itwillneverbefar

Yeah, same, there was something always slightly menacing behind Lee Kang's eyes, but still I kept thinking "but what if?" or wondering if certain parts were somehow true, and so even when we found out that it was all made up it still felt kinda crazy and shocking.

This show wasn't perfect and could have been better executed here or there, but I look at this like how they judge gymnastics or ice skating--what is the starting value based on the ambitions? I would rather have a hundred shows like this that explored deep themes, tried something challenging , and didn't stick every single landing, than another unambitious rom com that relies on tropes and will they wont they tension to hook people and give people an easy story to digest. I wish there were more dramas like this, tbh.

Choi Hyun Wook managed to play about 5 or 6 different characters and I'm still not sure which was the real Lee Kang, Maybe they all are. I spent so much of the story staring at his face, trying to see if he would give away any clues (kudos to the director for so often trusting in his actor and allowing us to sit with his expressions ), but couldn't ever figure out exactly what was going on in his mind. One scene I was sure he was a sociopath, the next I was sure he was just a normal kid, the next I was sure he was actually trying to help Mun Oh in the end.

The last shot of the show (before the epilogue scene) was so brilliant, as if Lee Kang was staring directly at the viewer--mocking? Daring? Judging? pleading? We'll never know, because Mun Do will never know, either. I'm really impressed with the work CHW did here. I truly can't imagine another actor his age pulling this off, esp opposite the powerhouse of Choi Min Sik.

Speaking of, Choi Min Sik was truly pitch perfect. The madness we saw by the end felt exactly like the madness we could see twitching just below the surface in the opening of the first episode. He wasn't likable or charming at all, but he was so amazingly compelling. I both felt a little bit of Lee Kang's glee when he finally got his comeuppance, yet still felt sorry for him even though he really was the author of his own undoing.

This is soo worth a watch. It's one of those shows I'm going to be thinking about a year from now still.

I thought that's where the story was going at first, that Lee Kang was going to end up becoming a best selling author by publishing his version of "Notes from the last Row", but I realized by the end that wouldn't honor the theme and wouldn't be right for the story. The whole theme of the story can be summed up in Lee Kang's line to Mun Oh's wife when he said something to the effect that Mun Oh doesn't focus on the right stories. The story itself never mattered to Lee Kang, what mattered to him was proving that to Mun Oh. So it just wouldn't have made sense for his character to the publish a book of stories. That would have been a cool ending for a completely different type of story with a similar overall plot tho.

I am kind of shocked at the low rating. Like I love me a good romcom don't get me wrong, but this was ART, this was CINEMA. And yeah there are some points that could have been executed a bitter better, but the overall story, themes, performances were just so above and beyond anything you'd see in most K dramas. I loved it.

I took it as a kid who lost everything finally finding something/someone to pour all his anger and sadness and loneliness into. And at first it was probably just a vague fantasy in the back of his mind (getting revenge) and something to work towards (getting into the university), and only fully snapped into place when he overheard Se Yun. It's also extremely painful to be completely vulnerable with someone only have that vulnerability discarded and manipulated, esp when he had just lost his parents. That would traumatize any kid.

Good review, I agree with your thoughts in general. I think you misrepresented something though-- Lee Kang didn't spend 12 years writing the stories or orchestrating and planning this plot. I thought the story made pretty clear he had a general resentment that grew over the years with the focus on getting into the university and his anger at Mun Oh the only thing Lee Kang could hold onto in his loneliness (I think the final scene and him coming back to Mun Oh confirms this), but it wasn't until he saw the opportunity with Mun Oh's rival's son that an actual plan snapped into place. And he was kind of winging it from that point onward, the plan developed on the fly. It was Mun Oh that took the story to the revenge to that extreme of a level, not some decades long plan from Lee Kang, as I feel Lee Kang probably would have originally been satisfied with just the stealing of the coding answers, but Mun Oh was still as self-centered and narcissistic and dehumanizing as ever.

I do wish they had foreshadowed their first meeting better. It did feel a little disjointed to suddenly have the biggest twist be something we hadn't even gotten wind of before that point, or been hinted at at all. Lee Kang could even have told just the "feel good" part of story to Mun Oh (not saying it was him) as a way to explain his own interest in telling stories or something, or hinted at the conversation and its impact, that would have made that final twist land a lot harder.

