Eleison

I think she's just a caring person and finds it fulfilling to come alongside people who are struggling. As long as she isn't clingy, it doesn't bother me. She seems confident in herself and who she is, and is drawn to the ML because he's an intriguing mixed bag of features. 😅

They must do something to explain Sang Gi's actions, right? They showed he was obviously disturbed by the case, and they've been setting up something with all the emphasis on his penny pinching. Even if it doesn't completely excuse him, it will at least hopefully give his actions more context? I'm hoping for the Kdrama to Kdrama in this respect: we'll slowly get more information as the drama progresses.🤞

But I think this episode was also to show how controversial and difficult a lawyer's job is (no wonder they're often scum and/or painted as such? If they let their personal emotions get involved, then that might make them less effective, and no one would hire them; so they have to be cutthroat and heartless to be effective, and dramas romanticize this, usually, (and the attorneys are often prosecutors)).

In theory, I get why defense attorneys need to exist, but in reality I think their job would, in a lot of ways, absolutely suck.

Yeah, I believe juries are rare in SK. It's actually probably a lot more efficient that way (with judges), but one concern is they would be easier to buy off if they didn't have morals. 🤔

Juries have other problems (e.g. more sympathetic than a judge, don't know how to objectively view the situation, etc.) and in theory I think they are very important/good to have, but the U.S. system seems far more unwieldy because of them, for sure! And it probably makes the whole lawsuit process take way longer with juries.

I don't know enough (or have since forgotten what I learned in high school) to know which trials in the U.S. get judges vs. juries, though. 🤷‍♀️

I accidentally forgot to respond to my jury summons once and I've never been summoned since. 😬🫣 I am so bummed because now I would love to be on a jury even though back then I was not keen (I didn't want to miss school). 🤦‍♀️

I suppose if there were bones to pick with this, you found them. 😅 That said, none of these things screamed out at me as major issues, and I completely disagree with the sentiments about the ML. Because I'm someone who is weary at work but who also cares a great deal about it and doing well at it, I can totally resonate with his "time in life"; the ML is not "dead." He's tired, tempered, weary, and guarded (to protect himself from getting trampled on by manipulative or problematic clients due to making that mistake in the past). Episode 3 did a great showing more nuance behind him.

And slice of life does often have romance in it, though, doesn't it? I haven't seen one that hasn't. And with romance, comes tropes. The "energy and fun" you're looking for is in the dramas tagged as rom-coms, I think?

It's still got his great acting, though, and I think he has a unique way about him which I always enjoy even if I don't like the drama as much (I'm looking at you, Secret Garden 😅).

It is very bloody and violent. Lots of fighting, bullying, and high school boys getting beaten to a pulp.

😅

The building owner doesn't feel like a villain, but she played a record player in her office... I feel like they only show villains doing that. 😅

So, I'll remain somewhat suspicious for now.

The YKS cameo was so adorable, and this was another cozy episode. (And I've always thought the actress playing AJY'S ex had pretty eyes.)

I think 10 is justified sometimes. I only give 10s if I thoroughly enjoyed the drama and had nothing (in my opinion) that could have made it better (and would rewatch it basically in its entirety more than once).

I've tried to calibrate my scoring to fit MDL's scoring-ish. For me, above average dramas (as far as quality or my enjoyment factor), get 9s or above (to fit with the high 8 scores MDL gives since I can't do anything but half points). 8.5 is solid but not above average. 8 is average but still enjoyable enough to finish or very enjoyable at points with serious flaws (aka BOFs or Princess Hours, etc.) If I go below an 8 it's because I thought the drama was lacking/poorly executed and/or I did not enjoy it much at all. Most dramas I would have rated below an 8 I don't finish. If it doesn't reach an 8 for me, most times I don't want to waste my time anymore (same with below 8s on MDL; I find I rarely if ever like any of them). Why would I keep watching? Dramas are so long, I already know I'm not a huge fan, so I usually don't finish at that point. I have a few exceptions, but these are kind of the metrics I keep in my head.

