If "emo" was a genre, this would definitely fall under that category. It's clear pretty early on that this drama wants to make you cry. Sure, there's a love story, but more than anything they are tissue fodder. Now, I only actually cried a little, but I just want to be clear that those looking for a feel good or light hearted drama have somehow wondered onto the wrong page.

The story itself revolves around revenge, crime, and the price of success, with one character getting caught up in a life he didn't plan, and another character having her entire perfect world turned upside down. Somewhere in between there is an ill-fated love story. I do like melodrama, so I can generally handle all the feels this drama offers, but I admit that it was even too much for me at times... not the circumstances, but the heavy handedness. Some of that could be the fault of some weak writing and acting.

The cast is lead by Yoon Kye Sang who plays a man who reinvents himself into a con man in order to seek revenge. His struggle to fight against his true nature is heartbreaking, from the very first, beautifully shot, scene. I haven't seen him in any drama since "The Greatest Love", where he gave me major second lead syndrome, but here he is completely different. Here he gets to show off a much wider range, going from bad@ss to vulnerable with ease. I thought he was excellent, but I can't say the same for his costar. Han Ji Hye as Han Yeong Won is either a case of an actress not bringing enough to the role or the role not giving her much to work with. She played the sheltered rich girl part well, but her emotions were pretty one note. She was good enough for me to believe her character, but compared to the epic tears and emotions from Kye Sang, she often felt flat. I mean, she's dealing with some major tragedies and betrayals in this drama and her reactions always seemed a little "Meh". Even her anger seemed super passive, which I think was a character choice, but it made it hard for me to invest too much in her emotionally. I wanted to care about her more than I did. To put it more bluntly, she can be pretty boring to watch. I may have cared more about the whistle than her by the end.

The supporting cast is excellent. Of course Kim Young Ok is the Halmeoni MVP of KDramas, Kim Young Chul was excellent as the worst dad ever, as well as the other wonderfully horrible family members, and I especially loved the cast of cons as an ensemble. I was honestly more interested in Kim Yoo Ri as the petty and jealous Seo Jae In than I was in the female lead. And the real star of the entire cast in my opinion is Jo Jin Woong as Park Kang Jae. I think there is a reason he earned a spot on the promo poster, and that is because he is by far the strongest character in the show. I liked that almost all of the characters blur the lines between good and bad, and are complicated, but his character made me angry, made me root for him (even when he was wrong), and brought me to full tears. I have already seen him in Signal, so his being so good is no surprise, but his character was imo the best one in the drama as far as the writing and performance goes.

I feel like the story itself was interesting when in came to the cons, especially in the first episode, but instead too much time was spent on two sad people trying not to want to be together. The romance is also very restrained, which makes sense to the story, but it means more tears and anguish than loving or passionate moments. If I watched this while it aired, I probably would have dropped it after the first few episodes, but instead I powered through the boring parts just to see how it would all end. It also helped that the beginning was so intriguing that even when the story got slow I at least wanted to make it to the part that the beginning scene foreshadowed. The ending wasn't disappointing, so I have no regrets watching the whole drama, but with it's fair share of clichés and tropes it is hardly original, or necessarily recommendable. It does feel more like a movie than a drama at times, but only visually. I also want to avoid spoilers but the characters are far more complicated than the actual story. Just know that you've probably seen this all before.

Would I watch it again? It's possible, but not that likely. I just didn't like the story enough, although I liked some of the characters enough. A lot of it is also already forgettable, which is not a good thing.

Overall, if you choose to miss this drama you're not really missing much. I do believe that Yoon Kye Sang deserved a much better leading lady, and maybe I would have liked this more. Still, it's entertaining enough if emo-melodrama is your thing. Just keep some tissues nearby, just in case.