Jea Perez

I had so much hopes for this drama. The pilot episode looked promising--groundbreaking even. The OSTs and visuals were very enticing. But the storyline started to go downhill after Episode 10 when Dal-mi found out about the letters. Like a lot of people, I was waiting for a big confrontation about the letters with Ji Pyeong, Do san, Dal-mi, and halmeoni, but there was none. Dal-mi brushed the letters off and continued to pine for Do san like nothing happened. The storyline was filled with clichés and unrealistic stuff--a far cry from that of the first few episodes. What really was the point of building up a storyline centered on the letters, only to see them being reduced to mere plot devices? Moreover, using them as voiceovers for Do-san's scenes was very absurd, considering that they were Ji Pyeong's words. As a corporate professional, the business aspect was something that I was looking forward to when I found out about this show but it was overshadowed by the annoying love triangle. I don't know why the love triangle had to be dragged on even after the three year timeskip when they were still going for the clichéd ending. It looked like a cheap move by the writers to keep their ratings up. If you're thinking of watching this drama because of the business aspect--it's not worth it. Go watch Itaewon Class instead. Aside from the business aspect, I started watching this drama because of Nam Joo Hyuk and I was expecting a lot from his character. During the first few episodes, I cheered for him every time he came on screen but in the second half, he became more and more selfish, claiming things that weren't rightfully his. What Living Buddha? As a genius, his immaturity was disappointing and his bad traits were slowly starting to overshadow his good traits. Every time I start to see a hint of his character development, he always does or says something that makes me think otherwise. There was way too much plot armor going on for Do San just because he was the main lead and all the circumstances were unrealistically very convenient for Do san. Would a busy CEO in real life really follow someone in a remote place just to recruit him? The main leads were very unlikeable. It was so difficult to root for them as a couple. Do san and Dal-mi's confession scene was underwhelming. In a different context, Dal-mi's reason, or lack thereof, for liking Do-san would've worked, but let's not forget that she met Do san under false pretenses. All the parallelisms and symbolisms in the show pointed to a Jidal ending. The drama would've been amazingly unique if they followed through with those. You would have to abandon all logic to appreciate the ending. On the bright side, the cast portrayed their characters very well. You wouldn't be able to imagine another actor/actress in their places. You would see a substantial improvement in Nam Joo Hyuk's acting and Kim Seon Ho's acting was just phenomenal. I really don't know what PHR was trying to accomplish for this one. Whatever it was, it was poorly executed. It's even more disappointing when you know that apparently, it took PHR two years to write this drama.