Related to that, the whole point of the story is that we don't know anything about Lee Kang or his real motivations beyond the surface level. After all that, we're left not actually knowing who he is, because Mun Oh, after all their time together, still doesn't know who he is, and the final scene confirms that he never will, he can only see others through the fantasy lens of his own creative thirst. There were times I felt Lee Kang was disappointed in Mun Oh, times I felt he was enjoying watching him suffer, times I felt he was simply laughing at the absurdity of it all, times I wondered if deep down he wanted to push Mun Oh far enough to change. Lee Kang's motivation IS in the story, but it's not a story Mun Oh will ever get to know, so we as the audience can't know it either.

Thanks for the thoughtful review and points for good discussion!

She has a certain charm onscreen that you can't really fake. I think she'd be great as a lead in a romcom

Baeksang nominations for both Chois for this, mark my words.

Joo Hyuk has come a long way as an actor, this is a challenging role and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with it. This looks really cool and he looks like he has a lot of charisma an presence.

Cha Se Gye is truly a treasure, and if this is the story that we had to endure to witness him so be it.

I was really hoping this would be the drama that didn't completely unravel in the second half, yet here we are again.

Yeah all the plot holes were annoying but I was most disappointed they lost the comedy entirely by the end. Like seGye's HILARIOUS assistant just disappeared for the last eps and it was just crying and depression for two weeks straight. They had managed to balance serious and fun elements for the first 10 eps and then just forgot the com in the rom

Issues with story and plot are more glaring when people have to wait between episodes. People binging them all straight will not be bothered as much by them.

"And the characters were enjoyable enough that I wanted to keep spending time with them even when the plot was doing cartwheels off a cliff." This pretty much sums up how I feel.

Like, I felt like the plot unraveled deeper and deeper the longer the show went on, but if you told me there was a season 2 that was just the cast going about their daily lives for 12 eps I would binge watch it immediately. Like I would even watch a dark comedy that is just Mun Do in prison. idk man , the writer knew how to write characters and dialogue I'll give em that

Nah the one thing they did right was not spend too much time on the Joseon era. This story is all about second chances and moving forward from the past, and at its center is the love story between Seori and SeGye. What we saw from the past was more than enough. Any more and it would get bogged down an completely lose touch with the theme. The reason the last episode is so jarring is because it does this exact thing.

They could have chaebols or whatever else they want as long as the modern day story mirrored what happened in the past in a more interesting way that forced change for all the characters. Her knowledge from the past should have given her the key advantages in taking down whatever villian or issues the plot threw her way, and the time travel mechanics should have been integrally tied into all that as well.

The elements don't really matter, its' how they're executed and it's a shame the execution was so poor in the second half of the story.

I legit would watch the entire drama of past prince and OG dan shim in the alternate timeline. Season 2 anyone??

I have never liked crazy psychopath characters but I loved him even though I hated his character, he did amazingly well in this show.

I felt like the story was too repetitive in the second half, since Seori kept pushing SeGye away over and over for the same reason, only to come back, then push him away again. At least 2 but maybe closer to 4 eps were wasted on that. But I agree that two really strong final eps could have pulled it all together, because I did like the revelation of Seori actually having returned to her own body.

The fatal flaw in the writing was that the resolution of the various internal and external plot arcs had nothing to do with each other, so the writer had to try and resolve them all separately, making the story become disjointed and rushed.

By the last eps Seori had already moved past what had happened in Joseon and allowed herself to be with Se Gye, so saving the prince in the past and going to that weird inter-dimensional space wasn't really connected to her emotional journey anymore. None of it was connected to taking down Mun Do in the present. And Se Gye's outer journey to become heir also wasn't really connected to anything internal for him emotionally or in Seori's story. So it all just unraveled sloppily at the end.

This is soooo common in k dramas tho. I had hoped this drama would be different but nope.

I haven't been this sad to say goodbye to characters in a long time. Cha Se Gye was so expressive and colorful, I have never rewound a drama so much just to see someone deliver a line again. Shin Seo Ri was charismatic and hilarious and so full of heart. Together they were genuinely magical. I loved every single scene they had together.

I was disappointed by the story in the second half like a lot of people, but man I am really gonna miss these two.

Pls add spoiler tag 🙏

This is such a weird take. This is a very standard type of headline for this content not just on MDL. I don't get why so many people nitpick this one random faceless MDL author, it's honestly akin to bullying at this point I see people insulting and mocking them like it's the "cool" thing to do, but It's honeslty kinda gross