Starsho

There was a kiss scene in Grid, it was the most conservative kiss scene in the history of k-drama, they actually blocked the man and the woman's faces from view the moment their lips were meeting, I laughed so hard thinking people during Chosun dynasty would have been more open about a kiss lol.

Yes I did notice that exchange between Chae-woon and San. Chae-woon definitely cares about Ja-yoo beyond her being his employer/target of investigation. The fact that when he was in a semi-coma after being shot, Ja-yoo's face appeared in his subconcious along with his family and fallen comrade/friend was very telling too, she became so important to him in such short amount of time.

Noticed the topic on inclusion of romantic subplots (or not) weirdly becoming a heated debate here lol. I would first like to remind folks that the writer Lee Soo Yeon DID include minor romantic subplots in two of her other dramas Grid and Life, and the romantic undertone was heavily suggested between the protagonists in Stranger, so it's false to claim that LSY doesn't write romance, its just that romance has never been the focus of her stories.
Secondly, it's not like viewers are demanding romantic relationship between the ML and FL when there is just no hint of any such feelings between the two. Their mutual attractions were intentionally hinted at via those lingering gazes, gentle and prolonged wrist grabs, Chae-woon wanting to look cool & manly in front of Ja-yoo (not mentioning the reward money for finding Dr. Kim and insisting he didnt get beaten up by thugs), Ja-Ja-yoo eavesdropping on Chae-woon talking
about his niece (she didnt know it wasn't his
daughter) etc. That scene where Chae-woon continued to hold Ja-yoo's wrist after removing the cup of hot coffee from her hand while staring deeply into her eyes would have been completely bizzare had it not been intentionally inserted to convey to viewers the building chemistry between these two characters.
But on the other hand, I am also neither expecting spelled-out romantic scenes in the final two episodes nor complaining about the lack of such scenes. The stakes are just too high atp for inclusion of romantic developments to not be abrupt and out of place. I do strongly hope for both of our leads to survive, and that there are at least hints that their paths would cross again even if they parted way for now. I have very humble wishes 😢

No. He told FL and the other bodyguard very clearly that it was his younger sister and niece that went to the US and also that he's helping to support the niece financially.

ITA. The synergy created from strong writing coupled with strong acting is in full force. The writer creacted complex, unique and three dimensional characters with her masterful writing, then these amazing veteran actors gave their respective character real emotions, sensuality, heart and soul to bring them to life.

I also see the dynamics between the PM and Ja-Yoo exactly how you saw it. He loves to have her submitting to him, needing his "help". He was so pleased when she asked him to put Dr. Kim on no fly list, so satisfied when she showed weakness likely for the first time in front of him as she struggled to recover from the shock of betrayal inflicted by someone she trusted. I think the PM does have a morbid, twisted desire/possessiveness for Ja-yoo, in addition to coveting her company's advance technology.

And I am also with you on that PM was the mastermind behind both the bomb attack on his grandfather and the forest ambush that was intended to harm Chae-woon. The attack on the old president was so that he would have to step down allowing PM to take over and greenlight BF's new technologies, the attack on Chae-woon was so that Ja-yoo would be forced to cure him with their secret tech and even if Chae-woon dies, it's a win for PM too because he was jealous of Chae-woon's closeness with Ja-yoo.

Hyojoo mentioned this in the Vogue Korea interview recently published 😊

He's a newbie. Hyojoo liked his performance quite a bit and even took him to a play with her.

He removed the coat because it was too heavy for him and slowed down his movement, he complained about the coat being too heavy a few scenes earlier. He was over confident thinking that his combat skills would overpower the villain, who he taunted as a "stray". You could see that Hoseung did fight better once he took off the coat, up until when he got stabbed.

Maybe two of the best drama episodes ever aired in the history of mankind?

It was strongly suggested in ep4 that the woman and child in his laptop home screen are his sister and niece, so..