bokminthe

Honestly I was enjoying this until the last episode, what also made many other things from previous episodes look worse. Really tired of break up one episode to the end, the cliché of miscommunication, the "it's dementia but actually nah you're fine" filler plot and the evil ex. And by the looks of it FL is going to be looking for him in the last one, nothing like not letting the guy speak for even one second, rejecting him completely only to be running back to him when something might have happened. Mature conversations and behaviour where?
Not that this excuses ML's behaviour for the entirety of the drama either in my opinion, but episode 11 was especially deep in overused tropes.

Everyone knows what romance as a genre means in current times. It's simply obtuse to try and justify it by going to the roots of the word. If we did that with all words or even specifically genres, you'd find that there are many that don't currently follow the original meaning of the term (melodrama anyone?).
I loved this drama, but it shouldn't be classified as a romance as per the modern usage of the word, and I won't justify its usage just because in medieval times it was used to mean a story told in vernacular language, that would also make every single drama a romance (imagine the confusion when you're looking for something to watch by genre...).
Furthermore, many of the stories that were classified as romances included love stories, for it was a common depiction of knights and chivalry at the time (Mabigonion (and the stories that derived from it), Tirant Lo Blanch, Lancelot, Abencerraje...)
It has been used as a term for love stories for centuries now, and mentioning the romantic era is redundant for it was, as you precisely point out, in name a reference to the medieval romances and chivalry stories since they looked up to medieval values and aesthetics.

It's just linguistic evolution!

So no, this doesn't classify as a romance by modern standards, but if a European medieval peasant watched this drama now they would be correct in classifying it as a romance.
Hopefully the tag is removed here for it makes it confusing for everyone living in the 21st century.

Sorry for such a late reply. I've been busy and ill at the same time and didn't have time to log in here.
I completely agree with you, an ending with Gyeongdo having a happy family in Málaga would have been cute and certainly better than what we got.
I guess there was some moral in the story, but the bad type. The moral I guess it was that if you're in a relationship like them you should persist and stay together or take your partner's toxicity. There was certainly not a good moral to the story, only a kind of twisted one.
I hope PSJ picks a better one next time, fingers crossed... but if this project resonated so much with him as you say, not sure how to feel for what kind of projects he might resonate with in the future, we'll see I guess.
Certainly I'm of the same opinion than you, reading your comments and thoughts has been the best of this drama! but the drama itself I'm very happy to put at rest now haha

Oh wow! hank you so much for your words! I really really appreciate them. I do enjoy writing and I'm in the early stages of starting to write a fantasy novel. I actually have never considered script writing but I don't dislike the idea of trying it! Maybe one day :D
And please do, if you ever want to say anything else or talk about anything don't hesitate to write, I'll love it!

I guess we'll never know for sure what the intention of the writer was for her, unless there is an interview with the writer somewhere? but I doubt they would contradict their work now, even if what they wanted to write wasn't the end product we got.
It's true what you say about serial killers, but personally I do find most serial killers in kdramas too one-dimensional, they forget the human nuance, just because they're killers doesn't mean they are pure evil that don't care about anything. People only needs to look at history to realise that most greatest evil people in the world had families, things they cared about, hobbies, things they liked. In a way, that's what makes them way more terrifying, the fact that they're just one more of us. The caricature of killers and evil people in general is what also numbs us to believe someone "nice" or "proper" could never commit those atrocities. How many times they interview on the news the neighbour of the serial killer and they said something like "he was really nice, said hello every day and even helped me a couple of times, I would have never said they could do something like that".
But I do agree with you the experience with narcs is way more common, everyone has someone in the family, in their circle of acquaintances or met a a few once. But it's also true many people doesn't know how to tell or might be completely oblivious to it. I think that's still very prevalent and considering the general opinion of this series and the opinions I've seen about the FL, I would say there is a fair share of people that didn't realise either.

Not going to lie, I'm the same than you, I do get distracted by any plastic surgery and also by a lot of heavy makeup in some kdramas. I won't judge the whole series based on that unless (the makeup specifically) it's very thick and they're wearing it even in bed, but it will for sure dampen my enjoyment of it.
And I also agree with you when it comes to Japanese actors, they tend to have less makeup and look more realistic every day people. It's a shame Japanese dramas are a bit of hit and miss in general, I find Japanese films to be generally a lot better than their series.