Many people say they find MDL ratings are unhelpful/inaccurate, but I guess my tastes fit the majority, since I find the ratings pretty helpful except for right at the beginning of a drama airing or right after it finishes (cause the scores can be pretty inflated or deflated during those transitions). I usually get why an overall rating is different from mine (higher or lower) and usually chalk it up to taste and preferance. I tend to be of the mindset that dramas that the majority of users find enjoyable are often the most objectively enjoyable dramas, and I also usually like them (or at the very least can see why people would). 💁‍♀️


And I honestly can't fathom someone who would care enough to go to all the trouble to get bots to affect a platform like this. That seems utterly anal to me, and makes zero sense.

In the second half, for sure, but more specifically in the last 1/3.

I feel like moderators should only moderate users spamming comment sections and stuff, and if those people are removed or deactivated it will probably end up removing many of those malicious low scores. But people should be able to rate things they watch by whatever metric they want since it's not always easy to determine why they rated something a certain way. I don't think moderators should control that.

Nope, me too. 🙋‍♀️

Preach! After seeing how well all the other relationships were presented, I was disappointed by how they handled the romantic bits between Jian Jian and Ling Xiao.

And when the two boys find out that both of them confessed to the FL and she has to choose, and the boys start fighting over her, the reasons they were giving for why they should be the one to be with her? Absolutely awful, creepy and unnecessary. I was not just squirming due to the secondhand embarrassment for Jian Jian having been outed, but also just at hearing those reasons come out of their mouths. Even if it's a Chinese culture thing, I was just turned off. I know they were angry and spewing stuff, but still!

And I also agree with you that hands down Li Haichao STOLE THE SHOW. He was such a great contrast to all the other awful to mediocre parents in this. I don't think it happens often, but I also loved for once the depiction of a single father. It was different and interesting and put a unique spin on the story.

I thought she was pretty immature throughout, but she WAS relatable. She had always been spoiled and coddled and deferred to, and when she couldn't have things the way she always expected they would be, she fell apart. So, she's very human, and I 100% sympathized with her, but a more mature person would certainly have handled the transitions better.

I feel stupid, the answer is further down because someone else asked the same thing. Please disregard my superfluous question! 🫣🤦‍♀️

I definitely think the actor playing He Ziqiu was more engaging and more experienced as an actor.

Do you mean when do they start dating/seeing each other romantically?

Everyone certainly was pretty humanized in this, for sure! They gave everyone a story. That didn't mean they excused everyone's behavior, but they all felt real and there were reasons for everything they did.

But I did feel squirmy when Ling Xiao started pursuing Jian Jian; I was disappointed by how he went about it, because all three siblings/friends had the most adorable dynamic; then, out of nowhere, he got all possessive and clingy and pushing her into stuff and saying things like "I'll sink into darkness if you're not with me" (where's the guy running with the red flag across the field? 😳 That's what I felt like doing at these parts that were portrayed as romantic and I just wanted to scream to Jian Jian, "Beware! Warning!"). What made it less 😬 was that she did want to be with him and was able to look past it to his pain and the source, but what if she hadn't been (and relationships are not mechanisms for fixing or being fixed; they don't work that way)?

I keep coming across these types of MLs in modern Cdramas, and I don't know why they write this behavior as acceptable and romantic (these types of MLs stopped being written in Kdramas 5+ years ago). *sigh* Thankfully it didn't last long, but it kind of ruined the usual cuteness of the MC getting together.

So much to love about this, though, overall.

The trailer feels similar to the vibe of the first two episodes, from what I observed?

😅😅😅 So true!

I find there are even different types of slice of life, but if you research you can differentiate them. Like after watching My Mister (which was very good but not my cup of tea), I figured dramas like Our Blues wouldn't be my thing, so I avoided it. Racket Boys is slice of life, too, but a different vibe from My Mister and totally my jam... Anyway, there are so many resources available to determine if a drama will be a good fit. Start there at least!

I still sometimes watch dramas I can't finish because even after research it wasn't my thing, but it's not super common.