The first 8 episodes of this are pure romcom excellence: captivating characters, strong chemistry (romantic, platonic, and familial) between the actors, lots of fizzy comedy seamlessly blended with more substantive, heartfelt moments and some smart analysis of workplace discrimination against single women. I also appreciated the refreshingly open and mature attitude the characters (with one notable exception) have towards their own sexual appetites. The way the show engaged with common romance tropes in a fresh, creative way was just a joy to watch. Another banger of a performance from Shin Min Ah, I can't praise her work highly enough in this.

However, things started to go awry in episode 9. The second ML acts like a hardcore jerk to the leads in episodes 9 and 10, and never makes amends. This made it hard for me to enjoy the cutesy scenes between him and the second FL, as winning as their performances were. While I enjoyed his performance for the majority of the drama because I think he did a good job with the comedy and his dryer, low key delivery contrasted well with Shin Min Ah’s effervescence, Kim Young Dae was flat and didn't emote well when he had to play angst. The other lead actors are so good the difference in their skill vs his was apparent to me. Finally, the the show had too much plot to cram into 12 episodes and as a result we were really short changed in terms of good couple moments between the leads. I was so annoyed they’re barely on screen together in the finale.

This is still an enjoyable watch but I'm a bit frustrated it faltered down the stretch.