Reviews

A Nice Drama with a Very Supportive Group of Friends!!

Everyone needs to have friends like Serizawa's friends!!!

Everyone in the friend group, from the boys to the girls, are very open minded and friendly. No one has prejudice towards anything. They are all supportive of Serizawa and Suzuki regardless of their love for BL or how stupid their actions are. The group creates a safe space for everyone that watching their interactions makes you comfortable and feel good watching. So, while Serizawa and Suzuki's romance is cute, personally, I think Serizawa's friends really are the heart of the drama.

•❅✧❅✦ Story ✦❅✧❅•

Serizawa and Suzuki's romance is adorable. Serizawa is the puppy seme male lead, while Suzuki is the loner and dense uke. From the start it's quite obvious that Suzuki isn't a loner or awkward because he wants to be. He is a the awkard and loner outcast because the friends he made the previous year have traumatized him for his love of BL and he is still navigating through the shock and trauma. And Serizawa, who is clearly outgoing and filled with positive energy, is the light in Suzuki's world from way before they become friends. Even as Serizawa and Suzuki become friends, it's quite clear that Serizawa has a thing for Suzuki. The loving gaze, to the hurt expressions, Serizawa really wears his emotions on his sleeves. Even through the hurt, Serizawa is positive and always helpful to Suzuki, something that he has in common with his friend group.

Serizawa's friend group really stole the show! They are always understanding and supportive to both Serizawa and Suzuki, regardless of the situations. They make everyone feel comfortable, even comfortable enough for Serizawa and Suzuki to confess their feelings for each other in front of the whole group. To be honest, if the friend group wasn't as supportive and able to create a safe space for Serizawa and Suzuki, they would have never gotten together. They probably would have just been classmates until they graduated and been each other's "one that got away." Serizawa and Suzuki bond over their love of BL novel, and the whole friend group also reads or has read BL, so they have no problem with Serizawa and Suzuki talking about it, or getting togther. They just seen it as the norm, so while Suzuki's former friends created a toxic environment for Suzuki and made him feel wrong and comfortable, Serizawa's friends make everyone feel welcome and safe.

•❅✧❅✦ The Taboo Subject: BL ✦❅✧❅•

While the drama does not go full on into the subject, it does lightly discuss how the BL genre is something that is very commonly read (or watched), yet embarrassing to discuss for men. Suzuki is ostrasized from his former friend group for enjoying BL openly, which is something society expects. Yet when Suzuki meets Serizawa and his friend group, he is surprised to learn that everyone in Serizawa's group has read or watched a BL at some point. They just don't openly discuss it.

Despite not going fully into the subject, the drama does great in showing how the times have changed. BL still isn't widely accepted, yet many people have at least read (or watched) BL and enjoyed it at some point in their life. It's not embarrassing, just not a topic that is openly spoken about yet.

•❅✧❅✦ Overall ✦❅✧❅•

The drama is a fun drama to watch. It's not something that you would probably put on repeat 200 times (maybe just something you will come back to rewatch every once in a while), but it is a drama that you will enjoy watching and feel good watching. The positivity and support from Serizawa and his friends will really put you into a safe and comfortable space. Also the OST is something that you will have repeating in your head for a few days after watching is.

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The fluffiest of all fluffy dramas.

Let me start of my saying AGHHHHHHHHHH
Because the directing, the acting and the story in this drama are all SPOT ON.

Usually, from a high school love story you would expect miscommunication, fights, hesitancy and all that Chaos that comes with teen love. And this Drama just captured it PERFECTLY.
Whatever fights that happened, the arguments were all with reason, reason which a teenager would have. I think the director probable had the BEST teenage years to be able to direct SUCH and amazing drama. And the fights don't drag out for a long time, they get solved when they get started, like they're supposed to.


LETS TALK ABOUT THE STORY FOR A MOMENT..
A smart kid with family problems and middle class wealth, having to tutor a Rich kid who has never studied a day in his life. It is probably The most perfect story that anyone can make. Cliché? Yes. But it's just amazing.
The acting is just brilliant, not even a single bad episode.
HOWEVER. I don't know that if it's just me, but this'll get you extremely hooked from the beginning, but ep 11 felt a bit boring for me... That's about it. But don't skip it just because of that.

