Big sadge....

What's up with the heavy inclusion of infidelity? All the characters surrounding FL are cheating: her mother, her husband, her dead father-in-law, the husband's mistress, the husband's brother-in-law, her sister, the lover and that one friend. For the main "sad" theme they overdone the sadness by incorporating an endless sequence of miserable events that at one point all the sadness became too forced. I would rather prefer a better build up and writing with the only misery/sadness is the terminal illness plot. Choi Jin Shil did most of the heavy lifting in the drama.

The order of which the husband knew about the cancer and him being with his mistress was misaligned it should have been the other way around. The sister love life should have started earlier to give more focus/screen-time for her dying sister, the late intrusion of Dr Ji was unfortunate. One thing really bothered me is the amount of negligence from FL and everyone around her, if you feel sick with physical symptoms or see someone sick repeatedly over extended period of time then it's not normal you moron!!!! Anyway, it's sad but leaves a lot to be desired.

RIP Choi Jin Shil.

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It's watchable...

The hatred and favoring of twins from the mother reminded me of "Wang's Family (2013)", unjustified favoritism from the mother towards a spoiled daughter who always get it her way. The twins' relationship, conflict, story, justification and resolution weren't given a good writing, on the other hand, the twins from "Famous Princesses (2006)", which tackles a similar story within the same context, had done a much better job than this drama.

The pacing of the drama is odd and unjustified when changes, things start to change without proper building. The "high emotions/moments" didn't feel real or convincing, especially the ones as we were approaching the ending closer and closer. Many characters were expendable, especially the twins' father the most useless father in a family drama, no character no writing and barely any presence. Despite the heaps of problems it has, the drama is still watchable.

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Watchable...

It seems like the writer cannot focus on more than one thing at a time, everything else is neglected, brushed off and barely got any attention. The story divided into three sections: the love triangle thing then Jin Woo & Na Yoon and lastly the section with the biggest chunk "the missing husband". The 4 listed main characters are only relevant for the first 1/3 then the remainder 2/3 is mostly (Yoon Jung - Eun Hye and Shin Ok/Taesu). Han Jin Kyung may appear once every 10 episodes and Han Soo Hyun got a random side story after the first 1/3. There was a clear shift in tone starting from episode 63 where the drama turned full melodrama, I wish they kept the same vibe as earlier parts. The last 20 episodes were endless repetition of the same words.

Because of the "main" conflict, not a single couple ended up as I hoped, the ending is just unfair and was handled poorly. Han Soo Hyun was treated worse than a support character after the love triangle plot line was finished, they absolutely destroyed her character. Even when they tried to give her a story there was zero romantic build up, all we got is a time skip of her future at the end. This drama sucks when it comes to building relationships and romances. You may dislike Han Jin Kyung at the start, rightfully so, but you will end up hating Na Eun Hye for shamelessly guilt tripping her "husband" by using their daughter, even other characters hope on the same train.

One thing really bothered me is how not a single character had the slightest drop of inelegance to suggest doing a DNA test, instead let's just spend 70 episodes of endless doubts and stairs. Also, some of the casting decisions didn't feel right, the following actors didn't fit their character: Oh Man Suk, Jung Sung Woon and Lee Jong Won. The drama is watchable but it's a bit rough after episode 63.

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This is the first drama I've seen with from the sitcom genre and honestly it feels like I'm watching a drama from an alternate reality. The romances and relationships were royally fucked, big time! All the characters were switching and cycling partners between each other that none of them led to any conclusion. Is this because of the nature of a K-sitcom? The only constants were Ji Won and Sung Soo who had a full story and progression. For the comedy it can be simplified as follow: 10% hilarious, 25% funny, 55% is this even a comedy?, 10% pure cringe. The story writing isn't even worth talking about, if you were to watch it then watch it for the comedy only.

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NO....

The looks are too deceiving in this one, this is 5% family drama and 95% melodrama with the usual violent violin playing in the background every 2.1 seconds. This is not a family drama and the tag should be removed. For the length the drama had there was barely any story and the writing wasn't passable at all. I was losing my mind because of this "James" plot line, 100 episodes of endless tease and hundreds of close encounters to reveal the father identity. That's mostly the main story, what's even worse is that the exact same scenario step by step is being repeated for another 30 episodes for the grandparents identity. The last 30 episodes were random shenanigans and cringe.

