purtysunshine

If I did not know any better I’d swear Park Ji Sun got lazy and just went to chatGPT like “Write me a script reminiscent of a Korean melodrama straight out of the 2005-2009 era.” Either that or this was a script that was written and stuffed into dusty archives waiting for a more nostalgic time. You know what we miss? Those melodramas from the earlier 00’s. The time is NOW. We need more TERMINAL ILLNESS! We need more MEMORY LOSS! WE NEED MORE TEARS.

NO. I repeat: no. Ugh, I just CANNOT. What were Kim Soon Hyun and Kim Ji Won thinking? They had to just have had total faith in the writer and went with it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for a sentimental story. I can handle some heartbreak. I can take a dose of bittersweet. What I can’t stand is illogical drama for the sake of drama with characters that are difficult to understand or even like.

Let’s talk Back Hyun Woo. He’s got it all going for him. Charming boy from the countryside. Handsome. Talented. Charismatic. He’s your typical male-lead that is just almost impossible not to love (plus, Kim Soo Hyun so COMEON). And we can give him some grace for his struggles with his wife, Hong Hae In, who is a very difficult person to live with. But what I can absolutely not forgive is the fact that he was HAPPY when he found out she was dying. And they had only been married for 2 years. I know the line between love and hate is thin but I just cannot imagine hating someone I used to love dearly SO MUCH that I would be HAPPY to find out they were dying. And after such a short time of suffering in my marriage with them. I don’t care how much he attempted to redeem himself later when he realized he still loved her or whatever (which, that’s another whole rant)…I mean, the way the story worked it tried to paint him in this heroic light and damn if I didn’t fall for it at times too because he was SO swoon-worthy it hurt but this little voice in my head kept reminding me this is the guy who was excited to find out she was dying. If he had shown a little genuine remorse in the beginning, even something like “She’s dying, I’m getting my ‘get-out-of-this-marriage-free’ card…but she’s *dying*….” and shown a little sadness…even then, had he gone with his plan I would have been able to forgive him. But as it is, I don’t know how Hae In could.

Which brings me to Hae In. I’m so confused by her character because I feel like she was genuinely herself the whole time. She might have softened up a bit when she became ill but I don’t think she ever really changed that much so I don’t understand why Hyun Woo fell in love with her all over again when she was still the same person (don’t get me wrong, I liked her, I’m just confused by his change of heart). It seems like the big fall out in their relationship was after they lost their baby, and of course that is a huge challenge for couples. But Hae In’s reaction was exactly what I expected from her and I’m surprised at how Hyun Woo took it. Obviously, he was hurting too but I could tell Hae In was desperately reaching out to him in her own way and obviously blaming herself and he just chose his own self-pity over supporting her. And it was downhill from there. So I don’t really blame Hae In for the way she treated him after.

Anyway, I could go on more about the absurdity of the plot and other characters but what I’ve already discussed were really the main reasons why I couldn’t get past anything else. I’m dusting my hands of this. If the plot happened to be your cup of tea, to each their own! As for me, I’m moving on~

I finished this drama a while back and just have not had the energy to write about it. To put it bluntly: it was awful. I’ll go into more spoilery details in the comment below but it was so bad I had to take a break from watching dramas for a while. Why did I even bother watching then, you may ask? Well, I am a huge Kim Soo Hyun fan. And a big Kim Ji Won fan. And a big Park Ji Sun (screenwriter) fan. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS! And I kept expecting things to just get better but they never did. How this drama has the high rating that it does blows my mind. All I can think is it must be a younger generation of k-drama fans who were never scared by the melodramas of the earlier 2000’s. Well. Here we go:

Does anyone know how well this follows the original story? My dad is a fan of the book so was thinking to recommend it to him

For starters, I went most of this drama thinking that Yi Jae was being punished because he had accidentally killed someone when he jumped off the building. They made it look that with the brief early glimpses they showed us of the two bodies being taken away and the “she was just standing there” comment. I guess this was just foreshadowing the car accident that killed Ji Soo and Geon Woo. Not sure why it was necessary to show it in the context that they did which made it seem like more had happened that we were not aware of. But anyway, this is something that really bothered me.

