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This review may contain spoilers
Glory… to the FL’s omniscience lol.
Going into Glory, I already had a feeling romance wasn’t going to be the main point here, despite having romance as one of the main tags. I might’ve started this at the wrong time, or maybe I was just expecting a different balance, but either way, the tone became clear pretty early on.
The opening was rough for me. There’s an overload of names, faces, and tropes/themes all at once, and it took a while before I felt grounded. What did stand out early, though, was how deliberately unsettling everyone felt. No one felt neutral, I didn't trust anybody, including those were introduced to us as close with the leads. Some people were obviously scheming, while others hid behind politeness, filial piety, or concern, which somehow made them feel even more suspicious. There were characters who played pitiful a little too well, people who wrapped manipulation in "good advice," and those whose jealousy practically sat on their faces. I didn’t know yet who would turn dangerous and who just needed context, but the discomfort was very intentional.
What kept me watching was the dynamic between the leads at the start, though I still was confused who were who with the side characters lol. The ML, even with amnesia, was sharp, observant and even sly, not the helpless pawn I was afraid he’d be at the start. And the FL was clearly not someone to underestimate. Watching them quietly test each other, circling with their wits, was engaging and entertaining. Early on, it felt like we were being set up for two intelligent leads on equal footing.
That’s also when I started to see why this drama would be divisive.
It becomes clear pretty quickly that the FL prioritizes herself and her household’s reputation above all else, which on its own isn’t a problem. My issue is that the drama still insists on selling this as romance. But over time, a pattern starts to form: she quietly but boldly advances her plans, uses the ML’s wit and influence when it suits her, reassures him just enough to keep him close, and moves on. When he confronts her about being sidelined or disrespected, the conversation rarely goes anywhere. A smile, a deflection, sometimes intimacy, and the issue is conveniently buried before she ever has to take responsibility. The ML, being smart, knows this. He sees the pattern, calls it out, yet still lets it happen. She keeps making unilateral decisions that affect him deeply, often at moments when he’s most vulnerable, and he’s left to absorb it quietly. And then the cycle repeats.
She does care about him; I didn’t doubt that. But she consistently cares more about control, outcomes, and her family’s reputation. Some argue this makes the show female-centric or "empowering," but I don’t buy it. Emotional manipulation doesn’t automatically become empowerment just because the character doing it is a woman. Independence doesn’t mean making decisions while dismissing others’ feelings when inconvenient. Strength isn’t just dominance. It isn’t always being right, staying one step ahead, or avoiding the consequences of your choices. You can be independent and strong while still making hard decisions without using someone else as emotional collateral, respecting those who trust you, and facing the impact of your actions. Empowerment comes from accountability, allowing vulnerability, and treating people who stand by you with respect rather than tools. This isn’t a critique of women-centered dramas. In fact, I enjoy complex, emotionally responsible female leads, but the way FL's character was written here would have frustrated me no matter who was written this way, even when genders are swapped.
What made it even more frustrating is that, again, the ML isn’t stupid. He knows what’s happening. And yet he keeps running after her. He keeps forgiving. He keeps absorbing the emotional cost. Watching a character that is that capable slowly get reduced to "he endures this because he loves her and she's all he got" was exhausting. It's frustrating because the drama teased something better early on. I wanted to see two sharp leads working together as equals, combining strategy, trust, and mutual respect. Instead, the story increasingly centered the FL as the solution to everything, while the ML’s struggles, history, and emotional weight were sidelined until very late, and even then, rushed. For a drama with two leads, it often felt like only one of them was important.
At some point, despite all the romantic scenes, it just stopped feeling romantic to me. I kept watching anyway, because I’d already adjusted my expectations, and to be fair, the story outside the romance was still entertaining.
Without the romance, the plot would have been at its strongest. The FL's world felt busy, and this was where the writing felt the most confident. The mix of heritage, control (monopoly even) over the tea industry, internal power struggles, and moral compromise was compelling to watch and unfold. You could feel the weight of legacy pressing down on everyone involved, and the consequences of decisions were elaborate. Supporting characters weren’t just there to orbit the leads; everyone had motives and agendas. At different points, I found myself second-guessing first impressions. It kept me alert, and it made the political and familial conflicts feel vital.
