A taken for granted lead
I have watched the drama fully. It is quite fun to watch—unique, somewhere newer in this genre, good and enjoyable overall—but there are some things to point out.
The most glaring thing about the drama is how it largely downplays the sacrifices of the ML (that little brother) and the things he did over the years.
I mean, first of all, where do I begin? Let’s start with his sacrifices. He graciously sacrifices his first love in the drama to marry for his brother and doesn’t even complain about it. He can do anything for his brother.
Now, the second thing is what he bears over the years in his personal life. The brother and the sister clearly hate him from the bottom of their hearts—like, if killing were not illegal, they would kill him instantly. And the so-called stepfather calls him trash abuses him in any meeting. This shows what he has endured all this time. He even begs on his knees to his sister not to release the photos.
The third thing is about his professional life. He is a bottom-tier worker in the company, but somewhere he doesn’t care at all. He is hardworking and diligent, trying to make his brother the president.
Now, the president part—this is the most prominent one in the whole drama. He wanted to make his brother president instead of himself from start to end, and they never acknowledge why he wants to do that. The closest they get is asking him why he doesn’t want it, and he answers that “he doesn’t deserve it.” But nobody goes deeper into why he doesn’t deserve it infect like they doesn't care at all.
The trauma of his mother is also not resolved. They show that he has trauma during rainy nights, but they never show it later or resolve it or proper conversation about it. They just wave off the fact.
They never show closure with the sisters and the brother. I mean, he was the main character, and they never sort those things out.
Look, what I said is not that for our understanding these things as a viewer. But more than knowing, as a viewer, I wanted to see how the other characters—like the female lead and others—reacted to those topics. That is what the show fails to deliver, which is disappointing. These are not small sacrifices—they could have had a much bigger impact on the other characters, but the show downplays the whole thing.
Actually, more than other characters, his own brother—for whom he is doing everything—and the FL, how they treat him is somewhere disappointing and borderline painful to watch. I mean, the scenes where he was so conflicted and in a dilemma about his feelings toward the FL, knowing she would be his sister-in-law—but they never told him anything about the truth about the marriage and let him suffer. In fact, they never told him anything. Everything he finds out happens by accident—like his brother’s secret or the sham marriage. All of it. That felt really bad for him. But in the end he choose to forgive them.
Now talking about the other characters—somewhere, this is the worst elder brother character I have ever seen. He is the most selfish character I have seen till now in any drama. He doesn’t care about anything; he only cares about himself, and he can do anything to protect that. I understand his sexual orientation and all, but that doesn’t mean the character needs to be selfish. There are many ways to handle that. At first, he lives abroad and doesn’t care what is happening here. His only brother is suffering here, and he leaves him alone, knowing he has nobody. He accuses his brother of spying on him. And the main thing is—he just wants to get this marriage done and go back to NY. I mean, why come here at all if he doesn’t care about anyone? Yes, he acknowledges his truth at the end, but does it really mattered at that time the damage is already done. He has already gone, and what does he do after that? He goes back to NY again—runs off. He is so unaware of everything that it becomes annoying.
Now about the female lead—at first, I didn’t understand what her plan was and how she was explaining it. I understand that her plan was to get into a sham marriage and go to NY, but the way she explained it was ridiculous. What was that explanation about “wanting to be cast as a main lead”? Is this her life or a drama? I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand this at all. If her dream is to be an actress, then how will living in NY and getting divorced help her? And what so-called acting was she going to do there? Somewhere, she was also as ignorant as the brother. More to say, she knows everything but still acts the same—that is ridiculous.
Frankly speaking, I have watched several dramas in this genre, but till now, only in this drama I genuinely felt that if the ML (the brother) had married the second female lead, it would have been better and more satisfying for me. I would have been happy. At least she would have treated and valued him well, and he would have gotten the recognition he deserved—maybe both personally and professionally. Let those two fools play their so-called marriage game.
Now, apart from this, they didn’t clarify the past history of the family either, but that didn’t really impact the story much, so I can understand that somewhere.
Final Thoughts
In spite of having everything the drama somewhere slightly failed where it mattered: acknowledging its own main character.
In the end, I know it may sound childish to say this, but how the FL treated him after the time gap initially actually shows the whole story of how the show treated him as a character overall—somewhere, he was taken for granted.
