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Such a powerful story that you miss plotholes!
This is a fairly detailed review with my personal reviews and a lot of things that most people have missed out on while watching FHTS. The story was extremely gripping, the emotions were conveyed so perfectly well that it is completely normal to overlook some slips here and there. Overall, I must say this is one of the best kdramas I have ever seen.
Things I disliked about FHTS:
1. FHTS seems to be written from the point of view of Pi-O which completely overshadows Jeong-yu's back story. This would have been okay if Jeong-yu did not play such a massive role in the story's development, which he did. His disappearance and what exactly happened after he got shot, who saved him from the waters, how did he start living in the monastery were major things that the show missed on his side of the story. Another major thing is how did Jeong-yu even start following PI-O when he was meeting the abductor, what gave him away? This is what I mean by the fact that the story being from Pi-O's perspective and missing major developments in Jeon-yu's part of the story.
2. Pi-O should have had some form of emotional support and yes, his mother and Do Hyeon Su were not that. Hyeon Su silently favored Jeong-yu and initially even refused to give Pi-O a clear answer about what actually was missing from his playing. He only did so when Pi-O crashed out.
3. Pi-O's grandfather was extremely childish for someone of great talent presumably. He refused to ever tell Pi-O what actually was wrong with his performance. I also think that he had his own standard of what was good music and because Pi-O somehow did not fit that and to add fuel to fire, he did not like him because of his mom, it all added up to a stupid nagging that never seemed to move forward or backward. He was hypocritical in the sense that he did preach others that everyone has their own way of bringing life to music but somehow always dismissed Pi-O. I must say the character development towards the end was great.
4. Pi-O's mother was not criticized enough for being a bad parent. She was criticized throughout for her general nature and the bad deeds. Pi-O was just her weapon for getting her father's and everyone else's acknowledgement. She projected this onto Pi-O which is why he also always arrived for his grandfather's acknowledgement. In the jail scene, I absolutely disliked when she said that Pi-O was a gift from heaven that she wanted to show off to everyone. All of this was disguised as motherly love. She did not want any good for him, she wanted good from him. Yet Pi-O seems to forgive her at the end and even Hyeon Su tells her that she isn't a bad parent when she clearly is very toxic. This was especially evident by how threatened she felt by Jeong-yu's presence instead of being confident in her own son. I do agree her father had a major role in how she turned out to be.
5. Hong Jae in. This is probably the aspect of the series I disliked the most. To begin with, she was in the same art school as Pi-O and Jeong-yu, yet she had no individual storyline or character development nor did she pursue being a violinist. What is even worse is that she became Pi-O's manager and seemed to like the job partly because she had a huge crush on him!? She was at most treated as a glue between the two main characters. There was no explanation to why she did not pursue arts and just became a manager in her mother's company. The character was one badly.
6. Jae in and Pi-O's relationship was this huge joke. I only realized they were in some form of relationship when Pi-O initiated the breakup. There was one forced kiss, no proper proposal or agreement and whatsoever no couple scenes. At any moment, you could easily assume that she was a really good friend of Pi-O. I personally thought the relationship was completely unnecessary and as I said, it was glue to hold Pi-O together because all the adults around him professionally sucked. But anyways, if they wanted to put it, at least execute it properly. After everything was settled, the so-called relationship had no formal closure either. And exactly where was Jae-in's self respect? I still think the actress did really well in that role.
7. Kang Ji Hye's backstory and how she conceived Pi-O and who was the father was extremely necessary according to me. Tbh, I had a hunch that Hyeon Su might be the father based on the past relationship they had but there was no explanation for either of these things. Similarly with, Jeong -yu, I was hoping his actual father and a bit of his 'good childhood would be shown"
8. Towards the end, Pi-O's mother emotionally manipulated him over the abduction, when Pi-O said he would shift the blame onto him, why did she not take a step then and there but wait for everything to fall through?
9. In the chappel, Anna took Pi-O's musical scores, why? No explanation, no consequences.
10. Jeong-yu was way overstimulated after his return and maybe overlooked things and generally misunderstood pretty much everything, but that was necessary to the plot I guess.
11. What exactly is the relationship dynamic between Seung Un and Seon Ju? Why did she move out later?
Things I loved about FHTS:
1. The amount of yearning from both sides was very equivalent which is something I adored but what took me by heart the most was Jeong-yu getting injected so he could temporarily use his hand to show Pi-O and finish his guilt.