Ah yes, that's quite common, I don't think SJW knows she's a narc, but considering the general trend for narcs is to refuse help/therapy even if she knew chances are it wouldn't make much of a difference. I remember this guy that got diagnosed with narcissism and he argued he wasn't, but that if he was, he surely was a kind of "special" narc, what it's the most narc thing someone can say haha
And you're totally right, we can't take her seriously because she has zero self-awareness nor she has awareness of those around her at all, it's only her ego at play.

Very true, this show suffered a lot of that, a lot of telling more than showing. But she didn't get good at her job because technically she got the position through nepotism and we just didn't get an explanation how she's capable without knowledge. I think she had some kind of degree related to beauty? if I remember rightly, but we were not shown any of her previous or current work before she takes the position in the company so I guess it doesn't matter, it's still such a stretch to make her have that position with her supposed experience. Not that it isn't realistic though, I've seen worse cases of nepotism than her.

I think we would have gotten that strength you mention with Gyeongdo as well as looking more dorky (comfortable in himself), what in return would have made him more independent and capable and sexy IF he had distanced himself from SJW. We never got the growth, like you said we just got stagnation.

Hmmm, I'm not quite sure personally that the rivalry with the ex-husband would have forced Gyeongdo to be more hands-on, mostly because I feel in that kind of situation Gyeongdo would have given up, he technically already did so when she married the guy in the first place. He's happy to take whatever he's given, even if it's crumbs, that's the reason he settles for whatever FL wants. The power dynamic is so off balance with her that it completely overshadows him.
At points they tried to make Gyeongdo stand up a little, but it was so sudden and bare bones that it felt out of place to me.
In the same manner, they couldn't make him have any self-respect and self-control even at the beginning because no one with those would go back to their ex that left out of the blue without saying anything.
Ah yes, the whole office bits were annoying because nothing was happening, we were getting mostly him getting to or off work, that's what the office was used mostly for...

I can't personally say I would have preferred a toxic but sexy type of FL, mostly because she would still be sexy, and because I don't like normalising this idea that a woman that dresses in a certain way or that it's generally considered sexy and sure about her body means she's also a trouble woman, or toxic, problematic, loud and other stereotypes of that type. What you describe reminds me more of the FL in It's Ok To Not Be Ok and personally I actually didn't like her either, her toxicity and narcissism might have been more on the face, but they were mostly excused regardless what makes for a good morally grey character but not to idiolise for a romantic relationship, same than it happens here for me even if in a different level. In this case the FL here was better because she painted, at least personality wise, a more realistic portrayal of a narc than a stereotype. If you don't see her coming at first then it's way more accurate too.

The problem overall I guess is that we don't know what intention had the writer with the FL's character, if she was truly to be playing a narc or just happened like that, equally, we don't know if WJA played as per script or what she was asked or her lack of range made certain situations play the part of the narc better, or even if her take of the character was like that because she chose that. Either way, for a narc it would make sense we didn't see any hint of guilt or regret because of lack of empathy, so in that sense it's ok. Showing something in there if the character is supposed to be a narc would have been bad actually, reason why I guess we'll always be left to wonder who decided the FL character to be that way.
As a narc, she was played decently, but if the character was not originally intended to be a narc, then it was played poorly.


I don't think Gyeongdo's mother reaction is bad per se, what we're missing is her side of the story like you say, they showed some looks but we were not told what she was thinking exactly. Rather than a confrontation with SJW, considering the position she was in, she should have encouraged Gyeongdo to not come back yet, she should have slowly and carefully pushed SJW away and especially away from him. The setting was already perfect in that sense since he was not even there. But it's questionable anyway if she could have succeeded anyway considering Gyeongdo's obsession. They could have made it work it they had wanted though!
It's kind of realistic for SJW to go free without any consequences, not nice to see, but pretty accurate, especially with a person like Gyeongdo that forgives everything instantaneously. I mean, she wouldn't pull the shenanigans she does if he wasn't like that in the first place. And there are people that doesn't deserve to be forgiven even if they apologise, and accepting apologies doesn't mean you erase the past and repeat the same mistakes, and that's for me one of the biggest problems in this drama. She could have apologised to the moon and back, he could have accepted her apology but moved on anyway.

