This review may contain spoilers
They Wanted to Have It All — and in the End, They Gave Us Nothing
I was initially enthralled by this series, from the pen of Jeong Seo-kyeong (she gave us Decision to Leave and Lady Vengeance, people!). Gang Dong-won is manly, steadfast, caring, sexy—an all-encompassing amazing guy fighting for the woman he loves (?). Jun Ji-hyun is calm, gorgeous, steely, and engaging. We even have John Cho in the cast and a special appearance by Uhm Tae-goo—what could go wrong?
Well, quite a lot. For me, it started going south around episode 6. It got convoluted and hard to believe; I think the writer bit off more than she could chew and then had to spit it all out in what turned out to be a very predictable mess. My biggest issue is the way they ended it. I hate it when I have to Google “ending explained” to see if anyone else understood what the heck happened. Did that character survive or not? There were clues that they maybe did, but might as well have not survived—it’s all up to interpretation.
In my opinion, they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too, because it could be a not-so-good ending, but if the ratings are good, there’s a slightly open door for a second series. In the end, they leave the viewer with a generalized meh sensation... what a letdown, honestly.
The action scenes were very fast—sometimes a bit much and hard to follow for some viewers—but overall well performed and enjoyable. The ML was a total badass, and there’s one particular scene in an elevator that got me thinking about Gang Dong-won’s long legs. What can I say? The man exudes charisma and sex appeal even when sitting down.
There was very good chemistry between the leads, but I think they’re both the type of people who could have excellent chemistry even with a wall. In the end, the series left me wanting more. I’m not asking to tie it up with a neat little bow, but don’t make me go all Sherlock Holmes on the Internet trying to see what really happened. Personally, I do not like open-ended finales—just pick a lane and stick to it. Do you have to off one of the characters? Do so and be brave about it! Don’t leave us in a cloud of ambiguity.
Well, quite a lot. For me, it started going south around episode 6. It got convoluted and hard to believe; I think the writer bit off more than she could chew and then had to spit it all out in what turned out to be a very predictable mess. My biggest issue is the way they ended it. I hate it when I have to Google “ending explained” to see if anyone else understood what the heck happened. Did that character survive or not? There were clues that they maybe did, but might as well have not survived—it’s all up to interpretation.
In my opinion, they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too, because it could be a not-so-good ending, but if the ratings are good, there’s a slightly open door for a second series. In the end, they leave the viewer with a generalized meh sensation... what a letdown, honestly.
The action scenes were very fast—sometimes a bit much and hard to follow for some viewers—but overall well performed and enjoyable. The ML was a total badass, and there’s one particular scene in an elevator that got me thinking about Gang Dong-won’s long legs. What can I say? The man exudes charisma and sex appeal even when sitting down.
There was very good chemistry between the leads, but I think they’re both the type of people who could have excellent chemistry even with a wall. In the end, the series left me wanting more. I’m not asking to tie it up with a neat little bow, but don’t make me go all Sherlock Holmes on the Internet trying to see what really happened. Personally, I do not like open-ended finales—just pick a lane and stick to it. Do you have to off one of the characters? Do so and be brave about it! Don’t leave us in a cloud of ambiguity.
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