My head hurts.

PART 1: SUMMARY OF THOUGHTS (SPOILER-FREE):
After this show, I seriously wanna punch everyone for being so stupid. Boom, Earth, Good... nobody is escaping these fists of fury.

PREMISE:
The major pro of this show was that it was realistic. It showed a group of friends as they navigated their young adult life, discussing everything ranging from finding a job to holding onto toxic relationships (and trust me, there were a lot of those). This show delved into mature, moral discussions about cheating, how to deal with sexual assault, whether both parents should be consulted in the case of an unwanted pregnancy, the validity of professions where looks are a factor (btw, Boyo, worry about your own problems first), dealing with debt and possible foreclosure, being jobless and feeling lost, having disagreements with roommates/finding a new place to stay, hookup culture and having agency over one's own sexuality... the list goes on.

The question that was brought up throughout this drama was essentially how much pain both parties in a relationship can take without breaking up, and whether love was enough to mend broken trust. Mostly everyone, at some point, tried to play love like a game (revenge plots everywhere) but in the end, there was more pain that stemmed from that.

WHY I LIKE THE STORY:
I love the fact this isn't a series where there's a clear protagonist and antagonist. At the end of the day, we realize that love is not a game, no matter how much we try to play it like one. If one person makes a foul play, both teams get penalized, and everyone loses the point. And that is precisely the beauty of this show—in the end, everyone has hurt others/gotten hurt in some way, and there's no one to root for.

WHY I DISLIKE THE STORY:
However, at the same time, the fact that there is no one to root for also infuriates me to no end. This show is essentially watching a mess and a half unfold and being powerless to do anything about it. I understand that this is supposed to show how real human interactions work, but holy ****, does anyone have any self-respect? It's not even the characters who have wronged others that are the worst in my opinion, but the characters who consistently enable their toxic partners. I understand this makes them human, but seriously, why give out so many second chances?? I want to rip my hair out.

ACTING:
The acting was good, although some characters did feel emotionless in certain scenes. In particular, the way that Sam was portrayed felt stiff, although it is in his character to be quiet and he's not one to express his emotions outwardly. Everyone managed to piss me off at some point, which is a testament to the fact that the actors did a good job.

OST:
The OST was nothing to call home about. I'm not a fan of the theme song—it honestly wasn't catchy, although I don't understand Thai and didn't bother looking up the lyrics (oops). I also felt that the music was distracting in certain scenes, and the producers should have considered trying to bring out more emotions through the acting rather than playing "suspenseful" music in the background (it's often a botched attempt at foreshadowing).

IN CONCLUSION:
Overall, this is worth a watch. I'll be checking out season 2 soon, after my sanity returns in 3-5 business days (this dumpster fire has me drained, not gonna lie).

PART 2: MORE IN-DEPTH THOUGHTS (SPOILERS AHEAD):

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Here are some of my more in-depth thoughts relating to the characters. Reads more like a angry, half-muddled rant than a logical breakdown, but I hope it makes sense. Tl;dr at the end.

The relationship between Boom and Bern was definitely my favorite. They helped each other grow, and their banter was enjoyable to watch. Boom had just broken up with her a**hole boyfriend Tor, while Bern was just starting to take responsibility and turn his life around. However, reality got in the way—Am was pregnant and Bern felt that he needed to be responsible, and Boom had to accept this and move on (which she did, with grace).

There were other aspects of realism that I enjoyed, despite being messed-up. Particularly, the way that Earth handled the cheating was such a nice touch. Something inside him snaps—he feels as though he wants to hurt Stud and Sam so that they can feel the pain he did, choosing to put on a show about sleeping with Arm. However, he realizes that this is not what he wants—it's only going to make everyone feel even more pain. The best way to resolve this is to move on—that conversation with the older couple at the swing dance place was really valuable as well.

In the end, however, that last episode makes me want to scream.

