Maika

the PK & B2B battle was hard but feels like they purposely extended the battle.
I can understand why they had a hard time judging the leader battle because both of them have different dancing styles
but it just felt that trix won that leader battle
rookie battle GOF definitely won and B2B definitely won the duo battle too
idk about the leader battle tho
Either ways congrats to B2B, I only know feeldog in there and I know he's a great dancer
but glad to see the other members shine too
Mnet really didnt give them any screen time till now

Why does Mnet continue to create drama for "views"? Can people not watch a show about dancing without unnecessary forced drama and making viewers hate a certain team because their favorite team and that team have some conflict with each other?? I hated this with SWF too.
They made global evaluation (which shouldn't be even called global since it's not available outside of SK?) play such a huge role in a crew's score.
But that public views is kinda manipulated in a way by creating tension between crews or painting some people badly? They also dont give equal screen time to each crew.
I hated the judging in SWF & I can say the same for SMF (especially that dropout battle in ep 5). I already accepted the judges are judging based off preference because each crew has different genres and it's hard to judge who wins that.
I'm just watching to see the dancing since all the crews are so good.

yeah, that's true.
The writer wanted that trope and there's really nothing we can do about it.
It definitely was forced & unnatural.
Everything was great from episodes 1-13.
14-16 is just where everything falls apart

From the start, they dropped several hints that things would change. They kept repeating the phrase of "nothing lasts forever" and we were hinted that Yijin and Hee Do weren't together in present time.

I understand that not everyone marries or lives happily with the person they loved the most. Sometimes people also have that feeling that they "fall out of love."

But the breakup shown here was terrible. There was no good justification to it?
Yurim & Jiwoong were an example of how long distance relationship can work out. When two people haven't seen each other or talked in a long time, they can still love each other. It all depends on the person and if you can make that commitment. Sure, Jiwoong's world revolved around Yurim and he didn't have an occupation that would lead him to constantly show up late or miss plans they make together.

As for Yijin and Hee Do. Hee Do was reckless so her asking to breakup during that moment, I kinda understood it. But after suffering after realizing she still loves him and him being there always comforted her, she could've just gotten back together? They just could have gotten back together? Both of them loved each other and still broke up.
She told him the love didn't support her, but she knows that isn't true. She was hurt when her support didn't reach him and didn't listen to him when he asked for understanding.
I thought Hee Do's character had some maturity since they broke up when she was 22?
She was scarred by her mother which I completely understand, but initially she was willing to deal with Yijin doing the same. It wasn't until her mother brought it up, that she decided to reconsider.

What they showed during the breakup was terrible. She knew that he was suffering through mental health issues (whether it was PTSD or depression) and told him to get therapy for it in the US cause it's better there. If you understood that, why would you leave him at that moment? Hee Do's character isn't shown to leave people at their lowest.

I couldn't care less who she married. I'm still frustrated to see an illogical breakup.
I could understand if they're teenagers. But their relationship had some maturity to it. The first problem they encounter as a couple hits them and instead of attempting to overcome it, our FL decides to end it. I was hoping to see at least her talk it out with Yijin. Of course, he wouldn't drop his career. But they could try working things out (him getting therapy or both cause she needs some too, them supporting each other, them attempting a long distance relationship). And if things didn't work out for them after attempting, then I understand. But I've seen people able to be with their loved ones while still focusing on their careers. You need the commitment and patience, though. I don't think it should be named incompatibility as some have said it. Another thing that bothers me is that although the writer wanted to be realistic, it was almost one dimensional. Not everything goes smoothly in relationships. People encounter problems in relationships all the time. Does that mean the solution is to end it? (If it was cheating or some other thing that is unforgivable, then yes of course end it) But if two people love each other deeply, wouldn't they think of trying to overcome it together and if it still doesn't work out, then cut it off for good.
I wonder when Hee Do got married, did she really not encounter any problems with her husband at all? Everything went smoothly? Is everything in life as simple as that?


