Misunderstandings galore, unpredictable but crazily good
I must say this is a very nice reunion project for the Go Back Couple leads. A suspense instead of a romcom this time.At first, it seems to be just another revenge drama which seems to be the kdrama trend nowadays together with previous lives. On further watch, you can see that it also tackles some mental health issues. Just when you think you have everything figured out, drama will turn on its head and show that not everything is at it seems. The good performances of the actors keeps you on the edge to know what will happen next. Everyone just seems to have secrets that needs to be untangled. I usually drop suspense dramas since I usually get bored by Ep3 (as I was with High Cookie and Maestra) but this one is still keeping me interested.
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The overthiinking stage
I super like this drama makes you triggered and overthiink of many ways. There are many plot twist to be revealed in this series. At first you will hate her husband for cheating on her but when you get to know the back story of why he did it you will feel pity on him, he blames himself that knowing that her wife has a mental condition that he no idea that his face is facing. He has lot of repentance that he feel why he did that and he realized that he loves her wife so much that he do anything to protect his family.Jae Won has a mental condition that she kept eversince in her teenage days. She suffered for it but she kept it and tries the fight it even when she's married. She is very talented and hardworking women but she is suffering mentally. She is a strong and independent woman that faces the trials that is thrown to her she fights everything if she knows she is doing the right thing.
Kwoon Yoon Jin plays her best friend but she has hidden agenda. She has envying the life of Jae Won, for her, her life is too perfect that she wanted to get the people around her. It is more of a revenge that she had a miscarriage to her her first love that she blames Jae Won for it. She becomes more evil that she wanted to ruin Jae Won's life. I am not satisfied on how her character ends in this drama because I wanted her to suffer more hehehe...
Yoon Teo is my new crush ?
At first I suspect him as the bad guy but turns out he is the green flag. He has hidden feelings for Jae Won for a long time. This proves on how he sincerely loves her that she's there to protect her willingly to sacrifice himself to save her. She's not pressuring her he is willing to wait for her until she is completely heals.
It is indeed a happy ending for Jae Won's family she has found her inner peace and fix her wounds from the past. It is truly no happy ending you need to faced every trials in life as long as you overcome them you can say it is a happy ending.
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don’t waste your time
this drama is ass. there is a reason why it only has 800 viewer ratings when it has been airing for WEEKS now lol.Everyone tuned into it and gave it a chance but was very disappointed. most of the videoes you see on social media about this drama is people expressing their distaste. I haven’t heard anyone say anything positive about this drama.
This drama was made to test your patience and see how long you can withstand the leads making terrible decisions and many misunderstandings. If you manage to make it to the end of this drama, it’s either you have a lot of time on your hands, you have very low standards, or both.
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Could have been better
It's not a good thriller.Due to the numerous plot holes and the amount of situations that could have been resolved better than they were.
They keep trying to portray mental illness positively, but really it stays very mildly, and they never go deeply into it.
The plot is convoluted and lines are abandoned.
Nonetheless, all the actors are on point.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Woman's Struggle Against Mental Illness
This is one those of those dramas that could be a “Hit or Miss” phenomenon. There are very few shows that are daring enough to depict main characters with mental disorders. If you have watched this show, Seo Jae Won expresses her life long suffering and anguish in the penultimate episode, while openly challenging the societal mindset and prejudice. As she rightly points out, the disorder itself causes pain to the patient and their family, to be discriminated by the society is ever more agonizing. The scriptwriter indeed hit the nail with this point; patients suffering from mental disorders are the same as others, they have every right to lead a normal life while getting their treatment. There is nothing to be ashamed about, and they should not be prejudiced, the trauma only worsens their situation. As always, Jang Na Ra does a fantastic job portraying the main character’s struggles. Let’s take a moment to talk about Seo Jae Won and her relationships, as the show revolves around them!Read the complete article here-
https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/02/27/my-happy-ending-series-review/#more-574
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Complex, but brilliant
There's a lot going on in this drama, and the mix of mental illness can, at times, perhaps make it a little harder to follow but try to hang on and there's a great story here.I'm not a fan of revenge type stories, and i'd argue this maybe is and isn't, there's revenge flying around in all directions though and that adds to the intrigue of unravelling layer after layer of what happened, when, to whom, and understanding that helps understand their motives to that point etc.