Then…the ending made me feel like I had been watching 2 separate dramas: one where Yi Jae discovers that all of his misery and all of the lives he’s been living/deaths he has suffered are connected to Tae Woo (a serial killer) and then one where Yi Jae discovers the true crime he had committed against his mother and Ji Soo by killing himself.

I was left wondering what the point was in everything that happened in his past lives that were almost ALL tied to Tae Woo even leading up to him getting “revenge” only to have it all disappear when he got a second chance to live his life again. That undid everything that happened. Which, okay, now he can “catch” Tae Woo I guess as himself…maybe? But why did Death have him constantly living out the lives of those who’s deaths were related (LITERALLY full circle with his 11th life and the suicide/car accident) only to have that not really amount to anything.

I’m confused why so many of the lives he lived had to do with Tae Woo but then not the baby or (I guess) the homeless man…though we don’t even know his story since he died before Yi Jae could receive his memories. I expected it all to lead up to something…greater. The potency of Yi Jae living out his last life as his mother was great. It was emotional. It was perfect justice. But it just felt so out of place.

So, in the end, I just didn’t like it. I wanted more. I wanted to be wowed as the earlier episodes had wowed me. There are more little things that bothered me but I’ll let them rest. In the end I’d say it’s worth a watch, just be prepared not to be blown away by the ending.

Oh my. So many thoughts. Where to start…

Before watching the final episode I would have SANG this drama’s praises…the CAST! The STORY! The intrigue and emotion! The twists and turns! I loved it so much…

But, well, after the final episode I have WORDS.

Spoilers will be in the comments so I guess I’ll get in to the basics here:

I’m going to say it again: THE CAST. Our screenwriter AND director Ha Byung Hoon must have some gooood connections! His resume is not so extensive as to pull favors from most of these big names so he either knows someone or the original material (comic?) had a lot of celebrity fans LOL. Yeesh!

I guess I did myself a favor by not really looking up who all was going to appear here so I was pleasantly surprised at every turn. TO SAY I SCREAMED AT KIM JAE WOOK’S APPEARANCE is an absolute understatement!! Also Lee Jae Wook…Lee Do Hyun…so many swoony surprises.

Fantastic cast…praiseworthy performances. It’s all there.

I’ll say there are some crazy ~coincidences~ that kind of just had to be accepted but they added such a fun element to the story that it was easy to do so. I was pretty hooked wondering what would happen next which is rare these days in dramaland (for me anyway). And even though I didn’t like the ending, there were moments that definitely made me shed a few tears.

On to the nitty gritty-

I thought all the time and energy she spent on becoming Ye Sol's teacher was a bit pointless but I think Dong Eun's goal was actually pretty simple: to put Yeon Jin on edge. Also, she mentioned that to complete her revenge she wanted there to be no one on Yeon Jin's side...including Ye Sol, so maybe she figured that by becoming Ye Sol's teacher she could have some influence on her.

To add--people like to project themselves on to others. Though we know Dong Eun would never have hurt Ye Sol (and obviously that was never part of her plan) Yeon Jin could assume that she might since that is something SHE (Yeon Jin) is capable of. This could (and did) cause her some mental turmoil wondering when and how Dong Eun might strike...and Dong Eun didn't even have to lift a finger.

The whole revenge plot was thrilling for sure but I guess the biggest issue I had with it is that for everything to fall into place so perfectly and so satisfyingly, so much relied on LUCK. For a girl that went through so much and said that nothing and no one was ever on her side, it sure seemed like the tides changed because there were so many instances where her plans would have completely fallen apart if she didn’t have a whole lot of luck and a whole lot of help. Maybe that was supposed to be the point…but I feel like this was a bit of weakness in the writing because it would have been even more satisfying if Dong Eun had truly beat the odds and outsmarted everyone on her own. Not that she didn’t still accomplish a lot, not at all, but that just seemed a bit weak to me.

