Pretty average rom-com with no hook or unique premise

I thought this drama was pretty average overall. There wasn't anything truly special about it, it had some cute couples, funny scenes, but the chemistry wasn't electric and the comedy wasn't laugh out loud. For reference, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon would be a 10 in my books so this drama falters.

I also feel like the chemistry issue with the main couple falls on Jang Ki Young and how he plays a pretty similar character and demeanor in most of his dramas. He's only had electric chemistry with Jin Ki Joo in Come and Hug Me. Unfortunatley I couldn't see that or something else here. Kang Hana was pretty funny though and the highlight of the drama for me

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Strong start and a decent finish!

At its basic essence, this show resembles a lot of MCU movies. You've got a hero origin story, a mystery surrounding hero and cast, and a enjoyable cast of characters who play off each other. But it is still a kdrama and like other kdramas, it can't really stick the landing.

The first half of the series is great and builds upon itself really well. It introduces the world extremely well and gives us some really good moments. The villain of the week format is universal and serves as a good introduction into this world. But after the half-way point, the story pivots to focus on the final villain. From there, each episode varies and has issues. Some episodes feel like they are speeding through story and moments, other times it feels like the show is creating scenarios to just extend the story a bit more. There are plot holes and the rules of the universe change randomly without good reason. It becomes a bit unfocused and because of that, I don't think it deserves a 9/10.

Even knowing the writer switch, the problems existed with the old writer as well. If there were really discussions about shortening the length of the drama, the writer didn't do anything great in the later episodes that totally showed that the drama should have ended a few episodes earlier. I know there will be a second season but I am worried about what happens in the future. Some characters were sidelined and poorly used in the last couple episodes. On top of that, there were questions posed and dropped. The comedy-drama balance was a bit off as well. I do hope that the new writer could start over in a way and find a new way to tell the story that still can maintain the same quality as before.

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Truly fantastic and gripping thriller- had to finish it in one day!

Won't say too much to spoil about this show but its absolutely fantastic. The acting is superb and the twists and thrills are executed so well. I'd describe this show as having three main arcs/segments. Each one you could probably see in another tv show blown up in many episodes but here its tightly packed into one single narrative. Some of it is tough to watch though, they do not hide in some of the more brutal killings and acts of violence.

I only took off a bit for the score due to the rewatch value not being as strong since it would be hard to see this again knowing where the story goes.

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Another Family Drama- Good Filler and surprisingly smart characters

In normal family dramas, characters backstab each other, have elaborate plots, and go through struggles. What surprised me about this drama, enough to make me review it was how characters navigated these obstacles. They were quick to pick up on things that were amiss, didn't go with their gut reaction, and started thinking of all possibilities. The drama also evaded some common plot points such as lies told to significant others. Only a few mysteries were long-running, most got resolved sooner than other family dramas.

Overall, its enjoyable. I like using family dramas as fillers and getting a chance to see a kdrama with longer investment into its characters compared to normal 12 or 16 episode dramas.

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Show takes too long to solve its mysteries, spinning in circles for 60% of the entire drama

This show had some stereotypical plotlines (birth secrets, struggling main characters, rich main character, infighting between family, mean MIL) but the premise was interesting. The show set up an interesting plotline of these characters intersecting but it just never went anywhere. They solved each mystery every 35-40 episodes. Which for the length is like watching one season of a kdrama for a simple plot. So the show spins in circles. Episodes 50-95 could honestly be condensed into 10 episodes.

The show took too long to be satisfying and it ended up being that the main characters just suffered for too long. Wouldn't recommend compared to other family dramas.

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Show's first half struggles to be meaningful but gears click into place afterwards

This show is definitely worth seeing, especially its second season. But I can't ignore the issues the first half had. There was some poorly thought out character drama and interactions that just did not make sense. It felt like they were lowering the intelligence of the prosecution in order to prop up how good the forensic people were. The series operates on a multi-case level, where a case can take 2-3 episodes to resolve. But through this, the first few cases are super forensic reliant, where it felt like the mystery wasn't be solved by the detectives and prosecution but just by the forensic department.

All that changes though once the character drama and ongoing mystery about our main characters is resolved. This leads the show to bring in someone new and that really kicks up the show into a different gear. From there, the show becomes more about the mysteries themselves, and showcases some really great cases with good tension. Some of the characters stop acting so dumb and it feels more like a collaboration between all investigative parties. The show gets better in its last 6 episodes and it leads into a fantastic season 2 so I recommend going through this season. Some of you may even like the early episodes but the show evolves once a certain point is reached.

