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Binged this one in three days and haven't regretted a single minute of it. Can't deny that I will always fall for the "enemies to lovers" trope.
The introduction of every important character in the first episode was very strong and I might have been a bit too impressed with it, expecting the rest of the drama to be flawless. That was not the case. But those were just visual edting issues (weird fast scene switches, plastic petals) and had nothing to do with the story itself. On the other hand the drama also presented expressive camera settings and cinematography with vigorous intentions. And damn, well selected, beautiful, detailed costumes! I loooved the winter edition.
The plot, the twists and the overall mystery were through and through enjoyable - of course, it had its ups and downs with the suspense but the calmer moments were compensated with sweet interactions between the leads.
The cast was phenomenal. Ding YuXi, the ML, exceeded my expectations with his performance of a cold-hearted, cunning military officer, never showing his true intentions, reducing his facial expressions to a minimum, yet still able to tell the viewer what's going on. Every move, every gesture and powerful stand demonstrated grace and dignity. A big part played his deep voice, too. There were alot of different facets. From authoritarian to collected, steady and soft. Most times calm, seldomly loud, but even then it was composed, never jarring.
Ancy Deng, the FL, played a really good counterpart, never letting her other half down, never inferior to Ding YuXi either. Displaying a strong woman in pursuing her passion of solving criminal cases and fight injustice. She was fun, never being shy with examining corpses or dashing forward into the next case.
The chemistry between the leads was endearing and on point. And thank god no out of place comediac inserts. They remained in their roles, stayed serious, focused and still managed to show affection, romance, intimacy and light-hearted moments.
But not only the two main leads did a great job, but every other supportive crew member as well. The FL's family, the queen dowager, the princess, the prince, the ministers and all the others. Together they created a convincing atmopshere of palace matters and intrigues. I especially liked that even these supportive characters had more than just one side to them.
The drama will surely stay with me for a while. And even though I almost never cried during my watch, I felt with and for the characters.
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Delicate and Raw
When I randomly started this, I didn't think I would finish it so fast. But here I am two weeks later, giving this one a full 10.If I had to describe this drama with one word, it would probably be: ~"delicate"... and every other attribute you would associate with it. While watching I always felt like intruding some kind of intimate privacy. I know that sounds weird but I just don't know how to describe it otherwise. The music fits so well and adds enough sorrow and longing to the story, to make it even more perfect.
The cast did a fantastic job in portraying their different roles, be it in the past or the present. They did well in showing that even though some of them were reincarneted, they still got different personalities and therefore acted to their experiences, not their past selves. As for the immortal main lead, he went through some dreadful ordeals that explain his 600 years lasting urge for revenge. Even more remarkable was how he faced the new trials that arose after circumstances changed. Lee Jin Wook did an unbelievably awesome job in displaying the subliminal evolution and growth of his character during and after overcoming those challenges and still keeping them locked up to the very last minute until they finally erupted.
The "other" villain was a fascinating individual himself. He was multi-layered and yet he always seemed as if something was missing. Considering his body condition that part was quite accurate and well played. He managed to make me care for him enough to feel somewhat sad at how it all played out in the end.
I'm impressed how well the writers managed to keep me in the dark about the overall story. Whenever I thought I knew what was going on, they added another angle to the story and threw me back to the start. They sit through that way till the end without losing its original tension which many other dramas fail to accomplish, and I'm so glad about that because it gave the story some constancy.
Every part of this drama interwines so well with the other ones, whether it be the cinematography, the music, the cast or the script. Putting everything together creates a great watch, I didn't expect to love so much. And I'm so glad that there's no cheesy "I love you" line. That would have ruined the whole thing.
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Way better than expected
First of all, the poster of this drama is totally misleading in my eyes (it was one reason why I hadn't started this already earlier). The Tale of Nokdu is not as happy as you might think.I admit that I was pretty much turned off after watching the first episode. A lot of scenes felt a bit overdone, they tried too hard in building up tension, the comedy was not to my liking either and they didn't succeed in stirring my curiosity at all. I wondered why the drama had such a high rating. Jang Dong Joon's well done cross dressing and an MDL's friend's advise to be a bit more patient made me continue. Well, I'm glad I did.
The first half of the drama was kinda spinning in circles and the story didn't move forward. But the comedy got alot better, while the story gained ground and became steadier, so they didn't have to try so hard anymore in convincing me. And then after the first half it felt like a tornado went through and turned everything upside down. Everything suddenly became 100 per cent more serious. By that time I already developed a certain attachment for one or two people other than Nokdu.