This drama is relatable to me who is a college student. I've also had a group of friends in high school where we enjoyed life and then after we transitioned into college, things changed. People got busier with their lives. Some of us barely talked and we haven't seen each other in years. So I understand this part where we see adult Hee Do not in contact with the squad often it seems. Her daughter, Min Chae doesn't recognize them and learns about them through the diaries. But that's what I don't understand.
What kind of conversation did Min Chae and Hee Do have then?
I'd expect parents to tell their kids about stories of their days. It would be something I do or what was done for me. Maybe it's different for others. But not once Hee Do told stories about her younger days to her daughter? Hee Do also seemed to forget that memorable summer experience they had until the end..
Also Hee Do was so close to Yurim and they never contacted each other as moms? Like it makes no sense.
I've seen adults enjoy their lives. There's plenty of people who still contact and see their best friend. Marriage doesn't stop friendship?
Some people may drift away from their friends and focus on their family. But this is Hee Do.
She just turned into a different character.


While I understand the writer's intentions, why must dramas these days need to have angst.

Tbh, I was hoping to see Yijin and Hee Do happily ever somehow :') . They made us prepare for a sad ending for them and let us know they aren't together present time but still.. I ended up shedding tears on their breakup. It reminded me of how Hee Do said she wanted to experience love and breakup (and why breakup is shown to be difficult in Full House) she finally knows why...ahh this ending is going to bother me till I find a new drama to recover from this.

Finally decided to watch this and so much to write about this drama.
It started off so good and then the last two episodes was a complete mess. I can see what the writer was going for, but still.

Thank you for your explanations. I'll look into the novel.

Yes, I agree with what you've said and that's what I also mentioned. If he favors her too much, that'll cause a huge problem.

But I never considered the second part. It's true he acted like he owned her so he wouldn't care about her wishes to be free. I assumed he would let her go after hearing how she wants to live freely. But he also never understood when she asked him if it would be better if they were common people in the drama. So he wouldn't understand her concern that she wanted someone to love only her back.
I thought perhaps he would be able to sympathize with her sentiment and decide to let her go.
She ended up choosing him in the end and sacrificing her freedom, even without telling him she liked him back directly

So the whole plot of the court ladies rebelling against the king seems trivial.
I thought they'd provide a GOOD reason as to why the Head Court Lady Cho had a secret organization. They kept saying they were abandoned by the king. But then Court Lady Park exposes the Head Lady saying she wanted revenge because she wasn't chosen by the King & Consort Yeong was. She was heartbroken & wanted that same status as the Consort.
And because of that she affected the relationship between CP Sado & the king.
Then she tried to do same with Yi San & the King/grandfather.
This is like an overused plot where we have a character getting revenge for being rejected.
It left me with so many questions.
- Did the other court ladies not know their Head Lady was doing this for her personal feelings against the king? If they did, they still supported her? I'm assuming some may have been forced like Court Lady Seo.
- If the other court ladies weren't forced, then what was their reason to rebel?? Like did Wol Hye decide to rebel because of her aunt?
It wasn't clear. They stated they thought Yi San would end up like CP Sado but they also never went in depth about what CP Sado did. We were told he killed people and court ladies. Me as a viewer who has no knowledge of history, assumed he did that cause he found out about the secret organization. I had to google up that he had a mental illness and raped court ladies and beheaded a lot of people randomly. Now if that was mentioned, I'd understand why they were concerned.
But then again if you focus on Court Lady Park's statement, it seems like she's implying the Head Court Lady was the reason why CP Sado went mentally ill (b/c she sabotaged the relationship between father & son).
These points seemed like they didn't want to go much depth in it. They should've at least made it more clear what CP Sado did to become a criminal since it has been mentioned several times that he sinned.
I realize that all this plot did was try to develop the relationship between the main couple & other characters. So I'm not too bothered by it.

Now we have Deok Im who comes from a different POV than this Head Court Lady. I'll be honest I never liked LSY's acting in 2 of her dramas, but she's great here. The younger actress for the child SDI was really good too! The development between SDI & YS was good. LJH also did good as YS.

