This was a waste of time

If this show taught me anything, it’s that you shouldn’t let ratings tell you what to watch.

Idk how it’s rated 8.1 on MDL but that convinced me to give it a try, along with the cast-I’m also from legend of yunxi so I like both actors, but I wish I had never started this drama.

First of all, the synopsis is all wrong. This show is not about a girl who sees the future. That lasted the first 2 episodes and deteriorated into something entirely useless and incoherent.

Second, this is the worst female lead I have ever encountered. I usually always give the Fl the benefit of the doubt and find the good despite all the bad but in this show, the bad farrrr outweighed the good. Not once did she trust the ML. She kept repeating the same bad behavior with the same consequences or results throughout to show-even till the last couple of episodes. How do you write a character like that? No growth at all. She talked so much about trust and the truth, but she didn’t trust her teacher/master and she didn’t trust her husband despite him repeatedly reassuring her of his innocence on numerous occasions. Also, her always spending so much time with the second male lead, in public and privately, especially after the male lead expressed discomfort about it repeatedly to her annoyed me. Like you are married-a little bit of respect towards your husband won’t kill you. There was also the issue of the blind faith/trust she had in the SML due to them knowing each other for like 5 secs when they were kids that she doesn't extend to the ML, who is...her husband. I didn’t even care if she lived or died-in fact, on some occasions, I wanted them to truly get divorced and he married the princess. Put simply, the female lead sucks, she’s awful. Her character belongs in a trash can.

The second male lead is even worse. He decides to go on this entire evil crusade based off secondhand info about a 10-year-old incident without verifying or questioning a single thing. Who does that? Who formulates an entire revenge plan that involves the betrayal and murder of so many innocent people without first verifying your reason? Even if he was right and that incident was what caused his mother's death, the male lead was a child then??? You're telling me the writer decided that his main villain is going to be someone who can't distinguish between a mistake made by a child and malicious murder? You will betray and murder someone who calls you uncle and has done nothing but trust you because he knocked over a candle when he was like 10?? Also, the actor’s acting was pretty bad. Maybe this role doesn’t suit him or something idk, this is my first show of his, but he portrayed zero emotions and he tried to act without moving his lips and that just annoyed me. And his obsession with the female lead due to their 5 sec childhood interaction grew tiresome really quick. Also, the way his story ended was the absolute WORST! We watched this lunatic run around for 39.5 episodes killing people in an attempt to kill the male lead over the stupidest misunderstanding, all for him to die before fully understanding how wrong he was and what he had done. Like what was that?!

The secondary couple, although cute, became annoying and repetitive promptly after because they refused to actually do anything about their relationship or make it official. This is a historical drama, how many episodes of flirting and almost kisses can there be before you freaking ask for the girl’s hand in marriage? The whole show with them flirting and fighting and no marriage. It was the same thing over and over.

And then there's the ex-friend of the female lead who became her enemy after misunderstanding the female lead's part in her father's execution. It was literally the simplest misunderstanding that could have and should've been easily resolved but it dragged the entire drama and the friend tried to murder her and it never gets resolved. Why not clear it up at the end-even if it's to make the ex-friend feel guilt and remorse for her actions? They left that unresolved.

The only character that had any growth was the annoying princess and that’s the saddest thing I’ve ever written. She grew from the most annoying person on the show, to still annoying but sorta like-able and caring.

I stayed through the drama for the male lead. While he was the typical cold ml, every so often he’d smile, smirk, or make the funniest, most ridiculous faces that just made your heart melt. He also turned into a total sugar ball around the female lead.

This show sucked. The plot was awful-I’m not even sure that there even was a solid plot to follow. The villain is so crappy that you’re more annoyed than scared of him. Every episode is a repeat of “how can we make the people in the male lead’s life not trust or believe him today about issues that are clear cut until he almost dies proving himself to them”. This is what you will be watching for 40 episodes.

I couldn’t wait for the special episodes but now that I’ve finished the show, I don’t even want to watch it cause just looking at the female lead is going to piss me off. Also, my idea of a happy ending for this show does not include the female lead. He could do so much better and be so much happier with a person who loves and trusts him. He loves her with everything, but she abuses that. My perfect ending would have been if he fell in love with someone, one of the times they were separated, and she cares about and trusted him as much he does her.

