This must be the season for really slow dramas. I just completed another drama that had a really slow start ("When the Weather is Fine"), and that one slowly built momentum and became a drama I really liked. This drama was the exact opposite. It started out boring, sparked my interest midway, and ended even more boring than it started. Apparently this drama was cut short, which was a complaint many people who liked it had, but in my opinion, it was still too long. It had a great cast, an interesting concept, and a couple I started to really like, but I just could not connect with this story.

This drama stars Jung Hae In as Moon Ha Won, an emo super genius who is socially awkward but endearing. I thought his performance was great, but there is nothing in the writing to give this character much depth. We see flashes of his past, and the AI company where he is making this mysterious device, but even when this drama ended I felt like I didn't really know his character well at all. Since most of this drama centers around him, this made me easily less interested. He is matched with Chae Soo Bin as Han Seo Woo, a much more warm character but an empath who's emo in her own way. My trouble with Seo Woo is that I really like the actress, and at times wanted to like her character, but she was so ridiculously nosey she was often frustrating to watch. It's a typical "let's heal each other from past loss" love story. These two actors are the only redeeming part of this drama in my opinion, and honestly, it felt like a lot of good but wasted chemistry, unless you really enjoy watching good hugs... a lot of hugs... so many hugs. They really deserved a better-written script.

Why was the script so bad? First of all the story is completely confusing and all over the place. The connections between people, the technology and why it exists, and the random flashbacks make it extremely hard to follow the story initially. It is beautifully shot, which sets the mood, but with no comprehensive story to follow so, I was ready to drop this drama early on. I was encouraged to keep watching for the couple development (which I was told would get better), and I did become swept up in that story, but even that story didn't end up having much substance as the drama went on. This drama basically revolves around two major traumas. One trauma is in the past and slowly revealed through flashbacks. The other trauma is inspired by the first trauma and was so nonsensical to me I couldn't even react to it emotionally. Again, the scenery is beautiful, lots of running/walking/running again through the snowy forest. I could probably sum up most of this story as snowy flashbacks, hugs, talking into a blinking device, random plants, and piano... and that brings me to the supporting characters.

The supporting cast is also great, but with badly written episodes they all become pretty forgettable. My favorite character was Lee Jung Eun as Kim Min Jung (the maid from Parasite) who was such a fun character but her going from patient to random friend felt so disjointed that her story, although interesting, felt totally unrelated to the main plot. Lee Sang Hee as Jun Eun Joo who runs the Boarding House, was great support for Seo Woo, in spite of her own issues, but after an interesting start, she just faded into the background.

The most annoying characters in this were the other "leads" Lee Ha Na as Moon Soon Ho, Ha Won's older niece, who played obnoxious well, but I honestly couldn't stand her character. There's also Kim Sung Gyu who did a good job as Gang In Wook, the brooding pianist, who by the time more about his character was revealed he was still completely unlikeable to me. There is also a suggested connection between them that didn't work for me at all. Then there was Park Joo Hyun as Kim Ji Soo who is also oddly solemn and mysterious and most of her role in the drama was spent speaking in a soft way that kept putting me to sleep. Without spoiling too much, she is the person that this whole drama revolves around, and it doesn't help that she was really boring to me. She also made the male lead feel more like a creepy stalker than someone she had an amazing history with. Once she had less screen time the story finally picked up for me. In that case the writing and acting, I think, were to blame.

Would I watch this again? Although I'm curious to see if the story makes more sense a second time, and I thought the cinematography was beautiful, it was so torturously slow to get through that I can't see myself doing this to myself again. I fell asleep three times during the last episode, which relied on too many tired tropes. Once it was over I was still unsatisfied. I was left with so many questions, especially about this AI tech that was barely explained and Ha Won as a character beyond his traumas. They try their best to give most of the characters some kind of closure/resolution, but I cared so little about them at the time it didn't matter. It almost feels like it should have been a movie instead. They could probably edit this drama down to 2 hours of relevant scenes easily and I would like it a lot more.

Overall, this drama dragged with the intention of being deep when it actually lacked much substance and was often unnecessarily vague. This drama was more mood than real feelings for me, with a lot of the characters overreacting or just sulking and crying. The themes include unrequited love, women who can't mind their own business, trauma caused by guilt and lack of closure, literally running from confrontation, depression, being stuck in the past, curing insomnia and healing through hugs... with the insomnia thing being ironic because it often put me to sleep. If I knew how it would all end I would have dropped this drama when I wanted to initially. If you like the first episodes then I would encourage you to continue, since it does get better, but I would still be reluctant to recommend this drama as one to watch. I did like watching the romance develop, but I would rather see them matched up again in a completely different drama. There are sparks of redeeming qualities in "A Piece of Your Mind", but those pieces didn't make up an enjoyable KDrama whole.