This review may contain spoilers
We. Are. All. Trying. Here... Aren't we all?
The title alone elicits thoughts about how you live your life now. Whether you wanna simply live and get by or you wanna win and get a bigger piece of the pie, too.
It's not often that we can come across a well thought-of story in a soap opera with dynamite characters with explosive dialogues.
And it did not have to use extensive/expensive practical effects or fancy computer graphics to make an audience glued to his screen.
The protagonists are underdogs. ML is a struggling and an unproven film director of twenty years who lives in a shoddy APT with his older brother, a published poet but kept to himself as he does a day job as a welder because he's carrying the pain of being separated from his young daughter. FL does office work for a film company. She lives with her paternal grandma. She has a childhood trauma of being left behind by her mother at a young age. Her dad died soon after.
There's a number of scenes that I would call a fireball because the scriptwriter did a fine job of making some meaningful lines/thoughtful dialogues and it won't be possible if she is shallow or just someone who shuffles from paycheck to paycheck. I must say the falling out scene of CEO Ko with Choi in his office was a delightful surprise. And her giving the ML the big WHO-ME of his life one night at the club was the coup de grace I honestly did not see coming! ML's face looked like he was kicked/sh*t in the gut. FL's interactions with her biological mother are all gems in a treasure chest. The season's finale is going to be something not to be missed.
I really hope the underdogs get their glorious moment before the curtain closes.
STRONG: storyline and the characters; even the pet cat played a significant role to showcase ML's shining character -- even against a loan shark!
The love angle brewing between the ML and FL (both tortured but honorable characters) made me want it to develop to a full bloom; like their matching light on their Ximfit watches showed they really have more than something in common with regards to their emotions. And it's worth noting that Ximfit took a backseat in the scenes at the latest to give way to other more significant plots leading to the final episode.
WEAK: Only twelve episodes. I was shaking my head because the story is that good. And then, I realized why it ain't 16 or 20 episodes or more, instead. It makes a lotta sense that the writer is simply prepping for ANOTHER season! Or like maybe it's a tactic for the ratings to come and sink in (another potential acting award for GYJ [epistaxis scenes] and why not) and let the public clamor for more shows! So, take your pick.
Plus, the series isn't over yet, but here I am rendering my review now because I still don't want the soap to end at episode 12!
Lastly, I am dreading that the final episode would be a cliffhanger! Oh, nooo! I hope it's not! T'T
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