this could've been ten times more amazing. this drama had so much more potential. there are some big flaws and some minor flaws, and if these stupid things weren't even there, this would've been mind-blowing goodness. it would've been astounding and amazing and every thing else that counts as good stuff. but the biggest, biggest problem in the drama was its pacing and it's length, and judging from other reviews i've read of this drama, many other viewers would agree with me.

this was too slow-paced, and it was dragged out way too long. instead of making 40 episodes, even 32 episodes would've been better, with the shortened version of 16 running an hour long each. things went much too slow, and their portrayal of the lawyers and prosecuters had so much more potential too, and in certain scenes they were great (ji chang wook roasting the shit out of hyeong jyeong soo or the legendary criminal in court is literally to die for) until they weren't anymore. most of the drama was supposed to be about bong soo, and i remember being so happy watching the first episode and knowing it was going to be one hell of a ride, but you get to the last ten episodes, and everything's about no ji wook, no ji wook, no ji wook. don't get me wrong, i want my fill on ji chang wook just as much as any other fan, but the drama and plotline were supposed to be mostly centered around bong soo and her backstory, and in the end, we barely knew anything about her anymore. it was . . . the length of it ruined everything, and in it, a lot of important things got lost in it too. what happened to that man who could sometimes predict the future and predicted that two people in that room would die? he died. who else died? i don't think mr. bang died and came back to life.

it wasn't as if the entire drama was dull and lackluster. in fact, there were several scenes that almost rekindled the spark i felt at the first episode, and those scenes i found in episodes 38, 39, and 40 actually, though they were spread out towards several of the other episodes. but agh, the length of it bothered me so much. if it was paced faster, this could've been hella better, man. and speaking of rekindling sparks, let's talk bong soo and ji chang wook. damn, i hate it when the woman chases after the man and i felt embarrassed on bong soo's behalf when she literally dragged him after her, but it was still comical. but that aside, their romance. what happened? the length of the drama happened. i come back to the length every single time. their spark kindled, died out and you could barely see it (like did they even care about eachother anymore?) and then when it came again, it was literally just a small, tiny piece. it was . . . if the drama had fewer episodes, their romance could've been portrayed in its full beauty, because aside from the matter of the kindling on and off, when they were in the feels, they sure as hell were in the feels and put you in the feels too.

and the last and most important aspect of this drama: i loved jyeong hyeong soo up until we found out about his involvement in the rape. if there was one big twist, ji wook framing him as one of the rapists was definitely one of them. i got so attached to their killing treasure (well he did attempt to kill mr. bang but i tried to see him in the good light, he portrayed an amazing villain) and up until the part we find he was a loSER WHO SAT BACK AND WATCHED THE RAPE HAPPENED KILLED EVERY SINGLE LAST ONE OF MY VIBES. FOR HIM. so up until we find out that part, i loved that guy. the criminal part of the plotline was amazingly delivered though, and if it weren't for the pacing, it would've gone better. every bad things comes down to the pacing, period.

i'm not done yet. eun hyeok was an adorable treasure, and speaking of him, what really happened? did they actually cheat? did they not cheat? nara asks him whether he ever told ji wook the "truth" and that makes me wonder whether they actually slept together or just almost slept together. that got lost in the plot too, and i didn't see proper chemistry between her and eun hyeok. nara's character, on the other hand, was a sulking, brooding, pitiful, pathetic woman who. could've. been. portrayed. so. much. better. you see her in the first scene kicking butt, and you love her, and then you see her demanding ji wook take her back and being pitiful when he says no, and it makes you wonder what the hell happened to the wonderfully badass character we saw the first time. they did horribly on nara's character. she remained pitiful and pathetic through and through, with no meaning or actual backstory to support her at all. so much for the badass title of lawyer. we never even got to see her successfully win a trial either, and when she pursues anything because of the team, she's told off by her manager (is he her manager?) about what crap she is and she should just leave. her and the other girl (the one who helped bong's ex cheat on her) could've had better character development and intensity, but both were crappily done from somewhere in the beginning.