junebug

That is definitely fair. There have been many LGBT side characters in Kdramas that I'd consider positive representation. I treat a drama such as My Dearest a little differently as this is a messy tumultuous one with flawed characters all around. I'm going to take his glare at FL as seriously as I took Jang Hyun rolling around with slave hunter woman, which is to say, well...They had to end on an interesting shot, and anything can happen :D Let's hope for the best!

I am holding my opinion until the end of the drama. The writer is clearly writing with a sensitivity to things like womens' place in society, social class, and other issues of the time such as widows not being able to get remarried. I would be surprised if she wrote a gay character in so insensitively...If it continues on the same note, I will agree with you...But I will see what is to come. I also have to remember that it may feel early 2000s gay stereotype to one audience. However this is SK where having a gay main character in a historical drama airing on cable TV is a rarity. There are BL dramas sure but not on TV like this. That does not mean I will give anything a pass, but I will consider it in thinking about the portrayal.

Ahaha, right? 😆 Talk about heartbreak. Be careful what you wish for!

It is possible sure but every drama will be different. The scope of this drama is much bigger than the ones you listed across both space and time, so it is natural it would separate the leads to show us the goings on of distant places. It is a romance drama but a historical drama and we need to see the leads interact with that history, which means Jang Hyun cannot be stuck in a small village with Gil Chae for the entire runtime. There would not be much story to tell if he did.

If you think it was her pride that got in the way of her going with the ML then you did not understand the episode nor her character at all. The one full of pride was the ML who expected FL to drop everything and put herself, reputation, and family, at great risk, and leave with him not knowing the future. He does not think of her security or family or anything but his own feelings. What pride is there in deciding to sacrifice your own romantic feelings, to take of your sick father and family? She told him that she has feelings for him but does not love him or trust him enough to drop everything for him. Very clear and understandable. She knows herself and chose her path. It seems you dislike her not for lack of confidence but for not doing what you wanted her to do. And it is hard to value the ML sacrifices since he lied about them and she had no idea.

It was a main point of the drama, how she refused to ever say she loved him, so she could keep her freedom in her heart. And actually the FLs are very similar. 😂

This is funny because for The Red Sleeve people complained forever about FL for not expressing her love to the ML with no desire to understand her harsh circumstances. The same as people are complaining here 😅

A comment that is music to the ears 😉

Do men not get taught sarcasm? 😅

Yay for a voice of reason 😁 You're right of course. If the drama were proceeding normally instead of 2 parts there definitely would not be this level of reaction. People need to treat this as a midpoint not an ending.

I commented similarly below about big sis. I agree with LotusFlower above...If you are going to go dark, go dark. I don't feel there's need for comedic relief in every drama.

The scene of Jang Hyun bloodied on the beach is not 1659, definitely some time before that. The show is not following historical timeline 100% so it is hard to say. But time has passed between the beach scene and the opening scene in which they are looking at the record trying to figure out what happened with Jang Hyun. Beach scene is maybe 1650.....Just a guess.

If you are so beautiful you can play a noble lady yourself, all right?

I know which you mean. The strings instrumental. Unfortunately I don't know what it is called but it is really sad and beautiful. I hope it will be on the official OST...Wonder if that won't release until end of the whole drama.

Yes agreed with you, a little light comedy is okay. But the over-the-top kind here brings it down from a mature drama into something sillier...It is clashing.

I feel I'm in the minority, but Gong Zi Shang is too much for me 😅 In another drama I would have enjoyed such scenes but here the comedy is taking me out of the dark mood I want.

Loving the rest of the drama though, I'm so excited to see how it all goes.

I'll have to watch with these subs on rewatch. Love that translation of the final letter much better.

However, Jang Hyun saying "I should have had my turn if you like men that much" is even more awful. Wow. Really terrible he would stoop so low.

It seems likely...However I don't get what would the connection be between Ryang Eum and the crown prince? Didn't they say the person in the cell was an officer with some connection to Crown Prince?

I forgot to mention my review one major thing about this drama which is that I do not think there was a single filler scene. Not one scene that made me think it was going for too long or pointless to the story. I really cannot say that about many Kdramas.

This is very well said and I agree with you, both on the drama's strengths and its flaws. The editing in the last episode really was awful. I wonder what happened there? Did a ton get cut out, did they make last minute changes? Luckily I do feel the episode still made sense overall which is what matters.

You're very right about that date in Episode 2 being great and I am sad we lost that. Honestly I have not liked Jang Hyun nearly as much since his love for her became this desperate obsession. I miss the Jang Hyun who seemed to enjoy her company without having any expectations.