Kate

And yet they managed to never let the story become boring or repetitive. < I am still amazed by this. It's freaking 15 episodes of "the same plot" happening on the same day, and yet it was fun and never boring.

The trial and error was so much fun! Trying to figure out what will be the consequences of each action in every loop!

Like always, really nice review :D

well, I wouldn't say she she "solved" most of the problems. I think one of the aspects I liked about the show was how they worked together and planned it together - it was a team effort and not one running wild and the other just there... doing nothing.

The Kittne Boy was adorable!

Also, for the ending I like to pretend that when the dad was walking passed the pervert in the prison, that smile meant he was already planning to to kill him in the prison hahahha

I like how we got some explanations about the mechanics of the time loop (like them waking up one minute earlier each time, but also not being able to wake up before the bomb was on the bus etc...), but that they did not try to go into some science oriented details, coz as you said, most time trabel/loop movies and shows fail in that aspect.

Totally agree on the first 5 episodes. I literally said in my review that it took me a while to get into the drama (i think I said it took me 6 episodes, as in I got more engaged in episode 6).

Kitten Boy was also my favorite side character here!

Overall, I for sure agree with a lot of your points, great review :)

I feel like overall the pacing in the show was great, from the start, through the middle part, till the end :)

The ringtone was something that "bothered" me too. Wish they used it more, and at the same time they would not use it for the young policewoman. It was a bit of misdirect, and I'm not sure if I'm liking it hahahaha

Nice review :)

" in general because it's so easy to mess it up and create tons of plot holes and general confusion." me about 99% of dramas related to alternation of time hahaha they did well here tho, I was surprised.

While there were no plot holes, some questions were just left with no answers :(

Really nice and well written review :)

They were able to avoid a lot of the repetitiveness thanks to the slow expantion of the set - it started with just a bus and one character, and then other places and characters were slowly introduced. As you said, it was all thanks to the other characters' stories :)

and omg yes for the make up and design team for all the wounds and burns! really good job done there!

Great review! :D

The good thing about this drama is that it allowed me as an viewer to feel like I'm involved in the situations too. < trying to figure out what's going on before the characters do was for sure one of the entertaining aspect of the show :D

"Each repeats were 'useful' without feeling like too much of a coincidence." THIS! They just knew how to present the story, keep it interesting and move it forward without anything feeling convenient in the new information they got with each time loop!

Really nice review :D

No matter how many times they repeat it, a right balance of new things came out that was interesting. < exactly. I am surprised how well they were able to keep it interesting even with the "limited" plot they had because of the loop of just one day!

Great review ;)

Great review like always Jo 🥰
Also yeah about the suspense -it was built well and not thrown at random moments.

I liked how realistic the characters were. Yee, they were smart as you said, but they also made some mistakes on the way.

Also, rewatch sounds truly like fun. To try to find some details that were hints for the ending ☺️

Great review!

The Tyrant he talks about is not Lee Tae's father, but the king before him, as far as I understood. We don't really know much about the Tyrant King, as the story starts with the new king that Gye Won put on the throne. His drive and obsession comes from what the king BEFORE Lee Tae's father did, not from what Lee Tae's father did. So now he sees any king trying to build his own power in court as a sign that might lead to tyranny. Yes, it is obsessive and misguided, but we don't know the backstory of what driven him to that state. Jo Won Pyo (the one that Lee Tae made a deal with about his daughter being the future queen) took part in the dethronization of the "Tyrant king" too. Because they got rid off him, Lee Tae's father became a new king.

long thoughts on characters after episode 8 :)

Okay so after episode 8, let's talk about 3 main characters.

🤡 Lee Tae, The King.
Ma poor dude. He thinks he smart, when he played and pressured to do all type of shits he ain't happy about. I mean, they set him up bad. We saw the GO board right? And it showed how he was the only different stone, surrounded by the enemies, and then when he got the deal with Won Pyo, one more turned to his color. And I'm here - amazing visual representation of the power struggle, but DAMN THE FUCK WAS THIS BOI DOING FOR YEARS 🤣 Home come he failed to get anyone of his side before. Did he even try?

He gets overshadowed by other main characters, even side characters. Everyone seems more interesting than he is.

As much as I love Lee Joon, I'm not feeling him here. I said it few times, but his tense, hoarse delivery is just too much too many times. Ma dude got me obsessed in Bulgasal, and I feel nothing here.

