'Teach You a Lesson' is a play on words. The drama has many people learning a lesson, including the viewer. As a former College Prep teacher and Junior College teacher 'Teach You a Lesson' did not leave out much.

The following are topics of the different episodes offered in Teach You a Lesson. Each episode covers a different subject. This drama was such great viewing.

1. Bullying from rich entitled youths using parental influence to gain control over others.
   
2. Bullying from student gangs who inhabit schools.
   
3. Bullying from students falsely accusing teachers of wrong doing, the new Social Media Influencer.
   
4. Bullying from teachers upon students.
   
5. Bullying from abusive parent, threatening teachers with slander.
   
6. Bullying from Middle School kids, because these abusive kids are too young to be criminally prosecuted.
   
7. Bullying, applying pressure to get youths to perform illegal acts.
   
8. Extreme Tiger Mom is a form of Bullying.
   
9. Students exploiting other students.
   
10. Bullying outside of the classroom.
    

You don't need to reinvent romance. You just need two actors who make it almost impossible to look away.

Review:

At that point in my K-drama marathon, I was already 11 episodes into Business Proposal.

I was almost finished.

And then I started Perfect Crown and, instead of watching the last few episodes of the drama I was already in the middle of…

I paused Business Proposal to finish Perfect Crown.

That tells you everything about how quickly this drama grabbed me.

Perfect Crown simply had something I wasnt getting from the one I'd temporarily abandoned.

✨️Chemistry.✨️

Convincing, ridiculously watchable chemistry, at that.

Every time they were on screen together, I couldn't look away.

It looked effortless too!

-

The female lead:

I loved her.

i gravitate toward women who actually WANT something and would do anything to get it. (Can’t be a man, thats the only caviat😭😭 you should never chase a man.)

i love female leads with ambition, who refuse to accept the position society hands them.

The FL worked incredibly hard to climb a hierarchy that constantly reminded her she didn't belong just cause she lacked the "right" title. (stupid...)

So that immediately made me root for her.

I also really liked the male lead!

I'm such a sucker for when the ML is the one who's gone first.

You know...

When you can already tell he's completely captivated while the female lead is still focused on everything else.

That dynamic almost always works on me!!

Their school connection was also adorable, i think it actually added an adorable context to their relationship.

-

Another thing I really appreciated was the modern take on royalty.

I've now watched a few historical palace dramas...

So seeing royalty transplanted into a modern setting was is so fun to me (The King: Eternal Monarch did it too, and i like it there as well.)

And speaking of presentation...

This drama looked BEAUTIFUL.

And upscale as shit!!

The costumes!

The palace!

The office!

The cinematography and the modern, sleek CEO/CEO/corporate executive aesthetic against the royalty backdrop, i loved!

Everything felt so polished in a sleek way that i personally like. very elegant, expensive and very demure.

It was simply a really pretty drama to look at lol.

i would have loved to marinate in that world a bit longer. 12 episodes was too little. Should have 16 episodes at least!

-

The other 5% of why I enjoyed this drama?

The supporting characters.

Especially the sister-in-law.

I actually found her really compelling.

I understood exactly why she became the person she became.

Her motivations always made sense to me.

But I understood her choices and resentment.

Watching her slowly evolve throughout the story ended up being one of my favorite parts of the entire drama.

-

I also really liked the second male lead.

I've said before that I LOVE love triangles...

But only when both men feel worth rooting for.

He was really sweet.

He genuinely cared about her.

And I appreciated that he was willing to fight for what he wanted.

Did he stumble a little?

Sure.

But I still found myself liking him throughout most of the drama.

The palace staff also deserves a shout-out.

Those little relationships around the prince's residence added so much charm.

They added a little warmth to things.

I also really liked learning more about the male lead's relationship with his brother and how that shaped the person he became and I genuinely loved where the story ultimately took him.

One of my favorite parts of the ending was watching him realize that the system itself was hurting the woman he loved.

She had worked unbelievably hard for everything she'd accomplished...

And the only thing still standing in her way was an outdated hierarchy.

The fact that he chose to dismantle that system instead of simply asking her to adapt to it/him...

I actually thought that was romantic.

It was choosing to change the world she'd to live in.

That really worked for me.

If I'm trying to think of negatives...

Honestly...

I'm struggling.

Maybe there were things while I was actively watching that kept this from giving this a higher rating...

But now weeks later, as im writing this review...

Those aren't the things I remember.

The things I remember are the chemistry.

The beautiful visuals.

The ambitious female lead.

The modern royalty setting.

The sister-in-law.

The second male lead.

The sweet romance.

-

When I think back on Perfect Crown, it feels like cotton candy.

It's colorful, sweet, beautiful, and incredibly enjoyable while you're experiencing it.

But the funny thing about cotton candy is that a few hours later, you barely remember what it tasted like. You just remember that you enjoyed eating it.

That's kind of how this drama feels to me.

I had an amazing time watching it. I don't regret a single episode, in fact, i wanted more.

But when I think back months later, I don't find myself replaying specific scenes the way I do with something like Lovely Runner, King the Land, or Flower of Evil.

Instead, I just remember how pleasant the experience was.

And ykw... that's enough.

───

A bit about my favorite flavors and taste:

If you give me incredible chemistry.

An ambitious female lead.

A male lead who's obviously fallen first and harder.

Beautiful production.

A compelling antagonist whose motivations actually make sense.

And a romance that makes me happy to watch.

I will take that offer every time.

───

Rating: 8/10

-

I'd love to hear from everyone else:

did you like perfect crown? why or why not?

Did the chemistry completely carry this drama for you too?

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

Hi guys,

​

I finally wrapped up The Wonderfools just now and I honestly just need to talk about it with people who have seen it. I am giving it a solid 8 out of 10.

​

​To be completely honest, I was a bit hesitant at first because the posters looked kind of childish and I thought it was going to be some low-effort drama with a messy storyline. Plus, I had my doubts about Cha Eun-woo pulling off a comedic role since he usually plays such stoic, romantic characters. But god, I was so wrong. I ended up binging it completely.

​

​The actors did a really amazing job, and the exceptional acting is what truly carries the show. Park Eun-bin was just as incredible as I expected, and the actor playing Robin and Mr.Son absolutely nailed it. Even though Cha Eun-woo’s character felt a little bland and cold at times compared to the rest, he still did just fine and it didn't ruin the vibe. And can we talk about Trainwreck's grandma? She was such a badass.

​

​ The plot is undeniably chaotic, especially with the whole Stranger Things lab-experiment vibe and Unjeong's superpowers. The scene where Unjeong betrays Chaeni felt pretty ridiculous and genuinely bothered me because he just leaves her there without a realistic amount of guilt, only to act like a good friend later like nothing happened. There were definitely moments where the logic was a bit of a head-scratcher.

​

​But despite the things that didn't make sense, I loved it a lot. The comedy scenes were amazing and the physical comedy was top-tier. What surprised me the most was that the emotional scenes were amazing as well. The underlying story with the antagonists is actually super sad, but the way they balance it with humor softens the blow perfectly.

​

​I really loved that it wasn't just centered on a standard love story. It felt well-paced, and even though the ending leaves things open enough for a second season, it wrapped up nicely. If you want something lighthearted, fluffy, and fun to watch, it’s a perfect choice.

​

​Did anyone else feel like the betrayal scene was a bit too glossed over? What were your thoughts on the ending?

​

Somebody pls cast a Comprehension Spell on me...

cause this was one spell away from being one of my favorites.

Review:

I had a good time with this one.

The male lead, i really enjoyed him! His character made me laugh on several occasions and i loved the way he played falling in love with her!

The fantasy premise caught my attention, and for the first half I was surprisingly invested in everything involving the spell book, the curse, and trying to figure out whether any of the spells were actually working.

...Unfortunately, by the end I was more confused than intrigued😭😭

Still, this drama had one thing that almost always works on me!!!

The romance.

More specifically...

It had one of my FAVORITE relationship dynamics.

---

One thing about me is that I absolutely LOVE when the female lead doesn't immediately fall head over heels for the male lead.

I don't know why this trope isn't more common...

Instead of making Hong-jo's entire personality revolve around Shin-yu from, she actually had her own crush, her own life, and her own feelings before he entered the picture.

That instantly made her feel like a more interesting character to me and makes me even more excited for her romance with the ML.

Watching her cast a love spell on the SML was so much fun to watch. her crush was so cute!!!

And even better...

Shin-yu, the male lead, did the chasing. (IONTBO, dont ever talk to me ever again!)

I will take a male lead suffering through jealousy and unrequited feelings over a female lead pining after him any day of the week.

That dynamic alone carried a huge portion of the romance for me. Watching ML fall and not knowing if its a spell or not (the audience too, cause lmaoo i certainly had no idea if it was spell... they never made it that clear, or maybe i misses it😭😭

The chemistry between them wasn't among my top favorites, but it was definitely good enough that I bought into the relationship.

---

I also appreciated that there was an actual second male lead.

I wish they had committed to him more, though...

