InspectorMegre

A good story is supposed to start with faulty character(s) and show them TRANSFORM UP.

In this drama, so far, there are no transformations up, only down.... At this point, there is not ONE single character who is a righteous person and who could be rooted for. So we are free to pick who we want to root for LOL In a kdrama, many characters are likely to get a redemption arc.

We are likely to pick to root for JW and HN as they started as good but weak and confused persons who were wronged ... but then both of them went majorly bad. JW actively did the crime of defrauding, etc and HN enabled it. In that process, they caused death of her father Ki Bom, they compltely betrayed and trashed SH as if he does not matter, .....

So they got about 40 episodes left to clean it up and grow up. That's plenty enough time IF they start making steps in that direction bc it takes time to get there. If they dont start maturing asap, they might never make it. A "happy ending" in 100th episode is not it LOL

Since JW is FL, we expect her to represent the "side of good" and eventually "win" and achieve that redemption arc...... however - there are no guarantees - what if she is FL bc she turns into a Darth Wader... ? Even he started as a good person who had some trauma...

Luckily, we usually do not get a whole series on how Darth Wader became evil... Fairy tales are always dedicated to a a faulty character who TRANSFORMED UP.

HN is portrayed as a supporting character so what do we expect of him? I think we agree he used to be a good person and it is reasonable to expect a redemption arc, but.. as Shinubi said, he is just butt snifing and agreeing to all kinds of sleezy collusions with crime for the sake of getting into JW's heart and pants, so .... HN at this point is evil too.

SH is listed as ML. So far he was a docile, slimey and somewhat good somewhat spoiled brat entitled character and we know he is an experienced sexual predator/playboy who knows how to play and use women, and is proud of that. But overall, he was a good mama daddy boy so far, obediently expecting to be a heir and having some fun with women etc on the side. Then he got a crush on JW... which showed lack of discernment with all the red flags.. and now we see his rash immature stupid conclusions and decisions... he is just too immature and impulsive... And now, he might explode into major evil.

Usually, FL / ML are supposed to be "good people who overcome evil and experience redemption arc" but ... there are no guarantees LOL In any case, we COULD root for FL's redemption arc... and HN.... and SH and others.

*Chairman imo probably will not make any redemption arc. He is just wired wrong and is too far cemented as a villain. In fact, he is a batshit crazy psychopath serial killer. He needs jail for the rest of his life.
*Nan Suk... ? hm... maybe.... but reaaaaly hard... Out of bitterness and desperation, she has built a belief system and made decisions that turned her into a monster, and she ENJOYS scheming and stealing.
*RealYC? ... she was trained as a poisonous snake so ... tough luck in overcoming that... it might be possible under the right conditions. She responded well to HR's kindness. So, under close supervision and living with someone very kind, she might overcome the trauma that made her so viciously poisonous and fighting for her life by any means.
*Manager Hwang seems to have made a U turn.
*Manager Gu has not....
*Ki-Bom's widow is doing better than when he was alive... LOL I ship her with Manager Hwang. He is QUIET and polite and helpful hunk. I think she will enjoy him. But he killed her daughter and then helped kill her husband so... I doubt they will ever ship. He will just be her helper.

*HR is a super complex character bc she has her very strong good sides and also very strong bad sides... But somehow... it doesnt get me. HR is too flat so far. The acting has to be .... different to show that complexity
*Se Mi is another super complex character and in danger of never making it.... Her situation is cushy and she has no reasons to start her redemption arc. Chances are, Se Mi stays a spoiled rich entitled girl all her life

*SH is mortally wounded and now he will either live or die, sink or swim, his next actions determin if he nurses his wounds by becoming a Darth Wader, or it helps to wake him up to become a more conscious human being, The first thing he has to learn, esp as a heir, is to make INFORMED DECISIONS. He is just too lazy to think and just blunders into emotional reactions... Clinging to JW, jumping on YC, thinking HR killed his mom... etc etc etc SW is a little boy.

*JW and HN have this "wounded kids in blind revenge" connection and that is just a wrong basis for a relationship. HN is NOT a good partner for her, bc he never holds her accountable. He used to say "dont do this, it is bad" but he never ever actually took action to stop it. He is too weak and really bad for JW since he enables her in her crimes. JW is just a spoiled brat and now armed with HN's help, she is disastrous - like a school killer teenager with a riffle. HN is her riffle

That scene of JW in SH's room trying to console him as a sister... Woooow such reckless entitlement and such reckless disregard for him.... !!!! It is like - ok I am doing whatever I want, I use you, I lie to you, I break your heart, I throw you out, and you are supposed to go along quietly and even cooperate like a docile cow.

JW IS EVIL BY HER DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE, including her own. What she did to SH is 10000% monstruous, and she has shown ZERO compassion or regret. Yeah apologizing to his mother in coma, but really.... !!!! she has not done anything except that very smalll thing. She essentially disses him.... non-stop. Like he is totally irrelevant pion in her game, she keeps shutting him up.

SH's only choice is to rebel and cause chaos. Karma is gonna bite the arrogant as@ of JW... she deserves every bit of it. What she did to SH is evil, 100%. She used him, threw him away, without a blink, while pretending to be nice and even expecting him to go along witih it quietly.

JW IS ALL ABOUT HERSELF AND COULD CARE LESS FOR OTHERS, and she is even worse than her bio mother. JW is very immature and childish. Holding her bio mother to impossible standards, while she herself is even worse.

