TL;DR summary: Watch the first few episodes, especially if you love Ji Chang Wook (he is great in this). Stick around for the naked shower fight and the umbrella scene in particular. If you end up liking the destiny pair (and some people do), you might be able to finish this. If you don't, stop watching and make up your own ending.

I started watching The K2 right after Healer, because Ji Chang Wook, and the plot looked interesting. I was not disappointed by the first few episodes. The action scenes are well choreographed and fun, Ji Chang Wook looks great (duh), and there is some nice underlying intrigue with the plot and the characters. If the show had continued like this, all would have been well. Sadly, it did not.

Most of the characters in this show are nuanced and well acted. The initial episodes are compelling because you are trying to figure them out. Most of the characters start out clearly labeled by the show as "good" or "bad," but whether or not they will all stay that way is unclear. A character that the show initially signals is "good" is shown doing "bad" things, but are they being manipulated or is this their true character? Are the characters doing bad things really trying to do good? The uncertainty of each character's position within the spectrum of good and bad is a large part of what makes the plot compelling (besides the action scenes, which are consistently awesome). Song Yoon Ah, in particular, is masterful at her acting within the grey area. Her character is clearly set up to be the big bad at the beginning, but I remained convinced that there was a possibility for her redemption. This was particularly helped by her frankly smoldering chemistry with Ji Chang Wook on screen. This chemistry with the protagonist suggests that maybe she isn't so bad after all.

It is difficult to explain what is ultimately disappointing about this drama without spoiling the plot, but I will try. There was SO MUCH potential with this concept. Unfortunately, the intriguing initial episodes are followed up with the destruction of all subtlety by the ham-handed romance of the destined pairing. The show points out this pair early on, much like how characters are labeled as "good" and "bad." With all of the grey going on in the first few episodes, though, there remains the chance that MAYBE this drama will not play out to the seemingly-destined pair. As we entered the latter half of the drama, it still seemed possible that Wook's protagonist would not end up with the destiny partner; she had a strong reason to love him, but the show never convinced me why his character was really interested in her. Additionally, it seemed that her naive character, clearly outlined as "good," at first, was drifting into the grey area, which seemed to worry her potential love interest. Could he be driven into the arms of the "big bad" instead? This was exciting! Even if the destiny pair did still end up together, having some bumps on the road is always more fun, especially as it plays into the general state of intrigue on the show. That is the show I wanted to watch.

Sadly, I was disappointed. Instead of allowing the protagonist to have some doubts about his destiny partner and letting everyone play around in uncertainty a bit longer, the show throws the pair together shortly after the halfway point in such a way that it becomes pretty clear that they won't be separated. Suddenly, a drama that seemed to be built on the nuance of its characters becomes a straightforward political/spy drama with a romance side plot. Turns out, that's not interesting. I struggled on for a bit, but ultimately stopped watching.