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honestly i loved hello monster/remember you to begin with. i’m not sure if others got the same vibe, but i could tell the writers were definitely trying to hit home the idea of “nature vs nurture,” which honestly gave the story SO much potential. might be a hot take, but i could find 민 redeemable. i’ll admit he was never innocent and made his own choices, but even through his crimes, there was still some humanity in him. 준영 shaped his life, controlled what he knew about 현, and treated people like experiments, but as 민 started confronting his reality and 준영 himself, you could notice that shift. 민 kept coming back to the same questions: “did 현 really abandon me?” and “did 현 purposefully leave me with 이준영?” THAT was his motivation. i think what made me pity him was how much his actions seemed tied to his need to understand why he was abandoned and what 준영 had done to his life, even if 민 thought that 준영 wasn’t the one responsible for his underlying nature but had only brought it out.

what also made me see some potential for redemption in 민 was that, towards the end, he seemed to TRY to do the right thing, even if he wasn’t completely free of 준영의 influence. you could still see that influence in how 민 thought about death and punishment, especially during the conversation about the planning officer with 현. the way he talked about what she deserved showed that 준영의 way of thinking hadn’t simply disappeared. but i think that’s what made 민의 choices behind the scenes more interesting. even while that way of thinking was still present, 민 was beginning to make choices that didn’t completely align with it. to me, that mattered. he didn’t have to suddenly become a good person or abandon everything 준영 had taught him for his choices to mean something. he could still be cruel, still have a deeply warped sense of justice, still believe that THAT was just his nature, and yet still be capable of choosing differently. obviously, that doesn’t excuse his crimes or erase the fact that he was responsible for his own choices, but i couldn’t help seeing the humanity in him alongside the cruelty. to me, THAT is what makes 민 so important to the “nature vs nurture” argument. his choices challenge 준영의 worldview by showing that, although our environment can shape us, it doesn’t necessarily determine who we become. 민의 attempt to do the right thing suggests that he could still question what 준영 had taught him, even when its influence remained. nurture can matter, but it doesn’t have to define us completely.

i know this review is already getting long, however, i also have some mixed feelings on 박보검의 acting. in the beginning, i could tell his performance felt a little awkward, and there were definitely moments where i felt as though i was watching 박보검 trying to act as 민, rather than 민 himself. his expressions felt surface level, and a lot of his performance came across as “i think this is what 민 would do” rather than “i KNOW this is how 민 would react.” it started out feeling like 박보검 was relying on basic expressions and mannerisms associated with “villainy” roles instead of conveying what was actually going on inside the character. i’m not discrediting his acting completely, though!! as the story progressed, i could notice a change in his performance. as 민 was given more emotional depth, 박보검 seemed to become more confident and comfortable expressing him. it reminded me of what the director of love in the moonlight had said about 박보검 struggling with the character early on, to the point where the first two episodes were reshot. 박보검 himself also spoke about how he initially lacked confidence in his acting. i can’t say the same thing happened here, but i did feel and see that progression through 박보검의 performance. again, i’m not saying he’s a horrible actor. i absolutely love his later work, and even some of his earlier work, but the insecurities and awkwardness that i feel have sometimes come through in 박보검의 acting seemed particularly noticeable in this role sadly. (he’s still in my top 5, i swear im not a 박보검 hater)

one of my biggest issues, however, is that the writing doesn’t always earn its emotional beats. towards the end, it felt like they tried to do the same with 준영 through his sudden desire for a “family.” who knows? maybe i missed something, and that was his motivation all along. however, when the show puts that much narrative weight on a character like him, only to treat him like some ordinary guy towards the end who just happened to “slip away,” it makes me irritated. the last episode especially felt rushed, dodged so many consequences, and left 민의 choice and 준영의 fate unresolved. i would’ve honestly accepted 민 surviving or dying, despite his huge role in my argument, but it almost felt like the writers did a complete 180 in the final stretch and abandoned their own story. this was especially noticeable when they started leaning more into the romance between 차지안 and 이현 after the time jump. the romance itself was fine, i’m not complaining about that, but it felt like the show was shifting its focus away from the conflicts that actually needed resolving. long story short, i loved analyzing this show for what it’s worth and the premise was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but it definitely deserved a much more satisfying conclusion imo. #love박보검