Re fixing some scenes: Personally the problem is that I would have had a completely different plot. Same characters, same setting, more or less the same plot until half way, but then I would have branched it out to a complete different one. But, at the bare minimum of changes, I would have changed the end for them to not be together, have Gyeongdo do some self-introspection and self-discovery, maybe while in Málaga, maybe with some interesting conversation with someone he met there, even with that scarf vendor. He would have had a tiny bit of growth, seen things differently, starting to move on. He would have taken a lot longer to come back, his mother would, like I mentioned earlier, have done something to slowly push SJW away. She would have gone to Málaga to look for him anyway and they wouldn't have found each other like in the series. The friend wouldn't have died. I'm usually not a fan of time skips in the last episode but if I'm only changing the end of this I would have one of about 2 years. Gyeongdo is back and she's been sort of waiting for him all this time (she needs supply after all haha) and we get to see Gyeongdo meeting someone else somewhere, just a hint of it even and how he's matured a bit, he's now the Clark Kent you mentioned. In the background we see SJW looking at him, ah she finally found him! Gyeondo turns around and sees her, nods to her politely but distanced and turns around walking away with the woman he was talking to because they clicked, and SJW is left waiting eternally wondering what she did wrong, because she never learnt anything. The end haha
I know no one would like a development like this, reason why I would change the whole plot and not the end only, but changing only the end part and the karma of seeing FL get what she deserves would have been quite satisfactory to me😂

No problem at all! I do not come to the site every day or anything, only when I have some time.

I guess it did quite well overall then, getting PSJ paid it off for the drama.

Thank you very much! I actually think it has to be an interesting and entertaining job to assist on someone else's script. I formed her in my head like this based on her actions and behaviours in the drama. I wonder if the writer was actually trying to portray someone like this on purpose or if it came out like this just by using someone they know as a model. In that sense they didn't do a bad job in SJW as a character with these characteristics but I want to think that if they fully knew what kind of character they were doing that they would have exploited her behaviours more to make it clear what kind of person she is. So I believe more that the writer just happened to write a covert narc by coincidence more than anything.

Oh that's interesting! I kind of took Gyeongdo's appearance more in line of someone that is frugal, not wealthy and doesn't care much about his appearance, but also because of his inner turmoil with feeling lonely and abandoned after the last breakup with FL. His wardrobe was more lively before the breakup as well. But it's true he does come across as a more introverted person that only opens up more to those he considers close to him. PSJ expressions and mannerisms and appearance are great to me. I know people didn't like him in those clothes but I think it was a mood, it was relatable, closer to real life too (I've seen so many men with bigger clothes than they should be wearing) and somewhat cute even!

Not sure if it's WJA or the script personally, you might know more if you have watched her in other things or in interviews like you said. Personally just going by the drama itself, I think the character is not bad written but it needed more exploration, and overall not try and paint her as good or as a romantic interest. She should be the ex you move on from. I understand now what you mean by performative, it's true but also I did feel they toned down her wealth on purpose to not distance the two worlds (that of him and her) too much. By making her look less spoiled (and she was a fair share), less broken (but mostly because they dropped that side of the story early on) and looking less stereotypically rich they made her more at the level of him so they didn't look jarring one next to the other. If she had been very loud in her wealth the audience would have probably decided early on they don't match and would have been very clear the reverse "Cinderella" dynamic in their relationship. Personally I think they toned it down to a more subtle level, what it's still performative nonetheless.
As I said in my original review though, I didn't appreciate nor I had any empathy for watching her as a rich person crying among her wealth for troubles she had created herself in the first place. I couldn't really empathise with her. But as I also mentioned, I think it's also because I'm getting a bit tired overall of rich people or CEOs being the romantic interests in kdramas, it has become repetitive to me.