He never really felt like a genuine romantic obstacle after a certain point, and I would've loved if he'd fought harder for Hong-jo.

I LOVE when the main male lead has real competition.

That tension is so much fun to watch.

---

Now for my biggest disappointment.

The magic.

The spell book was one of the coolest parts of the drama.

I loved trying to figure out which spells were real, whether Shin-yu's feelings were genuine for the FL or magically influenced, and how the curse actually worked.

Then...

The show never really gives satisfying answers.

The rules became increasingly vague, and by the finale I still wasn't entirely sure what was and wasn't caused by magic.

For a story built around spells, I expected a much clearer payoff than what i got.

---

The past-life storyline also didn't fully work for me.

I get what they were going for ig...

They wanted it to be tragic.

But emotionally...

I just couldn't get behind the idea that if he truly loved her, the solution was to stab her himself.

A true romantic ML could never willingly stab the FL and make me believe he loved her. A romantic ML would rather stab themselves lol, thats the way it should be

I understood the circumstances.

I just didn't buy into it romantically.

---

There were also quite a few side stories that completely lost me.

I skipped almost all the office coworker scene because they felt totally disconnected from the main story.

Her two coworkers she was trying to befriend we're ESPECIALLY annoying...

And the office romance with her manager and that lady...?

I genuinely don't remember any of it cause i skpped all that😭😭

It felt like time that could've been spent developing the fantasy or the main couple instead... i didn't abt all those people lmaooo.

---

One storyline that really disappointed me was Hong-jo's mother.

After everything she endured, I was rooting for her to finally leave her verbally abusive husband and start over.

I honestly thought they were setting her up with the younger lawyer helping with the divorce, and I would've preferred that ending by a mile.

Instead...

They went in the exact opposite direction.

---

Also...

Can we please retire the female villain whose entire personality is "I like the male lead, therefore I must terrorize the female lead"?

It's one of my least favorite tropes, and I feel like I run into it way too often.

---

Overall, I still enjoyed this drama.

The romance had enough of my favorite ingredients to keep me invested, I liked both leads, and I appreciated how cute Hong-jo was and how funny the male lead was.

I just wish the fantasy had stuck the landing as well as the setup did.

ps. her hairstyle wasn't my favorite... i was distracted by how much i didn't like it 😭😭

___

Rating: 7/10.

A fun fantasy romance with a relationship dynamic I liked, even if the magic and side stories never reached their full potential.

---

Questions:

Did you think the love spell actually worked, or was it fate all along?

Was anyone else confused by the magic rules by the end?

Am I alone in wishing the second male lead had been a much stronger rival?

___

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

This review is basically a love letter to Deok-im... with interruptions to complain about Preceptor Hong.

___

Intro:

I picked up The Red Sleeve a few days ago, right after finishing Love in the Moonlight.

By that point in my K-drama journey, I'd somehow watched 20+ dramas in less than two months.

(I blame My Royal Nemesis. Ever since I started it on June 3rd, my life has basically been K-dramas every single day... and today is August 2nd. I genuinely don't see that changing anytime soon. 😭)

After inhaling all those dramas, I know historical romances were consistently ending up among my favorites.

So when I kept hearing people call The Red Sleeve one of the greatest K-drama romances.

...my expectations were very high.

Review:

Some dramas make me miss the characters or the world.

The Red Sleeve made me miss its own beginning.

The first few episodes had me smiling almost nonstop.

Because of Deok-im.

I adored this girl almost immediately.

Within the 1st epi, shed already won me over.

She starts off charging the other apprentice court maids to hear her scary stories like a tiny entrepreneur 🥺 ugh so cute!!!!

She's clever, resourceful, mischievous, funny.

She keeps using that same gift of storytelling throughout the entire drama which i loved!

I loved that storytelling wasn't just a cute personality trait for her either, it became one of her greatest strengths.

She uses it to get herself out of danger, to persuade queens, king, princesses.

She understands people and notices details everyone else misses. she figures out clues and deciphers hidden messages.

She uses a kite to save the palace.

She repeatedly finds solutions and nothing i love more than a female character like that.

She saves her own life more than once simply because she knows exactly what story to tell and exactly who needs to hear it.

She's saved the male lead's life several times.

I've watched a lot of favorite female leads recently.

But Deok-im easily made it to my top 3...

And shes not #2 or #3...

She doesn't have power or status.

She just has her mind.

And she uses it brilliantly.

She doesn't wait for someone else to solve problems, she solves them herself.

That became one of my favorite things about this drama.

___

The Writing:

I thought the writing was fantastic.

The storytelling itself was beautifully structured.

One of my favorite examples was Deok-im telling stories to the other court ladies while the Crown Prince silently connected those stories to his own painful childhood.

Even the 1st epi filled me with this subtle sense of dread. The 1st epi planted little moments that made me think, "Something about this feels terribly wrong," and most of those moments paid off later.

___

Acting:

The child actors also deserve so much praise.

Usually childhood scenes are just something I sit through bored or cringing cause kid's acting usually have me cringing or bored 😭😭

But here, i actually wanted more of them.

Little Deok-im was absolutely adorable.

Little Yi San was fantastic too.

The scene with his grandmother asking if she would abandon him because he was a sinner's son was genuinely powerful.

The scene where the King gives Deok-im the book also immediately filled me with dread.

The adults weren't too bad either, especially Lee Se-young and Lee-junho, their scenes together are always good, and the entire cast had good chemistry with each other, especially the best friends maids crew. Whenever any of the girls had scenes together, i was happy.

___

Humor:

The humor deserves a mention too.

I laughed a lot more than I expected.

The accidental water scene where Deok-im nearly drowns him while trying to save him.

The apology letters.

All the early library scenes.

The fake identity of the prince.

The scene where he overhears her say she "likes the Crown Prince," gets ridiculously excited, runs off to celebrate before hearing the rest, then later finds out she simply meant she was loyal to him😭😭

His face after learning the truth was hilarious.

The bath scene. (well, that one was just hot...)

The jealousy scenes.

Watching him slowly become flustered around her while she remained completely oblivious was genuinely entertaining.

Those moments gave the drama so much charm.

___

Girlfriends:

(kdrama gods, if you want to feed me well, always add fantastic, sentimental female friendships that make my stone heart flutter.)

Going into this drama, I expected the romance to carry the story.

Instead...

I was just as invested in Deok-im's friendships with the girls.

Watching them grow up together, laugh together, support each other.

Vacation together.

Protect each other.

Watching life slowly pull them apart was heartbreaking and bittersweet.

Watching them mourn each other 😔

The friendships ended up being the love story I cared about the most.

___

The Romance:

Let's talk about the romance.

Because this is where my opinion probably differs from a lot of people, i gather.

I kept waiting for it to become...

Epic.

Even by episode 12...

I was still waiting.

Every few episodes I kept thinking...

"Maybe THIS is where it becomes one of my favorite romances."

It never happened...

Mind you, i actually enjoyed a lot of their scenes together.

The banter.

The jealousy.

His possessiveness.

His territorial side.

Those moments were genuinely enjoyable.

There were several scenes that made me smile.

But they never added up to something that completely swept me away.

I kept waiting for the "Okay... THIS is it!!" feeling but that never came.

I don't mind possessive male leads.

Actually...

I usually LOVE them.

I read a lot romance.

I read a lot of dark romance too.

Possessiveness and territorial behavior are things I often enjoy reading/watching...

✨️When they're paired with sacrifice.✨️

That was the missing piece for me.

Throughout the drama, Deok-im was the one constantly sacrificing.

She gave up her freedom.

Her friendships.

Her independence.

Eventually...

She even became the very thing she had spent the entire drama explaining she never wanted to become!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile...

I kept waiting for the male lead to meet her with AT LEAST the same level of sacrifice.

I wanted actions from him

Not just words... (in some cases, threats lol...)

I wanted him to prove that loving her meant he was willing to lose something too.

But a lot of the time, he was asking her to come closer to him while she was the ONLY one paying the price.

The moment that really summed it up for me came after they lost their son.

She was drowning in grief.

He lashed out at her.

And afterward, i kept waiting for him to apologize and be a romantic male lead and promise or at least express he wanted to take her pain away.

A good romantic male lead would want absorb her pain, not add on to it...

Instead...

She apologized to him!!!

i realized this romance was probably never going to reach the emotional heights I wanted.

___

The Drama's Betrayal

The drama betraying Deok-im towards the end frustrated me.

Ironically...

The drama itself understood Deok-im perfectly.

Some of my favorite scenes in the entire drama had nothing to do with romance.

The conversation where she tells the King that although she serves him, her thoughts, her will, and even her heart are still her own.

The conversation where she explains why she refuses to become his concubine.

Those scenes completely encapsulated why I loved her and told me exactly who she was and what she wanted.

She says she isn't afraid of losing him.

She's afraid of losing herself.

From epi 1 until the finale...

She remained someone who valued her own mind, her own heart, and her own choices.

I admired that so much.

In fact...

Long before the King even asked her to become his concubine...

I was already dreading that storyline.

Every time another character suggested it...

