Is this a good drama? Yes.
Are its characters well developed, for the most part?Also yes.
But can it, at times, seem draggy and honestly, kind of boring?YES.

I can definitely see how and why people see this show as a certified classic, creme de la crème of the drama world, as it admittedly has one of the more interesting and gripping plots I`ve seen so far. Action, drama, revenge, not your typical run of the mill, ruined male protagonist... All of these are its good points, together with a great soundtrack. But I still have to hold it to a higher standard, being as popular as it is. This means that my praises are still valid, but criticism is harsher. However, despite it all, it somehow still leaves me wanting more and honestly, I don`t know why. This drama is one of those things which you can respect more than, really love. Like how Lars fon Trir is a great film director, but his films are mostly just not my cup of tea. This logic can be applied here as well. Some plot lines are rather regurgitated and brought back throughout this drama, that I also wasn`t a fan of. It`s a thrill ride up until episode 5, I would say, when it slows down for some actual character development but it also becomes strangely void. My favorite part of any drama is typically that down time, when we actually start to learn and care about our characters. Only, as a fan of quick and tight characterisation(present in "It`s Okay, That`s Love" for an example, where you immediately get the feel of the characters you`re presented with with their first lines), Moon Ho was effectively my favorite character, alongside Seo Jung-hu and Jo Min-ja, who is, to me, the most organically strong female character. Moon Ho has layers upon layers of personality and you only grow more interested in the next one as you peel the previous layer. He`s funny, jaded, charismatic and even though he didn`t get as much of screen time as I would`ve liked(this goes for Min-ja and Moon Sik as well), he owned every scene he was in. The older actors are a delight to watch and you actually feel the weight of guilt, corruption and fear they experience fully. The problem lies in the two main characters however. Or rather, the way they develop less and less as the show moves along. I just feel like for the amount of episodes they were given, Jung-hu and Chae Young-shin, deserved some more introspection. When Young-shin was talking and opening up about her abusive childhood in the second episode, I felt it rushed. It felt almost out of place, this early in the show, so I would`ve liked if they had taken the same approach to her backstory as the one they took to Jung-hu`s backstory, which was presented a lot more naturally. That one scene with his mother in the shaved ice shop is an AMAZING representation of good writing and I urge you, even if you won`t watch this, to see that scene, even all on its own, it`ll move you, for sure. His development however, is halted when the romance kicks into gear. And it`s like writers give up on his intellect as well, as he makes some really questionable decisions which, his character at the start of the show would never make, because of his intelligence. And this is the weakest part of the show. It might be unpopular, but due to the way it was presented, I actually wouldn`t have minded if Young-shin and Jung-hu didn`t end up together. I feel like that would be the final act of tying everything together so that each character can get his or her, fresh start.

The last five episodes are definitely draggy, so much so that I actually ended up watching them as background noise. It`s obvious that what they needed to develop, they haven`t really, while they spent A LOT of time on stories which are nonconsequential when compared to, say, Jung-hu`s and Ki Young-jae`s relationship, which I wanted developed SO MUCH as I loved his character too. But they kill him off so quickly, so he was basically a misplaced and mishandled plot device to further the story. At times, the mystery is handled well, like with throwbacks to the five friends and their time at the junkyard. Other times, it`s messy and chaotic, like Jung-hu trying to find out whether his dad is guilty or not. The action is top notch though. Sure, it`s outlandish and obviously a bit campy but it works, and I wish we got more of it.

Overall, this drama is good, but definitely overhyped for today`s standards. Though it revolutionized the drama game, it`s still far away from that title of timeless excellence, at least in my eyes. But as a good action, it`s definitely up to snuff.