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oooh this pissed me off

I normally try to find the good in most dramas and movies that I watch as I give ratings, because I know the actors and crew worked incredibly hard to create the story but this one was difficult.

What was the point of it all?

This drama takes you through the insufferable journey of two self-absorbed psychopaths-one who is filled with greed and a need for power to validate his past wrongdoings and the other who utilizes an innocent person to punish herself and the aforementioned greedy man. Lastly, the poor tool in their narcissism, masochism and self-hate: Hong Yi. A child brought into this world and manipulated her entire life to commit what can only be described as the worst sin.

This movie will keep you asking “why” and when you’re done watching it, you’re left with the same question, along with feelings of anger and pity for the girl.

When I first read the synopsis, I thought this was going to be an interesting albeit predictable revenge plot, where a child is raised by her master to avenge her parent’s death, but it turned into a perverted story of two ex-lovers trying to see who can cause the other the most pain using said child.

The mother is a psychopath. If she truly wanted to serve penance for her wrongdoings and she felt the only way to do so is through her life, she could have killed herself or asked anybody else in the world to do so. She could have killed her ex when she had a literal knife to his throat or before he grew in power. She could have served her penance by living a life devoid of “worldly pleasures” and becoming a nun or a devout teacher. I don’t know but she could have done anything other than what she did, and it would have made more sense. Her actions did not absolve her of past sins, it only created another and left a bigger sin on her child.

The ex should have died the day of the betrayal by those he betrayed his people for-it would have been the most fitting as it would have shown him that they would never see a low-born as one of their own and he would have suffered immediate justice for what he had done. What came after that day made absolutely no sense for a movie set in an era that values social standing above all else-especially considering he was a part of a nearly successful commoner rebellion.

I was not a fan of the ending (and not only because of how they died) but because they got to die in each other’s arms while leaving Hong Yi to face a life with the knowledge of what she had done. It was like Cersei and Jamie’s death scene in GOT-wholly unsatisfactory.

Do not watch this if you like dramas with likeable characters as there are only 2.5 likeable characters in the entire movie.

Don’t watch this if you like happy endings because although the girl is alive in the end, it is not a happy ending.

Don’t watch this if you like rational characters as the mother is definitely not.

Don’t watch this if you like good plots.

Watch this if you enjoy beautiful cinematography.

Watch this if you enjoy beautifully shot fight scenes as the final fight is wonderful to watch.

Watch this if you enjoy Kim Go Eun’s acting and works.

Watch this if you enjoy well done acting.

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Nabi is the toxic one

Before I started this drama, I was bombarded with TikToks about how park Jae eon was toxic and how Nabi kept missing or ignoring the “red flags” but after watching, idk if those people are willfully dense or if they watched a completely different show because NABI WAS THE TOXIC ONE.

The comments, reviews, and online posts will have you thinking that this drama is about a girl who falls for a player that repeatedly treats her poorly yet she fails to see it and find a better man but that is not the case.

Park Jae eon and Nabi met in a bar, and they lost their chance at a hookup. The next time they meet after that is when her friends invite her out for drinks. They had no relationship-he found her attractive and flirted with her and she reciprocated yet her perspective will try to trick you into thinking it was more. They were two college aged adults who were into each other, they owed nothing to each other, and they promised nothing to each other, but Nabi behaved as though he not only promised her monogamy and fidelity but that he was breaking said promise every time he so much as looked at a member of the opposite sex.

I realized halfway through the drama that her behavior was pathological. Nabi’s insecurities in her “relationship” with Jae eon did not stem from him, his actions-or lack thereof. Rather, they were most likely caused by her childhood where she witnessed/lived through her mother being openly cheated on and mistreated by a string of boyfriends. This coupled with the fact that her first boyfriend was a professor who spent their entire relationship manipulating and gaslighting her only to also cheat on her did not make for a very emotionally healthy and secure person (relationship wise). Nabi’s insecurities and mistrust were not Jae eon’s fault nor his responsibility. She needed help but instead of processing her issues in a healthy way, she clung to Jae eon and projected it all on him-making him the villain of her story and as the viewers saw it from her perspective, he became the villain to them too. Note her instinctual reaction to potato boy and his cousin on the pier for the first time (this exactly mirrors her reaction to every interaction she’d witnessed between Jae eon and another girl even if it was innocent)-this was not due to “scars” caused by Jae Eon but ones she’s been carrying around for most of her life.