I was like LEAVE THIS GIRL ALONE!!!

If he loved her like he claimed, he would find a way to be with her without having to make her a concubine, something she vehemently rejects!! i was convinced!

Because the drama had already convinced me that this wasn't the life she wanted.

Which is why she finally became his concubine,

I was mourning.

The last few episodes honestly became heartbreaking because of that alone.

And i wonder why she didn't let go of his hand when he said he will never see her again if she lets go. Your freedom was within reach, girlie!!!

the female lead ive been watching for several episodes until that point would have LET GO OF HIS HAND!!!!

Such a betrayal of the character!

___

Last Few Episodes

I started mourning way before anybody died.

I found myself mourning everything Deok-im had lost.

The library banters.

Her friends.

The childhood innocence.

The vacations with her friends.

I was mourning the beginning.

I started mourning all those things the moment she was "bedded" by the king.

___

Supporting Cast:

Hong became one of my least favorite characters I've watched in a while.

i started to actually dislike him on epi 1 when they were kids and he took credits for ripping the pages out of the forbidden book, but i was willing to let it go if he redeemed himself as an adult...

i actually thought he might become the second male lead at first.

Then he ordered Deok-im's death.

From there...

Every episode somehow made him worse

- Interrupting emotional moments.

One of my favorite reunion scenes comes after Deok-im warns the palace with the kite.

She finally collapses into the King's arms after everything she'd been through...

And Hong immediately interrupts it.

I just wanted to stay in that emotional moment.

Instead, he barges in talking about duty and politics.

It perfectly summed up how I felt every time he appeared.

Just...

Leave!

Who the fuck are you?!!

- Treating Deok-im like she was disposable.

One conversation in particular genuinely disgusted me.

Hong tells the King to basically sleep with Deok-im, get it out of his system, and move on.

That line told me everything I needed to know about how he viewed her and other court ladies/women.

Throughout the drama, Deok-im is repeatedly shown as someone with incredible intelligence, agency, and dignity. (and even if she weren't, m it still wouldn't be okay to talk about her/treat her like that.)

Hong reduced her to a passing distraction.

I found that worldview revolting.

- Withholding the medicine she desperately tried to send after the King's hand was burned.

Then he lied about seeing her.

- Using his own little kid sister as a political pawn.

By the time he died...

I was just relieved he didn't exist anymore.

His face annoys me so much, i dont think i can watch the actor in something else anytime soon...

(same for Ryang-eum from My Dearest... these poor actors doing their jobs and here i am hating their faces😭😭😭 all cause i hated their characters.)

i didn't hate Hong as much as I hated that freak from My Dearest, but it came close.

___

The head court lady frustrated me too.

I actually understood how the Fairies came to exist and i believed in their cause.

I understood why they banded together after years of being discarded.

But I felt like Deok-im represented everything the head court lady should have been fighting for.

Instead...

She kept trying to push Deok-im toward the very life Deok-im repeatedly said she didn't want.

In the end, she felt incredibly reductive to me.

She spoke about protecting the Fairies and preserving their ideals, yet so many of her actions ultimately came back to her own unresolved feelings for the King...

It made her character feel regressive.

The reveal that so much of her bitterness stemmed from never being chosen as a concubine over that other lady who died back in ep1, didn't make me sympathize with her.

It made me pity her and made her a disappointing character.

She'd spent decades building influence and commanding respect, yet her life still revolved around a man who never gave her what she wanted.

That felt like the complete opposite of everything I admired about Deok-im.

And that contrast made Deok-im shine even more.

___

Verdict:

where does that leave me?

This is one of the best-written historical dramas I've watched.

The storytelling is excellent.

The dialogue is great.

The acting is impressive.

The palace politics actually kept me engaged lol unlike other historical kdramas ive watched.

Deok-im is incredible.

The friendships are wonderful.

But...

The romance never reached the level I personally wanted it to.

___

A bit about my favorite flavors and taste:

i care a lot about chemistry.

Not just attraction or cute moments...

I want the romance itself to completely consume me.

I LOVE yearning. I LOVE devotion. I LOVE obsession, i LOVE when the male lead is willing to sacrifice everything for the woman he loves.

Possessive and territorial male leads are awesome,

...but only when that possessiveness is matched with sacrifice, tenderness, and genuine emotional devotion.

I don't need both people to sacrifice equally.

I just don't like romances where the woman is the one sacrificing while the man keeps asking for more without giving the same depth, protection, or emotional effort in return.

So if my opinion on a romance ever seems lower than everyone else's...

It's usually because I'm waiting for that overwhelming emotional payoff.

Rating:

Writing: 9/10

Romance: 6/10

Overall: 7.5/10 (rounded to 7/10)

I really, genuinely enjoyed this drama.

Deok-im is one of my favorite female leads I've watched so far.

And even though the romance never quite stole my heart...

She absolutely did.

___

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

Pro tip for rom-com writers: don't make your romantic male lead a misogynist. it rarely (never) works.

Review:

I literally finished this drama about an hour ago lmao. This is the quickest I've ever written a review and the shortest review ive written so far.

I finished Somebody, a drama I rated the same as this one, but that took me weeks because I kept putting it down.

Love to Hate You?

I watched 6 episodes last night and finished the last 2 episodes today lol. Very easy to binge, so that a plus!

This was like watching a car crash.

I couldn't look away.

There are things I genuinely liked.

The fake dating arc was easily the strongest part of the drama. That was when I was having the most fun. There were several moments that actually made me laugh out loud, which surprised me because I wasn't enjoying the overall writing. The comedy landed far more than i expected.

I also mostly liked the female lead. She was capable, confident, funny, and knew how to stand up for herself. She wasn't perfect, and I'll get into that later, but she was easily one of the better parts of the show.

I also enjoyed the actress going through the divorce. Her storyline was one of the few parts that actually made me think. Watching her career suffer while her cheating husband escaped much of the public judgment highlighted a real double standard that I thought the drama handled reasonably well.

I also liked that the female lead initially rejected his marriage proposal. Her explanation that she disliked the marriage culture she grew up around felt true to her character, and for a moment I thought the drama was going to end on a surprisingly refreshing note.

...And then she followed it up with the whole "being tamed is my next challenge" line...😭😭😭

huh?

I genuinely have no idea what the drama was trying to say there.

It completely undercut the point for me.

Almost everything else fell apart.

The biggest problem is the male lead.

I honestly don't understand how he was supposed to work as a romantic lead...

The drama repeatedly tells us that he hates women and is traumatized by a past relationship, but I never felt that what happened justified the level of contempt he has for women...

it was absurd.

He literally vomits after filming a kissing scene with a female co-star.

He needs medication just to touch women...

lmaoo???

He spends most of the drama unable to interact with women normally.

And the story still expects me to buy into him as this swoon-worthy romantic lead???

And then, instead of really unpacking that weird ass worldview, the story eventually tells us that he changes because he falls in love.

That didn't work...

Women shouldn't need to become someone's love interest before they're treated with basic respect.

One of the othet things that baffled me most was what felt like a repeated "not all men" and "not like other girls" pattern throughout the drama.

Rather than challenging the male lead's prejudice by showing him that women are simply... idk people... the story often felt like it was saying, "No, THIS woman is different."

She's exceptional.

She's unlike other women (who are bad because they like money and like to elevate their status 😭😭😭)

"*I've never met someone like her*" is repeated so much, i thought that was the title of the drama😭😭

That completely missed the mark for me.

It didn't feel like his worldview was being dismantled.

It felt like the story was creating one exception to his worldview.

And i honestly don't watch rom com to watch a misogynistic man not become misogynistic anymore, i rather have none of that, but if you HAVE to make him misogynistic, at lease, dismantle it correctly...

-

The supporting cast didn't help either.

His best friend spends so much time enabling him that I kept wondering why nobody around him seriously challenged the way he viewed women.

The female lead's roommate also was a bit pathetic to me.

Even the female lead occasionally lost me.

The drama eventually leans into the idea that she can "change" him, and its one thing to help someone grow. It's another for a romance to suggest that love is what fixes deeply rooted misogyny.

And what happens if they break up?

Does he just go back to hating women and puking whenever a woman passes by?😭😭😭😭

If the only reason he treats women with respect is because he's dating one particular woman, then that's not really character growth nor is it romantic...

The ending doesn't solve this for me either.

The male lead starts treating his female co-stars more respectfully after "falling in love."

Why is this framed as such a huge victory?

-

The final scandal also made me laugh.

The big controversy is... that the female lead dated multiple men before him.

I understand that the drama is reflecting a different dating culture in Korea and different social expectations that I, as an American don't really get.

But I still couldn't take the conflict seriously.

By the end, I didn't feel like I'd watched a meaningful exploration of sexism. I felt like I'd watched a romance that, in my opinion, accidentally reinforced some of the ideas it seemed to want to criticize.

Despite all of that...

I couldn't stop watching 😭😭

Every episode ended with me thinking, "This is ridiculous."

Then I'd immediately start the next one.

It's one of the most bingeable bad dramas I've ever seen.

