I have a dream, that someday I'll be able to watch a Korean drama that sticks with one genre and commits to it, that said drama will do said drama with excellence. I've been feeling, lately, that every drama throws a little bit of everything into the mix. This show is a drama, romance, comedy, SOL, action, mystery - you name it, it's in there.

I thought the pacing of this show was very good at the outset, though I could have done without the gangster element. I was loving the stories of the hospice workers, as well as the patients. I would have rated this so much higher if they had just planted the storyline there. It was very touching to see how the workers deal with death, and how the families and the patients themselves cope. I found myself very invested, then BAM! Cray-cray ex-girlfriend and the mystery patient in the hospice. These two things really ruined the show for me. These storylines dramatically altered the direction of the show and pulled focus from the important storylines. I was tempted to drop the show at that time (especially since it seemed to go on forever!), but I waited expectantly, hoping it would get back on track. Ultimately it did, but for me it had gone too far to redeem itself.

The acting was exemplary. Ji Chang Wook: the past few things he's been in have been disappointing to me, because of the way his characters were written. I loved him in this. He's got toughness, but an innocence that is charming. I loved him talking under his breath all the time, not quite understanding everything that was going on. He got pulled into the lives of the people in the hospice, almost against his own volition. He seemed surprised at the things that he was doing and feeling. I could really sense his character's growing and developing his own un-biological family. Chang Wook also has an intensity about him: that soulful stare. If for no other reason, I'm glad I watched this show for his acting.
Sung Dong Il: I love him! He's one of those actors that is always lovely to watch. His character in this drama was wonderful.
Park Jin Joo: I didn't even realize early on that this was the actress I was watching. The makeup department did an excellent job. Her character was special, and I loved the process of her fulfilling her last wish.

And, as far as acting AND storyline is concerned: Kil Hae Yeon and Yoo Soon Wong as husband-and-wife hospice workers, was kind of sad, but so touching. The journey of discovery for these characters was surprising, yet spoke to the power of love, as well as the fact that everyone around them became family.

I can still recommend this drama pretty highly, but I just wish the editors had done a better job, edited out the unnecessary storylines, and given us more hospice stories.