Isabitcliche

Dare I say I don't like Mun Oh at all?

I knew Mun-oh was a jackass the moment he scribbled "trash" on someone's writing. That single scene told me almost everything I needed to know about him.
As a teacher, you have no right, neither ethically nor morally, to crush a student's confidence like that. If you want to criticise someone's writing, do it properly. Explain what's wrong, point out what can be improved, and help them grow. There's absolutely no need for crude, dismissive remarks that serve no purpose other than humiliating the person in front of you.
Bad writing is still writing. Every writer starts somewhere, and your role as a teacher is to guide them, not belittle them just because you think you're above them. That scene immediately soured me on Mun oh, and everything that followed only reinforced my first impression.

I didn't like either of these characters from the very beginning, and I'm glad I didn't. Otherwise, I would've been pulling my hair out from all the second-hand embarrassment later on.
Even then, I like Lee Kang way more than him. That's saying something because Lee Kang is also a terrible human being. The bar is already in hell, so he isn't exactly reaching far above the threshold of being decent. He's a creep. Spying, eavesdropping, leeching off people, exploiting them, manipulating them, voyeuristically peeping into their lives, stalking, and constantly invading everyone's privacy. That definitely doesn't help his case.

But Mun oh? Somehow, he's even more unlikable.
He's hypocritical, hot-tempered, emotionally stunted, insecure, manipulative, exploitative, deranged, selfish, dismissive, and constantly imposes himself on others. I'm just sitting here watching one guy who's years away from death act less mature than someone who's barely beginning adulthood.

The acting was great. Nothing extraordinary, but it was consistently convincing, and I was more than satisfied with the performances.

I also couldn't pay much attention to the technical aspects of the show because the plot completely carried my attention. It was intense, immersive, and constantly kept me engaged, which is exactly what I want from a thriller. That alone makes it a great watch.

One thing the show absolutely got right was its length. Six episodes were the perfect choice. Any longer and I think the tension would've started to wear off. The pacing remained consistently strong throughout, and I was impressed that it never felt like it was dragging or rushing.

My biggest issue with the writing is Lee Kang's characterisation. I still don't know what kind of person he is outside of this entire situation.
With Mun Oh, I at least have some idea of who he is as a person, even though his character wasn't explored much beyond the central conflict. Lee Kang, on the other hand, remains a mystery until the very end. I understand that the writers wanted to focus on a single plotline. Still, because so much of the story was built on deception and fabricated narratives, I never got a genuine sense of who Lee Kang actually was.
I know his motives. He's deceptive, resentful, obsessive, manipulative, and eventually deranged. But who is he when those motives are stripped away? What kind of person is he in ordinary life?

The only meaningful interaction we get that isn't directly tied to Mun Oh is his brief conversation with the director. Beyond that, his entire existence revolves around orchestrating Mun Oh's downfall. He remains so mysterious throughout the series that, by the end, I found it more frustrating than intriguing.
Because of that, I also hesitate to label either of them as morally grey. One extraordinary situation isn't enough for me to judge someone's entire character. People are capable of doing incredibly irrational and horrifying things under certain circumstances without necessarily being monsters in every aspect of their lives. Human beings are far more complicated than a single incident can capture, so I don't feel comfortable making a definitive judgment about either of them.

One thing I absolutely loved was Mun Oh's wife. She's soft spoken, elegant, intelligent, and emotionally perceptive. Imagine being trapped in a marriage with someone like Mun Oh. I'd be livid. It helps that she's a therapist and figures things out fairly quickly. I would've hated it if she had remained completely in the dark the entire time.
Which brings me to Mun Oh himself.
Why is this man so unnecessarily aggressive toward his wife? She remains calm, polite, and composed even when she's hurt and furious, yet he's the one throwing tantrums like a toddler. For someone who's supposedly emotionally sensitive, he's incredibly emotionally unavailable.

The woman is literally in pain, and instead of asking what's wrong or suggesting they see a doctor, he wants her to stay home. Why? So he can continue obsessing over someone else's wife? If that isn't emotional cheating, I don't know what is.

The only peeping I support in this show is his wife secretly observing all of his ridiculous shenanigans.

Another thing that drove me insane: how does nobody suspect the random guy who's been sneaking around the house and peeping through every corner for weeks? OH, wait, that was fabricated lol.

And why would you even let a stranger stay in your house like that in the first place? I understand they were close, but treating him like family and letting him practically live there felt incredibly unrealistic.

Why didn’t Mun Oh question even once about these stories when everything seemed so idealistic and cinematic? Why didn't he question that even after Se Hyun’s dad committed some crime, he never sent Lee Kang away, after all the serious crimes he committed? The man had so much to lose and still kept him around. Do I admire the audacity or laugh at the sheer stupidity?
The thing that frustrates me most about Mun Oh is how completely oblivious he is to his own hypocrisy.

He exploits Lee Kang, barely seems to care about him as a person, and only becomes invested when their conversations or his own work are affected. What did I expect from a man who can't even be bothered to care about his own wife's health?
The show clearly wanted him to be morally grey, but he just comes across as deeply unlikeable.

Honestly, I enjoyed watching him get deceived. He deserved it. Watching him make a fool of himself was incredibly satisfying.
And the ending? I loved it.

Lee Kang did the dirty work. He wrote practically everything, while Mun Oh fabricated a few things toward the end and suddenly acted like the novel was his. That's not how authorship works.

Sure, Lee Kang manipulated the story to suit himself and ultimately betrayed Mun Oh. But their relationship never had trust to begin with. They were exploiting each other from the very start.
Even on the forum, Lee Kang wasn't completely lying. He took liberties with the truth, just like Mun Oh had done with Se Hyun’s dad. Karma really is a bitch.

If I had to define hypocrisy using a fictional character, I'd point to Mun Oh.

Lee Kang was the mastermind all along. Both of them used each other. The only difference is that Lee Kang took things far beyond what anyone could justify.

Watching Mun Oh also reminded me that maturity doesn't automatically come with age. How can someone be so revoltingly clueless about their own actions while constantly acting betrayed whenever the consequences catch up to them?
His resentment is so one-sided that it genuinely feels like he believes the entire world wronged him while he's the only victim.
Even though what Lee Kang did in the end was undeniably more deranged, I still couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for Mun-oh at all.

The final episode especially delivered. Everything unravelled in a way that genuinely felt worthy of a finale. The storytelling served what it promised, and I couldn’t have been more satisfied.
In the end, both seemed to enjoy the thrill of it, so it's a "happy ending" ig?