I was also frustrated with the rejections. It was overused & I understand that they wanted to follow the real history where he was rejected for 15 years.
I get that her reason is she wants him to love her only, but he can't do that since he's a king & he's gotta spend time with other women. It's like modern times (altho there is polygamy still in some cultures) but overall in modern times, when you have a couple you don't want your man to have relationships with other women (and having sexual relations too)
My issue is, SDI's character is shown to be fearless in front of the king. She has an unfiltered mouth and she's offended him several times.
WHY does she lack the courage to tell him her concern?"I could be yours, but you can't be mine." Make it clear to him when you reject him? She has these thoughts but doesn't share it. Was she scared he'd force her to stay? But she ended up staying with him in the end on her own. She has the courage to lie & tell him she doesn't like him & never sees him as a man but her character shows that she's most likely in love with him.
Also if she told him, she knows he's calculative, he wouldn't do anything too bizarre like not have any concubines and make her Queen. Something that would turn a lot of people against him. It just felt contradictory to her character.

Edit- I have to say, the ending was beautifully wrapped up.

This is a good drama overall. I read about the real history about the couple and it seems like they didn't go too far from what actually happened. This drama can be frustrating sometimes and some parts may seem unnecessary. But some of the parts that are frustrating is understandable if you think about it.

Main focus seemed to be the main couple's story. They just added Jeongmin/Ian's side story but it was a mess. I felt like there could be more. The lack of focus on his story makes it seem like they could've just had this drama without him. So many unanswered questions. Some which may not be needed, but I'd still like to know. Ian said he was the shadow, probably because Jeong min was still able to live happily and love despite going through a rough past? Im curious how Ian grew up when he was adopted...there's just a lot that could've went into their stories. The mystery behind that chairwoman Ma or something that wanted to be the next successor...her story was left hanging.

Ga young's character we knew she wanted to commit suicide, but they never focused much about her either. Most characters we know their stories briefly. Not everyone has to be in a relationship...but Ga young's boxer trainer just disappeared after being rejected....?

good healing drama, but seems like they tried to add every element in here which ended up in them not tying up everything properly.

I have a lot to say about this one.
- The romance. I have no issues with our main couple, there were plenty of scenes with them and the romance was good. They understood each other well and they didn't have the typical trust issues (like cheating). They had problems in their relationship, but it was understandable and not frustrating.
The romance of the side characters was frustrating. Sangyu (TXL's younger sister) was one of the most annoying characters and I don't see the romance between her and Pei Shaojun at all. She was persistent and that's all I saw. The way it looked like to me was she was forcing her feelings onto him. And he suddenly confesses that he likes her too which I'm guessing is cause he caved in cause of her persistence & boldness.
Same can be said about Su Hongchen & Gu Shuang. The guy was following her 24/7. Then on the day TXL is drunk he accuses her and gets angry at her. Doesn't trust her at all.
Both of these side couples story was poorly written imo. It didn't feel like romance between them.

- Character development. I think it took them too long to show Guangyao coming to a realization (that scene almost made me tear up tho I felt so bad for him). He knew what his father was doing, but finally made a choice for himself till the last 3 episodes.
Su Hongchen needed Shuang's death as a wakeup call as well. PSJ made a change earlier when TXL told him he needs to choose when he left his sister with him.
I need to add that I hate how they let off Xu Yuan so easy. We get to know his past and he suddenly has this pitiful story and ends his life on his own. After all the cruel things he did to others & Shuang...

I like how our ML & FL are consistent. Both are very smart and each time you think they're going to be fooled, it isn't the case. The one part where I felt may have been inconsistent, is near the end, TXL didn't suspect Liu cause he worked with his father. But, what I don't understand is wouldn't TXL feel like Bojun would have other people in Jiang City and that everything was going too smoothly?
Even FL told him not to trust him. At least he figured out a day before, but that costed the lives of 99.5% of his army. But the one good thing to see was he wasn't kidding his men were holding off well till the cannons came out. They were able to kill a lot and his soldiers loyalty was nice to see. They were all willing to go till the end.

