TeleriFerchNyfain

Really? Where? If you accept the original irrational premise of the phone, all the rest is totally believable and logical. The police force is NOT seen as incompetent in this drama - rather as plagued by corrupted and cynical persons at the top. This is a staple in ALL cop dramas world-wide and is fueled by reality. I've had close friends working in various police departments and they ALL complain about politics in the department - this from 5 different police departments in 3 different states (US). So NOT so off. Plus all the 'cold cases' being worked on were REAL COLD CASES.

The writing is amazing in this drama, full of suspense while really developing the characters and their relationships. The love story in this is so subtle and understated, so poignant - it underlies the whole drama and fuels so much of it. I also totally loved how the possible consequences of changing the past were handled. The writers dealt with complexities which so often are ignored in science fiction, and this forced the audience to think deeper about the interrelated nature of our lives.

The camera-work and the soundtrack enhanced this drama enormously. The color schemes and filters on the cameras were different depending on the era - again very subtle but helped make the past look real. The music fit the mood of the action and dialogue perfectly.

Overall an amazing drama by any standards. Dismissing it simply because you hate science fiction (the magic walkie-talkie) is like hating Richard III because it doesn't follow real history.

And yes, this IS a critical masterpiece in my informed, trained opinion - I've worked as a literary, theatre and film critic in the past.

DOTS is great but not the critical masterpiece Signal is.

You really missed the most poignant part of this entire drama, didn't you? This drama is a critical masterpiece. I recommend it to my friends who are NOT into KDrama - it's fully as good as the British series Life on Mars. The writers fully developed the theme, the cinematography captured the sense of two different times, the actors ALL delivered nuanced, sensitive, accurate performances, the SOUNDTRACK - just perfect! The directing - fabulous. All in all, this is one of the top five tv series I've seen my entire life.

The last two episodes of this drama REALLY wrapped the story up so well! I overall liked this very much and would recommend this for those who like suspense & police dramas.

CatoCat --- Excuse? EXCUSE????? Are you an idiot? Oh, yeah, guess so. That mother-in-law accepted that package - Deputy Han couldn't do a thing about it you fool. You don't HAVE a family, do you? I feel you must be very young.

Our 3rd hubby is a greedy corporate PSYCHO. Good grief :( He's horrible. And did you entirely miss most of that crew trying very hard NOT to accept bribes? I mean, the one woman definitely turned it down - her MOTHER-IN-LAW took it. Not quite what you are representing. Plus some sleaze slipping a card into your pocket is NOT 'accepting' anything. Those pictures were totally misrepresentations. I like our Ms Temper but she's far from perfect, honey. I love that she's not afraid to stand up for herself & others, but she's learning how to be less rigid and demanding from Nam Jung Ki who is AWESOME - again, success in business is NOT all there is of life - in fact the person demonstrating that is lil bro there. HE'S cool.

You are out of your mind, really. The writers are making this CRYSTAL clear - our 3rd hubby is a greedy psycho corporate shark. These guys have done SOOOO much harm in this world - they are the ones who caused the subprime mortgage crisis in the US which had world-wide repercussions, after all. This guy thinks money is everything. Wrong! As for your dissing on our poor hero, good GRIEF!!!!! You obviously just hate men, dear.

For all those crying that DOTS was unrealistic: I'm retired military. I was a Yeoman for a SEAL team (NOT a SEAL myself of course LOL). The portrayals of Special Forces personnel was SPOT on in this drama! The command (I did work at the Command headquarter Pacific), the problems with relationships, the characterizations of the soldiers, the uncertainty and the continual missions (ie these guys don't just have the one death-defying experience & then all's safe - nope) - perfectly addressed. The writers showed the various characters and their interpersonal relations with a logical progression, a wit and sense of romance and compassion that I just loved. Now, I do have to say that the DETAILS of the missions, well, not so well done - plot holes and silliness abounded there. While these guys DO have a continually dangerous job, most of that job is NOT 'high alert' saving the nation kind of stuff either. But, a drama, you know? And peripheral - the CHARACTERS drove this drama.
Plus the scenery. Not just the actors, or those shirtless guys (I did see this kind of thing in the military - took ME back to my youth LOL) - but the cinematography in toto was amazing! I fully understand how Greece had gotten a tourist boom because of this drama!
I love that this show made a tribute to both the UN soldiers AND Doctors W/O Borders - that was wonderful :D

As far as HE is concerned, he's only noticing her because she's the sister of this boy that he's hoping will save the day for him. SHE notices HIM because he's messing with her brother. Far as I'm concerned, NOTHING romantic going on yet at all.

I have to go watch the 2nd episode - we'll find out LOL

There's been lots of talk about how in this case that might not be the case here - how Hyeri's romance might be the 2nd lead. I don't know, but I hope so, cause I agree, not much spark there.

Those labels are very often misleading. And the romance could be our leads with OTHER people.

So WHAT if the leads haven't met yet? I don't understand why that's so important. I won't care if there is NO romance at all between Hyeri & Ji Sung, in fact. I like romance but it really doesn't have to be in EVERY single story....

Really? I enjoyed Trot Lovers a lot. But I fail to see the resemblance except that both were set in the entertainment world.

I found it a very interesting set-up for Ji Sung, as well as a taste of the Hyeri/Min Hyuk conflicts as well.
I in fact enjoyed this episode and will certainly be watching all the rest.

Edit: I read your comment wrong - you were referring to another drama as the worst!

Well sad for you then cause Reply 1988 is basically an AWESOME drama with stellar performances from a whole slew of talented people. Hyeri does fine in it but she's HARDLY the main reason to watch it!

Oh I do like that thought!

There are so many people out there who basically diss all the popular dramas/films/music/whatever, as if popularity makes something bad.
Clue - SHAKESPEARE was the most popular playwright of his time. Popularity does NOT make something bad. It depends on WHY something is popular.
DOTS has so much going for it - amazing actors, great chemistry, compelling storyline (hey, with this kind of action suspense thing you don't have TIME to worry about the logic of the details LOL) - the cinematography, the soundtrack - and the overall realism of the lives of these soldiers (the details, the constant intense assignments - exaggerated. The feeling & impression? spot on) and the bravery & selflessness of Doctors Without Borders just fantastic. AND that is why it is so popular.

That was so REAL - I'm retired Navy so I've SEEN that kind of thing :D

You know, I'm watching both of them and LOVE both of them for entirely different reasons. It is possible to like one drama without dissing another one, in the same time slot or not! DOTS is very very good for quite different reasons than this one. And this one lost some points with me because of the illogical ending for our gangster girl.
Anyone referring to DOTS as 'trash' is just ridiculous, BTW. And anyone who thinks that DOTS & HWCFAS are at ALL on the same level as Heirs needs to work hard on their critical evaluating skill. Heirs has some basic, obvious flaws with writing, directing and performance, although there were a lot of good moments. The other two? TOTALLY deserving of their popularity. You may not like that kind of thing, but those dramas are solidly written, very well performed, splendid directing, with great production value. DOTS especially is visually stunning.