Kkoming

Honestly, I didn’t expect much from Returned Master, but the acting was much better than I anticipated. There were no cringey moments, which is always a relief, and the plot was solid. By the end, I felt like everything came full circle, which was really satisfying.

What I liked most was how both male leads stayed true to their principles all the way through. Neither of them broke their beliefs for the sake of their loved ones, which is kind of rare in dramas. JianWei, who’s all about living with truth, makes the difficult choice to accept reality in the end. Xiaosi, from the very beginning, believed that a son has to pay for the sins of his father, and by the end, he carries the burden of his birth father’s sins.

As for the ending, I thought it suited Xiaosi’s mindset really well. Even though it was open-ended, I kind of like to believe that Xiaosi never returned, and it was just JianWei’s imagination. That would have made it a lot more angsty, and I think it would have been even more powerful.

All in all, Returned Master surprised me in a good way. It’s a solid watch with great acting and characters who stick to their guns until the very end.