itwillneverbefar

Nah. This goes too far. Consent is important, and an important issue to me, and you're actually making light of it by trying to force apply it here.

You said all of those what ifs, but none of them apply, so you can't then use those as evidence that it's red flag behavior. It's not problematic AT ALL for a boyfriend to surprise his girlfriend when they had already mended their relationship and moved forward, she straight up said she slept better when they were together, they were already comfortable living in the same space, he has never ONCE remotely crossed the line physically or romantically, and he was confident she'd find it a sweet and romantic surprise. AND we all know if she said she wasn't comfortable with it, he would have turned around that very second and left with no argument.

Saying that he is now a red flag for doing something like this because SOME WOMAN SOMEWHERE might not be totally comfortable with it, even though the woman he did it to is TOTALLY comfortable and happy with it, is a really unfair expectation of men.

The scene in the park was so well done, it reminded me of that scene in Good Will Hunting where Sean (Robin Williams's character ) tells Will over and over again "It wasn't your fault" until Will completely breaks down and just sobs in Sean's arms.

I am really liking this drama and I relate a lot to the struggles of the characters. Being neglected and abandoned by a parent and being the one to find a friend's dead body is so traumatic, and this show honors what those experiences can do to a person, how self destructive and self-sabotaging it can make them.

In the end they both provided the one thing that the other needed but couldn't give themself--Yejin gave him grace and he gave her devotion. I really loved how the writer wove in both the revelation of the contamination and insomnia phone calls subplots into their growth arcs.

And they really are mirror images of each other. She never lets herself slow down so she doesn't have to face her pain, he never let's himself vibrantly live so he doesn't have to face his. She obsessively vets products to try and atone for her imagined sins, he obsessively serves other to atone for his. They both took on the blame of a parent figure as a way to not have to fully mourn the loss of the ideal they had of them. I could go on!

It's far from perfect but the core story of the main couple is very compelling and beautiful.

He needed someone who had suffered from the contamination to forgive him so he could forgive himself, and she subconsciously called that number in a desperate attempt to reconnect to someone who was never truly there for her, only to find someone who was always there for her. That's beautiful.

The drama is a dissertation on human nature and power, with the fall arc of Bang Won as its core. It was never a story celebrating people staying true to their morals till the bitter end. It's a realistic look at human nature, at how power corrupts, at the true price of upholding an "ideal." In reality, people who hold to their ideals no matter what more often than not get crushed by those who are willing to compromise them (esp in any era but the most modern). There are characters who held their ideals and ended up dead so we didn't even get to see the end of their story. There are those who tried to compromise and ended up miserable. There are those who abandoned their morals and lost themselves completely. The show does not "push the message that the end justifies the means" it actually pushes the opposite. It shows how those who believe this end up as no better than the villains that they were first trying to take down.

This message was shown even in the very beginning of the show with Bang Won finding out about his father's betrayal and then killing those two students under the guise of righteousness, and then later with Sam Bong claiming he was starting a utopia only to manipulate and use those in power to do it. The fact that you didn't realize this shows the brilliance of the show. You saw them all as good guys at the beginning because you want to believe in good vs evil. Boon Yi and Moo Hyul were both fascinating takes on what can happen when you value the ideal you imagined more than the reality in front of you.

Like.. this is a very complex story with complex characters that you wanted to be simplified so it would make you comfortable. But it's supposed to make you uncomfortable.

Nooooooooooooo T.T

I wish they would have made the mask bigger. Like if it was over both his eyes that would be believable and hard for her to recognize.

My only hope is that even in the 4 eps so far the drama has gotten pretty dark at times (like the opening itself, the rain scene when she first arrived, the stuff with her grandma, the stuff with the dog and the CP) but managed the tone shifts perfectly and it hasn't dragged it down, and on balance is still a lot more fun than not.

She said at one point "I've never looked up at anyone in my life" but was a palace maid at one point so idk if she just kinda threw off that part of her when she became a concubine?

What I don't get, then, is why she doesn't recognize Se-gye. Like that 1/4 face mask is not enough to keep her from recognizing him in the modern era.

How do episodes that haven't even aired have ratings? People really taking time to go in and pre-rate episodes with low scores. Mydramalist is utterly broken.

Does anyone know a site where the ratings are more accurate? Like where hate brigaders don't downvote any drama that doesn't have their fav oppa or whatever? I'm feeling done with this site tbh.

I always look at the episode ratings vs the main rating because those more accurately reflect the quality. Hate raters don't bother rating each episode, it's usually the viewers who are actually invested in the drama and will fairly rate it.

I am hoping the writer subverts the trope, as they have done many other times in this drama. And we see that her motivations were complicated, not just out of spite or pettiness.

