The tragedy of this drama is it’s lenght. Up to episode 11 it was really great but after unnecessarily dramatic additions which created painfully tiresome episodes, the joy of watching revenge vanished. I absolutely loved FML - her character development was really well done. I enjoyed the younger sister of ML a lot too and obviously kudos to villain husband and bestie. Anyone who encountered such friendship or toxic relationship will enjoy watching them crumble. Too bad it was too long - 12 episodes would be ideal.
Even though the start was promising and ending was great, I can’t really appreciate what was in between. Rushed and cut all of a sudden scenes, feelings not developed but just written onto both characters (which was a bit saved by acting, as both leads delivered) and oh my… Those ridiculous explanations and back stories of characters, not even a bit close, to being chronologically in timeline as whole xD Such a waste of good casting, great music and a really smooth ending!
People call Doona a red flag but why exactly is that? she was depressed, alone, groomed and gaslighted since she was a little girl and yet… she learnt how to adapt to the new reality. Slowly but relatively steady she opened up to love, friendship and found out she wants to sing and she loves it. on the other hand we have a totally normal guy with ridiculously low self esteem, who felt always responsible for his mother and his sister but managed to broke free partially. His low self esteem was the reason of not pursuing relationship with Doona when she comes for him. They were both immature and broken people when they first met and continued. Actually as an European who majored in psychology it saddens me how those things (gaslighting, grooming, low self esteem) are somehow glorified and depicted in dramas/movies but never the fight people put to actually change. Be more brave, be more self aware. Korea is very oberwhelming if it goes to their ignorance for mental health. All in all drama was absolutely stunningly made the photos and shots and music was really amazing making me not regreting the time I spent watching it.
I’m on ep 13 and my only conclusion is: ‘How much of a korean drama from early ‘00 feelin’ you wanna have?’ asked screen writer. ‘Yes’ replied PD-nim and smiled obliviously.
Hmm NSC was a narcissist and got all psychological points of this diagnosis checked and as a person with narcissistic disorder he really felt victimised by people he scammed. That alone makes his will of revenge very reasonable. Also for me the gold was absolutely not on the first plan in part2. It was just a bonus as he was broke when he finally made his way back to SK so he needed it for comfy living on. But it is my opinion and you have your own :))
To be fair it’s been a while since drama got me so hard, that I did not skip any second of it. It’s not perfect, it has some cringe worthy moments (without spoilers one of them were doing autopsy without opening the body or police officer who barely can hold a gun properly xD) but it was not making a huge impact on my will to continue. The story was developing smoothly and jumping back and forth in timeline was not confusing at all. The antagonist is well written same as ML or FL. They were not superheroes, they were people from flesh and blood with a lot of baggage which made them quite authentic in my eyes. This drama also depicted the psychological portrayal of scam victims really well - for some they will seem pitiful and desperate but by others they might be seen as lacking in judgment and greedy or just simply blinded. This drama for sure haven’t changed my life and was not mind blowing (beside one thing in part 2 which I honestly did not see coming) but it made me curious even though I cracked the biggest riddle in the first episodes. For me it’s enough to recommend it as a great binge worthy piece. I definitely don’t regret spending 12hours on this drama :)
If you don’t mind, Could you please give me one reason, why one should not. I really would like to know what…
I’m not a feminist but tbf I would rather be one just to solely annoy kinds of you xD Another person with double standards. When a ML hit on her she told him she is seeing someone but he said as long as you are not married who cares - I suppose that was cool, right? Oh and btw I never wrote she is great, my reply to you was rather short and specific in opinion.
