Reviews

Reminder to myself as a woman

In this episode, her grandson told Oshin he wished to marry someone like his grandmother. I think the screenwriter meant to praise her as a wife material, because Oshin was kind of a perfect woman who was both perfect at cooking, doing chores and working to support her husband while never complaining about her husband, but always being understanding and soft towards him instead. If they wanted to encourage women to be more like Oshin, I would never accept that encouragement. I’d rather be not good at anything and watching my dramas forever instead of getting married. My mother is kind of like Oshin, except for the understanding and encouraging attitude towards her husband. She is hot-tempered and considered ‘not feminine enough’. My father always takes her for granted and disrespects her, like Oshin’s husband. I don’t want to be like Oshin in this situation. Also, the grandson mentioned that nowadays women would divorce her husband if they were in Oshin’s situation, and he said the reason was about money. Well, I would divorce the guy at the moment I met his father and heard what he talked bad about his son’s mother behind her back in front of his daughter-in-law, or never got married in the first place.In the previous episode (episode 92), the cafe girls also discussed how Oshin’s life was hard after her marriage and all of them said that she should’ve stayed single and lived on her own instead. From what I saw, she totally had all the skills she needed to support herself, instead of having to take care of a male adult kid who was a controlling hypocritical loser.Anyway, that’s not the main point of what I was about to say. I mean, Oshin told her grandson that she was mistaken about what love was and didn’t know how a man felt. If this was really a message the screenwriter wanted to give their viewers, I would refuse to learn that lesson. Oshin did nothing wrong. She had done everything for the man she loved. What’s wrong is that she met the wrong man, who was an insecure patriarchal narcissist. I will leave some words here to strongly remind myself to never be like Oshin in this case, if later on this turned out to be the message the screenwriters wanted to tell us women.

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Finally, the ML seems to have crossed the threshold

Gang-Tae finally seems to have been able to understand and move past contrived guilt and instead to rational responsibility as a reason to care for his brother. The latter state of mind allows him room to also be responsible to others and, most importantly, to himself. Loved the scene where he talks to Sang-Tae about what it really means to be a family by using the example of the cartoon character Gil-dong's inclusiveness. His years of learned skills working with patients and his understanding of his brother are on full display as he walks through this conversation. This episode is perhaps my favorite so far because it is crystalizing real growth in several characters. Obviously Gang-Tae, but also Sang-Tae, Ju-Ri , Sang-In and Jae-Soo. Oh, and I have to give another shout for how much I love the character of Kang Sun Deok . She's just the best mom.

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It's hard not to be exasperated by the ML

I get it. He's clearly got his own deeply ingrained mental issues due to the trauma of how his mother put so much responsibility on him. But man, he is just so frustratingly self-destructive and oblivious to how his penchant for self-flagellation harms others as well as himself. At any rate, as irritating as he is, I can't fault the performance of the actor or the fact that it is a necessary aspect of the plot. On the flip side, my favorite character of this drama is officially Kang Sun Deok, Ju Ri's mom. She is just wonderful. She is the mom that both Moon Gang Tae and Ko Mun Yeong should have had. Then perhaps maybe both wouldn't be so traumatized and scarred.

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When Strength Meets Truth on the Battlefield

First ImpressionAnother intense battle episode but this time the FL completely owns it.Episode ThoughtsThe episode kicks off with the FL fully stepping into battle mode, even saving Captain Li from a deadly hit. Her kindness might come back to bite her, but it shows exactly who she is at her core.What stood out the most was her dynamic with the ML. He tries to protect her, telling her to stay behind him, but completely underestimates her. She proves—again—that she doesn’t need saving, taking down key enemies and holding her own in every fight. Honestly, she’s the one dominating the battlefield.Meanwhile, chaos continues with Sui Yuanhuai. He’s as ruthless as ever, and the conflict escalates when the FL takes on his father in a brutal hand-to-hand fight. Even injured, she pushes through and wins, but it leads to a huge revelation—her father might be the supposed traitor. You can feel that internal shift starting for her.Back at camp, we get a softer moment with the FL and the Royal Princess. Their friendship is growing into something really genuine, but it’s quickly interrupted by Captain Li, who is clearly holding onto resentment. His pride and emotions feel like they’re setting up future problems, and honestly… he’s giving red flag energy.On the bigger scale, the Su brothers continue to spiral, killing without hesitation, while Qi Min plays his own dangerous game. The power struggle is only getting darker from here.Character Notes • FL: Absolutely stealing the show. Strong, capable, and emotionally grounded—she doesn’t wait to be saved, she acts. • ML: Strategic as always, but still underestimating the FL. His protectiveness clashes with who she truly is. • Captain Li: Hurt ego = future chaos. His decisions are going to cause problems. • Sui Yuanhuai & family: Ruthless and dangerous, raising the stakes with every move. • Royal Princess: Her bond with the FL is becoming one of my favourite dynamics.Final ThoughtsThis episode really cements the FL as a powerhouse. The action, emotional tension, and political stakes are all building perfectly. I’m especially curious to see how the truth about her father unfolds.Favourite MomentThe FL taking down Sui Yuanhuai’s father while injured—absolute chills.Trope Check • Strong Female Lead 💥 • Battlefield Power Shift ⚔️ • Hidden Identity / Family Secret 👀 • Protective ML vs Independent FL • Rising Political Conflict

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Roller coaster or merry-go-round?

On one hand, this episode was a roller coaster emotionally. One minute you are thrilled to see romantic progress ... then frustrated as it once again slams against the walls of the ML's gigantic emotional issues.And on the other hand, it feels like a merry-go-round that keeps circling tighter and tighter as the story keeps covering the same territory in ever tighter circles. It's also clear that at this point the character with the most painful, hindering disability is the ML. He's so damaged that he has put himself in a tiny box, unable to really live. His entire existence depends on giving everything of himself to his brother due to the contrived guilt and obligation that he has put upon himself. As a result, he has nurtured a gigantic martyr complex to go along with his solid-stone emotional walls all which surround a growing core of resentment, self-pity, anger and, yes, also the potential for love and happiness.The show's plot for ML has been a sequence of sub-arcs in which the ML takes at first tiny and then bigger and bigger steps outside the box, but each time he has either run back inside in fear or something has happened to shove him back in. This episode seemed to encapsulate more than one such cycle, ending in the traumatic scene at the end.

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