I tried to complete it but just couldn’t. Not even as backgroun noise for my crafting. The cast is passable but the script is extremely bad, which very likely did not help the cast to perform.
This drama in a nutshell: a marriage, some scheming, a dance, some scheming, some music, some scheming, another dance, again some scheming and on and on it goes. It gives me a headache, honest.
I do not expect much realism from manga adaptations. Even so, by Episode 2 of this season I was ready to give up. But then I persevered and it was a bit better after that, closer to season one in tone and mood. Character growth? Little to none, though. And the relationship of the main couple would be doomed to fail in real life. Inevitably. As would Nao's relationship with anyone, too. They say she cares about others more than about herself but all I saw was a clumsy egocentric child who has a lot of growing up to do, trapped as she was in her little delusional world.
And the relationship of the main couple was mostly driven by the people around them, with often very very bad pieces of advice.
OMG! what a great list! I wish it was possible to save it someplace and just go over it watching each and every…
You are welcome, fellow vertical-drama watcher.
I too wish there was a feature to save lists created by others to a tab on your own profile for future reference to have everything MDL-related on MDL, instead of having to bookmark it somewhere else.
This list is my attempt at some order and structure to track who and what in the chaotic world of vertical drama. It's a bit better today than it was back in early 2024, when I first came across this format, though!
As for the order, I prefer to keep it sorted this way. It's more or less a timeline of the first encounter for me, especially the first two pages. And it also means I can choose who will be featured on the list cover. Though a possible solution would be to add the current order as notes and then sort the list alphabetically. I don't promise to do it right away but I will think of it.
As the creator of the list I can click on Edit and then search the entire list at once but others don't have this ability, so it's indeed a limitation.
Episode 1 includes a trope that I pretty much hate. It’s called jump-to-conclusion: when people see somebody standing somewhere and immediately assume that the person did the thing they are standing next to. An appaling trope of misunderstandings.
And when you see supposedly briliant people doing this, it’s even more appaling. Because the teacher certainly is not portrayed as somebody focused only on math and math alone with no ability to navigate the world (that would be a plausible exuse).
Its just missing some details like why his mother went to seoul and how he managed to get back to busan when they…
It is told in the story. Sometimes with hints, other times almost straightforward. Like before they were still in school and then the female lead is a student of marine sports and they are all of the right age to drink beer. Before they used pagers and later already mobile flip-phones. These are all hints that several years have passed.
As for the father, this abusive monster hinted to his power and control over them. And then it was basically said in the mother’s conversation with her son.
The title of this drama should be not Temptation but Stupidity. Hong Joo does all the wrong things for little to no reason. Who wrote her like that? The best thing for such a destructive and self-destructing character would be therapy.
Other characters have their own cucarachas in their heads but their motivations are at least somewhat plausible. To keep watching or not to keep watching, now the question is.
The female lead apologises too much and acts more like at least over 50 than a 35-year-old. Episode 5 was particularly appaling with all the self-deprecation. But I know people like that, too keen to play to all social expectations, so it’s not unrealistic. Overall, the show is pretty good, albeit not devoid of cliches.
Slow, very slow and then some more. This could have easily been cut in half and would have not suffered any losses. Quite the contrary, it would have ended up a tighter and more enjoyable story.
This show is beautiful. I mean visually stunning. Also compliments to the cast and crew! They made the completely lame script riddled with plot holes at least passable.
The show could have been much better. But it wasn't. Oh well...
Not even 20 minutes in and we get a piece of completely lazy writing in the mom-tries-to-deliver-evidence scene. Instead of creating tension it creates lots of facepalming. Makes me want to drop this drama immediately. But I will probably watch some more.
What a lousy manager is the executive of the European branch in this drama. A role model my foot! First approves a leave and then forgets all about it and tells to drop everything and fly to London. It's manager's duty to plan for contingencies and find other resources when certain employees are on leave. Even then, though, Yun Song A's handling of the long-distance relationship is weird.
Another glaring nonsense in this drama is the 180-degree change in Lee Hyo Ju from a completely unreasonable raging maniac to a reasonable person. Unless she was on therapy behind the scenes. But even then three years is not enough for such a turnaround.
Overall the writing is weak. But the drama is more or less enjoyable, albeit the pacing is very uneven and some places are dragging and dragging and dragging.
1 
Well, yes. Something of the kind.
And the relationship of the main couple was mostly driven by the people around them, with often very very bad pieces of advice.
Unfortunately, watched it already. A rewatch is in my plans but not at the moment. :)
I too wish there was a feature to save lists created by others to a tab on your own profile for future reference to have everything MDL-related on MDL, instead of having to bookmark it somewhere else.
This list is my attempt at some order and structure to track who and what in the chaotic world of vertical drama. It's a bit better today than it was back in early 2024, when I first came across this format, though!
As for the order, I prefer to keep it sorted this way. It's more or less a timeline of the first encounter for me, especially the first two pages. And it also means I can choose who will be featured on the list cover. Though a possible solution would be to add the current order as notes and then sort the list alphabetically. I don't promise to do it right away but I will think of it.
As the creator of the list I can click on Edit and then search the entire list at once but others don't have this ability, so it's indeed a limitation.
And when you see supposedly briliant people doing this, it’s even more appaling. Because the teacher certainly is not portrayed as somebody focused only on math and math alone with no ability to navigate the world (that would be a plausible exuse).
As for the father, this abusive monster hinted to his power and control over them. And then it was basically said in the mother’s conversation with her son.
Other characters have their own cucarachas in their heads but their motivations are at least somewhat plausible. To keep watching or not to keep watching, now the question is.
Yes.
Anyway, the male lead in this show looks anything but feminine.
The show could have been much better. But it wasn't. Oh well...
Another glaring nonsense in this drama is the 180-degree change in Lee Hyo Ju from a completely unreasonable raging maniac to a reasonable person. Unless she was on therapy behind the scenes. But even then three years is not enough for such a turnaround.
Overall the writing is weak. But the drama is more or less enjoyable, albeit the pacing is very uneven and some places are dragging and dragging and dragging.