The most glaring thing about the drama is how it largely downplays the sacrifices of the ML (that little brother) and the things he did over the years.
I mean, first of all, where do I begin? Let’s start with his sacrifices. He graciously sacrifices his first love in the drama to marry for his brother and doesn’t even complain about it. He can do anything for his brother.
Now, the second thing is what he bears over the years in his personal life. The brother and the sister clearly hate him from the bottom of their hearts—like, if killing were not illegal, they would kill him instantly. And the so-called stepfather calls him trash abuses him in any meeting. This shows what he has endured all this time. He even begs on his knees to his sister not to release the photos.
The third thing is about his professional life. He is a bottom-tier worker in the company, but somewhere he doesn’t care at all. He is hardworking and diligent, trying to make his brother the president.
Now, the president part—this is the most prominent one in the whole drama. He wanted to make his brother president instead of himself from start to end, and they never acknowledge why he wants to do that. The closest they get is asking him why he doesn’t want it, and he answers that “he doesn’t deserve it.” But nobody goes deeper into why he doesn’t deserve it infect like they doesn't care at all.
The trauma of his mother is also not resolved. They show that he has trauma during rainy nights, but they never show it later or resolve it or proper conversation about it. They just wave off the fact.
They never show closure with the sisters and the brother. I mean, he was the main character, and they never sort those things out.
Look, what I said is not that for our understanding these things as a viewer. But more than knowing, as a viewer, I wanted to see how the other characters—like the female lead and others—reacted to those topics. That is what the show fails to deliver, which is disappointing. These are not small sacrifices—they could have had a much bigger impact on the other characters, but the show downplays the whole thing.
Actually, more than other characters, his own brother—for whom he is doing everything—and the FL, how they treat him is somewhere disappointing and borderline painful to watch. I mean, the scenes where he was so conflicted and in a dilemma about his feelings toward the FL, knowing she would be his sister-in-law—but they never told him anything about the truth about the marriage and let him suffer. In fact, they never told him anything. Everything he finds out happens by accident—like his brother’s secret or the sham marriage. All of it. That felt really bad for him. But in the end he choose to forgive them.
Now talking about the other characters—somewhere, this is the worst elder brother character I have ever seen. He is the most selfish character I have seen till now in any drama. He doesn’t care about anything; he only cares about himself, and he can do anything to protect that. I understand his sexual orientation and all, but that doesn’t mean the character needs to be selfish. There are many ways to handle that. At first, he lives abroad and doesn’t care what is happening here. His only brother is suffering here, and he leaves him alone, knowing he has nobody. He accuses his brother of spying on him. And the main thing is—he just wants to get this marriage done and go back to NY. I mean, why come here at all if he doesn’t care about anyone? Yes, he acknowledges his truth at the end, but does it really mattered at that time the damage is already done. He has already gone, and what does he do after that? He goes back to NY again—runs off. He is so unaware of everything that it becomes annoying.
Now about the female lead—at first, I didn’t understand what her plan was and how she was explaining it. I understand that her plan was to get into a sham marriage and go to NY, but the way she explained it was ridiculous. What was that explanation about “wanting to be cast as a main lead”? Is this her life or a drama? I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand this at all. If her dream is to be an actress, then how will living in NY and getting divorced help her? And what so-called acting was she going to do there? Somewhere, she was also as ignorant as the brother. More to say, she knows everything but still acts the same—that is ridiculous.
Frankly speaking, I have watched several dramas in this genre, but till now, only in this drama I genuinely felt that if the ML (the brother) had married the second female lead, it would have been better and more satisfying for me. I would have been happy. At least she would have treated and valued him well, and he would have gotten the recognition he deserved—maybe both personally and professionally. Let those two fools play their so-called marriage game.
Now, apart from this, they didn’t clarify the past history of the family either, but that didn’t really impact the story much, so I can understand that somewhere.
Final Thoughts
In spite of having everything the drama somewhere slightly failed where it mattered: acknowledging its own main character.
In the end, I know it may sound childish to say this, but how the FL treated him after the time gap initially actually shows the whole story of how the show treated him as a character overall—somewhere, he was taken for granted.
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