I don’t think I’ve ever been more conflicted about whether I like a show than I have with this one. My head is pounding just trying to figure out how to describe my entire view of this show, so if my review sounds like I’m just yapping, that is why.

Part 1 of this show gave an extremely promising start, especially the pilot episode. It had a great introduction to our main cast, a good amount of foreshadowing, a great setup for future character development, and also had a dark comedic undertone. In a sense, it reminded me of the movie Parasite. I’d also like to mention the phenomenal acting of the whole cast, especially those who played the reincarnations of Yi Jae.

All the compliments I gave for part 1 pretty much go towards part 2 as well. With that being said, however, I disagree with the way the show handled the topic of suicide. With a subject matter as sensitive as suicide, it is extremely important to handle the topic with respect and consideration, especially if the ‘moral of the story’ being conveyed revolves around the subject of suicide. In this case, the moral of the story was essentially to be appreciative of what you have. That is not at all a message I disagree with; in fact, I think it’s a good message to convey when writing a story on the topic of suicide. However, the way the show conveyed that message was by remaining completely insensitive and apathetic toward Yi Jae’s situation that drove him to commit suicide. Instead, they only focused on the pain Yi Jae caused his loved ones to feel due to him taking his own life. I believe it’s a great idea to focus on the hurt of his loved ones, but not when the writing makes that its only focus, especially when another point the story was attempting to make was that Yi Jae should’ve considered how his loved ones would feel if he were to take his own life, making him out to essentially be selfish and inconsiderate with no redeeming qualities. If the writers are trying to make the point that he should’ve put himself in their shoes before taking his own life, then I find it hypocritical that they don’t do the same with Yi Jae. They shame him for not focusing on the positives he had in his life, yet when he does something as commendable as saving another person’s life while risking his own, they shame him for that too. This hypocrisy and disrespect towards the topic of suicide diminishes the strength of each message the story was attempting to send, as each message stems from the writers’ insensitive way of trying to make a point. It is not at all impossible to convey all the messages they were trying to convey without attempting to prove it by completely ignoring the circumstances that led him to commit suicide, while also shaming him for doing so.

However, that is just my take on how they handled the topic of suicide. I personally am sensitive to the topic, but I don’t at all disagree with any of the messages the story carries. In fact, I admire the story’s take on the topic of suicide, and I do realize that there was good intent behind each message, despite the harsh way they conveyed it. I just personally wish the story would’ve taken a moment to realize that Yi Jae did give life a chance; even after his life went to shit, he spent 10 whole years giving it a chance, but life continued to fail him. I believe if they wanted to fully go with the idea of him being the personification of ego and greed, then it would’ve been better to portray his character the same way the Webtoon did before he took his own life. Not as hardworking, taking the easy way out each time, etc. For me, it just hurts to see a character who genuinely worked extremely hard but only given shit back in return, which is what led him make such a decision, and then be shamed for it as if he didn’t work hard from the beginning. I’m not saying he was right in taking his own life, someone taking their own life will always be the worst choice that could be made no matter the circumstance. However, I believe there could’ve been a better way to go about things.

Now that I’ve discussed the main issue, I’ll just mention some minor issues I had with the story. Some parts of the plot were a bit incoherent, specifically the plot point where Yi Jae was explaining how he organized this whole scheme on how to kill Tae Woo while bypassing Death’s rules. I’m not sure if I’m just stupid or lacking sleep, but those entire 5 minutes made absolutely no sense. I’d also like to lastly mention an inconsistency with the foreshadowing. Again, I could just be stupid, but in part 1, they seemed to imply that when Yi Jae jumped off the building, his body had hit someone, specifically a kid. However, this was never picked back up again, which makes me believe that the writers either chose to discard that idea because it would overly complicate the story, or that the teddy bear panel at the crime scene and the conversation between those two police officers discussing the dead body of a kid was just completely pointless, lmao.

Anyways, with all that being said, is this a recommendable show? I believe so, if you’re not sensitive to the topic of suicide, that is. It is quite an interesting story with commendable acting partnering it. It also has quite a bit of dark humor, especially in part 1, so if that’s what you’re into, I’d say give it a shot. However, if you’d like to watch a show that explored the topic of suicide well and that was even more entertaining than this show, I would like to recommend “The Fallen High School Girl and the Irresponsible Teacher.” Quite a silly and long title, Ik lmao, but it definitely was a very memorable story.