Hi Bye, Mama

Hi Bye, Mama

6.5/10

Hi Bye, Mama

Genre:                                    Episodes: 16                   Year: 2020

Melodrama

Comedy

Synopsis:

Cha Yoo Ri has been living as a ghost since she died 5 years ago, leaving behind her husband, Cho Kang Hwa, and their baby. Yoo Ri is given a chance to become human for 49 days to take back her life, only Kang Hwa has now remarried. 

Cast:

Kim Tae Hee (Cha Yoo Ri)

Lee Kyu Hyung (Cho Kang Hwa)

Go Bo Gyul (Oh Min Jung)

Seo Woo Jin (Cho Seo Woo)

Shin Dong Mi (Ko Hyun Jung)

Oh Eui Shik (Gye Geun Sang)

Kim Mi Kyung (Jeon Eun Suk)

Yoon Sa Bong (Ms Mi Dong)

General Thoughts:

I had pretty high expectations for this show, as I found out before starting that it was written by the same writer as ‘Go Back Spouses’ which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was a little bit disappointed when this show wasn’t quite as good as ‘Go Back Spouses’, but it was enjoyable in its own way.

Was nice to watch a show that wasn't super focused on romance

I always enjoy a good fantasy/supernatural twist, and the plot for this show sounded really interesting. There is a lot you could do with this type of set up, and I was curious to see what direction the show would end up going in. While I feel there were a few missed opportunities elsewhere that could have been explored, the drama really doubled down on the emotional aspect of the story, which gave us some really nice character moments.

Man, poor Kang Hwa really got given a rough hand

The first episode gave us a quick run through of Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa’s relationship, so right from the start the viewers felt like they knew Yoo Ri well. She was a bright and happy character, and was easy to like, and she quickly became our narrator and guide for this new ghost world. Through Yoo Ri we learned what the ghosts could and couldn’t do, and were introduced to a few of the ghosts we would be seeing on a regular basis. Following Yoo Ri through her ghost life also allowed us to see her longing for her daughter, Seo Woo, and her desperation to be in Seo Woo’s life somehow. The mechanics of Yoo Ri’s transition to life again was left unexplained for the most part, and quickly explained away towards the end with it being due to Yoo Ri’s Mum’s wish- I kind of wish that this concept had been introduced sooner, as it did feel a little weird that the gods had given Yoo Ri this random chance when no one else had. The pacing of the show wasn’t great, and there was a huge drag in the middle of the show. Because this was such an emotions based story, there wasn’t a lot that was actually changing in the circumstances themselves.

Ah yes, much sadness

Seo Woo was able to interact with Yoo Ri, while Yoo Ri reconnected with her family and even started up a friendship with Min Jung. But nothing was really happening. The idea that Yoo Ri was going to help the other ghosts she knew with one favour was an interesting one, but it was introduced too late in the show for it to really be able to make up for the drag, and then it was mostly ignored anyway.

This ghost family was an unexpected highlight

The Jang family were able to get their living son’s apartment cleaned and a home cooked meal prepared for him and that was all Yoo Ri really did. It’s a shame, as having Yoo Ri going about on these side quests would have been a fabulous way to pad out what was happening in the main story, and would have prevented the drama from feeling as slow moving as it ended up being. The ghosts were colourful and well thought through characters, so it was a bummer for them to not actually have much to do, and because they weren’t really contributing to the story in any way, the scenes with them actually ended up becoming rather redundant. Yeah, it was a nice break from the cry-fest in the main plot, but ultimately the ghosts had no bearing on the show. It was a similar thing with the exorcist who was brought in really late. He was poorly explained so we couldn’t be quite sure why he was there, or exactly what sort of threat he held over Seo Woo, and again, he didn’t really do anything.

Take your poorly explained character motivations and p*ss off

It was almost as if he was brought in as a last minute measure to get all the ghosts to ascend, as Yoo Ri certainly wasn’t helping with any favours, so they weren’t going up that way. The acting was pretty good all round. Lee Kyu Hyung seriously impressed me in his role in ‘Smart Prison Living’ where he played a mostly comedic, but at times heavily emotional character. I think he did a great job here with Kang Hwa’s character- he balanced the emotions well, never coming across as too much or too little.