I don’t agree with comments below stating the FL is a cheater or that she was a bad person. Life is not black or white. It’s grey most of the time. Hye Ran broke up with Kevin once she started seeing Tae Wook. She actually believed that if she makes him hate her he will grow bigger (and he actually did). It was his choice to chase after her and seek revenge. Thailand? She told him many times to piss off, he forced himself on her and she did kiss him back once or twice as she felt lonely, she missed him from time to time long before they met again but she stopped. Hye Ran definitely loved Tae Wook even though in my eyes he was not much worthy of her love. The kiss scene in the car? Hye Ran cornered herself already as she was sure she is alone in it and she was too afraid of loosing her husband (not only because of the connections and Blue House proposal also because she had feelings for him). She misjudged the situation it was not a good call but she lied to Kevin and her kiss was not even close to sincere- so was it really cheating? Depends on your beliefs but for me it was a blind survival instinct. Also I would like to remind you all that when Tae Wook asked Hye Ran out she told him she is seeing someone and he didn’t much care about it ;) I sense double standards ffrom everyone who writes she is bad bad woman. Look at this situation with cold mind without emotions. She turned Tae Wook’s proposal several times. She constantly reminded him that she is egoistic, she needs to go to the top and she will sacrifice all if needed. He, in his arrogance believed he can change her and despite Hye Ran’s multiple warnings still pushed for the wedding yet when she actually stood to her convictions and lived the way she said she will he was sulking, he blamed her and he was constantly wallowing in his own pity making her to fall in darkness and coldness more and more. On top of that Hye Ran definitely had a problem with insight to her own emotions and with articulation of them. She blocked herself after what happened with Myung Woo and started to slowly unfroze after Kevin’s death. And you might wonder why she was like this. Haven’t she promised Myung Woo she will achieve great things? I’m sure in due course she got lost in her blind chase but we observe really well written character development. Also - grow up people, in the country where patriarchy is alive and well women needs to be savage. One thing after watching this drama is resonating in me till now - Myung Woo’s words that people are living their own life and make their own choices. He made a lot of bad things but he was absolutely right in this case. All people around Hye Ran were making their own choices and decisions and making her fully responsible for all of that is not fair.
Actually that doesn’t explain anything - people with psychopathy also do things because of their reasons. Those reasons can not be placed anywhere close to standard ones but still they exists.
I’m at episode 4 and I struggle. CMJ is just… subjectively one of the worst characters I came across in the dramaland. And by worst I mean for 3 episodes she is mean just for the purpose of being mean. And the screen writer showed us that she was like this even back in law school which gives us almost zero hopes for character development (maybe I am wrong). The actress is doing an amazing job though I honestly hate her to the point I am tempted to skip the parts when she pops up. It’s definitely not the drama to bindge watch for me - I need to ‘walk’ all this cringe and negative feelings she gives me xD
Imho this drama is a masterpiece. It’s been ages since I was not skipping some scenes out of boredom or didn’t roll my eyes out of cringeworthy climaxes while watching a drama. The whole story keeps you on the verge till the end and then, gives you a bonus story which was a breather to slow down a pace that was crazy since the beginning of part two. I also have to admit that all characters where written and delivered so perfectly. Even the FL’s mother. Can’t remember when was the last time when I felt so satisfied with the ending and everything that has happened. Definitely top 5 of my all time fave dramas :)
Utterly disappointed. After first two episodes of season 2 I had my hopes higher again but ended up in the same place as I was after season 1. Not gonna waste another hours of my life for the potential continuation even if Kim Nam Gil is in it.
Hmmm that's definitely one way of looking at it but if i may, here's my perspective; (Not disagreeing with you,…
Hey wow, that is a really good interpretation you wrote here :) My opinion was purely based on the first half of the show. To be fair - this trend of dividing dramas in half is giving me a headache but some shows can pull it off (The Glory for example) and this one didn’t (for me). The introduction to the world depicted here was chaotic, like in the first half they wanted to show all they got. Instead of consistently and steadily building both the story and the characters depth which catches viewers attention, they decided to inform me as the viewer about the situation and I just did not feel it. Of course I can imagine their motivations and I absolutely agree that cliches can be interestingly depicted but this was so poorly written that it just didn’t work for me as I never came across the webtoon that it’s based on - I was totally green. After two episodes of ‘season 2’ I finally see the chemistry between characters and they start to be likeable - just like you wrote about Mi Ho and they ‘family like’ troupe. Once I finish this series I will have a whole picture and might change my mind about it but till now I still think that not making this story as a full really spoiled the fun for me.
