Kate

Not gonna lie, this drama has one of the most misleading synopsis and posters. By all means this is not really a revenge drama, it’s scheming the con artists type of a story. Inflicting pain? Does not really take center stage at all. It felt far more like a constant survival for everyone involved - be it in the present or past timeline, bad or good guys.

The biggest highlights of the drama for me were how the story unfolded and how many well delivered plot twists were added. Who is involved, what are their motivations, with whom they align - the writing keeps you on your toes always trying to guess future developments. Are the good guys actually good? Are the bad guys truly that awful? Can a person be both the perpetrator and the victim at the same time? Can a victim turn into a perpetrator?

I also loved how clumsy the female leads were. It just made sense - they are not criminals, they are normal women who got themselves involved in a situation you cannot truly prepare for. They made many mistakes, overlooked certain aspects of their plans. At times it was frustrating, sometimes funny, sometimes scary. Especially with how vile the villains actually were.

As the drama progressed, rather than anyone winning, I just wanted it all to end, for the sake of the victims. Seeing how far they can go, how deeper into unethical ways they drive - it was more sad than freeing and rewarding.

About the villains - let them burn in hell. As awful as they were to watch, the scenes depicting the crimes and how the young girls were treated were truly effective. Just telling me what happened to them would not have even half of the emotional impact on me. Rather than gore that comes from the revenge part of the plot, the abuse in the past timeline is the true horror.

For the good parts, I have to talk about the acting - phenomenal. It's hard to pick my favorite performance. Whenever we talk about the desperation from Wang Hui Chun and Chao Ching, egocentrism driven by the will to survive in Chang Shih Ka, pure greed in Chang Chia Feng, or the shattered innocence of the teens - everyone delivered exactly what they needed.

Production wise it was also great. I always appreciate when there is a certain balance between aesthetic and more stale/mundane shots. Maybe I am weird, but I dislike when the dramas look like music videos where every second is highly stylized - it’s distracting. Knowing what and when to highlight is a skill.

The drama is obviously not without flaws - no drama is. Starting with a bit of uneven tone. Two aspects I love actually did not form a good synergy. The clumsiness and at times borderline silliness of the mother’s plan at the beginning stages mixed with the horror and realism of what the teens went through seemed odd.

Then we had the absurd last episode - not the biggest fan of the conclusion and the open door for another season. I just cannot see how they will carry the resurrection and revenge theme, and without these, it will be a completely different drama.

Overall, definitely a refreshing drama. While the portrayal of abuse and crime is ever-present in the majority of shows (even rom-com have their own murder mysteries), this level of realism is not common. One one had it made the drama that much more intense, on the other hand it’s for sure not a title everyone can watch.