Dabosil

That's a new perspective. I kind of get what you mean, but for both CLOY and Vincenzo, as I reached the end I got into a state of heightened apprehension-didn't want both to have the whole 'all is hopeless' feeling or the 'happily ever after fairytale' vibes, so I like their bittersweet and underlying sadness.
I agree it's unresolved, but I think I know enough about the character's personalities in Vincenzo to see how it's going to go down. For CLOY, for me it was like reading a storybook, so I didn't think about it too much-I think it actually ended up a lot more real world in regards to the NK-SK background idea.
I agree that comedy was jarring though, so I separated the scenes into different universes, which kind of made my watch a lot more pleasant.

Thanks for bringing it up, I actually just read an article about this yesterday. I admit I can't relate so much to your sentiments as I am not an Italian. Personally, I mostly found it a bit squirmish when I saw them do the hand gesture. I'll only say that I know they didn't mean to offend Italians, though they definitely could do better with representation. I kind of felt that this was because Vincenzo's Italian background is sometimes just treated like a foreign mystery, which with the show's constant humor ends up being part of the slapstick (I just watched along, but I didn't really get the humor).
I can't say for the mafia culture, though I read some comments about how it's a little more Americanized (from popular mafia movies). Wasn't so bothered by the Italian since I can't understand it anyways and I guess it was just a part of Vincenzo's character needing to speak Italian to be on par with his background.
Usually I'd say that I know the show's focus is about the themes. but I still think these parts could have been done better since it doesn't seem to achieve anything except to annoy Vincenzo.

I agree, though MDL doesn't automatically encompass everyone's feelings on it.
E.g. On IMDb it's 8.6 (I think)
And on Douban *Chinese Rotten Tomatoes, oh dang, it was a 5.4 when it started out. Thankfully it's gone up to 7.6 now.
And on MDL it's 9.0.

If I wasn't biased towards this drama, I would put it at around a 7.8-8.3 on average.

Still, I like that it has higher ratings due to its unique set-up and characters, in comparison to other dramas with similar storylines.

Good to see you around too! I'm just answering comments since I can't make any more comments, haha.

That's a good point. I agree, the comedy was never the shining factor for me. Although I understand the show never started out trying to be gritty and serious, the reaction from most people in the abrupt changes of the mood show that they didn't do well with the balance tipping point. For me. the comedy distracted you from plot inconsistencies since it was inconsistent and unrealistic already, and as a light way of solving corruption, while the darker elements were to show us not to undermine corruption.

Well, Vincenzo bought his island and still has some left, the Geumga Plaza members who HELPED just stored them in different places, and Hong Cha-Young's got her stash under her bed.
I'm assuming they all have continued to live normally, but now they have a hell load of emergency funds and insurance coverance.

kind of-it's a surface good ending, but if you think about it, not really.

Oh, I haven't seen that opinion yet, people seem pleasantly surprised about the spoiler. But hope you like the rest of it. If not, at least I hope it was a fun ride.

Don’t think Sisyphus was nominated, idk if it’s because they finished airing (I think they finished quite a while ago)- not sure about eligibility period. But I get it. Sisyphus was fun to watch but I don’t think there was outstanding type acting there.
As for LUCA, I can’t say I know as I didn’t watch it.

Nope, most people got hooked at episode 4.

Not sure either, I hope so. I read about the eligibility period somewhere but I forgot what it was.

I think it was already great how they got nominated in this period considering that they were still airing.
In an interview, SJK mentioned he was looking forward to Director Kim Hee-Won's nomination (not his, even though he would be attending), so I think he was prepared to lose. (That's the upside, at least he won't be disappointed).
I did feel disappointed when the director lost out too, but I'm sure the directing in other shows were great as well. I bet other actors did great.
Congratulations to all winners!
And gosh, that was a long live. I was mostly just glad to have it finished after they got to Best Actor; didn't understand basically everything that was said.

I think it's already quite the feat staying at 9. Many don't like the latter episodes as much. Usually the score goes down when more people watch it too. I still think it'll go down over time, but that it has stayed at 9, well, wow.
As for 9.1...
It's been a week, just a week.

I don't know why but your comment actually made me laugh. Was going to disagree but its true, now I remember they had this ten second long shot of Vincenzo sipping Espresso. Haha!
Kind of prevalent in dramas though, maybe I've gotten numb to it.

Nice take, thanks.

Actually, I think its quite the opposite. Violence is quite prevalent in many western genres. The final tortures caused quite a stir in SK, many people believed it was too violent and it was new for K-Dramas.
(Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Outlander)

Interested to find out how and what your ideal ending of the show would be.

Agreed with many of your points. Liked your review.

This drama's OST is so identifiable- I can hear those words all the time ringing around.
'Driving me crazy...'
It actually is, too.

Haha, many came to the conclusion in the opening lecture of episode 1 already. I got majooorrr vibes, took a double take and even searched it up to see if it was a remake.