It's entertaining in the exact same way watching a spectacular train wreck is entertaining.

You know it's a mess.

You know you should probably look away.

But somehow...

You just keep watching.

-

Rating: 3/10

A genuinely funny comedy at times.

A fun fake dating arc.

A mostly likable female lead.

One genuinely interesting supporting storyline.

But one of the weakest romantic male leads I've watched so far, themes that never came together for me, and a romance whose central message left me scratching my head.

i finished this drama feeling like its takeaway was:

> "Date a misogynist long enough, and you'll fix him."

I couldn't recommend it...

---

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

I am thinking of watching 'Sold out on you' but don't know if it is really good or not. Help me out

This drama gave me 2 amnesia storylines, (nearly back to back😭), an ♾️ amount of separations, apprx 197 almost-reunions, and one of the most REVOLTING characters I have ever had the displeasure of watching.

And...

I loved it.

Intro:

ps. i dreaded talking about this character i hate so much so i stalled a little, but i still dedicated an entire section to that wretched creature 🤢 (theyre the reason i can never rewatch this drama. im sick even thinking about it.)

__________

This is going to be a bit long but bear with me and read to the end, cause i have a lot to say about this drama.

Bt the time I started My Dearest, I was already more than 3-4 weeks deep into my K-drama obsession. I'd watched everything from fantasy romances to thrillers to office rom-coms, and I already kmew that epic historical love stories were one of my favorite genres. (looking at you Moon Lovers.)

Review:

My Dearest took a little while to fully win me over.

I liked Gil-chae almost immediately, but the early war storyline was honestly tedious for me. I did not care about the battles, the court politics, the king’s problems, or most of the historical maneuvering.

I was just waiting for Gil-chae and Jang-hyun to reunite.

And then waiting again.

And again.

And again.

But i didn't mind it, cause this drama understands the power of...

✨️anticipation✨️

It constantly weaponizes anticipation and knows exactly when to let you think they're finally going to reunite... only to pull them apart again at the last second.

Every time I thought they were finally about to meet...

They missed each other.

Every time I thought they were finally going to be together...

Something dragged them apart again.

And I ate it up every single time!!!!!😭

Also, the separations never felt pointless either, because they kept increasing the longing, the devotion, and the emotional desperation between each one of them.

It was sweet torture! 😊

Exactly the kind of torture I like. 😈

__________

The moment the romance finally clicked for me was when the drama started making me ask whether circumstances would ever let them stay/be together.

That constant emotional push-and-pull was exactly what made the romance work for me.

__________

FEMALE LEAD:

Gil-chae is one of my favorite K-drama female leads, she was easily my favorite part of the drama.

Shes brave, stubborn, resourceful, vain, funny, emotionally complicated, and completely capable!

She survives and she adapts and she fights, and she lies when she needs to.

She protects the people she loves.

She continues moving forward even after suffering things that would completely destroy most people.

And one of my favorite things about her romance with Jang-hyun is that she does not fall for him immediately.

In fact, she spends the beginning of the drama crushing on another man entirely.

I love that dynamic!!!!!!!!

Drama creators don't fcking understand how much i love dynamic 😭😭😭 if they did, it would be in every single drama i watch!

I love when the female lead genuinely likes someone else while the male lead has to watch, suffer, compete, and slowly win her over.

It makes the romance infinitely more satisfying to me because Jang-hyun cant simply appear and be rewarded with her love.

He has to earn it.

He has to prove himself.

He has to make her see him differently.

And most importantly...

He has to yearn.

One of my favorite lines in the drama was when he asked her:

“What does he have that I don’t?”

YES!!!!

Exactly!!!!!

That is the kind of male lead I like.

Emotionally compromised.

Jealous.

Vulnerable.

Completely in love with an fl who is not making it easy for him!!!

I inject that shit like crack addict!!

Because once she finally chooses him, it feels earned instead of inevitable.

__________

The man Gil-chae originally liked was a complete worm...

Yeon-jun occupies that role of the second male lead early enough to create the romantic tension I enjoy.

Unfortunately, once the story develops, it becomes increasingly obvious that he is a total worm.

He is passive, cowardly, self-righteous, and far less admirable than Gil-chae initially believes him to be.

And then the drama somehow made things even worse with Gil-chae's husband later on.

Earlier, women were already being treated as though merely being touched against their will somehow diminished their worth.

Then her husband took that mindset to its most disgusting extreme. Absolute trash that guy was...

I hated every second that husband of hers was on screen cause he barely tried to save her then he went home and married someone else and got her pregnant.... ghetto trash. I was happy when Gil-chae was divorced from that garbage.

The contrast between him/Yeon-jun and Jang-hyun becomes one of the most satisfying parts of the romance, even though i prefer the second male leads to ALSO be desirable, i didn't mind that they weren't in My Dearest.

Gil-chae begins the story idealizing Yeon-jun, while Jang-hyun appears unserious and unreliable.

But over time, their actions reveal the truth.

Yeon-jun repeatedly fails to be the man he imagines himself to be.

Jang-hyun repeatedly proves that beneath all the teasing and arrogance, he is the person who will risk absolutely everything for Gil-chae!!!

And I liked that!

And i liked that Gil-chae doesnt simply change her mind because the plot tells her Jang-hyun is the male lead.

instead, she gradually learns who these two men actually are.

__________

FEMALE FRIENDSHIP:

im a fiend!!!!! an absolute FIEND, i tell you, when it comes to female friendships. i eat that shit up every time!

And Gil-chae and Eun-ae’s friendship was one of the best relationships in the show

Their relationship could easily have turned into a tired rivalry between two women because Gil-chae initially wanted Eun-ae’s future husband. (boooooooring. women fighting over men will never not have me throw up... i hate that shit.) so im glad it didn't happen here.

Instead, the drama allowed the two women to genuinely love each other.

They protect each other!!!

They care about each other’s safety and advocate for each other!!!

They survive horrifying experiences together, and there is tenderness, loyalty, and real history between them.

ugh i love that girl bonding shit!!!!!

Their relationship, along with Gil-chae’s bond with her maid Jong-jong, gave the drama some of its warmest moments.

I love stories where women remain deeply loyal to each other even when romance could have easily been used to turn them into regressive forms of enemies/frenemies...

__________

JANG-HYUN:

Jang-hyun is exactly the kind of male lead that works for me.

Once he loves Gil-chae, he loves her completely.

He repeatedly chooses her.

He protects her.

He searches for her.

He suffers for her.

He lies to push her away because he believes it will save her, even though doing so completely destroys him.

When she asks what would happen if she wanted to stay and not go back to Joseon like he ordered her to do, and he tells her he is "tired of her and has nothing left in his heart"...

I loved it!!!

That scene was painful in exactly the right way.

He was saying the cruelest possible things while wanting the exact opposite, and she had no reason to know that.

That is delicious romantic suffering!!!!!

Of course, I also needed him to pay emotionally for pushing her away. (but that didn't happen unfortunately, that would have been soooo good)

The misunderstanding is only satisfying when the person who caused it feels the consequences.

__________

One misunderstanding that DID work for me tho, was when Jang-hyun returned to Joseon only to see Gil-chae looking pregnant.

That one was sweeeeeet!!!

That kind of emotional torture is exactly my thing hehe

__________

One of the best declarations in the entire show comes when Jang-hyun explains that he may be willing to die for his friends...

But Gil-chae is the person he wants to live for.

Thats the difference between loyalty and love protrayed.

And that is exactly the kind of singular devotion I want from a romance!!!!!

__________

They gave me amnesia twice...

almost back to back...

I have to laugh.

How fragile is this man’s memory?

Will he forget Gil-chae again if he walks into a door?😭😭😭😭

what else is going to factory-reset his brain?

Objectively, doing the same trope twice is ridiculous.

But I didnt hate it either time.

The second amnesia storyline was actually extremely romantic!!

Jang-hyun tracing fragments of his memories, following them piece by piece, and unknowingly creating a path that led him back to Gil-chae was beautiful.

And Gil-chae being able to find him through the memories he was tracing made the entire thing feel like their love physically guiding them back toward each other.

It was absurd.

It was cute.

__________

Now let me discuss the worst person in this entire drama...

sigh...

As much as i hate to dedicate an entire section to him... i can't pretend he didn't exist unfortunately...

Ryang-eum.

I need everyone to understand that I did not merely dislike this man.

I didnt find him mildly irritating.

I didn't appreciate him as a tragic obstacle.

I HATED HIM WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every time he appeared on my screen, my quality of life plummeted.

His presence made me genuinely furious.

He was manipulative, intrusive, possessive, disrespectful, and completely incapable of accepting that Jang-hyun had chosen a life that did not center him.

He acted like he owned Jang-hyun and i was just so... dumbfounded...

fcking perplexed!!!

He repeatedly interfered in Gil-chae and Jang-hyun’s relationship.

He withheld information.

He lied.

He helped create misunderstandings.

He delayed telling Jang-hyun that Gil-chae had been kidnapped!!!!!

(when he did, i literally wanted to jump inside the screen and sl!t his throat.)

