This review may contain spoilers
It's good, but not great.
It's an almost great drama, but several things hold it back from being great. The setup was a little bland, but it was necessary to understand why exactly Sangyeon and Eunjung had developed both their relationship and other relationships the way they did. It's actually thanks to those first few episodes that I didn't hate Sangyeon or think she didn't deserve friendship for a large part of the series.However, things came to a point in 2nd half of the series where I found it harder and harder to understand Sangyeon's actions. I can understand why they had a friendship breakup the first time. No matter how I think about it, the story really could not have played out differently at that point, considering everyone's history between Eunjung, Sangyeon, and Kim Sanghak. But the 2nd time was very overblown on Sangyeon's end; the writer made her overreact to Eunjung in a way Eunjung hadn't done to Sangyeon. It made it harder to empathize with Sangyeon when, for more than half the series, I'd understood where Sangyeon was coming from, even if I didn't think her actions were smart. The writer should've handled their friendship breakups differently, or even given us a bigger look into how Sangyeon was feeling that 2nd time, so I could empathize more. Eunjung could've been a lot meaner, knowing everything that happened. I also did not care for how the writer handled the brother's subplot. There weren't many hints or much of a lead-up as to why he handled his situation in such a way. Once the viewer finds out, it's almost brushed over because there are so many things going on, and it's barely brought up again compared to other things that hold everyone's relationships back.
That being said, I think they have a unique relationship; you can't quite separate the two from each other, and they always end up back in each other's lives. They've come to depend on each other in ways most don't, yet they challenge each other to greater accomplishments. And most importantly, because they'd known each other for so long, they can't erase the happier moments they shared. So I understand why it ended the way it did, even if I don't agree with an illness being the reason why Eunjung had to rekindle her relationship with Sangyeon. I also really appreciate that Netflix gave us 15 episodes to really have time to sit with how their relationship formed and ended throughout 40 years. Even if the story moves a little slow, I've yet to see a series handle something like this with a shorter episode run and still answer most questions without rushing through things and skipping necessary parts.
Acting-wise, I think everyone was pretty good. But especially Kim Goeun, she has a certain level of intensity yet feels delicate when needed be. I don't think this drama would be the same without someone like Kim Goeun, who can play someone so emotionally open. I really came around to OST by the end, as well; it suits the drama. And I loved the cinematography choices the team made. Because of that, the drama is a beautiful watch.
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