Good acting and production overshadowed by a messy plot

This show had tremendous potential. The premise was very interesting and seemed to be a coming of age/revenge story of a young man's personal growth. Unfortunately, that wasn't the actual plot. I don't know what the plot was.

The romance was ok. It only took Jiusi and Yuru 28 episodes to kiss and consummate their marriage. Other than that, they had affectionate and cute interactions with almost no sexual chemistry. But, when they kissed, they made out on screen and it was hot. This makes me totally confused about the logic behind Chinese censorship.

The revenge plot was a big deal at the beginning. But, then it completely fizzled out into nothing. The evil magistrate, who killed Jiusi's family, got stabbed to death by a girl. So, what was the point of that storyline at all? I guess halfway thorough the show, the writers decided to switch the direction from revenge to political intrigue.

The whole drama could've been completed in 25 episodes. After the rebels were defeated and the new emperor took the throne, the story should've reached its logical conclusion, but the writers dragged it for another 10+ episodes to meet the maximum allowable threshold of 40 episodes. On top of that, the drama had long draggy conversational scenes about nothing. I didn't care about everything a character was feeling at a particular moment. I zoned out through most of the conversations or fast-forwarded through half of them.

I ended up skipping the last 10 episodes and just watched episode 40.

The music was good, the acting was great. But all the positive things were completely overshadowed by a totally incoherent plot.

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Meh

The drama started out strong, but as the story went on it got progressively boring.

I liked Park Min Young in "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?" and "Marry My Husband". She does well in modern drama. But, here she was completely miscast. Firstly, her character looked more mature than ML. Secondly, they had very little chemistry with Yeon Woo Jin because both characters were really bland. She looked way better with Lee Dong Gun because he looked more mature and because Yi Yoong was a much more dynamic character.

The plot was also a mess. The storyline with the super secret organization went nowhere. The storyline with the super secret pawn shop also went nowhere. Yeok wanted to do everything - become king, be with Chae Kyung, and make up with his brother. But, he ended up weak, indecisive, and flaky. He kept whining about everything and constantly changed plans making everyone pissed off because they spent way too much effort into trying to put him on the throne. And, after Yeok became king, he wasn't much better than his brother who allowed a corrupt minister run the show. Chae Kyung was frustrating because she meddled too much, had redundant monologues about feelings, and kept pushing Yeok to make up with his older brother when there was no point. She also fainted a lot.

The love triangle between Chae Kyung and the two brothers was pointless. Yi Yoong barely had any romantic interactions with her. But, I wish he did because that would've made her character a lot more interesting. And, as a couple they looked much better together.

And, lets not forget about the ridiculous super sneaky spying scenes where characters stood in plain sight and eavesdropped on other people's conversations without ever being noticed. This drama has perfect the art of invisibility.

The acting was all over the place. Park Min Young and Yeon Woo Jin were both underwhelming and very bland, while Lee Dong Gun was overly emotional and overacted in every scene. He also twitched his mouth a lot.

Overall, weak characters, flat plot, ridiculous writing made this drama pretty disappointing.

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Great drama

This has got to be one of my favorite historical dramas.

The story started out resembling Gone with the Wind. FL is a beautiful and spoiled noble woman who has a slew of young men pining after her and who loves attention, and who happens to idolize her childhood friend. ML is a mysterious older man who doesn't put up with her shenanigans and tells her how it is. Everyone enjoys a carefree life until the war breaks out. This is where the drama starts to get really interesting. FL is forced to flee her home and survive against the enemy onslaught and we get to find out that there is more to ML than we originally thought. The drama does a great job switching gears to a more serious and intense tone showing what people, especially women, had to do to survive and the absolute gender disparity between the sexes. On top of that, FL is forced to undergo some very intense character development and transitioned from a spoiled young brat to a serious, dependable, empathetic young woman with a strong sense of responsibility.

The first part is not so much about romance, but survival and building a bond. ML and FL did not spend very much time together, but the few moments together were very meaningful where he had to save her life allowing her to see him differently in a more positive way. Moreover, he didn't allow her to be spoiled with him and made her think, making their dynamic completely different from her relationship with other men around her.

The message here is that a person cannot be stuck in perpetual childhood and will eventually have to grow up either by virtue of life's circumstances or if they want to be taken seriously, as Jang Hyun told Gil Chae.