This drama definitely had one of the laziest dumbed down writings out there. The writer was relying heavily on the mentally challenged mother to create tension, I lost count how many times a character threaten the mother that result into a problem and people shouting. It also extends to the characters' writing, all of which were bland, one dimensional, single digit IQ and unlikable. The writer was also trying to push her political agenda of pro-life antiabortion so damn hard with multiple extensive dialogues sequences.

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Can't recommend.

The concept is fine but the execution is poor. All stories share great similarities with small alterations, there's a consistent pattern in these relationships where all males are bad/unfavorable and all females are victims/deserve better. The drama had an overwhelming number of cast members and an overwhelming number of small scattered stories, even though this is a long format drama but it back fired.

The lead couple are the weakest point for the drama. Them as actors, their story, their development, their resolution and the attention they were given all of which was borderline bad and they're suppose to be the "leads". This lead couple had a total, as I counted, 14 breakups/fights, my god I just wanted them to break up for good or die I don't care anymore fuck them! No wonder "Lee Ha Na" dropped out from being the female lead after the first script reading session. Speaking of which, the male lead Heo Gap Dol is the most pathetic loser I've ever seen, he remained a loser even at the end.

Let's talk about Heo Da Hye, the male lead's sister, she's one of the most interesting characters in the drama yet the creators completely destroyed her. From the end of episode 33 she was completely cut off abruptly from the drama with absolutely zero mention of her as if she never existed. Her mother, brother, kids, ex-husband all carried on as if she never existed. It seems like the character Ban Ji A became her replacement just for Soo Jo's sake.

The beginning of episode 34 marked a clear big shift in the writing and direction. The writer didn't no where or how to steer the ship from there, it took a random turn every now and then, some characters started to disappear for 4-5 episodes at times (including leads), the leads were treated like guest characters with minimum updates or attention, most cute moments became cheesy and cringe, half of the supporting cast rarely appeared afterwards, the whole story became too scattered and the stretch of events got too obvious as they were trying to prolong the series. One thing really bothered me is how the drama took a weird detour that included manipulating emotions in solving every single problem/relationship, rather than fixing them in a healthy way.

Can't recommend.

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One of the draggier ones.........

The drama had no right to be this long for the amount of content it provides. Small limited cast, thin story, some side stories left underdeveloped and eventually were brushed off, limited number of side stories/side couples considering this is a family drama not a makjang. The main story was stretched too thin with extreme drag, 20 episodes can pass without the character making a decision. The kidney plot line was like 60+ episodes or something.

This is one of the most unlikable male leads in a long running drama. The female lead life was falling apart, her mother was on the verge of death, along with a handful of problems from her in-laws, son and grandma. YET despite the ML knowing all of that, the insensitive selfish prick all he care about is himself and no one else. Chasing the female lead, trying to kiss her, pressuring her why she doesn't love him back or marry him. He didn't even care about her son, how can he be a father? Judging by his overall behavior, I doubt their "happily ever after" story would last very long. One more thing, there's absolutely zero chemistry between the leads anyway.

The other male to hate is Noh Tae Wan, he's excessively authoritarian over FL in a seriously creepy and uncomfortable way. Never seen an in-law in k-drama behave this aggressively and obsessively towards a brother's wife. The later plot line about the in-laws arguing over the child was also nauseating, childish and plane stupid.

The drama lacks a lot in general, doesn't deliver a worthy experience and it's a heavy investment to get into, don't watch it unless you care about some of the cast members.

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Pretty good...

It turned out to be better than I initially thought of it after watching a handful of episodes. It may have the look and feel of 1996 although it's from 2006 but I guess that's just the limitation of production, still pretty decent, I will talk more about RAW files at the end. While watching the first half, you would think that Mi Chil is the ultimate representation of a toxic guilt-tripping-filled relationship and that Il Han deserve all the agony and pain but the drama managed to pick itself up afterwards. The drama does the "high" moments really well while the "low" moments are really low and awful but it overcompensates that with the campiness feel especially once the twins made up (around eps50).

All the stories were good and enjoyable to watch except Deok Chil's story line which always felt dull and lack any proper characterization. One thing extra I wanted from the ending is for "Mi Chil" to have a slightly better ending to give her the chance to speak out. The time-skip ending had an insane amount of baby making, it's a strong contender for the highest time-skip baby making drama.

If you were to watch it then go to AvistaZ and choose the release from Taengoo, it's pulled directly from KBS vods and even looks much better than the DVD version although it got a slight interlaced effect for the first 30 episodes.

