RamenKingAndI

She's shown numerous times that she has a high emotional IQ as well. If she really was of the mindset of "if I am not happy then I will make the person responsible for that suffering too," then she would hate Su ho, as he always beats her for the top spot, which leads to her abuse at home. I don't know about you, but an abusive father is about as "real" as life problems go, and she hasn't acted immaturely because of it. She internalizes her pain instead of redirecting it and taking it out on others.

He definitely knew, which is why he didn't buy the whole "older cousin" thing when she showed up at the hospital without makeup. haha.

I wouldn't drop it all together because the situational comedy and the bromance are worth the watch, in my opinion, but--ugh--I am extremely irked with what they did with Soo Jin. They will likely try to give her a redemption arc, but I don't trust them to pull it off successfully.

Seriously?! I'm supposed to believe that ranked-number-two Soo Jin is dumb enough to think she could win Su Ho's heart by blackmailing him and bullying his girlfriend?

I get that she's supposed to be a jealous teenager and jealous teenagers do dumb stuff, but come on, writers, know your characters. The Soo Jin established in the drama is not the type to become a manipulative behind-the-scenes bully because her crush started dating her best friend. K-drama Soo Jin would internalize that crap, just like her abusive home life, and her handwashing compulsion would get worse until she exploded and had a mental health breakdown.

The writers really should have stuck with the characterization of Soo Jin that they established in the beginning of the drama rather than trying to write their way back into the webtoon source material half-way through the series.

With only four episodes left, they aren't going to try and rush a romance between Seojun and Jookyung, especially after they made it clear in episodes 11 and 12 that Seojun is coming to terms with his one-sided crush and is stepping back to support them as a couple. Now that he has reconciled with Suho and understands how much Suho was affected by their friend's suicide, Seojun also sees how much Jookyung is helping Suho heal and learn to smile again.

I think a more likely scenario for an airport scene is that Suho's father is leaving, and Suho finally works up the courage to talk to him and goes to the airport to see him off. Seojun and Jookyung are likely there for moral support.

Rather than rush new romance in the last four episodes, the plot will focus on revealing Soojin's mean side, Jookyung learning her other new friends aren't like her old bullies, Jookyung continuing to learn makeup, and possibly Seojun and Suho returning to music.

I agree. While it pays homage to the webtoon, petty manipulations and mind games seem out of character for the drama version of Soo Jin that has been established thus far. I wish they'd continued to deviate from the webtoon and made the bully from Ju Kyung's old school the only female antagonist.

"...it honestly doesn't matter."

I think a lot of people are forgetting this. Like, calm down. Neither of them are real, and neither of the actors know you exist.

Not to mention...they are all supposed to be in high school! Not communicating in a relationship is par for the course for most teen romances, especially when, as with this situation, the girl in relationship is torn between her friend and a boy, and telling the boy the truth means exposing her friend's secret crush. I'm all for dramas that have characters who communicate well ( <3 Run On), but I save my criticism for characters who are supposed to be in their 30s, not teenagers with zero dating experience.

I don't know what it is with Korean dramas and their overdramatic flying-through-the-air-slow-mo pedestrian car accidents. I get that we are supposed to see him crying and take a moment to emphasize with the emotional pain that got him there in the first place, but--come on--just hit him with the car and show him laying on the pavement with the tear falling down his face. No need to pause time and defy gravity, especially when his homie, who was hit by the car at the same time, is already on the ground wondering WTF his friend is still floating in the air like he's Sandra Bullock doing a space walk.

Prior to the start of the series, he had established himself as an illiterate playboy so people would underestimate him and not realize he was planning to exact revenge on the Kim family. It stands to reason, then, that he has been tolerating people crossing the line and treating him with disrespect for a long time in order to maintain his facade as a "puppet king."

While I agree that Danah is more likely to be straight/heterosexual based on what we've seen so far (and thus my initial confusion), I also don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for her to be lesbian simply because it's "too progressive" for Korean audiences. The fact that they haven't turned her rumored sexuality into a joke is already a divergence from how homosexuality has been portrayed in older Kdramas.

There have been many Korean dramas that have featured homosexuality in recent years (Itaewon Class, Sweet Munchies, Love with Flaws, etc.), so I don't think homosexuality is as taboo on Korean TV as you think.

That being said, international streaming rights bring in big money, too, and money talks. Netflix has already started producing their own original Kdramas (Kingdom), which are not subject to the same censorship issues as their network counterparts. If more creatives start pitching their ideas directly to Netflix in order to avoid the censorship they are subjected to on the major networks, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Korean networks start fighting back against the KCSC censorship in order to remain competitive against Netflix.

I'd argue that we're already seeing the affects of this. Rather than playing safe, it seems like writers/directors/producers/networks are more willing in the last year or two to take risks and push boundaries first and then ask for forgiveness from the KCSC later, as shown by shows like "It's Ok to Not Be Ok," which received petitions and sanctions from the KCSC for its sexual content but was also ranked extremely high among Korean cable network programs and in Netflix viewership both in Korea and overseas, indicating Korean viewers are actually ready for more mature content, despite the KCSC's insistence on censoring it.