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So good!

This is easily one of the best c-dramas of 2023. It does not use the same lame tropes so many other dramas fall victim to. There are no unnecessary plotlines or characters, no continuous cycle of misunderstanding and miscommunication. The drama has meaningful character development, romantic chemistry, and one of the most wholesome and healthy relationships I've ever seen.

There were, of course, some problems. Li Tongguang's (LT) was a terribly written character. His continuous obsession with Ruyi was extremely frustrating . The writers went out of their way to keep him incompetent until the very last episode. His immaturity caused a lot of people to die unnecessarily. After the emperor was killed, it was pretty unbelievable that the first thing he chose to do as the new regent was to poison Ruyi and force her to marry him, just for her to be rescued by Yuanzhou in the same episode, and for Yuanzhou to tell LT for the 100000000th time that he was a creep and a coward. This was especially frustrating because it happened after LT had really good scenes with Princess Yang Ying making it seem like he was getting over his infantile obsession with Ruyi. The show also fixated too much on the Ruyi and Yuanzhou's love story. Yes, we all loved them. They became a couple early and it was refreshing to see them having mutual understanding, respect and love, without falling back on jealousy and miscommunication. But, the writers should've given more screen time to other couples too. I really wanted to see more romantic chemistry between LT and Princess Yang Ying.

Princess Yang Ying was one of my favorite characters who went through the most intense character development. She started as a meek and weak girl just to grow into a strong person taking charge of her life. There was no character regression from better to worse. Everything that happened to her was on point and only contributed to her character growth.

The romance between Ruyi and Yuanzhou was unbelievably wholesome. Yuanzhou was written as every girl's dream man - tall and handsome, strong, kind and attentive, loving and understanding, not obsessive or overly-jealous, intelligent, a friend, a leader, a fighter and protector. The guy was perfect. He let Ruyi handle her business but also protected her when she needed protecting. And, Ruyi didn't magically turn into a damsel-in-destress as soon as a man entered her life.

The message of the show was incredibly meaningful - friendship, loyalty, country, love, and staying true to yourself. I was also impressed by how the characters went out of their way to stress the importance of having respect for women and often said things that we as audience were feeling when someone *ahem* Li Tongguang *ahem* acted like a mentally deranged creep.

I have to say something about the ending. A lot of people hated it, but I thought it was ok. I don't think the main couple died. Some people interpret the ending as symbolic or metaphorical or just Chu Yue's dream. I can't agree. We never saw anyone actually dying, but a lot of suggestive scenes that someone supposedly died. For characters who successfully faked their death throughout the show, they faked it again to be able to walk away and to start a family in seclusion, just like Yuanzhou wanted from the very beginning. And, Ruyi followed him because she couldn't imagine life without him. If it was Yang Ying in the last scene, the death scenario would've made more sense because she was very close with Ruyi and Yuanzhou. Chu Yue - not so much. When Chu Yue saw the boy, she immediately imagined Yu Shisan because that was her last memory of him. Instead, it was someone else who was named after Yu Shisan bearing Yuanzhou's last name. Yuanzhou named his son in honor of his best friend who died. The only red flag was the boy wearing white and riding a white horse, white traditionally being the color of mourning in China. But the idea that death came to reunite Chu Yue with her friends in the afterlife, most of whom she didn't even have a chance to develop a relationship with, looking like Ruyi's and Yuanzhou's son who was never even born, is some crazy mental gymnastics I am not willing to entertain.

The acting was good. I loved Alen Fang's portrayal of Yu Shisan, who was so goofy and adorable. This was such a pleasant surprise after my disappointment with his performance in the Long Ballad. And, of course, Liu Yuning will forever be my favorite.

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Disappointing

The story started out great until about episode 17. The humor gave me endless laughs, the adventures of the main characters were fun to watch, and ML and FL had a lot of chemistry. The villains were compelling and gave us plenty of reasons to hate them. Then, the story went off the rails and started introducing new plotlines and characters who didn't need to be there. I normally don't like love triangles because they usually follow the same tropes and deviate from the plot. This show was no exception. Bai Xiaosheng (BX) was a fun and neutral character who should've stayed neutral. Suddenly, we had to watch multiple episodes involving a love triangle between BX, Tianyao and Yanhui because Tianyao and Yanhui had some tension in their relationship. There were better ways to get it resolved and to get Tianyao gain back Yanhui's trust, instead of sticking BX between them for several episodes. In the second half and towards the end, BX mostly disappeared from the plot making the entire love triangle angst completely pointless.