Also, while I did still find her successful revenge to be quite satisfying I was a little disappointed because of how…docile…Yeon Jin was as things were settling into place. I don’t exactly know how to explain it but it’s like we kept seeing her getting smacked over and over and though she had a nasty grin on her face she just stood there and took it? I guess? I kinda expected more and it made it less satisfying for me. Though Dong Eun’s final flex of hinting that there was something she didn’t know and then not telling Yeon Jin what it was (that she didn’t actually kill Meong Oh) was everything! YES girl!

Ha Do Young? It just warmed my heart completely that he chose to still be a dad for Ye Sol. I was soooo impressed by that. I don’t know how he was with Yeon Jin all those years and had no clue as to the extent of her wickedness, or if he saw hints I suppose he may have been purposefully ignoring them in order to maintain his family (and how could he have guessed how absolutely terrible his wife was)? He told Yeon Jin he choose her because (she was wearing the least AND) she was CLEAN. How his world must have crumbled upon learning that she was, in fact, DIRTY beyond belief. He had his imperfections, certainly, but his love for Ye Sol was pure as can be and it brought me to tears that he was truly her father, through and through.

Okay…let’s talk Joo Yeo Jung. Kim Sun Sook is known for writing swoon-worthy male leads…charismatic….masculine…charming…and Yeo Jung is all of these things and yet…he just felt so 2-dimensional. Dong Eun is THE lead and this was her story to shine so I appreciate that her Prince Charming didn’t just come in and overtake the show, so-to-speak but I think he ended up being a little too…underwhelming (and ~convenient~ like come on…he’s rich, too??). He was definitely too good to be true, and his dead-fast loyalty and unwavering love for Dong Eun that couldn’t really be explained was MOST definitely far-fetched. But I’m willing to overlook those things because it was a fun story and I’M HERE FOR IT. I still just wish their connection had been more…something. Like towards the end when we learn that Yeo Jung knew why Dong Eun approached him and he let her use him…while that was somewhat explained I think it was just chalked up to more ~convenience~ (here we are with that again) as far as the plot goes. The chemistry between them was also lacking. Song Hey Kyo and Lee Do Hyun are both great actors so it’s nothing against them. I really liked the idea of their characters together and I still really enjoyed their sweet moments…I just didn’t ~feel~ it, you know?

These flaws—while not enough to ruin the story—were enough for me to feel a bit disappointed as things wrapped up.

And so we come to the ending…Dong Eun’s successful revenge. YES! But the satisfaction is quickly polluted by her determination to end her own life. I assume this was suppose to be poetic or something…everything coming full circle. The peace that only death cold bring her but which consistantly averted her was finally to be obtained. This was the completion of her plan, of all of the years of scheming and all of her relentless hard work…

To put it frankly: it was a bummer. And it was SUCH a k-drama trope I was pretty disappointed. This is the one part of plot that actually ruined the whole story for me a bit. I KNOW what Kim Eun Sook was TRYING to do…but I just don’t feel like it worked well with this story.

Maybe…if Dong Eun had truly accomplished her revenge alone. If she had not had any help, had not made any connections, had not realized that there were people on her side, had not fallen in love…okay, I could see this ending being realistic for her. But I was hoping that we would find out this was her original plan BUT because she learned she wasn’t alone, she decided ON HER OWN that she would live on FOR HERSELF. FOR HER OWN HAPPINESS!!

Why…why would that have been so hard?