Jang Na Ra is, as always, absolutely outstanding. I can't think of a more perfect casting for this. I must admit, initially I thought the story wasn't going to do justice to her range because it seemed like she was just crying or depressed all the time but she can say more with one expression on her face than many actors can with a bunch of lines. As the story progresses you realise there's so much more depth and she's right there to meet the challenge.
The rest of the cast were great also, especially Ah Rin (the young daughter) who played her role beautifully.
Music is excellent, still humming it as I write this review!
As I say, this one isn't a straight forward easy-watch, I watched this over a small period of a few days and it helped keep all the strands understood and in mind, the little things back and forth. They do reflect back a bit but a lot less than many dramas (which I think is a good thing tbh, sometimes some drama episodes feel a bit like clip-shows, not so here), but you'll still need to keep up with it. There's one moment in the story - I won't go into detail - but you will go from end of one episode shocking conclusion to start of the next and genuinely think "wait, I must have missed an episode or three" - you haven't bear with it, it's actually a really interesting approach to telling that part of the story.
The dramas shows some of the prejudices that mental health sufferers can face, the challenges they have against them, but also leaves you with a strong feeling of positivity and hope as well I think.
Well worth the watch when you're in a headspace for something a bit more complex, this is no lightweight :)
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This review may contain spoilers
It's a drama you need to watch... once !!!
I don't really know where to start.Jang Na Ra who played Seo Jae Won had a very difficult role. Playing someone with a illness of the mind is not easy. Even if SJW has various phobias, playing the role where she has to play with her own fears is courageous. And she played it well!
Her cheating husband Heo Soon Young was played by Son Ho Jun. He wasn't the good guy of the story, but he wasn't the villain either. He made a mistake by falling for his wife best friend Kwon Yoon Jin played by So Yi Hyun. Jealous of her friend, she enjoyed the fact that SJW was sick, and wanted to steal everything from her. She charmed her husband and got close to their daughter. HSY regretted the fact he cheated when he learned about his wife illness by her father, especially the reason why she became that way. Both roles were difficult. Not only to play, but also to watch for the viewer. We learn that HSY died after kneeling in front of KYJ asking to spear his family. Because of that, we knew she was the one who killed him. But the whole story is later revealed in the drama.
Like SJW, we get informations in pieces. We are placed in the same situation that her mind. Characters are seen by us, but we discover later that it was only in her mind. At the end, if you don't watch everything in one go, you can be completely lost. That's certainly the reason of the low ratings. They are also some underdeveloped characters like Theo Harris played by Lee Ki Taek. He is the "love interest" if we can call him that. He knew SJW when they were young, but she didn't remember him. But we barely know anything about him. Even if he's the second role, too many pieces are missing. The detective Oh Soo Jin was also lacking the development story. She's important, yet, we barely know anything. So, it's difficult for the viewer to trust anyone around SJW. But I guess it was the wanted effect to be in SJW's mindset.
In a more general point of view, Park Sun Hee wrote a difficult screenplay. Not only it had a huge cast with difficult and various characters, but the story was written in a way that could have confused many people. So it's not a bad drama in general, but it's not a drama I would love to watch again. When you know the ending and the whole mind thing, you will loose the surprise that made the story interesting. The interest then is lost.
People who gave it between 1 to 5 star clearly didn't watch it carefully and can't be reliable in their judgement.
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Chaotic , irritating and messy piece of shit of story , don't waste your time
I am saving you from a real headache watching this piece of shit of a dramathey used the thriller aspect at the beginning to make it exciting then failed horribly
after that, some of the story was revealed and we went down a rabbit hole of stupid revenge from all the characters
then people die for some Ludacris reasons then the female lead was trying to get better with some good support
but still, the evil people are winning until episode 14
There are a lot of plot holes in each episode,, it's like something happening without logical explanation from sane people but the writer just overlooked it
the evil people are still winning and we are watching this mess
the police are useless, the female lead is useless, and the support is useless
this drama is garbage
I've tried and tried to think positively every weak but the writer is just a nonwriter, he or she is just writing to fill gaps
I wonder why this great actress accepted such a mess
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Who the heck is writing this story
First impression: Very very questionable decisions taken by FL throughout the episodes that makes you wanna question whether the writer was high while writing the story or they think audience is pretty naive to accept it all.What irked me - being stalked for many years but still you (FL) won't share it with your family.
- No bodyguards even though you can easily afford some help.
- Walking alone on the streets at night despite danger to your life.
- FL doesn't ask police to help her but prefer to go to some secluded place.