Even the chemistry between Tianyao and Yanhui became stale in the second half. They had no physical or even romantic chemistry although they were married. They kind of regressed from being a dynamic due to an old boring couple. When Tianyao protected her from any threat, she looked at him in surprise like he wasn't supposed to do it. Ya'll are married. Why are you surprised? Thankfully, or not, they finally shared a very chaste kiss in episode 38 after being married for how long? Pretty damn long,

An endless slew of minor characters and their stories, too many flash-backs, and fillers made the story progression very slow. An entire episode was dedicated to some weird demon capturing Tianyao so she could marry him just to be defeated and never seen again. We did not need to watch short lived romances between minor characters, who all died an episode later, or flashbacks from Yanhui's childhood in the Taoist sect. It was all boring and irrelevant. We also did not need to see Suying's sad romance with the general. There was nothing redeeming about her. She was a reprehensible person, so there was no point trying to make her even a little bit sympathetic.

The end boss was incredibly boring. He was a cookier cutter villain without any motivation or personality. He did bad things because villains do bad things, not because he had a compelling reason to be bad. Taoists were much more interesting and complex.

There were problems with the acting too. Zhou Ye was really cute as Yanhui who was lively, dynamic, and funny. Neo Hou was the opposite. This is the first drama I watched with him and I was completely unimpressed with his acting. He spent a huge amount of the time standing around and staring - forlorn staring, sad staring, observant staring, romantic staring, staring, staring, and more staring. In many scenes involving multiple characters, he just stood around and stared like a place holder. It seemed like the actor either needed more lines or the dialogue needed to be sped up. After some time, the constant staring became very noticeable. Tianyao was the main character with the plot revolving around him, but he looked like Yanhui's side kick most of the time.

Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the show because it was funny and engaging. Unfortunately, the story that started out as an interesting tale of redemption, forgiveness, and new beginnings turned into a constipated mess of stale plotlines and a crusade against a cliche villain. I am actually very disappointed with the way it turned out because it had such a great start.

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Laughably bad

I watched this drama exclusively for Moon Sang Min because I loved Under the Queen's Umbrella. This was just terrible.

None of the characters had any b*lls to speak up and tell the truth. Lee Do Han didn't have the courage to tell his brother that he was gay and that the marriage was a sham. Na Ah Jung didn't have the courage to tell her "fiance" that she liked his brother and to Ji Han that the marriage was fake. Lee Ji Han didn't have the courage to tell his brother that he liked his fiance. But, Ji Han still had the audacity to get on his moral high horse and get upset at Ah Jung and Do Han for supposedly keeping things from him after sneaking around with Ah Jung behind everyone's back.

Secondary characters were meaningless and boring. None of the older siblings got their comeuppance for continuously scheming against their younger brothers. Dead mom's husband didn't get punished for causing her death. Ji Han's "first love" was the most pointless and non-confrontational love rival ever. Nobody's actions had any consequences and nothing really mattered. The three main characters made some very strange moral choices and were never called out on anything. Zero thought was put into creating a meaningful story and character development.

The acting was mediocre. Moon Sang Min did a decent job. But, Jeon Jong Seo was terrible. She had one resting b*tch face in most scenes like the drama was a chore for her. Her and Moon Sang Min had no chemistry. Overall, the show was a complete waste of time with zero entertainment value.

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Great chemistry between ML and FL

I don't have a lot to say about this drama except that it should be watched just for ML and FL. They had amazing chemistry, romance, kissing, you name it. Everything else was forgettable.

I ended up skipping through the scenes with the parents, gangsters, high school kids. They were not interesting and felt more like fillers than part of the actual story. Even the villain was kind of disappointing because the writers did not really develop him. He had no backstory and his motivations were kind of just doing bad things for the sake of doing bad things, kidnapping just to see his victims suffer, and that's it. He was a one dimensional personality with no substance. However, the actor who played the kidnapper was very handsome and I wish he was cast more in main roles.

