MindfulWanderings

sorry that was a long reply. but that woman sincerely makes me vomit. she deserves zero sympathy. less than zero even, in my book. 🤢

but as a villian, she was very well written in that she was very complex — and that was great. 👍🏻 i loved the nuance to her character as a villain purely. bc she was purely a villian, so the sympathy crap just pissed me off but it made sense that she saw herself that way bc she was a lunatic constantly justifying her lunacy and rein of terror on others.

wasn’t accusing you. and for sure i agree, she had too much screentime. they didn’t really do anything with her character so even moreso it was torture that she got all this time for basically nothing.

i was referring to the character being annoying-and im not disagreeing btw just reflecting. i admit i found her irritating a few times in the middle when the plot was kind of drifting, but the entire script was annoying and useless those episodes so it was more annoying to me that they weren’t writing good development. otherwise i didn’t see her as truly irritating bc she was so genuinely innocent and pitiful. naive and doe eyed to a fault YES and too easily taken advantage of absolutely. but she was also surrounded by sharks from a young age — and was gaslit from an impressionable age which is really damaging psychologically (she couldn’t easily have a strong sense of discernment since she took those things in so deeply and she was getting mixed info at literally every turn).

because she was always a pawn being used left and right, i guess i was torn because i found it annoying that the writers didn’t try to develop her to become stronger and get a sense for what was real and not real for herself sooner. they sort of edged toward that for a minute but barely…and then almost just u-turned right back to where she started.

so ultimately yea just too much screen time for a 1 deminsional character. i ultimately liked her character though because despite her tragic upbringing she had a moral center and she didn’t get caught up in the power crap that the rest of her family was obsessed with. she immediately tossed all that stuff the minute she had it all to herself, so she had my respect overall. it was just disappointing how she didn’t have much savvy or critical thinking when she was literal shark meat for the majority lf the show!! but then it’s like she only knows the hostage life so who can blame her. idk.

i think if the writing were tighter it might have been better off for her character being more interesting, or yes as you said if they just gave her less screen time. that works too.

i don’t believe it, she chose everything and she could have chosen to walk away at any point. she refuses because at the end of the day she cares about power too and she plays her victim violin but she never really was one, past or present. she was never forced into that way of being. her pride is driving her 100%, so i can’t believe she was a genuinely kind person once - she is far too selfish and lacking empathy. her husband may have sucked but if she was really a kind person she would have just acknowledged that she chose the wrong guy and moved on - cut him off, walked away from him… and all the vain prestige and power and image of it all and found happiness. she went crazy because of how it hurt her ego more than her feelings. she even let a woman die over it, when she could have saved her life…when she knew her daughter was in the same room no less…like wth. nahhh. thats messed up and what a lame reason. that was incredibly selfish. yet somehow she felt sorry for herself about it, lmao. the list goes on and on and ON from there. she doesn’t care about murdering or threatening even children just to get gain and manipulate things in her favor. she is not a good person, she never was. a good/nice person doesn’t flip character that deeply. her husband certainly sucked but you could say that same for her, she was holding a knife to the throat to his daughters neck her whole childhood and into adulthood practically — and for what?! for her appearance and personal motives and wishes. she feels so sorry for herself too while terrozing people, truly a sick and twisted woman.

i can believe that she was quiet and seemed sweet once, but her sociopathic character was always there. it’s just not that easy for humans to throw away empathy to such an extreme extent and definitely not due to something so junenile that a simple divorce would have taken care of. she knew too, she was aware of her choices and what was too far. she wasn’t really sorry until she was bleeding out and dying and even then she just lamented feeling sorry for herself still. but it was clear she had a clear mind about it all, so. thank goodness she and her husband got blown up. good riddance i say, she deserved a life sentence of jail time (at least). she was just that psychotic. and she openly refused EVERY single opportunity to walk away, start anew, let it go and just move on an be happy. so many opportunities were presented to her but she had no real remorse or desire to relinquish “power”. she cried until her dying day like she was the pitiful victim when she was literally a puppet master. even early on she didn’t hesitate to play her power when it came down to it. so no she was never nice i wont ever believe that. she probably thought she was (bc she is self centered like that), or perhaps she even seemed it to others bc she was happy and hadn’t been deeply tested or whatever, but pressure and hardship sure showed her true colors.

agree with everything other than yoo jin being badass. she was a sociopath, utterly selfish and viscious from beginning and she spent 90% of her time wallowing in nauseating (and exasperating) self pity but she was absolu no victim. i dont see that as smart, just selfish enough to do whatever to get what she wants and run over anyone and anything that didn’t suit her agenda. it’s easy to appear smart when you dont play fair or have any real rules. it’s cunning and lack of empathy to the extreme. she deserved the fate she got.