The actors did such a great job that I could feel the overwhelming emotions of teen romance flooding through me. The story writer... I WISH BOTH HIS PILLOWS ARE COLD ON BOTH SIDES FOR ALL OF ETERNITY.

That's all I can say, overall it's extremely fluffy and cute and it'll make your stomach explode with happiness and joy and glee, it also has the perfect amount of emotion that hits you hard enough to feel sad, but not shedding tears sad... It's just the perfect amount of everything out into it😭😭
PLEASE WATCH IT. PLEASE. YOU WILL THANK YOURSELF.

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one of the stupidest plot twists in kdrama history

i'm sorry but jiwoo's father was supposedly an undercover cop that never betrayed the police yet NO ONE from the force contacted her after his death or went to his funeral?????? the captain who supposedly cared so much about her dad yet never contacted her???? this is so fucking stupid, it made more sense when we thought the dad was a gangster but apparently he was an undercover cop that the police just didnt gaf about since they never bothered to go pay their respects or contact his daughter and yet im supposed to take this plot twist seriously? stupid ass writing for a stupid ass show😭

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A Woman Who Refuses to Be Defeated by Fate

"Against the Current” is a historical drama that proves a compelling female lead doesn’t need to wield a sword or command an army to be powerful. Sometimes, intelligence, patience, and the ability to remain composed in the face of adversity can be far more formidable.

Tan Song Yun delivers a wonderful performance as Xu Lan Xiang/Shen Jia Lan, portraying a woman who loses almost everything but never completely loses herself. What makes Lan Xiang so interesting is that she doesn’t rely on dramatic outbursts or impulsive decisions to overcome her circumstances. Instead, she observes, calculates, and waits for the right moment to act.

Watching her navigate the complicated politics of the Lin household is one of the drama’s greatest pleasures. She understands that survival requires more than simply being clever; it requires knowing whom to trust, when to speak, and when silence is the better option. Her determination to protect her adoptive parents and secure a better future for her family gives her journey an emotional depth that extends beyond revenge.

What I particularly appreciate is that Lan Xiang’s idea of success isn’t limited to winning a powerful man’s affection. She wants independence, security, and the freedom to decide how she lives her life. Her journey is ultimately about reclaiming the choices that were taken away from her.

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2026/11/01/against-the-current-series-review/#more-2602

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If anything happen just go home

This drama potray many kind of trauma that we as the society does not pay attention to this things
How all the character has the flaws and the flaws actually is good for them to build their value
The first 2 episodes hooked me and this drama show the real situation occured how money hold the places in society

How hard your life, just come back to your family and this one really healed even broken soul
I cried every episode for the patients and all the main character hold the emotions

I really like the dynamics between ai Chen and Dr liu, they is mature couple does not to keep loving every time but the chemistry is awesome

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A waste of Cheng Lei's acting skills

The good things: Cheng Lei's acting. He carried this whole drama on his shoulders all alone, he's the one actor that kept me watching. Nice cinematography and colour palette too, together they recreated the drama's atmosphere very effectively,

The bad things: The script. I was going to drop this drama because it turned into a cheap soap opera by ep 18 or 20, but I made an effort and plodded along because of Cheng Lei's acting. I just skipped through eps 35 to 40. It was the same unwatchable gruel that was regurgitated time and again through almost the whole drama. I simply don't understand the producers' criteria when they spend a lot of money to give a drama a highly promising start, some excellent first 10 eps and then they just let it spiral down into mediocrity and from there into cringe. I'll clarify that this perception is regardless of whether it is a happy or sad ending, I always evaluate the whole drama. To make matters worse, some actors playing main characters cannot act to save their lives, including Ping Jun, Xueting, the Yu father and the brother in law. In my view, the writer needs to be fired and the actors whose characters I mentioned above need to go back to drama school.

I would rate this drama with a 9 for Cheng Lei's acting and a 1 for the script, pace and the dead pan acting of several relevant characters. I think a 6.5 averages this generously.

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Intense! Remarkable! Amazing

When this was promoted, I did not right away jump watching the moment it was aired. The story has many difficult scenes to take in. This is one drama that have so many subplots, that you would need to take full attention.