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I think its important to set expectations when watching this kdrama. Its not a sequel to the original bad guys but you will quickly figure out how they are related. It also doesn't really continue the idea which bad guys was about (bringing together a team of criminals to solve crimes). Its structured more closely to Chief Kim of all things. Essentially the drama has multiple arcs, each dealing with a boss related to the same corrupt scheme. It progresses pretty well but it can be kind of confusing. By episode 6 though things do become more clearer. There are some good twists in the drama and I was satisfied.

The original Bad Guys was more like a noir tv show that transcended the kdrama formula. This fall more in line with other crime, cop dramas.

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Really enjoyable workplace romcom!

There is a style of kdramas that are light and fun to watch. This drama slots in well with some of its peers, Pegasus Market and Chief Kim, for example. Its funny, sweet, and a good palate cleanser after watching some darker dramas. Its acted well too.

Its a bit cruder than other kdramas but its one of the few kdramas that is laugh out loud funny. I don't know if it would hold up on a rewatch since its fairly straightforward but something revealed in the final episode might be interesting to go back and watch. Hope there are more of these types of kdramas coming out this year!

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A perfect 13 episodes, followed up with a decent finish

Unlike what others may say, I really enjoyed the set up for this drama and how the case of the week format played out. The world and lore was interesting and the cases were great. I thought the show explored suicide in a pretty meaningful way and gave some good life lessons.

I think the only downfall of the drama is the overarching plot between two characters wasn't very interesting and paled in comparison to the suicide aspect in present day. Part of me feels like the drama should have been 20 episodes and they could have included some more cases who added a more complex backstory to two of the characters.

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Ups and downs in an overall decent drama

This drama goes through essentially 3 different stages so it's hard to talk about it as a whole. The first part is the classic murder mystery with a serial killer who seems to be able to do the impossible. It's pretty interesting and I liked how the story was evolving case by case. After about a third of the drama, the story changes and it becomes very fractured. Essentially it's like the table was flipped and now the pieces are all scattered. Characters get moved around and the status quo is broken in order to have some of the characters discover things on their own. Eventually they come all together for the last third of the story in a somewhat solid resolution. The last episode has some issues that trip it up and logically there were different ways for the story to unfold in the finale. Overall I would say that the first half is pretty interesting, second half also has some good plot reveals and twists, and the third half barely is able to make it all wrap up. My biggest critique is that there weren't palpable stakes. The actions of any of the villains were always against a third party or another villain. Very rarely were they actually acting against the main characters and there were very few moments where I felt there was real danger.

Another thing was that I just finished Kill It which had some very similar themes to this drama. That was a mistake in my opinion as I started getting details from both dramas mixed up.

Surprisingly I would say this is one of Nam Goong Min's weaker acting performances. There were moments where he shine or was given room to actually perform. But the moments where he was acting smarter than everyone else started to get boring for me. Seolhyun wasn't amazing but she gave a decent performance. Nothing to noteworthy besides Lee Chung Ha as I thought she has some really unique character traits in the first half of the drama. It got kinda lost as the story started centering mainly around Nam Goong Min's character.

Overall, solid watch and a good drama. Things could have been different or better in my opinion. If you want something that has a little bit more of a punch to it, dramas like Stranger are far superior in mystery and stakes.

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If you loved Chief Kim, you will love this (as long as you are fine watching something more violent)

When I first heard of this drama and say the trailer, I was a bit confused. The trailer has a tonal whiplash to it that made it seem like an uneven drama. But in reality, the drama was well-balanced, while it did go dark for certain scenes. The tone of it was well-balanced and I rarely found it off-putting when it moved from comedy to dramatic to violent.

The plot of this drama is very similar to Chief Kim. You've got similar character archetypes, a main character who can be kinda crazy, and corporate villains. But there are unique aspects to this drama, such as the flair some of the characters have and how violence and murder are much more prevalent. Also it doesn't really have a mystery element that Chief Kim had with its plot, with this drama being more about the heroes and villains clashing. Any mystery set up usually gets solved really quickly as it pushes the plot forward. With that, there are some really predictable elements. The end of the episodes become somewhat predictable, even though its clearly designed to be suspenseful and keep you on the edge of your seat. It just gets a bit tiring by the later episodes.

The biggest detractor in this drama is it doesn't have an addictive soundtrack like Chief Kim or a drama like Stranger. It has some good tracks but it would have been really elevated with a strong hero's theme. But the fact that the music is the biggest detractor says how good the rest of the show is. I wasn't too impressed with the fiery priest but this drama is the worthy successor to Chief Kim.

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