bideshi

Even by daily makjang standards the number of villains seems unusually high: 2ML, 2FL, 2ML's mom, 2FL's mom, 2FL's sister. Or maybe it's because the villains are so concentrated in one family. It's a bit hard to watch now since the FL's family is victimized in numerous ways, but that only means that the satisfaction will be great when justice is meted out. And seeing the villains get their just deserts is a primary reason for watching shows like this. There might not be justice in the real world, but it exists in K-dramaland.

2 episodes in, I'm really enjoying it. Just my kind of drama. Righteous, smart, vulnerable heroine surrounded by likeable supporting characters, fighting against a host of corrupt, cruel people. I think the setup was done very well in just the right amount of time. The only minor flaw is that I'm supposed to believe that those drawings of fugitives are so accurate that our heroine could be caught because of them.

I just read your profile. I agree 100% with what you said about being offended and handling differences of opinion. I think we could be friends in real life. Have a good day and enjoy the show. I decided not to watch it (at least right now) for a lack of time.

My apologies; I didn't quite catch your tone of voice in your first message. Maybe we're similar in age? I'm in my mid-50s. Maybe that helps in giving a proper perspective and in how we rank things like K-dramas on the list of what's truly important in life. Maybe that keeps us from being irrational fanboy/fangirl and unreasonable hater.

1) It was a joke. 2) I don't expect my opinions/comments to make any difference to anyone because, let's face it, we're only talking about TV shows, which in the grand scheme of things, is almost completely inconsequential. But I hope that those who huff and puff about CSW would also realize that CSW isn't sitting at home all worried because some people don't like his politics or his family background. Their opinions about CSW--or about anything else in this fantasyland of K-dramas--matters not one bit, so the sooner they take themselves and their opinions about shows and actors less seriously, the better.

I'm like you. I don't think this is a well-written drama, but I'm sticking around because I like everyone in Uri's family. I realize that dramas have to have villains, and while I don't know if NY is the most annoying villain I've seen--e.g. the FL's mother in Beauty and Mr. Romantic might be worse, and in some ways NY's mother is even more annoying--but I agree that her motivations aren't very interesting, or even her villainous plots/actions aren't very interesting. But of course watching the villain's demise/punishment is one of the reasons why I watch these long dramas, so I am looking forward to seeing NY be fully revealed for who she is.

I think I'll watch it just to spite the self-righteous CSW haters. :-)

I like long family dramas and I don't usually mind the crazy makjang stuff. But I'm dropping this after 52 episodes because it's hopeless. I kept thinking that it'll start to get interesting, that it'll start to make sense, but nope, I've wasted enough time. I can't think of a show I've watched that's worse than this. Nothing makes sense: events don't seem connected, people seem to do things randomly. No dialogue is interesting. There's no chemistry between anyone; I have no idea why anyone is romantically interested in anyone. Hardly anyone is likeable. Just a total mess. Every actor/actress has to be regretting being a part of this terribly written show. Anyone who watches 120 episodes of this has to be a masochist.

So women don't snore, steal the covers or misplace the hotel key? Those are incredibly petty reasons for avoiding men. Are you somehow Miss Perfect who doesn't have any traits that a man (or woman) might find annoying? What lack of self-awareness and pride! As a man, I have to say thank you for doing us a favor by staying away from us.

So women don't snore, steal the covers or misplace the hotel key? Those are incredibly petty reasons for avoiding men. Are you somehow Miss Perfect who doesn't have any traits that a man (or woman) might find annoying? What lack of self-awareness and pride! As a man, I have to say thank you for doing us a favor by staying away from us.

Sure, it's a woman's choice to have fewer complications in her life, to cut anything out of her life that might be a potential complication. But what a boring, bland life that'd be. Yes, life is a complicated mess, but I think the right response to that is to work through it to bring out as much joy and beauty as possible--not to run away from potential complications (especially half the population). And you seem to be blind to two things: 1) any potential positives that a good male partner would bring, and 2) a woman can cause just as many complications as a man. Toxic femininity is real; no K-drama could work without women lying/scheming to sabotage other women.

So by your definition, a woman successful in her career has a perfectly balanced life. And a man would only spoil that. And there's nothing that a man would bring that could enhance her life in any way. I think real-life women would dispute such a simplistically false view of women and of male-female relationships. Of course a man would complicate a woman's life, just as any relationship would. But to think that a (successful) woman's life could remain perfectly balanced and complication-free simply by not having a man in her life seems like a wild feminist fantasy.

I've watched up to episode 41. It's rare to have such an uncharismatic, boring FL character. But worse than that, she's just clueless, unable to put 2 and 2 together most of the time. She can't read anyone's motives/actions or interpret anyone's body language or half-spoken sentences to save her life. Almost none of the secrets being revealed is because of anything she does, so she's doing litte to push the plot. The title is misleading. Rather than Brave Yong Soo Jung, it should be Clueless Yong Soo Jung. I suppose they can't have her catch on to what's going on too fast since there are 120 episodes to fill, but it's very frustrating to watch.

I agree that it'd be smart of her to think of such contingencies, but that'd make her a different type of character, one that I (as an American who thinks that there are way too many lawsuits) wouldn't like as much. It might be smart to always be thinking of how I can protect myself or get justice through lawsuits, but it doesn't mean that such people are liked very much.

At least the other teachers recognized that he was a bit out of his mind in grabbing her shoulder and tried to get him to stop. I liked that it showed that the other teachers were more reasonable, both about his behavior and about the test question. I don't think it'd be realistic to have a hagwon-is-good, schools-are-bad sort of portrayal. I hope they continue to be balanced in portraying the good and bad of both sides.

I can enjoy the weekend makjang dramas, too, but this kind of drama with characters acting in realistic ways and through which I can learn something about an industry I know nothing about is my favorite. The same reason why I liked Misaeng so much.

Agree with you on simple assault. But I think it's meant to say something about the FL that she doesn't file an assault charge, but simply puts on a bandage over the wound. She pushed the boundary by going to the school to ask for a retest, but she knows that filing an assault charge is not going to be good for anyone: herself, her hagwon, or her students.

My reaction is different. I was immediately drawn in by the conflict with the teacher which showed me how smart and fearless the FL is and dramatically portrayed the hagwon versus schools backdrop to the whole show. So for me, it was an effective beginning. Usually character is revealed in stressful situations and that was an extremely stressful situation for the FL.

"sexual" harassment? I think not. Such a lawsuit would cheapen the meaning of sexual harassment.

I agree. She's the only one who hasn't done anything stupid.