I am amazed at the amount of work these actors put into this drama. Such a remarkable project to have 3 languages spoken with full expressions, not just in tone, but also seen in each actor's faces. The deception isn't just done by one person. Each character hides something that little by little is unfolding before our very eyes.

We are halfway through the drama and up to this point, we do not know if the freedom fighters will win, if any of the leads suffer in the end. We can see through the eyes of these actors the intensity of story that even in the behind-the-scenes in YouTube, the actors are affected.

These characters have their own secrets or "deception"
1. Ga Gyeong/ So-Hee - the one with most lies, and despite the lie, she found someone trusting her to do the job.
2. Sato Hideo/ Kim Tae Ung - his lie maybe about his mother, his past as a pickpocket also which he did not reveal to So-Hee
3. Soran - lying about her identity before Sato Shinichi and her relationship with Yoo Philip
4. Sato Shinichi - what happened to his wife is another thing hidden from Hideo.
5. Hideo's mom - this is a mystery to me... where is the baby she was carrying when she left their home?

Many disguises, many aliases just to get what they want.
One wanting to get out of the country
One stuck in the middle as if he lost his own identity
While many have held on to their own identity and planned to take their freedom back.

The actors may have put in so much work to get into character, and the director and producers created the space where they executed this drama. This is such a big production, may not be like the old traditional period drama, but this may speak of one historical period desiring their own sovereignty.

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Squabbling rich women, an omnipresent God-like FL, nonsense second-half, zero romance & racism

The drama centers around the masks people wear & how FL takes off the masks of all such people - poor, rich, imperial, women, men, whatever. Following are things I found problematic & idiotic in this drama (not necessarily in order):

1) Ep.18-25: I think we the viewers DESERVED a proper resolution of FL & ML's relationship status than this half-baked lame-duck will-she-won't-she & constant humiliation & exploitation of ML at the hands of FL that has continued since Ep.18 (divorce) with ML only an after-thought of FL's to 'save' him from spring-snowfall!

In the beginning of this series, FL was an amazing woman of willpower, intelligence, courage & never-give-up kind of personality. Her problem was that she had been used & exploited by everyone close to her (her so-called parents & siblings), she learnt about different vocations & tricks by doing odd jobs on the streets, including that as a pot-chamber cleaner.

She was also on death-row & god knows what the jail guards did to her before she was 'saved' & swapped for on-death-bed-duke. Later on she found out she had been the OG noble baby all along but she doesn't fit anywhere, neither in low-brow or noble class because of her background & sudden riches. She also suffers from severe abandonment issues, because even now she's second-best for her mom, & everyone else - except for guys, of course. She also does not know who can love her as her independent self with the kind of jobs & life she had & wants to build.

That's the crux of FL.

ML is the ONLY ONE who has stood by her since he survived death-bed - yes, he was suspicious of her - but that was because of Jundai/same-face thing, he always admired her personality, her humane treatment of people & his family, & her ability to survive any situation by working around people. Her goal regarding the estate also impressed him. He is the ONLY ONE who has saved her before divorce & told her again and again that he liked her - the former pot-cleaning woman- than the scholar's daughter or Jundai or anyone else.

This guy is top military officer, can beat anyone in military sports, is a general, a titled guy, with no concubine or maid issues. He's a catch now just like he was one day one, when he was dead fish on death bed! And he has only had eyes for this woman. He is the ONLY ONE who knows how she operates, why she does & think the way she does & knows how to handle her & take her rejection again & again.

Even after divorce, ML has approached her to help her or save her or work with her in her plans for estate/Han/ empress/CP. He has been reduced to being exploited, humiliated & forever- doormat status by FL.

Their dialogues are stunted, their conversations are shallow, they have been circling around the same issues - marry again - for last 8 episodes - instead of having meaningful convo that takes plot forward. They don't laugh together, they are never happy together. And they are the leads!

