polothesecond

Thank you for such a good analysis. I really liked your comparison to the prodigal son. I hope to meet you again in another comment section one day. Hopefully for a drama with as much potential as this one but none of the let down.

If HJP was meant to be that character who we feel irritated by because he dares to think about being with the FL when we know she's meant to be with the ML, then that was really clumsily done by the writer.

The thing about NDS is that he's not at all realistic. None of the characters were perfectly written, not even HJP, but NDS really felt like a plot device who only existed to make things difficult for HJP. He interrupts HJP when he's about to tell SDM the truth, he complains about HJP competing with him for SDM by using the most pathetic reasoning I've ever heard, and he punches HJP for no plausible reason. But the most obvious way in which he seemed like a plot device was that he provided a way for SDM to not find out who HJP was too soon in the story. When people were coming up with theories about the direction the drama would go in that was what was put forward, and everyone thought it made total sense. Way more sense than the alternative. Unfortunately we got the alternative.

One of my favourite netizen comments:

"I really think Nam Do San's character has nothing charming about him. He's like a totally old car. I don't know why the writer gave all the good characteristics to Han Ji Pyeong but made Nam Do San the male lead."

Every now and then I come across a comment that says some variation of: "I like that this drama is different. The FL doesn't end up with the rich guy like she does in every other K-drama." People seem to forget that NDS is pretty wealthy and successful by the end, and HJP started out as an orphan with nothing.

Another common thing I hear is that NDS’ personality is different to a typical male lead because he’s really shy and nerdy. Although he’s shy at first, NDS turns out to be quite confident and competitive. One of the reasons he became so disliked by the viewers was because he thought it was very unfair for HJP to be competing with him because HJP has more money than he does. I don’t think I’m putting that too simplistically. That really is the argument NDS makes for why HJP should back off. For all his self-pity he actually wasn’t doing that bad and was able to compete with HJP perfectly easily. One particularly memorable moment was when he went out to get a car so as to take SDM and Halmoni on a date without inviting HJP.

So what’s different here? The thing that’s different is that SDM ends up with the character who at the beginning is really shy and unsuccessful instead of the character who at the beginning is really confident and wealthy. But the devil’s in the details. NDS turns out not to be as endearing as he comes across at first, and to make matters worse he doesn’t get any character development. HJP meanwhile, turns out not to be as harsh as he comes across at first, and he does experience a great deal of character development. That combined with the plot set up in the first episode meant that NDS never managed to escape HJP's shadow in the eyes of the viewers which is a big part of the reason why we're so sceptical and incredulous about him replacing HJP in the eyes of SDM.

I've managed to get one last essay out. Although it's short compared to what I used to come up with.

I'm just grateful that it introduced me to KSH. I'd really like to see him in a serious drama, but I'm such a simp at this point that I'll take anything.

I think I've made about as much peace with this drama as I'm ever going to. I'll never completely get over how wasted that beautiful first episode was. Nor how wasted the character of HJP was. The plot set up in the first few episodes was so much better than what it turned into. Whether it was always the writer's intention or not, why anyone in their right mind would abandon the first storyline for the sake of the second is beyond me. Had it stayed on track, this drama would've been far from perfect, but it would've been up there with all the best far from perfect dramas out there.

I was a bit disappointed when I first heard that this might be KSH's next project because I don't usually like Korean rom-coms, but now I'm really looking forward to this pairing. I've only seen SMA in 'Tomorrow With You', but I really liked her in that. I can definitely see her and KSH having good chemistry. I just hope the drama won't be too fluffy.

The first three episodes are good, but the second lead is what makes them good (he's very important in those episodes). As his role is gradually reduced, the plot becomes worse and worse. I suggest you watch the first three, but don't expect it to keep up the quality it established in those episodes. If you get SLS I strongly advise that you drop it. Definitely don't watch episodes 13-16. Not that it doesn't get painful before that, but those are definitely the worst.

I didn't say anything about the actors. I was only talking about the characters. As it happens, I've edited that part out because I thought it wasn't really relevant to what you asked. But I was talking more about the writing than the acting.

Here's a quote from Kimsamsoom's review. I think it may answer your question:

"What kept me going was HJP's shining white light, illuminating a drab, boring, and colorless plot. Wherever he shone his light, the plot sparkled, whichever character he shared the light with gained color and depth. But the minute his light left, we are reminded of how dull and boring the world Park Hye Run created really was."

The SLS in this drama is so strong that some of us prefer to call it Male Lead Gone Wrong Syndrome. The plot starts out good, but that's because HJP is quite important at first. As his role is gradually reduced to that of a typical second lead, the entire plot starts to suffer for it.

Me too!

Agreed. I just wish I had something to replace it with. People have recommended so many dramas to me, and I've tried them all. Even True Beauty. But no luck.

I'll consider it a good thing that I've run out of anything relevant to say. I'm very ready to stop thinking about this drama.

To be honest I'm not sure I'm interested in his childhood or him finding his parents. I kind of like that those things are a bit of a mystery. The latter being a mystery to him (I assume) as well as us. I am interested in him finding a family though (as in a wife). I'm also interested in his philanthropy and friendship with Ji Seok.

Oh I see. Yes I'm a bit hazy on the plot for the last four episodes. I did watch part of it (not just HJP scenes), but I also skipped parts.

https://twitter.com/seonhohappy/status/1355410554462949378

No. I just found it through one of KSH's twitter fan accounts.