first disappointing korean thriller.

i think it tried to be something deep but couldn’t? maybe i couldn’t see the vision. i HATED the psychopath and since her backstory isn’t well-developed i couldn't even understand her psyche. she is just evil, no excuses. we don’t know whether she was actually abused, we don’t know why she is so bent on trying to grab other peoples' properties. the only explanation can be that she is a silver spoon princess and wanted to carve a niche for herself for which she had no talent. i didn’t like yeongha much either. my fav character will be ui-seon, girl acted well and did all she could. the cinematography and the set are really pretty and the production is cool. i think it’s the visual aspect where the series gains points because the story/stories are weak. chanyeol’s acting wasn’t impressive but it was okayish. all in all, slightly disappointed as a korean thriller watcher.

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cute but lacking

the best things about this series are the ost and the romantic moments between the second leads. other than that, i think because of the short runtime they couldn't complete any of the plot points. the parental pressure aspect was well-developed but the friendships are half-cooked. the main couple's ending felt extremely forced cz when did guang start liking him in that sense? he was giving bromance throughout: it was one-sided from qizhang. i felt bad for him bcz not only did the actor do a good job, but also cz the character is so likeable and his mother is a gem! i loved all of their scenes! i really wanted to like it but the direction was so incoherent and script so half-baked that i couldn't bring myself to rate it higher :(

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A nice plot, memorable characters and cool fight scenes.

What I liked most was the brotherhood between the “bad guys” and how all of them showed a range of emotions and were morally grey. I like morally grey characters so I felt they were written well, however I can’t say the same for the female lead. She was given the shorter end of the stick: the typical doesn’t know how to solve a single thing kinda detective we find in crime and sci-fi series/movies. Her dialogues and how other characters never took her seriously reeked of misogyny on the director's part. However, the actress was also at fault, although she was given very little to contribute she could have managed had she acted well; it was genuinely so frustrating to see her have one expression in every situation. Also, her dialogues were filled with recurring questions or preachy monologues so her monotonous delivery made them even more boring. Except this flaw, others would be the sometimes makjang-type feel where the fight scenes also felt a little dramatic and the beast/animal metaphors they inserted in every dialogue failed to bring in the poetic feel of the metaphors as they lost meaning over repeated usage. There were a few half-baked plot points and rushed explanations to some of the crimes but overall the loopholes were negligible.

The most memorable characters are definitely of Jung Tae Soo and Park Ung Cheol. The actors did a great job at the fight scenes as well as the emotional scenes. Props to Ma Dong Seok for even being funny on top of all that. He is the one I found myself rooting for the most. Kim Tae Hoon’s acting was brilliant although some of his actions were implausible especially towards the end where they seemed out of character.

I watched this as it was nominated for Baeksang and although I was not disappointed, I was not super awed either. Hence an 8.5/10.

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A character-driven realistic portrayal of love and friendship

I had gone into the drama expecting it to be just another steamy-scene-heavy one with good chemistry but lackluster plot and characterization. It looks like that but has such well-developed characters and a non-preachy realistic portrayal of some of the major young adult issues like alcoholism, relationship anxiety, childhood trauma, dysfunctional families and casual relationships. I loved that they brought in lesbian parents, a single mother with an unconventional job having a brilliant relationship with her son and the emotional turmoil a casual relationship brings in and how it becomes so difficult for people to stop depending on a toxic partner and start loving and respecting themself.

Among the characters I loved Mew the most. He had clear boundaries, was understanding, savage when need be but was made three-dimensional when he showed that sometimes in love wisdom and smartness go out of the window and we give in to a side of ourselves we come to despise. Sand was amazing, a hardworking person, a good son, a good friend to Nick and such a good partner to Ray. Major major respect for Khaotung for playing Ray so well, my heart went out to him while simultaneously being taken aback by how HOT he looked. RaySand's chemistry shone especially in the angst and emotional scenes. They are such good actors. Another great performance came from Neo who played Boston, amazing for real. He is one of those actors who can play an absolute jerk but instead of hating the character you just can't help but marvel at the acting prowess of the person behind him. Nick played by Mark was amazing! He was so vulnerable and tried so hard to understand and walk alongside the unavailable Boston that I felt like crying every moment. He reminded me of Gun from Theory of Love and War from Love Mechanics but I was so so happy to see that his ending was different and so well-done!

Honestly they have raised my expectations for other GMMTV series it's so good. A 10/10 from me and I will definitely rewatch it for the chemistry and drama.

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