FL has been reduced to a woman who has empathy for everyone except THIS GUY!!!! She's straight-forward & blunt with everyone except him! She is protective & loving to everyone but him! It's so infuriating to see so much imbalance.In Ep.23, FL actually took him on a tour of her old work life, I don't know why ML said 'you are different, be different.' & 'Would you have looked at me if I wasn't duke?' because what he should've said is 'I've loved, admired & supported you for a year, with & without marriage, if that doesn't convince you of my true heart or feelings, I don't know what will - because problem doesn't lie with me, it lies with you, you are insecure & have abandonment issues, if you have an empty heart, no one can fill it for you.'

Because that's the crux of it & we have been robbed of a proper romance arc & given a now-b**chy irritating FL who is almost god-like in her omniscience & power, who is still acting like she doesn't know what ML is after or talking about. Playing dumb to extend the plot when there is none.

It was good that they got divorced simply because both deserve a proper wedding - which both didn't get the first time around. But the drama just didn't know how to create an actual relationship of equals between FL & ML, or cozy comfy chemistry. Hence the wooden FL & ML & wooden love story.

2) I also find it extremely distasteful that ML's best friend - who is also his compatriot in war - Gen. Qi has been angling & proposing FL - in any other series how can ML trust Gen. Qi to not kill him in battlefield just to get to his wife/ ex-wife? So that entire setup went too far as well.

3) The second problem with the drama is that we were shown one-constant in FL's life: her maid in Liu household: Bitao (who was sent with her from Wei household) - they had formed a sisterhood & bond over the course of 17 episodes & then Bitao betrays FL for dramatic contrivance which made no sense considering the kind of power FL, her actual mom & men siding with FL held. Plus, Bitao was necessary to show that FL could build trust with people & lead them & she would not be betrayed by them. That was taken away by the nonsensical betrayal & then Bitao's death. She gets maid of king's consort (her mom's maid), for second-half of the drama & her interactions did not feel the same anymore. It seemed like the show wanted to start from zero again.

Ep. 15-16 did not make any sense & regressed FL's entire journey so far & that of her maid Bitao's. Why would FL (Fake-Rao, now actual Rao) beg, plead & want approval of all these vicious women ALL of whom tried to kill her in previous episodes, but most of all to call that king's consort 'mother' with tears in her eyes when she had done nothing motherly for 20+ years, abandoned her daughter, was not invited to the wedding of that daughter, tried to kill an innocent woman for that daughter, & now was all weepy & confused because FL's life once again was in her hands? Why would the magnificent FL reduce herself so pathetically?

Also, maid Bitao's actions did not make sense - in a proper drama writing, she would've changed sides a long time ago, because First Aunt was an old hag living with 2 other hags, while Lu's had a Duke, a General, & there was Gen. Qin too to back up FL/Lady, & she could've easily disclosed First Aunt's role in exploiting her in front of king's consort - who was going to kill FL for providing fake evidence. I think the drama took away all the bond-building between these 2 women & created a backstabbing maid just for dramatic contrivance.

I've heard & seen these kinds of scenes - women being cruel to other women - are TRP gold in conservative societies' TV dramas (e.g. South Korea, India, Turkey, Pakistan, China & Spain) where audience loves a woman being humiliated, insulted & degraded by other women. What happened in Ep.15-16 had no place in the kind of character arc & story built for 14 episodes, between FL, her maid & the actual culprits, there was a better / funner way to disclose the truth. Extremely B-grade write-up.

This drama is a hit because it shows a bunch of rich hysterical scheming women all conspiring against FL & FL beating all of them AND all of the men at their own games.

4) FL is shown to be better at all kinds of politics, strategy, in court, in farms, in households, on the streets & knows how people will react & do, she can manage money, gold, jewelry better than any businessman / rich woman. She knows age-old rituals - that she had never seen or heard of - & is better at doing everything than seasoned, nobility & imperial women. We are told it is because she grew up around down-on-their-luck scholars & concubines & that gave her world-view on human nature. This is a stretch & unrealistic, considering she grew up poor & was married off after 5 days as Fake-Rao & has had no tutor besides the very young maid Bitao as support. Besides, as a poor woman, she was busy earning a living, not trying to find out how these super-rich people's female households operate or men live or what kind of grand gesture will move some grandma or guy - who have seen it all!

