Tia

Overall, I enjoyed this drama, despite me disliking or being annoyed by some parts of it. Shin Hwa-Kyung was a fascinating villain protagonist to follow, Yoon Jae-Bin's descent into villainy was lowkey a guilty pleasure to watch, the plot twists were good, and it maintained that melodramatic tone throughout. I could've done with less scenes of Yoon Do-Bin & Jae-Bin's parents (and Han Woo-Chul, honestly. He was a sweetheart but I HATE how autistic characters are written in daily dramas. The only decent portrayal I've seen was in White Lies- in 2008), and there was way too much filler. The constant kidnappings of Han Ju-Won in the late half got annoying.

The veterans/older actors did INCREDIBLE in their roles, Oh Seung-Ah did great as the villain FL here (she won an award for a good reason), Bu-Bae was solid, Lee Jung-Moon was good (but a little OTT sometimes), and Seo Hae-Won... not good at all. The weakest actor in the main cast to me, honestly. She had no chemistry with the other actors and Woo-Jung was not interesting to watch. Hwa-Kyung felt (and WAS) far more compelling, complex, and hell, even better to watch. I'd say the characters I disliked the most were Oh Yeon-Hee (she was written so badly to me, or maybe I just failed to understand her motivations. She was all over the place and came off as incredibly annoying to me), Oh Sang-Pil (an amazing villain, I just hate how selfish he was), and Yong-Shim (Yoon brothers' mom. Greedy, vain, bitch. I couldn't stand her!) I was mostly neutral on Shin Myung-Jun- he did both women (YH & JW) dirty and was an asshole for most of the drama, but his near-death experience literally turned his life around. He underwent a great redemption arc to me.

Generally, I think this drama was about identity, family, and I'd say finding your place in the world. Who you are and what you do creates your version/view of the world. We mainly followed Hwa-Kyung, a woman who just wanted a real family and a stable, "perfect" life. The architect of her spiral into greed and the root of all evil was her tyrannical grandfather, Oh Sang-Pil. Was Hwa-Kyung ambitious too? Yes. Was she justified in her actions? Debatable. Was there a reasoning behind them linked to her difficult childhood? Absolutely. And we can't ignore this detail. She was also rivals with her (adoptive) dad, Myung-Jun. Her "fake" family was toxic, and the only decent people she had in her life were Yeon-Hee, Ju-Won, and Woo-Jung. One of the other reasons why I dislike Woo-Jung is because she weaponized Hwa-Kyung's past against her- like, OF COURSE she'd end up betraying you and screwing you over later! 😭 Hwa-Kyung didn't need to reconnect with her biological father (who ABANDONED HER) if she didn't want, nor was she entitled to!

Now, contrast Hwa-Kyung's life with Woo-Jung's. Woo-Jung, the daughter of a successful news anchor... and she's a child out of wedlock. Myung-Jun's her dad who abandoned her before she was even born. Despite having no (current) father figure, she grew up happy, comfortable, and mostly stable. By default, she assumed that Hwa-Kyung's life was easy because she was rich and the granddaughter of a conglomerate chairman. Although it wasn't, and Hwa-Kyung presented things as such because of the immense pressure she was facing at home. There's some envy at play here, right? 🤔 I also feel like part of the reason why she pushed for Hwa-Kyung to reunite & make peace with her dying bio dad was to fill a void or attempt to make up for her (WJ's) own absent dad in *her* life. But I might be reading into this too much lol

Onto the brothers! Yoon Do-Bin and Jae-Bin! Do-Bin is the righteous, stubborn, and protective older brother. Jae-Bin, however, is the carefree, lovable, and easygoing younger brother. Do-Bin is a producer at MSTV, Jae-Bin is Ju-Won's manager. The Yoon brothers perfectly summarize the themes of identity and family. Do-Bin is secretly the grandson of Chairman Oh (though he remains unaware for a WHILE), while Jae-Bin is not. When Hwa-Kyung finds this out, what does she do? She switches their fates, and basically raises all hell on the Oh family after they try to kick her to the curb. Here, we see Jae-Bin's descent into villainy as Hwa-Kyung masterfully manipulates him for her own means, and he becomes a victim of her greed & lies. But he loves her. He truly, purely, does. And that's the tragic part. Do-Bin, on the other hand, embarks on a one-man mission to expose and take down Sang-Pil... even AFTER finding out that he's his grandson. The guy is incredibly brave for sure. What's amazing, is that even after getting betrayed and screwed over by everyone in his life, he never goes dark. He practices restraint and still chooses to accept, understand, and reach out to Jae-Bin- even when he's at his absolute worst. That's brotherly love... and it's beautiful to me. One of the best parts in the series to me. 🥹

I could go on, but I think I've illustrated my points very well. The music (especially the BGM) was really good, the directing was great (seriously, MBC daily dramas might have some of the best filming I've seen in daily dramas overall, along with tvN!), and the acting was good. If you like villain protagonists, enjoy questioning yourself sometimes, are really into business/thriller-based dramas, love schemes, set-ups, and cliffhangers that make you wanna rip out your own hair, and like morally grey characters, then this is for you. I personally recommend it and this is a daily drama I'd watch again, but only the best parts. Cut out all the filler, and it's WAY more engaging to watch. Onto another drama!