If you reverse genders for the stereotypical CEO rich man in an organisation, you get SJW. It was a power move, they thought they were making her badass by giving her a reversed role where she's as bad as those stereotypical CEO narcissistic men. It's not the flex they think it is. I think they tried to soften it as the relationship developed to at points show her a bit below him in terms of dynamics, but it didn't change her narc personality anyway so it didn't work. Her being not perfect, not feminine or anything like that it's not a problem at all for me, I would have personally welcomed it in a way, her only problem is her narc personality and all the attributes it brings with it.
Oh yes, I remember PSJ in other kdramas and the s*exual tension, he totally has it. Here there wasn't chemistry at all from her, he was kinda trying, but it was hitting a wall. It worked well in the sense of her as a narc, that's the reaction you get really, that's the reason I say her narc personality is what mostly ruined FL as a character, but this also can be mixed with WJA lack of experience or range in acting.

That's actually very interesting, that you analyse the actors, directors and everything. I usually only read some reviews after watching something and then I move on. But it's so cool to learn the ins and outs of the production as well, I've always liked scriptwriting and directing, and sometimes I would like to have a conversation with the writers of certain shows to know exactly what they were thinking or why.
Ah yes, the eyes, the thing I look the most when I watch anything, and the reason I end up liking certain actors over others, PSJ eyes for example tell so much, they immerse you in his character straight away.
That's fine, not judging for you looking at the actors or anything though in case it came out that way, I'm so far removed from the "kdrama fandom", people roll how they roll. I didn't even know other people frown upon looking into them. I personally don't do it just because. Maybe because I generally just don't follow any actors, musicians or anything. I consume their work but I don't like to consume lives, it would take too much of my time and I have too many hobbies (not sarcastically but literally). But it's an achievement that I know the names of the actors I like, because in most cases I have absolutely no idea of the names of celebrities in general haha

Oh I see, so that's how they viewed the drama over there, it makes total sense. I imagine for conservative environments she came across as the opposite of what they like. Maybe it was actually a good move to have the narc character then in my personal opinion, in despite of not working either way. If it provoked certain talk or shows/normalises certain variation in the stereotype of a woman then not everything was lost. Still obviously would have preferred a different plot direction because of her character, but shaking conservative south korean environments with something out of the norm is welcomed to me personally.

Completely, Gyeongdo's love is kind of twisted, it's the reason why in real life he would be appearing way more unhinged than in the drama. The fact that he's willing to step on others and anything to protect or cover up for her, it's not healthy and that's why I think him moving on from his obsession and dependency for FL would have been way more refreshing than what we got in terms of their relationship.
There is a high chance, making hypothesis about their future as a married couple, that she would either try to isolate Gyeongdo from those around him, like his parents, with excuses and whatnot to have his full attention constantly, or that she would manage to get his parents also under her circle of control. Problem is especially his mother has more temper than the father and as you say the actress is top notch, I always enjoy watching her. So there could be a clash at that point if she saw FL's true self that could make her have a word with Gyeongdo and potentially him cutting ties with his parents (at least for a while) in defence of SJW. In a way you can already see Gyeongdo's mother is a bit wary of her as you say, it's a bit more cautious around her and doesn't fully know how to take her. The more Gyeongdo spends with FL in a more isolated way, the more her ways will rub on him and would start displaying certain behaviours or way of seeing things from her.
I really was hoping we would get a twist with the mother having a go at SJW when she was asking about Gyeongdo continuously when he was abroad. You could almost see in her eyes that she was pondering if snapping might be or not a good idea. I wish she had, maybe it would have been the only way we got him to heal a bit. Either way, in theory it doesn't look like a good relationship in the long run, they'll see more of her when they're married.
SJW played her role well there though, that's literally how a covert narc would appear when it's trying for people to like them, always overly enthusiastic, fake-sweet and even childish. I really don't know if the writer knew fully what they were writing but they got it right, especially because a narc would know that someone like Gyeongdo's father would be sooo easy to win over, they're the perfect victim and Gyeongdo mirrors more his father's personality than her mother's.

I completely agree with you, the opposite of what we got is what should have happened to Gyeongdo. I wish we had gotten to see him falling for a strong-willed, caring, nice girl instead of going back to his narc ex. Someone that would have comforted him and validated his past experiences while supporting him in his daily life.

