RemmyB

Oh dear no. Its nowhere near Breaking Bad or GoT. I will say its closest to GoT season 8 in quality. Its good but disappointing after the halfway point, just go in without expectations you will enjoy it

So many people agree with you. Incredible start (though I would say the magic ended at 8 for me, not 10), weak follow through

:( sadness

Oh she ate and her character was brilliant, but why Jin Mu get to be alive and still the big bad after 20 episodes? Someone stab him already

Big Mouth right now, there's no other ongoing drama I'm enjoying.

Older dramas though, right now I'm watching Mother, it's an incredible show it reminds me of other more meditative shows like My Mister, My Liberation Notes and Lost. I might watch the Japanese original after tbh

hahahaha dhsiudhsiu yes, fans of like to comment often on the shows they are fans of. dsiudsiudsiu I will be back to discuss whenever the whim strikes, I'm feeling very dsiudsiu today so

The more I think about what this drama turned into the more mad I feel about it, ARGH!

By the end of the Crown Prince duel I really thought this would be my all time great drama. Shame how it ended up

'The negative reviews are invalid' yeah well that's just like, your opinion man. If someone has viewed something in full and has reasoned why they consider a review to be this or that good (or not) it's as valid as any other. Let's not police views just because they are unaligned with our subjective reality

Ayo Kate your review was spot on for me. Every criticism you levied I identified with as well, though in my personal review I gave it a 7 as I did feel that there was more uniqueness and promise to the show than perhaps you felt, with the heavy servings of wuxia fantasy tropes that you are much more familiar with than I am.

If this is really the final sendoff for JSM, I have to applaud her performance that only ramped up in emotional heft and breadth of expression as the series went on. It was an incredibly challenging role and I'm not ashamed to admit I was skeptical of her performance at times near the midpoint and was totally proven wrong by the end. She killed it as Bu Yeon's character came to the forefront at the same time that Naksu's outer walls slowly crumbled. By the end JSM did an outstanding job of portraying the enigma, anguish and deep affection of her role. Big props to her.

not quite as much nudity I would add

Attention is selective, it's innate that people remember 3 things : first impressions, the emotional climax(es), and the ending note. Psychologically the rest carries a fraction of the perceived weight

Damn they really kept JSM on a leash until 20 :/ would've liked to see traces of her and badass Naksu sprinkled throughout much earlier on

I hope because of that its not the end of the line for Bu Yeon's storyline. She needs justice there's no closure yet. So as long as Part 2 addresses this, with or without JSM, who's more than likely going to at least have to have a cameo

One thing noone's talking about:

Cho Yeon finally has a chance to be an interesting character in part 2. Thank god.

True, but this is more hipster

For sure. I really hope the writers got more time to flesh out part 2 as a properly realised second half because it's too apparent in part 1 that they had to make a dollar out of fifteen cents stretching the hell out of too little. I hope the 10 episode part 2 versus 20 is a positive indicator of how things will come to be

You and I have pretty much been soul siblings in how we've felt to this show tbh. My affection and interest in this series totally waned from 9 to 19, but the second half of 20 has completely done a 180 for me. Feels like this is one episode that wasn't interfered with pacing wise or needlessly padded out to buy time. Part 2 looks like it could potentially bring back everything I missed about this show, with some fresh new ideas to boot. I'm down for it

Okay you know what, rewatching the finale again **** it I'm sold on Go Yoon Jung's Naksu.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Because this new Naksu and Jang Uk do not seem to be in nearly the same headspace as they were when they ended part 1. It's going to be a very different, angstier dynamic going forward when they meet again and there are going to be some questions from both sides. It's more acceptable to me that a different actress is taking the reins of this lead character because it's a different relationship and very different story surrounding it now.

It really does feel to me that part 2 is an entirely fresh next chapter. The grittier tonal shift, the stark evolution of pretty much every single character post AOS 'red wedding'. Episode 20 was a real event horizon for substantial change. I'm down for part 2, I'm more than keen.

I think 20 episodes would be perfect. 1-8 for me were perfectly paced, episodes 9-12 had so much filler that could be cut with no real loss, fake Bu Yeon storyline could've been sliced in half. Season 1's storyline could've finished by 14, 16 at the latest. Then the conclusin of the story in the last 6 episodes or so.

But of course that depends though on how part 2 looks, perhaps part 2 will be alot meatier than the 2nd half of part 1 and warrant some serious airtime in its own right.