perhaps we the viewers, are more doomed than the figure of Doom himself

wow, i am so mad.

i really wanted to love this drama so bad ever since i heard of the news of the actors cast in it (i.e. my top faves).

damn wasted.

in fact, the finale may have made me even angier.

before getting to the finale, spending 15 episodes on this drama truly felt like a chore when the complexity of the story could have been so much more.

the genres that are descriptive of this show that are romance, comedy or fantasy, i can almost say with confidence have failed at all fronts.

i couldn't exactly recall an exact moment where it was anything comedic. it was kinda charming and sweet in some ways, but not comedic. it was romantic in other ways, but not exactly heart-wrenching either. was it truly dramatic? I FCKIN DOUBT IT! was the fantasy, fantastic? NO WAY, FAR FROM IT.

several points:

1. the female deity as the solo interaction/connection to Myul Mang is damn frustrating. literally from start to end, i don't exactly know what is she doing, or conveying with all the annoying metaphors. btw, what's the purpose, or logic in her being a sick patient all the time? can't she be healthy and kickass instead? fucking terribly written character that's so vague and almost felt useless throughout.

2. if the theme of the drama is about the FL facing death especially in a fantasy genre, then I JUST DON'T FCKIN UNDERSTAND WHY THE WRITERS CAN'T BOTHER GIVING US A GRIM REAPER CHARACTER, THAT COULD'VE BEEN PLAYED PERFECTLY BY LEE SOO HYUK. instead he plays a normal office guy who's a side-kick to the second love story. WTF is this nonsense!

3. i saw some youtube comments saying they gave up watching this drama for the main couple, but for the second couple only. well, i have to disagree strongly. none of the primary, or secondary love story worked on me actually. i thought the main couple's chemistry is really amazing, but their romance or love story rather sucked. and the second love story is even more unamusing. both males in the second love story are the cool, laid-back and non-confrontational type that there's literally 'no' polarity to create real tension from. perhaps it's what has saved the writer's arse from having to really think about what story arc would have made the conflict a lot more believable.

4. the Doom itself, what an amazing character potential totally lost in the hands of a sh*tty writer. wished we had more background into his past life, because the scene where he was crying at the funeral of someone was never properly explained. i am so damn curious about him just for him, outside of his romance arc and all the lame-ass interactions with the female deity that felt useless.

5. coming back to one of the most lame finale i have ever watched. if Dong Kyung was so tortured and in deep agony by Myul Mang's disappearance, then why is it that when he came back to her life in a human form and immediately proposed to her, that she refused, or dismissed him? at least THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT WAS IN THE VERY LAST SCENE, she was still dismissing him. not fooling around with him, but it really seemed like that wasn't in her agenda for anytime soon. and here i am, not knowing how to deal with that garbage of an ending, sh*t!

to conclude, i truly feel this is lazy, sh*tty and almost brainless screenwriting on all fronts. the concept itself had amazing potential in the hands of an otherwise really talented writer, and the ensemble of such amazing cast. one can wish. honestly, i would've rated this drama so much lower if not because i hate doing that to a drama where Seo In Guk was in.

i don't think i'll ever get over how mad i am at how this drama turned out, considering i love Seo In Guk's sexiness way too much to pass this from being a 'tolerable' enough multiple re-watch. the real doom then perhaps, is on us.

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watch this for the cast, definitely

picked this drama back up after a long pause following an emotional ep. 13.

OMG hahaha that was a somewhat open ending but i liked it. i liked how witty the ending was.

they are definitely exploring season 2, and i hope it'll happen. since the real villains are still alive. although the script sucked but the casts and action sequences were phenomenal which made me really enjoy this.

so many plot holes that are not explained or connected neatly. well i half-appreciated that a generous screentime was actually dedicated for the pretty elaborate fighting scenes each episodes, which i speculate caused less time/space for the story to fully develop. the other half is the feeling of indifference because i know that if a scriptwriter is more masterful in his/her craft, then the plotholes could've been solved within the allocated screentime, just like the masterpiece that Tunnel was.

so my generous score for the drama stems from the fact that this was an enjoyable watch/eye-candy for me being such a trash for CJH, lol.

also, i loved that Bradley was here too, who played his secretary in Devilish Joy. their interactions are so cute, haha. that was also the reason i paused watching this for a while until i finished Devilish Joy to see the boss-secretary interactions there, kekeke.

i can't wait for CJH's next projects. what a phenomenal actor, he's such a joy to watch on screen, in any genre.