Some more sadness

Honestly though, I wish the show had given him a bit more to do. Kang Hwa was stuck between a rock and a hard place all drama long, and all he really had to do was wander around with a mildly agonised look in his eyes. His grief was believable, and his struggle was heartfelt, but I wish the drama had given Lee Kyu Hyung a chance to really push through and deliver some great character moments and scenes.

Still a pretty face tho

The best scene was probably the scene where Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa came to a head (towards the end of the show), and all their emotions boiled over. Both Lee Kyu Hyung and Kim Tae Hee were able to scream and cry and say selfish things, but they never came across awful, only hurt and confused. It would have been nice if the drama had given us a few more scenes like that rather than quiet suffering and solitary sobs. Kim Tae Hee impressed me- I haven’t seen her in anything but I had heard people on the internet say she was nothing but a pretty face. Well, turns out you can’t always trust people on the internet (who knew!), and Kim Tae Hee delivered a strong and convincing performance as Yoo Ri. She had a bright and charismatic energy which filled Yoo Ri up, and it was easy to see why Yoo Ri’s death left such a large hole in so many lives. Kim Tae Hee gave Yoo Ri a bubbly sassiness that was fun to watch and made her an easy character to root for. On the other side of Kim Tae Hee was Go Bo Gyul as our second female lead.

This was a super cute friendship too

Go Bo Gyul has been catching my attention in the last few projects she’s been in- she has this amazing skill where she takes these quiet, wallflower type characters and somehow just injects a sense of life and depth into them, without having to actually say or do to much. Her characters feel real and lived in, even if they are not the loudest or most noticeable characters on screen. Similarly to Lee Kyu Hyung, I think Go Bo Gyul is an amazing emotional actor, and i just don’t think this show used that enough to their advantage. She was brilliant, and I loved seeing her on screen, but I was left wishing she had been given more to do.

More ghost shenanigans I say, more!

The side characters were all acted well, with standouts being Oh Eui Shik and his flawless comedic timing, and Lee Shi Woo (in his debut!) as the endearing if slightly haphazard orphan pilot. The chemistry was pretty good all round also- Kim Tae Hee and Lee Kyu Hyung had great sparkle in their lovey-dovey scenes, but were almost a little too awkward as reunited spouses. Go Bo Gyul and Kim Tae Hee had an absolutely adorable dynamic, and watching them sort of co-parent Seo Woo was really fun.

I cannot believe he did my girl dirty like that

The only chemistry downer was Lee Kyu Hyung and Go Bo Gyul- I felt like the show was trying to keep the ‘will they get divorced’ train going, but I think that backfired and sabotaged the relationship between the two characters. Kang Hwa and Min Jung just always felt awkward around each other, and we weren’t given much insight into how they fell for each other and what made them want to get married, which was pretty disappointing. Seeing as Min Jung was the end game for Kang Hwa, I really wanted to see him love her and fight for her properly- especially as I really loved Min Jung as a character. At the end when Kang Hwa basically told her he was leaving her for his now-not-dead-wife, I was shattered. It felt like the drama had been building up to their big heart to heart where Kang Hwa told her he would always love Yoo Ri, but Min Jung was now his number one and that just…did not happen. At all. I still can’t believe the writers thought it was a good idea to have Kang Hwa basically break up with Min Jung for Yoo Ri, for Yoo Ri to not take him back (because duh), and then have him end up back with Min Jung. Talk about letting your wife know she is second choice.

For a while there I was kinda hoping they'd both leave Kang Hwa and raise Seo Woo themselves 

I was massively disappointed in that wrap up for the main relationship- I knew that this was our destination, but man by the end I was kinda hoping Min Jung would go off and find a different man who was worthy of her love and treated her with respect. 

What Was Great:

No Villainization:

I always appreciate a drama that can have an engaging and compelling plot, but doesn’t need to use a villain to push the plot along. With the way ‘Hi Bye, Mama’ was set up, I was a little worried that the second wife was going to end up being villainized as someone who had taken Yoo Ri’s place.