As the story went further I got seriously invested in the side characters and their circumstances. Whether it was the king, who was intimidated by his own status while being overwhelmed by the fear of losing it, or the Muwoldan group, who had an honorable reason to fight but got tangled up by the higher-ups power struggle. Or Cha Yoel Moo with his unrequited love, always helpful, always patient and almost becoming a fool for playing the second fiddle at some point. There's more to him than one might expect though.
I started to care for all of them, whether they were good or bad. The story managed to show more than one side and therefore made their decisions somewhat more reasonable. Sides shifted, re-groupings took place and made me utterly eager and anxious at the same time, for I couldn't foresee the next steps.
I think Nokdu was the most pitiable person among them all. His sole existence put everyone around him in uncomfortable positions. He had no say in who he was, yet people started to assume things and used him for their own selfish desires. But he never gave up, he never let himself get down. I was extremely satisfied with how well he managed to pull through all those obstacles and always stood true to himself.
Nokdu's sword fighting skills were a pleasure to the eye, it was beautiful and deadly at the same time. He was exceedingly well trained. He never sought the battles out himself, so I was glad that he could defend himself like that. Confrontations like that were unavoidable on his path. But he never looked invincible either. When he was hurt, he wasn't able to fight that well three days later. When a group outnumbered him, he was bound to get hurt badly.
Though the romance was nothing special to me, it still managed to stir my emotions at the end. Dong Ju is the girl who wanted to take revenge and who's rock solid decision got shaken up by Nokdu. Well, I've seen more captivating ill-fated couples than this one, but I was not bothered either. I was fine with it because they didn't add baseless tearjerkers. And they had some really nice moments as well.
Nokdu's brother was the weakest piece in my opinion. They tried to explain his motivation but it never touched me enough to actually care for him.
Certain details of the finale were... unexpected but I still liked it. If I had one regret though, it would be a certain realization of the king and with that maybe a different outcome. I had anticipated it so much, that I felt a somewhat unpleasant letdown regarding that. But maybe that's just my selfishness.
So, if you feel the same as me before about starting this, I advise you to try it out. It's better than what it might look like ;)
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Chapeau to a character-driven story
Many people enjoyed this one the same way I did, and I'm glad it did. Sometimes a hype can mislead you, but sometimes it can also display its actual value.While trying to pick a hopefully good drama from that never ending list, this wouldn't have been my next choice if it wasn't for a recommendation of a dear friend. Someone who I'd consider one of the most critical watchers here on MDL. Even though my rating is highly likely more generous than hers, we do feel the same about a bunch of dramas when we actually hit a jackpot. Flower of Evil falls into that category.
Someone once told me that if you start to dream in a language you're currently learning, then you really begin to understand it.
In a way this drama is a language on its own, and it wants to tell a very sensitive and shocking story. A story, that made me dream about. I wasn't able to let go of the characters even after going to bed. The tension already tied me down after switching off the television. And I can't remember the details about the dream but I do remember the strange feeling after waking up the next day. My feelings were caught up in all these circumstances, and the more I got to know, the more invested I became.
The drama has so many strong treats, that I can't decide which one I should mention first. The main leads? The supporting cast? The acting? The writing?
Starting the drama, the first thing you notice is one of the most adorable married couples you've ever seen in the dramaworld, only completed with one the most precious little daughters out there. At first sight they look perfect. Too perfect actually. And as the plot summary already reveals, there's something you can't see right away. Something that starts to tear down those perfectly built walls from within. Being experienced with alot of crime tropes, I knew there was something fishy about that dark past, they wanted to sell me. Seriously, how far would a drama go with making the main lead the bad guy? That question constantly followed me while my suspicions changed all the time.
The script was fabulous in overthrowing my theories over and over again, only to make me realize that I was wrong from the very beginning. There were plot twists I'd never dreamt of. However in the later episodes I became quite suspicious of alot of scenes. But the precise draft of the plot kept my confidence high that everything would play out comprehensible.
No doubt, Lee Joon Gi pulled a big one here. I don't want to exaggerate but his performance was brilliant. The characters' writing was so detailed that I as a viewer was able to understand his whole nature even before he himself knew his true colors. Moon Chae Won was the perfect counterpart to disclose all the given layers, designed by a well balanced push and pull of both of them. I rooted for her character as well as I did for her husband. At some point though she kinda disappointed me, but... I guess that's what you call human nature. So, despite that one situation, I was glad that Do Hyun Soo (LJG) didn't let me down during that time. If he did, I would have questioned the whole concept of his character.
