Secrets and Lies

The ending wasn't abrupt in my opinion, but a rather good cliffhanger. Some may say that the whole series was a let down because of how the story ends, but as Jae Bin runs towards the sea, there are only two possibilities: Hwa Kyung either drowns to her death or is saved by Jae Bin and leads a decent life. However, after watching 122 episodes of how the scheming and sly smart Hwa Kyung has evaded death, again and again, I think we can all agree that we would rather her go back to her old ways. Also, I was pretty satisfied with how the story added up all together, i.e how the chairman ended up with nothing after building his own company with so much effort but even his real grandson Do Bin didn't want it and the Jae Bin that loved him genuinely didn't bother about going back to the Misung family as well. Yeon Hee left him to study eventually and Myung Joon turned down the offer to take over the company as well. Overall, although Hwa Kyung as the villain didn't get her "supposed" punishment, I think the effort put into the scams and lies the crew has put together for Hwa Kyung, to begin with, was amazing. To start with, Hwa Kyung had to save herself by kicking her false dad out of the company as she didn't want her identity as the adopted daughter to be discovered. The secret of her identity, after being exposed didn't just stop there but instead got worse. Hwa Kyung began to fall for Do Bin who was the real grandson but was already taken by Woo Jung, someone who she had betrayed in the beginning. As an ambitious woman filled with greed for the Misung company, she decides to switch the identities of Jae Bin who comes from a poor family where Do Bin grew up as well. As Jae Bin is deeply in love with Hwa Kyung and was blinded by her lies, he agreed to be the fake grandson. Knowing the chairman would pass the company on to Jae Bin, Hwa Kyung knew she could easily take it from Jae Bin. After the switch, his real parentage slowly got discovered while his greed got larger and bigger. It was to the extent where even Hwa Kyung was shocked at how the once innocent and cheerful Jae Bin had evolved into such a scheming and solemn guy. The lies put into this drama, although weren't really true to current lives, were as I could tell, were very well developed to the upcoming ones. It seemed like Hwa Kyung's lies were weaved together seamlessly. However, nearing the end, with the bit of humanity Jae Bin has left, he decides to tell the chairman his real identity when Hwa Kyung unsuccessfully stops him. In uncertainty, the chairman personally checks up on him and alas, finds out everything. Determined to kill Hwa Kyung, he finds all sorts of way to do so and comes home one day to find Hwa Kyung who he has already kicked out taking something from his room. As he moves to kill her, he has a sudden heart attack, causing him to go into a coma. Things develop and Hwa Kyung is at the inauguration ceremony of being the next president. At this instant, the chairman enters and stops both of them. Both of them were arrested but Do Bin as the older brother decides to bail him out of jail as he thought that Hwa Kyung had dragged him into her series of lies. However, Hwa Kyung escapes from the detention center on the way to jail with help from Yeon Hee, her mother, who came to realize that although she was her fake daughter, she had loved the fake daughter for 30 years, not the original one. Determined to help her, she sets up a show to help Hwa Kyung get away from the country. At the airport, news of her and her clever schemes have been exposed onto national television, causing everyone to recognize her under the wig and sunglasses. Fleeing from the airport and leaving everything behind, she went on the streets for days. She attempted to fill her stomach at Jae Bin's original family who operated a fish soup store, whose mother after realizing her incorrigible actions has rejected her. In the end, she finally comes to her senses and asks her former friend Woo Jung and Do Bin who both are in the journalism industry to stream her apology on television. Jae Bin, who has been searching for her nervously over these few days, rushes down to the location to where she streams the video. Bumping into his brother, he hears that Hwa Kyung has gone to the police station to turn herself in. However, after checking, he realizes that his wife isn't there. The sudden realization of knowing that Hwa Kyung doesn't want to live a life full of lies and covering up after it drives him to the beach where Hwa Kyung solemnly thinks about what she has done. The drama ends off as Jae Bin and Hwa Kyung's love is revealed to be genuine and real and her thanking for the short period of joy that only he has given her. I had to admit that I wasn't happy with how it ended as it seemed incomplete, but taking into account how the actors portrayed their roles so well especially this couple makes me grateful that such a drama employed such capable actors. Despite the ending, it was still rather touching to see Hwa Kyung finally repenting. Overall, this really would be a good series to rewatch and relive as the scenes were just so empowering and fierce, bursting with emotions. To sum up, this drama, with the perfect but not well-known cast that I look forward to their works in the future, is definitely a 10/10 show for me. A well put together one.

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Secrets & Lies: A Modern-Day Sageuk (basically)

Overall, I enjoyed this drama, despite me disliking or being annoyed by some parts of it. Shin Hwa-Kyung was a fascinating villain protagonist to follow, Yoon Jae-Bin's descent into villainy was lowkey a guilty pleasure to watch, the plot twists were good, and it maintained that melodramatic tone throughout. I could've done with less scenes of Yoon Do-Bin & Jae-Bin's parents (and Han Woo-Chul, honestly. He was a sweetheart but I HATE how autistic characters are written in daily dramas. The only decent portrayal I've seen was in White Lies- in 2008), and there was way too much filler. The constant kidnappings of Han Ju-Won in the late half got annoying.