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some people were satisfied with its ending, i was not one of them

NOOOOOO!

that ending literally ruined me :(

i know some of you are satisfied with that ending, but i am definitely not one of them. i'll explain.

first of all, i feel like there was so much thrill in the chase for the manicure serial killer, either in 2018 or in 1988 (that also involves the brother duo, Kim Min Seok and Kim Hyun Seok, as well as some mysteries surrounding the ML's traumatic childhood, or his father).

however, around ep. 14 to conclusion when Captain Dong Cheol was suddenly entangled in a murder case, and the real culprit turned out to be Chief of Seoul Police Station who got transferred to Insung, Ahn Min Sik, i feel like the story became slightly disconnected. Ahn Min Sik is a murderer cum corrupt police officer in 1988, but in 2018 he's actually the head neurosurgeon that operated on Han Tae Joo.

(of course by 1988, i mean his dream/hallucination in a state of comatose)

so i feel like that part about him was so random and didn't connect well to the rest of the story that preceded it.

also, instead of creating a lingering feeling after that conclusion, the ending actually wrecked me like crazy. it reminds me of IU's song Eight (ft. SUGA) that has a cheerful tone with very sad undertone (about her friends that passed away).

in this case, we seemed to enjoy a glimpse of Han Tae Joo reuniting with his teammates in 1988, but actually before that he jumped off a rooftop to give up the 2018 life.

of course i read comments speculating that he has never indeed woke up from his comatose state in 2018, therefore the last two episodes (ep. 15-16) of him successfully catching the serial killer brother duo were insinuating that it was a dream inside a dream, and that he's actually still unconscious.

plus, the fact that we were told that his teammates in 1988 actually died in the gang members attack, so i felt like the conclusion has only declined even more, or become sadder than it should be.

WHAT WOULD HAVE MADE THE PERFECT DRAMA for me would be if his present/reality is even more blurred than it is being presented. for instance, we started the first episode with Han Tae Joo waking up from his nap after reading case files of cold cases in 2018, and then waking up suddenly in the year 1988 after being shot in the head.

alternatively, the story could have also been written in the opposite way. he and his prosecutor/detective ex-girlfriend lost the criminal in 1988 and he was shot/badly injured, thus dreams of traveling (or actually tele-transported physically) into the future of 2018 where he meets his team members in that era. although the ending would be such that they may not stay together, at least all of them need not die during a mission.

welpppp! THAT SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE WHAT TUNNEL IS, HAHAHAHA. no wonder i liked that drama so much, the chase was very intense from start to end.

//

basically my point is, i tried to imagine a different way of telling the story in a way that would arrive at a happier ending that i would have liked more, but yes it's difficult as i realise it'd lose its unique retro charm and flavour, and would be more/exactly like Tunnel.

i'd better stop complaining LOL, as the more i write would probably make me look like i am making a fool of myself, lmao.

some people say they would have loved a more concrete show of romance in this, as Yoon Na Yeong is such a catch. i agree. i love the team's camaraderie and i understand that what Han Tae Joo is dealing with constantly is too chaotic for him to return her love interest, but i feel like the scriptwriters could have at least given them more sweet moments for us to look back and cherish.

because the romance factor is almost completely lacking, and the serial killer chase is like a one-off suspense-type thrill, i feel like this drama does not have very high rewatchable value, at least in my book.

i am glad for the journey this was, BUT THAT ENDING RUINED ME.

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this show is on lists of most recommended k-dramas everywhere for a reason, PERIODT!

wow.

where TF do i even begin to describe my admiration for this immaculate drama?!

first of all, i would never have watched this drama for its genre if not because of its title that keeps popping up on lists of most recommended k-dramas everywhere on the internet.

finally when i realise that k-drama fanatics aren't playing when most of them are agreeable in saying that this is a must watch, i relented with a heavy heart thinking 'i am doing this to tick off a to-do list. ughh it really feels like a chore, God help me'.

i remember it was around ep. 4 that i finally warmed up to the story and its lead characters, and by ep. 6, the phenomenal performance by the young possessed woman completely won me over, AND I WAS SOLD!

after that bingewatching this one after the next is a very easy thing to do, LOL.

as a little sidetrack, a new horror Netflix k-drama series, All of Us are Dead just released. i got curious about it, but sadly the review sucked. whenever considering a drama, the story is the most important thing for me, and because of that i feel like my respect and admiration for the writer-director combo for this drama has only deepened.