Also, important to point out: they both agreed to enter a sex only relationship, but she wanted more, and she never expressly told him this. She just punished him for not behaving as though they were in an exclusive and romantic relationship when nothing about their original agreement had changed.

Also, Also important to point out(sorry): most of her ideas/opinions about Jae Eon stemmed from third party rumors. Neither she nor us actually witnessed Jae eon behaving that way-we were just told by people who also barely knew him. The messed-up part is that she, as someone who chose to get close to him only saw him as the person the rumors depicted-she never got out of her head once. What’s worse was she believed the man who cheated on her over him-like why are you even listening to anything he has to say…especially about your “relationship”.

I don’t know what story the writer was trying to tell but I felt that they spent too much time on Nabi’s uncertainties about a relationship that she had exerted zero effort on and less on why Nabi thought and behaved the way she did. I also understand that a lot of the opinions of and animosity towards Jae Eon might have been transferred from the WEBTOON version of the story and I never read the WEBTOON so idk how they portrayed their story there but this is what I got from the show and if it's not how it's meant to be, fault the writers/directors but realize that the stories differ and you can’t hold drama Jae eon accountable for things that WEBTOON Jae eon did.

I honestly think that Oh Bit Na is who everyone thinks Park Jae Eon is.

Park Jae Eon deserved better. He spent the majority of the show trying to figure out what he did wrong, what was wrong with himself and trying to fix it when he was perfectly ok. Dating or sleeping around with consenting partners-especially in college/at their age does not make you a bad person or someone in need of fixing. If he were ready for a relationship, he would’ve been in one, but he chose to have sex-only partnerships and was content. She gaslit and forced him into one because while she wanted him, she wasn’t satisfied with having the part of him that he was willing to give, she wanted her idealistic relationship with her idealistic partner and in the end, that is what she got.

Also, potato boy was annoying.

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I've never felt the need to write a review before after watching a show/drama but I feel I would be doing this drama a disservice if I left after being BLESSED with its wonderful plot and acting without leaving a positive review.

Firstly, the ACTORS! The main leads are nothing short of perfect. Their acting, their looks, their CHEMISTY...man, do they have chemistry. This was my first Ding Luxi drama and I can tell you, I'm going to be looking out for more of his stuff(already started intense love and he has great chemistry with his female lead here too). I've seen Zhao Lu Si's dramas before but the only one where she was the main lead, she played a very meek and squeaky character which is the complete opposite of her character in this drama. The actors feed off of each other and they act so well that it feels like they're a real couple. Their little cute and cheesy moments literally made me squeal like a 14-year-old girl at a one direction concert...I'm 21?. The supporting characters were also wonderful. Both of the first leads manservants never fail to make you laugh and the "villain" did her job really well because I hated her guts.

The story was well written and executed. I have almost nothing to gripe about-that's how great it was. I've never seen a historical romantic comedy done like this before. Throughout the drama, they maintained their humor. They would crack jokes even in the most serious and daunting moments and I never failed to laugh.

The story never got dry..which I guess could be attributed to the fact that it's unfortunately only 24 episodes long(I WANT A 2ND SEASON if you can't already tell). There were no filler plots, the writing never fell off and got confusing-as most dramas do. My one issue is how they handled the "villain"- I say villain, although nobody else in the show but Han Shuo(the male lead) would call her this because they're always giving her second, third, fourth chances and excusing her actions any way that they can and it honestly frustrated the hell out of me. It gave me big Love and Destiny vibes when the female second lead was obviously psycho but everybody kept letting slide until it got to a point where they couldn't anymore. This would be my one recommendation for what to change if there is a 2nd season.

If you're looking for something fluffy and fun but still with a good storyline and a spectacular cast...this drama is for you. It's a simple and sweet show that deserves its flowers.

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The only dark thing about this drama is the lighting and colors

One thing I appreciated about this drama is that they didn't make the opposition incompetent for the sake of the plot.

Was it frustrating? Yes, every time we lost an argument or fight, I seethed and became agitated cause obviously I don't want my side to suffer any losses .