Ah yes, it probably has been very triggering for people that had similar toxic relationships. It was triggering and frustrating for me and I'm not directly involved in one (but I do receive some of it). And totally, when I said originally in my review that if I had a friend like her I would tell her to stop using the guy and I wouldn't be friends with her anymore? That's real, it happened in my life and I did exactly that. FL's character can be real and it's a somewhat good portrayal of a covert narc, but she's not someone I would root for nor someone I want to see destroying and using a good guy. And if the genders were reversed my opinion would be exactly the same one.

Personally I think Gyeongseong Creature first season was ok, but I was disappointed by the second one, and I agree with you that his potential with Han So Hee could have been way better, it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
For me the "anti-japanese" undertone was fine, I thought it was mild compared with other kdramas I've watched actually and it makes sense considering the historical setting. Sorry to say but personally I think that any japanese that gets offended by it needs to go back and learn some history, especially more now with the rise of imperialist ideology once again. Forgetting history and the mistakes our predecessors did only brings us to repeat the same mistakes. Plus, as said, it's a historical setting so it makes total sense, in fact it would have looked quite unrealistic if they didn't include those elements.
I think it's good of PSJ to do anything he likes either be politically charged or not, everything is political at the end of the day.

But either way, as you mention with the "innocent virgin" look, I think kdramas in general need to stop making 30+ year olds that are still virgin or that they haven't been with anyone else after a breakup and meeting them again. Not that there can't be virgins at that age, but it shouldn't be that normal.

I honestly think the only reason is on Prime and not Netflix is because Amazon has been trying very hard to have more kdramas competing with Netflix for the share of users. They know there is a massive audience on Netflix only for the kdramas so they're just trying to get some. There have been quite a few newer kdramas made by or broadcasted in Prime, they're just trying to get in on the game.
I don't like specifically any of the two platforms but I do have to say that generally speaking I find overall that the dramas that Netflix makes or picks tend to be better for now than Prime, based on what I've watched that is.

Now that you mention it… Han So Hee as SJW would have been interesting, and it's true that she can make it work quite well and she has an aura that WJA doesn't have BUT the character would have still been a narc, so I think my overall sentiments would be the same. Rather than how it was played it's the whole presenting of a narcissistic relationship as meant-to-be or fated what annoyed me the most.

No problem! you're most welcome and thank you very much for all your comments and insights! And sorry for such a long comment, I feel I'm probably writing too much haha

Thank you for not reading my full review but spending the time to write a comment. I appreciate the time you took of your life doing so.

Thank you very much!!😳

Makes total sense you'd feel that way, I guess it's why a lot of times they use certain actors, they know it will compel people to watch till the end. PSJ is one of my favourite actors as well, I think he has a great range and I've always enjoyed him.

I think FL is a covert narc rather than an overt because she doesn't openly display her ego to everyone, she doesn't go around parroting that she's the best but rather she presents quite a composed image of herself to the outside world and you only see her real self with those she considers in her circle, in this case predominantly Gyeongdo. So she'll manipulate freely, insult and use Gyeongdo because there is the assurance that nothing bad will come out of it for her, he won't leave her, he will be there to endure anything she does. He's in the inner circle of control so she can be truly and fully selfish and egocentric displaying her cockiness and superiority. But there are even comments she makes to Gyeongdo that give away her insecurities of which she has many, she has also played the victim to keep him by her side. But she also appears so correct, polite and composed whenever she's talking to other people, people outside her personal circle, she might even appear a people pleaser (for example, with Gyeongdo's parents). This is to lure people for attention and admiration but also to appear as good as possible. No one around would say she's bad if Gyeongdo ever complained right? This is also the reason why the abuse from a covert narc is way more difficult to see than an overt one. Everyone knows an overt narc is a narc, not many people know a covert narc is one unless the people closer to them tells you or you enter that inner circle of control.
It also makes sense she would come across as performative because covert narcs have a certain level of inadequacy and to compensate they tend to follow society expectations and rules quite close to perform as expected in society so no one can see the mask they're wearing.