yoo jin was deeply disturbed, and she simply was never going to land a guy like k2, it was not only NOT meant to be…it was completely unrealistic. she was too twisted to redeem either. yoo jin & k2 are completely different types of people. never in any universe would a guy like that go for her, it was always delusional of her to think that was ever possible from the beginning.

well yea, and she was held hostage and locked up in an attic (basically) away from the world for her whole childhood so…to me it makes sense that she is naive and weak

it would have been MUCH better if they developed her more and helped her character grow more backbone, but seeing how she was treated all her life … and gaslit CONSTANTLY left and right from the time she was little, i didn’t despise her character so much as it made sense…i just think the writing overall needed tightening

ewwww i don’t get why people feel this way. that woman was a SOCIOPATH. jail or death were the only appropriate endings for her…

she was never going to land a guy like that. lmao. in what universe.

stepmom was a complete sociopath - hell no - that would be so disgusting

THIS. she was held hostage her whole life, gaslit constantly left and right from the time she was a kid, and was locked away in the attic practically what do people expect???

also so many people rooting for the villian stepmom to be with ML 🤢🤮she is a literal sociopath, like excuse me???

She seems too dense and immature, I doubt she would come to her senses even then. She does need a serious reality check, but she seems too self centered for it to even make a difference in the end. I think the ML deserves someone more loyal.

The 2ml is a workaholic + he has no interest in the child just the FL, so I agree. The only one that seems to actually care about the child is the ML. Even though the FL claimed guardianship. FL is an idiot.

agreed, she can’t appreciate the ML but she was very self centered before the baby too

The baby and the ML are the only reason I keep watching but I don’t want him to be with the FL 😭 her character and the writing really tanked after ep 5

FL is so incredibly annoying

for real!!! she is the worst

for real tho

I gotcha, that’s totally fair and understandable. Thanks for sharing your point of view! I agree it’s fun to learn from each other (:

I totally agree that the characters are the strongest part of the show, and I can understand why people who prioritize character over plot would still enjoy it. For me, though, the writing gradually undercut those characters. By the end, the way their arcs were handled felt more frustrating than compelling, which soured what was working.

I also think it’s unfair to reduce the criticism to “people just hate it because of one thing.” Many viewers gave the show a real chance despite the shallow themes and messy writing from the start…the frustration comes from how many issues and elements kept compounding rather than improving. Plus that argument seriously underestimates how much plot actually encompasses. Plot isn’t just the main storyline — it includes pacing, consistency, motivation, logic, perspective, characterization, world building, and payoff. The editing plays a huge role as well, since it can completely shift how events and elements land & are perceived. When the plot is shaky, it inevitably affects everything else, no matter how strong the acting, music, or character concepts are.

In fact, plot is so integral that it can cheapen great cinematography, music, and acting more than poor quality can. For example…if the show had even cheaper visuals, forgettable music, or weak performances, I don’t think the ratings and reaction to the plot would be nearly as intense. The frustration comes because so much of it is well-made on a technical and performance level — people can clearly see what it could have been. When the storytelling doesn’t rise to meet that level, the disappointment feels sharper.

So yes, great points. There are genuinely strong elements here — but for me, none of that makes up for how **thoroughly** the writing sabotaged those things. Just my opinion tho!

My God, what is your problem. Who hurt you.

It received lower ratings in China, and honestly, I can understand why. Some viewers enjoyed it … but I suspect a lot of that comes from fan loyalty to the actors — who were all stellar btw. The acting itself was excellent (far better than the drama deserved) and the characters had real potential. Unfortunately, the scripting was messy and inconsistent, and the editing didn’t help. I watched the entire series and ultimately felt it was a 100% waste of time, which reflects on the writing and production, not the actors or their performances.

Apparently scripts were being rewritten and printed on set while filming, and it shows — constantly. The incoherence, the pacing issues, the sloppy editing… none of that is subtle.

It’s so bad but the acting is so good … they had countless opportunities to salvage the storyline at several points throughout, but instead it only grew worse progressively. Every time I thought the story couldn’t get sloppier it would prove me wrong - it became the only consistency that you could count on by the end. Scriptwriters really flubbed up. Literally zero reason for it to be this bad.

Speak for yourself. It doesn’t take much imagination to do better than this. If you don’t have it, just say that — projecting your creative limits onto me isn’t an argument.

You’re arguing character. I’m critiquing writing and editing. You’re arguing feelings. I’m talking craft. If that distinction is hard for you, that explains the disagreement.

Defending bad writing by yelling about love and sacrifice doesn’t magically fix pacing, structure, or logic. A messy script doesn’t become deep just because it ends tragically. The death wasn’t even the main problem. Strong characters can’t save incoherent plotting and sloppy editing — that’s basic storytelling.

And enjoying something doesn’t automatically make it well-written — it could simply mean your standards are lower (or different).