Great Actors, Lousy Writing

The show couldn't bring me to care about ANY of the characters. ML's character is weak af, the police officer didn't do much, and Roh Bin was so badly written. Only the psycho had something going on for himself lol.

Not to mention, the show treated all the women like plot devices who didn't matter at all. Not a single good female character is a bad look for them. The ML's family doesn't count.

The "supernatural" in the synopsis set the expectations too high for me and the show didn't deliver at all.

I don't know how this is topping the Netflix global charts atm, this was garbage. The first few episodes were good, but it kept getting worse progressively. They spent all the money on good actors and artsy transitions and forgot to pay the writers. Or maybe ChatGPT assisted with the writing.

I hope they don't come out with a season 2, but the ending made it seem like they would. I'm definitely not tuning in again.

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It's burning my eyes but I cannot look away

This show has two major flaws:
1. Lack of positive female characters - I mean, who am I supposed to relate to and root for?
2. The writer's foolish ways of fooling the viewers

I can applaud them for not turning it into a redemption story for trash characters; the story briefly had me afraid of it happening.

Some ships are not what anyone would expect but the matches later makes sense; even the ones that had me cringing to the max.

The plot twists (as expected from the writer of Penthouse) did not disappoint at first BUT be prepared to feel fooled by fools.

Many people didn't like the acting but it was good enough for me. Especially Min Do Hyuk, Mone, and Um Ki Joon's character. I love Guem Ra Hee's actress but this role isn't her best imo.

Music and production was good overall but the VFX were so bad that it made me laugh: it's worth a dishonorable mention lol.

The biggest disappointment was how little Bang Dami's character & story matters in the first season; the only ones I cared about. Maybe they'll do right by her in season 2.

You may get a good laugh out of it at best or give yourself a mild injury by face-palmming too hard at worst.

It's worth a watch if you've got time and have nothing better to watch.

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Only The Main Couple Matters

The reason for couples being cheesy-in-love was maybe so we don't complain about the LACK OF ROMANCE - cause what we got, in the end, was cringe af.

The random pregnancy arch ruined an almost perfect couple - almost cause Bomi was annoying as sh!t. Who would their sister so bad? It seemed like a bad attempt to portray a younger sibling: almost as if she was a 'teenager' because her behavior as an adult was unacceptable.

The WORST part of the show was the AGE GAP couple. Ew. I don't know the age gap in the drama, but the real one is revolting enough. Age gaps around 5-years are good; I'm even down with 10-year age gaps when both parties are FULLY GROWN (30+) consensual adults but 44 and 25!? 19-YEAR AGE GAP - are you kidding me? I was so uncomfortable that I had to play it at 2x speed.

The married couple was only entertaining because of Yu Jung, but after one point - I had enough of how mistreated she was. The ending made it seem like a miscommunication trope, but it was so much worse than that. To act as if Yu Jung was SOMEHOW at fault for her husband acting indifferent to her - PLEASE. No man in love would treat his beloved like that. He felt shivers when she was in the shower bruh tf. At first, I thought that maybe he was ace or just having difficulties in that department (ruled out cheating cause he didn't look the type), but no. He just "GOT USED TO HER" - LMAO. And how did it turn back to normal in the end, huh? All her attempts to initiate romance or even a conversation were met with a whiny adult who just wanted to put it all under the rug. She felt so neglected that she even considered DIVORCE, but it all was MAGICALLY resolved in the end, huh?

And what's with K-dramas treating cheaters well these days? Neither Ju Hwan nor Yuri faced the consequences of their actions. The show is fiction: at least show some poetic justice in it. Yuri even ruined another man's life, and people just let it happen - WTF? Soo Hyuk acting like her two-timing was okay was NOT OKAY. Ju Hwan has generational wealth, so his only loss can be losing Bora.

And finally, the BEST part of this show: YOO IN NA. I love her so much that I couldn't digest giving this show a 1/10 despite the disappointments. I LOVED BORA SO MUCH. Yes, she wasn't perfect, but feeling her pain during the breakup and seeing her journey was so well done. I felt her pain, cried seeing her cry, and rejoiced when she moved on. Soo Hyuk was great, too - not for lacking boundaries or letting a cheater get away but for being a good man. I loved that he mourned the loss of his relationship too, and his inability to communicate. It's a first: liking a character's communication problems cause at least he tried. He cared, and he got it at last. He was so kind and generous towards Bora: this is how people express their love - those who have trouble saying "I love you" out loud do at least.

The ending was rushed, but the cringe made me glad about it, lol. I binged 12 episodes in one day - that's how good the show was. However, I struggled with the last two episodes. I regret making the last 2-episodes my "treat" after a long week's work ;_;

Side Note: the old friend being a big, mean, jealous woman didn't sit right with me. Though, she wasn't the worse afterall. They showed a WLW-couple in the montage of Bora reading her fan's messages, but the subtitles used 'he/him' pronouns for the lover. Korean doesn't have gendered pronouns, so I get the confusion. Bora was called 'skinny fat' - don't make me laugh.

Anyway, that's a wrap, and I look forward to seeing more dramas starring In Na now.

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A K-drama that actually K-drama'ed after a long time!!

Every character is written SO well, and I mean so damn well!! You know an author is good when you can't even hate the "bad" guys and root for the greater good for everyone involved.

Every character, interaction, arc, just everything made sense. It was all intertwined like life often is: and is it NOT easy create such a remarkable story with loveable characters. Kudos to the author fr.

There was not a minute that was boring, I was glued to the screen the entire time wanting to know what happens next. Even the most mundane things were interesting and when the showed the purpose behind every little details.. WOW!!

And not just the story.. the actors, direction, cinematography, music, EVERYTHING HIT!!

Everyone did so well; I laughed with them, cried for them, cheered them on. And I'm still so invested, I can't to find out what happens next. I noticed many elements that they might play on in the next season and I can't wait to tune in!!

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Semantic Error will put an error in your mind: CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

The good:
1. no gross sexualization of queer relationships
2. it doesn't give Comphet
3. enemies to lovers done right!
4. hot & cold interactions between the MLs, nothing stale
5. the MLs breath life into the characters
6. Jang Jae Young will give you butterflies
7. Chu Sang Woo is the perfect smart, introverted MC
8. struggling with sexuality but no homophobia
9. episodes are short and fast paced, no time to get bored
10. subtle comedy, romance, drama: nothing over the top

The bad:
1. the first kiss not consensual

Overall:
Some of these points may seem like the bare minimum but how often do you see LGBTQ+ stories done right? This was a refreshing watch and I didn't expect it to be this good.

Whoever told me that BL is just fetishization of gay men was criminal for keeping me away from this genre. This is my first BL and it was so addicting that I read the entire manhwa released so far after only watching 3 episodes of the show. HIGHLY recommend.

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