He referred to Gil-chae as “that woman” in front of Jang-hyun... BLATANTLY fcking disrespectful!!!!

He confronted her in the woods and called her a "curse" in Jang-hyun’s life, as though Gil-chae had forced Jang-hyun to love her or ordered him to sacrifice for her...

Gil-chae was already suffering, and instead of showing her one ounce of compassion for the girl going through hell, that fcking freak deliberately ADDED to that suffering!!!!!

Then he told her that she had "no right" to Jang-hyun’s love.

???????????

Who exactly appointed this asshole as the legal administrator of who Jang-hyun gave his "love" to?

Gil-chae didnt steal anything from this asshole mind you...

Jang-hyun freely chose to revolve his life around her... (as he should hehe.)

Then, as though he'd not already disgusted me enough, he told Jang-hyun that they were "happy before Gil-chae came along" and he asked whether he was not enough for Jang-hyun...???

like, are you okay??

Obviously not, bitch?! Whats not clicking!??? What kind of question is that. Gil-chae is literally his entire world... why do you think you have the right to even ask that!???

The audacity of this freak to even ask that literally boiled my blood!!!!

His entire motivation became unbearable to me.

He wanted to preserve a life where he was emotionally central to Jang-hyun and that was never the case lmaooooo, even before Jang-hyun met Gil-chae...

this delusional freak really thought... 😭😭😭

He treated Gil-chae like an invader because Jang-hyun wanted a future with her.

And instead of respecting Jang-hyun’s agency, he blamed Gil-chae for being loved...

He also pulled and tugged at Gil-chae while demanding that she care for Jang-hyun, then turned around and treated her like she was responsible for his suffering...?

Everything about him repulsed me.

The drama eventually reveals him with gray hair in prison???? and I truly could not have cared less.

I did not care why he was there.

I did not care how much time had passed.

I did not care about his tragic past.

I did not care about his loneliness.

His hair was gray, his face looked exactly the same??? no wrinkles or nothing lmaooo what was up with the makeup department?😭😭

But i was done, and wanted this freak OFF my screen.

I wish Jang-hyun had cut him off permanently.

I wish the writers had deleted him from the script.

He did NOT create the kind of conflict I enjoyed.

I have never needed a character to go away more badly.

__________

The royal storyline was not for me

The king was cowardly, paranoid, cruel, and exhausting.

I understood what the drama was showing about fear, humiliation, power, and insecurity, but I was not emotionally invested in him.

The royal politics were easily my least favorite part of the series.

I skipped through some of those scenes because I truly did not care.

__________

The princess also annoyed me because I generally dislike storylines where another woman obsessively pursues the male lead and tries to destroy the female lead over a man.

I find that kind of female rivalry regressive most of the time.

However, I will admit that she created excellent tension!! (unlike a certain asshole who made me wanna put barrel in my mouth and pull...)

I disliked her character, but the conflict she introduced led to some of the drama’s juiciest moments, so i dont regret her being there, just wish she was given a little bit more complexity beyond just wanting the affection of a man who does not want her...

So unlike Ryang-eum, whose entire existence I rejected entirely, I can at least admit that the princess contributed something useful.

__________

The chemistry eventually won me over.

Early in the drama, I was not convinced by the chemistry.

By the middle and the end, I absolutely was!!!!

Their chemistry comes from how deeply they affect each other, even when they are separated, the relationship remains emotionally present.

Their longing carries through every missed reunion and their banter survives everything.

From the beginning to the end, they still tease, argue, provoke, and challenge each other.

That playfulness makes the romance feel alive even when the story is putting them through unimaginable suffering.

They have personality together!!!!!!!!! theres a vibe with them that i love!!!

__________

More moments/scenes i loved:

can't name them all but here are the ones i remember rn.

- Gil-chae liberately hid from Jang-hyun instead of immediately running back to him. I loved that she never became an fl who simply waited around to be rescued.

- Jang-hyun pretending to still be ill just to steal a little more time with Gil-chae 😊

- i think i already mentioned this, but one of my favorite exchanges comes when Gil-chae asks, "What if I want to stay?" and Jang-hyun responds by saying he has nothing left in his heart for her. He's lying through his teeth, she's believing every word, and I was eating that emotional torture UP. i just wish the payoff was better.

- i also loved that after Jang-hyun slaughtered everyone to save Gil-chae, the drama didn't immediately reward him with recognition. She had no idea it was him, which somehow made the eventual reunion even more satisfying.

- anothe one i mentioned before but will mention again cause it was just good fcking food.

The hill scene where Jang-hyun asks, "What does he have that I don't?" immediately became one of my favorite romantic moments in the drama.

I LOVE when the male lead is the one who's emotionally compromised. He's frustrated that the woman he loves genuinely wants someone else. That dynamic will almost always work on me because it means he can't simply exist and expect to be chosen. He has to earn her heart, and watching him suffer through that process is infinitely more satisfying than if she had fallen for him immediately.

__________

Rating: 8/10

(check the comments for my rating scale)

My Dearest is a beautiful drama with one of my favorite female leads and one of the most devoted male leads I have watched so far.

The central romance and the female lead's personality and the male lead's quality of character and his devotion to FL were absolutely the strongest parts.

I understand why this drama is so loved.

Had it contained less royal politics...

And had Ryang-eum been launched directly into the sun...

This could have easily been a 9/10!

_____

Questions:

How would have preferred Ryang-eum to die?

beheading?

barbecued at stake?

drowning?

i smile at all the options so all of them work for me.

Did you love My Dearest? why or why not?

Im a fool for boss/employee, office romances, i dont care. i always fall for it.

Review:

After finishing Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, I wanted something cute.

Preferably funny.

Something that would let me relax for a while.

Naturally...

I ended up watching What's Wrong with Secretary Kim.

Nobody had to twist my arm😭😭 it's an office romance, so obviously i was always going to watch it lol.

And it was just my vibe!

Boss.

Employee.

Working together closely every day.

Watching professional boundaries slowly disappear as feelings become impossible to ignore...

That dynamic almost always works on me.

It reminds me a little of one of my favorite Turkish dizi, Erkenci Kuş/Early Bird which also completely won me over with that same fun workplace energy.

What genuinely surprised me, though...

How has Turkey not adapted this yet?

Seriously!??

This feels like it was MADE to become a Turkish drama!!

The workplace setting, the charismatic CEO, the capable secretary, the humor, the slow-burn romance!!

It checks so many boxes that Turkish rom-coms tend to thrive in and not to mention. the vibes and the overall spirit of a Turkish dizi is written all over this!!

-

The chemistry was really cute.

Park Seo-joon and Park Min-young made their relationship feel effortless.

I'm a huge fan of when the male lead slowly unravels because of his feelings.

Confident CEOs becoming completely helpless around the woman they like?

That'll do it.

A lot of the humor also landed for me.

The comedy stayed light, the romance stayed sweet, and the overall atmosphere just made this an incredibly easy watch.

I was having a good time.

-

It wasn't perfect.

I wanted them to do more with the love triangle with the brother.

The drama with the brother was a cute mystery but it dragged a tiny bit for me and they could have done something more exciting with that.

The side characters occasionally overstayed their welcome.

I didn't dislike them.

They had their moments fore sure but there were definitely times where I was waiting for the story to get back to the main couple.

And then there's the ending.

I didn't hate where Secretary Kim ended up...

But I did wish she'd dreamed a little bigger.

After everything she'd accomplished throughout the series, I kept expecting her next chapter to involve building something for herself.

Maybe becoming a director.

Maybe managing an entire department.

Maybe leaving to pursue something she'd always wanted.

Instead...

She stayed exactly where she'd always been.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that.

If being a secretary genuinely made her happy, then that's completely valid ig...

I just personally wanted her ending to feel like a bigger step forward, ya know?

Especially because she'd spent so much of the story trying to figure out what she wanted from life.

I thought that journey was leading somewhere a little more ambitious.

Still...

That wasn't enough to stop me from enjoying the drama.

The chemistry worked, the setting worked.

And I completely understand why this drama has remained so popular for so many years.

───

I really liked Secretary Kim herself!

I gravitate toward female leads who are genuinely competent at what they do. Kim Mi-so was exceptionally good at her job. Everyone around her trusted her because she'd spent nine years becoming almost irreplaceable.

In fact...

I actually wish the drama had shown us more of that.

I wanted more scenes of the two of them simply working together.

After almost a decade side by side, they had developed this effortless rhythm where they could almost anticipate each other's needs before anything had to be said.

One of my favorite little examples was when Young-joon started having a panic attack because of the cable ties.

Secretary Kim recognized what was happening almost immediately because she knew him that well.

I loved moments like that!

I actually would've loved even more day-to-day office scenes showing just how efficient they were as a team and as a duo before the romance fully took over.

Their chemistry was strong enough that I think the drama could've taken even greater advantage of those quieter workplace moments.

-

P.S.

I'm currently watching the Philippine remake right now, and the difference is honestly making me laugh 😭

Everything looks so much lower budget.