😎 Yoo Jung - THE FUCKIBG QUEEN MA BISH
Damn, this girl. They did her so dirty in episode 3-5. I get that she could not be all badass bitch from day one in the court, she had to figure out the dynamics etc, BUT they could have played on her wits a bit more to show how she is gaining the info. They showed her to be observant and resourceful in episode 1-2, but then turned her into a complete pawn in a next few. But BISH GOT BACK ON HER FEET AT THE END OF EPISODE 6 and slayed since then. Yo bish even “stole” the most trusted man of the king, his right hand and made some plans behind king’s back 🤣 She used Gye Won’s son for her own plan. SHE IS SAVAGE! She did more in a few weeks? Months? Than the king did for years. Yo, like she even made Gye Won to root for her even tho she fucks him over and over again 🤣

She is doing what I want to see from Lee Tae. Damn line delivery can be intense even in more soft, but firm voice. How she talks to Gye Won, oof. The deal is done ma dude, now I'm gonna start threatening you 🥰 How lovely. Honestly love her so much, hope they will keep her this way, and she will never become useless coz of her love for the king.

😭 Gye Won - Sad evil boy.
Okay They are doing some good shit with this character. At first one could assume he is your typical evil bish who wants all the power. But damn all the hints they drop - he truly believes he is doing good things, he is protecting the country. He wants to do it all himself, coz he does not trust anyone, not because he wants the power to himself. I don't know, him being so misguided is so tragic, I love it.

NOT TO MENTION HIS FREAKING LOW-KEY TRAGIC ROMANCE WITH THE QUEEN DOWAGER!

About the romance, why this little thing works and evokes so many emotions, while the main romance is 😪

1. The set up. The main romance be are basically thrown into them already being in love (that one or two scenes when they were teens barely did anything to set anything between them). We are told how they kept meeting on 15th. And then after 2 episodes tragedy HITS! Like damn, I did not even get use to them being all cute in love romantic bullshit, and they are already in pain? How could I care?

But then we don't even know Gye Won and Queen Dowager are/were even a thing at first. It's shown as if he is just using her for his plan. We don't know from the start why she trusts him so much. And then SLOWLY we get hints about their past, we get curious how they ended up in their current positions. And the scenes are written SO WELL! They show the important moments from their past, the great contrast between how they were in the past (while still more innocent and happy with their ideas) compared to now, that they accepted the tragic fate their love has. The devotion they have for each other, the pain Gye Won feels when he needs to "use" her. LIKE DAMN.

2. How much does the romance influence the characters - with Gye Won and Queen Dowager, it's something that exist as an obstacle for Gye Won's plan and WE SEE IT. We can witness countless times how he scarifies his feelings for th "greater cause". But we still see how he cares and how it breaks him every time (amazing perfection that the falling into pond scene was, or even the poisoned tea in episode 8).

Then between king and Yoo Jung, it's too much. It does not give the same tragic feeling, coz dude ALWAYS picks her over his plan. Yoo Jung is far more interesting in that aspect. While she loves the king, her priority is not him, but her people. She happens to help and support the king, because that's what she sees as the best way to make sure her people are fine, but her whole character and decision making does not revolve around the king.

CONCLUSION
Sorry Lee Joon, you ain't it here 🤣

"If I watch it till the end, I can point out the problematic content" this is me. The only times I force myself to finish a show I am not enjoying (and it's not a fun hate watch) is when I think the criticism will be needed. When I feel like the majority of viewers love the show, adding some 180 opinion to the reviews pool would be helpful.

Great article btw! Like always 💕

I had a photoblog when I was in middle school and I had a guy who kept posting comments under each and every photo, it was all weird - he kept telling me how mature i am for my age etc.

One day I come back from school and him and my sister are talking in her room. That said she "invited him" to tell him to fuck off, more or less. She is also only 2 years older than me so she was around 16 or 17 bac then? Anyway, after that he stopped commenting under my posts, but I saw him do the same with other girl from my school...

oh no, your story sounds really scary. I had an online stalker for some time, he once showed up in my house, but nothing more. But a guy peeked through my window at night just sounds horrifying! Glad to hear your parents did something about it.

I read an article about how in shops they use two-way mirrors in a changing rooms. I struggled to buy clothes and try them in shops for a year after it.

While the email was just phishing and I did not think much about it, I know the guys who called knew me somehow. They told me where I live, where I went to middle school and where I start high school the next day (the names of people who got in were on the door of said school, that's how it goes in Poland, so they had to know my name and surname and to which schools I applied to check on the school building to know where I ended up going) so that was far more scary.

oh that I don't know. It might be coz of youtube too, coz of the Korean covers you know... Who knows. It's not like a chatted with the person to find out how he got my email 🙃