MadelineMaureen

I noticed it too. I wonder what the writers(source &adaption) intentions were and what the actors thought of that dynamic. I love it when actors can breakdown and understand their characters motives/reasonings outside of what is just written on the page for them. I wonder if it's simply because they worked together at one point and the other couple didn't, or if it's based more so on how they were raised. Military vs Street...?

I used to keep a tally anytime I was watching a kdrama and the actor playing a non Korean spoke with the wrong accent/language. It was really high, but I lost place of the notebook the tally was in. It's always the military/business ones that mess up the most.

The note book also had a tally for wrist grabbing, parent paying off a significant other, drinks bought but left untouched, open eyed kiss, accidental kiss, etc. etc. I really need to find that notebook.

pretty sure that was his dad in ep 13

I'm so glad that whoever decided to adapt this chose to take their time. The set ups are really starting to payoff. It's like getting a movie every week. And with it being twenty episodes we actually get to know/live with the characters more before they find each other again.

I think it's actually the opposite. The show is pointing out that it doesn't matter what you've done in your past to survive. You are worthy to live and be loved. Their whole storyline centers around their internal struggle with their past/present selves ,and once they open up to each other they can overcome that shame and stigma.
They've never seen each other as less than worthy of love/happiness, but they have thought about themselves like that. He seems himself as a monster and murderer, she sees a hulk, hero and savior. She sees herself as a less than because of having to sell herself, he sees a kind and strong woman, a survivor, and someone worthy of his respect.

I suspect the janitor lady of knowing something/being someone too. I don't think they would waste Yoon Sa Bong like that. I haven't read the original source material so if anyone has please confirm of deny.
Also not meeting your child's principal/teacher seems like a fatal flaw at this point. I'm sure Min Hyun would have heard mister McSniffles and put two and two together. I'm still trying to figure out if she got a good look at Joo Won when she was investigating the salon death.

Though the NK dictator died it wasn't publicly announced in the manner that the director expected it to be. So when Doo Shik didn't show back up immediately there were questions. Though I'm not even 100% the NK dictator was the OG target.

Well I'm assuming we met him in ep 13 as the North Korean boulder thrower. How he got to be "not all there" and in the South, I'm not sure. Though as @rinny37 said we should be getting a move focused episode soon.

I think that they always had the "breeding" contingency plan in place. They knew that Min Hyun and Bong Seok got away. They knew which of their team members had children and kept track of them. The director has all the time in the world to sit back and wait and watch. We've now seen everyone's parents and we are only missing like 2 staff member's origin. We've seen the principal, the PE coach, and the guard. Missing the new guy, and the janitor....you still sus to me janitor lady. Don't be wasting Yoon Sa Bong like that.

One of my questions is whether or not Kang Hoon knows his father is from the North. Did his father switch sides? Is his father "not all there" anymore and being used to get to his offspring? Is he pulling a 'Secretly Greatly' act? I'm curious to see how long game the director really is, and if he had anything to do with Ji Hee's car accident. We all know that he was willing to let a potential asset die if it meant finding out they couldn't.

Also also....do they not have parent's day at theses schools? How on Earth has Min Hyun or Joo Won not noticed mister McSniffles or the coach. Though I guess it was Doo Shik who knew the coach best. Hell even the school guard should have rung some bells.

2 mistakes above. i confused the agent who took in DooShik as the PE coach, he is actually just the agent who was in charge of Mi Hyun's first field mission...the psycho unhinged one. & as other's have pointed out(thank you btw) the NK spy is NOT KangHoon's father but like Frank had similar powers to JooWon, the NK spy has similar powers to Lee Jae Man, Aka Kang Hoon's father.

Yeah, they really need to cast someone who can pull off the young tomboy vibes. Because Jian Jian was raised by men and with boys. She isn't concerned with her appearance or what she says. I'm just not sure Jung Chae Yeon fits that character. Maybe her best friend who befriends the ML while he's away, but not Jian Jian. Kim Go-Eun and Jin Ki-Joo could definitely pull it off. Even Hye-ri could, but I feel like it would be too close to her role in Reply. Because lets be honest the Reply series(all of them) very much give 'Go Ahead' vibes.

Not only plot spoilers for Go Ahead, but also ridiculously long comment. so spoiler tag.

The only thing I didn't really enjoy about the original Go Ahead was with the character of Ling Xiao(neighbor brother/ML) and his mental and physical abuse by his mother not being truly addressed. IMO he became obsessed with being with Jian Jian(FL) to "save" him from his mother. I know that therapy isn't really brought up in dramaland, but I needed that character to get help and not put all of his happiness on Jian Jian's shoulders. Which if you think about it, could end up being the exact situation he had with his mother. That is putting a lot on a significate other. For reference i've only seen the 40epsiode online version not the aired 46 episode version, so they might have dived deeper into this story plot point. If anyone actually reads this and knows if the 46 episode is any different please let me know.