Good never seemed to like Boyo. Why now??? Why does she have to be the rebound for him? There is no indication that he actually likes her throughout the plot/after he decides that he's done seeing Pun. His emotions leading up to this are extremely underdeveloped. Is he just grappling onto anyone who will like him, and expecting that he'll come to like her eventually as well? That's the only explanation I have for this.

Am said explicitly that she was done with Bern... why give him a second chance, yet again? Although I understand that it's because she may want him to be involved in raising their child, I still don't think she needed to give him that second chance.

Sam shows no remorse, yet Earth still gets back with him? I suppose it's realistic in a sense, but wow, Sam is the worst. He decides to hide from Earth... and then he's the one who leaves??? He also doesn't make any attempt to get the relationship back, waiting for Earth to do the heavylifting in mending the relationship? No thank you.

In general, Boom's character was well-written, because it was such an emotional rollercoaster. She was extremely resilient, and arguably one of the most morally-sound characters this season.

At first, I seriously wanted to punch her. We see her struggle with Tor so many times, each resulting in her being frustrated at him for being a total a**hole but never bothering to break up with him. If I were her friend, I would've screamed at her to break up with him—totally infuriating to watch, especially since her friends didn't try to stop her in any way.

She does eventually break things off with him and turning over a new leaf with Bern, which is when I wanted to jump for joy. She comforts Earth as necessary, tries to mediate any tension between Good and Boyo, and calls out Boyo for her BS.

Eventually, however, she then returns. SHE RETURNS TO TOR. Come on. We spent all that time breaking up, before she finally returns?? This seriously wanted to make me punch a wall at first, however, out of all the relationships that got magically mended in the last episode, this one makes the most sense. It's in her nature, and seeing that Tor has turned into a better man, she once again falls victim to the belief that he will be a better partner this time around. I'm waiting for that to come crashing down again in season 2—it'll be interesting to watch that develop, yet again (although it's honestly exhausting).

Boyo is like a necessary evil in this plot. We want to root for her at times, especially the badassery she had in standing up for herself against her idiot boss, the growth she experienced in trying to take acting classes and discover more of her own passions, and her growth after realizing that she needs to move on from Good. We see the trials she faces in trying to find a job and her place in society—she's lost and in her 20s, a very relatable moment for many people.

However, most of the time, she pisses everyone off. She goes back to her boyfriend who dumped her for some BS reason, and proceeds to cheat with him on his current girlfriend. She then proceeds to shame Boom for her job and doesn't give her the benefit of the doubt, telling Boom off for not having "good morals" by her standards, when she's the one who was involved in cheating. Later on, she also seems to be annoyed with Boom and Bern, even though Am seemed to be okay with it, and Am and Bern had broken up long before then (once again, trying to take the "moral high ground" and looking like a total hypocrite). Although she grows to accept that she needs to move on from Good, she still clings onto him initially, and still ends up giving him a chance in that last episode. And lastly, even though I understand her position to some extent, she still defends Stud and hurts Earth. She's severely flawed, and we're left with a somewhat neutral, bordering on negative, view of her. She serves as a nice addition to this friend group, and represents precisely the idea of a moral gray area.

Because so many different things are happening at once, I feel like some plots also become neglected/go unresolved.

The entire beginning of Am's story focused on her mom having to pay off debt. Although her story then shifts to focus on the general strain in her relationship with Bern and other characters get more screentime, it would've been nice to see this conflict stretch out a bit more—I don't find it to be extremely believable that she struggled for the first few episodes with this debt (and it seemed like a lot/it was implied that her mom would continue accumulating debt, from my POV), but then was dropped for the latter half of the plot.

Boyo's relationship with her former boyfriend also should have been extended a bit more, in my opinion. She clearly still wanted him because she was sleeping with him, but after she gets over him, he just never appears again? It'd be interesting to explore that plotline a bit more as well. Was there no fallout from that decision? Did her boyfriend never confront her again? It seemed like a random addition to the plot that just led to her liking Good.