The villain was a league of its own. I don't want to give away too much, so let me just say, what an astonishing display of 'antisocial disorder' this was. My inner profiler screamed 'what a warped mind to study!'.
The side actors supported the story big time, thanks to a neatless writing and a well selected cast. Hyun Soo's sister Hae Soo, Reporter Kim and Hyun Soo's step parents got enough background story to become tangible pieces who you could relate with (whether you liked them in the end or not).
The members of the police force weren't given that much background, but each member made a perceptible contribution to push the plot forward. Usually I don't give much credit to police officers in dramas, because they keep messing up in unbelievable ways. These guys however, I can make an exception with a clear conscience. Their actions were always reasonable and well thought-out. Even though you don't know much about them, you could feel the teamwork and trust that was built over the years. I could accept their decisions, for better or worse. The few character treats they were given were used well enough to make them not look like brainless drama puppets.
Somewhere in the middle I realized that this was not the first drama with Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won working together. 'Criminal Minds' were another one, a drama I was highly disappointed with because it felt cold and lacked empathy. While that one proved once more that if a script sucks, the best actors can't save it either, Flower of Evil confirmed that great writing can pitch its actors to another level.
Thank you, Flower of Evil, for giving me such a delicious watch and such a remarkable and catchy OST (my next earworm indeed).
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Plus, acting was entertaining and praiseworthy as well. Esp. Do Kyung Soo who won over my heart with his performance. Kinda reminded me of Kim Soo Hyun and his portrayal of the Crown Prince/King in The Moon Embracing the Sun. But not as an imitation, he created his very own Crown Prince here. Without him the story would have been a lot less impressive and not as resonating. His character was the mainstray. (This might give me an idea for an article... )
That ending almost ruined the 9 that I intended to give since a while ago... Why? Because first of all they overdid the very thing I praised throughtout the whole drama: The comedy. And there were some characters left untouched as if they had been saints all along. Secondly, I just can't stand the excuse of an "ill-fated past" that keeps the protagonists apart. Like, are you writers serious? I wouldn't mind if it had been explained well. But here it felt like a lame and shallow try to prolong the inevitable, and was so NOT needed. So, 30 min of the drama were definitely a breach of style. Those few points made that heaviness they had built up during the whole story almost crumble.
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I was very fascinated about that special father/son relationship. It was complicated, and subtle gestures, words and looks created a really good feel for those both as well as for me.
I also liked that there were so many grey-ish characters, some of them explained more detailed, others less. Being in the medical field myself I can relate to the daily struggles and difficult decisions the doctors have to make - and it's stressing you out a lot. Of course, for us it looks like "Omg, he's such a bad person." but well... it's never easy to make life changing decisions, right?
I also mentioned before that I'm in love with the constellation of the cast, right? This drama has so many of my favorites actors and actresses in it, that it was pure pleasure to watch them - even if the script was trash. Though that is definitely not the case here. The plot, the writing, the dialogues and the execution were great. Except for the last episodes. I wouldn't have minded two more. I think that it would have been better for the story flow because the finale feels a bit flat and rushed now. Also, for the development of the relationship between Lee Young Oh and Gye Jin Sung, especially how she is slowly changing him. Both of them together got less screentime because of the cut since the drama also had to solve the criminal part.
But nevertheless, Park So Dam and Jang Hyuk were... well, they completed each other? I mean, they were able to pull off the differences in character and how they completed each other (even though I feel that Park So Dam's character fell a bit short on that part). They had really good chemistry, even though I also enjoyed Jang Hyuk's and Park Se Young interactions in the beginning (yeah, part of it was Money Flower-induced... :p).
Those Power Rangers below (excluding Jang Hyuk, ofc)... and the rest of the medical stuff were a nice addition, and even though they were either not the nicest people or just too undefined in the beginning, they grew on me. Though Dong Ha was my favorite from the first minute :p~ And he and Jang Hyuk... I need another drama with them together!