Also when it comes to the babies I felt bad for those future kids, whether they become her golden child or the scapegoat, either way they'd have tough upbringings.
Won Ji An certainly didn't look in her late 30s and in that sense you could totally tell the age gap of the actors, even in the expressions. As you say there is certain experience that comes with age that gets somewhat imprinted in facial mannerisms and expressions. You can totally see this with PSJ but not her. I think she did a good job with what she had, and she played the character ok, I mean, being able to recognise the narc in the character so easily and straightforward is good acting, but it's also true there are certain details of her performance that might coincidentally work well for the character that maybe she actually didn't do on purpose, like for example always feeling slightly more awkward and distanced, what works for the lack of empathy of a narc but not sure she did on purpose or because her range was not quite there. I'm a bit on the fence on that as I haven't seen her in anything else.
The real life age gap as you say probably also impacted their more intimate scenes. Not sure why they didn't take an actress closer to his age, or vice-versa if it was the case.

Completely agree with your overall assessment of the series, they had so many sub-plots that were just forgotten or closed in a very fast and anticlimactic way, it ended up being a whole of just plain nothing and their push and pull in the relationship became old quickly because the same pattern and reasons were reused multiple times. It should have been more dynamic.

Oh wow, I didn't know PSJ had done an interview to explain things! I don't watch interviews or anything, I only watch kdramas haha
I also don't know what the general opinion or of those in South Korea was for this drama, I only read a few reviews on here and they were all positive.
I think that actors commonly mention some things that they poured into their roles from their personal lives. I actually think I might have heard something about his alcohol experience before? can't remember for sure but sounds familiar. But either way, considering how people are on the internet in general and fans in South Korea in particular I would also prefer they kept everything to themselves for their own mental health. It's scary out there.

I think one of the problems why mental health is presented in so many kdramas in this way is not only because as you say they don't use professionals in the field for advice, but because mental health in general in South Korea (and other countries in East Asia for that matter) is very underdeveloped for now and extremely basic in approach. I've seen so many psychologists from around there have such a freudian take of mental illness and mostly consider everything solved with some exposure therapy of the sorts. I think the representation in dramas is ok to normalise the existence but at the same time I wonder how much damage it could be doing at the same time because of how it's tackled (or rather just shown but not tackled). I also think that, especially when it comes to female main characters, these days the mental health issues, and even more when it's narcissism, it's almost presented as powerful, what gives a weird message. It's not far from real life in many cases, but the moral and message it gives is not very good.

Ah yes, but CLOY did very well the progress and change of the main character to redeem her and make her more mature. In here it should have happened with Gyeongdo (because FL was not going to change being realistic), we should have gotten that progression of his character over the episodes, of realisations about his past and their relationship and he should have flourished to be the best of himself. We got static characters instead... So that's also why CLOY will remain a classic, there was a good development of characters.

I hope watching CLOY helps you move on from the train-wreck this one was... :)

Very true, I did read a lot of bad comments of Gyeongdo when the series was airing and I personally don't see much wrong about him other than that dependency he has for FL and that he's naive and easily manipulated, otherwise his character is great, he's a hopeless romantic, kind, understanding (even if too much). Technically being naive is not a bad trait, but rather something that becomes bad just because other humans exploit for their own manipulative purposes, like it happens here with FL. PSJ played him great, I really liked his character and acting and it was certainly the best of the show for me.
Gyeongdo as a person is an enabler of her narc traits (mostly because he doesn't even see them) and over time in the future he could also become a narc by association.
Thing is, I have personal experience with this kind of dynamic, so I do recognise a lot of the patterns of FL as a covert narc in the same manner than the covert narcs present in my life circle.
Gyeondo doesn't technically let her do the things, he just doesn't recognise them for what they are. Covert narcs do this thing of being present in your life and trying to pull you into their inner circle to then manipulate so you're always present, pay attention to them constantly (for covert narcs contrary to extroverted ones have quite a lot of self-esteem issues, play the victim and want constant attention, especially from lovers). Even if in the future Gyeongdo found out about these things he's very likely to push them under the rug and endure for the believe in love that he has and for the empty promises that she might make. It's an endless toxic relationship where he adapts because of the idea of loving her but she just pushes and pulls as convenient.
In this case her being rich is like the cherry on top, but in the bigger picture it wouldn't have mattered with her personality traits, for covert narcs always believe themselves some sort of frustrated rich person even if they're poor, it's the "I'm especial over everyone else", "everyone looks down on me", "what about me" (even though they're always in the centre),

