Park Seo Joon (PSJ), like I hadn’t seen him before. From “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim” to OMG Park Sae Ro Yi! I loved every second he was on the screen in this story. However, here’s what worked and what didn’t work for me:

What worked for me was the story of a young man coming out of the dark, sticking with his principles, and standing in his truth. I loved how his character accepted responsibility for any and all of actions. Lots of great learning themes like, “emotions, love, and expectations are not give and take.” All of the bad guys did an amazing job! I sincerely have come to appreciate the outstanding level of acting Asian actors bring when portraying the ultra-bad guy. As an American, many times I am actually screaming at the screen about the depth of evil doing portrayed in these stories. For me, if at the end all I want is the bad guys to pay in the worst way for their nefariousness, I give all that credit to the actors (Yoo Jae Myung, Ann Bo Hyun, and Won Hyun Joon). I will certainly be on the lookout to see them again.

Park Seo Joon (PSJ) is perfect (period) in his ability to portray the tortured, disappointed, hurt, and angry young man. Part of the intrigue for me was just watching PSJ tell this story. Toward the end though, I found myself growing weary of the revenge aspect in this character’s end game. All that hate and pain only lives as we continue to feed it. Was Sae Ro Yi ever going to grow and realize that he drank the poison and is still waiting for the bad guys to die. While one can exact a revenge plan of action, the emotional toll is heavy on losses and expensive. Overall, the interest to stay the course to end of this drama was PSJ. I will continue discovering his storytelling as a new fan of his work.

The IC team all grew accordingly in most instances in this story. I loved the diversity, however awkward at times it felt. The awkwardness felt authentic, appropriate, and timely with regard to being new to the medium of storytelling in this instance for the culture. I loved the loyalty, and again, the consistent message to be sure to follow your own path. Live the life that serves your dreams. No one owes us anything and we don’t owe anyone, especially some misguided “fielty” that might include deferring our dream in honor of expectations. This message made the story worth watching until the end as each of the characters would have to step into their own understanding of it.

Here’s what didn’t work for me. The love interests, period. I did not love Yi-Seo as a character and especially as any love interest. The one salient point she made was in some later episode where she tells Oh Soo Ah, and I paraphrase, “while you’re just waiting on homeboy to come riding in to save you from your own delusions, Imma stick right here by his side become what he needs, and watch his heart melt for me. And so, we saw that happen. However, I just couldn’t get into who she was as a character. Both of these ladies were equally annoying and insensitive, I was not rooting for either of them to win his heart. Again, chalk that up to the actors, Kim Da Mi and Kwon Na Ra. Bravo!! I didn’t really miss the usual sexual tension in this drama. I was more interested in Sae Ro Yi. I couldn’t see him winding up with either one of them. Loved seeing the actress, Kim Yeo Jin (since Vincenzo in a better light) as Yi Seo’s mother, however, that character was just as annoying and shallow.

While the message to take responsibility for one’s own outcomes in life based on those experiences that build character, it was sad that Sae Ro Yi and bad guy, Jang Geun Won, were kind stuck in the past emotionally.

I would rewatch only to watch PSJ’s lovely face, fabulous acting range and to admire his talent. Otherwise, no because the female leads are just too annoying and uninteresting.

The production, story and soundtrack are very good. That’s my fifty cents worth! Enjoy!