The Smile Has Left Your Eyes

Could have been great, turned out annoying as hell

The male lead does great portraying the troubled, dangerous and mysterious ladykiller who may or may not have actually murdered someone. He is not a good person and is somewhat void of empathy or real emotions. He really brought the character to life, well done! The FL did alright in the beginning but as in a lot of K-dramas, the ladies turn into brainless idiots when it comes to romance. The constant back and forth between saying “I will never like you” and immediately showing up at his rooftop to confirm he’s not a terrible person is annoying to the point that I’m just skipping half the episode. What woman would date the guy that played her best friend and eventually caused her death? After the best friends passing I tried to finish one more episode, but unfortunately it all just got way too cringe.

Redeeming point, the actor that plays the FLs brother is (as always) amazing! Most rounded character with actual range of emotions, brings some much needed lightness with the banter he has with his coworkers (the 2 that don’t hate him).

TL;DR: could have been great if the wildly unrealistic romance was just left out and this had focused more on the background mystery, psychological aspects of the trauma and consequences for their development in each character, and potential current murders

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I loved the show but I am so upset with the ending.
The more I watched the show, the more emotional I became and the ending broke me.
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes is one of the few shows where I couldn't predicate what was going to happen. Usually it's pretty easy to know what's going to happen next but this show did a great job keeping me on my toes.
The cast was amazing! They have to show so much emotion and they all did a great job in doing so. Seo In Guk was something else. He was emotionless yet gentle and Jung So Min complimented him perfectly with being emotional but strong.
The ending was so upsetting to me and probably many others but it was very fitting to the story.
I think everything happened as it should have. It was very well written and overall I'm very happy with The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.

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Not my usual watch.

This is not what i usually watch but i did so because i like to two lead actors. The story is a little confusing and the early episodes set the tone of the ML character and later the FL character. The story revolves around what happened many years ago and tells a tale of the failure of adults to protect the children. The lack of honesty and selfishness of the brother and his female friend left me feeling very angry with those characters. Also the doctors character is somewhat questionable.
In the end of course through many twists and turns it is the children/now adults who pay the price for all the deception.
The ML and FL portrayed their characters in a stunning performance from start to finish. I will look for more from these two actors. they were the shining light that carried the story through to the end.
It is a story that you need to be strong to watch.

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Well, this drama have some positive and some negative things. The story is very addictive and you find yourself increasingly anxious to know what happened in the past of the main characters. Seo In Guk's acting is so good, he was certainly the best thing in this drama. But unfortunately there are some disappointing things, at least for me. The last episodes was really.. nosense? When they explained the main characters past I thought that was a very random explanation. It seemed a lit bit forced.

Jin Kang is a very annoying character. I couldn't shipp her and Moo Young because they sound so forced. Out of nowhere she starts liking him, even when SHE KNEW IT that he was bad to his girlfriend (that was actually Jin Kang's very close friend). Moo Young is actually a bad person but she was always protecting him and defending him. I know, sometimes he deserved it but most of the time, no. And oh my god, when she breaks up with him... what a drama. She kept saying she couldn't live without him when in fact, she could. Why wouldn't she live? She have a "brother", friends, people who really cares about her. Moo Young on the other hand, doesn't have anyone, so it makes much more sense for him to say that he didn't want to live. So yeah, I didn't like this couple at all.

Jin Kang's brother was very annoying too. All the time he was blaming Moo Young and calling him a monster, a murderer, when in fact he isn't a good person either. He hid Jin Kang's past and ignored all the bad things that this secret could cause. I hated him so much ugh.

Seriously, Moo Young was the best character. He's actually a bad person but I found him interesting. And sometimes I understood him. I liked how intelligent he was, well, at least in the beggining. He's going to trust a woman that HE KNOWS that isn't trustful and he knows she's a bad person too. And all this trust, fucks him later. As a character who was so smart and who calculated all his steps all the time, why he was so stupid? Didn't make any sense for me.

That's it. I liked the mystery in this drama but for me Moo Young was the best thing. But well, if you like a suspense and a mystery drama, this may please you because it really makes you think in a lot of theories. And who knows, you might even like the main couple.

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A proper drama that makes you think and weep

This is probably not for everyone but I'm really glad I finished this finely observed drama about humankind. It provokes big questions like what makes someone good or bad and examines the consequences of decisions and actions. Apart from the FL who is just genuinely a really good person, you need to watch to the end to be able to make your mind up about 2 of the other key characters.

It's beautifully shot with a slightly washed out colouration which really suits the serious/dramatic mood. Strong performances from the fine cast. The tempo slows down (but doesn't drag) and then speeds up to some exciting action. Overall very well balanced.

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Incredible. So many unexpected plot twists, kept me guessing the entire time.

I've been wanting to watch this drama for years. I love both actors and have watched them in separate dramas and couldn't wait to see what they would be like together. This drama kept me guessing the entire time. So many plot twists, I can't count how many times I let out an audible gasp. Great chemistry between the actors, really interesting story line. Some parts of the drama were a little questionable, like her friend died and she was sad and then we never heard of that friend again. And her brother stabbed her boyfriend and she didn't seem all that upset about it. But it was more focused on her story and his story so I can let those things pass. The ending was absolutely tragic. I don't know that I've ever sobbed so hard watching any drama, besides Hwarang. It was heartbreaking, bittersweet. But absolutely beautiful. I couldn't sleep because I just kept thinking about it. The writers really knew what they were doing with this drama. I'm beyond impressed.

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Outstanding

What to say? Outstanding. A masterpiece for its genre.
This is not a conventional love story, but an actual melodrama which will keep you glued to the screen till the last second.
The story is intense, intricate, and well developed in general (apart some minimal plot-holes). I liked the way it was structured in order to keep the spectators constantly in suspense, sipping the details episode after episode, but at the same time leading them to figure out the potential developments so that the attention as well as the expectation is always high. Tears (a lot) are assured. Some moments and key scenes are really cruel in their tragedy.
The Leads, simply awesome all the three. Seo In Guk confirms his talent as handsome and damned, able to recreate the dramatic traits of his character as expected, constantly immersed in his role. Jung So Min, perfectly suited for the role, well impersonating her character also phisically. Both of them showing an intense chemistry. Park Sung Woong, the gentle giant, who hides a dark past, loyal to her sister so far as to make extreme gestures. He's well completed by a brilliant Jang Young Nam, all along the story. Also the other support characters were developed and defined. Maybe the villains were on the verge of psychopathy, which could compromise their credibility.
Music, excellent. I confess that I fell in love for Lost by Lim Yeon.
Just a word to some who criticized, complaining about the lack of continuity, gigantic plot holes and not nice performances of some: you should watch and understand what you watched prior to saying nonsenses. Unless you were writing about other shows.
For the rest, keep the tissues ready and enjoy it.

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In the final episode. Kim Moo Young spoke the words that meant " I felt human when I killed someone" - this reminded me of Inuyashiki (anime) where the young boy antagonist always tell these exact words. The final episode made me emotional at most and broke me to tears. It's like it all summed up when they were lying dead and Yoo Jin Gook saw them. Like it summarized it all, where it really hurt and the story matters the most. Being saved, living, and dying together while they're at each others side is really... Ugh. There's so much feels for that scene even though I watched it with too much gaps in between. I fell in love with the actors. Now i need some time again to watch another drama that stars them.

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