Eleison

I feel that way, too! The writing is stellar, it's well-acted, etc., but I don't think it quite hit home with everyone, unfortunately. 😔

I felt like it was cohesive and I still enjoyed Season 2. It does have a different vibe from Season 1, but I thought it was fun to see the original Nak Su actress have her moment (she's adorable in her role--did you know the original Nak Su actress voiced all of Mu Deok's thoughts in Season 1? That blew our minds when we found that out!), even though she's quite different than Mu Deok in a lot of ways. She's still smart and clever, but solves issues differently because she has no memories of her past. I think of her as what Nak Su would have been if she'd never become a hardened assassin.

I think many people didn't like it because they had VERY specific expectations for what they wanted Season 2 to be. I didn't, beyond a happy ending, and they delivered on that front. There is less fantasy action/fighting and such, which I think people missed, and people didn't like how "different" Nak Su felt in this season. But to me, she still held continuity with Mu Deok in many ways.

So, I think both seasons had sloppy elements and plot holes, and Season 2 in my opinion didn't have any more of them than Season 1, Season 2 just landed poorly with many fans because by Season 2 they had expectations they wanted met.

Season 2 has a much heavier romantic component, is more angsty, and the leads have less of that camaraderie dynamic (Jang UK becomes much more broody and intense, and Nak Su becomes a ray of hope and sunshine--so they essentially switch roles from Season 1 to Season 2; also, Mu Deok protects and empowers Jang UK in Season 1; in Season 2, these roles reverse as well). I thought they still had excellent chemistry, though.

My main gripe was they prolonged the amnesia plot point a bit longer than I would have liked (and some side characters feel less crucial to the plot than in Season 1), but I thought the ending was great and delivered quite well.

I get why people were disappointed, but I still enjoyed it just about as much (I even think I liked Nak Su in Season 2 better; she was so cute and lovable).

Okay, good to know. It's hard to have good chemistry if one of the leads is still struggling with the basics... 💁‍♀️

That's good to know!

I saw Shin Hyun Bin in Warrior Baek Dong Soo and her acting was as stiff as a board. Probably the worst acting for an FL I've ever seen. Has she improved since then? Cause I have very little motivation to watch her in a drama even though I think Sang Min is a great actor. 😬

If so, then reality is a sad world to live in.

I see, well, I liked him in Unlock My Boss and Castaway Diva. I think he did much better work in those two dramas than this one.

True! But I think it's just harder for people to get used to since it's traditionally not been as much the case. Not saying it's not a double standard, and the tradition around this could be poorly founded, but I think that's one reason.

Also, most people who get married want children (not a rule, but still a bit motivation for people to marry each other as opposed to cohabitation which probably provides less incentive). This is much more difficult (and less likely) if a woman is in her 40's, and a younger guy would have to be okay with that since he might not get to have kids. This issue does not exist in the same way if we flip the age gap between a man and woman.

Also, guys usually take a bit longer to mature; for instance, usually a guy at 20 and a girl at 20 often just aren't equals in maturity. Guys usually take a bit longer to find their bearings than a woman at that same age, especially in the teenage years and early to mid 20's.

I think these are some reasons why people still feel more uncomfortable with older women being with younger men, because paired with the uncommon age gap is the maturity gap. This isn't a rule of course, but I think it's why people still have a harder time with it.

But also, over 10 years of difference in age in any direction just makes practical compatibility in a relationship more difficult to navigate. For instance, a couple's friend groups in this scenario might not mesh super well (a guy in his late 20's with friends his age probably isn't going to have much in common with a woman in her early/mid 40's who has friends around her age (in my opinion). I mean, do you see that happening much? A couple flourishing in their relationship won't be living in a vaccuum where they have no friends or social outlets, but a friend group or community they share can be trickier to build with this setup), which is maybe why stories with such age gaps feel especially fantastical and particularly unrealistic (though, to be fair, Kdramas aren't realistic anyway 💁‍♀️).

The older people get, the less this seems to be true, but I personally get why people struggle with the noona romances if there are large age gaps. It comes with more social drawbacks that make the romance harder to swallow.

Yeah, but for all their charms, many early 2010's dramas show very toxic relationship dynamics. I think it's a good thing many of those dynamics are behind us in Kdramaland.

If that doesn't work, go to the The Double drama page and ask in the comment thread there. people that frequent the page will know where to direct you. :)

Have you seen any of his other dramas?

Oh, I haven't seen NiF yet, but I'm going to at some point. I'll try to look for stuff like this once I do!

Yes, I think so, too. I think the one caveat to what you said with the employees in this show is that because all/most are ex-cons, they can't find work elsewhere quite as easily as the average person, since the market is already competitive and if you are considering a person without a record vs. one with a record, there's no question about who will be chosen. That makes them a little less free to shop around and look for opportunities which might make them put up with stuff they shouldn't in a job that DOES accept them. However, I don't think Ji Hwan ever abuses his power as their CEO, and only ever tried to give them the best and pushed them to become their best. He can still push them do be better AND be a good boss.

I mean, what kind of boss (or leader/authority figure of any kind) accepts mediocrity, lack of growth, zero attempts to innovate, complacency, and lets you do whatever you want? A bad boss.

Did you see him in Tomorrow? He was good in that drama!

I've heard Daily Motion had it posted as a few week ago or so. That's where I watched it.

I agree that it could have been done much better, for sure! I think the actors did the best they could with what they had to work with. :)

Kim So Hyun doesn't seem that picky about her roles, and until Castaway Diva (which aired before this but was filmed before), Chae Jong Hyeop was only a lead a few times in smaller dramas (Love All Play, Unlock My Boss), so I imagine he'll be able to pick better projects moving forward.

Yeah, but that's just still not a fair criticism; I read what children write for a living, and it's much, much worse. 😂

I liked when he was flirting with her to find out if he was her crush. Oh my gosh, he made her so flustered and giddy. Watching him delight in making her squirm with giddy confusion was the highlight of the drama for me!

1. I think @biased pointed out that South Korea's prosecutors ARE like detectives. They can investigate and do what the West would consider "police work." It makes law dramas fascinating because their emphasis is so different from legal shows in the U.S.!

2. Rude? How?

3. Ji Hwan's morals and compassion are what makes everyone in the story love and admire him, though? And if he accepted his workers for who they were, they would still be frauds and making poor decisions and self-sabotaging, etc. They are choosing to work for him because he reminds them they deserve a better life than that. I liked that he reminded them how they had messed up and so "deserve" the poor treatment they receive from people in one sense, but his area of weakness was thinking that he had less VALUE because of his mistakes and didn't deserve to be happy (which is ironically something he can't get for himself but reminds his employs about all the time). That was a part of his arc and something he needed to realize was false.

If you like fluffy rom-coms with good chemistry, aren't super nit-picky about minor plotholes and don't mind some fantasy/time-travelling elements, then you'll probably love this!