Starts with a bang, grinds to a whimper.

A series with so much promise that flaunts its brilliance throughout the first 8 episodes, before immediately falling flat in a so tangibly abrupt shift in pace, tone, focus and cohesion by the 9th episode and never truly recovering until the season finale, at which point the damage is done, and the great things about the show are not enough to fully sustain the level of intrigue it held from the starting gun.

A positive note is always good to start on. The cast and the acting, for the most part, ranges from satisfactorily well executed to brilliant and multifaceted. There's one major character (not the leads) who is either by design or by actor interpretation acted out so comically wooden it sticks out like a sore thumb because the rest of the cast is so much more vibrant in comparison. But the leads both do a fantastic job and the breadth of acting required is no light load either - the female lead in particular is challenged with the Herculean task of portrayed 3 different characters in one, many times one after another, many times in the same scene, and by the end I felt greatly moved; she did a fantastic and mostly believable job with all the characters, motions, and genres she's given. Oh, and the OST is great. No complaints from me, the main theme and all the schmaltzy lovey dovey songs are all captivating or exhilarating in equal measure. Aching I shall single out in particular; it will remain on my playlists for quite some time.

Unfortunately for me acting and a scorching soundtrack are very rarely the most critical factors in elevating a great show. Bad acting can kill a show's immersion but good acting can't salvage serious flaws in writing and direction. As the title of this review alludes to I was blown away by the execution on both fronts from the getgo, namely those 8 episodes that are so jarringly different in quality from the remaining 12 you can consider them separate seasons. Just as well too because there's a tight and plot driven narrative force to the first 8 episodes: from the jump there are deadly high stakes for both of our main characters, and for those 8 episodes our protagonists are sprinting toward the event horizon of these stakes and they build a deliciously simmering chemistry in the process of doing so. And then they reach this critical juncture of the story, leap the hurdle(s) in a moving and very complete sequence in essentially the season finale for that self contained first 8... and then the jet engines switch off.

From 9 onwards, the high stakes that are so pivotal to both help the narrative expedite onwards AND enable the outstanding, unique chemistry of the leads to shine just fades to nothingness. They're there, vaguely floating in the background but the show does a poor job thereonout of reminding the audience of their existence, most chiefly since the characters are barely aware of any stakes themselves. The tonal shift swaps to a romance lean heavy with an extra large helping of slice on life - which is not a problem in itself, had the show not packaged itself early on as something largely adjacent yet fundamentally different - a fantasy action epic with subtle romance. From thereonout the show bludgeons you with the romance like a hammer and if you've already bought deep enough into the love line of the leads, good, it's still more than an entertaining watch and plenty of fluff is presented on a silver platter to chew on. And chew on, and chew on some more because that's the half of the crux of the series for the next 12 episodes. The other crux is the interjection of some much less compelling side storylines (a notorious 'false identity' narrative perhaps the most reviled one - watch out for this one because it comes, it makes itself home and it doesn't budge until the season is done), the problems of which are exacerbated in no small part due to the visibly slowed pacing overall. Oh my god, the pacing, what happens? So it turns out this was never meant to be a 2 part, 30 episode stretch. From day 1 it was a 20 episode series - but corporate intrusion makes it mark and of course, such a fruitful series MUST have its pockets eked out of every last penny because no good thing can be left untouched. So 20 becomes 30, but 20 was never meant to BE 30 so it really ends up not being a 30 episode deal, but a 20 episode deal with some air blown into it to pad out the hours. But dripfeed the episodes with just enough romantic and comedy that from a light entertainment standpoint, it's still a fair watch, but underneath the surface the complexity of the storyline begins to buckle and wear out as needless lovelines and take center stage in their stead.

Character development is perhaps one of the biggest casualties of it all. Here's a fun challenge to undertake for anybody planning to finish this season - take note of every single major (read as: named) character in the series. Mark down every character that makes you stop to think, 'oh boy, what an intriguing idea and set up for a character. I can't wait for the show to start unwrapping this character and realising what they can do.' And then by the end of the finale, walk through your list and figure out for yourself how many characters actually had a chance over the course of 20 1.5 hour episodes to actually meet the promise they clearly have. Of the four major young protagonists only our lead has a chance to showcase any change at all (though thankfully his arc IS a phenomenal one - making it all the most bewildering that the other 3 could not be extended the same courtesy within this first season). Most underwhelming is a certain looming figure established so early on, telegraphed over and over to be a gamechanger of a figure who meets a drab end so puzzlingly anticlimactic that is sure to leave one scratching their head thinking: that's it? Huh. No emotional heft, no fully routed character arc, no lightning in a bottle revelation to up the narrative to that next level that feels just out of reach but never comes.

This is a case of producer interference turning a great thing into a under-realised one. What could have been a cogent condensed epic got milked into a still exciting and occasionally brilliant serial, so choked with so many bells and whistles in the name of financial greed that this gorgeously loaded premise somehow manages to overstay its welcome. Goddammit, corporate greed. There's a lofty, sweeping narrative contained in here and it's so overwhelmingly great when you get to see it.
But that just makes it all the more underwhelming when you don't.

7/10. Outstanding, inconsistent, sublime, disappointing, explosive, misfired. Let's pray Part 2 will be vastly more focused; there's plenty more underneath the surface to do some real justice with.

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