The medical part is very... tumor-heavy, one could say. It makes it look like there are just no other diseases out there. I always told myself that there are a lot more patients with minor illnesses, but just not shown for the viewer. And for the sake of the viewer they picked the more dangerous and rarer ones. I can't blame them. First of all, it was very interesting to get to know about some of them. And secondly, not every "tumor" means "cancer". "Tumor" just means "lumb/swelling" where the structure of the cells is either slightly or gravely different from the usual ones. I learned that in school recently, but I'm sure that the majority of people who don't work in the medical field and don't research those things on their own, don't know about it. There's a difference in cells and benign tumors (the good ones) can be removed if the location is not too dangerous and it won't re-appear. Benign tumors also won't "spread" because their cell walls are definite. There's a lot more to the subject, so I will stop here since it's quite the dry material. I just wanted to point that out because I know a lot of people freak out when they hear "tumor".
If you listen to "Dirt" by Park Bernard, the songs makes you all warm and melancholic and sad with a spark of hope. Not every OST of a drama is worth mentioning, but this one needs to be. It's captivating and so different from your usual songs, and stays with you even after the song has already finished for some time.
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I had a lot of fun watching this. Even though I wasn't quite fond of the "game" theme in the beginning, I got used to it.
There were some really good surprises during the story which probably comes with its game setting. I felt a bit in the dark about the original novel story here, different as I usually know it from other dramas of this kind. So, I had flatout no idea where this was going and in which way the FL was changing the plot or had to go along with it. But it didn't become less entertaining. It always remained exciting.
In the end the story created a grand finale which didn't seem that way at first. It was even somewhat poetic and presented an even bigger surprise.
The main couple's romance developed quite nicely, and they got some really emotional, heavy moments together. I just love their way of acting, especially their dramatic, heart throbbing scenes. And they got an even more touching finale.
On a side note, even though the SML was the SML, he always felt somewhat inconspicuous. He had his important tasks and moments, but he always felt like a cloud or something.
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A lot of good stuff - studded with flaws
First of all, this drama sticks to its vibe/path from beginning to end. It's not like you get a certain atmosphere in the beginning, and the second part suddenly feels totally different. Except for it being a romance, it's also an investigative story of murder cases to be solved and justice be served, which was quite entertaining. Sadly though because of that the romance fell on the sidelines and never fully flourished - at least for me. Never truly felt it, even though they had some really sweet moments together.The story had its ups and downs. I appreciated the effort they put into telling about tea cultivation at the end of each episode. It still fascinates me how much care they put into that part of their culture, as I love tea in its various types and tastes, too.
As for the main theme: Women in charge and about all, being the head of the family. Yes, I liked that approach and the fact, that everything was the other way around. Men being displayed as potential husbands for the FL to choose was refreshing to see. Yet they dragged that "challenge" of them, passing tests and compete against each other to show their worth, a bit too long. At some point I almost lost interest since I couldn't see where this was going at all. Yet, the character development of the side cast was a predictable story of good people turning bad and bad people turning good. I got tired of the constant quarrels and intrigues between the sisters as well those husband candidates.
Though I don't want to talk much about the acting since it was decent from most of the cast, I must say that Gulnezer Bextiyar's (FL) performance stood out the most. Character writing is a different matter and I didn't like the FL's aloof and distant behaviour most of the time. Only in the last quarter of the drama she actually showed improvement while staying true to her imposing and dignified nature.
On the other side - and it pains me to say this - Hou MingHao's character writing (not his acting! which was good) somewhat felt all over the place and I could never fully get an understanding of his self. There were times when I really loved his personality, esp. when he was in his imperial magistrate's role. Other times he was woolly and obscure. Weirdly though (or let's say, thank god for that last trial), in the end his actions and decisions still worked for me. He had great fighting scenes (though only very few) and that last part of his story saved my rating quite a bit.
Regarding appearance this drama definitely has a unique style with its costumes, scenery and sets (rooms, gardens, manors, etc). Also , the background music has a memorable sound and accompanies the different situations quite well. Fun fact, I actually got reminded of the music from One Piece (you know those grand entrances of our heroes :p). But other times, the music in this sounded somewhat alienated, not fitting that period of time at all. And with alienated I do mean as if it was picked from some sci-fi movie.
I mentioned this before, but my biggest complain is the make up. Though being plain and simple, it still managed to disrupt my focus on the actors and their stories. Call me stupid or what, but it tarnished the acting a lot. I think, the FL's make up was the only one which didn't distract me.
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The drama has its own beauty and grace. A different kind of grace, especially the main romance in the beginning. As the main plot continues with the villain, the romance lost some of its artful beauty - you could say it was replaced by the game-like storytelling. Those of you who are also gamers maybe know what I'm talking about. Your typical RPG-storyline: a group of heroes is built - growing as the story continues - to fight the big evil, that is terrorizing humanity. You have your different places where the main group travels to, to solve smaller side-stories, that are still important for the main plot. And everything results in the big fight at the end. Thankfully in the last episodes, the story rediscovers the beauty and gracefullness of its initial love story as well.
