THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH PART 1&2.

I almost passed on this drama because I thought it would be gory and senseless like "My Name," which I dropped, but I'm glad I didn't. Although I did not find this "super amazing" like most people, The Glory, as a story of revenge and redemption, was quite good. I had trouble stomaching the violence that was shown in the first few episodes, and the scenes where Moon Dong Eun was subjected to a curling iron, but this made me so angry that I really wanted to see the comeuppance due to the perpetrators.

Song Hye Kyo is great as the long-suffering victim who is intent on bringing hell on Park Yeon In and her band of bullies. It was oddly satisfying to see how the FL calculates through her revenge plot, not by directly going after the bullies, but by infiltrating those who are around them for years. We see Dong Eun's practiced patience as she waits for opportunities like she does in the game of Go. But sometimes, this waiting gives way to frustration, especially when her plans are thwarted by the very people who are supposed to have your back (ahem, your mother-phuker).

As a thriller, melodrama, The Glory delivers, but if you are expecting romance, it falls flat. Despite the presence of Lee Do Hyun as a romantic partner for Song Hye Kyo's character, Joo Yeo Jung is at most a love-sick puppy following after the woman of his dreams. They are only lumped together for convenience's sake and their kiss was underwhelming. Moon Dong Eun had better chemistry with Yeon Jin's husband, Ha Do Young, but of course, the plotline won't allow such a scandalous pairing. In the end, the perpetrators' supposedly got their just deserts, but I can't help feeling that somewhere down the line, the vicious cycle of revenge will continue again.