Tia

Gracious Revenge did a better job handling an older & younger protagonist duo in my opinion. Acting is great though. Again, I just think the pacing is a bit too fast compared to most KBS2 daily dramas... usually they spend 20+ episodes on the past and this did not happen here at all. We'll be in 2025/26 by next Friday lol

I feel like the pacing is extremely fast (maybe a little too fast.) Dan-Hee is the main character (one of 2), so they obviously have to show her motive for revenge & her story first. Most daily dramas would spend WEEKS on this. My main problem with the drama, though, is most of the characters feel basic as hell. Like archetypes rather than real people, severely underdeveloped (again, excluding Dan-Hee) and it's... annoying. 🙄

Oh, then in that case I agree! The characters do feel pretty one-dimensional (except for Dan-Hee.)

Makjang is love, makjang is life! Lol

Are you on Twitter? You can add me there @lullabyliyah 😁

The pacing is pretty fast. Maybe it's the episodes that feel long, though? Or the fact that the characters are a little bit basic in this (I don't think so, but some of them do feel flat.)

I'm rooting for Dan-Hee to take down Tae-Ho, he is the main culprit behind ALL OF THIS NONSENSE! 😂 But the kids' stories should be easier to follow!

Jung-Ran killed the rich CEO, Park Tae-Ho's, first wife to become the lady of Adel. And she forged the will (or helped forge it, can't remember) to make sure everything went to Tae-Ho. Tae-Ho (who was a poor orphan who married his rich 1st wife) killed his father-in-law, the 1st wife's dad. It's a bit of a headache, I know!

Hak-Bum is WILD! Did he screw with that other guy's wife (In-Ho's wife) at a dinner party in a BATHROOM??? 😭

Then in that case- oops! 😅 But Myung-Hee was a sugar baby (however weird it sounds, maybe "concubine" sounds better lol) to pay for her twin's (Dan-Hee's) cancer treatments/surgery!

Yup, the kids are here now. I hope their storylines are as interesting as the adults'.

Typical makjang messiness! 😂

Jung-Ran killed a pregnant woman and tried to steal a baby. I'm against cheating, but Tae-Ho LITERALLY lied to Myung-Hee (and Jung-Ran.) And if anything, Myung-Hee was more of a sugar baby than a mistress. Her actions aren't justified but she was lied to, period! Oh, and Jung-Ran killed Tae-Ho's first wife too.

You and I are the only ones here actively watching. I love older protagonists/FLs and I love seeing the veterans do their thing!

Ahhh, but everyone has their own tastes, my friend! 😂 Side note, I have been enjoying this drama a bit more now, my faves are Seo-Rin, Hwa-Young, and I'd say Jun-Ho, but I'm more neutral on him.

I've seen much worse daily dramas than this. Also I feel like it has MUCH better directing than most daily dramas- since they tend to be low budget, anyway. They're soap operas. Additionally, I find that veteran/older actors are usually (and typically are) the best/better actors in these daily dramas compared to younger ones. There's a lot of rookies in this cast, right now the drama is setting up the backstory. And Dan-Hee is the main protagonist (along with Jin-Ju, but Dan-Hee's the first/mostly central one.) Daily dramas also tend to use clichés & tropes, archetypes, all that stuff. Most makjangs do, after all.

After THAT ENDING, I need to wait for Season 2?! DAMN IT!!!!

Alright, so... this is by far one of the best recent k-dramas I've watched. It's definitely going into my favorite k-dramas list. I don't even usually watch dramas like this, but I wanted to step out my comfort zone, and BOY am I happy that I did! As you know, I love good villain protagonists, and Baek Ki-Tae was a VERY compelling one. I couldn't help but root for him, especially with the backstory he had. And he was sympathetic to some extent. Not to mention Hyun-Bin did an incredible job playing Ki-Tae- I'm officially a fan of his now if I wasn't before! Jang Gun-Young was a great foil/antagonist to him, too. I like how he was still flawed, but very determined. Jung Woo-Sung did a wonderful job with his portrayal of Gun-Young as an anti-hero, but I feel like he overacted a little bit at times. BUT this was clearly a directing choice: the fiery, reckless (and sometimes maniacal) prosecutor compared to the suave, calculating, and ruthless drug smuggler & KCIA director. It definitely made sense to me.