I love Min Jung, and I loved that she loved Yoo Ri

I’m glad the the show didn’t go down that road, and instead made Min Jung an endearing and loveable character in her own right. The situation itself is what made the conflict in this story, and the emotional responses towards the situation were unwrapped in each episode. We didn’t need an evil step-mother to force tension, because there was already enough tension in the story. This way the story actually had far more emotional tension, because we weren’t just concerned with how things turned out for Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa. If Min Jung had been a nasty woman, it would have been an easy solution for Kang Hwa to divorce her and give Yoo Ri her place back. Easy, quick fix. But because Min Jung was in love with Kang Hwa and loved by Kang Hwa (apparently) and Seo Woo, the situation was much more complex, and there was no easy way out. Someone was going to get their feelings hurt. The development of Min Jung’s character was done really well and she slowly became someone that we viewers didn’t want getting hurt. While I got used to seeing Kang Hwa and Yoo Ri upset and crying, Min Jung was kept in the dark about the situation for most of the show’s run, so when she found out and had a huge cry, my heart really broke for her- which it wouldn’t have done if she hadn’t been developed so well. 

What Wasn’t:

Tear Immunity:

Ohhhhh my goodness. This drama was an absolute weepathon. And not for me. For the characters. And the actors. Don’t get me wrong- the actors did a great job, and they were all very convincing cryers.

SO much crying. Like...SO much.

But the thing is, if you see something over and over and over and over again you do become kind of accustomed to it. You Ri broke down crying every few scenes, and while yes it was justified and she was in a difficult and emotional position, after a while my heart just stopped aching for her when she wept.

New drinking game- every time someone cries take a shot

It just became yet another scene of Yoo Ri crying. It was a similar thing for poor Kang Hwa. He was in such a tight spot with so many thoughts and feelings running wild, but eventually I got bored and tired of watching him cry and cry. I wanted to see these two characters do something and talk and communicate about their feelings and how to move forward with this strange new situation. Instead I got countless scenes of Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa weeping (and not together mind you), while they internalised all their thought processes and feelings. By having these character breakdowns so often in the show, it actually made these moments lose their emotional punch. Important and heartbreaking events stopped seeming so simply because Yoo Ri (and to an extent Kang Hwa) had the same reactions to everything- cry. I wish the show had saved up some of its emotional moments so that the few heavy emotional beats could really pack a punch, rather than having character breakdowns every episode. 

Draggy Development:

This drama absolutely padded out all it had to offer. I appreciated that we didn’t go down the route of Yoo Ri pretending she was someone else when Kang Hwa saw her, so that we could cut right to the chase and really get into the meat of the story.

While the relationships were nice, they weren't really developing- everyone already knew everyone!

Only the drama then spent 12 or more episodes dancing around the meatier content of the story that I was wanting them to unravel. It was fun and sad seeing Kang Hwa panic for a while, and it was heart warming to Yoo Ri finally being able to hold her daughter. But what I was wanting from this show was for Kang Hwa to be able to heal his wounds, and get past the trauma of what had happened to Yoo Ri. Because the show took so long to sit Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa down together to get them to have a proper talk,

I felt simultaneously bad for him and mad at him

it still felt like they had unresolved issues by the time the end of this drama came around. Similarly, I was really wanting Kang Hwa to come to the conclusion that he really loved Min Jung and needed to work hard to rebuild his relationship with her, as he had let it fall apart. I wanted him to realise that he had left Min Jung holding all the pieces of their relationship, and that if he didn’t step into help that she wouldn’t be able to keep their relationship together on her own any more. Because Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa didn’t hash out their issues until episode 15, there wasn’t really enough time for Kang Hwa to then go and sort things through with Min Jung. When this drama ended it felt very much like Kang Hwa had chosen Yoo Ri over Min Jung, and then didn’t resolve how he would then make his relationship with Min Jung salvageable again when Yoo Ri died…again. It very much seemed as though Kang Hwa threw in the towel in his new marriage and he certainly didn’t fight for Min Jung. Over the course of the show I really loved Min Jung and her compassion and patience, and I really wanted her to be able to experience the kind of selfless, limitless love that she showed towards Kang Hwa. And that just never happened. Kang Hwa ditched her for Yoo Ri, and then came back when Yoo Ri was no longer an option.