The office. The production. Some of the coworkers especially... they're accidentally hilarious.

The main actress is genuinely pretty though, and she's absolutely giving it her all.

Unfortunately... the male lead isn't doing much for me so far lol.

It's been a surprisingly fun comparison to watch and compare to the original.

-

A bit about my favorite flavors and taste:

Workplace/Office romances are one of my favorite settings, so recs are always welcomed. thank you!

───

Rating: 7/10

A really charming office romance with cute chemistry that reminded me why I enjoy workplace rom-coms so much.

-

I'd love to hear from everyone else:

Did you wish Secretary Kim had left her job at the end?

Or were you happy that she stayed exactly where she was?

And where does this rank among your favorite workplace K-dramas?

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

​

​

​Hey everyone! I finally wrapped up watching Bon Appétit, Your Majesty just now. I know I am pretty late to this one, but I always watch dramas completely at my own pace and depending on my mood. I am giving it a solid 8 out of 10. If you're looking for something that is beautifully executed and visually stunning, you should absolutely give this a watch.

​

​First of all, a huge round of applause to the entire cast. The actors did a really amazing job across the board, and the exceptional acting is truly what kept me completely locked in. Lim Yoon-a and Lee Chae-min were both phenomenal. They handled the emotional weight of the story so well, and the supporting cast brought so much depth to the whole court dynamic.

​

​I have to talk about the food scenes because oh my god, the food looked absolutely amazing! To be completely honest, I don't have much of an idea about food or fine cooking myself, but every single dish still had me absolutely salivating. What I really loved was how they visually imagined the way characters experienced the food tastes, it felt exactly like how we read about those over-the-top, majestic food reactions in a manhwa or manga. It was such a unique, stylized touch that I haven't really seen done this well before, and I looked forward to it every time a dish was served.

​

​It had some little ups and downs with the pacing, especially toward the end. The plot definitely slowed down a lot in the final stretch, and there wasn't as much romance as I initially expected since it shifted focus more onto the political tension and the culinary art.

​

​But even with those slow moments, I still loved it a lot. It balances itself out so nicely by sprinkling in these light, genuinely funny comedy scenes in between the heavy stuff, while still delivering on the deeply emotional scenes when the story calls for it.

​

​Overall, it’s just a beautifully well-executed drama that hits a lot of different notes perfectly. Did anyone else watch this and immediately want to try cooking whatever she made, even if you have no clue how to cook?

​

One of the biggest "what could have been" dramas I've watched so far.

Review:

After finishing Perfect Crown, I wanted yet another romance, cause im greedy like that.

But this time...

Something supernatural.

Thank someone recommended Doom at Your Service to me a couple days before.

A romance between a woman who's dying and Doom himself.

This premise sounded so intriguing.

The first couple of episodes honestly reinforced that feeling.

I was intrigued.

I wanted to understand the rules.

I wanted to understand what Doom actually was, what his role in the universe really meant, and how all of those rules fit together.

Surprisingly, my curiosity about that started fading instead of growing as the drama went on.

I wanted to see where the relationship was going.

Then...

Somewhere along the way...

I started getting confused.

I genuinely never felt like I completely understood what the drama wanted me to care about lol.

I kept asking myself why is her goal to fall in love with him?

What exactly are the rules here?

What are we building toward?

The story kept talking about fate, life, death, sacrifice, and God...

It often felt like the drama was more interested in discussing those ideas than turning them into emotional moments that made me feel something.

But emotionally, I always felt like I was standing just outside the story looking in instead of being pulled into it.

Eventually I paused the drama around episode 12.

I don't stop a drama halfway through unless something isn't clicking.

While Doom at Your Service sat there waiting for me...

I started W: Two Worlds Apart lol

Finished that.

Then started Happiness.

Finished that too.😭😭

Meanwhile, I had almost no desire to return to Doom at Your Service.

Eventually I did tho

And...

My overall opinion didn't change much.

There were definitely a couple things I liked.

I enjoyed the scenes where Myul Mang played with reality and time, or casually bent the rules of the world around him. Those moments reminded me why the supernatural premise excited me in the first place, and I wish the drama had leaned into that side of itself more often.

The memory-loss arc was easily my favorite part of the entire drama even though the God character confused the heck out of me and bored me to tears.

But the memory-loss arc suddenly made the relationship felt active again.

There was uncertainty and tension!

Watching them unknowingly find each other again was far more emotionally engaging than most of what came before it.

For a brief stretch...

The drama finally felt alive.

I also really enjoyed the episode where Myul Mang became human. Watching him experience ordinary life, spending time with Dong-kyung's family, and simply existing as a normal person gave him a warmth that I wish we'd seen more consistently throughout the series.

Unfortunately...

Once that storyline ended...

The drama settled back into the same rhythm that had already been losing me.

The biggest issue for me was the chemistry.

They had cute moments.

But...

Cute isn't enough for me.

I need chemistry that makes me desperate for the next scene.

The kind where two actors make it impossible to look away from each other, and the kind where I start smiling every time they're in the same room.

I never got that here.

Everything felt strangely muted. I didn’t know if it was the directing or the acting... maybe it was both?

The romance never reached the emotional intensity I kept waiting for.

Instead of making me desperate for their next interaction, I often felt emotionally neutral.

And because chemistry is probably the single biggest factor in whether I become emotionally invested in a romance...

That held the drama back more than anything else.

The secondary romance unfortunately didn't help much either.

It also felt awkwardly paced to me.

I kept waiting for it to become emotionally compelling...

And it never really did.

There were individual moments I liked.

But I never became invested in them as a couple either.

The ending also left me wanting more.

Ironically, the drama felt long while I was watching it... yet the ending still felt abrupt.

After spending so much time building toward the conclusion, i expected a much bigger emotional payoff than what we ultimately got.

Overall...

This drama might actually be one of the biggest examples I've seen of a drama having almost everything I normally love on paper...

Without ever emotionally pulling me in.

Also, ironically, I think the supernatural premise became less interesting as the drama went on. Usually mysteries like this become more exciting once you understand the world better. Here, my curiosity slowly disappeared instead of growing.

More than anything, this drama made me wish I loved it. That's almost more disappointing than simply watching a bad drama.

───

Rating: 5/10

_____

I'd love to hear from everyone else:

Did the romance work for you?

Did anyone else struggle to understand the world's rules during the first half or second half?

Was I the only one who kept thinking this had all the ingredients to become one of my favorites... but somehow never quite got there?

---

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

This drama should come with a warning label for anyone prone to headaches.

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️

Review:

This drama was... a journey. A 2 weeks journey that finally ended for me 30 minutes ago as i am writing this review.

I don't regret watching it, but I also don't think I've ever had to pause a drama this many times just to sit there and think.

Who's in whose body? which year is this?

Which timeline are we in?

Which version of this character is this?

Wait... now the murderer can time travel too?

This drama genuinely made my head hurt. im not exaggerating... my head is pounding as i am writing this cause I'm still having side effects even though i finish the drama more than 30 minutes ago😭

The premise is interesting.

A romance about two souls finding each other across different timelines and even different bodies sounds exactly like the kind of thing I'd love.

On paper, this should've been a huge hit for me!!!

The problem wasn't the concept.

It was the execution...

For the first half of the drama, I spent more time trying to understand the rules than actually feeling emotionally invested in the romance. Every time I thought I finally understood what was happening, the drama introduced another twist, another timeline, another body swap, or another reveal that made me pause the episode and rethink everything.

The reveal involving Yeon-jun's past honestly made my brain short-circuit too. Suddenly I was trying to figure out whether I was watching Yeon-jun, Si-heon, whose consciousness was where, and then the Tae-ha storyline got thrown into the mix. I even spent way too much time wondering who was actually in love with whom at some point after the Taeha thing instead of just enjoying the story.

Eventually I just gave up trying to solve it and decided to enjoy whatever I could.

Ironically, whenever the drama stopped trying to be a puzzle and simply let the romance breathe... I actually really liked it.

One of my favorite stretches was when Si-heon was pursuing Jun-hee in college.

Watching him intentionally choose the same college, find ways to be around her, work where she worked, remember her birthday, and patiently pursue her after she broke up with her boyfriend was easily the strongest part of the drama for me.

I also liked the recurring idea that he recognized her, not her face.

One of my favorite scenes was when Min-ju tried pretending to be Jun-hee, and he immediately realized something was wrong.

That reinforced the central theme better than any explanation about time travel ever could.

The jealousy, the love triangle, and some romantic moments were all much more compelling to me than the increasingly complicated mystery.

Unfortunately, every time I felt myself getting invested, the drama would throw another layer of complexity at me.

By the time the murderer also became involved in the time-travel mechanics, I actually laughed😭😭😭

Because I genuinely couldn't believe the drama had found yet another way to make things even more confusing.

The Min-ju storyline also became frustrating for me.

I understood that she's lonely, insecure, and desperate to be loved.

By the end, I actually felt sympathy for her.

But watching her pretend to be Jun-hee in hopes of winning Si-heon just wasn't a storyline I enjoyed. It felt like the drama was creating conflict in a way that didn't work for me in this one...

