elbenne

MC goes through a lot and I found it hard to watch at the beginning but it's been in my top ten since it came out. Well written for a great cast. Si Wan's first big, career defining role. And one of the funniest scenes I've ever come across in a kdrama. I hope you like it too. It's more about life and a strategic struggle to succeed than it is about business.

Is this the major spoiler that it sounds like?

Misaeng is a classic. Starts rough but builds. Good drama and humour and great characters. Little guy against the world. You might like it.

I'm not Korean or Asian so take my guess with a grain of salt. But in many cultures marriage is about family as much or more than it is about two people. When there have been extremely turbulent times in a nation's history, family and clan were everything for survival. So a child with no family hasn't got so much to contribute and that's before you factor in people's feelings and superstitions about why someone might have been abandoned or orphaned.

Kk :-) happy winter solstice time and a great 2026 too

TY. done.

I totally agree that the emotional moments and the tension didn't hit as hard in part2. I preferred p1, no doubt. In fact, there were moments in p1 (ex MuDeok competing to join Jang Uk at Songrim) that were completely unparalleled in this drama and for any drama. They were so moving and I'll absolutely never forget them. But for what makes a resolution and what makes MuDeok/Naksu a great bad ass female lead? I think a resolution has to wind down and be a quieter rebalancing; a winding down gently vs ramping up in excitement. And Naksu ... ? That comes back to our equating bad assery with an outward power, a spell/forceful/aggressive kind of power vs an internal/restrained/divine kind of power. The former is so much flashier/obvious and more established for applause ... than the latter is ... but they're equally difficult. One is fighting outwardly and the other is fighting inwardly. Maybe the latter is even more difficult because there is so much less recognition for it. I mean, I love a great sword fight and all the cosmic fireworks that go with it but these things tends to represent the kind of a mostly male power that always puts less showy, more female-power into second place ... because that's what we learn, allow and celebrate in our world even though few women and not all men can attain it. It's just brawn; physical power. In Taoism, which we get a lot of in this drama, Yin and Yang are supposed to be mutually supportive and equally necessary but it's a hard sell no? Still ... resistence is a defining power especially in worlds where bullying people and ethics can so easily gain the upper hand. We don't need aggressive responses if people can effectively resist. It doesn't make for the most exciting television or the most bad ass female lead ... but the world needs it as much or more.

the queen was never a nice person. the shaman talked her into soul shifting (and then was able to pull a fast one) because she wasn't happy with her slightly less than perfect original face. She was, presumably, willing to sacrifice a younger woman for what would have been a cosmetic improvement. It's just that we got to see her horrible nature get magnified as time went on. Imagine though, that Seo Yul managed to come from the same family. They got quite the range of personality and ethics represented in their ranks.

omg. it would be such a shame if you skipped part 1. It's all one story and you'd be starting it at a point that's close to the end. You won't understand even half of what's going on. Maybe, if you have to do it this way, you could finish part2 and then start from the beginning and watch the whole thing all the way through.

I think you're right about it being rushed but they're working really hard to show that weakness isn't about powers or the lack of powers (spell based or divine). Strength is about resisting what is wrong. Not doing what our greed calls for. It's about NOT doing what we want when we shouldn't. When you strip away Naksu's flashy assassin mode and the false revenge agenda that Jin Mu instilled in her ... you gradually get a woman who is powerful because she, like Jang Uk, can stand strong, contain and resist evil. It's not a personality transplant. It's more of a reset to the kind of inner strength she had underneath the tricks. The strength to endure and be rock solid to resist and prevail. Even Jang Uk. He's not great because of whatever his powers might be. He too is great because he doesn't abuse them.

He's mastered the art of distraction like a modern day politician. And he managed to make Naksu and the shaman twins into the very best scapegoats possible. A true baddie. Unkillable cockroach is a great description.

If you look more carefully, there's a logical reason for everything. Part 2 balances out every character, every relationship and every aspect of the story so that everything comes to a close that allows their world to restart from a fresh and more natural beginning. And honestly it is the authors' story ... so it goes the way they set it out, and not, thankfully, the way that we think we would like to write it.

Some spoilers here to explain why you should give part2 a chance to earn your love.