You f*ckin' tell him, babe

It’s not even that this writer couldn’t have done it either. I know that this writer can deliver the goods, and turn a seemingly disastrous situation into one that was filled with love, but also miscommunication. That certainly didn’t happen with Min Jung and Kang Hwa’s relationship, and I mainly blame that we ran out of time. Or that the writers just paced themselves terribly. The middle sections were filled with so much back and forth and angst that was dragged out for episodes, that we actually got very little development of any of our characters. 

Recommend?

Mm, probably not. It’s not a bad drama, but it’s not as wonderful as it could have been. 

Lesson learned- dead people should probs just stay dead

Big Data Romance

Big Data Romance

5.5/10

Big Data Romance

Genre:                                    Episodes: 1                Year: 2020

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Kim Seo Joon is an app developer who believes that love is science. In order to prove his dating app’s success he publicly tries it out. He is matched with Ahn Bit Na, only to find that bug in the program paired them and they are not alike at all.

Cast:

Song Jae Rim (Kim Seo Joon)

Jeon So Min (Ahn Bit Na)

Ahn Da Jung (Cha In Rae)

Lee Soon Won (Park Sang Hoon)

General Thoughts:

I like both Song Jae Rim and Jeon So Min, and I am not ashamed to say that I watched this show purely for them. I could only find this drama in reaaaally bad quality, which unfortunately did take away from the enjoyment of the experience, but it was still a sweet and fun show, even if I didn’t get to see all Song Jae Rim’s expressions in stunningly high def.

A hero who believes he can manufacture love...where have I seen this before?

The show itself was pretty straightforward. It only had an hour and a bit to tell its story, so it certainly went at a nice, speedy pace. There were a few conflicts and subsequent resolutions so it never felt like we were just watching two people hanging out (though that in itself is still pretty fun- ‘We Got Married’ anyone?). The conflicts were all certainly pretty low key, but they were the same level as the rest of the show- which was a quick and lighthearted watch.

I 100% could have done without the mullet though

The plot was pretty basic and not entirely new- science vs emotions, opposites attract. The plot came to a conclusion that love is not pure science, which is ah…not exactly groundbreaking, but was a cute finish for our cute leads. Song Jae Rim was adorable as the developer CEO, and watching him experience new things that he was already supposed to like was really fun. The whole image of him not wanting to try something (such as spend an afternoon reading manhwa) but then totally loving it (crying over storylines) was really fun and really endearing. It was a silly and gentle reminder that even though we think we know ourselves completely, there’s always new things to learn and new things to experience. I wish the show had gone a bit the other way as well, with Bit Na experiencing some of the things that Seo Joon liked to do. Actually, what did Seo Joon like to do? All we have is that he’s a science nerd who develops as his job. We never found out his hobbies or what he does in his spare time- I guess he just doesn’t really have a lot of spare time. It would have been sweet to see Seo Joon more in his comfort zone and Bit Na being the one to try something new.

Though I'm not sure seeing Jeon So Min trying to eat a fancy steak would have been quite as fun

Song Jae Rim and Jeon So Min acted really well- neither of them overacted, which is something that can often happen when the scripts are this basic. They delivered their characters believably, and they had a really cute and bubbly chemistry that made them fun to watch. 

What Was Great:

Song Jae Rim Got The Girl:

The romance was the focal point of this show, so it’s a really good thing that the two actors were able to sell it so believably.

Totes adorbz

They were fun and sweet, and even the few fall outs that their characters had seemed reasonable, but not earth-shatteringly impassable. They had a cute dynamic and it was nice to see a drama were Song Jae Rim actually got to be the other half of the main romance.

What Wasn’t:

Troublesome Exes:

This seems like a plot point that was thrown in there to squeeze a bit of extra conflict out of the drama’s short run. And I didn’t think it was necessary at all.

