I'm going to start off by saying that I've never been a huge fan of Korean dramas. I'm not sure why or how, but all of the dramas I've ever seen have always been over-the-top dramatic and downright nonsensical. I'm not very fond of soap operas and soap opera-esque shows, so I typically choose to stay far far away from them. And yes, I have tried to watch some Korean dramas in the past and I've never been impressed. Either I'm bored senselessly or I'm unable to suspend my belief to buy certain storylines because they're so effing ridiculous, especially if they're not marketed as being fantasy/supernatural. They're just regular slice of life K-Dramas, but they always employ certain tropes that can only be found in dramas from this country. I can't explain it, but I'm sure someone knows exactly what I'm talking about. And no, I 've never had any issues with watching dramas from other Asian countries; I've always managed to find something to watch from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, etc. Korea has been the only country where I've had difficulty falling in love with their dramas.

However, this show is nothing like that at all. If you're anything like me when it comes to Korean dramas, then I will highly recommend that you watch this one. It's nothing like a typical Korean drama and that's what made it stand out to me. I know some people may not like the female lead but I LOVED her. She's one of the primary reasons why I fell in love with this show to begin with. She's also the reason why I've decided to give K-Dramas a second chance, so thank her! I've always been drawn to female characters like Moon Young. Yes, she's awful and does some irredeemable things. However, she stands up for herself and other people too. Moon Young is an excellent female lead. She's interesting, complex, and dynamic. She's not boring and she's quite memorable, as well. She doesn't fall victim to being "weak." Granted, I don't mind female characters who aren't as assertive and opinionated as her. But I do mind when female characters are practically depicted as pathetic doormats who don't stand up for themselves and constantly allows things to happen TO them. Moon Young is definitely nothing of the sort. She doesn't let anything happen to her; SHE makes things happen.

Gang Tae was amazing, as well! This is the first time I've ever seen this actor but I'm thoroughly impressed by his performance. The running joke for me while watching this was: "if there's anything you can count on, it's Gang Tae crying." I joke, I joke! But the actor played the role of Gang Tae being suppressed but wanting that freedom of being a single, unmarried, young man in his 30s pretty well. You just know Gang Tae held back for most of his life and you believed it. Now, I loved the two of them as a couple too. Yes, we know that no means no but this is a fictional depiction and is not real. So, because of that, I honestly don't care how "creepy" Moon Young may or may not have come off. I don't care, friends. Anyway, the two of them as a couple worked well for me. I've never watched any shows where the female lead chased the male lead. This show depicted that pretty well too because Moon Young never really came off as desperate or thirsty. In the hands of less competent writers, it would have been fairly easy for Moon Young's choice to chase Gang Tae to come off as pitiful and pathetic. However, that never happened. Even when Gang Tae would reject her in the beginning, it never came off as pitiful. It's a very delicate balance that must be employed and they handled the challenge incredibly well.

Sang Tae was great too, but he would annoy me ever so often. Mainly because it almost seemed as if everyone would walk around on eggshells with him instead of calling him out for his own manipulation. I don't care what anyone says, but Sang Tae manipulated Gang Tae quite a bit during this show. I understand him not wanting to "share" his brother but Sang Tae isn't stupid. He knows that Gang Tae would constantly choose his brother over himself again and again, and that's unfair to Gang Tae. Why should he be forced to sacrifice his own life and happiness to take care of his brother for the rest of his life? It wasn't right! So, I'm really glad that we saw some growth from Sang Tae regarding that issue by the end of the show. This was my favorite trio once everyone got on the same page, and that makes me happy.

Now, before I end this review, I must talk about the elephant in the room with the story. While the story was good and the actors more than made up for certain weak spots in the story, there was something that I wish was made more clear to the audience. This is regarding the woman who turned out to be Moon Young's mother or the woman from Devil Judge (haha). I feel as if they should have justified her sudden reappearance by saying that Moon Young's father has a distorted version of his recollection of the events regarding her "death" due to his tumor. If they'd just mention that in passing, that would clear up so many things. The audience watched her bleed out on the foot of their stairs and watched him put her body in a bag and throw it to the bottom of the lake. How did she survive? I never fully believed Moon Young's recollection because of her age, the length of time that had passed since the event occurred, and her overall trauma. However, that doesn't really explain how her mother survived all of that and I wished they would have cleared that part up a lot more, because it didn't make sense.

Aside from that, this show was incredible and I'm sad that it's already over. I would absolutely recommend everyone watch this show if they were on the fence about it. It was downright amazing!