This is the first work for the duo Kim Eun, as a screenwriter, and Ahn Pan-seok, as director (they collaborate again in the production of One Spring Night). It is my final (and perfectly negligible) opinion that they work really well together and should continue to do so (in fact, they should involve Jung Hea-in next time as well).
The deeply feminine and insightful writing is capably rendered through soft tones and careful pacing and an overall aura of independent art film. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend this drama to watchers that don't like artsy vibes or slice-of-life plots.

The female protagonist, Jin-ah, is portrayed with such brutal honesty and is so very lifelike that it's almost depressing (Son Ye Jin is the best at playing these kind of characters and she is truly formidable in this role).
Here is a woman held hostage by her family and society's expectations: she is told to compromise and keep the peace. Basically, she is forced to partake in her own abuse only to end up being judged for trying to meet expectations.
Her unconventional love (older woman loves younger, orphan!, man...so shocking!) is the cue to realize the true nature of the cage she is trapped in and to finally have the courage to imagine herself outside of it.
Therefore, a bluntly realistic premise mellows out in an optimistic ending that, to me, feels like advice: Jin-ah frees herself, at last, when she stops trying to make people around her happy and tries to be happy herself (by physically escaping both her job and her family).
The superwoman concept of constant self-sacrifice is, in this drama (and in my personal view), less like a virtue and more like a heavy chain keeping women down. We encounter a number of female characters, each one distinguishable and multifaceted (all the actresses are fabulous), who are trying to find their own solutions to living with this metaphorical chain made of expectations. Sometimes they help each other and sometimes they become the jailor (internalization of mysogyny is strong in all genders).
Male characters, instead, are on the sidelines: fragile and cartoonish. When they are not actively harmful, they are, however, incapable of truly being of support in a struggle they don't fully understand.

I was once again weak and fell in love with Jung Hae-in (his sweet smile and abs keep confusing my feminism and I forget the bitter reality). His character's genuine sentiment and devotion are so innocent, fresh, so naive that it makes you want to simultaneously join him in his artsy illusion and smack him for being so cruel to make you think one can be forgetfully in love. Joon-hee and Jin-ah's romance works well, at first, when it is in its own bubble but can it survive outside, in the harsh world of social costraints?

OST by Yamagata and Carla Bruni. You either love it or come to hate it. I liked it.


Female Empowerement Score 5/5: Jin-ah suffers a lot, but in the end she wins her battle and is able to regain her self despite her molesters, her family's wishes and society's judgment.