Tan Si's death was sad (at least Old Fu made it..). It was just as sad as seeing Shuang's last moments (and how she was abused before dying). I expected deaths since this is a drama during the time of war. I honestly thought Guangyao would die cause the sins of his father were too much for him & he feels at peace when he dies in battle. But in a way glad to see him, SHC & PSJ reunite. The 3 were good friends after all.

Towards the end, I did find it dragging. But I still overall enjoyed it.

I like the drama so far but each scene with Sangyu (ML's younger brat sister) gets more & more frustrating. Makes me want to just skip any scene with her.

yes

I watched this after Snowdrop when I heard it's a similar time period and it's a sad ending as well.
When I started this, I thought both our FL & ML would die.
But it's sad. This drama is really heavy.
The parts in the end that really made me sad was:
- How Myung Hee never got to reconcile with her dad. I'm sure her dad knew cause he told Myung Soo that she cares about their family, but just has something more important. But I can't help thinking how their situation also would leave the person alive with guilt as well. Myung Hee probably felt that it would be nice if they had resolved things between them instead of arguing till the last moment. Also her dad left her the watch & money.
- The guilt Myung Soo probably would end up having? He lost both his dad and sister so quickly and both of it was to protect him. They didn't show it but it's probably something he did have to live with.
- The main sad part was Hee Tae's situation. I already had a feeling in the scene where he says his prayer about bearing the worst pains that MH would die. It was probably obvious for others in start, I expected it too. But I saw that his father didn't decide to kill MH till the very end. So I thought perhaps she wouldn't die and HT would instead. Either ways, if HT died too it'd be sad as well. In the end, HT also realizes that the prayer vow he made about bearing the worst pain was basically him bearing the loss of MH.
- MH died without having to to fully enjoy one thing she wanted. She wanted to pursue her dreams before, but then it was gone when she found out she won't be able to so she decided to spend her life with a loved one. Didn't get to enjoy that for long either. She sacrificed a lot for others and when she finally decided to live for herself, she only had little time to enjoy it.

In the end, you see Seok Chul is alive so guessing she recovered from her coma? The one miraculous thing but we all know MH is dead which is sad.
What made me sad is Kyung Soo's choice. It's funny how he remembered HT's words about how he's strong & he just needs to make the best choice for the moment. In that moment, he thought it was best to chase after MS and let the kid go which I was glad he did that and it isn't his fault MH got shot.
BUT
I was disappointed he just left MH there to DIE?!
I guess it was expected. He was scared after all. The military was manipulative. But still, idk.
I guess He couldn't rush her to the hospital or try to take her away but couldn't he be there till she passed away or something?
Or when he goes back to the army base, I'm guessing he saw HT at some point right? He couldn't tell him where she died?
The only thing he does is when he's old and sees the skeletal remains he has a feeling it's MH. Man, you made your friend suffer for 41 years and even before that you made him care for a woman who's bleeding severely that gives him trauma.
Well in the end he knows he can't be his friend after what he's done. That's why he's been living in isolation

I've been watching too many dramas that make you cry lately..

I just hated the fact how we see some characters get betrayed countless times and they don't learn from it. (Or how when people are tied up but they manage to escape several times.)
I felt so bad for Soo Hoo's character cause his home country turned their backs on him (his birth mom AND adoptive dad) and him having to rely on SK's people but constantly getting betrayed by them too.
HOWEVER, what I don't get is how all the characters kept letting Bun Ok go?
She should've been TIED UP. SHE RUINED THEIR PLANS SEVERAL TIMES.
I don't understand why they let her roam free?? I get the hall director Pi pitied her and felt guilty but doesn't mean you cover for all the stuff she did? And it would've been better if you had told her in the beginning of the hostage situation about her sister?
The writers did a great job of making us hate her character so much but then what do they do?
They let her off, she somehow "redeemed" herself when she did absolutely nothing but radio Chief An about the different location only cause she wanted revenge for her sister.
All the time she kept using the pity card about her sick dad or something, but she gets to live without being punished.
It seems like the drama really wanted to be realistic as possible where you see some bad guys get punished but some bad guys still roam free (like EYR's step mom Hong who just took all the money and ditched the family probably living somewhere happily)

Initially I thought this would be like CLOY, but after seeing the spoiler about Soo Hoo going to die, I was sad. Him getting shot multiple times and his last moment still teared me up no matter how many times I told myself he gonna die. Hae in's acting amazing as usual.
I probably should've expected Soo Hoo to die. There were many times I was yelling internally. I was panicking when he was standing out there with EYR on the day he escaped from dorm, and then when he stopped to read her paper airplane...Then he entered the dorm when he could've just waited at the shrine entrance (like his other team mates got in somehow iirc?? they could've escaped...This writer likes killing people off in main couple too..