But instead she pretty much goes through with her plan to end her own life and Yeo Jung’s MOTHER of all people shows up OUT OF NOWHERE (like how TF did she know Dong Eun would be there??) and convinces Dong Eun to live…live so she could save her son. You could argue that Dong Eun easily agreed because she in fact wanted to live and needed an excuse to keep going, needed a goal to achieve…but I’m just so disappointed that her own happiness couldn’t be goal enough.

Even Ha Do Young had told Dong Eun he wanted her to be happy and she had made it seem like that was her plan. I thought that was a turning point for her. Ugh. Just why.

And the lighthearted corny-ness of the ‘ol crew getting back together again for Revenge Plot 2.0…I just don’t know. It’s cute, sure. It’s sweet. But what happens once they finish this round? Are they just going to open a revenge business LOL? Like what? I know I’m overthinking it and I should just enjoy the ending we got for what it was but unfortunately, for me, this made me almost feel like the time I spent BINGING this drama wasn’t worth it.

However, I gave it some time to sink in and I have come to the conclusion that I did still really enjoy this story overall and if I just overlook the ending then it is well worth a binge. Again, it’s not my favorite from Kim Eun Sook. I’d argue that it’s not nearly her best work, either. But it’s entertaining nonetheless and I’ll still be eagerly awaiting her next project.

Ah, I should have never doubted Kim Eun Sook! I’m late to the game with this series because it just didn’t sound that appealing to me at all but I’m glad I gave it a try anyway. Was it my favorite story of her’s? No…but I did still enjoy watching it.

Im Ji Yeon all the awards! A fantastic performance for sure- such a despicable character and she drove the nail in making her so hateful. I mean all of the acting here was pretty good, but she put on a stellar performance.

I’ll go over a few thoughts I had in the comments because they contain spoilers but the gist:

Good acting, good writing (overall), good directing.

Now, the nitty gritty...

It was good! Dark and mysterious for sure. I like how they kept you on your toes like…is this horror? Haha! I really couldn’t figure things out until everything came to a conclusion which is rare these days. A good watch if you are looking for something gritty and a little spooky.

Just here to say it would be polite for you to mark this as a spoiler since you do give away the ending and some major points

Thank you for your comment! I do think people can experience onscreen chemistry differently though. I personally didn’t feel it here despite the fact that I think both MLs are generally really good actors. But other viewers may have a different connection with them and that’s okay. It’s also okay to just be attracted to them…they are good looking for sure! :)

Ugh, such amateur writing. This drama was painfully difficult to finish and I suppose that’s my own fault since I didn’t *have* to watch it…

I’m pretty sure there is every cliche in the book here and it’s entirely too predictable in literally every aspect. I know there are storylines we all love in this genre that often play on common stereotypes and what can make them really stand out is good writing and directing. These over-done plots that are so popular because they are entertaining can still have unique aspects weaved in that make them stand out. Instead, this drama had so many elements mixed in purely to try to garnish an emotional response which made it even harder to watch (I mean…the scene straight out of Goblin? If you’ve see both you’ll probably know exactly what I’m talking about. It wasn’t supposed to be funny at all but I was trying so hard not to laugh and was like “Did I miss something and this is actually a parody?” like…could it possibly have been scripted by AI??) it was like a plot soup…all these bits and pieces of other similar stories all thrown in together and mixed around…and I’m sorry, but not well at all. It had all the ingredients of a delicious soup yet somehow turned out unappetizing.

The OTP…cute, I suppose. But the chemistry just isn’t there.

So frustrated that I wasted my time, honestly. I think I just kept giving it chances and then it kept disappointing me. It had a strong start other than Gu Won trying to be portrayed as some sort of “Apex Predator” (*SNORTLAUGH*) so I definitely felt the potential. It was also probably like AT LEAST 6 episodes too long (it…just…wouldn’t…end) so that probably didn’t help.

It’s pretty, for sure, I’ll give it that. But not much else unfortunately. Big thumbs down for me.

PS. I do want to add here that one scene I DID really love was Ga Young’s end scene. Her character was so wasted on stereotypes but that scene at the police station was *chef’s kiss* her beginning and her end came together so beautifully.