And then there’s the grandmother. I understand the narrative role she was meant to play, but wow, she was exhausting to watch. Her control, cruelty, and lack of faith in her own family caused more damage than any external enemy ever did. Instead of protecting the family, she strangled it. She pitted her granddaughters against each other, measured worth through alliances and appearances, and weaponized authority instead of guidance. The fact that she came from a matriarchal background yet upheld some of the most suffocating patriarchal values felt tragically ironic.
There are also other things I appreciated. The sisters, for all their scheming, actually grew on me by the end. Their conflicts were ugly, but there were lines they wouldn’t cross, and eventually even they recognized how much damage the grandmother’s rigid ideals had caused. Also funnily enough, I've felt more yearning and emotion with the sisters' love stories than the leads. I'm happy they got their real happy endings. Other side characters who initially felt threatening were given enough context to make sense in time, even if I never fully liked them.
Unfortunately, with so much narrative weight given to the FL’s arc, the later shift to the ML’s background felt uneven. The conflicts tied to his family were rushed and compressed. We’re introduced to his mentor, his biological father, his blood brother, and his larger “family,” only for everything to be wrapped up in a handful of episodes in the end. His backstory was supposedly sad, but the drama doesn’t even give us enough time to feel it. Even the issues dealt here was supposed to be for the ML, yet the FL had the spotlight. I also wanted him to have a real chance at happiness, especially with reconnecting with his brother, but of course, that was taken away too. In the end, it just reinforces why he keeps running back to the FL: she’s all he has left, for real this time. And that makes him one of the loneliest male leads I’ve watched in a while.
And then comes the FL, trying to end things for what she thinks is for their own good just barely after that arc, as if the ML had just not been emotionally beaten and drained by his family. Telling him to stop their relationship so she can remember him as he was, before the power and ambition that might change him like his father. The irony made me roll my eyes knowing that she's becoming almost as controlling and emotionally rigid as her grandmother, the very person she just confronted to change ways a few episodes back. And yet, despite her cruelty, he still chooses her, giving up his power to be with her. This may be a happy ending in his point of view, but I just see this as an ending that was very much still controlled by the FL's desires.
By the end, I wasn’t angry nor frustrated anymore, I was just tired. I don’t regret finishing this drama, because I was invested anyway. At the very least, it was consistent in what it chose to be. But my final takeaway is that the “glory” promised by the title ultimately belonged to the FL alone. Everyone else, especially the ML, just had to adapt around it. Maybe it would've been better if the poster had only her on it lol.
The opening was rough for me. There’s an overload of names, faces, and tropes/themes all at once, and it took a while before I felt grounded. What did stand out early, though, was how deliberately unsettling everyone felt. No one felt neutral, I didn't trust anybody, including those were introduced to us as close with the leads. Some people were obviously scheming, while others hid behind politeness, filial piety, or concern, which somehow made them feel even more suspicious. There were characters who played pitiful a little too well, people who wrapped manipulation in "good advice," and those whose jealousy practically sat on their faces. I didn’t know yet who would turn dangerous and who just needed context, but the discomfort was very intentional.
What kept me watching was the dynamic between the leads at the start, though I still was confused who were who with the side characters lol. The ML, even with amnesia, was sharp, observant and even sly, not the helpless pawn I was afraid he’d be at the start. And the FL was clearly not someone to underestimate. Watching them quietly test each other, circling with their wits, was engaging and entertaining. Early on, it felt like we were being set up for two intelligent leads on equal footing.
That’s also when I started to see why this drama would be divisive.
It becomes clear pretty quickly that the FL prioritizes herself and her household’s reputation above all else, which on its own isn’t a problem. My issue is that the drama still insists on selling this as romance. But over time, a pattern starts to form: she quietly but boldly advances her plans, uses the ML’s wit and influence when it suits her, reassures him just enough to keep him close, and moves on. When he confronts her about being sidelined or disrespected, the conversation rarely goes anywhere. A smile, a deflection, sometimes intimacy, and the issue is conveniently buried before she ever has to take responsibility. The ML, being smart, knows this. He sees the pattern, calls it out, yet still lets it happen. She keeps making unilateral decisions that affect him deeply, often at moments when he’s most vulnerable, and he’s left to absorb it quietly. And then the cycle repeats.