I'D SAY THIS IS A TRULY PHENOMENAL DRAMA ON EVERY LEVEL.

the pacing is good. mystery/suspense element is good. horror element is good. scriptwriting is excellent. directing is outstanding. casting, chemistry and acting, phenomenal. wow!

i feel the possessed people were build or progressed in a way that they become creepier and unexpected as the story goes on. and as someone who really do not watch this genre almost at all, i can still feel the shiver inside my chest just thinking about them LOL.

also, the finale. i was a bit lost about what happened in the last exorcism scene between Mateo and Hwa Pyung but someone in the comment section clarified that part for me so i'm all good now, haha. i was about to minus 0.5 points if they ruined the ending, kekeke.

WHAT A TRUE MASTERPIECE. this drama truly converted me for its genre and i'm so freaking glad i gave this a chance.

also, the trio's friendship truly warms my heart. i can't wait to rewatch this masterpiece again in the future.

signing out. ^^

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endlessly rewatchable because of Choi Jin-Hyuk, LOL

i was taken aback by that ending, haha. i was really preparing to ugly cry like a b*tch, pheww.

i watched this in skips and forwards because i got so curious about the story, and his character in it.

this was meant to be the last drama that i was gonna catch up on him (because i am a huge romanticist, and i am very picky about my romance dramas), but because of the genre, i cannot wait anymore LOL.

in terms of story, it has managed to keep itself light despite being surrounded by pain and hurt all over which is an interesting balance.

but the scene in Hainan, China when they first met, and his accident was repeated way too many times in the drama. i feel like over-repetition of a scene like that only convinced me that the story lacked some kind of depth or complexity to fill in the episodes.

i almost wished that his character was deeply more involved in some investigation of sorts into his illness, or his sad fate. or there was some other great plot twist or revelation about his tragedy, which would have made the storyline a lot more attractive, complete and intriguing to me.

also, i jumped into this drama because a saw a comment saying CJH will make my heart flutter in every second in this drama (since i am huge stan of his, lol). but honestly he did not.

his character early in the drama was a bit like a jerk, so i actually had to make an effort to try to like his character (after ep. 1). but he definitely became a lot more likeable middle-way through.

but the pay-off is really great. i truly love some camera shots from the side where he's smiling, and you can see how gentle, soft and sweet his face looked, at the same his sharp manly features are so breathtaking (i.e. his sharp jawline and high nose).

goshh, because of him and the lead couple's chemistry, this drama can be rewatched endlessly. CJH fans, say thanks to director-nim! LOL.endless

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most wholesome law k-drama i have ever watched, yet!

wow, absolutely fckin brilliant!

i don't think a wholesome law drama like this can easily be beaten. it's truly so well done from start to finish.

interestingly some gruesome factor wasn't exactly toned down but i bet this is the kind of dramas that the entire family can watch together because it's so well made and balanced that way.

in particular, i am not sure if i am the only one not properly understanding this. but the 'assumption' of an existence of a parallel world itself isn't entirely correct.

since there are two versions of Ra Si On and two versions of their daughter (one Se Rin, one Bo Na) and quite frankly everyone else, but there is only one version of Lee Jae Sang.

and we also saw that Lee Jae Sang didn't exactly transported himself physically to the parallel world and meet his other self in that world, and then they crossed each other's worlds (which i half expected the direction of the story was going to be middle-way through the drama), rather it was him dreaming of all these happenings when he was in the coma.

obviously masking this dream as the existence of a parallel world is very smart and a way of creative liberty way-out in telling the story because the writer needed to use that storytelling device to make a case that those experiences were real, and about to be replicated as a form of dejavu in the real world, rather than as a mere hallucination.

therefore, despite having such gripe in the story and finding there's logical fallacy (well, courtesy the fantasy element), the script really managed to stay outstandingly coherent and consistent that it never glaringly lost focus or balance. this is truly an effort to be applauded!

also, unless i can come up with a better, more logical way of reconnecting these incidences than how the writers have come up with here, i don't feel the need to deduct a point for its story. i truly believe that the writers have used up their imaginations enough to think of other possible ways/directions to tell the story, and they really ended up with the best option.

only that Ra Si On in particular, at times wasn't very likeable. she's violent and also in the 'parallel world', she's rash and always puts herself in danger incessantly. so i feel like if anyone would have a problem with the story, that would be her character LOL.

