julwa

Up until the final episode, I considered this series to be great. I wasn’t bored for a single moment, and the entire plot kept me genuinely interested in every next episode. The whole moms’ team was fucking awesome, and it was a real pleasure watching them shut up all the doubters and support each other. The chemistry between the main leads — Ko Da Rim & Kong Ji Hyeok — was AMAZING from the very beginning and clearly palpable for the viewer. On top of that, their relationship itself was very enjoyable to watch. Yes, there were many misunderstandings that could have been solved with honesty, but at no point did I feel their relationship was toxic (a so-called red flag). Maybe with one exception — the pool incident, where in my opinion he crossed a line by “forcing” her to jump into the pool even though she couldn’t swim. Other than that, they were an enormous support for each other and would have risked everything for one another. Their moms were also wonderful, and watching their friendship was a delight — especially how, thanks to her mom, his mom started getting back on her feet and decided to fight for her own happiness.

However, the last episode was, in my opinion, tragic on many levels. The idea of his memory loss itself wasn’t bad, but dumping it all into the final episode absolutely was. Because of that, we spent half of the finale watching her pathetic attempts to restore his memory. I find it hard to understand why she didn’t think earlier that a kiss might bring his memory back, considering they had already talked about it once. On top of that, Kang Gyeong Min knew that a kiss was what sparked his friend’s feelings in the first place, so it’s also weird that he didn’t tell her about it. It’s even harder for me to understand why his mother didn’t try to talk to him and explain that Ko Da Rim wasn’t a scammer and that they really were together. He accused everyone else of lying, but he loved and trusted his mother, so he wouldn’t have suspected her.

Then came their one-year separation, during which he still knew nothing — even though he went back to work at the place where they had previously worked together, where a scandal had just happened and which he must have known about. Hell, the media surely published plenty of articles about them dating. Did he seriously think everyone was lying to him? Then there was a random encounter where he suddenly remembered everything, followed by quick music montages of their moments together, half-assed proposals, etc. Overall, the final episode left plot holes, unresolved threads, or storylines that were treated lazily because the creators decided to cram everything into that single episode.

One of those unresolved threads concerned Ko Da Rim. She flew to Jeju Island to find her sister, but instead she met Kong Ji Hyeok, they kissed, and suddenly the sister plot completely disappeared. We don’t know whether she found her or what came out of their conversation — and I consider that storyline quite important. After all, it was because of her sister that the main leads met in the first place, and also because of her that Ko Da Rim looked for a job and ended up working for him.

Now let’s talk about the second main “couple”: Yoo Ha Yeong & Kim Seon U. In the first episode, I was convinced Yoo Ha Yeong would be an annoying character impossible to like, sabotaging the main couple. Turns out — she became one of my favorite characters in the entire series. Very warm and kind, yet persistent and fighting for what she wanted. Her relationship with his son was wonderful and genuinely moving at times (the school performance). Because of that, as the series went on, I felt more and more sorry for her.

I probably differ from many people here, but personally, I didn’t see a happy ending for them — at least not at that time. She completely fell for him, but from his side those feelings were never there. Even the scene where he tended to her wounds while she slept didn’t come from romantic feelings in my opinion — it came from him simply being a good person. So I had no issue with him. From the beginning, he clearly defined where they stood and rejected her instead of giving her false hope. However, I do have a major issue with the scene of their meeting years later, which suggested that “maybe” something could happen. Not the fact that the meeting happened — I don’t deny that after years they could meet again and feelings might develop on his side once he healed from his past love — but personally, I didn’t like that scene. It portrayed her somewhat as a desperate woman approaching him after five years while he was talking to another woman and saying they might be together in the future.

Now let’s move on to the most important antagonists.

I’ll start with the one person I developed a tiny bit of sympathy for — Kong Ji Hye. Did I hate her throughout the entire series? YES. Did I change my mind at the end? NO. BUT that doesn’t change the fact that I understood her in a twisted way and felt sorry for her in some aspects. Since childhood, she carried the label of “the mistress’s daughter.” Her father took her in only to silence his own guilt. She worked hard, but her father was never going to appreciate her anyway. The man she loved constantly manipulated her and treated her like trash. Does that excuse her actions? No. But it makes her more than a one-dimensional villain — she’s someone who never experienced love. In the end, she even turned that piece of shit over to the police, which earned her the only plus point from me out of the whole trio. Maybe I’m naive, but I saw a hidden potential in her to become a good person and hoped someone would help her get there. That didn’t happen — or at least it wasn’t shown. In her case, we also have two unresolved issues: first, what happened to her after she left the company and moved out? Second, she never found out that Yoo Tae Yeong was manipulating her again and actually wanted to use her to buy her father’s company.

The main male lead’s father (he doesn’t deserve to be called a dad) — Kong Chang Ho. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality in this man that could inspire even a shred of sympathy. A man completely blinded by career and money. So much so that he stripped his wife of all happiness and freedom, driving her into depression and anxiety, then blamed her for her condition — and later for fighting back. He treated his children no better. His son was nearly dying in the hospital, and he was worried about his position. He took his daughter in only to appease his guilt. I watched his downfall with great pleasure — losing everything and everyone around him. In the end, he was left alone with nothing — a happy ending.

The final character is Yoo Tae Yeong. No matter how you look at it, he was mentally ill, and I’m honestly surprised he ended up in prison instead of a psychiatric hospital. The actor played him brilliantly — the madness was visible in his eyes from the very beginning. His facial expressions alone showed his manipulative nature. Still, I feel that, just like Kong Ji Hye, he wasn’t evil by nature. His madness was influenced by his father, who also treated his children like shit and constantly belittled him by comparing him to the main lead. Of course, that doesn’t excuse his actions, but it could have added more depth to his character. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed watching his plan fall apart and seeing him end up in prison, where he got beaten by other inmates and completely abandoned by his family — a happy ending.