I've been promoting Dear My Friends for years to anyone that would listen - Thank you for the inclusion. It's worth the watch People! Guaranteed Uplifting Experience!
The author does have valid points but I disagree with the take on plot points (and it may be just semantics here), but I would call them dangling threads that really didn't matter to the end point the rookie screenwriter was aiming for. These "dangles" are also the responsibility of the director Moon Won-II, the overall lead for production, and guess what? He was also the director for Healer – which had one of the most universally reviled endings imaginable to what was otherwise an excellent series.
Early on during the plot setup it was Hye ran's drive to stay as News Nine anchor. And then with the introduction of Kevin Lee and his revenge motive the series started to wobble a bit on the rails and I think the reason (to me) was Hye ran's husband and how he was written by the rookie screenwriter Kim Je in. The over all production was led by Moon Won-II who also should share the blame for this since its a given in final production that, with some cleaver editing or direction to the actors, these threads can be covered. They were not.
I had thought while I watched that the husband was way over reactive to what was going on and it was becoming a pet peeve of mine – but Kim Nam-joo did such a magnificent job with her character that I didn't mind. At one point I thought she and her husband would turn out to be a very watchable turn about a mature couple coming to terms with the distance that had developed in their marriage – but alas it did not. Her character was so driven and central to the series throughout that there was no time for that, although they did try a make-up-nod to saving their marriage at the end when the ship had already hit the iceberg and was headed to the bottom without a doubt.
For me it was all about Hye ran of course and Eun Joo. Hye ran was so driven to succeed and climb the ladder and Eun Joo was driven by revenge to bring her down she had reached the point of not carrying what happened to her personally, she had lost everything and she had no one, so she wanted the same for Hye ran and in the end that is exactly what happened to Hy ran as she sat at in her chair with tears in her eyes and her husband driving to the ultimate check-out counter in the tunnel. That was a very satisfying ending to me and everything else is just window dressing.
Early on during the plot setup it was Hye ran's drive to stay as News Nine anchor. And then with the introduction of Kevin Lee and his revenge motive the series started to wobble a bit on the rails and I think the reason (to me) was Hye ran's husband and how he was written by the rookie screenwriter Kim Je in. The over all production was led by Moon Won-II who also should share the blame for this since its a given in final production that, with some cleaver editing or direction to the actors, these threads can be covered. They were not.
I had thought while I watched that the husband was way over reactive to what was going on and it was becoming a pet peeve of mine – but Kim Nam-joo did such a magnificent job with her character that I didn't mind. At one point I thought she and her husband would turn out to be a very watchable turn about a mature couple coming to terms with the distance that had developed in their marriage – but alas it did not. Her character was so driven and central to the series throughout that there was no time for that, although they did try a make-up-nod to saving their marriage at the end when the ship had already hit the iceberg and was headed to the bottom without a doubt.
For me it was all about Hye ran of course and Eun Joo. Hye ran was so driven to succeed and climb the ladder and Eun Joo was driven by revenge to bring her down she had reached the point of not carrying what happened to her personally, she had lost everything and she had no one, so she wanted the same for Hye ran and in the end that is exactly what happened to Hy ran as she sat at in her chair with tears in her eyes and her husband driving to the ultimate check-out counter in the tunnel. That was a very satisfying ending to me and everything else is just window dressing.