A Brilliant Story

Hands down, this is probably the best Kdrama that I’ve ever watched.

I started watching this Kdrama without really knowing what the plot was about, and I'm so glad I stumbled upon this masterpiece.

The pacing is marvellous and I’m glad they kept the episodes capped just right at 12. There was not a single bad episode. Unlike countless dramas that reach a rut in the middle of the series, this Kdrama seriously had me shaking throughout the series. It explores themes of family, democracy, and justice and as someone who, admittedly, idolized South Korea as the place to be, giving its citizens their right to freedom of speech, I saw the opposite in their tragic history. It gave me a completely different perspective.

A mystery planted in the beginning kept me wondering about how the story's events would unfold. The plot then transports us to 1980’s Gwangju and a scenario that all drama fans would be familiar with. A small lie blows out of proportions and ends with people getting hurt. However, added on top of that was the setting of the plot, astounding chemistry between the cast and astounding development for each and every character that truly made it special. I am truly blown away by the characters; what great writing and acting!

Finally, at the eleventh episode, I finally knew for certain that the last episode would not give me an idealistic ending. However, upon completing the entire series, I finally realized what the purpose of this drama was. It was to portray the lives of people who went through this point of history and how they are carried forward into the present. Whereby the premise of Gwangju in the ’80s was not merely an extra afterthought to spice up a typical romance drama plot, but a to show the unfiltered reality of hardships during that time. Since it ends with the characters now in the present day with the events in 1980s as a memory, it shows how this past has affected them in the present and made them who they are today.

Overall, this Kdrama is definitely a heart wrenching one paying homage to the people who had experienced this moment in time and deserves a watch.

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