To be clear, Shim Yi Young tried her best and it seems she was the only trying. The drama full of repulsive character like Cha Ban whose existence was painful to endure for 127 episode. I was expecting something a little better after the first 10 episodes. The writing was absolutely abysmal and there is no arguing about that. Extremely repetitive and uneventful. The big secrets are revealed and the story almost done as early as episode 70-ish, the remainder of the episodes were just random things. They made halve the character get sick after episode 70 because apparently illness = viewers engagement??
Just from watching the first 5 episodes the story was too thin and I was wondering how this will keep going for 103 episodes. It seemed impossible. The answer became apparent 20 episodes later. These relationships were seriously fucked up and what made them frustrating is that the characters over complicated everything on themselves to create "the" story. That's one of the worst ways to write a story. Everyone is fucking everyone, everyone is pregnant, everyone is lying, everyone is swapping DNA tests, everyone is swapping partners back and forth, everyone got a baby, everyone is the father and everyone is a sociopath. At the end, everyone hanging around with each other like nothing happened after all the vile acts against humanity and the nastiness they went through. I can't even!! Both the writing and the actors failed to show remorse. Finished the drama and the frustration and disgust didn't wash off. To get through this, you'll need a strong stomach.
Well, it goes without saying that this one is infinitely better than the clusterfuck of the remake. The remake was an embarrassment to be made in the first place. With that being said, the drama itself is still problematic with its writing, direction, progress, development and conclusion. Also, I hated that one soundtrack with auto tune that kept playing every 2 seconds. Still watchable tho.
What do you even expect from a drama where two of the lead actors left the drama in the last third of its run?!!…
Mi Ran got electrocuted and was able to walk again WHAAAAAAAAAT?!! I'm losing it lol. Might as well turn it into a fantasy and have Hagrid come and say "You're a wizard, Mi Ran".
What do you even expect from a drama where two of the lead actors left the drama in the last third of its run?!! If the cast can't pull it together, there's no saving. The drama gets the stamp of "dead on arrival". Any drop of hope the drama had was completely 100% lost after episode 17. Ah Jun added some serious unbearable cringe when he was introduced. On a side note, the fashion totally sucked. It's too much in your face and doesn't really fit the picture. The original version Phoenix (2004) was infinitely better than whatever this was. For a very similar story Cunning Single Lady (2014) was much better too.
Considering the events and the crimes committed, the revenge wasn't that satisfactory, it was full of cheap shots. The same thing can be said about the ending. This drama definitely reminded me of Yellow Boots. If you were to compare it to Yellow Boots then that one is much better and more appealing even though my rating for both of them is close. Ji Suk was introduced as a man-child and he remained a man-child until the end, not much changed about him other than how he was portrayed in the first episode only. The ending was definitely rushed, you can tell by their introduction of a new character around the ending parts. They clearly didn't plan for it ahead of time and were just going as things happening. Some things that happened were genuinely making fun of the viewers' intellect. How in the living hell would you deliver a baby while dying on the streets and get the baby snatched without cutting the umbilical cord?! Felt like an episode from Tom & Jerry. Anyway, I wanted the nun to turn into an assassin that would be more fun.
Oh god! It's rough. Really rough. I checked the writer and it's the same writer as President so I expected something slightly better. At least I'm quite familiar with this sub-genre of the sub-genre of makjang so just by watching the first episode I was already prepared. It will probably won't appeal to you. These type of dramas you watch it for the cast and for its ridiculous automated nature regardless of its quality. As I expected, this drama fits very nicely in my rating of 3.5/10 of very similar other dramas like this one.
It's not that bad but it's not that good either. The wacky chaotic energy is what makes it watchable, otherwise it had nothing else going on for it. The romance absolutely sucked so don't expect much.
I believe the writer got a personal problem against Min Joo. Everything and everyone hated her, the universe is against her for no real reason. This extends as well to most of the "good" characters where they are constantly being punished and are in pain while the not-so-good characters barely get anything in their way. The writer as well seems to be easily distracted and lack attention to details and overall consistency. I've seen other projects from the same writer and this drama is easily their weakest one so far. I didn't like any of the pairings they all felt miss matched, maybe except Mi So she was fine. Some side characters were often neglected for too long and whenever they come back their appearance was meaningless. There are plethora of other problems, it's hard to list everything. Can't think of a reason to recommend it.
The main focus in the drama is on the older cast while the younger ones are more like a side story. The three older characters (Jeong Hoon - Hye Jung - Myeong In) went on full retardation and ruined everything about the drama. You may assume that's the writer's intention since they are given the main focus. Overall, the writing is just awful so is the romance. Proceed at your own risk!
I think this would have been great as a 2 hours comedy/life movie if given the proper attention. In its drama format it's just too flawed. The students' acting was a hard sell and I couldn't give a damn about their romances. The teachings/life lessons/messages were mostly a hit or miss. I don't know why I was expecting something on the level of GTO. Anyway, it's passable.
6 
Rip Lee Eun Joo :(
P.S. episode 130 was the worst...