Eleison

Are you saying Mok Ha is lying? And if so, who is she lying to? What is she lying about? I'm not sure I understand how that connects to needing a man and not being a strong woman? I'm genuinely interested in knowing what you mean, not trying to pick a fight. :)

Yeah, and Episode 7 might be one of my favorite episodes in any Kdrama I've seen. SO. GOOD.

EDIT: Episode 1 is also fantastic. Another one that stands out amongst the hundreds I've seen.

💯 It's also kind of impossible to binge because it's so long, haha; it's like the compromise between a typical 16 episode drama and a 40+ episode family drama. 😂

Totally true about the ending! Rewatching it never recaptures what you felt the first time watching it, and it can't be satisfyingly watched again.

Isn't it the most beautiful ending? But it also hurts. Strangely sweet and heartbreaking all at once. And I was ALSO a mess watching the end. 😭

It also took me time to get into it; after Episode 5 or so I started to get into more (though here and there I did skip some scenes that I just couldn't get into, usually with the parents when they were all together). After finishing it, I realized that the emotional punch of the end draws heavily on the seemingly "boring" parts from the beginning as hindsight transforms them into something beautiful and never-to-be-had-again. Kind of similar to how the seemingly mundane and consistent elements of our childhood that felt commonplace at the time (and which we took for granted) become precious memories that awaken a longing to return to those simple, sweet times when they are remembered years later. But we never can.

As for this drama, the feels just snuck up on me in the last few episodes and made me want to weep several times. I was a teary mess in the last 10 minutes or so in particular (and I rarely get emotional watching dramas).

Did you finish it to find out?

I just realized that the cast list here on MDL doesn't give you ANY hints about who Deok Sun ends up with 😂(unlike most dramas with romance on MDL, which are pretty obvious based on the cast list set up and tags so you can decipher easily who is endgame). Kind of maddening, since they draw out the mystery of who she ends up with for most of the drama, too. Buckle up, newcomers, and keep an open mind; it's a long ride! 🤣

I did, too, at the beginning, and kept thinking, "What the heck?" and then I got used to it and by the end I thought it was funny. Don't know how it grew on me. 😅

Yeah, I don't know. Obviously it's hard to know for sure if you pre-record music how authentic it is (even the drama itself admits that, haha). Some people on here said she was having a live concert in Korea singing music from the drama? 🤷‍♀️

Oh, good, I'm glad you'll finish it! I'm sure the last two episodes will be enjoyable either way. :)

You, too! Thanks for reading my ramblings. 🙃

Haha, that make sense. I like that the 2MLs are not just plot devices in her stories, but I also sympathize with preferring 2MLs who are either unlikable or whose crushes are light. 😅 I also prefer that, if I'm honest, but there are so many other things about her dramas I love that I overlook that preference when I watch hers. Definitely makes it easier to root for the leads together.

Maybe another thing that makes people struggle with this writer's dramas is that she also can make her MLs more flawed than you'll find in other dramas (particularly true in Start-Up, but for instance the way Bo Geol in this one kept his identitiy as Ki Ho a secret so vigilantly from Woo Hak and Mok Ha, and then did a 180 (for valid reasons) and stopped lying to both all of a sudden. It became a little more selfish of him, especially considering the timing of it all and how poor Woo Hak was still in the throes of processing it all). There are a lot of dramas with flawed MLs, but she tends to write their flaws in less tropey ways (not like, for example, the jerk chaebol heir who we end up finding actually is a sweet softie and just misunderstood and who grows by the end; that is the ultimate ML Kdrama persona of all time (I think Kdramas have perfected this rom-com trope down to a science), and I'm here for it 😂).

Happy to dialogue! It helps us to articulate and hone in our preferences, and personal preference is a big part of the enjoyment that comes from entertainment. No reason to force ourselves to watch what we know we don't like! I've discovered I can't do most office dramas or ghost/afterlife dramas, and it's hit and miss on the time travel and body switching. 😂 There seem to be a lot of good dramas airing right now so hopefully you can find another one more to your taste! :)

I see. :) Well, all the best making it through! 😂

Yes, I believe so (and according to the tracks available on Spotify so far). Park Eun Bin is apparently singing Mok Ha's parts in this drama. I think the younger version of Mok Ha in Episode 1, who did that first version of Dream Us, was not Eun Bin's voice (maybe the younger actress?) because her voice and Eun Bin's voice sounded different to me. But I could be wrong. Not sure if that answered your question?

Yes. :) For some it may not be a satisfying explanation, but for me it was sufficient. Episodes 7 and 8 should clear almost everything up.

That's a fair point! You might find her love triangles in I Can Hear Your Voice and While You Were Sleeping more to your liking, then. They are much subtler and more subdued; the 2MLs are still lovely but not given as much screentime or shown pining quite as much. Maybe they'll work better for you? Or not, haha. While You Were Sleeping is one of my favorite Kdramas of all time, so I promote it whenever I can. 😏 After finishing Episode 10 of this drama, I think I can say WYWS will still take the lead as my favorite drama, especially by this screenwriter, unless Episodes 11 and 12 knock things out of the park.

I will say I don't think this writer in particular writes love triangles to generate hype (I could be wrong, but she seems like too much of an artist for that), but she does embrace all the Kdrama tropes. She embraces the trope of the 2ML, embraces that he will have unrequited love, as per the formula, but writes him with his own character arc that riffs off of the FL and allows him to grow into a better version of himself and who becomes interesting in his own right, and doesn't just utilize him as a plot device (which is not something you usually see with 2MLs).

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself about it; you mentioned in your post that it would have spoilers and also made it clear you were going to give a run down on the first five episodes (and it was not the first post starting a reply thread but near the middle), so anyone reading after those disclaimers should have known what they were getting into. Besides, you replied specifically to that person who had asked you for the spoilers, right? (Conscientious of you to apologize, though. 😏)

Are you the user who said they didn't like musicals/stories written around music and singing? Trying to remember. If it was you, I hope it ends up being to your liking. :) I think it's been lovely so far!

I love rewatching their scenes, too!

I was wondering if what happened is maybe some people who have been tracking the drama from the beginning (I think I can include myself in this, and I have been duly chastised) who have been frequenting this page since then who got past the "Who is Ki Ho?" buzz got kind of lax (some have been excellent about it since the beginning; I don't want to lump everyone together!) because many of us have already known that for two weeks. Because of that, some of us were moving on and discussing the story and characters based on current plot points and information already digested and made clear by earlier episodes, getting lazy with the spoiler tag and kind of forgetting that new people to the page picking up the drama as it gains momentum might want to discover some of these plot points like the rest of us did. However, there have been a handful of vigilant members on this thread the past few days who have helped remind everyone, so, hopefully it will get better? 🤷‍♀️ I'm happy to see the number of watchers increasing!

I also sometimes use the spoiler tag (like now) if I think I'm getting too verbose and will clutter up the thread since I write long posts. Not everyone will want to read them. 😂