Manda

Oh man, yes! Same for me. Although I'm not sure if In-Ho and Seol would have been together forever, I do think he was the far better choice for her than Jung. Their scenes together were so natural and In-Ho made her smile so much. Even their bickering was adorable!

I feel like the writers are trying to say that they're 'fated' (hence them somehow magically living in Portugal at around the same time) but if that's the only reason they can come up with to tie these two together for all this time, that's weak and cheap.

I'm curious, what's the first drama where you didn't want the main leads together?

I'm super disappointed in Soo-Jae, too. He's been a fav of mine throughout the show but he didn't behave his best and really showed his ass. Joo-Ran needed someone to talk to and he not only totally failed to read the mood, but he belittled her when she snapped. *sigh* what is happening with this show

This is a complete mess. I don't see how they could ever healthily move on from this. And what frustrates me is that all signs indicate that JY might throw himself back into a relationship with her. Even if the lady cop isn't the right match for him, there will be a better one out there, and YJ is better left as a friend he has some fond memories with.

I wonder why she told Ho-Chul on the beach that he hadn't swayed her, if she clearly was swayed enough to go to him and have a happy marriage and a child. Because she said something like 'I was swayed but not by you', I thought she must have meant something on a material or career level. Now I'm just confused...did she prefer Ho-Chul all along?

I agree that I still don't want them to end up together. But that seems to be the way the writer will push it no matter what. One of the teasers for upcoming episodes had a song in the background with the lyrics 'I still love you'.

If they take the angle of 'love healing all' I will be pissed as hell. YJ doesn't need romance, she needs a therapist and a friend and maybe a dog to cuddle. I hope it doesn't take after crap stories that front like romance is the miracle cure for everything. I really doubt a third go at it with JY would help her at this point in time.

It was very extra, and I think - as much as I like him, he's always been very extra. It sounds harsh but I don't see what it was about her that was so great that she made him abandon his plans and his job and go to another country. There's probably something symbolic about it that I'm missing, because most of us can't afford to just drop everything and have dramatic long-shots in a different country just because of a breakup.

I struggle with trying to tone down my dislike of Y-J tbh, but I think it's because she's so totally different from me that I know I'd never hang around her in real life. I wonder if people who defend her see qualities of themselves in her, or maybe it's as simple as wanting to support a female lead, especially one who had a hard time. Personally I think her brother had it harder, but oh well.

This story isn't realistic. It's a cutesy little romance in a fantasy pocket that relies on people believing in fate. That's a problem because I don't see how these two could be fated. J-Y has been left emotionally damaged twice, and now even Y-J seems to be feeling the pain, but she gets to feel it in a different way because her choices have caused it. She's even married the guy who J-Y was so paranoid about, and probably right after the breakup. Classy.

I've seen comments suspecting the child might have been J-Y's. I seriously hope not, especially if they want these two to get back together again. I already don't want it and can't see how they can make it work in a healthy way, but that would put extra screws in a solid iron coffin for me. For many reasons that I won't go into while it's just speculation.

I want J-Y to stay with lady cop. I want him to be momentarily swayed by the past before realising that it's dead and done, and that the warmth and respect from lady cop is a once in a lifetime blessing and she feels it when he blesses her back. There's no harm in reaching closure and being friends with Y-J. But I don't want them to end up together.

I'm totally out touch - what contest is this? O.o

I agree with your comment. This looked good on paper and the actors are working hard (I'm seeing incredible development for SKJ in particular, who's learning to act with his face and eyes very well) but the way it's executed is not great.

I wanted to see more of their college-age years. I think J-Y and Y-J should have spent more time as a couple back then, if for no other reason than to explain his strong attachment to her seven years later. Plus, nerdy!J-Y was adorable in a Napoleon Dynamite kind of way. I wanted to reach through the screen and bully him in that 'I have a crush on you and you're gonna hate it' kind of way. Oops.

Their second meeting could have still had the same amount of attention if secondary characters were given a little less time, and we'd still get the message that leads to the brutal breakup.

I also feel like things are happening that lack realism to the point where I'm like 'really?' instead of charmed by it. Like Y-J just happening to choose Portugal to live in as well, and not far from J-Y, to the point where they unknowingly walked past each other.