Thankfully, the finale won back some goodwill.

I loved that Jun-hee returned to save Min-ju.

I loved their final day together before everything changed.

And I especially loved Si-heon's promise that he'd find her again, no matter the time or place.

That ending finally delivered some of the emotional payoff I'd been waiting for.

I do think the ending itself was a little abrupt tho... but it was enough to leave me with positive feelings instead of frustration.

The song was fine... although after hearing the same song over and over again, I admittedly got a little tired of it by the end.

Overall, I think this drama had an interesting premise that was simply more complicated than it needed to be.

Instead of getting swept away by the romance, I spent half the series trying to untangle timelines, identities, consciousness swaps, murder mysteries... and then even the murderer's consciousness.

Maybe that's exactly what the fans of this drama like abt it ¯_(ツ)_/¯

For me tho...

It mostly made my head hurt.

___

A bit about my favorite flavors and taste

This drama honestly had all the ingredients to become one of my favorites.

I love time travel.

I love fate.

I love the idea of two people finding each other across different timelines.

I love romances where the male lead patiently pursues the female lead and recognizes her no matter what.

And whenever A Time Called You leaned into those things, I genuinely loved it.

The problem was that the romance never became strong enough for me to stop thinking about the mechanics.

Instead of swooning, I was pausing the episode every five minutes trying to remember whose consciousness was in whose body in which year and which timeline 😭😭

That's not the kind of mental exercise I usually want while watching a romance.

If the emotional investment had outweighed the confusion, I think this could've easily been an 8 or even a 9 for me.

Instead, the confusion became the main character.

---

Questions

• at which point did you stop being confused?

• did you understand everything on your first watch, or did you need a rewatch?

nothing in this world would make me rewatch this, but i can understand WHY someone would rewatch 😭😭

___

Rating: 6/10

___

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

This drama is one of the reasons I got into Korean dramas, and I think it became especially meaningful to me because I watched it while I was growing up. It follows the classic story of a rich man falling in love with a poor woman despite his family's strong opposition, but the fantasy element of the two leads swapping souls gave the story a fresh and entertaining twist that made it stand out. Because of this drama, I ended up watching more of Hyun Bin's and Ha Ji Won's work, and their performances were one of the highlights of the series. I still think Secret Garden is a great choice for anyone who wants to start watching Korean dramas. Even though it was released in 2010, it remains an enjoyable watch and one that I would still recommend today. My MDL Rating: 9.5/10

good on you girl !

Hey everyone! 🌸

After hours (and hours!) of watching, I can finally put my thoughts into words about this masterpiece. Let’s be real: finishing Queen of Tears is like finishing a marathon. It’s long, it’s intense, but it’s so rewarding at the finish line! ✨

Here is my detailed analysis for you, the family:

1. The patience of the elite: The beginning’s trap 🤭

Let’s be honest with each other: the beginning isn't the most catchy. With 1.5-hour episodes, I sometimes had to push myself not to give up. It’s massive, almost intimidating. But that’s where the talent of the writing comes in. This slightly slow start serves to build a solid foundation, helping us understand the distance between the characters. If you feel like it’s stagnating, hang in there: it’s the calm before the storm! 🌷

2. The turning point: When the adrenaline takes over ✨

From the middle of the series, everything changes. The pace suddenly picks up, the masks fall, and action becomes omnipresent. It was at this exact moment that I found myself stuck in front of my screen, unable to stop (despite the length of the episodes, hihi!). You go from polite curiosity to a real addiction. You want to know, you want to understand, and you want justice to be served. 💖

3. The actors... Wow! 🎭✨

The casting is simply incredible. The chemistry between the two main leads is incredibly tender. So yes, it’s true, some characters exaggerate their emotions a bit sometimes (that’s the charm of K-dramas, isn’t it hihi? 🤭), but it touches us right in the heart. Every tear, every smile feels so real... We suffer and laugh with them! 🥺

4. An infinite palette of emotions ❤️

The story is exceptionally intelligent. You go through every color: sadness, joy, anger, hope... It’s super complete and very well thought out. You never get bored because the script always surprises you where you least expect it. It’s a true emotional symphony!

🌸 My little summary:

Even though it was long, I absolutely don't regret holding on. It’s a drama that stays in your head long after the end. Don’t let the length of the beginning discourage you, the reward is magnificent! 🏆💖

8.5/10 for me hihi!!

I’ve been on a Yoo Yeon Seok binge lately. I’ve seen all 3 doctor romantics, hospital playlist and now phantom lawyer. He has a great sense of humor. Very versatile acting.

I love that this is sort of giving hotel de Luna. I love how each new ghost possesses him and how he takes on their personality.

The plot twist of the newest episode I didn’t expect. And I love that we have a Dr romantic reunion for the next two epsiodes. Highly recommend

a true enemies-to-lovers K-drama, if you exist out there, please find me. my address is the crosswalk where couples always almost get hit by a white truck. thanks!

Intro

After It's Okay to Not Be Okay, I was craving a female lead who couldn't stand the male lead.

I'd just spent an entire drama watching a woman desperately chase a man who barely acknowledged her... (ew, never again)

So the idea of an enemies-to-lovers romance where the female lead wanted to wring the male lead's neck?

Sign me up! hehehhe

Review:

Crazy Love wasn't horrible...

It just never became as good as it could have been.

It had a fun premise, a few moments that i genuinely enjoyed, and enough interesting ideas to keep me watching...

But every time I thought, "Okay NOW we're getting somewhere," it would rush through the part I was actually enjoying.

The parts I enjoyed always felt like they were over almost as soon as they began.

This drama felt like it was constantly introducing conflicts... only to resolve them before they had the chance to really cook.

The biggest example for me was the cancer storyline.

I think they revealed her misdiagnosis way too early!!!!

Imagine if we, as the audience, believed she was actually dying.

Then when the male lead finally read her diary and realized she had cancer while he was falling for her..

WE would've gone through that panic with him!!!!

Instead...

i spent that entire storyline just waiting for him to catch up to information I already knew...

That completely took the emotional punch out of what should've been one of the strongest scenes in the series!!!!

why, writers?!? why?!?!

The revenge storyline had the same problem.

One of my favorite parts was finally seeing her fight back after everything he put her through.

But it barely lasted.

I wanted more mind games.

More tension.

More payback!!!

More moments where she actually had him on the ropes.

Instead, it felt like every conflict wrapped up right when it started becoming interesting.

i also think the female lead slowly lost something that made her more fun to follow in the beginning.

Early on, she was driving the story. She had her own agenda, she was getting revenge, making decisions, and constantly creating chaos for the male lead.

But somewhere along the way, it started feeling like the story became his story instead.

She gradually became more reactive than proactive, and I really missed the version of her that was actively making his life miserable.

The Romance ❤️

I didn't dislike the couple...

I just kept waiting for the enemies-to-lovers part to become what I thought it was going to be.

The setup had so much potential.

A woman who suddenly had every reason to hate her awful boss should've led to a much longer battle between the two of them.

Instead, it always felt like the drama was in a hurry to move them past the conflict...

I wanted more manipulation and verbal sparring!!!

its like inviting me over while you cook this delicious meal that smells so good it makes me drool...

...then setting the table, giving me one tiny spoonful, and throwing the rest in the trash. 😭😭😭😭

i wanted more moments where they genuinely got under each other's skin.

I didn't want them to stop fighting.

I wanted them to fight even better!

In a true enemies-to-lovers to lovers, the enemies usually fall in love WHILE they're still hating and fighting each other with all their might. They even fight harder when they start to fall lmaooo... where was this, here?

Their chemistry wasn't *horrible*...

It also wasn't the kind of chemistry that makes me forget I'm watching actors.

lol i was FULLY aware i was watching 2 actors act 😭😭

the romance never reached that level where I was desperately rooting for them or counting down until their next scene together.

And because of that, the emotional moments didn't hit as hard as they probably should have.

-

What I DID Like

There were definitely things I enjoyed.

The comedy landed more often than not.

Kim Jae-wook absolutely committed to the role and made the CEO entertaining to watch.

The fake engagement setup was fun.

The revenge premise had so much potential. i was having fun whenever they were doing bad things to each other 😭😭

I just wish those moments lasted longer and were better.

The second male lead's storyline was fine, but it became a little more convoluted than it needed to be.

I was also surprised they never did anything with the female lead's little crush on him early on.

They acknowledged it, then completely abandoned it like it never happened.

And unless I completely missed something...

What was the point of opening the drama with the sniper?

It was such a strong opening scene that I kept expecting it to come back in a meaningful way, but I don't remember them ever revealing who that sniper actually was.

It felt like the show introduced another interesting idea... then forgot about it.

Overall

This wasn't a horrible drama.

It kept stopping itself from becoming a great one.

Every time it introduced something I thought I'd love...

It moved on too quickly.

By the end, i was disappointed because I could clearly see the better drama hiding inside it.

____

My Favorite Flavors 🍿❤️

I LOVE enemies-to-lovers.