Yeah it’s been so long since I’ve seen it. I remember it had a total chokehold on me at the time but I also didn’t like the direction it ended up going.

Ok so first of all, I don’t understand why Joon Mo shot and KILLED Ki Chul. I honestly thought he shot him to prevent him from killing himself but turns out it was legit to kill him…like why though? Especially after he already let him go. There are only two theories I have here and one is to not give Ki Chul the satisfaction of having killed himself in front of them to ruin their lives or second is to make sure his wife didn’t have to live with the guilt of Ki Chul killing himself. If the later, that could potentially explain my second question of why it appears they have/are getting a divorce in the end. I mean everything Joon Mo did was for his wife though so why would he leave her? I understand he went through a lot and it changed him but I’m not sure how it would have changed his love for her. I thought maybe it’s because he could tell she had feelings for Ki Chul but I never really got that impression so if that was the case it was NOT properly conveyed to viewers. They should have dropped more hints then or something so I really don’t know.

In the end, what in the hell was the point? It was all completely pointless and for nothing. Made all of the sacrifice less meaningful. I’m so upset about it because it could have been so much more. And I feel SO bad for Eui Jung. Like wtf did she do to deserve her ending then? So sad.

Heartless (Cruel) City vibes anyone? Well, that drama sure was a train wreck and while this one didn’t go as far off the rails I was still disappointed. It had strong moments but overall I felt the plot was a little weak in that it went in very predictable (~cliche~) ways. I wanted it to be different and wasn’t. I’ve heard many praising the bromance here but I didn’t really feel much of it at all. The acting was superb though, so I’ll give it that. The major spoilers I’ll leave below are also part of the reason this drama lost points with me though. Ugh.

Right??? My questions as well

Cute and sweet, started off strong but then draaaaaaagged. Could have been 10 episodes instead of 16! It couldn’t even really keep my attention the last 6 episodes or so sadly.

She does but it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as it could have been

Well...it's always hard for a sequel to live up to the original and I won't say this is a bad sequel by any means but it definitely did not live up to the first. I think part of what made season 1 so good was the fact that it was contained...we were pretty much in the same place with the same characters for the whole season. Of course, that could get boring but due to the unpredictable nature of "monsterization" it kept things interesting. Sure, there were some cliches and cheesy moments but the superb casting made up for that.

Season 2, however, suffered in there there were too many characters, too many storylines, and too much focus on things that really were not that important and took away from the main plot rather than adding to it. I didn't mind that we were introduced to new characters--in fact, it obviously was necessary. But it was just too much. I'm sure if you added it up Cha Hyun Soo probably had less that 40 minutes of total screen time the whole season and he is THE MAIN CHARACTER. What's up with that?!

I DID enjoy Lee Eun Yoo's transformation and getting to see her shine on screen. Park Chan Young was also a wonderful new addition that I wasn't mad about. By the end of the season though I don't feel like we ever really got anywhere. I imagine this is all a setup for season 3 though so maybe that will flow better. One can hope!

Boy did I laugh out loud at how cheesy this was at times. This drama tried so hard to be touching, romantic, and moving but yet somehow constantly missed the mark. While it captured the horrors (literally--on a whole new level) of the Japanese Occupation of Korea it's like it tried too hard to portray the suffering of the Korean people...like it was spelling it out for us rather than letting us feel it (as other dramas have done so well, such as "Mr. Sunshine"). The romantic relationship between Tae Sang and Chae Ok was also so sudden and seemed very forced. I liked both characters (sans Chae Ok's constant self-sacrificing mentality) but there was little chemistry between them, in my opinion. Some questions were left unanswered as well, which perhaps we will get to see in season 2. Overall I was just rather disappointed. I'd say it's still worth a watch just with minimal expectations (and I mean, it's worth it just to stare at Park Seo Joon...haha).