She does care about him; I didn’t doubt that. But she consistently cares more about control, outcomes, and her family’s reputation. Some argue this makes the show female-centric or "empowering," but I don’t buy it. Emotional manipulation doesn’t automatically become empowerment just because the character doing it is a woman. Independence doesn’t mean making decisions while dismissing others’ feelings when inconvenient. Strength isn’t just dominance. It isn’t always being right, staying one step ahead, or avoiding the consequences of your choices. You can be independent and strong while still making hard decisions without using someone else as emotional collateral, respecting those who trust you, and facing the impact of your actions. Empowerment comes from accountability, allowing vulnerability, and treating people who stand by you with respect rather than tools. This isn’t a critique of women-centered dramas. In fact, I enjoy complex, emotionally responsible female leads, but the way FL's character was written here would have frustrated me no matter who was written this way, even when genders are swapped.
What made it even more frustrating is that, again, the ML isn’t stupid. He knows what’s happening. And yet he keeps running after her. He keeps forgiving. He keeps absorbing the emotional cost. Watching a character that is that capable slowly get reduced to "he endures this because he loves her and she's all he got" was exhausting. It's frustrating because the drama teased something better early on. I wanted to see two sharp leads working together as equals, combining strategy, trust, and mutual respect. Instead, the story increasingly centered the FL as the solution to everything, while the ML’s struggles, history, and emotional weight were sidelined until very late, and even then, rushed. For a drama with two leads, it often felt like only one of them was important.
At some point, despite all the romantic scenes, it just stopped feeling romantic to me. I kept watching anyway, because I’d already adjusted my expectations, and to be fair, the story outside the romance was still entertaining.
Without the romance, the plot would have been at its strongest. The FL's world felt busy, and this was where the writing felt the most confident. The mix of heritage, control (monopoly even) over the tea industry, internal power struggles, and moral compromise was compelling to watch and unfold. You could feel the weight of legacy pressing down on everyone involved, and the consequences of decisions were elaborate. Supporting characters weren’t just there to orbit the leads; everyone had motives and agendas. At different points, I found myself second-guessing first impressions. It kept me alert, and it made the political and familial conflicts feel vital.
And then there’s the grandmother. I understand the narrative role she was meant to play, but wow, she was exhausting to watch. Her control, cruelty, and lack of faith in her own family caused more damage than any external enemy ever did. Instead of protecting the family, she strangled it. She pitted her granddaughters against each other, measured worth through alliances and appearances, and weaponized authority instead of guidance. The fact that she came from a matriarchal background yet upheld some of the most suffocating patriarchal values felt tragically ironic.
There are also other things I appreciated. The sisters, for all their scheming, actually grew on me by the end. Their conflicts were ugly, but there were lines they wouldn’t cross, and eventually even they recognized how much damage the grandmother’s rigid ideals had caused. Also funnily enough, I've felt more yearning and emotion with the sisters' love stories than the leads. I'm happy they got their real happy endings. Other side characters who initially felt threatening were given enough context to make sense in time, even if I never fully liked them.
Unfortunately, with so much narrative weight given to the FL’s arc, the later shift to the ML’s background felt uneven. The conflicts tied to his family were rushed and compressed. We’re introduced to his mentor, his biological father, his blood brother, and his larger “family,” only for everything to be wrapped up in a handful of episodes in the end. His backstory was supposedly sad, but the drama doesn’t even give us enough time to feel it. Even the issues dealt here was supposed to be for the ML, yet the FL had the spotlight. I also wanted him to have a real chance at happiness, especially with reconnecting with his brother, but of course, that was taken away too. In the end, it just reinforces why he keeps running back to the FL: she’s all he has left, for real this time. And that makes him one of the loneliest male leads I’ve watched in a while.
And then comes the FL, trying to end things for what she thinks is for their own good just barely after that arc, as if the ML had just not been emotionally beaten and drained by his family. Telling him to stop their relationship so she can remember him as he was, before the power and ambition that might change him like his father. The irony made me roll my eyes knowing that she's becoming almost as controlling and emotionally rigid as her grandmother, the very person she just confronted to change ways a few episodes back. And yet, despite her cruelty, he still chooses her, giving up his power to be with her. This may be a happy ending in his point of view, but I just see this as an ending that was very much still controlled by the FL's desires.
By the end, I wasn’t angry nor frustrated anymore, I was just tired. I don’t regret finishing this drama, because I was invested anyway. At the very least, it was consistent in what it chose to be. But my final takeaway is that the “glory” promised by the title ultimately belonged to the FL alone. Everyone else, especially the ML, just had to adapt around it. Maybe it would've been better if the poster had only her on it lol.
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