The romance between MCs was decent, but it wasn't epic or steamy or particularly romantic. It was a pretty realistic build up, I just wanted more depth and tension. The actors were decent, but I didn't find that the MCs had a lot of chemistry (and they did NOT look great kissing - I disagree with that common opinion).
The plot itself was a bit slow and drawn out, which wasn't too bad, but not great either. Just kind of had me "meh."
***MILD SPOILERS BELOW***
What I really liked about this drama was the ending. The way the FMC's ex realizes how his greed caused him to lose his future of happiness as a father and husband was so well portrayed. The entire scene when he fell apart gave me goosebumps!
I also really liked how the FMC was consistent with her character by the end - she was such a good mother to her son up until the end by not insisting on ripping him away from his adoptive mother even though she was devastated and desperate to get him back. Yes, it was sad that the FMC didn't get to be with her son again as mother-son, but it was a good resolution that fit the story and characters.
***MILD SPOILERS ABOVE***
The soundtrack was decent - while none of the songs bothered me, none of them particularly stood out. *shrugs*
Overall, this drama was alright. I don't think I'd recommend it or dissuade anyone from watching it. It wasn't awful but it wasn't intense or remarkable either. I don't understand all of the hype in the reviews for this drama, but I can respect it.
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Story: Guilt romance. Same inverse story in innocent guy.
Here acting was perfect and made the story work. If you pass first episode it goes pretty fast.
I have to say this is best Kdrama i watched because of satisfaction. Normally kdrama start well and drag second half. This one fast paced and rocks.
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No fast forward
One of the best KDramas I have ever watched ....... Best actors.....all....love them....the driver/bodyguard/runner....even the rich father and the step mom, well written characters....believable! no boring over-d-top villains that do evil things that makes no sense.Great ending, highly entertaining.
I don’t usually watch melodrama but this is recommended , I was pleasantly surprised , thanks to the writer and director....please do more of this caliber. I’ll keep track of their other works.
I didn’t expect the ending , I mostly don’t watch the last episodes simply I get bored and already expecting what’s the usual ending which is.....that the main characters end up living happily ever after....most kdramas have boring dead-like kisses to finalized the story....this one is really juicy, and there’s closure , there’s justice and done really well. Good writing , good cinematography....both leading actresses two thumbs.
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One of the best Kdramas all time
This is one of the best K dramas I ever watched. It flows with a great storyline and the cast has done an amazing job. There were many occasions that made me cry. This is one of the emotional K dramas I watched after a long time.I fell in love with the series and finished the series within 2 days. Usually, I dropped watching a drama when the first 2 episodes fail to get my attention. But Secret grabs my attention since the start and I couldn't resist stopping watching the drama continuously. Main lead couple has done a great job and supporting cast also contribute to the story at their best. Also, the series has such nice OSTs which created much attachment to the scenes emotionally while watching the drama
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the best melodrama i have watched to-date, hands down
finished, yasss!honestly this drama was brilliant in every sense of the word. particularly for the lead couple, they are the perfect cast for this drama. can't praise them enough!
i am however slightly dissatisfied with the business aspects of the story. Attorney Ahn kept repeating that he worked very hard to climb to the top, but it seemed like things got easy for him because of So Yeon, LOL. also the last plan of them when him and So Yeon teamed up to make sure Min Hyeok agrees to the marriage if he doesn't want to destroy both him and So Yeon together. they literally glossed things over and didn't elaborate properly about what exactly they threatened him with, and how those dealings came to be. they have also never bothered to show Se Yeon's politician father not even once, LMAO. would have been so nice if that part was included properly into the story. mostly we got Min Hyeok who was seen always busily chasing around Yoo Jeong for his revenge LOL, but it's a missed opportunity that they didn't show exactly what type of a businessman he is.
i feel like ep. 15 of this drama could have been ep. 19 instead, with those bits filled in that would make the story a lot more complete. i came away feeling mainly dissatisfied with how weak Attorney Ahn tried to topple him, and how rushed everything felt at the end LOL. the story would have gotten more dynamic and stronger if they made him a smarter, more ruthless/wicked villain who is willing to do just anything and more evil things to avoid the fall.
i kept comparing this drama in my head with The Innocent Man, which the latter could be said more complete (3 main characters, able to be stretched out to 20 episodes). they fleshed out the power struggle story really well there, whilst here it's the main love story and the melodramatic life of the FL that they did extremely well.
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One of the classics ever!!
It starts pretty off and we think that it is totally unfair but when we get into the further episodes, we just binge watch and the characters portrayed the roles very well and I am not writing any spoilers but yeah a must watch one and all the cast lived up to the mark and story went very well and the resentment from the leads after knowing the secrets is so well shown and I can deliberately say that these type of dramas are rare now a days..MUST WATCH PERIOD!!Every thing in this drama made much more sense and every death had a cause and also the chemistry between leads was phenomenal....whenever female lead tears up,,we tear up too omg she was fabulous
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I wasn't going to watch this...but I'm so glad I did
I've heard about this drama for years now, and I thought that I had no interest in it at all. I don't always love melodramas, even though I've seen quite a lot of them, and I don't always like revenge dramas...and this one was both. So I had this drama under "Not Interested" for a long time and I thought that was that. But I recently read an article about hate-to-love dramas and there were so many comments recommending this, that I reluctantly said that I would try it. And MAN. I am so glad the drama fairies made this happen. WOW. I knew that all of the actors involved were top-notch but I had no idea that this drama would bring as many feels as this one has. This was a roller coaster ride and one that I'm thrilled to have finally decided to jump on.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I should've watched sooner - Recommended!
