ksege

Right? The first time I saw a drama with that kind of plot, I got so confused!

In South Korea, there was in fact a statute of limitations for murder. It was abolished in 2015, but that does not apply retroactively, i.e., does not apply to cases whose statute of limitations had already expired (cases before 2000). So they didn't just make it up for plot. Hope that helps!

I'll preface by saying it's been a long time since I've seen this, and I've zero desire to rewatch it ever, so my memory is not perfect on it, so forgive me if I make some mistakes. You make a fascinating point, I'm just not convinced the film, even if it intended that, pulled it off. Sure, the first one was was idealized by her---he certainly was not that ideal. The "I just wanted you to look at me" indicates he's a narcissistic, careless person, or a much lonelier one than he seemed, or some combination of that. Regardless, we absolutely should question his sincerity towards her in high school, and when they meet again as adults. But him not being a good choice doesn't make the second one the one she should pick. As far as I could tell, she seemed irritated and disgusted whenever she was with him. He, on the other hand, was clingy and had no sense of boundaries when it came to her. He didn't seem all that interested in whether she liked him---he pursued her regardless. The only thing that put him off was her fake pregnancy, at least to my recollection (and wow was he not close enough to her to get angry with her over that). To me, this indicated that he didn't respect her much, and I find that concerning. Sure, no one's perfect, but that doesn't mean she needs to jump into a relationship with the first person to mindlessly pursue her.

My second thought on this is that regardless of whether two was a green flag or not, it's pretty narrow to say her loneliness and her social anxiety can be solved by a romance. Especially since she has such a rich inner life, I just wanted her to be able to open up more, develop a wider support system. It'd be one thing if she were so introverted that she simply didn't want much company, but her fantasies show us how desperately she wants to connect to the people around her, how much she wants friends, and how important it is to her to be able to act on that rather than being so stuck in her head all the time. Which is why, rather than seeing her in an romantic relationship I think it'd be much more meaningful to see her begin, even in small ways, to be more open on a basic level with the people she encounters daily, be it at work or elsewhere. I take your point about lowering standards and accepting someone flaws and all, and of course it was exceptionally brave of her to open up to two---but to me up until that point this felt like a movie about how idealizing romance in general was not healthy. Other relationships can be just as (or more) meaningful, not to mention perhaps more stable (which isn't to say, of course, friendships never end). A romance can't solve your life, but in the end it seemed like the movie went, hey, actually a romance can solve your life after all. That's hardly breaking romance drama tropes, and I guess my expectations had been set up to believe that it would. And instead of feeling like the movie is leaving her in a good place, I stayed really worried for her and the narrowness of her world. If I hadn't liked the first, what, hour and a half? of this movie so much, I wouldn't be so disappointed in it. Every time I happen to think of it, I just feel it really missed a good opportunity and slipped back into romantic fantasy. This is the first I've thought of it in forever, and look at the spiel I went on! I had no idea this was the hill I would die on...I can't help but laugh at myself. In any case, you make a good point. Maybe if I think of it that way I'll eventually be able to forgive the movie.

This could have been a great drama had it 1) been shorter, 2) hadn't morphed into a detective show. What happened between the ML and the ex is interesting insofar as it tests the trust between leads: can our FL bring herself to trust him, what are the limitations of her power, can he trust her given that no one has ever believed him, etc. I mean, obviously he didn't kill his ex, he's the ML. The ex's emotional abuse and blackmail are traumatic, that and her suicide are effective in twisting his perception of his own guilt and responsibility. The suicide is an emotional mess for which it is difficult to assign blame and culpability. And that messiness is interesting, and how both leads perceive and handle it is interesting. But as soon as it's revealed the ex was murdered, that disappears. The ML is purely a victim; at the end of the day, everyone will know he was innocent. There's a real culprit to be found! And everything that was intriguing about the interpersonal relationships disappears and is replaced by car chases and gangsters and, most disappointingly, the FL suddenly is relegated to a background role, where instead of her lie detecting ability being an aspect of her character affecting her personality and her relationships, it becomes her sole purpose in being present in a scene. Meanwhile, the ML's tragic backstory and his search for truth and to clear his name take precedence, and I find myself forgetting what the FL's arc was supposed to be in the first place. The ML's story ate the story! When has that happened before? I'm on ep 13 but am dropping. It's not even hard to guess who the murderer is; that's been clear since it was clear she was murdered. I wasn't surprised they went that route. But I had hoped for once they wouldn't sacrifice what was actually working in the drama in favor of some massive dramatic (and super obvious) turn. Plot twist! Can you call it that when no drama can resist turning such a death into a murder?