Bi Rain did such a fabulous job portraying the characters of a wicked lawyer, a wanna-be righteous prosecutor, a greedy selfish bastard and a wonderful husband/father that i believe it's impossible not to get lost and drawn in his character immersion.

he truly is phenomenal in this role, and quite possibly could not have been acted better!

shout out to Shin Jae Ha who played Yun Pil Woo, the character with such a sharp contrast in the 'parallel' and the 'real world'. that was such a bomb plot twist and he's such a phenomenal, convincing actor. i really hope this boy gets more leading roles in the future.

also, the finale episode was very rewarding. it's one of the best finale episodes across many k-dramas i have watched and nothing really feels rushed and things feel so well-concluded. i also loved how there was a little scene at the very end where the two worlds seemed meshed or joined together.

definitely one of the most rewarding dramas i have come across, ever. i cannot praise the work of everyone behind this gem of a drama enough. enjoy!

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would have been better as a movie than an 8 episode drama

"below average". "underwhelming".

LOL. these are the sentiments in the review after finale episode i read that i totally agree with.

i typically don't do well with Netflix shows that are about half the length of a normal full length k-drama, plus they tend to spend big on aesthetics rather than telling a well developed, coherent story. something i noticed in Sweet Home.

i could be rooting for Dr. Song's character because she's nice to LUNA and she made her feel safe in her presence and protected her, but her character has been a little too bland for my liking to be honest. i liked the female Dr's character Dr. Hong better because her personality was definitely more interesting LMAO. evident the moment she teased out the other crews the moment they were aboard the spacecraft. a personality like that could have played a badass female captain for the mission for all i care, and that would be a really badass gender reversal role, LOL.

also i read comments on the finale episode and i seem to agree that Captain Han survived because LUNA found him being thrown out of the floods of water, and saved him. so i was glad about that, because i also thought he died. pheww

also what's the actual deal with Ryu Tae Seok? i don't get the flashbacks of him being part of the military team that killed researchers in that Balhae Station 5 years ago. and if so, how come the government allowed him to re-join this mission LOL? and he's only a Lieutenant. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

overall so many unsatisfactory plot holes and really should have been a movie instead of an 8 episode drama. ouh i must also end with a note saying i can't wait to see this child actress Sia Kim blossom into a fine young actress soon. she has a really beautiful fresh face and she's so immensely talented.

i watched this for Gong Yoo, Bae Doona and Lee Joon but i left the drama with my impression locked only for LUNA, wow! you go girl!

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utterly brilliant for the most part

wow. this was a phenomenal 8 episode drama, given the intended focus and how they mostly delivered within that focus.

but i am greedy person who likes my thriller to be complex and well-written, and there's just not enough 'meat' in this for me.

i personally find the finale to be probably the weakest of all episodes with the revelation of the doctor as the real killer that seemed rushed AF and therefore the u-turn in reinvestigation that lead to his release from prison not long after the judgement of life imprisonment.

also, was it that easy for the real killer to confess to a gruesome murder when someone else has already taken the fall? really? are you kidding me?

also, was it that easy for the prosecution and police department to backtrack and admit that they made a huge mistake in the investigation? all of the kdramas i watched up to this point always says otherwise.

everything up to the finale felt so fckin real, and then the finale felt like a total fiction to me, geez.

no scene of the actual murder shown in the drama also which i really hoped is given to us, but nope.

no words to be said about KSH's acting in this, he's truly phenomenal. i also recommend JCW's movie Fabricated City where he also played a falsely accused in a murder case which he also nailed as perfectly as this.

overall, a really outstanding prison drama. i would have scored this more favourably if i consider this a well crafted prison drama, but i like my full blown thrillers more, so i have to score it down purely for personal preference LMAO.

can someone please tell me the relevance of Lawyer Shin having atopic dermatitis to the story? i didn't catch that and always confused by that randomness, LOL.

