life is a drama

Most are hanging on for LJW sake, no one will deny he is the rising superstar of kdrama land. If you are going to have a long career you will do dramas/movies that are not good, all actors go through this process nobody is an exception. This drama is not good but LJW is gaining experience so all work good or bad is not a loss for him.

The parts written are attrocious for English actors, you will never get a credible English actor to waste their time on such things where not only the pay is low, they get no exposure and no experience, not to mention this adds nothing of value to their resume.

Support your POV, drama is more interesting with realistic characters not caricatures of extremely good people. Even villains feel justified from their POV.

If the ML found out his estranged wife is dying and immediately falls back in love with her, and exclaims his undying love for her in the next second that is just dumb because feelings are not a on/off switch. Drama is approaching this from a realistic POV, it takes time to re-establish trust. Also if you are not intimate with your partner for months years, they do not even share the same bed of course it will be damn awkward to see each other naked, hug or even sharing a kiss will feel bizarre so the awkwardness they display is realistic.
Audience watches drama for imaginative compelling plot and character development, likable or good characters are not as necessary as captivating story progression.

I think what could happen is both marriages can mirror each other, the wife is pretending because she thinks her real self will not be accepted but in the process she falls out of love if ever she was in love and now just acts because she is used to the lifestyle. while the lead couple our ML is pretending but he actually loves his wife and falls in love again this will renew their marriage because the FL did say you just have to be yourself accept each other that is love.

the way the drama is structured is that there is a negative character tied to each of the main players, FL has her former lover, grandpa has his mistress, mother has her secretary, brother has his wife. ML is the one that is mostly free his own family are selfish not evil, so they have to figure each other out and save themselves.

completely agree his feelings are complex he doesn't want her dead nor does he not love her. he is hurt and she is hurt, he is sensitive so the way he shows it is by wanting to escape the pain and the way she shows it by shutting down emotionally.

the characterization of leads are complex and nuanced, the dark comedy suits the awkward equation between the couple. yes it is possible to be on the verge of divorce, feelings can become so toxic, negative and hateful that you will wish for the other person to be dead but there is a difference between wishing and seeing it actually happen.
it is nice that self serving douchebag characters are not just the rich people on the FL side, the ML side of the family are exasperating, selfish, pathetic just a different degree and in that sense both the ML and FL have things in common surrounded by untrusting family members they have to rely/trust each other.
the drama is well written because there is no clear cut this is a good person with no fault, they are human beings people are complex, families are pain, and love is not easy, marriage is hard.
best character is the aunt love her scenes.

Casting director, producers and directors are more to blame for this debacle than the actor. She was given an opportunity and she took it, a high budget Disney plus show opposite LJW one of the biggest rising stars in KDrama land, who wouldn't want to pounce on such an opportunity. It was the creative heads who should have held credible audition should have known she is not competent for this role, she is young it is not her fault. But seeing how slopping the script is, there is non existent characterization, miscast of the FL is the least of its problems.

the problem with this drama they don't feel like friends, enemies or anything. we don't feel nothing for these to 2 male lead characters, just 2 good actors saying some fancy dialogues but we audience don't know who these boys are. there was never sufficient character development, if the writer/director deliberately kept it ambiguous for the mystery element then it has backfired, because this is a character driven narrative.

exactly if you are good to everyone then the person you should love the most does not feel special anymore because how are they different from everyone else in your life, eventually they will feel unloved.

We are getting her POV through his actions, he seems to always acquiesce to her family's insane demands, can't stand up for her, he is a people pleaser that started to frustrate her. She is not close to her family and her husband is not on her side either, so for a reticent person it is understandable why she resents his goodness. He promised to always protect her, but instead of protecting her he started to protect her family's interests trying to overcompensate for their class difference. He is a good person but that does not mean he was a good husband for her, they both feel abandoned in this marriage.

agreed it is ludicrous

we can't blame her behavior, Tae Oh has not rejected her saying he does not love her or he has not said he can never love her or he does not say I am in love with someone else, all he has said so far is her parents will oppose them so they cannot live a good life. Given the context of his rejection I say she has guts to fight for the man she loves who is opposing her based on social status, it shows courage and boldness to say I will protect defend you, she is not chasing after someone else's man.

when did rom coms have sad ending????

my prediction is the boy kicked the ball and gunwoo chased after it, so that is why he feels guilty because if he didn't kick the ball recklessly.

We have seen everything from the ML POV, we do not know yet what the FL thinks and what made her so cold towards him maybe the sunshine husband who does everything he is told is not what she wants. We cannot judge her yet have to wait for the story to unfold. Tone of this drama is comedy I doubt anyone is dying we will get a happy ending.

it would be nice change if suho is not a total scumbag, the neighborhood lady showed him the footage and her son had something to do with gunwoo dying they keep mentioning how he is good at football. kids could have been playing ball gunwoo ran after the ball so mother and son feel guilty. I think the sister is really the one he slept with and it was a genuine mistake, but then neighborhood lady knows about it so that is why they are meeting.

The conversation between Lee Jae Wook and her on the rooftop, compare the acting, LJW stresses the right words, his face shows disgust frustration anger despondency audience can understand his feelings and then we have the FL nothing absolutely nothing from her she has no inflection in the way she speaks nor does her facial expression changes so what we supposed to do with this character.

This idea is the best huiju wants a happy ending with Tae Ho, he never rejects her saying I do not love you only that they could not live a good life. Huijoo is the only one with genuine feelings of love she wants to protect the man she loves would that be rewarded, everyone else in this show are evil even the mother son pair are toxic. In Ha and Hye won don't even like each other, he seems holding her hostage out of jealousy and she is with him for money so they will self destruct. It is shown all the three sons have no admirable leadership potential, one is a mad dog, middle is a mother's puppet, in ha is not business savvy but huiju is unknown quantity she could be secretly clever and with Tae Ho they would make a super team and get their happy ending.