L13

They’re calling the two halves of the drama separate seasons because of the 3-week Olympic break in between.

Thank you so much for the subs! I'm loving this drama and the fact it's not available in English anywhere is very frustrating. (The subs on dramacool etc. are completely incoherent.) Thanks to you and your partner I'm able to enjoy it! I look forward to ep. 5!

In a world in which OBS, Bulgasal and Snowdrop all have ratings above 8.5, such a solid fusion sageuk getting 7.9 really adds insult to injury.

I'm sure she's not reserved toward him just because he forgot her birthday when they worked together but for a more meaningful reason, and I don't agree that she came off as a jerk. She's a woman in a rough, male-dominated profession where everyone is constantly trying to take credit for her work or to put her down. She was right to be wary of a new and unknown team trying to meddle in an important investigation she is in charge of. She was a little stubborn about it, which is indeed annoying for the viewer, who knows the Criminal Behaviour Analysis team better, but she corrected herself and asked for help when she was stuck. She also realised she was wrong about Detective Song.

Sounds like a knockoff SOOD (which is not a bad thing!).

Check out Octogenarian and the 90s for another BJT drama that breaks the cdrama mould and depicts real human relationships without airbrushing or sugarcoating much. It's a slice-of-life drama about young people navigating life, family, grief and love, so it's quite different from Reset in that sense, but I have the same complaints about most cdramas as you and Octogenarian and the 90s was like a breath of fresh air in that respect.

lol this is a site for dramas. People come here because they want to watch dramas, not read the webnovels they're based on. It's perfectly reasonable to comment on the premise of a drama and ask clarifying questions.

I literally said I'm not asking for any "cute lovebird things," so I don't know what you're even responding to.

And you think this is a realistic romance? Not at all. It's not realistic to save a girl from drowning when you're 8 or whatever and then spend the next 20+ years carrying her photograph in your wallet. It's not realistic to get married to someone you met once as a child because her father asked you to "protect her" from an unspecified threat. It's not realistic to stay married to her when it becomes clear her association with you is the biggest source of danger in her life. It's also not realistic to keep lying to her about important things she deserves to know and yet somehow consider her your spouse.

The complete lack of communication between Wanqing and Liu Qing is extremely unrealistic and that has nothing to do with cuteness or drama cliches. They don't communicate about anything important, so there's nothing to build attraction and mutual trust on. There's no relationship development to speak of. Wanqing has been quietly attracted to Liu Qing but unsure of his true feelings and commitment since, like, episode 8... and she hasn't done anything about it. He hasn't given her any indication that he is serious about their relationship either. There have been no gestures of interest from either of them and no steps taken to bridge the gap between them.

I'm sure they'll get a happy ending, but neither of them has shown much initiative, self-awareness or emotional intelligence yet, so I doubt it will be a satisfying journey.

If you want realistic romance in a cdrama, watch Octogenarian and the 90s, Remembrance of Things Past or even Surgeons or Battle of Changsha. You'll see what it looks like.

I'm getting tired of the lack of romantic development between the two leads. Slow-burn romance is fine, but this isn't even that. I would like to see some meaningful interactions between them--which don't have to be cutesy or lovey-dovey, but, like, some level of mutual vulnerability and honesty or a frank discussion of, like, SOMETHING?? their past? their dreams and ambitions? their feelings about their families and friends? their views on life? LIU QING'S PTSD AND LIFELONG CRUSH ON WANQING BASED ON A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE SHE DOESN'T EVEN REMEMBER? they've never had a proper conversation!!! Wanqing blowing up at Liu Qing in the hospital was the closest they've ever come to acknowledging the many undercurrents of their relationship whatsoever--because at this point I have no idea why Liu Qing likes Wanqing and I'm rapidly losing interest in seeing her return his feelings.

Satisfying romance is built on shared screentime, meaningful interactions, emotionally charged eye contact, etc. etc. etc. The leads don't have to get together immediately, but they still need to give us a reason to want them to be with each other. Why is it so hard for dramas to deliver some of that stuff instead of filler and nonsense misunderstandings/pointless scenes with stalkerish secondary love interests?