Onto the female characters, and this is one of the very, very, VERY few problems I have with this drama, it's male-centered as hell. But I know that this was intentional, since Korea was and is still very patriarchal, especially in the 1970s under President Park Chung-Hee. Most of the female characters were either plot devices or dead weight, I'd say the only exception was probably Ikeda/Choi Yu-Ji, who matched Ki-Tae's cold nature. But she had her own reasons for being so stoic- proving herself to her (adopted) father, Chairman Ikeda Osamu. Also understandable. You don't often see cold-hearted female protagonists in k-dramas, so this was a welcome change. As for Oh Ye-Jin, I liked her being so feisty. I did not, though, like her being comic relief. I feel like it definitely threw off the tone of the show. Not completely, but it was jarring and felt unnecessary. But she's still a good character, although she feels more like a side character rather than a main one. Regarding the other female characters, I'm interested in seeing how Baek So-Young's story unfolds in Season 2 especially with her being the new drug facility manager considering what happened to Kang Dae-Il (another guy I actually ended up feeling a little bad for, somehow?) I also LOVED Bae Geum-Ji, but the writer did her so dirty!

Side characters! Again, I felt bad for Dae-Il. I can't remember all of them right now, but the one I liked the most was definitely the President's Chief of Staff, Cheon Seok-Jung. He's very interesting, and I wanna see what his relationship with Ki-Tae is gonna look like in Season 2! He's so unpredictable! As for Baek Ki-Hyun, I think he's the only traditional hero in this drama. So he seems like he'll play a more antagonistic role in Season 2, especially since he's the more righteous/"good" sibling. Then again, no one in this drama is a good person! You can't trust anyone! 😭 Everyone's flawed, a criminal, greedy, ambitious, and/or selfish somehow. I LOVE IT! Give me more!

Writing-wise, okay, I'm gonna be honest, some scenes felt like they dragged on A LOT. It was endless talking and sometimes I'd definitely skip ahead or lose focus. BUT this was a minor issue, I think I'm used to it now with k-dramas that have hour-long episodes. Again, I don't typically watch dramas within this genre, but... at some point, by the end, EVERYTHING managed to connect pretty much perfectly. When I reached the last few scenes of the season finale, I was like, "What? Oh... oh. OHHHH!!!! OH SHIT! WHOA!" Excellent. Just excellent. Honestly, each episode could've been its own movie, because I feel there was just... not enough exploration. Depth? It felt too short! In the words of Michael Irvin from that one commercial, "We want MORE! WE NEED MORE!" This show definitely suited its genre though. A political crime thriller mixed with action, mystery, law, political intrigue, suspense, and just the right amount of drama. No romance necessary. It's basically a Korean Death Note with politics, drugs, and morally grey characters everywhere. And the MUSIC was great, too! Very subtle BGM, but it suited the setting and fit the mood incredibly well. A drama like this doesn't need some OST, instrumentals do just fine. And I like the opening theme/sequence too.

Would I rewatch this? Yes. I believe that this is one of those dramas you HAVE to rewatch in order to fully understand everything. When I say everything is connected, I mean EVERYTHING (mostly) is connected somehow, in some way, shape, or form. I highly recommend this k-drama, it is SO underrated. Definitely a diamond in the rough. The acting is amazing, the music is awesome, the directing is pretty perfect, the characters are flawed and the writing & pacing have minor issues, but they can mostly be overlooked, and the story itself is very interesting. My score? 10/10.

I used goplay.su!

I don't think romance would suit this genre/type of a drama. But I understand what you mean!

So I said I was gonna watch just 1 episode... but after seeing all that, I'm getting a little too invested now 😭 all the actors are doing great, everything's so intense yet absolutely insane at the same time! The only character I'd say I don't care about is the short-tempered detective. I like (or hate) everyone else. I feel like the wife (the one being cheated on) is the worst actor here right now. Idk, she seems so mid compared to everyone else, not bad, just decent. I already like Ja-Hye so far, she's cool!

Classic combo! Also, about Penthouse, I get it 😂 the craziness might be too over-the-top, but it wasn't as bad as Love ft. Marriage and Divorce. That was a WILD one- now, Temptation of Wife is insane, but it's the blueprint for modern makjangs, so I recommend it to get an understanding of how they work (in a daily drama format.)

I think you'd like Mine, The World of the Married, The Promise, Angel's Temptation, Vengeance of the Bride, A Place In The Sun, Angel's Revenge, Miss Monte-Cristo, Queen of Ambition (it had twins, though), and Glass Mask! But you're welcome, I hope you find a makjang that you truly enjoy! 😁