This review may contain spoilers
I'm... I'm speechless
I've literally just finished this so apologies if this review is a bit all over the place, I might come back to edit this in the future. But for now-Wtf was this show.
I'll be honest I attempted to watch it twice before this. Each time I only got a few episodes in and both times I just didn't get it. I couldn't see why it was so popular. Either way the kdrama subreddit had a post asking for shows they dropped, tried again and loved. Vincenzo was commented and said to just get to like ep3/4 then it really picks up. I was like okay lets try it again. And honestly thank God I did.
First thoughts in the aftermath of the finale... I sobbed at Han-Seo's death. Like actually cried. I didn't realise how much I was growing to love his character until like ep17 when he switched sides and began to help Vincenzo. Then it was seeing how much he didn't want anyone else to get hurt, how willing he was to help and showed genuine growth in trying to better himself and became smarter to run Babel. And his friendship was Vincenzo was so sweet. I am crushed that he didn't get a happy ending. He deserved one after all that he went through and his finale words asking if he did well broke me. Han-Seo is the definition of deserved better and he is probably my favourite character of this entire show.
Now onto Han-Seok. Taecyeon acted the hell out of this role and I have to say he was my favourite actor in this show. He managed to absolutely pull of the crazy and the downright unnerving nature that Han-Seok's character needed. I cannot sing my praises about him enough. Honestly might have to check out 2pm because I have that much respect for what he achieved. Han-Seok as a villian is probably my favourite villian to date. I loved the direction of introducing him as this weird, lovable intern and the end of ep4 threw me off. After that his scenes were so much fun to watch whenever he was pretending as Jun-woo because I'd just watch for his reactions, to see a slip of the real personality and it just made the show that much more enjoyable and Han-Seok as a character compelling to watch. A fantastic villian right until the end.
Vincenzo weirdly grew on me more as the show went on and I'm not going to lie, the moment he started going full Mafia was when I was truly loved his character. His scenes were absolutely brutal and so satisfying in that last episode, they deserved all that they got and more so it was great to see Han-Seok get what he deserved, especially for his brother. Vincenzo was a great main character and Joong-ki pulled off the role so well and credit where credits due because he nailed the personality of Vincenzo to a tee.
Cha-young is a complicated character for me, she really annoyed me in the first few episodes and even by the end she wasn't my favourite character by a mile but I enjoyed her scenes and she did somewhat grow on me by the end. I'm glad she become a successful lawyer and I do like her and Vincenzo together. Also, the side characters were great and I loved all of them in their individual way.
A bit of a long review as the overall rating may go up as the more I think about it but honestly this was such a well produced show with incredibly talented actors and actresses and I enjoyed every minute of it. Once again thank you to that kdrama subreddit and shout out to Han-Seo (you deserved the world) and Taecyeon for being an incredible Han-Seok!
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