Please leave the exes in the past where they belong

There wasn’t enough time to explore these two characters’ backgrounds and the type of relationships they had with our leads. Bit Na’s ex was pretty straightforward- he was a cheating loser who didn’t know how good he had it until he lost it. Seo Joon’s ex relationship a bit more complex and detailed, and there seemed to be a bit more going on behind their break up than them just not wanting to be in a relationship anymore. Seo Joon had some pretty hurt feelings, and his ex seemed pretty convinced that he would happily accept her back. The show just straight up didn’t have the time to explore these scenarios and develop these characters, so really, they should have just left that out. I would have been much happier if that time had instead been devoted to watching the relationship between Bit Na and Seo Joon grow and become more serious.

Recommend?

Nah, I wouldn’t recommend this one because it’s really nothing new. 

I kinda want these two to star in a full length drama together now...

Nobody Knows

Nobody Knows

8.5/10

Nobody Knows

Genre:                                                   Episodes: 16                                     Year: 2020

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

After her friend is murdered by a serial killer, Cha Young Jin becomes a detective in order to catch the killer. Her investigation is disrupted when her young friend, Ko Eun Ho, is involved in an accident. As Young Jin investigates Eun Ho’s accident, she comes to realise that the two cases may be related.

Cast:

Kim Seo Hyung (Cha Young Jin)

Ahn Ji Ho (Ko Ein Ho)

Ryu Deok Hwan (Lee Sun Woo)

Park Hoon (Baek Sang Ho)

Moon Sung Geun (Hwang In Beom)

Min Jin Woong (Lee Jae Hong)

Kwon Hae Hyo (Jang Ki Ho)

Yoon Chan Young (Joo Dong Myung)

Yoon Jae Young (Ha Min Sung)

Jang Young Nam (Jung So Yeon)

General Thoughts:

I had been anticipating this drama since I first heard it announced, as I thought it sounded quite unique. I missed the memo on the serial killer aspect, and was a little apprehensive when I saw it introduced in the first episode, as I couldn’t help thinking ‘ohhhh, another serial killer mystery-thriller’.

So much more going on than just another serial killer on the loose

Not that there’s anything wrong with serial killer mystery-thrillers- they just aren’t as unique as I was hoping this show would be. Boy was I soon realising just how wrong I was. Even though this drama had a serial killer at its core, that didn’t prevent this from being a unique or engaging show.

And all the mysteries centred around one kid

It’s been a little while since I’ve been really satisfied with a mystery show, and ‘Nobody Knows’ just hit that itch I’ve been trying to scratch for some time, that the last few mystery-thrillers I’ve seen just didn’t hit. ‘Nobody Knows’ had quite a few different story threads running through it that served brilliantly as smaller mysteries to unravel and solve before the finale of concluding who the Stigmata murderer was and catching him for good. And what was even more amazing, is that each of these smaller story threads wove together to become a part of the bigger mystery. The mystery item given to Eun Ho by Ki Ho, Eun Ho’s relationship with Dong Myung, the drug case, Eun Ho’s accident, Min Sung’s driver- all of these things had something to do with Sang Ho and came together as pieces of a bigger puzzle. Absolutely everything in this show was interlinked, and it was so addictive to watch how everything pulled together to be drawn into Sang Ho’s web that Young Jin was slowly unravelling. I think another part of what made this drama such a success is that our villain, Sang Ho, wasn’t untouchable.

Young Jin is buying exactly none of what Sang Ho is selling

In sooooo many mystery K-dramas the villain is so far ahead of the good guys, that it becomes rather frustrating to see the good guys floundering so bad. In this case, Sang Ho thought he was miles ahead of Young Jin and her team, but he woefully miscalculated, and it was obvious to us as viewers that Young Jin was slowly reeling him in.

Man, finding the killer in the first ep sure threw me for a loop

It became clear relatively early on that Sang Ho was the guy we were looking for, but the show never went so far as to confirm it beyond a reasonable doubt, which always kept a small layer of doubt present. The story then became more of a how we were going to catch the bad guy, as opposed to who the bad guy actually was. Revealing the bad guy early on can sometimes leave the mystery to become a bit stale, but in this case it allowed Sang Ho to feel more threatening. Most of the things that Sang Ho did were very reasonable and actually could be received as very caring and considerate. But once there was an undertone of manipulation and emotional abuse, all those nice, caring things Sang Ho was going around doing suddenly became very dark and dangerous. Because Young Jin was able to see through Sang Ho’s act so early on, us viewers never felt the frustration of our hero being blind to all the shady things the villain was doing. Sang Ho liked to taunt and brag a bit, and it was super satisfying seeing Young Jin’s expression show that not only was she not falling for Sang Ho’s sweet-talk, she was seeing it for what it really was. Young Jin was just a star of a heroine all round.