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Great performance by Son Ye Jin and Ji Jin Hee, especially Ye Jin who showed visible character development from start to end by her acting. While the remainder of the cast were average at best. Jo Yoon Hee and Jin Goo barely have any screen time or meaningful contribution why are they listed as main characters in the first place? The story was average and even below average at times, the cases they dealt with didn't have a dramatic impact, they all felt too casual even the last "big" case. The writing/script doesn't have a good flow, for example some events/plot elements were neglected for too long before coming back to them, also too many filler characters that don't fill a good character spot considering the theme of the drama. The ending was underwhelming, they had a 4 episodes build up and what we got at the end just two guys on live news backstabbing each other.

The synopsis written here is wrong, it's only relevant to the last 3 episodes concerning Tae Suk's father. The story revolves around Woo Jin starting from the bottom and getting to be an anchorwoman for 9 PM news.

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This drama will piss off MDL users for sure. The wife portrayed as a messy "Ajumma" who only take care of her kids and house but not herself or husband. They pushed the narrative too hard to make her the "problem" as to why her husband cheated.

They also kept forcing the viewers to sympathize with the husband and his mistress with how they told their story. The husband, according to him, never knew what love is for 20-years. The mistress, after a painful breakup and her mother's death, she had no one left for her and was in a desperate need for someone to lean on. Both the husband and his mistress were given a lot of scenes every episode and almost were treated as the "first" main leads. The drama even followed their story up until the very end to show a happy ending. They had it pretty easy for them. The wife saw her husband so sickly in love with his mistress, physically and mentally, so she agreed on the divorce. The wife didn't even had a single adult talk/confrontation scene with the mistress, how?!

The writing sucks and the story is a huge mess but the cast was fine. Don't expect romance except for the brief moments with the mistress at the start and the last 5 minutes for the female lead.

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Watching all of the leads from 1999 was joyful, they barely aged and they are just as good as they are now. Jang Hyuk was absolutely charming with the 90's swag. The drama had its problems but the "scuffability" only adds to its charm. The good old times back then when smoking wasn't censored. Although there's some drag and too many sad b-rolls but I wanted to see a couple more scenes of the ending. This is when K-drama had a life crises before forming its new-age independent identity, you can feel it at times trying to branch out to western influence. Give it a shot.

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Great love story.

What's love? This is a mature story about people falling out of love, searching for love and are afraid of love. Great character writing and smooth exchange of dialogue. The subtle comedy was done wonderfully. The drama had a unique sense of direction at times where it expands beyond the conventional realm of drama, it even steps into film territory briefly with film-like shot compositions and witty dialogue. This is the type of drama where whether the couple came back together or not is irrelevant, their love story is what made it worth it. The drama isn't perfect by any means, but it succeed in delivering a well made package. Although I wish if they merged Mi Yeon and Yoo Kyung into one character/story instead of giving each a section in the drama.

Lee Ha Na, this is her first acting role in drama or film and she absolutely nailed her performance. She even outshone Son Ye Jin every now and then. I find her, as an actress, is better fit in casual roles like this one over action ones like in "Voice". It would be nice if Voice would just end with season 5 and Lee Ha Na would move to bigger and better projects.

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Irredeemable

This drama was destined to fail from the beginning. Some of original selected main cast dropped off. Some cast controversies prior to filming. It was cut down from 50 episodes to 26 with premature ending. Conflict between cast. Lee Tae Im absence in the last 5 episodes because she got into an accident, they were even planning to replace her but the drama ended anyway. The writing department suffered immensely, the drama was full of delirious characters. Some complain how stupid Soon Jung is but the real smooth brain is actually Soon Jin, I believe apes have higher intellectual abilities. No wonder why the broadcast ratings were abysmal. Thankfully, it ended early anyway.

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BOO!

The cursed case-of-the-week format! I was more interested in the FL's mother case which is the main case that was developing in the background than whatever case the ML threw himself in. I really wish this was a one big coherent case to follow or at least have the side cases directly connected to the main one. What made matters worse was the poor dynamic between the leads, they just didn't bounce off each other well. There was a weird constant disconnect between them. Thank god they didn't add romance into the mix. The side characters were an embarrassment to label them as a supporting cast. They were just a white noise blended in the background, completely forgettable and faceless. One of the most important things about horror is to set up the atmosphere which this drama forgot to do most of the time. It was more like a flashy horror with some horror elements. This was probably my least favorite Jang Na Ra drama.

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