He's a good actor and tends to pick good projects. Octogenarian and the 90s is an underrated gem and he's great there. I look forward to starting his new drama, Reset!

Just finished ep. 20 and my God, Feng Cong is so annoying I have to fast-forward through his scenes. I thought shifting the setting to Bazhen would mean we could finally get a break from him! He needs to stop stalking Wanqing and leave for Singapore or wherever stat.

1. She literally lived with Insector Nam, and 2. she doesn't like the crown prince...? Attraction is not a product of time spent together. The prince is an amusing drinking buddy to her, whereas Inspector Nam is someone whose qualities of goodness and righteousness seem rare and old-fashioned to her, bother her & are slowly earning her admiration. He's a good, honest and talented man and she hasn't met many of those in her hard life.

One of the best idol actors out there. I want her to get a proper main role soon. Something like a romcom or a mystery drama would suit her well IMO.

It's moved up to 3rd place on iQiyi's Coming Soon list, which tells me it should air within the next few weeks.

The previous poster was better! MDL should go back to it.

I'm not clear on the divorce situation. Wanqing had the divorce papers prepared and told Liu Qing she was serious about divorcing him, but do we know if she's actually filed for divorce yet? Or are they still married on paper?

They registered it.

The two unnecessary subplots were Yang Soo-kyung’s pursuit of Joon-young, which was disappointing for many reasons—YSK being an insufferable pest/absolutely worthless as a love interest, having previously sexually harassed JJY, and yet having his obsession with her and his refusal to get a clue treated with sympathy by the drama, JJY encouraging his advances despite the fact that she hurt three people by doing so, including herself (although her self-sabotage and bad decision-making here were pretty realistic, I wanted her to be better than that), etc.—and Jung Ji-oh’s glaucoma subplot, which felt unnecessary and was resolved as if by magic. Him dumping JJY in a fit of stupid pridefulness/insecurity was also realistic, but the way the drama extended their romantic conflict after that could have been done better IMO.

Finally, Song Gyu-ho was an interesting character, but the love interest they gave him was too simple to make his subplot compelling. 'Cynical older man won over by persistent young ingenue' is such a relic of the 2000s and early 2010s in terms of romantic dynamics. I hated it in A Gentleman's Dignity and I hated it here. He would have been more interesting with someone closer to his age and emotional maturity, like Writer Lee, IMO.

Anyway. As I said, not a flawless drama, but a great one nevertheless.

This is a truly unique kdrama that was obviously made with a lot of love and conviction, Hyun Bin gives maybe his best performance ever, the first 11-12 episodes serve phenomenal slice-of-life with a side order of romance for grownups, and the characters and dialogue are great... That said, there are two subplots in the final third that were unnecessary and frustrating for me to sit through. Still, the drama kept my attention and admiration throughout. The World That They Live In is not flawless, but the characters and relationships it portrays are so much more complex and lifelike than you usually see in kdramas that it more than makes up for the occasional frustration. Very underrated!

This is a really solid drama that should probably be rated higher than it is. It's a nice romcom that executes a few familiar tropes in a way that feels light and fun instead of annoying. There's a second female lead who refuses to accept that her past relationship with the ML is over and a second male lead who's in love with his older brother's girlfriend, fake marriage, a soul-searching retreat to Jeju Island, etc., but none of that gets grating because the focus remains on the main couple throughout. They get plenty of interactions in every episode, develop feelings for each other early on and remain committed to each other throughout the drama. There's not quite enough plot to sustain 16 episodes, so the drama starts to drag a bit in the second half, but fortunately it doesn't resort to nonsensical breakups, misunderstandings and time skips to fill the time, so it's draggy in a pleasant way instead of infuriating the viewer with absurd plot twists. The secondary love interests keep their interference in the main couple's relationship to a minimum and bow out early and with grace, and once the main couple get together, they stay together.

Basically, I rate this drama highly in large part because it didn't do anything stupid and unnecessary to annoy me, which is very rare in romantic kdramas--and also because the main couple's relationship dynamic is pretty fun and both actors give charming performances.