First and foremost this comment is only my personal opinion and I am sure there will be people who might disagree with me. My biggest mistake was overhyping myself before watching this drama. I am an absolute fan of Kim Nam Gil. Never have I ever watched a bad drama with him (till now). Demons, fights, eye candy priest and as a bonus Lee Da Hee as female lead? I’m all in! My only concern was the director who was in charge of Fabricated City and as far as I remembered it was rather painful to watch… and here we are. In a comment section, I am crying that I am super disappointed. The story is shattered like crazy so I can not go with the flow of it means I don’t feel it. Nothing makes sense and literally everything is forced on me with a bunch of well known copy and paste storyline cliches (you don’t need to look far- first thing coming to mind is Bulgasal from last year). Even the decent acting skills of KNG, stunning beauty of Lee Da Hee and eye candy idol won’t make it better. The characters are written so poorly that I don’t even like them.. Van is S A D. Like SAAAD and wears black. Won Mi Ho is RICH, runs fast and probably if her career as chaebols daughter couldn’t happen she would be a decent chauffeur. Jonas is a lost kiddo who is cocky but still only a kiddo with good fashion taste as for priest. Goongtan is the VILLAIN. And that’s it. They do not have even a slightest amount of depth. Their actions are unreasonable all the time and absolutely chaotic. I don’t feel their pain and I am not hooked on the ‘dramatic’ reveals of both past and present. To be fair… My only concern for majority of this drama was like HOW THE HELL THEY CHARGE ELECTRIC PORSCHE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE when they drive it back and forth. I will watch the second part out of curiosity and for aesthetics but oh, I am so disappointed till now.
Big fan of Lee Dam, Hye Sun and Sun Woo - literally, he stole the spot from Jang Ki Yong every time he appeared. His character progression was much more interesting than Mr Gumiho. This is the third drama of JKY that I watched, and he ALWAYS plays with the same facial expression. He is appealing to the eye but nothing more than that. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it lost pace around the 8th episode - lost the humour, mystery, everything. At some point, I really had to push myself to watch it. 6/10
It had potential but definitely not delivered. Surprisingly, the weakest part is the tention between characters, which spoiled an emotional package at the end. The casting was on point, so what went wrong? For the whole series, I felt like the actors are doing their job, they act well what they had in the script, which was filled with complicated and emotional relationships and yet I did not buy it. It was just too shallow. Pros are smooth progress of the action and no fillers, which makes it nice to binge watch, really good fighting scenes and well... Eye candy leads. All in all 6/10
‘How much of a korean drama from early ‘00 feelin’ you wanna have?’ asked screen writer.
‘Yes’ replied PD-nim and smiled obliviously.
It’s not perfect, it has some cringe worthy moments (without spoilers one of them were doing autopsy without opening the body or police officer who barely can hold a gun properly xD) but it was not making a huge impact on my will to continue.
The story was developing smoothly and jumping back and forth in timeline was not confusing at all.
The antagonist is well written same as ML or FL. They were not superheroes, they were people from flesh and blood with a lot of baggage which made them quite authentic in my eyes.
This drama also depicted the psychological portrayal of scam victims really well - for some they will seem pitiful and desperate but by others they might be seen as lacking in judgment and greedy or just simply blinded.
This drama for sure haven’t changed my life and was not mind blowing (beside one thing in part 2 which I honestly did not see coming) but it made me curious even though I cracked the biggest riddle in the first episodes. For me it’s enough to recommend it as a great binge worthy piece. I definitely don’t regret spending 12hours on this drama :)
Another person with double standards. When a ML hit on her she told him she is seeing someone but he said as long as you are not married who cares - I suppose that was cool, right? Oh and btw I never wrote she is great, my reply to you was rather short and specific in opinion.
Life is not black or white. It’s grey most of the time.
Hye Ran broke up with Kevin once she started seeing Tae Wook. She actually believed that if she makes him hate her he will grow bigger (and he actually did). It was his choice to chase after her and seek revenge. Thailand? She told him many times to piss off, he forced himself on her and she did kiss him back once or twice as she felt lonely, she missed him from time to time long before they met again but she stopped. Hye Ran definitely loved Tae Wook even though in my eyes he was not much worthy of her love.