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So good

There aren't enough words to describe how I feel about this drama. It tells a story of a mother's love for her children while navigating through betrayal, a struggle for power between the family members, murder, and political intrigue. Not a single character was out of place. Not a single plotline was unnecessary. All the characters got their proper screen time and development. The villains were written for us to hate and the protagonists were written for us to love and root for. This is undeniably one of the best Asian dramas I have ever seen.

The show treats each relationship between the queen with her sons with tender love and care showing that each prince is unique and has a special relationship with his mother. The queen loves them in spite of all their shortcomings and unusual personality traits and makes them feel loved and accepted. I particularly appreciated this take because in Joseon certain lifestyles would have absolutely been condemned, regardless of how much a mother loved her children.

Even other princes, who were not the queen's children, got character development showing their own personal trauma and relationships with their own mothers. The queen was so loving and compassionate that she was able to connect with every single character, even the ones who at first were against her, through her love and compassion and good deeds. And, the acting was phenomenal.

Overall, the show has a very well written plot, amazing character development, and extremely likable characters we can actually relate to.

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Needed more plot

My main complaint with the show is that it reached its logical conclusion in episode 12. This is when ML and FL were already a couple and the mystery behind the kidnapping was resolved. The rest of the episodes were just filler without a plot. When there is no conflict and nothing to resolve, the story becomes stale. There wasn't even that much conflict with the older brother. He just kind of became irrelevant after the kidnapping mystery was resolved. The animosity between the brothers also looked forced because of the lack of plot development. When Young Joon told Mi So that his brother was a "bastard" and there were issues with their childhood friends, it implied that there might've been past bulling or some other conflict which had nothing to do with the kidnapping. But, it was just the kidnapping. To make matters worse, the issue between the brothers was forced on them by their parents who lied about the kidnapping for their own good, which was a pretty stupid plot device because it did not justify all the animosity. And, after it was resolved, everyone acted like nothing happened for the last 4 episodes, which was especially disappointing because the kidnapping and resulting trauma were an important plot point central to ML's and FL's character development and the writers made it completely superficial and unimportant at the end.

The resolution to the plotline of Mi So wanting to find herself felt like a cop out. At the beginning, she wanted to leave the company to find a husband. Then, that plotline was abandoned just to resurface at the end where Mi So realized she wanted to continue being Young Joon's secretary because she loved him. And, she remained his secretary after marrying him. This was rather a strange choice for a wife of a CEO to have the same position as his office employees, instead of holding a higher position for which she was actually qualified.

One of the things I liked was that FL had enough sense to pick up on the nuisances about ML's behavior to discern that there was a lot more to the kidnapping story than what she was told. I loved that she did not just blindly believe everything she was told and started having a crush on the older brother, which would've resulted in a very stupid love triangle. She suspected from the very beginning that Young Joon was the one who was kidnapped, which led her to the truth. In return, Young Joon transformed from a self-centered person to a thoughtful and caring boyfriend and employer. The main couple also had very nice chemistry and some very steamy scenes.

Other than that, there wasn't much else going on. The side characters were not interesting enough to carry the plot. I ended up skipping most of scenes in episodes 13-16 and just watched the ones with the main couple to get to the end faster.

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Good story with some pointless characters

A lot of people criticized this show for casting older 40+ y/o actors to play teenagers. This is the least of the show's problems. Although I like Zhang Ziyi, she is not an extraordinarily beautiful woman as Wang Xuan is supposed to be, and of whose unmatched beauty we were constantly reminded throughout the show. There are plenty of prettier and younger actresses who would've been more suited for the role. For this reason, I think Ziyi was miscast. Everyone else was on point. It was very refreshing to see a more mature actor playing the role of a battle-hardened, undefeated general, instead of a 20+ y/o idol with mediocre acting skills and baby fat still intact.

** SPOILERS **

The titular Wang Xuan/Awu "rebel princess" hit her peak character development half-way through the show. She matured from a care-free and spoiled princess to a level-headed young woman who learned the meaning of duty and country and was able to skillfully navigate through the court intrigue. Wang Xuan wielded the power of the Wang clan which shaped the course of the empire and produced future kings. Unfortunately, after Ma Zilong took the throne, her character was reduced to nothing more than a beautiful object of men's desires with an abnormally large number of braindead males chasing after her. Even the mighty Helan Zhen regressed from an arrogant warrior to a lovesick fool bringing her wedding dresses and begging her to love him. One of the most ridiculous twists was Song Huaien going through a 180, becoming a traitor, and wanting Awu to be his "empress". What a way to turn an interesting character into a cliche. The drama basically dumbed down from a political thriller-ish to an uninteresting soap opera regurgitating the same old tropes.