I mean, I hated this when I watched it the first time. I had absolutely loved s1, MuDeok and Jung So Min so I had watched all of s2 feeling frustrated and resentful as I waited, in vain, for them to return. It felt like they, and we, had been robbed. And then there were all these haters saying that the new lead was better in this way or that. Which was kinda rotten. In fact, everything about the show felt so different from what I had loved in s1 and so I just watched and didn't really allow myself to enjoy it.

But now, what is it, three years later, I watched s1 and s2 again but back to back and with a different way of looking at it. A friend suggested that s2 was more of a reckoning and a resolution instead of a new season or a new beginning. It isn't even just a simple continuation. I knew that JSM wasn't coming back so there was no disappointment from that. And so, as I watched again, I realized that I was wrong. Most of what I loved about s1 was, in fact, right there in s2 as well. Great characters. A unique, absorbing story. And humour.

Yes. S2 was darker. But so it should have been. Bad stuff had happened. The piper needed to be paid and human evil had to be thwarted ... for good. So, there absolutely needed to be a reset. But the humour was still there and the characters I loved were still there for me to care about. MuDeok looked different but she wasn't really gone. Naksu was getting a real chance to reset herself; to become the person she would have been if she hadn't been so ill treated and so manipulated by circumstances and Jin Mu most of all. S2 was more like her part 2; redo/resolution after the set back that had been s1ep20.

And so seeing this helped me to enjoy part 2 so much more. I mean, don't expect it to be the same and you won't be disappointed. In fact all the part2 counterpoints came in to restore balance to the characters and their world. Fire and ice. Light and shadow. And the importance of resisting evil rather than any kind of outward strength and/or 'winning'.

The show is really clear on the idea of not abusing power. Inner strength. Restraint. Jang Uk and Naksu are the chosen ones not because of this power or that but ... because, over time, they prove that they won't do the things that other people would want to do or be willing to do because of greed. They resist no matter what. They do the right thing no matter what. And so they are the ones to put the world back to what it should be. And then that one particular character can let go. It's actually a really well written story even if it feels like part2 rushes a bit when it should have been given a few more episodes to really land, conclude and emphasize the main themes.

Anyway, the whole thing taken together is a masterpiece to me. Or a near masterpiece. Not perfect. But then nothing ever is. And you can't ask for much more than truly memorable characters in a great story. With such great cinematography and so many excellent performances as well? It's a really great drama. I love it !!! All of it. I'm so pleased that I gave part2 another chance because it supplies more than just a happy ending.

ageism ... possibly sexism ... but of course you're entitled to your prejudices

Your comments are rude and aggressive though. Read them back to yourself and see for yourself . You're ranting at everyone. And you needn't bother attacking me now because I won't be answering

I hope you come back with a new drama really soon. I love your work: Shopping King Louie, Terrius Behind Me and Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol. All were amazing. You build interesting worlds and fill them full of sweet, enigmatic, memorable characters that are so very easy to love. Thank you.

Congratulations and thank you for making me laugh so very much during every single episode of Lovely Runner. It was such a rare treat. In fact, you did superlative work on that drama. So enjoyable. Moving. Insightful. Memorable. Very impressive!!!

But did she know her uncle at all? A day or two ago, she was a regular college student. And then she's at the morgue being told things about her uncle that just don't make any sense. And then in the space of an hour or two ... she finds out that he is a major arms dealer ! who hired some sleazy guy to spy on her 24/7 from a mammoth sized weapons bunker that she didn't know existed. She's getting shot at by dozens of his enemies who have crazy scary firepower ... and in those few really high stress moments, she's only able to remember bits and pieces of the things that her uncle told her over many many years. So, I do get your point but I think we should give her a few more minutes to put her thoughts together and start acting like the smart woman we know she is. If we were her ... ? would we do any better?

someone that uncle trusted, betrayed him ... and she/we don't know who that was ... so it's not that she has shit for brains, she shouldn't trust anyone at this point ... although she has to

If you are in a helping profession, and you have a heart, you can almost guarantee that you will burnout at some point in your career. Or you'll get close to it. Especially if you stay in that career for very long. That's when people take a break to put themselves back together and start again.

At the end of the drama, the point is made that we all stand on the border between mental health and mental illness. You may think that you're too strong to ever fall down and need help. But nobody is totally immune.

They also make the point that many people in healthcare have personal experience that draws them to a particular specialty. So, the FL's experience is not uncommon and it doesn't make her a bad nurse. It can, potentially, make her a much better one.