The kiss scene in the car? Hye Ran cornered herself already as she was sure she is alone in it and she was too afraid of loosing her husband (not only because of the connections and Blue House proposal also because she had feelings for him). She misjudged the situation it was not a good call but she lied to Kevin and her kiss was not even close to sincere- so was it really cheating? Depends on your beliefs but for me it was a blind survival instinct. Also I would like to remind you all that when Tae Wook asked Hye Ran out she told him she is seeing someone and he didn’t much care about it ;) I sense double standards ffrom everyone who writes she is bad bad woman.
Look at this situation with cold mind without emotions.
She turned Tae Wook’s proposal several times. She constantly reminded him that she is egoistic, she needs to go to the top and she will sacrifice all if needed. He, in his arrogance believed he can change her and despite Hye Ran’s multiple warnings still pushed for the wedding yet when she actually stood to her convictions and lived the way she said she will he was sulking, he blamed her and he was constantly wallowing in his own pity making her to fall in darkness and coldness more and more. On top of that Hye Ran definitely had a problem with insight to her own emotions and with articulation of them. She blocked herself after what happened with Myung Woo and started to slowly unfroze after Kevin’s death.
And you might wonder why she was like this. Haven’t she promised Myung Woo she will achieve great things? I’m sure in due course she got lost in her blind chase but we observe really well written character development.
Also - grow up people, in the country where patriarchy is alive and well women needs to be savage.
One thing after watching this drama is resonating in me till now - Myung Woo’s words that people are living their own life and make their own choices. He made a lot of bad things but he was absolutely right in this case. All people around Hye Ran were making their own choices and decisions and making her fully responsible for all of that is not fair.
CMJ is just… subjectively one of the worst characters I came across in the dramaland. And by worst I mean for 3 episodes she is mean just for the purpose of being mean. And the screen writer showed us that she was like this even back in law school which gives us almost zero hopes for character development (maybe I am wrong).
The actress is doing an amazing job though I honestly hate her to the point I am tempted to skip the parts when she pops up.
It’s definitely not the drama to bindge watch for me - I need to ‘walk’ all this cringe and negative feelings she gives me xD
After two episodes of ‘season 2’ I finally see the chemistry between characters and they start to be likeable - just like you wrote about Mi Ho and they ‘family like’ troupe. Once I finish this series I will have a whole picture and might change my mind about it but till now I still think that not making this story as a full really spoiled the fun for me.
My biggest mistake was overhyping myself before watching this drama.
I am an absolute fan of Kim Nam Gil. Never have I ever watched a bad drama with him (till now). Demons, fights, eye candy priest and as a bonus Lee Da Hee as female lead? I’m all in! My only concern was the director who was in charge of Fabricated City and as far as I remembered it was rather painful to watch… and here we are. In a comment section, I am crying that I am super disappointed. The story is shattered like crazy so I can not go with the flow of it means I don’t feel it. Nothing makes sense and literally everything is forced on me with a bunch of well known copy and paste storyline cliches (you don’t need to look far- first thing coming to mind is Bulgasal from last year). Even the decent acting skills of KNG, stunning beauty of Lee Da Hee and eye candy idol won’t make it better. The characters are written so poorly that I don’t even like them..
Van is S A D. Like SAAAD and wears black. Won Mi Ho is RICH, runs fast and probably if her career as chaebols daughter couldn’t happen she would be a decent chauffeur. Jonas is a lost kiddo who is cocky but still only a kiddo with good fashion taste as for priest. Goongtan is the VILLAIN. And that’s it. They do not have even a slightest amount of depth. Their actions are unreasonable all the time and absolutely chaotic. I don’t feel their pain and I am not hooked on the ‘dramatic’ reveals of both past and present. To be fair… My only concern for
majority of this drama was like HOW THE HELL THEY CHARGE ELECTRIC PORSCHE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE when they drive it back and forth. I will watch the second part out of curiosity and for aesthetics but oh, I am so disappointed till now.