Eleison

True, I think there were some nods to it for sure, I just thought they could have made it a more convincing and emphasized arc than the one one they chose to lean into most.

Yay!! I hope you like it. :)

Singleness is definitely a guaranteed way to never make mistakes or mess up as a parent. If you never have children, there's no way to parent them badly. I think that's kind of a no-brainer, though?

And I think it's an unsustainable response to parental abuse. Individuals can obviously choose this option, but not whole societies.

My parents weren't perfect, either (because, again, imperfect parents are the only kinds of parents that exist), but I think they did so many things well and always tried their best. I wouldn't be the person I am today (in a good way) without their guidance and wisdom. I genuinely think MOST parents try their best. Their best may not be very good, and for some it's absolutely awful, but most THINK they're trying their best or loving their kids, even when objectively they're not.

One of the responsibilities of adulthood and maturity is to recognize this--that our parents did things imperfectly, poorly or downright badly or immorally--and to take ownership of it by doing our best to heal and grow from ways we were hurt so we don't perpetuate that hurt to others, if possible. Maybe that means never having kids. Maybe that means getting therapy; lots of it. Or maybe it means a bit of both. It will often mean that a relationship with the parent(s) needs to be cut off until/unless that person has fixed their issues. Maybe the distance is permanent. Maybe it means creating boundaries. Everyone's situation looks different as each situation is unique.

My personal opinion is that one reason abuse repeats itself in generations is because people don't deal with the bitterness and hatred and anger towards--and pain/trauma from--their family who wronged them which inevitably (and understandably!) builds up over time; if they don't address it, they gradually turn into someone they never could have imagined becoming: the very thing they hated.

A good friend of mine would get abused by his dad when his dad got angry (and his grandfather had abused his dad, too). One day my friend, when he was a teenager, like 17 or so, noticed his dad sleeping on the couch and felt the anger mount inside him. It grew until he fantasized about bashing his dad's head in with a golf club sitting nearby. After a moment he realized what he was thinking, and was horrified and stunned. It hit him that he was fantasizing harm towards his dad in retribution for his abuse, because he had so much hatred in his heart towards him. But doing so would have made him no different from his father. Because he saw himself becoming the very man he feared, he got help for it, and slowly, slowly learned to forgive his dad (not reconcile with him), who died not long after this happened from an illness. Now that my friend has worked through his bitterness and has learned to forgive his dad over the years (he's told me the bitterness towards him is completely gone), he has ended the cycle of abuse because he does not have violent, unaddressed anger and hatred anymore, and is a wonderful dad to his two daughters.

So I think generational trauma and abuse can end, not just when people don't have children, but when those who got hurt get help, and work through their pain and address it rather than letting the bitterness and hate fester, or pushing it under the carpet or pretending like it didn't happen (and picking a good partner with whom to have children who is trustworthy and won't hurt their kids, either, of course 😏).

Ah, we call that plot armor! 😅

Agreed! I think the drama could have ended with them reuniting as a family again after college and leaving it there. The first 1/3 set the bar too high, I guess. :)

Kind of a crazy reason to censor entertainment that is clearly fantasy in every way. 😅 I still can't wrap my head around it. Why does the government feel responsible for people not being able to separate fact from fiction? Or for parents who should have been the ones to censor what their child could handle watching or not? 🤔

Love in the Moonlight also completely changed history by having a prince who died, survive to become king in the drama (or it was implied he did and that the couple's ending was happy). 😅 Kdramas do that. :)

Lovely comment!

This screenwriter does memorable and famous dramas, even if they're not always objectively good. I can't say she's my favorite...

And this one seems like her wildest, boldest premise yet!

And Suzy, while I've loved her in some dramas, seems hit or miss depending on who directs what she's in...

Not that I know of. But I haven't researched it. Maybe they've fixed it since I watched it? 🤷‍♀️

She's a significant role, if not a frequent one. She features more in the first half than the second. She's lovely, but her story is kind of heartbreaking, just fyi. 🥺

I know a lot of people love it, they just got frustrated with the love triangle. I can always tell which dramas people love because if it has over 100,000 on MDL, it's a popular drama and many people liked it.

I love talking dramas! That's why I frequent MDL. :) It's fun to hear others' insights, and to connect over seeing similar things, and sometimes get new insights I wouldn't have noticed by myself.

My first Kdrama was Crash Landing On You, and it will also always have a special place in my heart for that reason, too. But my favorite Kdrama screenwriter is actually the screenwriter for Start-Up. I find this to be her most difficult drama to get through (still love it, though), but I love her themes and how she writes really amazing growth arcs for her leads. Her other dramas are (in order from oldest to newest):

Dream High
I Can Hear Your Voice (in my top 5)
Pinocchio
Page Turner (only three episodes)
While You Were Sleeping (in my top 2--neck and neck with Dr. Romantic 2)
Start-Up
Castaway Diva

I'd recommend them all (on MDL, none of these dramas have below an 8, and WYWS has an 8.7 last I checked, which is high for a drama from 2017)! The older ones are a bit dated, but ICHYV and WYWS are both some of my favorite dramas of all time, and I Can Hear Your Voice has my favorite themes and some of my favorite scenes in a Kdrama to date. Both are in my top 5. All of her dramas have love triangles, and all the characters always have flaws to grow from of varying degrees (from insufferable to mild 😅), but she writes the 2MLs as true characters, not just as plot devices to help the main couple grow or get together.

