The drama is okay but not what it was advertised, I see no villains here
When lead characters are actually villainous, a large number of viewers say they hate the leads and the show, the leads are unlikeable and unrelatable, so it’s unlikely a romcom would have truly evil villains as leads. Viewers can barely handle complex characters. So it’s understandable why they went for “misunderstood villains”.
I was expecting both of them to be fiesty towards each other and for their relationship to be enemies-to-lovers, but he’s so down bad for her and I love it!
i m on ep 3 little bit confused, why this show is giving some copy vibes of "stranger things"?? i mean…
There are many, MANY shows and movies like this, and a lot are based on comic books from the 80s and 90s. X-Men, The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, etc. Well-known heroes like Spiderman and Captain America are the result of lab experiments too, as are villains like Venom. A lot of Korean shows like this too, like Awaken. Scientists experimenting on humans and them acquiring superpowers and either praising or despising their “creator” is a pretty common concept in superhero movies and shows. Stranger Things isn’t the first.
Fun drama!Park Eunbin usually plays more toned-down or serious, meaningful roles, so it was fun to watch her have…
- Why halmeoni (the grandma) funded the experiments the first time - The “side effects” - How exactly powers were attained from the wastewater (during the experiment the formulas were being injected, but in the wastewater it was entering people through the nose or mouth or skin, how does that work too?) - The difference between getting powers from the experiments directly versus from spillage/wastewater
Park Eunbin usually plays more toned-down or serious, meaningful roles, so it was fun to watch her have fun and go ham here. Eun Chaeni is so fun! And the trio is absolutely hilarious.
Bae Nara is so good at playing troubled villains.
I know almost every actor in this drama but the two women on the villain team are my new discoveries. I have watched the mind control woman before but she stood out to me more here, as did the illusionist. The actors were so good, and their powers were so cool! I’m glad they got adequate screentime.
Great first episode! I’m a little tired of 6-10 episode dramas where everything happens super quick and the plot progresses too fast with no room to breathe. I like “staying” in a drama I like for a nice stretch of time, so I’m glad they’re telling us the story slowly and giving us funny and interesting scenes that don’t necessarily drive the plot forward, they’re just there to entertain us. The main leads and their characters are super fun to watch (but I feel for them too as they seem misunderstood). I like my women dominant, and I like my men a little afraid of their women, and this drama is setting up for it well. I’m looking forward to the next episodes, this drama is fun, unique, and refreshing!
does she get foresight ability? like she can predict some calamity
She probably has those old-world superstitious beliefs which can turn out true in fantasy dramas, plus she made it high up in ranks in the palace so she probably has instincts to detect assassins, traitors, etc. She was very smart and perceptive for the era and that can come in handy in the present too.
The first episode was good! I really like the ML’s voice, but I wished his hair was styled differently lol
Right now he’s a “villain” so he has the classic villain chaebol hairstyle. I’m guessing they’ll give him a softer look in later episodes when he’s a “romantic lead” in the story.
When you get your hands on money you’re not supposed to, DON’T go around flaunting it first thing. Don’t buy a new car, don’t buy flashy new clothes and jewelry. Someone who knows who you are will see you and go tell higher-ups in the gang about your new lavish lifestyle, and they’ll figure out something’s up. Keep living low-key and use the money discreetly, keep indulgences very private.
It happened in real life, the Hwaseong murder case. It's not absurd, it really happend, unfortunately, as @moonchild…
Didn’t one of the victims in the drama literally get killed while sleeping in her house, with her parents right in the next room? Cases like this and the red cap cases (also inspired by the Hwaseong murders) in Through The Darkness show even if women hid in their homes, they weren’t safe.
A few months ago, every actor and director I admire were posting about this film, so I was waiting to be able to watch it. I was finally able to today, and it’s going to stay with me.
Spoilers Below!
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What is a rape victim to do? If they try to live to the fullest and not let their trauma define them, they are assumed to be lying and “faking it”. If they live in the shadows, people pity them and try to get them to “get over it”. People expect rape victims to always be sad and miserable, be broken, and “show their trauma”. If you tell people you are a victim, people gossip, look down on you, and try to “decide if they should believe you”. If you don’t tell people, they assume you must have life easy and don’t take anything seriously and haven’t had any trauma and troubles in life. Adults around the victim can sometimes be no help, as they’d rather turn a blind eye or stay in disbelief than upend their family lives.
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You may have some questions after watching this. I’ll write what I understood.