- Instead of taking some evidence (like photos) she always leaves the scene and doesn't even confront her husband or friend.
What I liked- It is Jang Na Ra's genre.
- Loved the intensity of the show. Just first episode and everything is like bang boom boom.
- Suspense is really good the moment you think FL has figured out everything then things again go down the drain and everyone is sus again.(despite all those dumb decisions by FL you will be on the edge of your seats.)
- Actors are doing really good. Loving our 'Go back couples reunion.'
- No comments on storyline, too much is happening so it is little confusing to comment on it. Lets see how it will unfold, I have high expectations from Jang Na Ra. Show is watchable so far.
PS: The drama has created a web of twists and turns that it itself got entangled in it badly. Despite having amazing cast the storyline is really very bad. I am contemplating whether I should lose my remaining brain cells trying to understand the plot and continue it or just drop it now or wait till I hear that the plot has progressed well and it was not that bad after all. I doubt the latter though with each passing episode. This show could have been really very great if writers tried to do something different (we are all inundated with same type of plot already) and like sane people instead of justifying questionable decisions of actors, they could have made the story more realistic with some character growth. (sigh)
In conclusion I would suggest people : watch it at your own risk.
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Dropped...
I've been wanting to drop this drama since ep 5 but decided to keep trying just because I liked the ML. Saw him first in First Responders so wanted to see his acting range.I am probably one of the few who cannot stand the FL. Sorry to her fans, but I cringe at her acting. Must be because of the role given to her though...
Honestly do not know where this story is going, but it's downhill for me so I am dropping it now and moving on to others worth my time..
Agree of disagree, this is just my personal opinion......
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This review may contain spoilers
Intriguing, loses steam by episode 12.
The drama's intrigue was in its slow unravelling of the main character Seo Jae Won, and her unreliable narration. However, that ends by the tenth episode, and it morphs into a crime investigation that it did not build itself to be. That is where the drama loses its charm, and the sole driving factor becomes Jang Nara's performance as Seo Jae Won, and, for many, her dynamic with Yeon Te-Oh.The first ten hours reel you into a world of suspects and tense confrontations, and I would be dishonest if I say the writing was not 8/10 in that timeframe. There was so much potential to build up on from that point onward. The exploration of Seo Jae Won's anxieties of not being a good mother and creating her a "happy ending", her relationship with herself as a result of her trauma, closure for what she experienced at the hand of those she trusted, and weaving it with the metaphor of the sea. As if there was no way out of the mess that had been created, the writing killed what potential this had. There was a beautiful family and psychological drama hidden in the layers of suspense, but it lost itself to a revenge thriller which does not have the satisfaction of one to give it merit.
All that said, the second half did have its moments, though they could have been delivered in a different setting altogether. Seo Jae Won works on herself, her relationship with her father becomes clearer and the best part of watching the drama, and her finding comfort and companionship in Te-Oh, within the plotting and scheming, was absolutely lovely to watch (despite what the comments may have you believe). I also want to appreciate that the plot moved ahead without beating the bush, which made it fast-paced, but also withholds enough to keep you guessing.
I already mentioned this, but what carried this drama was, quite simply, Jang Nara. Her portrayal of Jae Won in all her complexities was breathtaking. A worthy mention is Son Yi Hyun -- Yoon Jin's tantrums, as I would like to call them, made your blood boil, and we owe it to her for delivering that in earnest. Soon Young as a steadfast father and a vengeful husband would have been an image hard to swallow, but Son Ho Jun made that possible. He gave the drama a flavour you later come to appreciate. The acting was tight, given an experienced main cast and veteran supporting cast, so it makes you wonder how different the drama could have been had the writing not abandoned it so close to the end.
Despite my criticisms, I think I would rewatch the first half for its conspiracies. And the OSTs will be on repeat for sure.
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Good Enough
Korean Drama '' My Happy Ending '' is a psychological drama about a woman who loses everything when she discovers the truth about everyone around her.The drama has a strong psychological drama plot, as it confuses the audience on the real motives of those around the main lead. The guessing game on who is behind everything was, hence, nicely done, and more often than not, it was hard to pinpoint what's real and what's an illusion.
The drama, however, became a justice drama halfway through with not that many fresh ideas. Sure, they handled the main character's psychological problems brilliantly, with sensitivity and care, but the main story got predictable and the twists tiring.
Finally, the performances were strong.
So, overall, six out of ten.
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