And at this point I can't quite differentiate between my subjective and objective opinion about the last events. Because they added another - imo - unnecessary side villain to the story. I also think many characters had a questionable fate at the end. At some point I can understand the storyteller's intentions for the later purpose - at the same time I don't like it at all, because the way it happened felt unreasonable.
What I really love about this drama were its many different couples. You get so many awesome and unique characters and so many great couples you can root on. This feels somewhat refreshing, since you don't have to concentrate on only one but a whole bunch. It definitely never gets dull.
The music played a big, big deal in this one. It was powerful and strong, connected you to the current scenes while you got swept away by its emotions.
Visual effects supported the fighting skills greatly and made them look stunning without going overboard.
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No brain needed, watch for the cast and you'll enjoy!
Yeah, I admit my shallow, reason. Only watched this because I went through Hou MingHao's movie list.And yes, the only reason for many others as well is probably purely the cast and maybe getting some action. Jackie Chan, John Cena, GoT's 2nd Greyjoy bad boy. And Hou MingHao. Even though he's got a really small supporting role with only 2 sentences and a nice close-up.
The film is a pretty simple mainstream action movie, no brain needed, fighting scenes ala Jackie Chan and some comediac inserts that are usually part of your action movies these days. The story is so simple, that I actually forgot to listen to the dialogues some times.
What I have to compliment though is the cinematography. Really beautiful desert and explosion shots.
The end was quite sudden and I didn't get how they actually stopped the evil master plan...
Conclusion: If you know what you signed up for, you can't get disappointed and might actually enjoy the movie. I somewhat did, lol.
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While the beginning successfully built up atmosphere and suspense, the later tribulations felt a bit rushed and therefore took out some spice. I couldn't fully enjoy the romance the way I wanted to. I'm not a fan of cushy pink clouds or those childish romance gestures/attitudes between the main couple. Playful yes, but not childish. The overall romance wasn't as intense as I had hoped for, at least for me. A huge part caused the FLs acting, that felt quite limited many times. Facial expressions failed to deliver enough emotions.
My favored atmosphere as well as suspense became better again during the end of the last tribulation and when the arc in the demon realm started. And wow, the demon arc was great, but a bit too short. I would have liked to watch that part a bit longer - and with more amnesia.
I found the whole cast very pleasant and the hidden villain was well played. Special applause to the cast who always played the parents. They were great and their appearances were always a delight.
I still don't get why they changed the actress of the SFL though. Whether it was planned from the beginning or had to be done later on for whatever reason, they wrote the change into the script, so it would make sense, but it was not necessary at all, imo. I liked the first version better.
Visuals were great, makeup and costumes beautiful, as well as colorful cinematography/CGI. Yet they actually put some mannequins in armor in the background during one of the last episodes, as well as a few not so well made CGI "power moves". That was a small letdown.
I overall still enjoyed this drama and the cast alot. It was fun, seeing the actors and actresses in different roles over and over again. The few complaints I have about this drama are mostly completely subjective and don't mean others would feel the same. Those were just not my thing.
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The sceneries looked quite fake here and there and the lighting felt wrong. CGI was well done sometimes, and bad other times.
For a postapocalyptic environment they displayed not enough desperation of the people.
Without getting into too much detail, the backstory was too short (there was just too less explanation of everything), the introduction of the characters was almost nonexistent, which made it quite hard to get their motivations - just a bunch of stereotypes colliding - and the action scenes were all over the place. There were too many action scenes and even though the fighting itself looked good, the shaky cameras and blood/body parts flying everywhere turned it into a bad rollercoaster. A lot of "deaths" were totally exaggerated.
If they made the movie a bit longer, put more effort into the backstory and its characters and created a more logical rescue mission, this could have been an enjoyable movie.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't waste your time on this, guys.
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It's one of those dramas that lives from its characters as there were many multi-layered ones who drove the story forward and whose cast did really good in portraying them. It's rare that I don't look for flaws in at least one or two actors/actresses. I just enjoyed all of them, the leads, the second leads, the side characters, the villains.