Significance of the apple: It is likely apples were present at the scene(s) of trauma, or have something to do with the rapist uncle. Regardless, Jooin becoming okay with seeing apples around symbolises her slowly being okay and coming to terms with her trauma and what she experienced.
Why did Go Minsi’s character react that way when the boyfriend showed up? The group that meets up are rape victims who have been through similar trauma and experiences, which makes their bond unique, and the other person or people there know about their trauma and support them. This young boyfriend doesn’t know anything, he’s an outsider, he doesn’t belong there or know about their solidarity, it’s simply unfitting and uncomfortable. It breaks an unspoken code. It may seem like she’s overreacting, but on closer inspection it makes sense.
Who was writing the notes? The “who” isn’t really important here, it could be anyone and that’s the thing. Anyone around could be a victim. They were mean at first, but later the person writing the notes confessed they were a victim too, and Jooin sharing her story gave her or him courage to maybe one day speak up too.
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Question I have:
The little sister at the nursery: I understood Jooin was telling the child to speak up when it hurts given what she went through. But I didn’t fully understand how she was getting hurt. Was she a victim too? Or was it because of Jooin pinching her and telling her to speak up? Was it simply injuries from playing around? Later, the child said she doesn’t have a cold and she’s okay when she did have a cold, it must’ve upset Jooin because she wasn’t expressing her pain, so she pinched her in the nursery. But what about her injuries from before? Did she pinch her at the hospital before too when she saw the broken arm and she said it didn’t hurt but it did?
- The “side effects”
- How exactly powers were attained from the wastewater (during the experiment the formulas were being injected, but in the wastewater it was entering people through the nose or mouth or skin, how does that work too?)
- The difference between getting powers from the experiments directly versus from spillage/wastewater
Park Eunbin usually plays more toned-down or serious, meaningful roles, so it was fun to watch her have fun and go ham here. Eun Chaeni is so fun! And the trio is absolutely hilarious.
Bae Nara is so good at playing troubled villains.
I know almost every actor in this drama but the two women on the villain team are my new discoveries. I have watched the mind control woman before but she stood out to me more here, as did the illusionist. The actors were so good, and their powers were so cool! I’m glad they got adequate screentime.
Overall, the powers reminded me of X-Men.
I wish they had expanded further on:
https://biz.chosun.com/entertainment/enter_general/2026/05/08/GE4DIMBZHAZWKODCHBRDKNZQGM/
Spoilers Below!
————————————————————————————
What is a rape victim to do? If they try to live to the fullest and not let their trauma define them, they are assumed to be lying and “faking it”. If they live in the shadows, people pity them and try to get them to “get over it”. People expect rape victims to always be sad and miserable, be broken, and “show their trauma”. If you tell people you are a victim, people gossip, look down on you, and try to “decide if they should believe you”. If you don’t tell people, they assume you must have life easy and don’t take anything seriously and haven’t had any trauma and troubles in life. Adults around the victim can sometimes be no help, as they’d rather turn a blind eye or stay in disbelief than upend their family lives.
————————————————————————————
You may have some questions after watching this. I’ll write what I understood.
Significance of the apple:
It is likely apples were present at the scene(s) of trauma, or have something to do with the rapist uncle. Regardless, Jooin becoming okay with seeing apples around symbolises her slowly being okay and coming to terms with her trauma and what she experienced.
Why did Go Minsi’s character react that way when the boyfriend showed up?
The group that meets up are rape victims who have been through similar trauma and experiences, which makes their bond unique, and the other person or people there know about their trauma and support them. This young boyfriend doesn’t know anything, he’s an outsider, he doesn’t belong there or know about their solidarity, it’s simply unfitting and uncomfortable. It breaks an unspoken code. It may seem like she’s overreacting, but on closer inspection it makes sense.
Who was writing the notes?
The “who” isn’t really important here, it could be anyone and that’s the thing. Anyone around could be a victim. They were mean at first, but later the person writing the notes confessed they were a victim too, and Jooin sharing her story gave her or him courage to maybe one day speak up too.
————————————————————————————
Question I have:
The little sister at the nursery:
I understood Jooin was telling the child to speak up when it hurts given what she went through. But I didn’t fully understand how she was getting hurt. Was she a victim too? Or was it because of Jooin pinching her and telling her to speak up? Was it simply injuries from playing around? Later, the child said she doesn’t have a cold and she’s okay when she did have a cold, it must’ve upset Jooin because she wasn’t expressing her pain, so she pinched her in the nursery. But what about her injuries from before? Did she pinch her at the hospital before too when she saw the broken arm and she said it didn’t hurt but it did?