kdramakitty

This review is mostly going to be me complaining, so I want to emphasize up front that this series does have good parts to it. The acting is solid and the cinematography is gorgeous. I loved the costumes as well. There are good scenes and initially the pacing of the story is good. The premise is interesting and it remains intriguing through part of the show. But it starts to fall apart near the end, could've been helped by being a bit longer, and the story is a bit messy in parts.

For me, the romance plot isn't great. It's a bit rushed, like a switch was flipped and suddenly they're madly in love with each other. I also didn't really feel much chemistry between the leads. It's weird, because the actors are both solid, but yeah, I just didn't feel that spark between them. I also think "fakecest" just isn't my thing so it could be that the very premise of their romance was never going to work for me.

The plot was a bit messy and occasionally a bit of a letdown, including the resolution of the mysteries. There are a couple of mysteries ongoing, and I really didn't like how the show handed you the answers super easily. It was just a letdown and a waste of all that dramatic buildup. There are times when backstory information seems to contradict each other. The plot towards the end is a bit rushed as well, which unfortunately isn't too uncommon these days with shorter kdramas instead of the 16- or 20-episode long ones that we used to get. There are a couple of things that didn't make sense to me about the ending, but whatever.

Tbh I'm not sure why I finished this show. It certainly was intriguing in parts, but towards the end I just felt obligated to finish it since I had made it so far. Once again, I think the actors did an admirable job, but this wasn't remotely a standout drama or one that I'll remember.