And I share your pain. I can't remember the last drama I watched that was good beginning to end. ISTG the better they start the harder they fall. Maybe it's rushed schedules or pressure or something, because drama writers seem sooo lazy and unimaginative in how they ramp up tension. Anytime they need to add more drama in the second half they'll toss in a forced, sudden breakup from a misunderstanding that could be entirely cleared up with one honest 2 minute conversation.

OMG, I was just thinking like why is this office worker also so dedicated to the gym. Like my guy looks AMAZING.

We def getting a shirtless spicy bedroom scene and I for one welcome how it will unravel me

The writing on him is inconsistent and too plot convenient. Him treating the FL like her only value is to be his supportive partner, being controlling and pushy, violent, and utterly selfish contrasts so much with how soft and compassionate and non-assertive and generally self-controlled he is in every other aspect, even many scenes when he's in private. And the excuse that he just loves her soooo much that he acts insane isn't realistic. People in love def do crazy things but it's just more extreme versions of things they do in other areas of their life. So I can see why you can't hate him, because we're being shown essentially two different people.

I think the MLs having a past actually makes the relationship more romantic. It shows that there is truly something special about this particular relationship, because this is the one that the writer felt compelled to explore. Even in this drama, the ML had never really been this thrown off by a relationship or it the possibility of it ending, but he was drawn to her in a way he hasn't experienced. That's way more swoony than him never having had a GF before.

I watch K dramas because of the format --its nice to enjoy a short run series of 8-16 eps that you know will tell a full story with two eps airing every week vs having to wait 3 years between seasons only to have later seasons inevitably turn to crap, like western TV.

I really liked the character development and realistic relationship exploration, but I also did miss the charming humor we had before. I hope they can bring it back in the following weeks.

They had enough chemistry for the past scenes where we could believe they dated, and 2ML is older so there's that aspect, but their nice chemistry does not hold a candle to her and ML's dynamic chemistry. And the ML is just soooo good for her, too. 2ML is a train wreck and she is too smart to even consider getting back wit him. I was lowkey annoyed we were wasting time on so many scenes between them.

Some people prefer a cold, damaged male lead and so want the FL to get with him cause of that? Idk man.

Enjoyed your thoughts! I really agree about JJY and In Ah not being a good match, they would be one of those couples who seem content but are secretly unfulfilled because they don't get truly intimate enough to actually deal with their real issues because they're both more comfortable not going there. They'd be like a business partnership after not too long, and in fact Je Yeol even pretty much suggests that. I love you pointing out the detail about the "baggage" cause I hadn't connected that but you're so right.

I was really happy they didn't string out the break up over episodes, or make In Ah act out in a way that was needlessly cruel. I know a lot of people IRL who deal with emotions like her, and it was very realistic, same with Ki Jun's reactions and actions. It felt like they were actually growing instead of it just being angsty drama for drama's sake, they never lost sight of their humanity.

I also really liked the development that she hushed the investigation out of a sense of loyalty to someone who had been meaningful to her and who she wanted to support. That is still an act of integrity, just centered on different values than those that would influence her to honestly expose the issue out of a sense of duty for the company. In a way it made me admire her even more.

I disagree with you calling Ki Jun simplistic, though, I think that's a mistake a lot of people make about him even in the show, and is evidence that he IS complex since he actually has a lot of depth and emotion that he doesn't always show. He is someone who doesn't overcomplicate things if he doesn't need to, whereas In Ah overcomplicates a lot of things needlessly, so it makes her seem all conflicted and angsty and dramatic, but we shouldn't mistake that for more complex. They are a really nice pair of opposites who connect BECAUSE they both have so much more depth than what their exterior might suggest. Ki Jun internalizes all of his complexity while In Ah externalizes it.

Even with the whole coverup you're misrepresenting him. When they talked about it he asked if that was the case OR if there was something else going on, because he fully grasped that her motivations might be complicated and not just as simple as her still liking her ex. He just wanted the truth, whatever that was.

I love Ki Jun and I really enjoy how the romance is developing despite both of their flaws, it feels natural an realistic. But man he shines his brightest when he's given comedic moments. I really missed that from him this week, like where are all his over the top expressions and silly antics, the soccer scene was just kinda cringe TBH he was just being a childish punk and the comedy didn't really land like the writers were going for.

JJY is trash. His line telling her she should just stay with him out of loyalty was so gross. He doesn't see her as a person, just an extension of his own needs. If he truly loved her he would want her to be happy, regardless of who it was with, and would step back after seeing how Ki Jun has brightened her life instead of forcefully trying to insert himself.