TL;DR
My biggest criticism is that this show would benefit from having more direction. There is so much back and forth that it doesn't feel enjoyable to watch.
--> For one, the ending jumps into too many relationships too quickly. Boyo and Good... why exactly did Good agree? And with Am and Bern, what compels Am to give him a second chance? There was negative development of this.
--> Second, there were so many side plots going on at once that some ideas/relationships were left underdeveloped. I liked, in a sense, that there were no main storylines that made the side plots seem useless, but it would've been nice if there was a way to tie in all the characters together more. Different storylines did interweave with each other, but it became too much at some point. For example, Sam's character could've used more depth. He seems to serve to develop Earth, but we don't get to explore more facets of his personality beyond the cheating—it was always his feelings in relation to Earth or in relation to Stud. So many different themes needed screentime that his character's problems couldn't be resolved in just this one season. Therefore, I think at the very least, there should've been less storylines/people involved in this show to sort of narrow that focus.

Ultimately, this was a nice breath of fresh air compared to the other dramas I've been watching recently.

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Run On: The Elliott to my E.T. drama heart

I'm still relatively new to dramas, and I'm picky about romance plots with too much drama, so this was the perfect watch for me.

Story:
Never before has the dialogue of any TV/show I've seen been so intentional. No cringe jokes stuck in for the sake of humor, just friendly banter between friends. There aren't any 2-D characters that only ever seem to have one personality trait: characters that may seem headstrong at first are shown recognizing and apologizing for their mistakes, while characters that may seem soft-spoken or mild in character soon show resilience of their own. All in all, I really felt that the characters' personalities and wit really shown through all of their interactions. There were times I would rewatch a certain scene over and over because i expected a character to have acted one way, and almost thought I had understood the plot wrong. However, I would then realize that this was a learning moment for them (or simply just a representation of their mentality towards a certain subject matter), and it was surprising but also pleasing to see growth. And there were other times I would rewatch a scene because I thought the banter was just perfect, to the point where I would've missed some of the cleverness in the dialogue had I not rewatched it. Most of all, there were moments that gave the drama its own charm, such as the E.T. references or hilariously peculiar situations such as the moments before Dan Ah's birthday party (or Mi Joo and Seon Gyeom's first encounters).

Run On also addressed some major societal issues. The topic of bullying and whistleblowing in the athletic community, the reality of working on film sets, parental pressure when it comes to academics, family dynamics and having a work-life balance, the difficulties of being an idol, and so much more are all addressed. There was also LGBTQ+ representation in the form of both gay and ace characters, as well as some important messages about respecting the difficulties of coming out. Most importantly, the drama addresses the idea of respecting yourself and respecting others. We first see the idea of self-love and communication early on through the portrayal of Seon Gyeom, who is learning to respect himself instead of selflessly sacrificing for others who wouldn't do the same, and is in turn also learning to communicate his thoughts so others around him can help him on his journey. Soon, we see that this progression applies to every single character, as everyone learns to grow in some way. And in turn, the side plots contribute nicely to the overall message of the story - instead of leaving us feeling like "_______ couple" got more screentime than "_______ couple", we are left with a complete picture of characters whose lives and journeys are intertwined.

On the topic of Mi Joo and Seon Gyeom, I've seen some comments about how the chemistry wasn't really felt between Im Shi Wan and Shin Se Kyung (although of course I'm generalizing here). But I think that more has to do with how their characters are written. Neither of them really carries the extravagance of Dan Ah, or Young Hwa's overly romantic view of first love - which makes the second leads' dynamic so much fun to watch. They simply exist in each other's space. Mi Joo learns to break down her naturally strong, independent exterior and learns to open her heart up instead of turning away with difficulties in their relationship. Seon Gyeom learns to better understand both his emotions and others' emotions, no longer keeping things to himself and sharing how he feels. There are funny moments in between their moments of wit/banter, especially in their first few encounters with one another; there are awkward moments at times, when they don't have much to say; there are angsty moments when they break up or Mi Joo becomes frustrated and Seon Gyeom doesn't understand why; and there are cute moments when they show affection towards one another. It's enviable how peaceful their existence is with one another, and it makes me feel warm.