Healing for me would have been him moving on from her in the end and grey rocking her, that would have been a happy ending, and I wrote about this already in the comments half way through the series. I'm a completitionist and I always stick to the end with dramas but I should have seriously dropped this one for the train wreck it was, at some points it was a bit triggering for me, seeing FL's actions but no one around even questioning anything.
Oh my... now that you mention it I had forgotten, yes, the baby thing at the end was rage inducing for me, it was the last drop and made me feel so bad for Gyeongdo.
And the photo with the wedding dress was such a bad taste from her part, I really thought at that point maybe finally his mother would say something, but nothing happened. It's so sad to watch really. It's like having a friend you're seeing getting taken into a terrible situation without being able to say anything, it's frustrating...

And it's very true what you say, a lot of kdramas introduce mental health issues with zero idea, but I feel that especially presenting a character, even more a main character like in this case, with clear narc problems and pass it as good, ideal or romantic is where the biggest problem is. As you say, they want the audience to sympathise with her and accept her as is. Where is the compromise? where is her work to meet people half way? everyone has to go to her in order to accept her. She only did some effort to stop drinking and whatnot, and it wasn't because she really wanted but clearly because she knew that way she could pull Gyeongdo closer to her.

No problem and thank you very much for your comments! It's rare that I get to discuss a kdrama with anyone so I appreciate very much doing so with you here! Thank you!!! I also need to find a new kdrama to watch to get this one out of my system...

Very true as well, if they hadn't done the flashbacks we could have bought it more, especially as you say their domestic life in the second attempt at the relationship was quite endearing, but the problem as well is that as soon as you get a bit more insight or actions from the FL you could already see those narc characteristics of her.
The way she went without saying anything to him when the father is in the hospital is the worst thing ever, I think that it was clear he has problems and an obsession for FL when he let that slide in the present time, no sane person would. When he said that he understood now why she went and what happened I was like "my guy, that you understand the sequence of actions and know now what happened doesn't mean you have to accept it" 😂

I didn't even think about what she did when he went away and you're so right!!!!!! OMG!!!
She cornered all his support system and kept trying to have some link or another to him while controlling those around him so she seems appealing and they'll always be on her side if he ever tried to definitely distance himself!!! I was also uncomfortable watching it and I couldn't pinpoint exactly why other than my general dislike for her, you gave me the answer!!

Thank you very much for your comment! I know my review won't be the most popular considering other people's reviews I've seen here. I tend to be a bit of a black sheep when it comes to this with many dramas.

I agree with you, it would have been better and more interesting if ML had found someone during that sabbatical and actually had moved on, a lot more realistic too (if he wasn't that level obsessed that is).
I'm waiting for one of this dramas with a toxic relationship where the present story is them finding each other and rekindling a friendship relationship rather than a romantic one, where they realise what was wrong in their relationship in the present while showing the audience the flashbacks and why it didn't work, all the while we get their separate new love stories in present time with other people. Something in those lines.
I think it would be a lot more realistic and cuter, with a dose of healing.

If you think the advertisement is no good but still manages to make you buy the product then it worked.
If it works they probably see no need in changing the advertisement style.

Totally agree!
I've had friends in school that were identical twins (and identical triplets!!), I have twins in the family too, and you can always tell them apart, and in this case it was even more obvious, they were so different it was so baffling as you say.
Thank you very much for your words, I'm glad you liked my review! :)

The best way this drama could end for me is if they don't end up together and there is growth in the process.
What I find problematic is the writing selling me the idea their love as meant-to-be and wanting me to root for them. I have no problem with flawed characters, I have no problems with their personalities as realistic portrayals of individuals (although I especially do not like hers), I have no problems with seeing their past fail attempts at a relationship, but them together trying in the present time again? Ughh, no.

