julwa

For me, this was an absolutely amazing drama. I got so invested in it that I couldn’t tear myself away from the screen. I had to know what would happen next and, finally, see the revenge unfold. So much happened here, and every episode had something interesting going on that kept me from ever getting bored. At the same time, nothing felt unnecessarily dragged out, and I was actually surprised by how quickly some things were revealed or happened. Of course, the sheer number of plotlines meant that some things weren’t developed as fully as they could have been.

The relationship between the main couple - Han I Ju & Seo Do Guk - was absolutely beautiful to watch. It was wonderful seeing Do Guk become a safe haven for her. Being with him, she gradually learned what trust, safety, genuine happiness, and love actually meant. They had such a healthy relationship, in which they both helped heal each other and provided one another with tremendous support. There were no unnecessary arguments between them, and they always faced their problems together. Their relationship genuinely melted my heart. On top of that, they had incredible chemistry - both emotionally and in terms of the HOT aspect. The only downside might be that, with everything else happening in the drama, I didn’t get enough time to fully enjoy them as a couple. But in a way, that feeling of wanting more is compensated for by the fact that we didn’t get all those unnecessary dramas and breakups between them.

Staying on the subject of the two of them, I also think Seo Do Guk’s panic attacks were somewhat glossed over. He got over his anxiety very quickly thanks to love, which has very little to do with how things work in real life, and I think continuing this storyline could have been much more interesting.

I also want to pause for a moment on Han I Ju herself, because the script occasionally made her look like an stupid. For example, she overheard her stepmother talking to her grandfather in the closet, saying that they were going to choose the older brother, and then she was completely shocked when he brought her younger sister home and announced it to the family. When her sister said, “Then I’m the fake [daughter],” yet despite being confused, Han I Ju didn’t think about it or investigate it even a little. Well, I guess a tiny part of that naive and blind girl from her “previous life” was still left in her . On top of that, she had a serious delayed reaction whenever something bad was happening - for example, with the car that could have run her over about twice before she even reacted. And just so it doesn’t sound like I’m only pointing out her flaws, Seo Do Guk was also an stupid for not admitting that he had traveled back in time too (although then we wouldn’t have gotten that brilliantly acted scene). I’m also still wondering whether he ever told Han I Ju that her stepmother wanted Jo Dong Su to k*ll her. He knew about it, yet Han I Ju was completely shocked at the police station when she heard it.

Now I’ll move on to Han I Ju’s f*cked-up family. Honestly, I find it difficult to put everything they did to her into words. They were a family of monsters who took pleasure in abusing a child. It was horrible to watch and it broke my heart repeatedly, but watching her get revenge on every single one of them was delicious. Starting with her stepmother (Lee Jeong Hye), who clearly had something seriously wrong with her. I watched with immense satisfaction as she was thrown out of the house, and then as she rotted away alone behind bars, with even her own f*cked-up daughter completely cutting her out of her life. Absolute revenge. The only thing I regret is that the drama never followed up on the fact that she tried to poison her stepdaughter and was also slowly poisoning her husband. But what matters most is that she’s wasting away in prison. She can be glad that I Ju listened to her and chose not to be nice :D. When it comes to her “younger half-sister” (Han Yu Ra), I initially had a different attitude toward her. I hoped that maybe she would change and eventually understand what she had done. I was slightly naive, but I thought her personality was largely the result of being raised by her mother and “father,” and that they were responsible for the person she had become. And maybe that was true to some extent, but she turned out to be just as f*cked up as her mother. (Although, honestly, what else could we expect? You can’t escape your genes, and her biological father was just like them.) So you have no idea how happy I was when she ended up with nothing, pregnant with the child of poor b*stard. The biggest downside for me here was that it was never explicitly explained that she wasn’t Han Jin Ung’s biological daughter. I do keep in mind that, at the end, she didn’t go back to her “father” - she went to Yoo Se Hyeok’s house and then to her mother to ask for money - which makes me think that perhaps they eventually found out she wasn’t his biological daughter and cut her off. At least that’s how I interpret it, but I still think it should have been explicitly explained. I also consider her father (Han Jin Ung) part of this side of the family. In my opinion, he was largely responsible for what happened, and there is absolutely no excuse for him. I think he got off far too easily, considering that for years he had no problem allowing her to be abused in his own home. The fact that he didn’t know she was his biological daughter changes absolutely nothing.

Moving on to the better part of her family, I genuinely grew to like her grandfather (Han Un Jae). Of course, he had plenty to answer for as well, since he allowed what was happening to continue for years, but he was the only member of the family who genuinely showed guilt, remorse, and actual change. He fully took I Ju’s side and helped her. A huge part of the revenge succeeding was thanks to him, so I personally forgave him completely. I was even happier when I Ju’s biological mother (Lee Ji Won) entered her life, because she finally got the maternal love she deserved. Especially since her mother had also been a victim of the whole situation. So while I understood I Ju’s anger over the fact that her mother didn’t immediately reveal the truth to her, I also understood her mother’s side.

Naturally, we have to move on to Seo Do Guk’s family. It was incredibly comforting to see how wonderfully his family treated I Ju and gave her the love she had never received at home. The biggest sigma was definitely his mother (Cha Yeon Hwa) - I absolutely adored this woman. The love and support she gave both her son and I Ju were wonderful. I watched with immense satisfaction as she shut Lee Jeong Hye down with her comebacks. His sister (Seo Do Na), Do Guk’s husband/secretary (Byeon Jae Ho), and I Ju’s cousin/friend (Ah Su Jin) were equally wonderful. Their warm, friendly relationship was such a pleasure to watch. Seeing them spend time together and fight alongside one another genuinely made me smile. My biggest issue here was his grandmother (Lee Tae Ja), because overall she was also one of the positive characters. She treated I Ju well too. But she earned a huge negative point from me that I could never completely forget. For years, the entire family allowed his disabled brother to play the victim, constantly mentioning the accident between the lines. And when evidence finally surfaced showing what had actually happened and that Seo Do Guk had been the victim, his grandmother’s influence led them to completely ignore it, claiming that it wasn’t important. Come the f*ck on. Did Seo Do Guk’s suffering all those years mean nothing? His mental health problems? His panic attacks?

And finally, the cherry on top of this family is his as*hole brother (Seo Jeong Uk), who became my most hated character. I swear, just looking at his face gave me a fever. You have no idea how incredibly satisfying it was when he finally learned that it was his mother who never wanted him and abandoned both him and his father - not the other way around. Now he can rot in prison knowing that he completely ruined his own life because of his delusion. A little tear of happiness comes to my eye.

I also have to talk about Yoo Se Hyeok. Another character whose ending gave me enormous satisfaction. A guy who was a complete as*hole and loser ended up with Han Yu Ra pregnant with his child. They’ll have to spend the rest of their lives stuck with each other, being poor and having no one close to them. The same goes for his materialistic mother and sister. Karma is beautiful.

I’ll end my rambling with a positive character - Kim Jae Won. Pretty early on, I had a feeling that he was going to be a character I would like, and that feeling didn’t let me down. You have to give him credit for being a sigma, because he absolutely destroyed Lee Jeong Hye, who never expected him to have been against her from the very beginning. His motivation was also the only one I didn’t figure out. It remained the biggest mystery to me throughout the entire drama. I had so many theories, but not a single one turned out to be correct.