However, the reason I gave this plot a 9 and not a 10/10 is because there were some road bumps toward the middle and end of the story - I felt that some plots did not get as resolved as well as I had hoped, especially in the last episode. However, given that this is only 16 episodes, I think the drama did a good job.

Acting/Cast:
I don't have any complaints about the acting. This is a seasoned cast that did a great job.

Choi Soo Young's portrayal of Dan Ah is honestly my favorite. Soo Young brought out the qualities of Dan Ah as a badass character, and I totally admired how blunt she was with everyone around her. Her expression was often unreadable/she was quite cold to the people around her, but you could see Dan Ah slowly letting go of her pride to admit her wrongdoings in moments of vulnerability later on, which I thought was wonderful.

I also thought the rest of the main cast did a great job embodying their characters. Although at first it seemed that Se Kyung wasn't showing a lot of emotion in her portrayal of Mi Joo, now that I better understand the character of Mi Joo, I think she did a great job. Like I said before, Mi Joo doesn't have any striking personality traits like some of the other cast; all we see at the beginning is her as strong and independent character that doesn't take anyone's sh*t. However, we slowly see the development of her character through her interactions with everyone else: movie references, her perspectives on being a translator, her backstory (family, past relationships) and how it affects her today, being nocturnal, her relationship with blenders, drunk Mi Joo, etc. And she definitely has her funny/endearing moments, such as (like I said before) her first encounter with Seon Gyeom, her conversations with Dan Ah and Mae-Yi, as well as incidents involving a brick and the f-word, lol. All by way of saying that Se Kyung brought out all of these qualities about Mi Joo that we love so much, even if she didn't seem particularly expressive in the way that she portrayed Mi Joo - there was humor when there needed to be, moments of vulnerability amidst a really headstrong personality, and quiet moments with Seon Gyeom that were brought out really well.

Im Shi Wan, despite not doing a lot of romcoms, also served as a great portrayal of Seon Gyeom. Seon Gyeom seemed really level-headed (and often out of the loop, lol), and Shi Wan's eyes were especially expressive when Seon Gyeom didn't express his thoughts with his words (or they matched how he was feeling in the moment). There was a characteristic expression of blankness that indicated Seon Gyeom's confusion which Shi Wan brought out really well, such as when he didn't understand Mi Joo's movie references. Kang Tae Oh also did a great job as Young Hwa, and we could definitely see the transition from his idea of puppy love to a more mature view of Dan Ah.

Lastly, I thought Park Young Gyu really succeeded at embodying the villain role he was given. And Choi Jae Hyun and Yeon Je Wook as Tae Woong and Ji Hyun were hilarious to watch.

Music:
The OST was definitely catchy, and it fit well with the idea of recurring themes across different characters. However, given that this drama tries to be real in its portrayal of love and relationships, we didn't always need the overly melodramatic music and slo-mo shots when there was something touching going on. I don't necessarily have a problem with the songs themselves; rather, I thought the placement of the songs didn't fit with the overall message of the script.

Edit: Changing the music rating from a 6.5/10 to a 8.5/10 because even though it doesn't fit the series that well in my opinion, it's SO GOOD on its own. I've been listening to "Where Are You?" by Kim Na Young on repeat for the past few hours.

Rewatch Value:
Lastly, I would definitely watch this again. It's only been a few hours since i finished the last episode, but wow, I don't think I'm getting over this drama for a while. Every single character was so endearing. I understand why others may think that the plot dragged because there wasn't a lot of action or outright drama happening (and the ending being unreliable), but for me, it had enough suspense at times to keep me going while still maintaining the feel of the mundanity of life.

Conclusion:
Standing ovation to Park Shi Hyun. Definitely going to be watching more of Choi Soo Young's work. I want a roommate like Mae-Yi and a brother like Tae Woong. I also badly want to try japchae now.

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