The premise of this show is absolutely amazing. I want a dark drama on the complex world of drug dealers.
That's what I thought I got with this seemingly badass main character for the first episode. It quickly changed when it was revealed **SPOILER** he's an undercover cop. Not only that - as the drama progresses you realize every tom, dick, and harry is an undercover cop. I mean my god are all the drug dealers the police trying to catch their own people?!
Also the main cop is one of the worst human beings and cops ever. You don't just manipulate and throw your dead fiance's little sister into the drug world completely unprepared. Without gangster ahjussi she would've been toast. Ugh he's so manipulative.

I will admit besides all of the many faults of this drama I absolutely loved it the first several times I've rewatched it. But going back for another rewatch I just realized I couldn't put up with the "cop out" for making everyone an undercover cop. Just lean into being bad! Those characters still had fascinating stories that were worth telling without making them "good guys" by being cops who sometimes went bad. This show didn't even want to really explore moral grey areas let alone a main character being a bad guy. Embrace it - bad guys are more compelling.

The charisma, the relationships between the main and his male and female friend are absolutely incredible. I cried so hard at the end. But I think it's just an absolute missed opportunity to not let the main be a bad guy. Or, even if he just *has* to be a good guy they shouldn't reveal it to the audience until the very end. Think of the impact when his lover finds the police tag in his apartment and have that be the audience reveal as well - wasted opportunity.