Can an imperfect show still get a 10/10? It can with me!

I have some issues with things, I wish some areas were fleshed out more, I wish the conclusion would have had more time to breathe.

However, I loved every second I watched this. I enjoyed the characters, the acting, and while I wish the plot had been... longer I guess is the right word, I still enjoyed the plot too.

I've always felt that these dramas, K and C, have amazing setups and usually pretty good middle story as well but almost always they drop the ball at the end. Endings are hard, I get that, but the frequency with which I get engrossed in a series only for it to end and disappoint me is too much. That's why, even though I don't think they knocked the ending out of the park, they at least did well enough that I can say its far in front of most other drama endings I have seen.

Overall I highly recommend this series if you enjoy good characters with depth, good action, and an overall decent ending! My favorite episodes were definitely the first batch of about 7, but I have to admit the parent's backstory episodes, 8 through 15 were incredibly well done and stand alone as great romance story's by themselves. The last 5 episodes, while not my favorite due to feeling rushed or just lacking in some ways, are still as I mentioned well above the norm of K-Drama endings quality, so even those episodes get a thumbs up from me.

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I can't feel invested when a story ignores logic just to create some drama and conflict

As stated above, characters making wrong decisions is great when handled well, but characters making brain dead decisions just to make tense moments, takes you out of the story and makes key moments pointless. I don't really give low ratings, this is as low as I've gone, but I just couldn't bring myself to engage with what I saw.

The "villains" in the story were weak, and yet they got away with countless things not through ingenuity but through shitty writing. A man is a murderer and you caught him trying to poison everyone... do you tell people? Nope, keep it to yourself and let him continue to influence morons. Other man points a gun to your wife's head and leads a mob against her because he's an easily manipulated blob, do we get angry and do something about it? Nope, place a hand on his shoulder and say - not cool man, you're wrong about her trust me - this is a guy that described himself as hot headed and having a bad temper by the way.

There were countless actions that a real person would not make, and when they lead to danger, am I supposed to care for the characters? How can I, when for all I know in the next scene they might randomly trip and fall off a building, with no build up, because that's the level of writing being displayed. Sometimes important things aren't communicated, sometimes someone with no social rapport is suddenly believed wholeheartedly when they make things up, and we're supposed to just accept that and keep watching.

It was a tough watch. A comedy or romance can get away with being unrealistic, but when a show like this wants to create high adrenaline moments, it has to arrive there through good writing. This one did not.

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Logic sometimes doesn't track, most villains are cartoonish, and somehow I still give it a 7?

I'll jump write into it. I enjoyed it for decent chunks. It's not award winning stuff, and it has full scenes that are just dumb and sometimes even annoying.

There's a character that pretty much talks more in English than Korean but if it's supposed to be implied that it's his first language, the ball is dropped, he'll sometimes form a sentence in a way that has never been used before and genuinely just takes you out of the scene, on top of the character just sucking in general. The guy doesn't even have a redemption arc but is mentioned positively at the end for who knows what reason. The show even tries to teach a lesson of... "|even those who betray you are still your comrades"... The fuck? What are the writers smoking with that one... it's brought up more than once. Cut toxic people out of your lives, you're not a stepping stool.

Some antagonists smile and give evil triumphant looks in moments where it really doesn't make sense, and are as mentioned in the headline, cartoonish.

With all this negative talk, how did I still give it a seven? Well, the main cast does some heavy lifting, decent acting and a decent story involving them if you ignore most of the "villains" involved. (The evil dad is the only worthwhile antagonist).

Lastly but certainly not least, the show bumped up its rating by probably a full point, if not more, by letting the story breathe and continue after the climax. I have an irrationally powerful hatred for stories that end soon after the big moment and leave so much for the audience to fill in and assume. The series showed us where the characters are. their relationships, and key moments for the last half of the final episode, and that in itself bumped it up.

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For the most part it feels really realistic, and IMO worth the watch!

I won't elaborate too much because most of the other reviews have covered it.

I'll say that I agree with others that it's an overall happy ending if you pay attention to certain things, it is implied they do end up together. My issue with that is... I'm not entirely sure it had to be made a secret to the viewers. I see the "art" in making it a bit of a secret for the viewers. I get that since the couple themselves have picked to be in a relationship in secret, whether because her agency won't let her or simply to avoid the drama of openly dating, they've chosen to also make it a bit of a hidden relationship to the viewers. It's neat... but sometimes you just want to be able to enjoy the "post-story" happy moments of a relationship and we didn't get to see that.

I had major second FL syndrome, Jin Ju is adorable and I can't help but wish they had leaned into the soulmates bit and gone with that twist. I would have been content with the story being about our ML helping our FL past her demons and helping her towards a positive path in her life but them not ending up together as he reconnects with Jin Ju.

I've read some comments about there being toxicity and that really feels like a stretch. If you want a "nothing but perfect people making perfect choices" and dealing with their pasts in the absolute healthiest way possible, the dramas are out there for you. However I reserve a word like toxic for genuinely and consistently shitty relationships marred by people who abuse the love they are given and convince themselves or their partners that they've done nothing wrong or that the person deserved it. That doesn't happen here, there are choices made that hurt someone but there is reason behind it as well as genuine remorse, not followed by repeatedly making the same choices.

This is not a great review I must admit, I'm kind of throwing things at the wall and saying random things, to get back on point:
The drama had a sense of realism, with people making real if not ideal choices in certain moments, and with some good chemistry and acting. I don't think too many will watch this and feel they've wasted their time, but I also don't think it's a "must not miss" watch. It was good, it was entertaining, and although I would have liked a bit more substance at the end in terms of elaborating on the couples final standing, it was a good ending overall.

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