I mean seriously, I don't remember either of them mentioning that country before, so why would two people with very different tastes BOTH choose that country? It's some deus ex machina level nonsense tbh. Is it supposed to make us think it's fate? Pffft. On the offhand, I think Portugal is super beautiful after seeing it here and I'd love to visit.

I'm actually the opposite. I'm at a loss about Young-Jae, but Joon-Young makes total sense to me.

1. Joon-Young became a cop in retaliation to comments made by Young-Jae in their 'spring' but he never seemed to fit into that career even though he was good at it. The gap years were important character growth for him, as he learned to stop being reactionary to others and simply become himself.

It took time to study and commit to his new choice, and on top of that, he got to do it away from henpecking family members. It's his first taste of independent living and thought, which is EXACTLY what he needs to progress as a character in a healthier direction. I'm really proud of him!

2. Joon-Young said it himself when he was talking to the lady cop: he likes being with her, because they both put in effort to the relationship. That's literally been the basis for most of my comments across various sites: Young-Jae simply never invested as much into their relationship as he did. He, on the other hand, gave too much to a point that bitterness was eating him up.

What Joon-Young wanted and needed was for someone to unconditionally love him like he loves them, warts and all. He found that in the lady cop and while I find her to lack presence, I appreciate everything she represents for Joon-Young. She's kind, loving, she sent him thoughtful gifts and has a lot of respect and warmth for him. I would much, much prefer that he end up with her. I think her going to Lisbon had less to do with being a stalker and more symbolic of her making an effort for him, which no one else seems to do.

Actually, he was going to propose to her but she cut him off and broke up with him. His leaving his job and the town came after she'd already broken up with him.

I'm already against them getting back together. If her lost child was Joon-Young's, I'd be against it even more. The melodrama is already stacked against them and I agree with all of kestonis' points. I feel like they've come too far to turn back. I'd much rather that they made peace with each other and became friends.

I don't really understand their intensity right out of the gate either. I'm sure there are many reasons why, but I don't get it myself.

As for his job, I think he's left for two reasons. 1) he wants to get away from where they might cross paths, and he's already spoken about moving somewhere quieter or maybe going on vacation.

2) I think this one is probably the biggest reason: a running theme in this show is the different social standings and careers of J-Y and Y-J. She had goals to be rich but no plan to get there. J-Y had plans but no goal. He chose to become a cop because he wanted to thumb his nose at Y-J's mocking from 7 years ago and does a good job purely because that's who he is, but otherwise he doesn't seem as invested in his job as he is in his love life and family (he's constantly leaving his team hanging around waiting for him to deal with his social life). I think he was able to leave it easily because his career ranks lower on the scale of importance to him than his feelings and connections.

Y-J wants to be a stylist to the stars, she wants riches and possibly fame. She was very much into that photoshoot and interview that she did, and I think ultimately her reasons for breaking up with him came from being self-absorbed and more invested in her career. She'd rather leave him than feel guilty that he's the one putting forward all the effort. I bet the reason she never set clear boundaries with Ho-Chul is because of their complementary careers and his ambition. She's echoing the story her friend told her about choosing career over everything else.

I feel like I would be enjoying this drama more if Hwa Sa's character were a bit less...nice? I get that she's innocent, a good person and this isn't exactly an everyday situation, but the trailers led me to believe that Hwa Sa would be more vengeful and proactive. Instead so far she just seems to be naively fumbling around and staring sadly into space.

This drama has so much potential to be good, but the pace is dragging and it feels like Hwa Sa is wasting time and squandering this opportunity to do the very most to everyone who wronged her. The character I like the most is Oh Bong Sam. He's pushy and sometimes frustrating but somehow I enjoy every time he's on screen.

I hadn't heard of Kingdom. Joseon zombies sounds like a riot, I'm 100% in. Thanks for this list!

I Saw the Devil, The Wailing and Train to Busan are up there in my favourites.

Very interesting article. I hadn't realised that down-rating is a thing, and I've never felt upset or angry that a drama I like gets a bad rating. Mostly because it's rare that I'm generous with my ratings anyway.

When I rate something, my emotional response to it is only a small part of my rating. I'm also super critical of other things like acting, cinematography, problematic messages/actions, characterisation etc. Even if I enjoyed a drama overall, there's still a chance I rated it lowly if it had other things going on, e.g. bad acting or romanticised abuse. There's often a big gap between my mindless enjoyment of the overall story and my end rating because of this.