I agree, plus to be honest I don't know what he adds to the picture. I guess he's only there so the drama about the house has the explosive moment. I understand Me Ri's personality but I do wish she was more assertive at least with him.
Him and his family involvement and scenes in this drama have overstayed their welcome in my opinion.

Thank you for your comment and I completely agree with you!

Thank you so much for your words! and I completely agree with you! It's a shame really because it was very enjoyable until they messed it up...

- How did Gyeon U go on a date with Seong A? Plothole. It's not explained how she managed to make him resurface. The date was the pretext for her to take Bong Su out of him.
- How did Bong Su enter Seong A? the kiss

After that Seong A disappears, but it's not explained why exactly (I'm assuming because of her becoming more "evil" and trying to stay away from everyone), it's not mentioned either how she's surviving wherever she is, apparently she's rich and we didn't know, or grass and pine cones are an enough good diet to have for a year (lol).
Gyeon U goes to visit the girl that kept bullying him through the phone for the fire that happened in his previous school. Turns out the girl is the one that started the fire. It's not really explained why she kept bullying Gyeon U about it though, at one point I thought it was maybe suggested she was trying to commit suicide with the fire and blamed him for not succeeding? but other stuff she says kind of contradicts this, so who knows. She's just a prick I guess.
The guys graduate and technically Seong A had to be there but she isn't, why? who knows since we're not given any side on what is Seong A exactly doing or what was her plan and why she doesn't make it to the graduation. It's at that point Gyeon U decides to look for her since technically I guess they hoped she would appear by the graduation like she promised (no one seems that concerned about it though to be honest).
Flower Master shaman works with whoever, he be like that and his character is never really explored much to even justify this (I guess only the money he must be receiving), but as it is, he is working with YeomHwa by mid episode and seems to be working with Bong Su by the end of the episode.
YeomHwa is living in the General's house (the mourning for the General was like two seconds, who cares about her I guess lol) as the head of the house it seems? Why? who knows, why is anyone even talking to her anymore, why is she even involved. She uses Gyeon U to track Seong A that way she has to do nothing other than appear in the right moment and kill her, but she fails as Gyeon U appears.
Time jump of two years, why? who knows. Gyeon U is living with Jiho (although he doesn't seem to spend much time in the house looking for Seong A). Jiho's character is very left to the side in this episode, we learn nothing about the repercussions of his actions, especially to an emotional level, he's just fine in the background and there for a bit of banter but not really involved at all. All of a sudden he doesn't seem to care about Seong A much compared with before.
Apparently the old shaman died, why? no idea (sure, it could be from just old age, but seems rather weird to kill a character in the background an episode before the last one). We get a flashback that doesn't add much to anything.
Gyeon U has a dream of being in a class, he's in Seong A's dream. Why is she and Bong Su hiding? who knows. She's happy seeing him and has enough with this (I guess she doesn't have to think about Gyeon U's feelings after all...). The drawing in the blackboard gives the clue to Gyeon U of where Seong A is going to be, what suggests that a part of her has not lost control yet and is leaving clues, but no idea what (as in what she expects anyone to do about it). At no moment is explained either what Gyeon U is thinking about doing if he captured Seong A/Bong Su.
Bong Su as Seong A in average late 00s fashion style (lol) is in the Flower Master's place and it's kind of revealed he's looking for his name and would have already crossed over if he had done so. Hides when Gyeon U appears.
Scene here of Yeomhwa learning the General prayed for her kid. But what happened to that story ark? down the drain I guess. Yeomhwa didn't care for her baby anymore once the General died.

Gyeon U chases Bong Su in the beach (apparently Bong Su having fun when running shows how evil he is or something lol). Bong Su kisses Gyeon U in an attempt to potentially transfer himself to Gyeon U again, since he does care about Seong A and knows she's slowly fading and considering his words to the Flower Master I guess he doesn't mind killing Gyeon U instead, but it doesn't work.


Not sure if I'm missing anything or if I got anything wrong because it was confusing, this is how I understood it.

totally agree with you!

What the hell happened to the writing here?????😱
I had to double check, I thought I had missed an episode in-between 10 and 11.
I'm in shock and disappointed, they totally butchered the story in my opinion, there is so much missing but at the same time episode 11 is going in circles...