And every time I saw ShangJue and YuanZhi, I wanted to put them through a wall and for Ziyu to smash a pie in their faces publicly but it would've been a disservice to the characters had they disregarded their capabilities in favor of propelling the ML forward. They put up a fight-a strong one and in the end, it culminated in a ceasefire, instead of a loss-for the sake of their family which I felt was as true as you can be to these characters.

The ML's story and journey progressed naturally (annoyingly slow and filled with interruptions) but they didn't make him overpowered overnight by virtue of him being the ML. He fell on his face...a lot but he got there eventually.

This drama really left its FL behind in its ML's dust.

Who the hell even is Yun Weishan?

I couldn't tell you with a gun to my head. Couldn't tell you what she likes, or what she dislikes. I know she's kind and values those closest to her but that's about it. Couldn't tell you what her personality is or if she even has one. Apparently what she desired the most was discovering her identity and background and if she has a home/family, but we did not get a single inkling into this supposed yearning of hers until they literally told us at the end through a damn letter from Hanya Si. The girl is a blank slate personified and it's kind of odd to witness.

Idk if this was the director's choice or Esther's take on the character. Maybe this is intentional as Wufeng would need to strip its spies of their identities in order to make them compliant and careless with their lives but how come she's the only one with this vibe or lack thereof?

The girl doesn't take up space at all-it's like she isn't there even when she is.

Even now, when we don't know how she's fared, we're focused on his waiting for her. His longing and heartache are the focal point and we never know if she's alive or dead.

Even worse, the question doesn't even arise...

Because her existence and value in this story seems to only be tethered to him and their romance. We experience her through him and his affection for her.

Another thing was the lack of exploration into Wufeng. They were established as the antitheses to the Gong family-their literal arch nemeses, yet we never get to know anything about them. Wufeng is formidable you say? How would I know, I only ever saw their foot soldiers in the Gong mansion-never got to experience their power beyond the influence we're told they wield in the world. They trapped us in the valley with the Gong family the moment we begin the story but much like Gong Ziyu and the boys of the back hill, I would've liked to have explored the world, even if just for a minute.

Also, how many times was the Gong family's way of life highlighted? How many times were they insulted for hiding themselves away? How many times did they themselves acknowledge that this is no way to live and it's doing them more harm than good? Did we get a resolution in the end?

Nope, but we should've. Wufeng wasn't the only obstacle in this story that they needed to overcome-freeing themselves from the prison that they built and grew accustomed to was something I felt needed to happen for their story to be properly concluded but in the end, we just went back to business as usual-it almost felt like there was no point to it all.

The ending and the entire drama as a whole really, definitely feels like a setup for a 2nd season. Nothing is resolved and it feels more like an intermission than a finale.. They dipped their toes in so many different waters but never fully plunge in so you're left waiting for the more that never comes. Why open the door at all if you didn't want me looking in? the way it ended leaves it primed for picking up in the next chapter of the story that might force them to finally leave that damn house.

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MISSING: Have You Seen This "Romance"?

Now that I've finished this nothingness of a drama, I have to say that I rarely tell people not to watch something but please don't waste your time with this expecting something special to come from it.

That's how they lure you in: the beginning was promising and the actors were doing their thing and that tricks you into thinking you've found a fun little office romcom

That is a lie. It's not fun and it can barely be considered a romcom.

Idk if they wanted to tell a romance or a documentary on the hardships of trying to design and develop a AAA game (whatever tf that is) but BOY did they miss the mark on the romance part.

They dragged out his deception (s) and creeplike behavior for too long, had too much going on with this damn video game that by the time the romance actually happened, you don’t even care anymore

The romance in a romance drama should not begin at ep.19 of a 24 ep. story.

All these silly moments with the coworkers, friends, parents and between them should’ve been scattered throughout the drama (mostly by ep. 10 ish) but they come at the end when you've already lost interest...who storyboarded this mess?

But what we got instead was 7 episodes of her pining over him and making a fool out of herself while he acted like she was gum stuck to the bottom of his shoes, 5 episodes of him deceiving and tricking her into spending time with him, 6 episodes of him asking for forgiveness while continuing to disregard her personhood and requests, 3 episodes of them being cute in a fledgling relationship (featuring fun developments with side characters and family) and 3 episodes over some bullshit about their company and game.