And I guess I expect the same thing from others because I don't judge dramas by their rating at all. There's often a huge disparity between dramas I enjoy and their community rating.

The only way using down-rating to fudge a drama's rating could cause issues in my opinion is if someone's using a filter to find a new drama. That drama might get pushed down the list unnecessarily and it's a shame that results might get skewed like that, but at least if it's the kind of thing you'd want to watch anyway, there's a great chance you'd come across it on your own no matter what.

And to answer that last question: I've never fought on MDL. I've had different opinions to others, but it's always stuck to a debating format and I'm grateful for that. I respect everyone's opinions and rights to disagree with mine: all I ask is that we do it like adults. I'm way too long in the tooth to be getting into fights now!

Yep, I don't like him as a person at this point and don't like like 99% of what he does, but I understand him and think he's pretty tragic.

What he was doing in this last episode is acting out like a child. A child with no control over his emotional impulses. He was already taught by the environment that he grew up in that not only is it good to be as big of a pushy jerk as possible, but also that it was the best way to survive.

Now throw in how this situation is making him feel. No matter what the reality of what happened between him and his mother was when he was kidnapped, he would still wonder to himself why she didn't try harder and find a way to save him. He was a CHILD, and his mother would have had this superhero element attached to her that would have made him think she could save him and make it all okay, only for him to be disappointed.

Years went by with no word from her. He has to plan an elaborate jail break for himself to go and find her (and although it was a controversial choice, his hitting So Bong was part of that plan and one he knew and admitted out loud would be the worst and most distracting thing he could do).

When he finds her, she seems cozy enough with David and a robot replica of NS. This robot later takes over his life and lives it really well. The people in his life like the robot more. The robot also pushes him up the company ladder and catches the chairman's attention, and the chairman starts thinking about 'Shin' taking over the company. NS never wanted this. He didn't want power in the company, or maybe to have the company at all. That he was slacking before was definitely intentional .

He does not want the legacy of his kidnappers. He does not want the legacy of the ones who probably murdered his father.

NS3 doesn't understand it on that level, not yet, since NS won't communicate with others. He's internalising every pain, insecurity, anger, betrayal and ultimately his huge unhappiness. He won't even confront those he knows are lying right now - he takes it in and it becomes more bitterness that he's keeping trapped inside. It's eating him alive and twisting him into a little boy who will both reject those around him while desperately wishing they will fight a little harder for him in return. Just once, I think he wants someone to put in effort to fight for him instead of fight against him and his choices. Whether or not he accepts the company should not be the qualifier for that.

He's not going to make it easy for people, I'm not sure he knows how to. He comes across as totally unpleasant. His actions against NS3 were horrible in this last episode. But again, understandable. He can't emotionally or physically hurt the intruder in his life who has put his life on a path he didn't want ("Did you think I'd thank you?" He asked Young Hoon) and earned a level of love and respect from others that NS never had (and seriously what's WRONG with NS not wanting the kidnappers' company?!).

His only way to hurt NS3 is to try and make So Bong disgusted and scared of him. He doesn't know that So Bong has already seen what NS3 has under his skin, of course. But now that he's used the Dr Oh card and it didn't work as planned, he's going to use the only thing he knows NS3 is attached to again and again. First it starts with trying to make her disgusted, and it's not going to work. I wonder if his next plot will be to try and seduce her away?

I doubt he cares that NS3 isn't at fault at this point. NS3 represents everything he never wanted out of life and proves that the people who were in his life couldn't support him for making his own choices. I really like Young Hoon but I think that as an employee of the chairman, his concern for NS is also tied to concern for the company which prevents him from being fully on NS's side.

Sorry for the wall of text =_= I think about NS a lot, and feel sorry for him even though I want to pour all the drinks in the world over his head.

She's more of a companion, but she's definitely meant to be a bodyguard too, even though it became more of a job title than an actual role since NS3 is a superbot. She's called herself his bodyguard several times and she made it clear that she had the intention of being one in more than just a title after the parking lot clean-up worried her. She's meant to protect him so that he's not forced to protect himself and blow his cover.