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rekindled romance story combined with the medical genre that is utterly brilliant

finished! haha.

i skipped parts and fast forwarded from second half onwards to see how they'll end up because i got impatient, LOL. will rewatch definitely. and i am pleased at multiple comments i am reading about people coming back to rewatch this drama for the 3rd or 4th time. what a hidden gem!

first of all, this drama truly exceeded my expectations in many ways. i usually don't watch medical genres but i do look them up if my fave actors are on it, like Doctor Stranger that i watched for LJS and PHJ. to add to that i also usually avoid rom-com. i generally want more depths in my dramas but rom-coms are usually too lighthearted and cheesy for my liking.

and i am so pleased at how well written this drama is because of the way these two genres are combined together, which makes it so warm and wholesome!

i feel like the love triangle is so fckin brilliantly written. at the end of it, Chief Gook still confessed to Jin Hee about his real feeling coolly, and that took the burden off his chest. and also when Jin Hee made his heart flutter, it made him realise that he was capable of dreaming of going to the next stages with someone (a person who is previously incapable or afraid of commitment). in a way, the writer is telling us that there could be a different version of love triangle trope where the FL is very much there as a stepping stone for the SML to heal from his childhood wounds and accept love from another person, in this case Prof. Shim when she one day returns from the US again.

ouh i remember this love triangle trope in Boys Over Flowers. the SML liked the FL so much but he can only suppress his feelings, and then finally the FL helped him heal his ailing heart by meddling and fixing his broken relationship with his grandpa. goshh, it's so beautiful.

please tell me other kdramas that end their SML love triangle story like this, i'd really love to see it. this is how you mend viewer's heart after making them invest on the SML characters, writer-nim!

one thing i didn't like though was around ep. 15-ish when i was still confused about Jin Hee's real feelings, and it seemed like she was leaving the two men who were showing interest in her, hanging on a thread. like the episode when she visited Chief Gook on her own at his place (after he was put on a probation for punching the jerkass professor), and then she spent the whole day there until night as if they were on a date. but at that time she already told Chang Min earlier that she wanted to start again, LOL. i just feel like that scene wasn't timed correctly in the show, and it made me look at her unfavourably until now.

also, the elaborate episodes leading to Chang Min father's death and therefore two important things that happened:

1. Jin Hee finally realising and acting on her real feelings towards Chang Min
2. reconciliation of his mother's character

i find it so beautifully done. and the way he was hurting from his loss, but at the same time when Jin Hee returns his kindness and wanted to care for him, and then he refused because he didn't want her pity, wow. i can respect that male pride LOL. i find that so sexc and hot, LMAO.

other than that, i wished that they have given us more in-depth flashbacks of what happened during their short marriage. how they fought, and what really led to the ultimate breakdown of their marriage because some things seemed to have been left unexplained. also a bigger flashback about how she struggled so much to rebuild her life after the divorce and pass medical school would have been so impressive and made more impact in relating to her story.

also, i am kinda disappointed to say this but i thought this drama supposedly has some hot kiss scenes LOL. b*tch, where?! they were all pretty average to me, LMAO.

this drama definitely had the richness to have had it kept going for around 3-4 more episodes, like BoF, i really wished it did, and gave more room for the FL character to shine more. then we could see fast forward of Chief Gook and Prof. Shim several years into the future, also Chang Min and Jin Hee finishing their internship into residency and then remarrying after dating for several years (since they were gonna take it slow this time and focus on their career first).

THAT, really would have been the perfect drama for me!