One of the dumbest things about the drama was a complete lack of insight from most characters. They either wanted Awu or to kill Xiao Qi. Wanting to kill Xiao Qi was an especially ridiculous plot idea because he was the only honorable and loyal subject who was the less likely to usurp the throne. Yet, all of the royal inbreds continuously plotted against him thinking he wanted power, which backfired in the most ridiculous way. Some of Wang Xuan's motivations were also very confusing. She tried to sit on two chairs at once - being Xiao Qi's wife and a member of the Wang family, which led to some questionable choices. One of those questionable choices was her fraternization with Helan Zhen, drinking and dancing with him, something that was completely inappropriate and put a wedge between her and Xiao Qi.

Zitan was one of the least interesting characters and the biggest waste of screen time. Tony Yang is an absolute eye candy, but his good looks weren't able to save the character from being unbearable. The writers could've done so much with him instead of reducing him to exist solely to pine after Awu. And even that was comical because he had one chance at the beginning of the show to be with her and he completely squandered it. Even Awu had to spell it out to him why he was unworthy because he had no spine and couldn't care less about anything other than his childhood crush. And, that hasn't changed throughout the show, which later led to a lot of people getting killed just so he could get into Awu's pants.

Contrary to the criticism, Wang Xuan and Xiao Qi's big production in the throne room to get Zitan to confess his crimes was actually quite clever. I did not particularly enjoy her spending so much time with Zitan afterwards trying to save him, but I attribute it to her still caring about him as her childhood friend. This was later confirmed in her conversation with her father when she told him that her love for Xiao Qi and Zitan was "different".

The most complex character was Wang Lin. Cynical, pragmatic, and unrelenting, he understood the complexities of ruling a country and the responsibility that came with it. Usurping the throne wasn't just his blind quest for power but to also remove an incompetent ruler and to bring stability to the empire. He was truly the only person who was fit to sit on the throne.

The drama did a good job at characterizing the relationship between Wang Xuan and Xiao Qi. This is probably due to the fact that the characters were played by mature actors and not idols. Their relationship had chemistry, meaningful interactions, mutual understanding, and respect. The drama did a good job at flushing out why Wang Xuan fell in love with Xiao Qi and let go of her childhood love for Zetan. Zetan represented her care-free childhood. Xiao Qi represented mature love where she learned duty, loyalty, and the hardships of life. She appreciated Xiao Qi for his bravery and heroism and looked down on Zetan's continued callousness and immaturity. I appreciate the fact that the drama did not go down the cliche route creating a love triangle between the three of them.

The ending was ok, although I wanted to see stricter justice served against the characters who committed crimes. Overall, the drama was very entertaining for the first half and for the last 10-15 episodes, but it could've gone without some storylines. And, I definitely wanted to see more of Xiao Qi, instead of the abominable Helan Zhen arc and Zitan's forlorn expressions.

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Not sure what it was

I'm not sure why this show has such high ratings. The story had no direction and the characters were unlikable. FL was spineless, whiny, had no motivation, and made incomprehensible choices over and over. ML just keept following her and trusting her after she repeatedly disappointed him and broke his heart, cuz reasons.

The first half was funny and even interesting. By episode 15, it became a directionless mess. Nobody communicated anything. Characters didn't stand up for themselves or their convictions. Qianqian just ran around doing random crap without any clear motivation. She obviously liked Han Shuo, but she tried to set him up with someone else. And then, everyone was suddenly in love with her. Pei Heng showed up 20 times to "save" her, without her actually needing saving, and repeatedly got his ass kicked by Han Shuo. Chuchu became a villain for no reason and started doing absolutely obnoxious schit. It's ok for shows to be funny and have a simple plot. Not everything has to be deep. But, this was just painful. Thank god the show only had 24 episodes.

I did like the ending. It was very sweet, reminded me of Fushigi Yugi.

