Fabulous Acting with in Underrated OST but I can't empathise with the

Alright, I'll preface this review by saying THIS OST IS SO UNDERRATED. It reminds me a lot of a stay-at-home mom, always working, always in the background and never noticed, but if she's gone the whole home falls apart. The songs weren't ground breaking or exceptionally memorable but they made every single scene they were in, there wasn't a note out of place and I'd love to pay homage to everyone that played a part in arranging the music.

Acting: The Acting was absolutely phenomenal, it was really good, the role of Jung Seo Hyun was played amazingly but my favourite performance has to go to Han Jin Ho, Han Hi Yong and Mother Emma (Special Mention to the entire Han Family's tantrums and Lee Hye Jin). Mother Emma's commitment to her faith and the people she cared for, carefully contrasted by the mistakes she made truly made me rethink my own life, Han Jin Ho and Han Hi Yong made me feel so much pity, but they each took different roles towards growth because of one fundamental difference: Support. One changed and decided to grow and earn the support of his loved ones, the other chose to allow his past to define him.

HJH Vs HJY: The parallel between these two characters was absolutely phenomenal and really allowed us to learn that we are more that what we came from, I think this was my overall favourite part of the drama.

Also we have to give a huge round of applause to Han Soo Hyuk and Han Ha Joon's actors for being able to hold their own so well among such an intense and star studded cast, truly phenomenal work from them in every way.


Now, the bad parts.
Storyline: Truthfully, I expected this story to be somewhat of a "money isn't everything" or "rich people don't always win narrative" but it turned out to feel more like to opposite, after watching the entire drama, it really feels like it was the poor, the people at the bottom of the food chain, who cried and suffered the most, yes the Elites did cry a bit, but at the end of the day, we all know it's much more comfortable to cry in a mansion than in a one room, especially since from the elites crying they actually got what they asked for, but the poor gained nothing.

Seo Hi Soo: This drama also made it very difficult for me to empathise with Seo Hi Soo, she was very well acted but her character in and of itself lacked empathy towards anyone beyond her son was not a very endearing trait. Something about her energy screamed Selfishness when it involves anyone other than her son. It made it a bit difficult for me to empathise with her at certain points but in the end, I'm glad things went the way they did.

Jung Seo Hyun: Her storyline hit me so deeply, I could relate to her so deeply and her love for her family and commitment towards the company was completely unrivalled, she was the true definition of selfless and was a phenomenal mother in her own right. She held the serious parts of this show on her back and she did so with grace, poise and more kindness than many of the other elites of Hyowon.

Han Ji Yong: This actor was PHENOMENAL, every single side of Hi Yong that we needed to see was brought to us so earnestly that in all honesty, my heart broke for him. He showed us so much pain, fear, mistrust and everything in between, and watching him decline was a work of art, I would seriously support a spin-off series about Ji Yong's life as a child growing up, up until the beginning of Mine, he's such a complext character and to be able to see where the parallel with Jin Ho began would be *chef's kiss*. There's so much I could say, but I rather you see it for yourself.

Character Driven vs. Plot Driven: I think the reason many people didn't enjoy this drama is they expected more of a plot driven makjang with a shocker at the end of every episode. This drama is more character driven, with the growth of the characters leading the plot, rather than the plot leading the characters. This made it different from most Makjangs and made it something I could thoughrougly enjoy but also, an analytical watch rather than a relaxing/lazy watch like most other Makjangs.
(Also I really loved the time jumps as they kept me engaged and invested)

Faults: There are a lot of things I found quite unrealistic/ Disappointing, for instance the outcome of SooHyuk's storyline, Most of the Housekeeper's fates and the lack or closure in terms of certain character's endings. While I did personally love the time jumps, I can definitely understand how it could become difficult to keep up with. Also, the timeline of all this happening being about 1.5-2.5 months to me felt really unrealistic.

Overall: I did like this drama, the ending did drop the ball in terms of what I expected and it gave off a very "rich people get off scot-free" energy, which did disappoint me, but the story and the growth of all the characters like Hye Jin and Jin Ho was so beautiful and so at the end of the day, I'm very glad I watched it. The glitz, glamour and opulence set the scene for absolutely amazing visuals and camera work which was always on point and conveyed emotions in a way that dialogue and even music could not.

This was a good drama, but I just feel like there wasn't enough closure at the end, but the ending message didn't ring deeply to me as I just couldn't empathise with Hi Soo and her story towards the end. I still really loved watching this and it's clear everyone worked exceptionally hard on this project.

(Honourable Mention: Jin Ho and Jin Here's relationship with Jin Hee's husband was really the cutest bromance ever).

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