Do hee

You've raised all the points I'm super curious about as well. My theory is similar, that Tae-oh and Hye-won know each other and might be scheming together or something. In the 2013 timeline, it was weird to me how they kept saying things like "_____ & _____ are good enough reasons to make it a normal thing for us to grab a beer" etc and her comment on him ignoring her on purpose, all seem so peculiar, like they were trying to not draw attention to being seen together. Even Hye-won working at the restaurant where Huiju and In-ha go for dinner seems too good of a coincidence. And their conversations on the bus, how they acted inside the campus in the short scenes we got, made me wonder if they were really strangers?

Also, my ears shot up, when Tae-oh told the realtor that the place was his mom's hometown???!!! And the scene where he's lurking in the dark, looking at the fireworks above the farmhouse, his expression is a mix of shock/disgust/disbelief imo, which is very peculiar. There are many other significant details in the most mundane of dialogue in this show that seem loaded with hints, and it stands out if you are an overthinker like me and love to analyze everything.

Yes, the character is really interesting and after the preview for episode 5-6, it is going in the direction I wanted..I want her to participate more actively in their plan, and show more of the gray in her character, like be more scheming 😂 for her backstory, I'm equally interested in knowing why she is after Kangoh as I'm interested in Tae-oh's motives.

My opinion is on the character alone, and I hope people start to differentiate between character and actor. As for her acting, I sincerely hope the actress does good in the next episodes and proves us wrong 😭

Yes, that's what I said in the second para of my comment. She lacks experience as an actor, therefore the complexity of the character does not translate well on screen through her acting.

The rest of my comment is on why people are prone to hate the character - Hye-won is a gray character. So the combination of a "bad" character + underwhelming performance is the cause of all the hate. A more popular and experienced actress could sway the audience in her favour despite however evil her character is 🤷‍♀️

Yes, with the narrative style so far, I think we will see more flashbacks to show the events that went down in the past that formed the present motives of the main characters. At least, I hope we do because I need explanations. So it's gonna keep moving backwards and forwards

Till ep 4, it's clear why Hye-won chose to stay with In-ha. What is missing is a depth to In-ha's feelings towards her... similarly Tae-oh reaction to seeing them kiss seemed over the top for someone seeing their crush kissing someone else, rather than heartbreak + shock, it looked more like he was panicking and feeling sick because of shock 😂😂
Heejoo's love for Tae-oh is on the infatuation-obsession level for me, she doesn't know anything about his background or his real motives, so it's like a schoolgirl crush still. But she is the only person to be interested in him for who he is, rather than using him as a tool for benefit. All I want from her arc is for her to get away from that trashy guy her mom matched for her, like pls remain only real and relatable member of the family.
Although the actors have great chemistry, which can be misleading, as a character Tae-oh is giving no signs of even being interested in her in the slightest 😂 my guess is every ship is gonna sink because things will most likely go downhill if the story is to catch up to that opening scene in ep 1.

I think In-ha has changed a lot after the time leap...back when they were still at university, and In-ha went to the beach after the whole awkward dinner situation, at that time he didn't show any personal motivation towards the throne, he just looked like he was following along with Tae-oh's plan and was hurt due to his family situation. That's where Tae-oh says "kill Baek In-ha", and after the big time skip...In-ha indeed has become more easily agitated, distrustful and impatient - unlike his old self. After their argument in the beach scene from Ep 4, I can see In-ha has the potential to act like a typical Kang, and I think he will. Tae-oh put in action a plan that not only changed In-ha as a person but it's changing the way his life will turn out, evidently there was a hint of regret in In-ha's voice (uni timeline) when he had asked Tae-oh if it had been better if he'd just stayed ignorant and removed like he always had, I think that is a foreshadowing of what's to come.

I was only trying to look at it from a business perspective, like you said if he only understands business and power, and if he really wants to leave the company in safe hands, he should keep his personal issues aside 🤷‍♀️
But yes, I agree with your points about their inner struggles and trauma.

the FL is written as character devoid of emotions due to her circumstances, pretty jaded and selfish - it's like surviving is the only thing she's learned, and she only looks out for herself.

Because she is a rookie actress perhaps she is playing the role just as it's written and she's not able to bring out any nuances and add layers in the character that could've made the audience appreciate such a complex character. The storytelling is not helping her either, the narrative is non-linear and we lack a lot of important details to help us understand the character.

On the other hand SFL is a pretty straightforward character, among so many twisted people her desires can be seen as "pure" because all she wants is Taeoh, while everyone else is after money and power. And the actress is also doing a great job. So it's easy to understand why there is so much criticism towards the FL character.

I think people are judging Hye-won like a traditional FL character when she is not, she is almost a villain. So instead of comparing her to the SFL, if we compare her to the Kang family matriarch, that would be a fair comparison imo. Also, I agree with you, personally going on the actress sns and hating her is just low.

I fully agree with your review... it's only been 4 episodes and none of their motives are fully clear, except maybe In-ha. There's not enough material to fully support any theory. When Tae-oh first mentioned that his goal in life was to make In-ha the chairman, I thought "then what?" His commitment to this plan doesn't make sense. If this is a revenge drama, who is Tae-oh after? Like his father is in jail, and his mother is living in hiding? Does he only want to get powerful so that he can escape his father? Also, he told In-ha that man is his step-father, and even the chairman said he feels like Tae-oh chose him...I wonder if Tae-oh is actually a Kang, and they were like switched at birth or something, and In-ha is not actually a Kang. But that is so cliche so and so messy, like the million people on all SNS that are shipping Heejo-Taeoh are gonna be deceased lol
The narration is very choppy and non-linear, we're being fed bits and pieces, lot of time skips. I only hope the big reveal at the end won't be underwhelming or too cliche.