What’s even worse is that the drama is obsessed with him developing an AAA game but we never fucking see it reach fruition or the impact of its success. No, we just watch the politics of him saying “this industry needs AAA games” and everybody opposing it because it’s apparently “impossible” for some reason…Over and over and over and over until the stupid party at the end

Also writers, the leading man in your ROMANCE drama HAS to be likable. It's like a rule! You can't stick the leading woman with what reads as a manipulative narcissist who doesn't respect or view women he's not attracted to as people and expect your viewers to root for him. And even if he's a shitty person, he still has to be likable! It's your job to find a way to make that work so the viewers root for him anyway...y'all failed at that.

Overall, I have to say that what really killed this drama was the length. It was too long for its own good. There wasn’t enough story to be told so they had to stretch out plots that should've had the lifespan of 2-3 episodes and we, the viewers had to suffer through it all.

6/10 cause I really did like the beginning?

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A cautionary tale on what not to do in a relationship.

The focus of this drama isn't really on events per se so much as it is on human behavior and relationships.

We have a ML who seemingly has no interest in sex or physical intimacy of any kind and a FL who struggles to understand him and where she stands in their relationship without physical intimacy. Believe it or not, the issues in their relationship doesn't stem from this huge disparity of beliefs and desires but rather the fact that both of them seem to be allergic to communication of any form.

The core point of it all was the message, i felt, that there isn't one right way to be in a relationship and the understanding that each relationship should cater to the needs and personalities of the people in them. (I could and should elaborate but although this doesn't feel like a drama that can be "spoiled" per se, my elaboration would include too much of an analysis of the characters that they it might influence your watching)

The execution wasn't great because they seem to be more focused on getting the message across than they did on telling a good story but I didn't hate it. It would've been better had it been longer-then they could've better explored this whole thing instead of it feeling as rushed and nonsensical as it did.

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I'm a sucker for a good romance and chemistry.

This was just so cute!

Idc about the stalker, the past lives, the curse, the witchcraft/shamanism…this drama as a ROMANCE alone EATS.

Rowoon is like a proper romance leading man (which was a welcomed surprise as the last and only thing I’d seen him in -to completion- was Extraordinary You, years ago and he was just a babee).

The chemistry, the longing, the denying, the kisses, the looks are all a 10/10

The way this man speaks about his feelings is honestly what sold this drama for me.

I believe that he loves her with his everything and the prospect of her not loving him back or wanting him would absolutely break him.

I do think they should’ve landed on one solid antagonist or genre tho. We’ve got a stalker, crazy ex-girlfriend, and a past life/curse threatening to keep them apart. Is it a fantasy, romcom, or thriller?

Because there are so many things to keep up with, everything feels like it’s happening in the background.

You start the drama thinking the illness/curse is the biggest issue needing fixing and the intrigue of it draws you in, but you soon forget it as it fades into the back.

In comes the stalker and he does take over our mind for a bit but then he starts sharing screen-time with the weight of their past life and I honestly started to wonder if either of these things even really matters.

We should’ve just scrapped all of this and made it a romcom fully. The romance is what carries this drama

or at the very least, make the weight of the curse/past life setup something that mattered.

I mean it’s literally the synopsis, how could it have become a footnote in the story?

This is a great drama if you want a swoony romance to give you the fuzzies with a twinge of thriller. If you’re looking for a real fantasy drama, I might suggest you look elsewhere.

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What it's like to live with a piece of your soul missing

This entire drama felt like you’re riding your bike under falling leaves of cherry blossom trees in the spring, only for someone to come out of nowhere and slam your fingers in their car door

Over and over

You’re eating a tasty dessert and someone comes and snatches the plate and fork from you

You’re enjoying a swim and someone comes up behind you and holds your head under water

You won the lottery and someone runs up on you and snatches your ticket

There’s a lot of pain, heartbreak and missed opportunities but oh, the joyous moments are filled with so much joy, and warmth.

This was a wonderful telling of the excitement and joys of youth-the carefree nature of that time. First love, dreams, hopes, family and everything else that seemed so fresh and novel-deserving of your excitement and reckless abandonment in an attempt to attain it.