NS3 wanted to protect her in that moment, but I still don't see how someone who had skills enough to be part of a bodyguard agency could stand back and let that scene happen. Especially when she loves him. NS was so shaky that even a quick knock to the knee could have sent him down before things escalated.

Just caught up with 25-26. Is it just me or is So Bong a terrible bodyguard?

Like, I could understand other times she was unable to act/stand up for herself due to her being attacked in her bad leg, but she literally failed to prevent NS3 getting damaged when she should have tried disarming NS (who is still struggling after near death and a coma, it wouldn't have been too hard for a strong woman like her!)

I get that we wouldn't have had that dramatic moment but seriously. What's the point of being employed as a bodyguard if you can't even try to disarm someone, let alone someone not in top condition? It's not like she didn't have time to react but she just stood there and watched.

She's done a lot to help him on a personal level, and with the kill switch, but as an actual bodyguard who has to...guard his body...she's not doing so great.

I don't think anyone's justifying his actions, or liking him for them. It's 100% possible to dislike him and judge him by his actions but still sympathise with what made him this way - that's how I feel.

It would be easy for me as a viewer who's had a good life to judge him from my perspective and condemn him without any more thought, it would be easy to say 'he still could have been a good person'. From my life and experience, I can never fully understand the effect growing up like NS did could have had on me in his position. When I imagine it, though, it scares and upsets me. The crappy grandfather and assassination attempts alone would have made me want to clock out asap.

He became a monster to keep monsters away from his door. I'm not sure I could have done that, not because I'm a good person or anything like that, but because I would have folded under the pressure of his life long before becoming someone like that.

I'm not defending him, I don't like him, and absolutely don't justify his actions and choices. I feel sad for his terrible life, though, and I'm not surprised he's such a jerk. Disappointed, but not surprised.

I don't like him as a person, and don't forgive his actions, but I actually understand him and see where he's coming from. It makes me feel sad for him and for what I consider a life lost.

I draw a parallel between him and So Bong, too. So Bong felt like she could exploit her bodyguard job to earn extra money as if that horrible thing that happened in the ring entitled all of her future behaviour, including acting unprofessionally and like a mercenary. She broke her employer's trust (NS exploited this but didn't force her to do it) and wasn't even remorseful about it. Similarly, NS has had a traumatic and loveless life since being snatched away and feels that this entitles him to his own behaviour.

He's a product of his upbringing. I can't imagine the kind of life he's had thanks to the chairman, his aunt, the constant fears and paranoia. He must know the chairman's bizarre fetish for pitting people against each other (even to the death) and knows he's not safe. Even his relationship with Young Hoon must feel like it's always on a knife edge.

He literally lives a dog eat dog life. He wasn't even surprised to see that he was being tailed in the Czech Republic, that's the kind of life he lives. And from his perspective, although he did what the chairman wanted and pushed his mother away for her safety, part of him would have childishly always wondered why she didn't fight harder, why she didn't find a way. Years and years go by and in the end HE has to find HER.

And he finds that she's built a replica of him and has been living with it cozily for years. To top it all off, he wakes from his coma and immediately notices that against his theories, the robot not only fit in well but did everything better. And even if people don't say it out loud, he can tell that they seem to like the robot a lot more too. Nam Shin must feel like he's being thrown away, replaced, betrayed and upstaged in every aspect of life. I would hate to be him and can't imagine how bad it would feel. Judging by the preview for the next episode, it's only going to get worse.

The tragedy is that he brings so much of this on himself. It would be easy for me to judge and say 'he doesn't have to be this way, he could have tried to be better' but I honestly think the environment he grew up in just didn't allow for it. And that's what we know about - who knows what else he had to cope with while growing up? I keep thinking about how scared little Hee Dong is and it's easy to picture little Nam Shin in his place.

I absolutely don't like him as a person, but I understand him and feel sad for him. I also worry about what he might do to NS3 when he lashes out, because NS3 is innocent and undeserving. He literally just wants to help others and learn about the world. It really hurt to see the look on NS3's face when Nam Shin slapped his hand away during their first meeting.

I would love for the writers to find a way to make a happy ending work and let So Bong and NS3 be together for however long they can. They've both had wonderful character development, it feels like only now that they can truly live life and it's when they're together.