part 1. However, that influence seemed less evident in Part 2 even though the political pressures never went away. They lived and worked separately for so long that there wasn't much that they actually did for/with each other. It was as if Eps19/20 were there just to make up for their separation, more couple less story, and I felt the show lost momentum at this point as all the other characters got moved to the sidelines. However, the finale felt right once more as loose ends got tied up.

All in all, the acting was among the strongest I've seen in any show (I still think The Red Sleeve's demented king was an acting masterclass). Although Part 2 seemed to run out of steam in the 2nd half, the strong production, story telling, and deep dives into the human psyche makes this show worth watching.

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