It showed what it is to have hope and want for more from life and also how regret and a misstep can kill your spirit and alter the course of your life

Kido Tasei, you’ll always be famous? the eyes and smile that broke my heart

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Honestly don’t know if I would recommend this or not.

Took me 3 days but I finished it!

I didn’t enjoy it but I didn’t hate it. It was just ok. A little mind-numbing but ok.

I get the idea behind it. I understand that they were trying to make a point but the execution was shit.

did they have to do it in such a way that it felt like I was strapped to a chair and being forced fed the lesson with a wooden spoon riddled with splinters?

There was not a single character that I connected with in this and I didn’t care about the so-called mystery that wasn’t a mystery

The whole thing was corny as fuck and all I could think throughout was “I wonder how many of us didn’t already know that”

The measures taken were overkill for the point being made

The message itself might as well have been written in a banner running along the bottom of the screen in every episode.

this could’ve been a movie

This thing belongs on PBS Kids in their 1 p.m. slot

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Think J-drama but in K-drama format

This was actually a good drama. It's good that it's short cause I don't think it would've worked as well if it were longer.

Everybody's broken in some way and they all found a -not so healthy- coping mechanism and outlet.

Ae Jin is more than Genie. in fact, she doesn't even seem to really identify with the persona at all and she uses it as a tool to attain what's missing from her "irl" life.

It's a story about mental illness, grief, human behavior and their society's infatuation with beauty.

I feel like you might dislike this if you go in expecting more from it or something different.

This drama never tries to be what you think it should. It's not True Beauty and it's not a romance.

It's also not complicated so if you're gonna watch it, just enjoy it for what it is.

If the ending was more fleshed out it would've been better.

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Suspend all disbelief while watching this.

I'm serious, don't try to apply logic to Lopez because there is none.

Kuno Totono is not a "mystery-solving college student". Kuno Totono is a magic 8-ball, therapist and Sherlock Holmes all in one.

He falls into cases somehow and solves them with little to no effort because our fluffy bunny is a magic savant.

all jokes aside, it was a good watch. Aside from the improbable happenings, and almost ridiculousness of the plot, I liked the characters and the mysteries that weren't really mysteries.

I liked the female rookie detective who believed in the good in people and had to reconcile with the reality of the world and her proximity to evil by virtue of her job after her first real brush with a monster.

I liked the younger male detective who mostly served as a comedic factor but the actor's timing was great.

I liked the older detective. while he didn't get wrapped up in the Totono of it all, he still didn't disregard his words and skill which showed that he cared more about the purpose of his job than himself.

I liked Garo. he seems to be a bit off the deep end with the sister obsession but he was the first person to make Totono feel somewhat normal/ordinary and they're both different sides of the same coin.

I wish they had delved more into the ML as there seemed to be a lot of trauma and pain hidden behind the curls and doe eyes. He somehow sees everybody's pains and secrets yet nobody sees his. the only person to ever come close or try was Garo

This was a character driven drama-you stick around because you care about them and want to know where their story is going.

You stick around because you want to see Totono grow and expand his world beyond his apartment/kitchen. You stick around because you want to see Garo get resolution for his sister and find his way back. You stick around because you want to see the female detective find her footing and voice.

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I Expected More

I expected more from this movie, but I wasn't bitterly disappointed. The summary tells you essentially all you need to know about the plot of this movie which is that it's about a girl who gets stalked by a man after losing her phone.

Lee Na mi is a young woman who loses her phone on the bus while drunk after a night out. The opening of the movie establishes that Na Mi is a woman who's dependent on her phone-her world essentially revolves around the device so when she loses it and it's picked up by an unknown party, he gains access into her world.

I don't watch movies often because I feel like a lot of the time, more could have been told of the story but due to the 1.30-2hr time limit, often gets omitted. I felt like that was the case with this movie.