2. Jeong-yu's character change on his return was just EPIC and the coldness was so beautifully performed. I really liked how his first score was being written to being performed with Pi-O both times. Nemesis is now a very beautiful word in my dictionary, like a painful misunderstanding.
3. I loved when Kang Seung Un said in the end "Leave me alone with the music" as he wanted to say goodbye to his lifelong partner after wishing goodbye to others. The performance of Lacrimosa, the pain, the falling down, just perfect.
4. I am a huge fan of the pre disaster moments between Pi-O and Jeong-yu, especially the candle lit room scene. Pi-O and Jeong-yu equally helped each other out both times, in similar ways, which was warm to watch. The musical arcade scenes were probably my comfort scenes from the entire series. They were carefree and happy in most of them.
5. All the piano scenes and the conducting scenes were top-notch. It is extremely hard to mimic these movements if you are not a professional pianist or conductor but the actors nailed it.
6. This series was a lot about human nature as well besides music, I loved when Pi-O said to Jeong-yu that he would have thought of getting rid of him anyways because that is how a lifetime runner up's mind works. That is true human nature, no one can be pure. In context to this, there is a heavy religious undertone to the whole drama. From Ji hye's guilt and church scenes to the Lacrimosa performance and Seung Un falling, to the last scene in a church.
7. Pi-O's grandfather finally helping him out and acknowledging him and smiling the widest during the premiere of Nemesis was a very emotional scene for me.
8. The closure for Jeong-yu and his father was sad but needed. In terms of suffering and still striving, Jeong yu's character has always taken my heart. He is in short a good human despite what he went through and his instinct for revenge, especially because for the second half, he had absolutely no one to take care of him. On this note, I liked the dynamic between him and Yeon Su, it gave mother-son.
9. Overall, both main characters were very well done and portrayed different personalities facing different dilemmas, Song Kang and Lee Junyoung were an amazing choice.
10. The ending was very well done. It was good to see that both Pi-O and Jeong-yu started playing for people and for what made them and others happy instead of hyper focusing on stage performances where every single note is judged, because the most important instrument for music is the soul. And as Jeong-yu said, he wanted to play for happiness and not for revenge anymore.
11. Lastly, the opening scene of this drama was agonizingly beautiful. I think there is something raw and pure about bleeding onto the piano keys while playing.
Things I disliked about FHTS:
1. FHTS seems to be written from the point of view of Pi-O which completely overshadows Jeong-yu's back story. This would have been okay if Jeong-yu did not play such a massive role in the story's development, which he did. His disappearance and what exactly happened after he got shot, who saved him from the waters, how did he start living in the monastery were major things that the show missed on his side of the story. Another major thing is how did Jeong-yu even start following PI-O when he was meeting the abductor, what gave him away? This is what I mean by the fact that the story being from Pi-O's perspective and missing major developments in Jeon-yu's part of the story.
2. Pi-O should have had some form of emotional support and yes, his mother and Do Hyeon Su were not that. Hyeon Su silently favored Jeong-yu and initially even refused to give Pi-O a clear answer about what actually was missing from his playing. He only did so when Pi-O crashed out.
3. Pi-O's grandfather was extremely childish for someone of great talent presumably. He refused to ever tell Pi-O what actually was wrong with his performance. I also think that he had his own standard of what was good music and because Pi-O somehow did not fit that and to add fuel to fire, he did not like him because of his mom, it all added up to a stupid nagging that never seemed to move forward or backward. He was hypocritical in the sense that he did preach others that everyone has their own way of bringing life to music but somehow always dismissed Pi-O. I must say the character development towards the end was great.
4. Pi-O's mother was not criticized enough for being a bad parent. She was criticized throughout for her general nature and the bad deeds. Pi-O was just her weapon for getting her father's and everyone else's acknowledgement. She projected this onto Pi-O which is why he also always arrived for his grandfather's acknowledgement. In the jail scene, I absolutely disliked when she said that Pi-O was a gift from heaven that she wanted to show off to everyone. All of this was disguised as motherly love. She did not want any good for him, she wanted good from him. Yet Pi-O seems to forgive her at the end and even Hyeon Su tells her that she isn't a bad parent when she clearly is very toxic. This was especially evident by how threatened she felt by Jeong-yu's presence instead of being confident in her own son. I do agree her father had a major role in how she turned out to be.