Gah- the way she protected all the kids was just so, so, so good!

She had just enough softness to see how Eun Ho and the rest of the boys felt safe and protected by her, and just enough toughness that it seemed reasonable that she would be able to catch the murderer and keep all the kids safe at the same time. Kim Seo Hyung  gave Young Jin a HUGE amount of charisma, and she was an excellent fit for the role.

She was just amazingly bad*ss

Occasionally I feel like actresses who take on detective roles, or typically ‘manly’ roles, feel like they have to give their character manly characteristics to sell the part. I loved that Kim Seo Hyung didn’t make Young Jin feel like a man in a woman’s body. While I certainly wouldn’t describe Young Jin as ‘girly’ she also wasn’t ‘manly’ either. It was great to see a character injected with a great amount of female charisma- she was amazing and so easy to root for. On the flip side, we almost had Ryu Deok Hwan doing the exact opposite. Sun Woo was a character that had a lot of love for his students and for his family, and I loved that this affection was presented as a strength and not a weakness. Sun Woo wasn’t any less manly for loving these young kids and wanting the best for them, and he didn’t have his masculinity threatened by having a strong, competent woman like Young Jin around. In fact, it was these same characteristics in Young Jin that Sun Woo admired and felt drawn to. I adored their friendship and their partnership throughout the show.

What a wonderfully cute team up

Seeing Young Jin slowly start to open up and ask for help as she needed it was a wonderful thing to see, and likewise Sun Woo started to trust Young Jin and rely on her so that they could work together towards their common goal. I love that she show didn’t feel the need to force a main loveline, as I preferred Young Jin and Sun Woo as platonic partners. While there was a hint that Sun Woo was developing a crush on Young Jin, I’m glad that the show didn’t feel the need to go much deeper than that.

This pairing was just...not great...

This drama knew what it was (and that wasn’t a romance) and stuck to what it was doing well. The rest of the detectives weren’t given too much screen time, but they were fleshed out enough that they felt like slightly more than recurring extras. Young Jin’s relationship with her team was an interesting one, as she relied on them in a sense, but she also preferred to fly solo. It was a great moment of character growth for her when Jae Hong apologised for being late and Young Jin replied that he wasn’t late, she just never waited. It brought an awareness to her actions that she hadn’t had before, and showed how Young Jin was learning to accept help from others, including her team. The one thing going on in the detective team I didn’t like that much was the weird rivalry going on between Jae Hong and Ja Young. It felt a bit strange and forced, and frankly I think the show could have done without Ja Young’s character as a whole (even if that would leave the female role count pretty darn low). The drama was really great at building atmosphere and creating tension. The lighting was used really effectively in shots to make the tone feel much more intense and dramatic, and a lot of detail went into creating a moody, mysterious atmosphere- Young Jin only wore black until the final episode when she switched to white to show her closure and moving past the stigmata case.

The calm after the storm

The music also added to this effect, helping to create a tense atmosphere and build emotion. The production quality on this drama was really high and gave the show an overall feeling of cleanliness and professionalism. 

What Was Great:

Sang Ho:

Man, I love a good villain. Nothing is worse that when you have a super lame villain and everybody is scared of him for no apparent reason. Or a villain that seems super easy to catch. Or even a villain that is so ridiculously over powered that it feels like the good guys should never be able to win! Sang Ho was none of those things.

He was super creepy ever since that first phone call

He was so brilliantly constructed that he had the perfect level of creepiness, without being downright obvious that he was the evil murderer man. His smaller interactions with the younger kids, including Dong Myung and Dong Myung's brother showed just what a competent groomer Sang Ho was, and use how exactly he had established this entire network of people who respected and trusted him enough to do shady things just because he was the one to ask them. Park Hoon played the character to perfection- he was dripping charisma all drama long, and at times made Sang Ho seem like a really fun and likeable man.

