Romance on point, everything else is a bit confusing.

So, I'm going to say that I feel that we all have to acknowledge that this is a show about a "IMAGINARY" location. That means we MUST suspend our real world thinking and join in the fantasy if we intend to enjoy this drama. We all should have understood that from the get-go and cut the plot a bit of slack since you knew it going in to this thing.

On the other hand, with what I said above it still does not mean we cannot criticize a poor execution of the military theme. I think, especially if you're not familiar with Special Ops the whole concept of what is going on can be confusing. [I happen to have American friends who are in Spec Ops and they all come from different branch of military, i.e. army, marine, air force, ranger, navy and consolidate as one unit. They do fly off at a moments notice, are not allowed to give out details or locations, are given a window at various "drop spots" with which they can use cellular data -- their cellphones to call, text, etc. -- and are usually gone only for a few weeks and then have "off time" but still do military training at the base they are stationed with at the time.] So, although the show is not too clear about this, I can attempt to clear it up as much as possible.

You have a worn torn country which means that it has internal civil war struggles, not necessarily wars between other nations. In these situations, you can find areas that are under siege while just a few miles away things are fine. The people in control of the local government can be wealthy and fine while those who are outside those factions can be impoverished because they aren't be supported by those same people, for whatever reason, usually it's ethnic in origin. The UN forces are in country to maintain the peace between the factions. In addition, a Korean company has decided to build a facility in this country for whatever reason. The Korean Spec Ops guys are not there for "Spec Ops", they are there to watch over the Korean investments since they are in a "worn torn" country. That's it.

Now, the bad guys or gangsters, although we see them and know them, they are not "fully" in the purview of the Korean military. They run into them here and there, but they are unclear as to what exactly is going on and the extent that they are trying to instigate and make a buck off of regional struggles, UN involvement, and foreign investment. The thing we are witnessing is the Yoo Si Jin, within is missions as a Special Ops member has previous dealings and connections with a few of the guys he is coming into contact here. It's not a connection from this location but another location, presumably Iraq or Afghanistan. He knows these guys and, as a Spec Ops member, feels the need to get information on the reason they are in the location and exactly what they are up to here. .....THE PROBLEM IN UNDERSTANDING THIS IS NOT JUST THE KOREANS BAD ENGLISH BUT, AS WELL, THE BAD ACTING AND ENGLISH FROM THE FOREIGN ACTORS. Honestly, they are the worst, and trying to act off of their bad acting when you are not native to English and it isn't even a second language you use regularly or are very good at on your own is troubling. I think what is held back in the main military theme is really this part of the story... and the bad acting of the foreign actors when they are doing their bad things in their solo scenes make it even worse and hard to follow what it is they're trying to do anyway. Just very confusing. I do wish they would have spent more money on better foreign actors. They are holding the drama back... ..but another way to look at this is for us non-native Korean speakers who are reading subs and understand the English without subs, the acting is FAR worse to us than those the citizens of Korea who are reading the English subtexts. That means that it shouldn't hinder the show on the local ratings, but may hurt it with some of the International fans who seem bothered by it all.

::::ON THE ROMANCE::::::

I'm finding Dae Yeong and Myung Ju's romance much more compelling with each episode. There story is the one that gets the most feels from me. With that said, I find the banter between Si Jin and Mo Yeon on point. They both deal with stress and intensity by using humor, whether appropriate or not. They are both extremely idealistic. I find Mo Yeon's struggle with Si Jin's occupation valid. Every Korean man goes into the military but being Spec Ops is a whole new ball of wax and completely different. Not even average Americans understand that Spec Ops are conducting operations all over the global, not only in the Middle East, at any given moment and us + the media are completely unaware of these operations. They don't understand how they operate nor that they have a VALID reason to be where they are, and most often are PRIVATELY requested by other nations for specific help. Being in Spec Ops has a demand on your life that far exceeds that of your average person and the idea or thought of "COMMITTING" yourself to that lifestyle is a arduous task. Spec Ops are known for high divorce rates because of the demand. It's worse than being a fireman or a policeman. She should be quite clear about a romantic relationship with such a man. I find her biggest discomfort comes from the thought of him up and leaving her without a word, hug, or kiss, then spending days pining over him wondering if he is alive or dead, and knowing that one day she could get a knock on the door from another man in uniform, if you get my meaning. Those are valid fears, and many military wives of Spec Ops struggle with that daily while they are raising their kids. It has to be an epic love to weather that kind of strain.

...the only thing really that bothers me here is the ending each episode with an epic step forward by Si Jin and Mo Yeon onlly to start the next episode with a couple steps back. I don't need those kind of cliffhangers to keep me wanting to come back. They shouldn't be using this kind of canned bait. On that part, I am annoyed...

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ridiculous

This drama was already stretching my patience with a 'love story' that is neither cute, nor sizzling, nor even entertaining after episode1.
This episode however, managed to hurt my brain in a way that is not even unintentionally funny anymore.

So, we are in this fantasy Urk - supposedly in the Balcan area - where people speak Russian, Arab, broken English, a lot of Korean everywhere while happily showing Greek signs. We have no idea whatsoever what this country's problem might be, since we are told it's war-torn but our heroes just go around eating in pretty restaurants with pretty plates and picturesque views on a sea so blue it almost hurts my eyes.

In a village we have a woman who speaks arab and dresses accordingly and in town we have a bar tender who comes directly from the Coyote Ugly.

We haven't had the slightest glimpse of local people living in some distress except for kids licking metal debris - in Jupiter's name, why should they?????? A village situated a six hour-walk away is immediately recognized by Superman Shi Jin thanks to a child's drawing of a tree under the sun. Shi Jin must have trained in the Australian bush with the Aborigins chanting their way through it.

Dialogues are as deep as a mud puddle, Shi-Jin and his lady spend 80% of their times making 'cute' jokes on how beautiful they are, only here and there inserting a hint about the dire situation they are facing - they must be as confused as I am as to where the heck they are. Mo Yeon only asks highly intelligent questions like 'why do you do this?' and 'where are you going?', as though it took a specialized degree to understand that a soldier might risk his life or - heaven forbid! - obey an order.
She's a doctor who's per definition on call for whatever medical emergency, yet she doesn't understand the basics of military emergencies and pouts over interrupted dates.
And don't get me started on the dialogues between the bad guys and the good ones. They make me reconsider the whole Fast and the Furious saga.

And then we have the icing on the cake of this episode: the car crash!
I get it this is a drama, but I wasn't aware we were watching an episode of the X-men. How on earth are two people coming out alive let alone unscathed after a jump that high from a cliff into the water? With one airbag, really?
Gosh, my head hurts badly. If possible, my ears are subjected to and even worse torture thanks to an ost that is trying to tell a completely different story from the one shown. It's loud and completely off in terms of timing and pathos.

I am always attentive to details, they can turn a mediocre thing into something special. Here however, we have a ton of glaringly stupid inconsistencies I can't nor want to condone. They have spent a huge amount of money to film this, they could at least study their lesson a little.

I'm giving this show one more episode to take a direction, whatever that is, after which I'm abandoning this ship(wreck).

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