I really need the 3 leads to have great chemistry together. And whomever plays He Zi Qiu("adoptive brother"/2ML) needs to toe that line of innocent interest vs actual interest in Jian Jian. Cause Steven really played that brotherly love perfectly. Also 'Go Ahead' is one of those shows that you can go back and watch and see all the times that Ling Xiao treats Jian Jian as a girl/woman rather than a sister or just a friend while they are still in senior high school.

Hwang In Youp as of writing this comment is confirmed but he doesn't have a character name yet. As there is only one other actor in the cast list and it's Jung Chae Yeon, I'm going to assume he is cast in the Ling Xiao role(neighbor brother) and she will play Jian Jian. Going based off of his previous works, I truly think he can pull off this role. Also the fact that he still can so easily pull off a school uniform at 32 is actually insane. Looking forward to this one. Also adapting something from 40ish episodes down to most likely 16 tops will hopefully only cut out the extra bits involving the roommates and not the families interactions/back story.

Thank you! the mobile app isn't showing the links for related works and I couldn't remember if it was Chinese or Taiwanese. I really thought it was based off of a separate IP didnt realize it was an original IP. (i can only blame the amount of shows ive been looking up lately for that blunder)

there is already a chinese adaption of this story.

I can not stress this enough, the violence is EXTREMELY grafic for a kdrama. brain matter after being yeeted from a building level graphic. this is a hard R show. f bombs galore. violent murder, abuse, bullying in every episode. blood soaked ppl in every episode. i think this might need to be a skip for you. in ep 7 one guy literally punches someones face into their skull...the camera does not cut away...
This is more on the level of a Korean action movie that would have an R rating.

marking as spoiler to save space.
It could honestly be his preference to play the SML. Cause all drama watchers know that sometimes the SML has a more compelling story than the ML. A lot of the time the lead characters get narrowed down to just a few core traits so that more ppl can identify with them, but the supporting characters can have flaws & change in more organic ways aka the redemption arc.

best way to tell the difference is to think of it like a singing bowl. The truth sound is as though you are skimming the bowl to make a ringing sound...the lie sounds like you hit the bowl with a mallet. one is a ring/chime the other is a ding/gong.

I think that if someone truly believes something...aka that they are the cause of someone's death, that it would ring as a lie when he says he didn't kill her.

From the teasing flashbacks and references...he might have been drinking heavily the night his ex girlfriend tried to kill herself on the beach. She used a piece of glass to cut herself as well...hence the blood that got all over him. Maybe he blacked out and doesn't actually remember what really happened to her. Maybe what we are being shown are two different nights that he has merged into one memory. Why we haven't gotten him speaking in any of the flashbacks yet, i'm not sure.
Cause if my ex kept saying she was going to kill herself and then I'm brought in for her disappearance I would be talking about the fact that the girl kept threatening her own life when I left her. I know they want to keep a lot of things a mystery for a while, but it's a bit frustrating. Cause if someone is THAT unhinged more people should have been aware or seen signs of that type of behavior. Unless of course they are going to play the "My sister would NEVER do that. She was a angel on earth...blah blah blah." If so this is truly the worst case of denial i've seen in a minute.

Haven't seen Alchemy of Souls....couldn't get past the style of it to get into it.

There isn't anything that's sticking out as bad from him. But there are a lot of very strong actors in this show, so as he interacts with those actors more it might begin to stick out if you are hyperaware of his acting.
Keep in mind there have only been a few scenes where half of his face isn't covered with either a face mask or sunglasses, so right not it's hard to judge. I would honestly need to watch a few more episodes to get a better feel, as the character is relatively quiet and in his sad emo boy phase. aka not too much range to base a solid opinion on.
Really curious what someone who's seen both thinks as well.
Kim So Hyn(FL) and Seo Ji Hoon (2ndML) are both really good actors imo. Though I think this is now the fourth or fifth time I'll be watching SJH get rejected by a FL.

How where you able to watch episode 5 already?

Spoiler tag to save space in comment section
'When I Fly Towards You' the story is by the same writer, Zhu Yi. Main couple and a secondary couple. If you aren't interested in the secondary couple it's easy to skip without missing anything.
High school to college. Light with low drama. Similar to Hidden Love in that the ML has family issues that need to be resolved, FL from loving supportive family. Both smart and driven. She falls first, but he falls harder. Seriously could get a cavity, it's so sweet.