In Ep.1-8 I doubt any newbie former pot-cleaning woman would have managed to successfully do a grandma birthday banquet when she's been a Fake-Rao for only a few weeks & doesn't know the customs & traditions of these rich 'imperial-linked' households. Not only that, she successfully did the temple rituals too & managed to save the entire Lu family by recognizing an old imperial jade!!!!!!

5)I guess her noble birth is supposed to explain away why she's sooooooooooo good at everything..........This is something I've seen C-dramas perpetuate again & again, but especially this year - that a person of noble birth WILL ALWAYS BE BETTER THAN A POVERTY-STRICKEN PERSON -when both are raised in similar poor/low-class environment, a noble will make most of the opportunities, will have more intellect & be more successful than any poor-born / so-called low-caste/class person.

I've seen this time & again in Chinese dramas, & I don't know why this racism / casteism is given outrightly in C-dramas, that people of noble birth will be better (intellectually, physically) than people born in / from 'low-class' poverty-stricken backgrounds & any lead of 'noble' birth will end up in position of power / nobility because they are innately able to better handle anything & everything & make most of the opportunities than co-called 'low-class' births. I saw it this year in the cringe-fest Against the Current, Royal Betrothal, Blossoms of Power, The First Jasmine, Ashes to Crown etc.

It's great that FL's Fake-Rao was a pot-cleaner/did odd jobs to make ends meet. BUT the big reveal of Ep.1 that FL may be OG-Rao's twin (who was presumed killed in drum on orders of First Aunt) makes me wonder what obsession C-dramas have with 'nobility' & so-called 'blue-blooded' people ending up in their rightful place in blue-blooded households??? It's almost like C-dramas perpetuate the thought that 'true blue blooded' woman had the 'mental capability' (due to being of noble birth) to learn from every person she met in poverty & was intelligent enough to maneuver even these prestigious households while her 'siblings', the sister & brother who she grew up with in poverty-stricken family, where her father was selling her, those siblings are good-for-nothing, gullible, had no job, no hard work, just free-loaders, & spent ALL of the money only to come looking for Fake-Rao in capital again & again to get more money & now have ended up at enemy Lord Han's mansion, eating meat in Ep. 8 without realizing they are hostages! It even gets worse when we are told later on how her 'mother' used & exploited her & never gave a damn about her life even though she worked hard for her & her 'siblings' - so no one who grew up with FL had good nature, grace, humanity, sense, smarts, wit or courage, in fact that entire family who 'raised' her was full of free-loading exploitative corrupt people.

I don't know where this mindset comes from but it has NO PLACE IN 21ST-CENTURY WORLD - & this drama is made for 21st century women with a 21st century sensibility of showing female empowerment against all odds & is a ratings hit because 21st century women have probably liked her role & story arcs. These kind of story-telling & character-arcs are incredibly racist in my view.

But the drama takes it a step further - FL is just BETTER THAN EVERYONE IN TOWN, rich or poor, at EVERYTHING!!!!! She knows more than the grandmas, the aunts, the moms, the young ladies who have studied more than she ever did, she knows more than the king, the crown prince, the other princes etc. etc.

5) One of the most lackluster male leads in C-dramas this year has to be this guy / ML, who is given a cardboard, robotic, hanger-on role, he has zero personality, zero interactions as a 'human being / son/ grandson/ friend' with his family or buddies or his male servant. The actor can act, but he looks & sounds & acts robotic. He is shown as being enthralled by her beauty the second she's in his house (& FL is not THAT pretty btw as everyone is calling her, SFL is prettier) - even though it's the face of the scheming evil woman he swore he'd never even see. For him to be jealous of & pull a sword at his army friend over a woman he is having conflicting feelings over is reprehensible. It shows he has no good sense & is easily controlled by women. How is this guy a general???? How is he a catch, if not for the title?! Lord Han is a guy I've seen in vertical dramas. I guess this is his big break - to play yet another male robot in a drama full of male robots.

6) Actress playing FL is acting the hell out of the 2 roles, that's for sure.

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The romance story I’d be glad I never experienced in real life!

I don’t know, maybe this is an unpopular opinion, considering how many critics have praised this kind of relationship. And okay, I can accept the fact that it’s realistic. We’re talking about two people with flaws, after all.

