TeleriFerchNyfain

I utterly & completely fail to understand some people who think this drama is so horrible yet managed to wade thru crap like Missing 9 or Goodbye Mr Black (those shows make this one shine like a DIAMOND). I mean, the writing is nowhere near as good now & the show has rather lost it's edge, but the actors are doing a great job with what little they have, and that keeps it entertaining.
I think it's interesting that THIS show is the highest rated show on Kocowa right now LOL

Ji Chang Wook is just about the hottest guy in television - ANY television LOL Ugly glasses or not!

Sheesh. No, he doesn't lose anything, dear. The story clearly shows how he gradually learns to trust her and care for her - it's skillfully done. Just because you don't see it doesn't negate the fact that this actually happens. I understand you don't LIKE it, but the logical progression is there for any critic to see.
I do not think anyone should call you retarded - that is very rude.

Actually, no - the writers totally forgot what they'd done. Kate is very correct - it was Soo Ji who turned away, THEN Shi Hyun acted like he didn't care.
He definitely loves Soo Ji. I know this is hard to understand, & our writers are shying more & more away from it (sadly) but its PERFECTLY possible to love 2 different people at the same time. Tae Hee is so different than Soo Ji, & fits with Shi Hyun in a completely different manner.
I'm sad the writers in the last few episodes have apparently turned this into just another little drama. I don't hate it by any means, but the edge is no longer there. I'm just hoping they don't try making Soo Ji out to be a total villain - that WOULD make me furious.

Let's try again, honey. It's not your 'interpretation & opinion' on any character, but your total lack of understanding about the PLOT, the logical progression, the writers' intentions, the theme of the drama that I am criticizing.
You just underline that incomprehension by failing to have a real discussion with me. I've given you lots of talking points, that you could use to defend your own opinion, but instead you whine at me that somehow my having a discussion on a drama is me attacking you LOL
You'd fail in my class, dear - not for your opinion but for your inability to defend it using the work in question.

Because the RATINGS are bad...I think they are being told to make it more mainstream

I think it was meant to be darker but the ratings got in the way. Still see hints here & there but it's been getting lighter every episode.
Too bad, because the characters are well-rounded - ie unlike the other teen versions I've seen, Soo Ji & her boys aren't nearly so nasty, and in fact are much more understandable and sympathetic, so I was interested in how that would work out with the plot. But that looks to be out the window now, sadly. Wish this had been pre-produced.

My problem is the second lead is just as good as the lead (speaking about the CHARACTERS here) - I really hate these shows where it's pure chance that she chooses one or the other, or else the writers feel they have to DEMONIZE one of the guys :( Just stupid.

People are astounded at your inept inability to follow logic in this drama, dear. Do you REALLY not understand that this boy was wounded and damaged? He couldn't relate to people - that was not a GOOD thing. The life he found himself in was not of his choosing - he'd been forced by circumstances and his mentor (who also was damaged & wacked - as much by the POLITICAL climate he'd grown up in). Now, the mentor was correct about handing the Healer mantle over to our boy, who just took to it like a duck to water, but it's simply NOT a sustainable lifestyle (notice the fate of the mentor, and the fact that both our boy & his mentor had as an end goal retirement to some paradise-like place).
The lead girl teaches Healer to love, to trust - and helps him avenge his father. It is so sad that you fail completely to understand this basic plot point of the drama. This is not an opinion - it is a fact that the drama is all about how the Healer is healed by love.
Now you may find this a stupid theme, you might feel it's done poorly (whatever), you might yourself prefer him to stay all lonely & aloof (sad for him) - those are all opinions.
But to totally miss the actual plot and logical progression of the story? That's lack of comprehension, honey.

nungibulik - You have to look far and wide for a KDrama to portray young love more realistically than this. Just because it doesn't follow some sad, twisted path doesn't make it unrealistic LOL

I do believe you've analysed this very well! Soo Ji is scared to trust people, terrified that if she lets these two dear friends of hers know she cares about them and counts on them that they will leave her. She IS testing Shi Hyun. All 3 of these kids are very damaged goods, sadly.