I had this series in my watchlist for quite a while. Finally decided to watch and boy must I tell you I should've watched this sooner. This drama was incredible good despite the fact it's already 10 years old! Now, I actually expected a more rom-com like drama, boy was I wrong. I am not an easy crier I must admit, but I have cried my eyes out for poor Yoo Jung. What she went through was absolutely insane. She has all my respect and I am glad that she could recover from all that trauma. This drama was amazing and I highly recommend watching it.However, there are a couple of things that made me have so many feelings at once. (Emotions slipped a little while typing)
- Ahn Do Hoon (Her ex-fiancé); At first I felt very mixed about him. He wasn't that great of a boyfriend and Yoo Jung was blinded by love and accepted his proposal. He hit a goddamn person and as a prosecutor he still decides to run off? Now, I understand that he must've been scared for the consequences and his job etc. but him just leaving her to die is insane. Letting Yoo Jung pay for HIS actions and not even thinking about stepping forward and instead letting his innocent fiancé go in his place really did it for me. I actually felt bad for him due to the pressure he had to face after all that not anymore. But come on, how could Yoo Jung still think that being together while and after the whole trial + imprisonment was okay like he didn't do anything wrong? She trusted him way too much and it annoyed me so much. After all this bullcrap of his and after he reached a higher title he suddenly acted all high and mighty, it disgusted me so much that each time his face came on screen I had to remain calm not dragging him 100m into the ground. Him threatening both Yoo Jung and Min Hyuk like he isn't the problem of this situation. It was so satisfying to see him on his knees, apologizing like a dog and getting water splashed over him. But Kidnapping Yoo Jung's father because his minf was sharp and regained memories made my blood boil. That man treated him as his own and even forgave him yet fear took over Do Hoon. All I can say is that I'm glad he finally gave in and hope he rots in prison. Props to the actor Bae Soo Bin for being great at his job as actor lol.
- Shin Se Yeon; Incredibly irrelevant. Imo she was just an unnecessary obstacle and I hated the sight of her. Not much to be said about her since I skipped parts of her.
- Do Hoon's mother; What a disgusting witch. Giving her grandson away with the most stupidest reason. She had no right to do so and still thought she did the right thing but visits her grandson as much as she'd like? No wonder Do Hoon turned like that, his mother is as evil and nasty as him. Hated her, absolutely hated her from the beginning. She should serve til death.
- Yoo Jung's father; He knew, he KNEEEEEEEW! Yet kept his mouth shut. It angered me, I get that Do Hoon was like a son to him or whatever but please... I love her father so much but that caught me off guard.
- Girl that hurt San (Forgot her name); AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. How could she do such thing to a baby and still begging for forgiveness while crying like a baby. Hated her.
- Relationship between that Kwang Min and Min Joo; UH WHAT? It lowkey grossed me out and was so random like I thought he was like 50 and Min Joo like 18. Idk how old they were supposed to be but glad it was only 1 scene of her holding his arm.
- Min Hyuk (I love Ji Sung); I loved him but sometimes he was so intense (I still loved it) but the car scene where he kissed her and just ate her up like it was his last meal seemed kind of like assault as she didn't want to kiss him. I might've misinterpreted it, but that was the only thing that made me go like wow step back.
- San; Not about San himself but I was so sad when Yoo Jung saw her son and wanted him back so bad and I did feel bad for Do Hoon aswell seeing your child with 2 strangers that are his parents must've been so hard to accept for the both of them. Yet I'm glad Yoo Jung chose to let him go and held that family together even though it hurts. It was definitely the right choice but also the hardest.
All negatives aside, I definitely enjoyed watching it and loved the 2 broken hearts reparing eachothers and eventually love eachother ^^ Min Hyuk was so obsessed with her that he fell for her and made her fall for him.
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top 5 all time... bestest!
not many dramas i've watched more than once, but i lost count how many times i came back to re-watch this (at least some episodes). Ji Sung is genius for sure, and FL also exceptional in her character. is it realistic? sure not on the whole, but some scenes are sooo believable. it does rely on clichés, and we expect them to be there, but they are on a new level, burning with fire.a lot of tension, a lot of chemistry, but not in a superficial way. support cast does the job to perfection! a lot of handsome faces, but again - there's more than just good looks to each and every one.................................................................................................
dont let the word melodrama put you off ! it's not just melodrama to this, it's really an all-rounder. cathartic!..................................
i watch this and i dont want to even blink for fear i might miss something. ☜♡☞
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The story was well written and the actors were compelling in their roles plus the main characters chemistry is outstanding.
I found the story to be an amazing portrayal of what people do for love. To see the entanglement of the characters story and watch as they slowly "untangle" it was thrilling. It really made me feel for the characters and got me invested in their story. Seeing what they go through and seeing them get their revenge ( and they do get it ) made it all the more amazing.
Hwang Jang Eum and Ji Sung have amazing chemistry. No matter what drama they act in with or without one another, they still give an amazing performance. ( I suggest watching Kill me, Heal me to get more of the two actors )
%100 would re-watch! Always think of going back after watching some MV on youtube for this drama!
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