Back to Start-Up, I also thought this screenwriter showed over and over again why Dal Mi picked Do San over Ji Pyeong. I am familiar with the screenwriter's style, so I was prepared for him to be endearing (all her 2MLs are, haha). It was still always agony to see him watch them connect and grow slowly, slowly while he helped them from behind the scenes or without them even knowing, never getting credit for it (hating himself for doing it, then continuing because he truly is a "good boy" 😉, and didn't want to let Ms. Choi down), but Do San and Dal Mi were also a good fit from the get-go. Ji Pyeong's story was also a lot about his relationship with Dal Mi's grandmother. I thought their story was so lovely, even though so many things went off the rails later due to their sweet little scheme of writing Dal Mi letters. I also loved Do San, and watching him fess up to the Olympiad debacle was one of the hardest things to watch in a drama. I always admire his character's courage.

Another big theme of this story: Beware! Lies/dishonesty, even seemingly innocent ones, will never stay hidden... 😅

Yes, but I was fine with him not ending up with her. It worked for Nam Joo Hyuk to not "do as well" because his character is supposed to be a nerdy engineering major who struggles to relate to people and connect; Ji Pyeong is brilliant and talented and had to learn to survive amongst people from a young age with virtually nothing and no one to fall back on, so he's much better at navigating and social situations and challenges than Do San who had middle class privilege to keep him afloat as he chased his dreams glued to his computer. 😅

I thought Ji Pyeong's growth was interesting as a character apart from Dal Mi, and it was so fun l (AND painful 😅) to watch both male leads grow.

Ji Pyeong grew into someone who knew how to trust others, and show love towards them rather than bottle his feelings up and hide them deep down inside, and Do San learned how to "ride off without a map," finally finding another person he could work side by side with him who cared about following their dreams, too, even when everyone around them said it was stupid to do so.

And both had to learn how to be their true selves; pretty much every character had to learn that integrity and truth-telling is essential to building trust and solid relationships, and the foundation for lasting success of any kind.

This and True Beauty, while wildly popular as they aired and still known for being enjoyable dramas, both got lower ratings due to the love triangles (my theory, anyway, as both 2MLs had VERY heated fans with a severe case of second lead syndrome 😅).

I kind of feel like Han Ji Pyeong is Nam Do San and Seo Dal Mi's flawed fairy godmother (if a fairy godmother were grumpy and a man 😅) and a gumiho all rolled into one (don't gumihos feel a deep sense of obligation in dramas to repay their debts?). This is also kind of his story, as he's the character that grows the most (right ahead of Nam Do San who does quite a lot of maturing, too).

HJP does all this for these bright-eyed kiddos because that's what Ms. Choi did for him.

He does so much to help the main pair grow (reluctantly, of course--as he gripes, kicks and screams), works his magic behind the scenes, keeps them from falling too hard, tells them hard truths they need to hear, but gets unexpectedly transformed in the process, too, because he's a real softie deep down. Their earnest optimism and drive ends up inspiring him, too.

Kim Seon Ho does an enchanting job with this role! A scene stealer and a show stealer, and his character has a great arc. I just adore the way this screenwriter writes character arcs.

Word of advice: you've got to see past the romantic thread (and getting all worked up about who ends up with who--that's not what this story is ultimately about) to properly appreciate HJP's character arc and story. He's not just a plot device like many 2MLs, he's an important part of the story from start to finish.

Yeah, it made sense in Mr. Queen, but this is more like Splash Splash Love's premise, yes? Splash did the meeting in the last five minutes of the real world with a look alike. 😉

Haha, yes!

Something I've wondered; instead of making Dusik's hangup and hiccup with Hye Jin be about not wanting to share his past with her, I wonder if it would have felt less dramatic if they followed up his fear of causing those around him to die. They could have used Gamri's death to help him work through that fear, since the way it is now that fear just seems to dissolve and dissipate as he becomes more vulnerable about his grief.

But they made his issue being fear of rejection and disappointing Hye Jin, like he didn't deserve her love or to be happy, but there really was no fault on his part as it was written, so that guilt was completely irrational. I think the fear developing from his childhood that anyone that gets close to him dies would have been more interesting to explore (and they could have still kept the story about his friend). It's all hypothetical now, of course, but they had a few threads they could have pulled for his character and went with one that felt slightly overdramatic for the level of guilt he seemed to have.Just a musing!

I forgot how much I love this! It's really a gem. Don't know why I gave it an 8.5 when I watched it the first time. Definitely a 9 this time around. Rating adjusted!

Dusik is as cute as a button, and Hye Jin goes from being our high maintenance princess-and-the-pea to being so kind and warmhearted (love the details of the shared characteristics with her and her dad).

The aegyo when our leads start dating was at times quite difficult to watch 😅, but both leads act their hearts out in this drama, and Oh Eui Shik plays an endearing guest/support role yet again. I also love the rare Kdrama that allows our 2ML to end up happily with someone who is not the FL; instead of leaving him to pine for her like a pathetic human, they allow him to move on like a normal person.

The neighbors of Gongjin are so cozy (after you hear their stories). The only parts I skipped on a rewatch were the love triangle between Ijun's parents and their female friend. Never was very into that plot.

I just have one question: whatever happened to Yun Gyeong's baby? 🫢 (We never even get a name, or if it's a boy or a girl! 😅)

😅

But doesn't this have a much lighter tone/vibe than Scarlet Heart?