EtoileNoire

Does anyone know the meaning of the title "Ripe Town"? It doesn't mean anything to me as a native English speaker, so I'm wondering if the title has some significance in the original language.

Episode 1 was so quietly intense. I am gobsmacked. The way the details about Leng are revealed, like peeling the layers of an onion, is really well done.

Such a well-written review. It really adds to my enjoyment of the series.

I usually really enjoy political dramas, but the music in this one is so over the top and completely distracting. It makes watching unbearable.

This wasn't too bad, just not very good either. Kim Yong Guk was the only character who was even remotely likable (to me). The actor really sold me on his hurt, damaged little boy background. He also made me believe in his love for his wife and son.

None of the other characters were well-developed or likable, not even the "heroine" Oh Wan Su. What a cold fish!

Seo Do Yun took too long to figure things out; the actor did his best to make the part work, but he mainly looked great throughout the series. And frankly, he seemed more in love with his dead friend than with Wan Su. The two men had great chemistry and a show about them as investigators, spies, bodyguards, whatever would have been infinitely more interesting.

One question that bugs me: why wasn't Han Sang Il charged with obstruction of justice for lying about Yong Guk's shooting?

Great article. Thanks for writing this.

Makes me want to see it more so the "scandal" is good marketing. It works!

The nurse's father has actually been plying Bo Young's father with drinks to keep him soused and angry. It's most obvious in the restaurant scene after nearly shooting Jung Woo.

Wan Er's BFF got a whole personality transplant when they changed actress too I guess. Season 1 Ling Er would never be as naive as season 2 Ling Er. She feels even more like a plot device than before.

Her husband wasn't abusive, but he was emotionally distant.

First role I've ever seen/heard Won Bin speak so much. I'm probably not going to finish this one though. I hate melodramas.

Not bad but too long.

I like the show, but there's something to be said for the brisker pace of J-dramas. I feel like the first three episodes could have been condensed into one. *Sigh* I'm also not crazy about the filter applied to the actors' faces.

I will stick around for Uhm Tae Goo though. I've loved him since "Night in Paradise" and we don't get enough of him for me to skip this series.

That's what I said too. A romance between a 50-year-old and a 17-18-year-old sounds like a criminal act. People go to prison for that IRL and rightly so. To keep the BL they would have had to make the gangster significantly younger like 21 or 22 years old.

You can't satisfy everyone, but I'm glad the writers made the choice they did and hope viewers can enjoy the series now for what it is.

That's a relief because Se Kyung is playing it very "lovesick puppy" in the first two episodes which is why I think the BL is still there.

Also, Lee Seo Jin is looking really good as the gangster. I'm sorry we don't get to see more of him!

So far the series is pretty good.

As far as the BL goes, it's still there. If it gets more explicit, I won't continue. A 47-year-old (even in a younger body) macking on a 17-18 year-old is just not right. To each their own, I guess.

I'm enjoying this one because you never know what to expect. Also the overall tone of the show is quite idiosyncratic.

It seems this series was edited into oblivion to avoid "controversy". Now it makes no sense.

Based on the comment above yours, they seem to object to the portrayal of the homoosexual couple. As if BL dramas aren't rife in Asian TV programming. Some people just like to complain.