The Good:
The characters are all likable and easy on the eyes. Acting is all solid.
The script is solid and has some genuine gasp-out-loud moments. Twists and turns abound.
Some of the locations are nicely done; it's got a bit more variety than most crime kdramas.
The two story romances are handled well. I don't care for romances and they managed to make them at least watchable. The four characters involved on the romance side all had good chemistry.
The little girl deserves a tv award; she might have been one of the best actors in the show.
The Bad:
The music is bombastic and overdone. Characters can't do so much as take a dump without an orchestra belting out Carmina Burana like it's a lightsaber duel.
The show is filled with typical garbage decision-making by all the characters; they all withhold information to create extra drama, and it gets frustrating and irritating by the time you're down to the last few episodes. There's about 50% real drama and 50% manufactured drama in this show.
Nobody in this show EVER answers a direct question. They always shoot another question back. It's the most irritating thing ever.
Nobody can have a conversation without it taking 10 minutes and devolving into tearjerking music. Every scene tries to be a cliffhanger. I haven't seen this much overt audience manipulation since watching American soap operas. It's kdramas like this that draw the comparison to soap operas.
It's a pretty decent show. It really is. But it's really not up to the standards of other serious kdramas. It's just too overdone. I'd have given it an 8 but the soapiness and melodrama just drags it all down.
And of course the last episode is as bad as everyone said it would be, although it does at least end on a sort of happy note.
You know what this show needs? A remake.
It's a solid story with good characters, and it needs to be remade FOR grown-ups BY grown-ups. I'm so frustrated because I really wanted to love this show, but it's straight-up embarrassing filmmaking.
The characters are all likable and easy on the eyes. Acting is all solid.
The script is solid and has some genuine gasp-out-loud moments. Twists and turns abound.
Some of the locations are nicely done; it's got a bit more variety than most crime kdramas.
The two story romances are handled well. I don't care for romances and they managed to make them at least watchable. The four characters involved on the romance side all had good chemistry.
The little girl deserves a tv award; she might have been one of the best actors in the show.
The Bad:
The music is bombastic and overdone. Characters can't do so much as take a dump without an orchestra belting out Carmina Burana like it's a lightsaber duel.
The show is filled with typical garbage decision-making by all the characters; they all withhold information to create extra drama, and it gets frustrating and irritating by the time you're down to the last few episodes. There's about 50% real drama and 50% manufactured drama in this show.
Nobody in this show EVER answers a direct question. They always shoot another question back. It's the most irritating thing ever.
Nobody can have a conversation without it taking 10 minutes and devolving into tearjerking music. Every scene tries to be a cliffhanger. I haven't seen this much overt audience manipulation since watching American soap operas. It's kdramas like this that draw the comparison to soap operas.
It's a pretty decent show. It really is. But it's really not up to the standards of other serious kdramas. It's just too overdone. I'd have given it an 8 but the soapiness and melodrama just drags it all down.
And of course the last episode is as bad as everyone said it would be, although it does at least end on a sort of happy note.
You know what this show needs? A remake.
It's a solid story with good characters, and it needs to be remade FOR grown-ups BY grown-ups. I'm so frustrated because I really wanted to love this show, but it's straight-up embarrassing filmmaking.