I just don't understand why the grandfather is so hell bent on making DH the heir. First of all, it's clear DH does not want to inherit the company and he does not have any affinity to business. They've never mentioned about him having worked at the company. More surprisingly, he's an artist with no experience running a company. The grandfather keeps saying he'll teach him how to run the company, when literally JH has all the experience and talent to run the company, but he's like invisible to the grandfather. The other grandkids are disqualified just because they only create mess and they will be pawns in the hands of their father, who should be the biggest threat to the Chairman. So JH is the best and only choice. How did he create an empire when he doesn't know how to discern who's the better leader?

Exactly. As an audience I'm not watching this show just for the two male leads, the lead female character is equally interesting and important to me. So far, her character is introduced as someone enigmatic and ambitious, and FL acting has not been able to carry that weight and bring out the complexity that the character deserves. OP comment makes it seem like just because she is FL or because there are other important characters, we should stop caring about the lead actress performance. I hope she is able to overturn this initial impression, in the next episodes.

Ohhhh I get it...being 'inspired' could mean a lot of things after all, does not guarantee that the events that will take place in the drama are ditto of the novel. That's what I'm hoping for at least, because that novel has the most grim ending possible for a couple and their relationship was problematic too.
Anyway, I've enjoyed watching this so far, so I'm stick around until the end

I'm deleting this info from my brain ahahahah

Ohhhh I get it...being 'inspired' could mean a lot of things after all, does not guarantee that the events that will take place in the drama are ditto of the novel. That's what I'm hoping for at least, because that novel has the most grim ending possible for a couple and their relationship was problematic too, so far we've seen none of those things.

I'm deleting this info from my mind ahahahah

ok this is not good news, but thank you for telling me. now my anxiety about the ending just got a LITTLE worse. And all the worst-case scenarios in my head got more creative

Yes, you're right, the journey is worth it regardless of where they will reach at the end. Their scenes together are so impactful, I'm sure I'll remember them the most out of this whole drama for a long time. Hoping that they'll get the best possible ending (please be together our precious couple🤞 😭)

I cannot wait for them to reveal this mystery. Like you said there is a time difference between the scene with the grey haired person and the scene with Jang Hyun on the beach, he clearly does not look as old as that guy in the facility. Also, Jang Hyun is shown picking up his sword and turning towards those men dressed like an army. So he is sane enough to put up a fight with a sword.
I hope he is alive somewhere like in exile or in hiding. But it seems the King or the Crown Prince + government itself will be against Jang Hyun, they mentioned something about erasing his identity?! It's gonna be so complicated and a tough fight for our leads if it's like that.

Yes, I agree with your comment, it's impact is unbelievable in just 4 episodes. No other drama has ever made me become so invested in the story, like the two lead characters mean so much to me. And they are both so interesting as individual characters, so even if we forget about the loveline for a second, they still shine.

In 4 eps we've seen character development in both characters that in other drama would take forever. Despite the contrast between Ep1-2 and Ep 3-4, the writing is so good that it is all balanced nicely. Similarly, it is impressive how the writer is able to balance the playfulness in ML and FL character along with their vulnerable, raw and dark sides, and it's all believable.

Such nice execution and so much hard work has gone into, like the whole production scale is no joke. And supporting characters have interesting arcs as well. In my opinion, there's not a single dull moment to be found.

this is a review site so unfortunately we'll see such comments. free speech yk that kinda thing. but OP comment is so absurd, I wanted to go off and went steam but the absurdity made me laugh instead. I laughed like for a good min or two. It is the completely opposite of my viewing experience watching this drama, to the extreme. I'm sure anyone who's stuck around from Ep 1 will know the kind of storytelling that this show has, and even if someone was to randomly play Ep4 it is still a solid 10/10

I do really want her to wake up and realize that the man of her dreams is right in front of her but with Gil Chae, I don't think she has fully realized yet. She was having that dream about her future husband and subconsciously called him that when he appeared right on time. But I so hope you're right, I'm sort of getting impatient with the triangle and want her to realize her true feelings and for them to get together asap. I would lose my mind when they get together I'm not kidding

Okay, so I researched and apparently he is playing a military officer. In a Korean tweet, they said he is a "marriage partner" for Gil Chae, now I won't trust Google translate and it might not be legit, because there's no way we can confirm this except for WAITING to see for what's to come. So, it remains to be seen if he will be just another suitor or he might get married to her (about to throw up at this thought)
I'm already exasperated by the thought of them dragging the love traingle with YJ and if there is another suitor, it's gonna get so frustrating for me. I did not sign up for this! A tragic ending is all welcome but I'm so invested in JH and GC ship, I cannot bear to see another dude taking away screentime that could have been given to our pretty main couple😭 worst case scenario for me would be one of them dying and one left all alone or with a random partner, while they're pining for the lost love for the rest of their life. A little less worse would be both of them dying.

Disclaimer: none of this has happened yet, so this is just me freaking out and I could be wrong. I would be so happy if I'm wrong. Anyway, I cannot believe I'm so invested in this show that I'm starting to think of all possibilities during random times of the day.