RamenKingAndI

Joon Yang is one of those characters that I can't help but shake my head at and think, "You brought this on yourself, buddy." To be fair to him, though, he's spent his whole life appeasing others, so it makes sense that he has no clue how to speak up for what he wants. It just sucks that Song Ah has to play the role of teacher and victim during his learning experience. She's patient, though, and it's clear he has been growing increasingly frustrated by his own submissiveness, so it won't be long before fixes himself and is worthy of being with Song Ah.

My girl Song Ah! I've said it before, and will say it again: I love that she f**king communicates! She's timid and has confidence issues, but when she feels strongly about something, she doesn't keep her emotions to herself and voices them clearly to whomever needs to hear them.

It's so refreshing to see because so many conflicts in Kdramas tend to be the result of characters, like Joon Young, staying silent or using white lies when they should be using their dang words to tell the truth and avoid bigger disasters.

The Male Lead's logic is so flawed. He takes issue with his parents remaining friends after their divorce, yet he seemingly doesn't understand why Female Lead doesn't want to remain his friend after he rejects her? Rather than avoiding his parents situation, he's emulating it, but it doesn't feel intentional plot device. Instead, it seems like the writers half-assed his backstory because even they couldn't' figure out a logical reason for him to reject the LF's feelings while repeatedly pushing the boundaries of friendship that would still make him a likable character.

I don't usually have Second Lead Syndrome, but I do with this drama. Honestly, I'm kind of hoping the writers will surprise us and allow the SML get the girl for once.

Yup! I think during her first appeal she was going to change her mind and plead self defense in order to shorten her sentence and be with her daughter, who had been born at that point, sooner, but then the nurse who was going to provide a witness statement backed out.

I'm on the fence about whether the chairwoman killed her son, but as for the paintings, I don't believe the LF is painting them. I believe the chairwoman is buying her own paintings in order to launder her money and pay for her illegal activities. This way, if anyone ever looks like at her bank statements, no one questions where her money is going because on paper it looks like she is investing in an artist's work.

The fact that the LF seemingly has money for nice clothes is probably due to product placement. You know, like how every poor leading female is able to somehow magically afford the latest Samsung phone, too.

I know, right? Writers deserve a pat on the back for this one.

Ugh, the most frustrating thing about Se Mi is that I don't see her getting the punishment she deserves for her crappy behavior. Being a major jealous b***h isn't exactly criminal, so she won't get any prison time. I just get this feeling that, while MIL will likely go to prison, Se Mi will remain relatively unscathed socially and professionally. Even if the writers choose to kill her off, she will die with only a few people knowing what a crappy person she really was.

She actually plead "innocent," not self-defense. Her father tried to encourage her to plead self-defense in order to shorten her sentence from 10 years to 3 years, but FL chose to plead innocent because that was the truth and because, if she was going to be branded a murderer, she at least wanted to maintain her own innocence.

I agree with your psychological assessment of the LF; she is driven by her protective instincts for her daughter. That being said, she's also stated multiple times that she hasn't approached her daughter as her biological mother because she does not wish for her daughter to be branded as the daughter of a killer. So why did she approach her daughter using her real name, which could easily be Googled? Is being the stepdaughter of a murderer that much better? Seems to me, either way, she'd want to clear her name, not out of revenge, but so her daughter won't be branded the daughter/step-daughter of a murderer.

I'm loving this drama, but a lot of time is being dedicated to the ex-wife and the Mother-in-Law, painting them out to be the main villains of this show when there is a LITERAL MURDERER still on the loose, maybe even two if the person who killed the husband isn't the same one who killed the ex-secretary. After finding her daughter, you'd think FL would be trying to figure out who really killed her husband so she could clear her name and approach her daughter without the being labeled a murderer. I mean, I get that seducing your baby's adopted daddy takes up a lot of time, but she doesn't exactly have a full-time job, so you'd think she'd at least be able to spend part of her day looking into her own case or stalking people from her husband's past who may have wanted him dead.

The fact that this drama doesn't take itself seriously is why it's so great. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I like the funny zombie twist to an otherwise overused amnesia trope.

Having read the synopsis before watching the drama, I think there is plenty of room for someone to have believed it could be a romantic comedy on top of a crime drama about con artists. In fact, it's a genre that, more often than not, includes a comedic or romantic subplot in order to make the con artist protagonists more likable in spite of their criminal behavior. So far, even with what happened at the end of episode two, it's kind of hard to sympathize with the LF and root for her to exact revenge because her parents aren't really victims. I'm interested to see how the writers utilize the "secret of the nation" plot to make us root for the LF despite her, so far, being a rather unlikable person.

Hmmmm...This drama is tagged as "comedy" and "romance," and the fact that I went into watching this show expecting those genres is probably why I have mixed feelings after watching the first two episodes. So far, this has NOT been a romantic comedy, which has left me a little bit disappointed. That being said, the first two episodes were well acted and interesting, albeit a little slow. The preview for next week has left me curious enough to see where this show goes now that the exposition is--hopefully--out of the way and the main plot is about to begin.

Episode 8 was a step in the right direction for this series. Finally the focus was on the romantic and individual/professional growth of the leading couple, with the secondary characters only taking up screen time when it was needed. If this keeps up, I will probably finish this drama.

Exactly. There is too much of an emphasis on the families of the two lead males, and not enough scenes dedicate to the leading couple's growth as professionals in their respective fields.

I really like the FL of this drama. She's shy and introverted, which isn't an uncommon trait for a female lead, but unlike most she is very good at communicating. She may appear timid, but when it comes to her romantic relationship with the ML, she isn't afraid to voice her opinion or call him out on when he is being insensitive or clueless to how she is feeling. I'm hoping this will mean that there won't be any "misunderstandings" or "noble idiot" tropes in this drama.

Stalker Eun Su is using all the tricks in the book to try and hook the man, but in the end, the thing that is making him fall for her is her genuine love for his (and her) daughter. Makes it far easier to believe he will forgive her in the end.

Exactly! I fully understand that this is a slice-of-life drama that's supposed to be character driven, but the plot isn't being driven by the main characters. Instead they are being Ubered around by less important characters who have a one-star rating on the ride-share app. The amount of time given to SHJ's father, in particular, is maddening.

I'm enjoying this show so far, but I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with the amount of time dedicated to demonstrating how selfish and manipulative 80% of the side characters are in order to set the groundwork for the leading couple's eventual rise to success (I'm assuming). We get it. They are underdogs, and SHJ has a crappy, unsupportive father and a selfish brother. But we are currently six episodes into the series. Can we now focus more on how the characters are growing in their respective fields?

Me, too. I'm mostly hanging on for the mother-daughter relationship at this point.