5. Hong Jae in. This is probably the aspect of the series I disliked the most. To begin with, she was in the same art school as Pi-O and Jeong-yu, yet she had no individual storyline or character development nor did she pursue being a violinist. What is even worse is that she became Pi-O's manager and seemed to like the job partly because she had a huge crush on him!? She was at most treated as a glue between the two main characters. There was no explanation to why she did not pursue arts and just became a manager in her mother's company. The character was one badly.
6. Jae in and Pi-O's relationship was this huge joke. I only realized they were in some form of relationship when Pi-O initiated the breakup. There was one forced kiss, no proper proposal or agreement and whatsoever no couple scenes. At any moment, you could easily assume that she was a really good friend of Pi-O. I personally thought the relationship was completely unnecessary and as I said, it was glue to hold Pi-O together because all the adults around him professionally sucked. But anyways, if they wanted to put it, at least execute it properly. After everything was settled, the so-called relationship had no formal closure either. And exactly where was Jae-in's self respect? I still think the actress did really well in that role.
7. Kang Ji Hye's backstory and how she conceived Pi-O and who was the father was extremely necessary according to me. Tbh, I had a hunch that Hyeon Su might be the father based on the past relationship they had but there was no explanation for either of these things. Similarly with, Jeong -yu, I was hoping his actual father and a bit of his 'good childhood would be shown"
8. Towards the end, Pi-O's mother emotionally manipulated him over the abduction, when Pi-O said he would shift the blame onto him, why did she not take a step then and there but wait for everything to fall through?
9. In the chappel, Anna took Pi-O's musical scores, why? No explanation, no consequences.
10. Jeong-yu was way overstimulated after his return and maybe overlooked things and generally misunderstood pretty much everything, but that was necessary to the plot I guess.
11. What exactly is the relationship dynamic between Seung Un and Seon Ju? Why did she move out later?
Things I loved about FHTS:
1. The amount of yearning from both sides was very equivalent which is something I adored but what took me by heart the most was Jeong-yu getting injected so he could temporarily use his hand to show Pi-O and finish his guilt.
2. Jeong-yu's character change on his return was just EPIC and the coldness was so beautifully performed. I really liked how his first score was being written to being performed with Pi-O both times. Nemesis is now a very beautiful word in my dictionary, like a painful misunderstanding.
3. I loved when Kang Seung Un said in the end "Leave me alone with the music" as he wanted to say goodbye to his lifelong partner after wishing goodbye to others. The performance of Lacrimosa, the pain, the falling down, just perfect.
4. I am a huge fan of the pre disaster moments between Pi-O and Jeong-yu, especially the candle lit room scene. Pi-O and Jeong-yu equally helped each other out both times, in similar ways, which was warm to watch. The musical arcade scenes were probably my comfort scenes from the entire series. They were carefree and happy in most of them.
5. All the piano scenes and the conducting scenes were top-notch. It is extremely hard to mimic these movements if you are not a professional pianist or conductor but the actors nailed it.
6. This series was a lot about human nature as well besides music, I loved when Pi-O said to Jeong-yu that he would have thought of getting rid of him anyways because that is how a lifetime runner up's mind works. That is true human nature, no one can be pure. In context to this, there is a heavy religious undertone to the whole drama. From Ji hye's guilt and church scenes to the Lacrimosa performance and Seung Un falling, to the last scene in a church.
7. Pi-O's grandfather finally helping him out and acknowledging him and smiling the widest during the premiere of Nemesis was a very emotional scene for me.
8. The closure for Jeong-yu and his father was sad but needed. In terms of suffering and still striving, Jeong yu's character has always taken my heart. He is in short a good human despite what he went through and his instinct for revenge, especially because for the second half, he had absolutely no one to take care of him. On this note, I liked the dynamic between him and Yeon Su, it gave mother-son.
9. Overall, both main characters were very well done and portrayed different personalities facing different dilemmas, Song Kang and Lee Junyoung were an amazing choice.
10. The ending was very well done. It was good to see that both Pi-O and Jeong-yu started playing for people and for what made them and others happy instead of hyper focusing on stage performances where every single note is judged, because the most important instrument for music is the soul. And as Jeong-yu said, he wanted to play for happiness and not for revenge anymore.
11. Lastly, the opening scene of this drama was agonizingly beautiful. I think there is something raw and pure about bleeding onto the piano keys while playing.
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