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watch this for Choi Jin Hyuk, not sure about Lee Tae Kyung

well i watched this in skips mainly because of CJH doing another law drama after Pride and Prejudice but i might rewatch later.

first of all, this is one of the least sophisticated law dramas i have ever watched, writing wise.

this shouldn't be a thriller at all contrary to the tagged genre, it could've been anything else but that. most likely noir.

in terms of cinematography executions, it reminds me a lot of Confession (2019) which uses this dark/greyish undertone a lot to keep the mood mellow.

first of all, in terms of writing. this is probably the simplest way to write a law drama LOL. you can predict the big picture almost right away after the first two sub-cases were thrown in.

usually in better law/thriller dramas, they keep throwing plot twists in the sub-cases to keep you engaged in guessing the real culprit. yeah, that's the biggest problem in the writing here. the real culprits are as clear as day, there's no surprise at all about that. so usually in situations where writers decide to go down this path where there's very little surprises, it's in the skillful threading of the story sequences that really makes the biggest impact.

which has been really mediocre in this drama to say the least.

i get that the story meant to focus or revolves itself around the two male leads, namely Lee Tae Kyung and Song Woo Young, and the 'development' of their relationship for lack of better terms, i.e. the brokenness/crashing down of their relationship. so the cases to be solved really focused on these two.

however, that is problematic because this is a slow paced drama with the entire storyline almost served to you on a silver platter, as early as the first half of the series. i believe that if the pace is decisively slow, then the developmental building/entanglement/resolution of the cases should also be slow, complex or gradual to build better tension. i guess you can see how i am almost saying that the writers are failing miserably at that.

it's pretty damn obvious to me that this drama severely lacks the beautiful complexities that most well written thriller law dramas have of its genre. i can explain why. it's because the writers not only focused the cases around the two male leads, they also decided to focus on:

1) the sub-cases that use supporting casts that appear or are mentioned about often but actually do not contribute much to the advancement of the story, unless to keep the links to the big picture therefore end up being repetitive and highly predictable.

2) the resolving of cases between a small number of working teams who are mainly focused on cases only and not shown much personalities at all outside of it. LOL! booooringgggg.

i also feel that it's quite a problem that both the leads cooperating to seek justice are people of law (a prosecutor and a lawyer), so there's not much push and pull dynamics that happen, compared to if the other partner is someone from the police force, i.e. a detective.

don't even get me started on the hints of romance, bloody hell. the pair is such a good looking couple, and what a missed opportunity it has been not to explore so much more.

they are presented to the story as exes, but we hardly have a meaningful flashback of the time they shared together. and all the moments sharing how they still care for each other are very minimal. there's only two meaningful skinship moments between them, 1) was when she wanted to lift up his shirt to check on his injury when he keeps declining to admit (well not really, since his hands were too fast to block her), and 2) when he hugged her after a huge tragedy in her life.

gosh, i wish they explored more. i always love a good visual couple, LOL.

and i'd finally end with the characterization of Lee Tae Kyung. i read one of the reviews saying that he's probably the weakest link in the drama. well i thoroughly enjoy the lead actor who plays him, so i am going to try to be at least objective here. come to think of it, i might painfully admit that he comes across really flat, blerghh.

and i have to say i am kinda disappointed with this character because with it being so controlled and subdued, there's not much that Choi Jin Hyuk can show within his usually full-on acting range like it was spectacularly evident in Tunnel. this is when i realise that you can have a world class actor playing a character but if the range is very limited, then not even him can save it LOL.

also between the two villains Song Woo Young and Tak Soo Ho, i actually preferred Tak Soo Ho more but it's really a shame that he's only the secondary villain in this. this guy's a straight up psychopath but he doesn't get as much screen time to show how brutally evil he can get, rather they only makes him come across as demented and creepy when he could have delivered much greater impact. i wished they had given him better opportunity to shine like Vincenzo's writers did to Jang Jun Woo's character played by Ok Taec Yeon.

all in all, highly recommendable mainly for Choi Jin Hyuk's eternal gorgeousness, LMAO~

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somewhat salvageable as a female-centric drama

HA HA HA.

i don't know anymore.

first of all, i always read comments wanting Sunny to end up with the Emperor LOL. i could never understand this. she even lost respect for him as a human (she only sees him as a monster until the end), so love is clearly not in the discussion.

she never once admitted to herself or to Wang Shik that she has fallen in love with him. we can see it from her eyes when she look at him, and worries for him that it's the look of love, but she never pursued it to protect her dignity as the Empress and as a married woman.

in that sense, i can totally respect the love line that was never pursued to its full potential. love is not about owning, anyways.

i cannot however, make sense that they never killed Wang Shik's character when he was out in Chungeum Island with the Empress and Min Yu Ra to inspect the greenhouses (poppy fields). his last scene in the drama was literally him fighting off the guards there. and when they decided to extend the story with no CJH acting his extended parts, they decided to simply kill his character during the press conference explosion without showing his face!!!!

