It's been such a long time since I last watched a drama or wrote a review, I'll be either shot on the spot or given merciful hugs - you know, the return of the lost lamb and all that. I hope for the last, but given what it’s to come, I can’t be too optimistic. This show has one quality in my book: it prompted me to finally watch an Asian drama to completion, after months of going over all my repertoire of already known by heart dramas. And what better way to come out of a slump, than jump happily into Melo at its highest... or lowest? Relax, I'm not going to bore you with long explanations as to why I find this drama ranges from interesting to mediocre - suffice to say that it has all your average paraphernalia attached to a melodrama: cancer, stabbing, abandoned children, scheming side characters, the mob, the corporation with its shareholders and a complete absence of logic. This said, if one enters Meloland with a clear head, one is also prepared for all the above and more. However, I'd lie if I said I enjoyed the descending curve of both plot and acting, which started well and ended horrible. Beautiful Song Hye Kyo suffered a pitiful case of DAS (Degenerative Act Stiffening), to the point in the end I couldn't help but wonder if there was a real person under that perfect skin of hers. Her behavior was at times so random I had to check whether I was watching the same drama or had been catapulted into another while I blinked. Jo In Sung is like a shot of hormones through the veins, hence making every other consideration a little hard, at least until my female mind has fully cleared from the fantasy of his km long legs and other amenities. But while I think he’s great in portraying his desperation, I do believe there was just a tad too much desperation as a whole. Why not simply make him play poker, fight and interact with yummy Kim Bum? The ending of the drama would have made just as little sense anyway. Therefore, the acting as a whole was good, at times incredibly intense, but at others over the top or repetitive. Not the best I’ve ever seen. And as superficial as the issue may be, I found the kisses, all of them, highly disappointing, almost a relapse into K-drama wall-kisses after a series of dramas that made us all hope for a change. I loved the piano pieces, not so the songs. On the positive side, there’s a plot that keeps you curious as to what will happen, a wonderful cinematography – I do believe this feature should be given a mark of its own, That Winter would get a full 10 – a pair of lovely side characters, well portrayed by Kim Bum and Jung Eun Ji, and Moo Cheol, one of the most complex and appealing villain I remember . It’s definitely worth a try, granted you like makjang and don’t really care for plausibility in a work of fiction. Oh, and please someone give me the name of Oh Soo’s coats’ designer, because they are all absolutely gorgeous and I want them (yes, before you ask, I know the coats will not come with Jo In Sung inside them…)