The veterans/older actors did INCREDIBLE in their roles, Oh Seung-Ah did great as the villain FL here (she won an award for a good reason), Bu-Bae was solid, Lee Jung-Moon was good (but a little OTT sometimes), and Seo Hae-Won... not good at all. The weakest actor in the main cast to me, honestly. She had no chemistry with the other actors and Woo-Jung was not interesting to watch. Hwa-Kyung felt (and WAS) far more compelling, complex, and hell, even better to watch. I'd say the characters I disliked the most were Oh Yeon-Hee (she was written so badly to me, or maybe I just failed to understand her motivations. She was all over the place and came off as incredibly annoying to me), Oh Sang-Pil (an amazing villain, I just hate how selfish he was), and Yong-Shim (Yoon brothers' mom. Greedy, vain, bitch. I couldn't stand her!) I was mostly neutral on Shin Myung-Jun- he did both women (YH & JW) dirty and was an asshole for most of the drama, but his near-death experience literally turned his life around. He underwent a great redemption arc to me.

Generally, I think this drama was about identity, family, and I'd say finding your place in the world. Who you are and what you do creates your version/view of the world. We mainly followed Hwa-Kyung, a woman who just wanted a real family and a stable, "perfect" life. The architect of her spiral into greed and the root of all evil was her tyrannical grandfather, Oh Sang-Pil. Was Hwa-Kyung ambitious too? Yes. Was she justified in her actions? Debatable. Was there a reasoning behind them linked to her difficult childhood? Absolutely. And we can't ignore this detail. She was also rivals with her (adoptive) dad, Myung-Jun. Her "fake" family was toxic, and the only decent people she had in her life were Yeon-Hee, Ju-Won, and Woo-Jung. One of the other reasons why I dislike Woo-Jung is because she weaponized Hwa-Kyung's past against her- like, OF COURSE she'd end up betraying you and screwing you over later! 😭 Hwa-Kyung didn't need to reconnect with her biological father (who ABANDONED HER) if she didn't want, nor was she entitled to!

Now, contrast Hwa-Kyung's life with Woo-Jung's. Woo-Jung, the daughter of a successful news anchor... and she's a child out of wedlock. Myung-Jun's her dad who abandoned her before she was even born. Despite having no (current) father figure, she grew up happy, comfortable, and mostly stable. By default, she assumed that Hwa-Kyung's life was easy because she was rich and the granddaughter of a conglomerate chairman. Although it wasn't, and Hwa-Kyung presented things as such because of the immense pressure she was facing at home. There's some envy at play here, right? 🤔 I also feel like part of the reason why she pushed for Hwa-Kyung to reunite & make peace with her dying bio dad was to fill a void or attempt to make up for her (WJ's) own absent dad in *her* life. But I might be reading into this too much lol

Onto the brothers! Yoon Do-Bin and Jae-Bin! Do-Bin is the righteous, stubborn, and protective older brother. Jae-Bin, however, is the carefree, lovable, and easygoing younger brother. Do-Bin is a producer at MSTV, Jae-Bin is Ju-Won's manager. The Yoon brothers perfectly summarize the themes of identity and family. Do-Bin is secretly the grandson of Chairman Oh (though he remains unaware for a WHILE), while Jae-Bin is not. When Hwa-Kyung finds this out, what does she do? She switches their fates, and basically raises all hell on the Oh family after they try to kick her to the curb. Here, we see Jae-Bin's descent into villainy as Hwa-Kyung masterfully manipulates him for her own means, and he becomes a victim of her greed & lies. But he loves her. He truly, purely, does. And that's the tragic part. Do-Bin, on the other hand, embarks on a one-man mission to expose and take down Sang-Pil... even AFTER finding out that he's his grandson. The guy is incredibly brave for sure. What's amazing, is that even after getting betrayed and screwed over by everyone in his life, he never goes dark. He practices restraint and still chooses to accept, understand, and reach out to Jae-Bin- even when he's at his absolute worst. That's brotherly love... and it's beautiful to me. One of the best parts in the series to me. 🥹

I could go on, but I think I've illustrated my points very well. The music (especially the BGM) was really good, the directing was great (seriously, MBC daily dramas might have some of the best filming I've seen in daily dramas overall, along with tvN!), and the acting was good. If you like villain protagonists, enjoy questioning yourself sometimes, are really into business/thriller-based dramas, love schemes, set-ups, and cliffhangers that make you wanna rip out your own hair, and like morally grey characters, then this is for you. I personally recommend it and this is a daily drama I'd watch again, but only the best parts. Cut out all the filler, and it's WAY more engaging to watch. Onto another drama!

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