JW needs to become an adult and accept her mother as is, with the good and the bad.
JW needs to see her own faults and bad actions and greed and entitlement. Well, she admitted already she was addicted to greed and wanted it all, but never did she connect the dots that she keeps accusing her bio mom for greed - so according to the JW the god almighty, the mom cannot be greedy but liitle girl JW can.. Oh yeah?? I dont think it works like that...

HR is not 100% bad. JW blindly thinks HR is 100% evil... just bc little girl JW needs to hate someone and dump all her life frustrations on someone.... Soooooooo CHILDISH IMMATURE IGNORANT!!!! That whole "revenge" is a little kid throwing a tantrum.

SH is also too childish. He and JW keep forgetting to include Chairman as THE active participant in so many murders.

FYI - I dont hate any of these. I do not like them either LOL They are just confused and annoying kids. But they are the targeted "redemption arc" characters. So I am just listing what they have to overcome in the last 40 episodes...

and they forgot about Chairman framing KB and then killing him at the end... and killing RealJW as a girl.... Somehow Chairman is out of their awareness window although they know more than enough about him...

Would you please explain - what do you mean by "cringe"? So many ppl use that term, but what do they really mean?

She is definitely crazy... or pretending too well... .I doubt that though, in 5 yrs she would be caught pretending :)
I loved that 2ML did not scream or run to her when he saw her...

Can you imagine how bitter he must feel... It is HIS FAULT, he didnt carry it out good enough. Also, seems like he did not tell her ahead of time either.. so she really thought she was dying and probably gave up

Is HE the father of 2ML? Or a baby they had after during those 5 years in that secret village? Seems like she is thinking that the baby she is holding is 2ML bc remember, FL saw her 5 yrs ago and she was already mad thinking she lost her baby.
OH THAT IS MAYBE WHY THE QUEEN MORE EASILY WENT MAD AND FL DID NOT - one reason is that the queen thought her son was dead and as a worried mother, it was easier to flip out. On the other hand, it should have been harder to flip out, as a mother holding to her life to save her son. Seems like she gave up as she did not know the poison was fake...

Yeah... the moral of the story is, IF you are in the palace, you got butter on your head and blood on your hands
A whole bunch of psychos just killing left and right
Such ZERO respect for human life and a 100% great egotism and greed for power and $$$

I would like to know that too. Bcthat scene of fixing his face wound is waaaaay too close....they had something going on..... That is enough for adultery.

So.... is 2ML their son? Or they made a baby after he saved her? - A Queen is under heavy surveillance and essentially jailed in the palace, so it would be hard to actually bed him and have his kid ... unless they were on a "business trip" like one time deal.... OR they made the baby JUST before she became a queen......

And, the baby is small - if she lived with him for 5 years, perhaps they made a baby in that secret village, and she lost it... Hm no.... what FL saw at her mother's grave means was already mad Queen and the guard said she lost her baby. Seems like she is thinking that she lost 2ML and that is the baby she is holding and mourning.

oh oh oh which herb is that... ? how did they get it? How did you learn about it? Well then anyone would know about it... ? so Queen Dowager would have checked what poison was actually given... so she must have trusted him.. But what was that bisch Queen Dowager doing when she caused killing of 2ML's mom?

Seems like he is not 2ML's father...? Why is she carrying a baby though... ?
but she was way too close fixing LSM's face wound... Hm.. did something happen, did they produce a kid at any point.... ?...

thats a good question - seems like it is her son, not his son ... but still reminds him of her....

Ep 12 was like ok lots of running around and basically no real plot, but then WHAM!!!! omg!!!!
Comrade Gangsta Rasputin is just too much. ... Yeah ppl in posts below figured him out...
It is amazing how handsome that actor is without the beard and without a poker face. Let him act. Complexity makes him interesting :)

yeah the stupid LSM - couldnt he calculate that poison more correctly... ?? Darn it

Common - could he not given her something else pretending it is that poison? something that just makes her look dead for a while... ? If he did NOT do that, they yeah he is a rotten dumb moron

IN ANY CASE, he is a rotten dumb moron - he saved his life and his career and poisoned his love.
But hey whose kid is that?

yeah - don't :)

probably he gave her something else tht made her look dead but somehow she "lost her marbles" in the process
Meanwhile... crown princess went into freezing water etc etc and ... just lost her memories

she greatly improved from her stone wall impersonation she was doing for most episodes here.. now she is ... a tree?

Who said that? ***You***. Not me. You made up something. So stop slandering me, if you cannot even read. THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE INDICATES THE SEQUENCE - she is already weak and insecure character - and then magically meets a sugar daddy.

This is why it pays off to be good in English classes and essays :) School is actually useful... It helps to study :) So, first learn to read and understand.

There is no point in discussion if you havent even read what I wrote. So, Stop bothering me.

JW is soooo childish... she just HATES her mother blindly like a bad teenager... Her mom is correct, nobody is purely good or evil. Even Chaurman loves something LOL
Grow up JW. Already. Nuff the little girl stuff. 54 more episodes.... hurry up.

And SH too - little boy not ready to be the heir, making conclusions so hastily and subjectively..
The same for his sister - making company decisions just to trip another girl... ? common.... .
The same for the poisonous snake YC... but at least YC is fighting to grab KH group..... and once she grabs it, she will not be doing stupid decisions - we hope?
The booboo that the three nasty dumb kids did is gonna cost like how many millions of $$$$??

I thought NS killed only by accident or as a last resort, not to scheme... and I didnt think Manager Gu was helping with such stuf