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An expensive production with a whole lot of nothing

I was really looking forward to this drama solely for Lee Jun Ho because I loved him in the Red Sleeve. But, the show is so utterly underwhelming and shallow, there is nothing to look forward to. The characters only exist to pine after each other without trying to accomplish anything in life making for a very boring and uninspiring story.

This is a cliche rom-com where a rich guy falls for a working class employee. It would've been interesting if the writers treated the characters like adults, instead of high school students, and gave them mature interactions and meaningful conversations. Instead, they proceed to bore us with every single overused cliche known to k-drama making the plot extremely predictable. Gu Won has no personality outside his crush on Sarang. At the beginning, he is shown as a sophisticated and rich bad-boy skydiving in a suit and landing on a helicopter pad James Bond style. Later, we find out that he is nothing more than a nepotism baby with no social awareness, no competence, no charisma and exists solely to pine after Sarang. Even his feud with his sister is superficial because he doesn't do anything other than pursue his love interest. He finished an MBA at the beginning of the show, which could've been a nice plot device for him to start serious work in the hotel and eventually become the owner. No, he is a director in name only and doesn't do anything or show any particular interest in work. Even his employees have to tell him that he needs influence and support in order to succeed, instead of spending so much time obsessing over FL.

Some story arcs are completely asinine. The Arab prince is reduced to a total simp for Sarang competing for her affection with Gu Won. God knows why we need another atrocious love rival trope where everyone falls in love with the heroine because she is so precious. And the arc with the flight attendant friend isn't interesting enough for me to care about because she is such a minor character.

Overall, the show felt like a high school drama filled with overused cliches. Characters have no motivation and there is no real plot. Pass.

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Misery loves company

The show celebrates the worst of human qualities in relationships. It starts off with an interesting but albeit old premise - two dysfunctional people enter into a contract marriage out of necessity. These two complete opposites are meant to fall in love and help each other grow, right? Nope.

One of the biggest draw backs is a lack a character development. Nam Se Hui is a human robot with a personality of a potato who only has his mortgage and cat on the brain. Yun Ji Ho is at the end of her rope with no job or a place to live. Marriage gives them an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth, but it does not teach them how to be better people. We are constantly told that Ji Ho is strong. But, in reality, she is reckless, spineless, and possesses no self-control. To me, she is mindbogglingly unlikable and perpetually miserable. She spends too much time with a toxic co-worker and manufactures a conflict with Se Hui because she suddenly feels guilty about the contract marriage. Instead of sitting down together to figure out what to do next, she divorces and leaves her husband for some pretentious reason that now she needs to find herself. All of her problems seem artificial and self-inflicted to force us to sympathize with her. Se Hui maintains the same bland frozen face for the entirety of the show. Even his feelings for Ji Ho fail to give him a personality.

Ji Ho's arcs with Bok Nam and Ko Jeong Min are mind-numbing. Bok Nam is pushy, rude, and creepy. He makes condescending remarks about her husband and disrespects her marriage. Against her better judgment, she goes off at night to drink beer and watch him make passes at her. And this character is written to be smart. The arc with Jeong Min is even more cringe. I am not sure what the writers are trying to convey here, that Ji Ho also likes women or that Jeong Min is so edgy that even women are attracted to her? Getting drunk together and Ji Ho opening up to a complete stranger, while having no communication with her husband, makes her even more off-putting and unlikable.

Now, lets talk about Ji Ho's degree. The writers constantly remind us that she graduated from a prestigious university. But, she has nothing to show for it. At 30, she has no career or job prospects. Neither does she try to pursue self-improvement. All she does is hang out with friends and settle for a part-time job while wallowing in self-pity. Most of these issues have to do with writing. Smart people strive to improve themselves so they can succeed in life. Ji Ho does nothing to do better and gives up writing altogether. The point is that she is not smart.

The ending is a suitable culmination to this marathon of cringe. The writers try to create a relationship that subverts societal expectations where the main couple just loves each other instead of attaching labels and listening to unsolicited advice from the elders. However, the only people who makes sense here are the parents. Marriage is work that is not based solely on love. Logically, Ji Ho and Se Hui's shared experiences should lead to a mature and deeper bond. Yet, the final result is an immature, superficial relationship, completely devoid of any chemistry, that doesn't even feel like it's between two genuine people. Apparently, we are supposed to be impressed that they choose to disrespect their parents and enter into household contracts instead of being in a legal marriage. Moreover, Se Hui doesn't even look like he wants this. Everything seems to be Ji Ho's idea as she continues on a quest to find herself. What a crappy message. Avoid this mess.

