Agent Phi

I have a different perspective. No doubt the acting, cinematography, dialogue, music and writing on political/social aspects are great and deserve a 9 to 10. But the editing is sloppy, pacing is uneven and romance storyline is contrived which pulls down the rating. Overall i think it falls around 8.5 for me when i look at 9 or 10 ratings i would accord for shows like NIF, TU, JOL, TPM, TSL etc. I feel romance brings down the show rather than elevate. Maybe the writer was aiming for love and war and ended with well written war aspect and made the love feel contrived and unrealistic by the episode

On paper the drama premise sounds promising, but somehow the romance plotline is losing me. It feels contrived and not well made for reasons i am not able to articulate well right now. Not comparing shows, but i felt convinced on romance in shows i loved in past viz NIF, SFD, JOL, TSL, TROP etc. There is something niggling and OTT about this show that makes the show feel inconsistent when watching and i see this starting Ep 9. I thoroughly love the political and social aspect of it which seems well done. I would love for the show to delve a bit deeper on king vs crown prince, qing waging war vs how they are using joseon to further their cause and the social aspect of war, capture and release after capture scenes. Romance is actually not even needed, the show is very interesting as it is and when watching i feel romance is just added to torture the viewers. Acting is amazing which pulls viewers in otherwise the stakes in romance are not high enough to feel invested. When they near missed each other or when princess made entrance or GC was dragged here and there I did not even care because it feels like the show put these situations in for the sake of it. TSL definitely had a better romance story in execution

That makes it even more complicated...It helps to enjoy the show when we throw the timeline logic out of the window

Haha, now that you pointed the timeline i can see it doesn’t make sense. Time is messed up in the drama from ep9 onwards. Anyway I am all in for the thought.provoking social commentary, gorgeous cinematography and the amazing acting. Few moments like the last 4 mins of ep 13 are wonderfully directed, acted and edited

It's marketed incorrectly as a epic romance when its a epic war historical and social commentary. Had it been marketed correctly more people would tune in. For example SFD was marketed as a action and historical drama, it would fail as well had it been shown as a romance. The 2 leads in my dearest have a healthy screen time separated and not together, for good romance there needs to be connection(communication, attraction etc), common values/principles, trust etc etc none of which seem to be there except the initial attraction. Somehow the show failed to convince why these 2 should even care about each other, it just seems random that Jang hyun starts caring about gil chae, he can be curious and interested but caring to the extent where he pines for her is illogical. Gil chae's character is somewhat consistent but there is not enough material to work out an epic romance in the story. The author likely added romance to bait more people to watch it, the story would have been great if it focused on war, the aftermath and social commentary more rather than make non-existent romance a central theme. That and lack of marketing to international audience is why this is not trending

What is RTWSTP?

There's a good quality cdrama named "My journey to you". It's keeping me engaged since the end of My dearest part 1

Well said. The drama overall is fine to watch if only iy doesnt masquerade as an epic love story. There is nothing epic in their story. Both are fine as individual characters and individual character growth is fine too. I still don't understand why both of them have feelings for each other, whenever they are together they misunderstand each other, say mean things or do not communicate healthily. Eun ae and Jang hyun have proper communication, Gil chae has proper communication with everyone except Jang hyun. They work better separately rather than together. I want the drama to show the failed love story and instead focus on the epic historical drama. I dont mind the politics or social commentary which the drama is doing pretty well. Just stop shoving the stupid love story, it is truly getting frustrating to watch and spoiling rest of the narrative

Agreed. I loved GWTW though i didnt like Scarlett character much but she gets exactly what she deserves in the end. The problem i have with My dearest is that it masquerades as an epic love story where as the character set ups as well as dialogues and their behavior doesnt support an epic love story. There are many tragic love stories like Six flying dragons, one and only, scarlet heart (chinese) and to some extent the red sleeve. But the love story never deterred me in these because the couples really show love in their dialogues, behaviour. Here even though gil chae is willing initially to run away with Jang hyun she treats him very poorly. I dont mind that she eventually did not run away and chose to stay back. That's fine but atleast explain or write to jang hyun clearly and give him closure. She only remembered to write to him when she saw him near her house the next morning, that clearly shows she doesn't value him in any way and he's only an afterthought. Atleast Scarelett in GWTW was consistent throughout and did not confuse Rhett too much

I don't see a problem with the characters as such but there is definitely a problem with their behaviors esp Gil Chae. She is always on the blame Jang Hyun mode without giving a second thought on his actions. What pissed me off most in this episode is that she promised to go to the quay in a letter and left Jang Hyun waiting for whole day and night. It is not until she sees him the next day looking at her from far away that she even thinks of leaving the letter to him. After promising upon knowing of his death that she won't be harsh to him after he returns she sure is very harsh to him. She is quick to blame him for not being clear but neither has she ever been clear with him on her concerns or her apprehensions or her family situation. The drama should never have been titled "Lovers" when both characters main flaw is not be in a healthy relationship dynamics. It's a misleading title. I saw push and pull as well as some questionable behaviour even in The red sleeve but the characters were true to themselves unlike here. I dont care for their growth or their love story any longer but definitely looking forward to Jang Hyun's story on how he ends up on the beach scene of part 1 as well as the relationship between the king and the crown prince

From love story point of view, this made me recall the cdrama Love and Redemption where the ML loved the FL and sacrificed a lot for her for 2/3rds of the show and FL was a dumbhead and kept doubting him. But then she came around eventually when she realized the depth of her feelings and even stood against her family and loved ones in order to defend him. I would love to see Gil chae regret her choice, understand her priorities and go in pursuit of Jang Hyun in Part 2. She needs to understand the value of his love and fight for it, else not gonna believe this is a story of lovers. JFYI, Love and redemption was quite angsty too and I was often frustrated with the FL there but loved it when she comes around albeit a bit late