DramaAjumma

Seo Do-kyun... a pain in the neck right until the bitter end.

Not surprised that this show has topped the charts here. It's easily one of the year's best.

The writing and directing is a work of art. In fact, compared to some ridiculously hyped dramas, this can even be said to be a work of genius. So much care, so much attention paid to details. Every line of dialogue, every scene shot has meaning that reverberates right through the drama.

Just because a drama markets itself as a crime romance doesn't follow that the audiences have to like or accept what they see. Intent is one thing, execution is another.

This drama has many issues and they all stem from a patchy script. That's been my issue with it from Day 1. The romance is symptomatic of a bigger problem and if the rest of the show were well done, I don't think people would care too much one way or another but because the execution lacks finesse, all the cracks show up much more easily. When I am told that there's supposed to be romance in a show, in order to invest in it, the show has to show me why I should buy into it, not just tell me that these two people like each other. That isn't enough for me. But there's also nothing in the show that says to me that romance is necessary in this. It does nothing to enhance the storyline so far. Plus the fact that Hye-won is Mad Scientist Dr Gong's daughter... are we heading for makjang territory? Are we watching Romeo and Juliet? Because if we are, I'm bailing.

The show has good ideas... the White Night Village Foundation is a good idea and that's what I'm turning up for. I want crazy sci-fi. I've been waiting for it since the first episode. And Namgoong Min always brings his A game. But I feel that the good ideas here are still looking for a script that will pull them together rather than stall for time.

I'm of that view as well.

It's funny how we have different views on this. LOL. But I thought the first 5 episodes were really subpar and that the show is only just gradually picking up the pace now that we're getting into the meat of White Night Foundation.

The romance is still meh as far as I'm concerned. But I don't care about it.

I frankly don't see the Reply 88 connection except in some oblique way. To me this is a drama about elite doctors in a hospital who happen to be friends.

But this show isn't meant to follow in the footsteps of the Reply series at all. It's more like Prison Playbook. It's part of the "wise life" series.

I'm sure you probably already know this but with Asian dramas and C dramas in particular, it's often the case (unless we're dealing with a rom com) that when you get a lot of happy OTP moments early in the narrative, it's almost a guarantee that end is riddled with angst with a last minute save or none. I think we're pretty lucky to get the ending that we did.

They can try but it didn't work on me. They're just reaping what they're sowing.

I am mostly hanging on because of Namgoong Min and the Dark Angel plot. The police procedural side of things is largely uninvolving.

The way I see it, Ji Xiao'ou had a well-deserved, much needed rest after all the drama she had to go through. Hope she had a good sleep for six months.

I'm reasonably satisfied with the ending and I consider it a happy one. All things considered. I liked how everything came together at the end fairly realistically and consistently in terms of character and motivations. After all, the cops are just ordinary men persevering and persisting right to the bitter end. The important part is that the truth comes to light at last although at a high cost. Besides, this was never a rom com to begin with so I braced myself for the worst even early on.

I enjoyed the maturity of the performances of the entire cast and the depth in the execution. It's so rare for me to have stumbled upon such a consistently serious C drama where actions have serious consequences. I am thankful to Lin Gengxin for bringing our attention to this well-made drama. It was a genuine pleasure... even though it made me nervous at various times.

More about the ending... under spoiler tags...

I think the ratings took a tumble everywhere not just for this show. So something funky is going on with MDL.

I agree. Same thing with the other members of the team.

Life on Mars. (Both the British and the Korean versions)

Hmmm... it's very clever. I like the ending even if it's an open one.
The entire concept reminds me of...

It's like watching Agatha Christie with Salvador Dali/Surrealist paintings

At our place this is a family affair.
Young and old, we love it and that's not surprising because there's something in this for everyone.
They've certainly put together a stellar cast and they work so well together. It's a breath of fresh air that the rookie doesn't get pushed around or have an attitude problem. He's an all-round sweetheart.

If you need subs you're better off waiting for Viki.
Some of us have working knowledge of Mandarin so we're watching the RAWs

That would be my view as well but the show hasn't arrived at this point where we can be certain.