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Half-assed

The best word to describe this drama is "half-assed" - a half-assed plot, half-assed characters, a half-assed attempt to tackle a genre. The drama starts off as a slap-stick comedy with poop humor. Lee Dam clogs up a toilet after a very cathartic #2, then proceeds to seal it with duct tape. The writers worked very hard to create the lolz that would only be appealing to middle-schoolers. Then the drama decides to play a game of musical chairs with different genres going back and forth between romance, melodrama, murder mystery, melodrama, and romance again.

After the first two episodes, the drama becomes somewhat tolerable with a lot less poop humor. However, the writers still fail to make Lee Dam compelling enough for an 1000 year old entity to be romantically interested in her. She is nothing more than a sloppy college girl with a tendency to get sh*t-faced. But, apparently, her almost passing interest in history is totally enough for a demi-god to fall in love with her. And, Shin Woo Yeo is completely bland as supposedly a beautiful and seductive fox demon. He has no game or personality and is extremely uninteresting as a male lead.

The bead is returned to its original owner somewhere in the middle of the drama. At that point, the writers have no idea what to do next. The love triangle is interesting for about five minutes, yet that plotline is milked until the very last episode with Gye Sun Woo making sad faces at Lee Dam for no reason other than her not falling all over herself for him. The murder mystery is somewhat compelling, but it survives for about one-two episodes until the story devolves into a tropey dramatic angst where Woo Yeo isn't sure whether he wants to bang or eat his beloved.

That about sums it up.

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A whole lotta stupid

I give this drama an 8 for the first half and a 3 for the second because everything becomes stupid. It's pretty unbelievable that the writers are able to create such an engaging story and then turn it into a marathon of stupidity.

Kim Moo Young is built up to be a cold, manipulative, incredibly intelligent sociopath with a sex appeal up the wazoo. He doesn't care about anyone's feelings and shamelessly uses poor Seung Ah as a recreational activity cuz he can. He plays her like a drum while the plot slowly develops his feelings for Jin Kang through playful banter, meaningful conversations, and flirting. His bad-boy charm, cunningness, and insanely good looks are the highlight of the show. Unfortunately, all of this intelligence goes *poof* in the second half leading to some very stupid choices.

The drama's biggest let down is the characters' motivations, actions, and incomprehensible consequences based on those motivations and actions. Everyone hates Moo Young's lack of empathy. But, Yoo Jin Kang has no problem spending time with him while he dates Seung Ah all the while preaching sanctimonious b*llshit about morals. Later on, she unapologetically lies to her brother and goes on dates with her hot boyfriend behind oppa's back while preaching more sanctimonious bs. Oppa gets a little too high on his moral high horse about Moo Young's shenanigans and stabs him in the gut without regrets. It's even more asinine that he does not get arrested for assault/attempted murder or even get questioned after making a confession. Jin Kang throws a temper tantrum about her sexy boyfriend now having a hole in his belly, but doesn't seem to care that her brother is the culprit.

The murder mystery is the most interesting and complex storyline. But, it ends early with Im Yoo Ri's character being largely unutilized while the writers decide to bore us with the childhood trauma plotline, and characters preaching morality and acting illogically. Moo Young transforms from clever and observant to gullible and reactionary. He believes Jang Se Ran's atrocious story, the same Ms. Jang who is an insane sociopath and the least likely to tell the truth, and hastily makes a life altering decision leading to very tragic consequences. Special "thanks" to the genius who decided to make a tertiary character like Ms. Jang into a central plot device. She is an attractive and calculating older woman who is the head of a conglomerate. So, it's totally believable that she would fall for someone like Moo Young, who has no special skills, talent, or money, and then make him a CEO. And that's because Moo Young's biggest asset is dat ass.

Moo Young and Jin Kang have some very spicy chemistry on screen. But, the best thing about the drama is acting. Seo In Guk was made for this role. He wasn't just playing Kim Moo Young. He was Kim Moo Young.

The ending is tragic, but who cares, because everything! is! stupid!

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