Right.
In fact they aren't plotting to destroy 2 girls just because one of them is upset that her ex is involved with them - those guys have sterling reputations, there's no abusive parents in this, those 3 friends are perfectly well-adjusted youngsters in a healthy friendship w/each other.
Right.
All sweetness, fluff & light.
NOT
But you think whatever you want.
Now, who knows what the writers will do? Maybe they WILL turn this into a light, happy version of their source material. I don't know. But they haven't really done that yet.

The original idea (that Shi Hyun had) was the two of them get married BEFORE their parents' wedding, which might put a stop to it.

LOL LOL LOL

Oh, whatever.
You are right. They aren't going to make the show as raunchy as the American/European ones.
But you know what? SK TV has already MADE some TV dramas that are dark and mean-spirited - I just watched 2 of them (Misty & Return)
Now, because this is about teens, it's natural that the writers are softening the characters - which I like so great. But there's a HUGE difference between that (which I've been applauding) and your erroneous contention that these characters are somehow fluffy or unrealistic????
And aren't YOU tired of attacking ME just cause i don't share YOUR sacred opinions???
Good grief.

Number one, STOP telling me to 'calm down'. How silly to say such a thing re: an internet discussion LOL
You don't have to like this character. I don't give a rat's patootie. However, I do find it abhorrent when people are overly judgmental, as I pointed out in my post.
I have to ask why you somehow think I'm 'excusing' bad behavior despite my calling it that? I do believe you've just done what I said you were doing, confusing bad behavior with being a bad person. In fact you are illustrating exactly what I was talking about - condemning a person instead of what that person does. This girl (I do not believe the character is even 20 yet) is exhibiting unhealthy BEHAVIOR. She's a troubled young lady, and has reasons for that. Dislike her all you want, she's being portrayed a lot more sympathetically than the characters that inspired her. Her behavior is destructive, but as we will see it is more destructive to HER than anyone else.

Yeah, right. Keep watching and see what happens. I guess you think Cruel Intentions is for teens, and is light and fluffy to boot LOL LOL LOL

Yes, in the ORIGINAL, we are meant to dislike her. In THIS adaptation all those people who were definitely hateful before are now being portrayed in a much more sympathetic manner. They indulge in bad behavior but they aren't the shallow, callous creatures the original characters were.
Also, portraying these kids as unhappy, and indulging in unhealthy behavior, does not make them evil - not even bad. It makes them sad.
I am NOT a judgemental person - I in fact despise those people who view the world in black & white, as if that's realistic. Who in the world is so pure and perfect that they think they've the right to determine who is 'bad' and who is 'good'?
Fortunately, these writers aren't like that. This girl is not evil, not inherently selfish, not any of the pat 'let's just write her off as subhuman' that so many people love to decide about characters (not that big a problem) and real living breathing humans (a HUGE problem).
The writers may destroy what they've set up - I've seen that happen before with KDramas - but so far we've got well-rounded characters we can sympathize with, who are dealing with life and problems in different ways. Tae Hee seems to be doing this in a much healthier fashion than our 3 besties, and has the potential to heal at least one of them. The tension will be his realization that there are other ways of coping with pain, and his attempts to wake up his two best friends to this (there certainly were hints of this in the source material - although there the protagonist was roundly rebuffed & ridiculed).
He LOVES his friends. Really.
As for her actions not being excusable, oh dear. She's not killed anyone. In fact she's so far not done anything worse than what she's experienced herself. There's a huge difference between condemning behavior and condemning a person.

I agree - the reason for going after these 2 girls is a bit twisted. This character, it seems, would have gone full guns for that GUY. But it was needed for the plot to work. I'd say the motivation for this bet is the weakest point of the drama so far.

This is already darker than the average such KDrama. But I do agree that the ending most likely will NOT be as devastating as the original nor as Cruel Intentions. I hope it won't.