There wasn't enough focus on what was meant to be the main focus of the movie-his access into her phone. The killer's M.O is to gain access into his victims' phone and using that access, isolate them from the people in their lives and then kill them. However, the movie spends the bulk of its time having him watch her and take note of her relationships and plot his move. This would've been fine except it put all the focus on the killer and when you watch a thriller, I feel like a driving force behind the emotions of the viewers comes from the fear and distress of the targets/victims-not the methods of the killers/perps. We didn't get enough of Na Mi in distress and living in fear-there wasn't enough build up to how his access into her phone impacted her life, so it was a bit lackluster and made the whole "phone" part of the story unnecessary to me. It could've been omitted, and he could've just been someone who followed her home off the bus, and we'd have had the same result. If they had taken their time to not only show how he used his access to her phone to methodically ruin her life and isolate her from her loved ones but also how that impacted her by making her restless and living in a constant state of fear, distress and distrust and the feeling of endlessly being watched but never knowing who until the final showdown in the house-it would have been much better. What we got, however, was that everything happened too quick, and the movie was over-he blew up her job in one go and her relationship with her best. Her father being removed was a non-factor because she didn't even realize he was missing until the final showdown, and she figured out who he was like the same day he cut out her job and friend from her life. This could've been done better to make it a better thriller, but it was otherwise a fairly good movie.

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This was a wish fulfillment drama.

The story isn't all that compelling and it sure as hell isn't anything you haven't seen before EXCEPT for the fact that we came out the dugout winning and continued to. It was refreshing and entertaining to see our leads (especially our FL) fight back with as much venom as was thrown her way and not fail at every turn.

and after all the suffering that we've put ourselves through watching almost every FL get treated like a floor rag and being magnanimous in return, this drama provided us with the opportunity to watch and cheer one on as she got her pound of flesh back with impunity.

but even that lost its allure after a while and the feeling of satisfaction wasn't enough to carry such a basic script and subpar acting

(also, i truly believe that all the wardrobe funding went to the sister cause what were those outfits that man was in. he was dressed like someone's grandpa half the time and I 100% believe he'd never seen the inside of a fitting room)

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Disappointed…

This became unintentionally long cause at one point I just started talking about anything lmfao)

If ongoing reviews were a thing, yall would’ve seen how highly I thought of this drama at first lmfao

I think, the word “exemplary” once came to mind (during that consort’s final moments in court earlier on)

They took such care with the characters and story in the beginning.

It should be a crime for dramas to let you down this badly.

We wanted something different…

And at first, this was the something different.

This was a story where the fl was the heroine not just the love interest.

And not just in name only.

This was her story. Her journey and man was it a great watch

There were flaws throughout but I could tolerate them because I was having so much fun.

The Princess Royal was riding highhhh and then it crashed

It crashed horribly after ep.30

The last 10 episodes were a pain to get through

It revealed her as an indecisive hypocrite and spent an ungodly amount of time on an issue that was already resolved in ep.2-3 by framing it as some irreconcilable injustice.

We wasted 3 episodes on things we already knew or could’ve been explained in 15 minutes.

And then came the illogicalities.

The noble houses siding with a woman who’d previously tortured members of their houses and had them executed

A betrayal in the barracks for no apparent reason other than to create a conflict ig?

The others would be a spoiler.

They should cut out episodes 35-37, and cut out that drawn out death in ep.40, if they want to save even a fraction of this busted story

The casting director must’ve been asleep during the casting of this drama.

The sml, crown prince, Prince Su and Consort Rou’s actor(s) were casted for what?

There was also something not quite right with the fl’s acting.

I will say that regarding the criticisms about the sml being more like a ml than the sml: this is the most second male leadiest sml ever lmfao

The obnoxious yearning, the self righteousness, the inflated sense of worth he feels he holds in the fls heart/mind, the surface level/paper thin perfection and the need to control her couched in a pretense of protection

The only issue was her unreasonable attachment to him and that the story permitted the narrative of “missed opportunity” between them to persist til the end.

Don’t know what the writers were thinking but they weakened their romance with this.

You can’t have one person single-handedly carrying a relationship. It should be a partnership with mutual love and respect but it felt more like something Pei Wenxuan was painstakingly carving out of desperation.

I can’t root for that. It gives me the ick.

They also seemed afraid to position him fully as the villain of the story. Even til the end.

There seemed to be a disconnect between what they were trying to tell and what the viewers saw/experienced.

By the end, Li Ring and Pei Wenxuan were no longer characters I cared all that much about.

There was a point in the story where it felt like the writers gave up and patched together an ending because they had to.

It went from having fleshed out characters with an identity, personality and goals (from mains, sides, antagonists) to paper thin plot devices.

I want to give this a 6.5 so badly but I really liked it at first so a 7/10 it is.

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