So scary, so scary

He found the perfect blend of charming and shady, and could flip his expression in an instant. Park Hoon had a way of drawing you into his character- even though we were fairly sure that Sang Ho wasn’t a nice guy, he was so interesting, and we as viewers wanted to know more about him. His manipulation was an interesting type of scary, as it’s not usually one we see in run of the mill villains- usually we get blackmail and threats, not coercion. The scene of Sang Oh basically convincing Sang Won (the initial stigmata murderer) to kill Hee Jung for him and then kill himself was just downright terrifying. The character was written so well, and Park Hoon's subtle expressions, such as a flash of hope in his eyes when someone agreed to his suggestions, really made Sang Ho a villain to remember. And yet, as much as he was a horrible, despicable man, there was still a level of sympathy for him. At the end when he had been caught and he wondered what his life would have been like if someone like Young Jin found him instead of Sang Won, my heart broke a little. His downfall was also wonderfully perfect. The way he tried to set things up so that Young Jin would end up killing someone (most likely Sang Ho himself) seemed like a strange way Sang Ho was trying to dodge responsibility for his actions- as if he was convincing himself that anyone could kill if they were presented with the right circumstances.

Man, the way he threw away his team was brutal

But Young Jin (as usual) didn’t fall into Sang Ho’s hands and act the way he wanted. She saved Sang Ho’s inner circle who Sang Ho had left to die, and even saved Sang Ho from falling over the edge of the very building where Eun Ho fell. And then to see him locked away in solitary, so similar to how he was first found alone and abandoned as a child, just felt like the most fitting punishment for this man.

Relationships:

There was not a single relationship in this show that wasn’t interesting to watch on screen. Young Jin and Eun Ho, our main friendship pairing, had a really sweet and endearing relationship.

They are too cute

I liked that they didn’t try to play it off like Eun Ho was the son Young Jin never had, or Young Jin was the mother Eun Ho always dreamed of- they were simply friends. Sure, they were different ages, but that didn’t prevent them from enjoying each others company and looking out for one another. Sun Ho’s relationship with Sun Woo  was also really interesting to watch develop. Despite Sun Woo being afraid to get too involved in a student’s life again, he couldn’t help but be drawn to Eun Ho.

Absolutely adorable 

His attempts to try and protect Eun Ho (misguided as they were because Dong Myung wasn’t actually bulling Eun Ho) were sweet to watch, and set Sun Woo up as an easily likeable character, even if he wasn’t always in the loop. Perhaps my favourite relationships of all were between the young school boys. They were so awkward and sweet, and bumbling in their ways of showing affection that they were really fun to watch. The slow reveal of Eun Ho and Dong Myung’s relationship was just perfect, and it only got more fun once we added Min Sung to the mix. The boys really looked to In Beom as a father figure, as much as they denied it, and it was so wonderful to see these young, vulnerable boys finally find someone who was able to look out for them, trust them, and protect them. The way all the relationships were developed in this show was really wonderful- no one was given a free pass, and everyone had to work to earn the trust of those around them- especially the trust of the younger boys who had been so mistreated. 

What Wasn’t:

Gloss Over:

The only thing I didn’t love about this show was the quick skim through it did of the map inside the special Gospel book. The show made such a big deal out of Ki Ho giving this book to Eun Ho, and then Ki Ho being the only one to be able to read and decipher the code inside it, that it was a bit of a let down when the drama just breeeeeezed right on past explaining or showing how Ki Ho actually found the evidence the the book was pointing to.

If it was so darn easy to find the evidence why did he find it sooner?

Like, if Ki Ho could figure it out without having insider knowledge on the book’s secret, then why couldn’t Sang Ho? It’s just as well that the detectives got enough evidence to charge Sang Ho without the tape of Jin Young’s friend’s murder being super necessary, because it felt like a total fluke that they even got the tape. For how much importance was placed on the book, it was actually kind of redundant.

Recommend?

100% yes! This is one of the best mystery-thrillers I’ve seen in quite some time.

Seriously so satisfying