I thought that might be the case, but Kdramas have been slowly getting more progressive, especially ones co-airing on Netflix that seem to be slightly more aware of Western viewership. I love her character regardless of her sexuality, but I was kind of hoping that the writer/director was exploring themes we don't typically see in Kdramas. Oh well. haha

Is Seo Dan Ah confirmed to be lesbian/bisexual? I cannot tell if she really is lesbian or if the brother "outing" her was just his way of undermining her success in order to discredit her and she doesn't give a f*** that it's a lie because she is awesome and knows a person's sexuality isn't something to be ashamed of.

I'm just curious because knowing her sexuality would add an extra layer to some of the scenes, like when she was pretending to flirt with Ki Seon Gyeom to irk Oh Mi Joo; it felt more like she was flirting with Oh Mi Joo. Then there is her relationship with Lee Young Hwa, which seems like it may be a budding noona romance on the surface, but maybe that's just what we're supposed to think?

The queen was in a coma for a few days before Jang Bong Hwan's soul moved into her body, and based on the episode 7 preview, it seems like her body goes back into a coma when Jang Bong Hwan's soul disappears. This leads me to believe her soul is either gone or in some sort of limbo because she isn't ready to return to her body, so I suspect we won't see much about her unless Jang Bong Hwan starts regaining her memories while he's in her body.

I was thinking the exact same thing! Especially when there is no way she can hide cystic acne with makeup like the drama would have us believe. Yes, it's possible to hide the redness, but makeup can't disguise uneven skin, especially not those large cysts they've given her.

I was hesitant to start this drama because I dropped the webtoon, but after watching the first two episodes, I think the story is better suited for the 16-episode drama format. I'm hoping the drama will continue deviating from the webtoon and give us a plot that wraps up nicely, unlike the ongoing webtoon, which has lasted longer than it should have given the plot, in my opinion.

"What I'm trying to say is that they both have faults and that they just need to communicate to each other better. Lee Soo's weakest point from the very start is his lack of communication and social skills. So it's easily for others to misunderstand him."

I definitely agree that they both have faults and Lee Soo has some redeeming qualities, but I was responding to why someone would believe he is toxic and pointing out that it was not because he rejected her in the past but because he is ignoring her wishes in the present. There was no need to make my response longer by going over his good points when the focus was on why he was toxic. Nice people/characters can have toxic behaviors, and Lee Soo is no exception.

I know you took exception to the totality of my accusations, but I think you misunderstood. I wasn't saying that he always lacked empathy or always ignored her boundaries; I was saying that in the moment when she said, "No, I can't be your friend," he has since acted in opposition to what she requested, which was wholly/fully/completely ignoring her wishes. When someone says, "No," "Stop," or, "Leave me alone," those are finite words, and you cannot partially respect them. You either completely do or completely don't.

Yes, one of Woo Yeon's faults is that she sends mixed signals because she does still have feelings for him. She definitely needs to be better at maintaining her own boundaries until she sorts her own shit out, but at the same time, Lee Soo is not giving her the space she requested to figure that said shit out. It's perfectly normal for someone, like Woo Yeon, to be caught up in the moment, to want something, to show her weakness and desire, and to also know it is better for her to reject it. Although well meaning and partially due to his poor social skills, Lee Soo is trying to capitalize on Woo Yeon's moments of weakness and push for her to chose him, which is not okay.

It's toxic.

Toxic behaviors can be corrected, and Lee Soo seems like a redeemable character. The problem is, rather than have him learn why his behavior is wrong and then approach Woo Yeon in a healthy manner, the writers seem keen on turning the second lead into a creepy stalker and make Lee Soo look better by default, which does little for Lee Soo's development.

"I don't get it when people say LS is being toxic in a relationship just because he rejected the FL earlier."

He's not toxic for rejecting her. He's toxic for insisting that they be friends and ignoring her emotional needs when she says that she cannot remain his friend while she still has feelings for him. Just as he didn't owe her a romantic relationship, she didn't owe him a platonic friendship.

Then, when she's finally trying to get over her feelings for him and be with another man, he decides he likes her romantically and starts inserting himself in her life and new romantic relationship, completely disrespecting the boundaries she had established in order to move on and learn to love someone new.

Even though his feelings for her are genuine, his actions have been entirely motivated by in his own self interest. While relationships are very much about timing and it is understandable that he feels panicked to not miss his window of opportunity, his aggressive, almost forceful pursuit of her shows a complete lack of empathy and willingness to see things from her perspective, that--for her-- it isn't a simple matter of choosing him because she's always loved him.

This has pretty much been the pattern for this series. Each week, the first episode to air is very heavy with past events but ends with something exciting, and then the next episode is really exciting, making you look forward to the following week. I imagine it is much more satisfying to binge watch, but I'm too curious to know what happens to put it on hold and wait.