But… this relationship is early winter, not early spring!

It’s toxic!

Luke is arrogant, harsh, controlling, and manipulative most of the time, although he can occasionally be protective. You can never really tell whether he genuinely loves Flora or simply enjoys being the one who hurts her, as long as nobody else gets to.

And perhaps that’s what makes his character so frustrating. He may care deeply for Shang Zhitao, but he struggles to give her the emotional reassurance and security she needs. His problem isn’t necessarily a lack of love. It’s his inability to love her in a way that makes her feel valued.

And isn’t that just as important as love itself? Because what good is loving someone if the way you treat them constantly makes them question their own worth?

Here’s a man who is supposed to establish and enforce boundaries at work, setting all these rules for everyone else, yet somehow he’s the one who gets to break them by entering into a “secret relationship” with a newbie!

Even his choice of Flora is interesting. Out of all the beautiful women around him, he chooses the one he can control most easily because she’s young and deeply insecure. Was it really love, or was it a strategic choice?

At one point, he even tells her to her face that she’s the easiest person to manipulate! And then he has the audacity to get angry with her for not telling him she was sexually harassed.

I wonder why!

Even after they get together, he takes almost every opportunity to belittle her whenever something goes wrong.

But, of course, Luke isn’t the only one who contributes to this unhealthy relationship. Flora has her own share of responsibility, too.

She knowingly enters a relationship with her boss, fully aware that it will have to remain a secret and that, at least initially, it will be limited to weekends. How much clearer could the warning signs have been?

And after all the miscommunication, the belittling, the constant undermining of her personality, and the devaluation of her feelings, she chooses to stay. Over and over again. All it takes is a few crumbs of affection and reassurance from him, and she’s willing to give the relationship another chance.

So, is she responsible for some of her choices? Yes.

Is she insecure and lacking confidence in herself? Also yes!

But there’s another side to this. Flora repeatedly hides things from Luke and lies to him. And while that behavior isn’t healthy, I can understand where it comes from.

Every time she keeps something from him, it’s usually because he has already judged, insulted, or belittled her. Out of pride, she refuses to give him another reason to confirm his negative opinion of her.

She wants to protect herself, preserve her dignity, and prove that she has value. And that desire is perfectly healthy!

But the fact that she has to hide things from her own boyfriend just to maintain her self-respect? That is anything but healthy.

Another thing that bothers me is how Luke is portrayed in comparison with the other men around him. He’s certainly no saint, but almost every potential competitor turns out to be unethical, manipulative, or downright villainous. Take Alex, for example.

It’s almost as if the story needs to make everyone else look worse so that Luke can appear to be the better choice.

But being better than someone terrible doesn’t automatically make you good!

And here’s the thing: relationships like this, and people like Luke and Flora, exist everywhere.

It could be you. It could be me. It could be your friend, your colleague, or the person living next door.

But just because something is realistic doesn’t mean it should be acceptable.

The problem isn’t that these characters have flaws. Of course they do! Everyone does. Expecting perfection from a partner would be completely unrealistic.

But, to my way of thinking, that’s not what a relationship is supposed to be about.

Your partner should be the person who gives you a break from the harshness of reality. A shoulder to lean on. A source of comfort and reassurance. Someone who accepts you for who you are, including your imperfections, and helps soften your insecurities rather than exploiting them.

And for me, that is non-negotiable.

We don’t get to choose our families. They are who they are, with all their virtues and flaws, and we have little control over that.

But we do choose our partners and our friends.

And those choices say something about who we are, what we value, and the kind of people we want to become.

So, even if Luke and Flora’s relationship is passionate, intense, and perhaps even rooted in genuine love, I don’t think it’s mature or healthy enough to realistically become an endgame relationship.

And if someone isn’t looking for a lasting relationship and simply wants to follow their instincts and enjoy the passion, that’s perfectly fine, too—as long as neither person ends up hurting themselves or the other.

But passion alone doesn’t make a relationship worth keeping.

And that brings me to another famous example of a toxic yet passionate romance: Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

Did they end up together? Yes.

Was their happy ending more of an exception than the rule? Also yes!