WHAT FCKIN COMICAL WRITING.

i really believed they should have killed Wang Shik's character when CJH was still there to shoot it since he was dying anyways. and therefore leave his character out completely of the extended episodes. his distasteful character ending really left a bad taste in my mouth, damn. i also wished had they ended Wang Shik's character properly with his death while CJH was still acting it, Sunny was there to embrace him in his final moments, and let him know that she too has loved him back deeply.

ouh, how one could wish. i would have been so satisfied with that.

i liked that the Emperor ended up dead with the greedy ED killing him with her own hands. that shows how damaged beyond repair they both are. the Emperor would rather go out on a suicide mission than take the hard way to rectify Imperial Family mistakes on public, and the ED is not shy away from killing her own sons to pursue her greed, and she ended up going insane in prison.

well at least ep. 52 was pretty salvageable, with me being reminded that this was a female centric drama anyways, and the female characters writing have had more impact on me than the two male leads.

i really couldn't care less about the Emperor until the end though many viewers kept rooting for him. i literally get dumbfounded when people say he had the best character development. B*TCH, WHERE??

what i can say is, i am happy i skipped parts and fast forwarded this drama to quickly reach the sinking ship ending that it is instead of giving it my full attention intently from the start. LOL!

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the best melodrama i have watched to-date, hands down

finished, yasss!

honestly this drama was brilliant in every sense of the word. particularly for the lead couple, they are the perfect cast for this drama. can't praise them enough!

i am however slightly dissatisfied with the business aspects of the story. Attorney Ahn kept repeating that he worked very hard to climb to the top, but it seemed like things got easy for him because of So Yeon, LOL. also the last plan of them when him and So Yeon teamed up to make sure Min Hyeok agrees to the marriage if he doesn't want to destroy both him and So Yeon together. they literally glossed things over and didn't elaborate properly about what exactly they threatened him with, and how those dealings came to be. they have also never bothered to show Se Yeon's politician father not even once, LMAO. would have been so nice if that part was included properly into the story. mostly we got Min Hyeok who was seen always busily chasing around Yoo Jeong for his revenge LOL, but it's a missed opportunity that they didn't show exactly what type of a businessman he is.

i feel like ep. 15 of this drama could have been ep. 19 instead, with those bits filled in that would make the story a lot more complete. i came away feeling mainly dissatisfied with how weak Attorney Ahn tried to topple him, and how rushed everything felt at the end LOL. the story would have gotten more dynamic and stronger if they made him a smarter, more ruthless/wicked villain who is willing to do just anything and more evil things to avoid the fall.

i kept comparing this drama in my head with The Innocent Man, which the latter could be said more complete (3 main characters, able to be stretched out to 20 episodes). they fleshed out the power struggle story really well there, whilst here it's the main love story and the melodramatic life of the FL that they did extremely well.

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exquisite and a very tastefully done, simple love story

rewatched this movie after watching Song Seung Heon in Voice 4, LOL. i first discovered this movie after finding out that Liu Yifei was his real-life girlfriend then, and they had a movie together. i wanted to watch this movie because of this power-visual couple and boy, did they serve~

also i must say i was curious about Song Seung Heon dating someone who's not Korean when there are so many beautiful Korean celebrities already, but when i watch Liu Yifei in this movie, i kinda understand LOL. her beauty is insanely breath-taking.

i am not really a movie person. i used to watch a lot of older Bollywood movies that are very well done, so i don't know much about good romantic movies from East Asia. i particularly find this movie just exquisitely done. there's just a good mixture of happiness, sadness and cute moments that permeates into the story making it really tasteful and well-balanced imo. i also really loved the way he loved her, and is always considerate of her despite fate being so cruel to both of them. he's just an all around a remarkable portrayal of the life of the super-rich, yet deep inside is just another human being who's lonely and willing to fight for his love.

give me good stories of ill-fated love anytime and this is definitely one!