I often have concerns when it comes to characters pretending to be the other gender. And even though I started doubtfully, Park Eun Bin convinced me otherwise. She did really well in portraying someone that had to hide her gender for years, starting to feel more comfortable in men's clothes and acting way tougher than one would expect, so that it would lead to a natural rough behavior. In the end I found it somewhat funny but totally fitting that in her developing relationship with the ML, she was the strong one while Jung Ji Woon was the softer counterpart. She took the initiatives while he followed. And he definitely cried more than her, lol. BUT he never felt unmanly or something. Rowon achieved a good balance between his character's soft side and his strong/brave moments. And he was a good equivalent to Park Eun Bin.
At some point in earlier episodes I started to wonder why she continued to pretend to be someone else, since it was such a toll on her. But later on I realized that everyone just wants to live. And don't always need an answer to everything. Sometimes things are just like that without any deep reason.
One thing I'd complain about would be the part where people from Ming were visiting. They hinted so much to another back story that I actually expected them to make use of that in later episodes but they never did, which is quite sad. I would have loved to see as to what that part might have led.
And the music... In my humble opinion, I thought it was too weak and didn't support important scenes well enough. But that's just me.
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A Pool of Delicacies
I think this was one of the most comfortable watches I've ever had.It was a pleasure watching all the characters interact with each other. Everyone was unique. They differ so much from your usual drama stereotypes, that I was always excited to see what they were doing next. I never got frustrated about things and there was not one boring moment. Why? Because every character had an interesting approach towards their acting partners, whether it was the ML with the FL, or the ML with the SML, or the FL with the SFL or the SML with the SFL. Or with everyone else who showed up, for example, the FL's best friend/colleague or the secretary of the SFL. I was able to sit back and relax and wait for new fun moments.
Especially Ki Seon Gyeom. Im Shi Wan gave him such a special touch, that it feels difficult to see anyone else doing it. He's always so pure and looks innocent, but when it comes to face serious situations, he shows an unknown backbone and strength.
Shin Se Kyung. I know she's an either hate or love actress for many people. Well, let me tell you that she was lovely in this. Her acting was harmonious and well balanced with Im Shi Wan.
My secret favorite though was Kang Tae Oh (SML). Damn, that man. I'm in love. I've never seen someone as charming as him. I can't even describe how much I looked forward to his scenes. Whether it was with his love interest or Im Shi Wan or... well, anyone else. He was the light in every scene.
The sole a*** in this, the only one, you could possibly get angry with was the ML's father. Well, someone had to play the devil, right?
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Having an airport as the main stage is a nice change of scenery. It felt refreshing to see how life of those workers looks like. Though the focus changed in the second half of the drama.
They tried to cover a lot of backstories with only small dialogues here and there which I liked that way. You don't always need a multi-paged essay about everyone and every connection/relationship people have. Sometimes dropping some words on the sidetrack will also inform you about the whole thing, so you don't have to complain about distractions.
I also appreciated that they displayed 3-dimensional side characters with the help of small side-stories which again were kept short. It made those characters more likable and got those actors some small time to shine as well.
The love story was really sweet and got even quite heartbreaking towards the end. The development was well done, it felt real and pure. And Chae Soo Bin and Lee Je Hoon... oh well, they nailed it. There was chemistry, there was magic between those two. Their intimate moments felt natural. That special charm between them made me so damn emotional at the end.
It was also nice to see familiar faces in smaller roles, for example Choi Won Young (I Remember You), Nam Da Reum (SFD and many more, this boy has just too many "younger version" roles, lol) and Park Hyuk Kwon (the make up and swords master of SFD :p).
Lee Dong Gun's role was the one I despised the most. I wanted to punch him so many times, my knuckles were itching all the time. Of course, k-dramaland had to give him some excuses for his behavior. But it didn't change the fact that Seo In Woo was one detestable fellow for me. But I guess he doesn't care much about my opinion.
As for the secret of the male lead... During earlier episodes I thought that it wasn't necessary to make it extra special for the drama because the normal version would have served enough story already and I didn't see the purpose behind the way they put it. But right after finishing I had to look that part up and get a bit smarter about it (I also misunderstood parts of that secret in the beginning). I came to the conclusion that it's alright. How they told that part of the story, why they chose to do it that way and that there is indeed not exactly a "normal" version of it in real life either. There are similar things but nothing would have worked for the path the writers had in their minds. Although I have to say that they shouldn't have bothered with that action finale. It was too much and the story would still have worked out fine. They did follow that certain thread right from the beginning, so it wouldn't alienate in the end. It was still unnecessary.
So, yeah, quite an enjoyable drama that tells its story slowly but without getting boring.
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