catherine
Strong start but gets muddy
After 2-3 episodes, I had the thought — this could potentially go atop my list of favorite dramas. I haven't watched many of the thriller/crime genre, but the set-up was insane, the acting was amazing, and I was just really invested in both parts of the story: Miho's hospital conspiracy and Changho's prison identity. There were already amazing twists and I also loved the balance we got with Miho and Changho's flashbacks — the tone bounced seamlessly between tension and light-hearted nostalgia.
I felt like about halfway, the pace of the drama started to drop off and repetitive — many of the episodes had the "you thought the bad guys got the upper hand but actually we knew all along and played them" and after using this trope so much it really felt just like plot armor.
I think the vibes of the show continued to be really thrilling, but I definitely feel like the plot itself wasn't tied up too neatly. Even with the nice parts that came full circle, it was like there was one twist after another or just always more to the mystery the drama preferred to spend time on action and confrontations that would take place without actually clarifying what was going on in the backstory.
I also think that the main female lead didn't click so well with me; I think Yoona's acting has improved a lot since K2 but I still don't feel the same amount of immersion that I did with Lee Jongsuk's acting, which was really just top notch, as expected. But I don't blame the actress completely for this either — I honestly think that the FL's character was written very thinly. Yes, she is quote-endquote the typical "strong female character," but it really feels like that was all she was. Her entire character was standing by her husband and not giving up on solving the mystery, but there was never any personal character development outside of that.
Now, that doesn't necessarily bother me if I think about this drama this way: the only main character in this drama is Changho and the plot is the way he is harshly thrown into a situation where the disparity between the privileged and the unprivileged is extreme. If you watch this drama expecting to find a really twisted conspiracy theory — which is how the first few episodes present it — I think the story will end up feeling a little meh, with underwhelming reveals and confusing plot holes.
Overall, the ending is rushed but I'm pretty satisfied with it.
I felt like about halfway, the pace of the drama started to drop off and repetitive — many of the episodes had the "you thought the bad guys got the upper hand but actually we knew all along and played them" and after using this trope so much it really felt just like plot armor.
I think the vibes of the show continued to be really thrilling, but I definitely feel like the plot itself wasn't tied up too neatly. Even with the nice parts that came full circle, it was like there was one twist after another or just always more to the mystery the drama preferred to spend time on action and confrontations that would take place without actually clarifying what was going on in the backstory.
I also think that the main female lead didn't click so well with me; I think Yoona's acting has improved a lot since K2 but I still don't feel the same amount of immersion that I did with Lee Jongsuk's acting, which was really just top notch, as expected. But I don't blame the actress completely for this either — I honestly think that the FL's character was written very thinly. Yes, she is quote-endquote the typical "strong female character," but it really feels like that was all she was. Her entire character was standing by her husband and not giving up on solving the mystery, but there was never any personal character development outside of that.
Now, that doesn't necessarily bother me if I think about this drama this way: the only main character in this drama is Changho and the plot is the way he is harshly thrown into a situation where the disparity between the privileged and the unprivileged is extreme. If you watch this drama expecting to find a really twisted conspiracy theory — which is how the first few episodes present it — I think the story will end up feeling a little meh, with underwhelming reveals and confusing plot holes.
Overall, the ending is rushed but I'm pretty satisfied with it.
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