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i recommended 3 other drama titles if you wanna think the story through

finished! LOL.

overall, a nice time-pass drama, but not great (as reflected in my score). my score begins from 5.0 upwards.

actually i think this drama is wildly inferior to 3 other kdrama titles that i have watched and really liked, and which themes kinda fit this drama like puzzle pieces:

1. Delightful Girl Chun Hyang

- the story of young teenagers who kinda grow up together, and she gets physical too with the male lead LOL, but here i feel like it's worse. she's literally a bully here the way i see it with him, and it's not cute nor entertaining to me. her father is right LOL in saying that the FL's husband is either a Buddha or a total fool for marrying a thug-like girl like her LOL. i personally think the kind of unconditional love that Yoon Jae gives her is one of "wonders of the world", LMAO. something that is completely hormonal instead of logical, and in that way actually rather a terrible match to his actual personality (a supposedly very intelligent, rational guy).

2. Boys Over Flowers

- the story of two men who like the same girl, and the brotherhood is really deep so the dilemma is very intense. i just really love BoF for how well it does the love triangle really, so well done in my opinion. here it's kinda meh AF. instead of a love triangle that could have been heart-wrenching, it's just so awfully done here.

3. High School King of Savvy

- i literally have a huge problem with the characterization of both the ML and FL here. for me the ML has remained dry throughout, though i must say Seo In Guk's manly charms really got into me especially from ep. 11 onwards. i just wanted to see him be more playful and i didn't get that here which was frustrating to me. as described by his friends here, he has a rather stiff, unflexible character. in real-life situations, i myself wouldn't wanna date someone like that so i kinda understand why the FL didn't see him as a man initially, LOL.

overall, an okay drama for me. i find it pretty underwhelming, and quite distastefully done in parts. it's probably because the girl had not much character development as written here. even after becoming a mother, she still went around and do hard works because of her kpop crush LOL. her husband is right when he gets mad at her about it but she fights him fiercely right away. so this is definitely one of those drama couples that is kinda/sorta shippable out of questionable reasons (just because the writer throws them on your face), and definitely one that won't make you feel too optimistic about love. LOL!

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quite fun for its genre, but has a surprisingly deep, sad undertone

yasss, finished finally!

what a great drama. really enjoyed this.

obviously this can't beat Mad Dog. Mad Dog was like the perfect drama for its genre in my book, it's full of sass and badassery.

the story here caught me by surprise by its very sad undertone, as the FL is a single mother who suddenly mourned and sought revenge for the loss of her only child. and the ML's backstory is very sad too. in fact Bo Mi and Kyung Soo's stories are also very sad and traumatic, making this drama very heavy to the feels. so, i wasn't able to watch this drama as a time-pass.

in terms of the last 2-3 episodes after the Chief Prosecutor was finally caught, the story moved on to the story of his teenage psychopath son and his 'final' move to screw them over. some people think that this part was unnecessary, but i actually really liked that. the father villain didn't give that much of an impact for me, and it was the psychopath son that really steals the show throughout and keeps me fully engaged (Solomon Park, boyyy you're too good!!!). and i really appreciated how the writers ended the story by showing his part instead because the ending for his father was nothing special (just send that bastard to jail once the evidence is secured, that's it).

so i can appreciate them giving full screentime to the psychopath son to wrap the story though the ending's execution was weak AF (the writer made the detective team leader a fool, just like her daughter LOL) for complying completely to the abductor request instead of reporting and approaching the case strategically as a seasoned police officer, lmao.

i don't like the ending. i don't know. i am probably in denial because the tragic ending somehow fitted the drama's undertone so much and i can somewhat respect that, but i was at least expecting a happy reunion between the team members, sighh. people also seemed to notice that it was an open ending that should allow for second season, and i am hopeful for that though i'm not sure if MBC has done multiple season series. i only know of such a thing at OCN's dramas. i really liked that although Prosecutor Jang is the secret team leader, Soo Ji is the first cast in the actor's order list which means this drama can indeed continue on using her as the main character just like Director Kang in Voice series.

actually, i am really happy to be watching this drama LOL. i get introduced to so many actors i haven't watched or watched much like Kim Young Kwang, Lee Shi Young, Key, Kim Seul Gi, the hot priest and Solomon Park, haha. i don't know if i should feel grateful that the boy plays his psychopath character so well that i really wanna choke him to death, LOL.

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