But is that really the kind of romance you could expect to find next door, with a realistic chance of ending the same way?

Definitely not!

Because, at the end of the day, I can understand why a toxic relationship might make for an addictive romance novel.

But I don’t believe that a love story being compelling to read makes it a love story worth living.
Thank you if you actually made it through this entire review! 😂

Of course, this is just my personal opinion, and trust me, I’m someone who often finds herself drawn to red-flag characters! But this time, it was simply too much for me, especially when it came to the relationship dynamics and the way the characters’ psychological profiles were developed.

That being said, huge congratulations to the actors! Their performances were incredibly convincing, and their chemistry was undeniable. They really brought these complicated characters and their relationship to life!💛

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Half a Concept: What's It All Mean?

I find myself going back to the same two questions: What does it all mean? And what was the message here? I paid attention. I was completely locked in for all 8 episodes, and yet I still cannot tell you exactly what they were trying to say.

The show is built on two main concepts, neither of which is particularly new: capitalism and the supernatural. It explores how far people will go for money, alongside the classic trope of those who exist in the "in-between"—fighting forces from the other side to keep the public safe. Here, the Spider Staffing Agency recruits people who are already willing to die, using them as part-timers for extremely dangerous supernatural tasks.

This is explicitly baked into their recruitment process - who places a job ad on the underside of a bridge? If you survive a suicide attempt, you get placed on these jobs. If you survive the jobs, you get a fat payout. If you get trapped or die? Well... you wanted to die in the first place, so good riddance, I guess. The bigger your debt, the higher the temptation to take on more shifts. See how that works?

The overall concept is great. What fails—disastrously so—is the execution. The episodes have incredibly short runtimes, which ultimately leaves massive lore and plot points completely unexplained by the finale.

Some glaring questions include
• What's on the other side? And what causes certain areas to be flooded with yang energy? Are these hotspots always active?

• How long has this staffing agency existed? Is it strictly a modern operation, or does it date back before the Joseon era? How and why did it start? Was there a specific catalyst that brought it into existence?

• Who is Mr. S, and how long has he been around? What was the deal with the spider on him in the first episode? Y'all ever seen a spider bleed red? Let alone the amount we saw?

• Do the locations that the part-timers work at go back to normal the next night if the part-timer who worked overnight successfully finishes their shift?

• Why did Mr. S not punish Hyeok Jun after he told not one but 2 third parties about the agency and the jobs?

• When our Hyeok Jun's sister goes through the door at the cinema, he is kicked out. What was that about? The theory of equivalent exchange? If so, how did she manage to leave, and why did the place let her go with nothing, or rather, no one to take her place?

• We are shown that some humans, outside Mr. S and the part-timers, know about and deal with the supernatural. They are willing to let people die. Eg. The security guard at the milk delivery building and the doctor who lets our main guy and his sister out in the clinical experiment episode. How do they know, and how are they paid for all that?

• Yeon Ju remains mysterious to the end. We learn that she's a monster from the other side, but how did she become that? Was the locker that her friend put her in a door to the other side that trapped her? Only for her to find her way back 40 years later?

In her final monologue, she mentions something along the lines of 'instead of one person dying unjustly, everyone will equally perish together.' What did she mean? Instead of just one part-timer risking death every human risks the chance of dying if they meet an entity from the other side? What? I didn't get it😭

• What was Yeon Ju mad at Mr. S for? Because he sent desperate people to die to 'feed' the other side? Or was there some deeper, hidden history there?

As I said, there are just way too many loose threads left unthreaded.

In terms of the horror element, I think only 2 episodes genuinely scared me. Ep 2 - A Journey with a Pierrot: that mime/clown thing was scary as fuck, my dude. And Ep 6 - The Walls Don't Talk: it was incredibly chilling seeing how little regard that foreman had for human life and how he justified all the murders he committed for a paycheck.

Final Thoughts
All in all, this feels like an unfinished story. It’s like being handed a book with half the chapters blacked out, only to reach the final page and realize you weren't given the full story, but half of one. Now, I’m expected to wait for a second half, keeping my fingers crossed that it actually restores the missing pieces from the first. Honestly, I'm not even sure I'd bother watching a second season at this point.

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