kreplach

Totally agree. It's surprisingly adorable and pleasant, helped greatly by the fact that Kim Dong Won is giving major Baby Gong Yoo vibes. This is just what I needed right now.

Not an open ending. Johan will never recover; ALS is incurable.

OK, I'll amend my previous statement: I *have* known a couple of gay men who carried torches for straight men because it was a sort of "love of my life if only he were queer" thing, but not one of them decided to give up on their sexuality and devote themselves to an asexual life in order to be with their "soulmates." They just regretted fate and moved on, like normal people. In a way this narrative in insulting (and seems to be rooted in religion) because it suggests that the only way gay people can live a good life is denying their sexuality and living together like, well, eunuchs. Gross.

It feels as if it was years ago (because it was!) but I think it was on reddit, maybe. Maybe not. At any rate, I remember people being baffled at the premiere delays - they were even worse than Is This Love Translatable? or whatever the hell it was called.

The more I think about it, the more the narrative seems totally weird. Oh well. Another squandered opportunity.

Um, one somewhat important character dies and sets in motion a big change in the narrative.

I was trying to figure out *what* he was, because he didn't appear to be interested in women, either. So he was asexual or one of its many permutations? Why didn't the writers just say so? They gave a few hints about Johan being gay, but I don't know any gay man who'd wait around for years for some guy to figure out his own thing (especially if he looked like Taecyeon).

Also, I read that this series was delayed for so long because it went through reshoots and a story overhaul, which was rumored to be because they wanted to excise the overtly gay scenes (guess the bathhouse scene is the only one which made it and it appeared to be altered or truncated). Whatever. I'm disappointed because I expected a BL story starring one of my favorite SK actors, but I'll admit that as a cliched but touching melodrama, it worked.

She was inadvertently playing both by being incredibly passive and indecisive. This was the result of being raised by an indulgent sister. Her whole demeanor screamed "spoiled child."

I'm relieved - thanks for clearing this up. However, I still hope he does a real romantic comedy soon. He's not playing to his strengths.

So this is Cyrano de Bergerac only Christian is dead and Cyrano is stepping in?

I'm just glad my #1 K-drama girlfriend Lee Sung Kyung is finally in a series worthy of her. I'd almost given up hope with that last awful thing she did (totally forgotten the name in self-defense). My girl is back! And paired with an actor who has great chemistry with her. So happy.

This had better not go south.

Yes. He was so lovely in Semantic Error, and wasn't this skinny in The Murky Stream. I didn't recognize him at first in this drama - he's painfully thin now. Is it because he wants to look younger or something? Not necessary. I also miss his snarky persona from Semantic Error - he really needs to get away from these straight-arrow roles now. But a gig's a gig, I guess.

Not if you're expecting a normal SK rom-com. It does take a gigantic turn which was not at all to my expectations or appreciation. Watch Ep 7 if you can plow through it, then just skip to Ep 12. Wish I'd done that.

Yeah. I think the best way to watch this series without being tremendously disappointed/discouraged is to watch as much as you can of Ep 7, then just skip to Ep 12. In the last episode all things are tidied up. the final scenes are happy, and you won't have to deal with all the tiresome shoved-in psychological BS of the last half of the series. Wish I'd done that. Caveat emptor etc. and by that I mean don't waste your time.

Also, totally agree with your alternate recommendations. Those dramas dealt very sensitively and realistically with the characters' psychological problems and their resolutions. Also they were engrossing and had natural progressions.

Agree totally. Think the only recent Netflix film which disappointed me as much as this series was 10Dance (which was laughably awful). I was so looking forward to seeing Kim Seon-ho onscreen again in something I thought would be fun and entertaining, but was instead presented with a confusing romance which devolved into a bad Hitchcock psychological thriller. A total waste of two great lead actors (although I was relieved to see my Call It Love boyfriend Sung Joon onscreen again - hey, a gig's a gig).