Also from the ending it looked like EYR never got to reconcile with her friends made it even a more brutal ending. I wish that part was clarified. We're left assuming she's alone with the memories of Soo Hoo and fulfilling his wish for her to live. Her brother's dead, dad in jail, her lover dead, maybe her grandma is alive, and seems like her friends left her, but they're all happy in the dorm and seems like they've forgiven Bun Ok (but not EYR?). That's just sad. EYR also probably living with a huge amount of guilt too unlike Bun Ok.

Also I felt bad for Soo Hoo's other comrades (maybe not so much Joo Gyeok but sometimes he really looked like a puppy for those cup noodles. But the other guy Eung Cheol who temporary lost his hearing and was walking with a limp just got shot in the head. That was sad. Kinda wish Lee Gangmu and Soo Hoo would still keep in touch with a radio till they got aboard the boat and would be aware of how Man Dong will kill them. I also expected them to be smarter when they just assumed Ms. Oh is the spy based off the radio and Man Dong telling them about how she was in the war, but they've made questionable decisions several times so... And not every one can get a happy ending. But it was weird seeing Man Dong just waver when he heard Soo Hoo telling him everything & that EYR is in danger and he protects him from the shot, but like it makes no sense. It felt kinda abrupt)

At least Gang mu and Han Na got theirs, but Han Na did piss me off initially. She was so fixated on him that she couldn't see the rest and just kept following his orders no matter what. At least she wasn't dumb in the end and drove the girls away. I also don't like how weak they portrayed EYR's character to be. Every time there's a gun fight or some sort of fighting she's scared on the ground crying. Kinda wish they made her into a stronger FL character. Seems like in the end, they're hinting that all her tragic experiences will make her strong.

Another part I don't get is when EYR went back for Soo Hoo, Pi and the rest left her. Couldn't Pi make that call when they tried to get the kitchen lady Oh out of the debris? It sounds cold, but they ended up doing that with EYR so could've just left the lady there and escaped?

I have a few issues with the writing. I understand some parts they wanted to make realistic, but it's incredibly frustrating seeing how some of these characters were written especially the female ones except for Kang Cheong Ya's character. Han Na's character does get better in the middle, I guess. Also some episodes got draggy near the end. I had to skip through and fast forward.
I got spoiled for the ending, but watching the last episode still made me emotional.
All the actors did great and Jisoo wasn't bad either for her debut drama.
Initially it was obvious she was a rookie (there were some weird expressions) but later on it wasn't a problem. I look forward to seeing her in more roles

mainly watching it for hae in & yoo in na,
haven't gotten far but han na's character is kinda annoying. she's a female agent and she becomes one for personal feelings and doesn't care about others except the guy who ghosted her lmao
also reading those comments not marked as spoiler tag i already know what's gonna happen in the end. At least I can mentally prepare myself

Thanks for your explanations, it cleared up some of my confusion too.

I agree! It feels underwhelming to know that it was a coincidental meeting
and that Hwal and MSU had a misunderstanding in their relationship.

I felt more interested in the story of their past than the present so I wished we got to see more of the past. That's why I wanted to see the relationship of the main couple before she left Hwal (to have an understanding how their relationship was like. Seems like they never had conflicts). And I wanted Eul Tae and Hwal's relationship to be more deeper.

I'd be okay with a cliché story (as long as it's developed well with less plotholes) where ET betrays Hwal in a way and he drives Hwal & MSU apart or any other variation. I've thought of some alternate possibilities. It would change the story, but it wouldn't feel underwhelming..