Between The Lines

TBH I like this drama enough without adding in the the love triangle aspect that seems to be developing. I mean we have a FL who can hear peoples lies and a ML who has mysterious past. That's a pretty dynamic set up
Throw in some parental issues on top of that and you've got your story....
Did we really need the ex- boyfriend and obsessive want to be girlfriend as well?

Oh Jin Seong is a very polarizing character, you either love him or you hate, few have a middle ground with him. I think he has been purposely written to be the opposite of almost every other character in this drama. He is without filter in action or speech.
This make him the polar opposite to nearly every other character we see. What you see is what you get with him. He has no hidden agenda. He is honest with himself, maybe even too much so. When discussing Go Young Joo with his brother he was honest enough to recognise he did have feelings for her, but also didn't believe he was worthy of her.

In a softer character these qualities would be admired

Beyond the violence and forthright speech is someone who makes others uncomfortable, not necessarily because of what he says or does, but because he challenges and exposes their agenda's. He has a lot of rough edges, but he shouldn't always be defined by his actions, he is not the simple country bumpkin that he appears to be.

Seeing her come full circle would have been fun to see, I called the ending ok, it was just kind of "Meh" to me. There were definitely better options.

I get it, I've had a love/hate thing going on with this drama for a while. Lots of things I liked. But some very average things as well. I might treat this like a break up where just need some space to work out my feelings!!

That makes sense, any romantic love in the drama seem to come from LL rather than LMX.

Your analysis is spot on, whilst I haven't been as my generous with my rating, this is still a good drama. Thank you for your insights into the novel, genuinely appreciated.

I felt the exact same way as I watched it, but it served a purpose I suppose. I always a little torn on LMX feelings for Linlang. Was he so blinded by his feelings towards DZY that he never saw them, or did he realise Linlang feelings but decided to ignore them. Either way its both their endings were sad

I agree the "fluff" is to set the contrast of what's likely to come, and if executed properly it should work well. The scholars have likely read about war but have never come close to experiencing it. Ep 1 sets that up well. If I would have a preference it would be towards the end of ep1 could we have had a glimpse at the two sides of Lee Jang Hyun character?
We got to see his "happy go lucky" side during ep1 and a good portion ep2. If his more ruthless side had been introduced just a little in ep1 I think this would served the contrast between the "fluff" and what is likely to come slight better. Again just my preference of course. If they manage to execute the upcoming episodes well this shouldn't matter too much. If being the key word!

I went into this drama looking forward to an intriguing plot and Namkoong Min, who is has been amazing in pretty much everything I've seen.
Based on the trailer I was expecting a lot dramatic moments with likely a considerable amount angst and maybe heartbreak.
After almost 2 hours, I was left scratching my head? This was a romantic comedy more than anything else? Had i watched the wrong trailer? Had I got this drama mixed up with another?
To make it worse the first episode was pretty low key - It was not the dynamic introduction i was expecting.
But............. as episode 2 continued, there was a clear shift in the tone of what i was watching in both Namkoong Min and the events unfolding on the screen and with the final moments of the episode I finally realised I hadn't watched the wrong trailer. I hadn't got this drama mixed up with another. It looks like episode 3 will ramp up the action and and advance the story further. I can't wait!

39 episodes but there 5 bonus episodes/scenes that can be purchased

The truly sad thing is, they probably don't care. As long as this make money that s all that matters to them....

True, but it felt like an after thought to me. This is where the fake wedding should have had a separate episode. Maybe give the entire last episode to DZY and HY - really get to see their happiness.

Dilraba and Gong Jun chemistry was an absolute highlight. Although i would add in Gong Jun chemistry with Liu Yu Ning and Chen Tao their scenes together were often some of my favourite

So this is it, the journey is over.

Thanks again to all those I got to share opinions with during the course of this drama, it has made the whole experience that much more fun.

I look forward to further debate's with you all on future drama's, whichever they may be. 😊😊😊

Well they got their happy ending, which for many is what was hoped for.

I'll be honest, I didn't really like the whole fake wedding storyline, i know its in the novel but it felt rather silly to me. Perhaps as was alluded to, DZY should have gone into full Anle mode and kidnapped HY and maybe we would finally see the 30,000 navy in action.

As an ending it was ok, if not exactly what I hoped for.

I did like -

At the risk of repeating myself, LMX, no one could ever accuse you of putting your own desires ahead of DZY happiness. As he was leaving the wedding, he looked into camera for a moment - just kind of bittersweet.

WS - Relaying DZY message to HY, his impression was spot on - made me laugh

To be entertained is the main reason most viewers watch a drama, to that end you posed the question - How did the drama receive such negative reviews?

As I explained -

1) Why, I think there are such negative reviews for some is down to how this story has been delivered by the director/producers and scriptwriters. - The execution of this story wasn't always what a viewer might expect

2) When delivering the emotions of the characters the drama has been very good, its the how or why the characters have got to these points that have required too many leaps, too much exposition or explanation from those that have read the novel to make a good drama to a great drama - To many viewers, if it isn't clear or doesn't make sense in the context of what they have watched then the likely outcome will be negative.

This is why you will get some negative opinions on this drama. For me the positives i,e the acting outweigh the negatives i.e the script, but not everyone is likely to feel the same.

I both agree and disagree i think, Perhaps I'm somewhere in the middle? HY and DYZ in the end are truly great characters who as your understanding of their story becomes clearer, your appreciate of them should grow. At least this is how it was for me. They are one of the best things about this drama.
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I agree completely that any kind of kiss scenes in the context of the story would make no sense, this is not a romantic comedy. Introducing kiss scenes would simply be contrived and at best would be to provide fan service to those who wish to see these moments. I mentioned this recently, DZY and HY were never in the right place for these moments, maybe by the end of the drama they will be.

The performances of Dilraba and Gon Jun were first class, they really became their characters which is testament to how well they did within their roles.

My personal rating will fall into the good but not great category.

The story is clearly about justice, but where the confusion comes from is early in the drama both DZY and LMX referenced both justice and revenge. It wasn't clear that it was justice until later in the drama for the viewers.

Why, I think there are such negative reviews for some is down to how this story has been delivered by the director/producers and scriptwriters.

At the time the pacing has not been great which gave me a sense of a disjointed story. The Crown Princess selection got a huge amount of attention yet towards the end parts of the drama feel rushed. This is the same with some of the characters, the fake DZY got a lot of screentime, yet Anning was a woefully under used character.

The further into the drama more and more exposition was required to make sense of situations and characters actions. Reflecting back it seems like those responsible never managed to use the source material correctly. At times they appeared to trying to follow the novel but it was executed badly.
The biggest indication that there has been some poor execution is actually this forum. There are far too many instances where novel readers have had to explain events or motivations in in order make the drama understandable. If constant explanation is required this is a issue of story telling. Too many instances of facts not in evidence to the viewer.
When delivering the emotions of the characters the drama has been very good, its the how or why the characters have got to these points that have required too many leaps, too much exposition or explanation from those that have read the novel to make a good drama to a great drama. At least for me anyway. I enjoyed your assessment it was well reasoned even if don't totally agree, thank you for sharing it.

HY and LMX get married, there's been some bromance going on there lately!!!😮😮😮

Agreed, its kind of bittersweet that he never got his own happy ending.

The villains a 7??? I assume the Empress Dowager is bringing up that score up? The rest were all kind Meh to me. If anything rather than getting more intelligent, more cunning they got progressively more stupid. Mo Bei started smart, but got dumber as each episode went by.