My interest was piqued when they teased KS as the watchman. I thought, has anyone made the ML the bodyguard before in this type of drama? I was really curious where they could have taken that...but as expected, he was missing crown prince's son. After that, I lost interest and dropped it. Not to mention, the acting's not great, the writing's not great...

I agree that it's frustrating for them not to reveal it, but not revealing it allows them to show how Kyung Yi has changed significantly over the course of the show. She's portrayed as someone who can't trust anyone at their word, who always needs proof, with devastating personal consequences--because of her inability to trust even the people she loves most, she lost her husband. The fact that by the end of the show she can trust Santa, in absence of any evidence to back up that he is good, well-intentioned person, demonstrates how she's evolved. If they gave away whether he was innocent or not, then there would be no need for trust. So unfortunately we're left hanging, but I found it touching how she was able to reach out to him in the end regardless.

we should know nothing about each other's identities, so let's make up code names! ......now let me drive you to the home of one of our accomplices to give you the story behind why he joined the team even though he's rich... SERIOUSLY?!!!!

He really is! I spied red flags from Guan Xin from ep 1, but assaulting Xu Zhehao for saying that he likes Xia Tian was really shocking. Usually I find such scenes disappointing on both sides, but often that scene is, one a throws a punch and stands back while the other wipes blood off their lip and after a few seconds returns a punch, etc., and I think to myself, what a missed opportunity to be the better person. But in this case Guan Xin just kept coming at him, so I couldn't much fault him for hitting back (though maybe he took it a bit too far)...is Guan Xin really supposed to be the perfect loving boyfriend? Because that was so violent and not okay; haven't watched much past that part yet but it's really worrisome.

lezhin

So...drama means to tell me they're stepsiblings, and when he returned from abroad she didn't recognize him? He never visited? Even once? Never video called? No photos? No social media? Really? Big ask on suspension of disbelief there (:

I loved this up until the ending. This was a rare example of a film where I really, really wanted the FL to forgo both MLs. One didn't like her, and the other she didn't seem to like--I actually felt physically repulsed when she gave in to the one's constant pestering like it was a good thing and started a relationship. A better ending to me would have been, instead of her just imagining conversations with all these strangers she finds interesting, her coming to actually initiate those conversations and begin to let her vibrant personality show on the outside as well. After all, guess what? More than two men exist in the world. There are more than two options! She can wait and find someone else! As much as the romcom genre would like us to forget this fact.

looks like iqiyi will have it

Thanks!

I’ve watched about half

Could someone tell me what happened with the two shady cops (Yu and Liao)? I'm probably not going to finish watching but I am curious about how things went with them

Except it made no sense. If the mountain could punish the killer all along, why give the ML visions, etc.? It could have just killed him back when the murders first started.

Well, that ending was as horrible as the ending of The Scythian Lamb. But I really enjoyed the ride (until that ending). (:

The writing of this is so frustrating... the mishandling of major plot points and inconsistent tone aside, that the sunbae who just broke up would confess to her is maybe the last straw for me. Can't they at least get small character beats right? Why WHY do dramas always do this? There's no need to test this water, she's already moved on, thankfully without much fanfare (though inexplicably to the uncharismatic lead), so why make the sunbae inexplicably decide he likes her all of the sudden? There's already too much inexplicable liking happening! The main couple falls so flat it's like the writers simply had no clue what to do about it, but not this. NOT THIS. Spare me for once a useless tepid love triangle; even if it only lasts five seconds, that's already too long. I already don't care about this couple (zero chemistry, and try as she might and as much as I love her, even Chae Soobin can't make up for her lackluster, inexperienced costar and the butchered writing of her character---the fact that her initial motivation was a crush is bad enough, but every time they sacrifice her competence for "romantic" moments I want to throw something at the screen), and I don't expect the drama to convince me that the couple works, all I ask now is that the drama make the pairing as painless as possible as I try to get through this drama for the sake of the supporting cast.

Clingy, pushy ML with zero respect for FL's boundaries. After four years without seeing each other, he runs around calling her wifey, forces his way into her apartment (twice), and when she tries to tell him off, he feels like he can start judging her lifestyle? I'm out, I can't even get past episode 3.

How much Xiao Ge do we get---I know he has a habit of disappearing (which I think is partly his personality but mainly a device to let other characters shine because he's too OP) but how often is he around and interacting with Wu Xie and Pang Zi? How much do they push the romance between Wu Xie and Bai Hao Tian (I have so little patience for it)? Any necessary spoilers are welcome