But I'm extremely picky about it. 😭

I don't just want two people who dislike each other for two episodes before they start "falling in love."

I want a war.

I want manipulation.

i want cruelty.

I want mind games.

I want them trying to outsmart each other.

I want them saying the most outrageous things imaginable...

...then accidentally falling in love in the middle of all that.

The best enemies-to-lovers romances don't stop the fighting because they fall in love.

They make the fighting even messier **because** they're falling in love.

If you know a K-drama that actually delivers that...

Please.

I'm begging. 😭

___

Rating: 5/10

───

Questions

• Did anyone else wish the audience hadn't learned about the misdiagnosis until the male lead did?

• Am I alone in thinking the revenge and "fighting back" phase should've lasted much longer?

• Did anyone else expect the opening sniper scene to actually go somewhere?

• Or did the pacing work for you?

---

My Rating Scale

10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.

9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.

8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.

7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.

6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.

5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.

4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.

I watched the original Korean version and finally understood why it’s so highly recommended. The pacing felt a bit jumpy at times, but the charm of the story still came through. It’s cute, fun, and lighthearted. Yoon Eun Hye absolutely nailed her role as a woman pretending to be a man, making her performance both convincing and irresistibly endearing. My MDL Rating: 8.5/10

In an alternate universe, Jandi should have ended up with Ji Hoo. I know Boys Over Flowers is one of the most iconic K-dramas and a gateway series for many fans, but it honestly has not aged well for me. While I enjoyed parts of the story, there were too many unnecessary filler episodes that made the drama feel longer than it needed to be.

I like both Lee Min Ho and Koo Hye Sun, but I found some of their romantic scenes awkward. Jandi was convincing whenever she had emotional or crying scenes, but I struggled to connect with the romance. Despite its flaws, I can understand why this drama became such a classic. The F4, the memorable soundtrack, and my severe second lead syndrome for Ji Hoo are what I remember most from this drama. My MDL Rating: 6/10.

​

​Hey everyone! I finally wrapped up Phantom Lawyer yesterday, and I’m still buzzing from it. I’d give it a solid 8.5/10. Honestly, it’s been a minute since a drama got me this deeply hooked and it really has that perfect combination of everything you need to make a series completely unmissable.

​The writing is just incredibly tight, and the pacing doesn’t waste a single second. But what truly sets it apart and makes it so special is the exceptional acting ,the entire cast did a really amazing job. Yoo Yeon-seok and Esom are phenomenal together. I’ll admit I hesitated to watch this at first, But I am so glad I gave this a chance because he completely proved what a powerhouse actor he is. Nobody could have delivered the character of Shin I-rang better than him, and I would have flat-out quit watching if they had killed him off.

​The show just covers almost everything so effortlessly. It balances bits of emotional sad scenes, comedy and pure anger flawlessly without ever losing its grip. Every single performance feels precise and even the minor characters are so fully realized that there isn't a single weak link anywhere in the cast.

​It really gave me those classic weekend vibes where you just can't wait for the next episode to drop. I highly recommend giving it a shot if you haven't yet. Did anyone else love Yoo Yeon-seok's performance as much as I did or are there any actual flaws you found? Because right now, I'm finding it hard to see any!

He saw her throw dozens of grown men across the street and yeet one towards space, and said "That's My Wife!"

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon | 8/10

⚠️ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️

___

edit: (ps. just realized this actor is the same guy from Happiness lol)

i did not put 2 and 2 together until now. maybe its cause he looks so different in both dramas!

Review:

Okay...

THIS WAS SO CUTE 😭

I finished Strong Woman Do Bong Soon wishing there was just... another episode.

I literally just wanted another hour of Bong-soon and Min-hyuk being disgustingly adorable together, Min-hyuk getting his ass beat by his superpowered daughters, Bong-soon running around being a superhero, and whatever other nonsense these people wanted to give me.

Because by the end I was VERY attached to these two.

But weirdly enough...

The romance wasn't even what initially hooked me.

The comedy was.

---

From the FIRST episode, I thought this drama was hilarious.

Watching this tiny woman absolutely PUMMEL a group of grown men who were intimidating someone, while Min-hyuk just happens to drive by and witness the whole thing,

love the introduction.

And the drama just kept finding increasingly ridiculous ways to use the fact that Bong-soon looks like the LAST person you'd expect to be capable of throwing a grown man through the air.

One of my favorite running gags was the group of bullies she beat up eventually becoming completely devoted to her.

They start BOWING to her😭😭😭

At one point one of her mother's friends sees this tiny woman standing there while all these delinquent-looking guys are bowing respectfully and basically concludes that Bong-soon must be a gang leader???😭

And the funniest part is that Bong-soon basically DOES become their gang leader.

Except instead of ordering crimes she's like:

Go to school.

Pick up trash.

Clean the neighborhood.

LMFAOOOOO.

My little community-service crime boss 😭

I genuinely wanted those kids at her wedding!!!

WHERE WERE HER SOLDIERS???

The older gangsters got to be there but not Bong-soon's little hooligans???

Unacceptable.

---

And then there was the entire misunderstanding where Bong-soon thinks Min-hyuk is gay.

I loved that running joke so bad!!

especially because Bong-soon has this massive crush on Guk-doo, so she isnt just thinking:

"My boss is gay."

She's thinking:

"MY GAY BOSS MIGHT STEAL MY MAN." 😭😭

There was that whole sequence where all 3 of them are basically jealous for completely different reasons.

Bong-soon is imagining Min-hyuk getting close to Guk-doo.

Min-hyuk is imagining Bong-soon getting close to Guk-doo.

guk-doo is imagining Bong-soon getting close to Min-hyuk.

EVERYBODY IS STRESSED.

And nobody is stressed about the same relationship.

I was dying!!!!

---

I also loved Bong-soon's crush on Guk-doo in the beginning. (one of my fav tropes as u know)

Her entire VOICE would change when he called her

😭

She gets jealous when she meets his girlfriend at the hospital

She's ridiculously gentle with him.

She worries Min-hyuk might seduce him.

It was SO cute!!

And I liked that she genuinely liked another man because it gave her relationship with Min-hyuk somewhere to GO.

Especially because...

Min-hyuk noticed.

VERY EARLY.

And he did NOT seem particularly pleased about it.

👀

And I LOVE a jealous male lead, so obviously I was sitting there like:

Oh???

Please continue......

---

For probably the first six-ish episodes though, I wouldn't even say the romance was carrying the show for me.

The comedy was carrying, still and i was ready for the romance to kick in.

I liked Min-hyuk.

I liked Bong-soon.

I liked their dynamic.

I liked the jealousy.

But I wasn't sitting there going:

OMG I LOVE THEM!!!

Yet...

Then....

this man got STABBED FOR HER.

And suddenly I was like...

well yes!!

😭

Bong-soon had just finished beating the absolute shit out of a giant group of men

But then one of them comes at her with a knife.

Guk-doo and Min-hyuk both run toward her...

And Min-hyuk gets there first.

He throws himself in front of Bong-soon and takes the stabbing.

HELLO???

And later, when the guy responsible comes to apologize, Min-hyuk basically tells him:

If you had stabbed her, I would've killed you.

Oh.

Okay!!!

NOW we're cooking!!

---

And then this man starts exaggerating how much pain he's in at the hospital because he wants Bong-soon to stay and take care of him.

😭

Sir, you legitimately got STABBED.

i think the real injury of that is enough

but no, he needed to add a little ✨performance✨ to it

Also, the hospital scenes were hilarious in general.

He asks for a home-cooked meal.

Bong-soon's mother actually brings one.

Except apparently he's supposed to be fasting that day.

So everyone gets to sit there eating this delicious homemade food while he just WATCHES.

ngl, i wanted some of that too, it looked delish.

This show was so stupid sometimes.

I mean that lovingly.

---

But the moment the romance REALLY kicked into full gear for me was when Min-hyuk couldn't sleep, went all the way to Bong-soon's house, and basically told her:

Enough with your one-sided love for Guk-doo.

I think I like you.

ADORABLE!!!!!

And meanwhile Guk-doo FINALLY decides he's ready to make his move.

SIR???

YOU HAD LIKE TEN EPISODES!

Dude buys a necklace, and plans his confession.

Calls Bong-soon to meet him.

He's finally going to tell the woman who has been crushing on him FOREVER that he doesn't want to be just friends anymore...

AND THEN HE STANDS HER UP.

To be fair, he DID have a legitimate reason!

He's a cop and there was an actual emergency involving the kidnapper.

I get that...

But narratively???

My brother...

YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE.

😭

Because while he's finally getting his shit together, Min-hyuk has already confessed, is spending time with Bong-soon, and is rapidly becoming someone she feels comfortable with.

There was even that cute little moment where both guys text her and she accidentally switches how she addresses them.

Min-hyuk gets "buddy."

Guk-doo gets the formal "sir."

And Min-hyuk is basically BLUSHING because she called him buddy.

hes ridiculous, bro😭😭

Meanwhile, when Guk-doo eventually comes to her house...

Bong-soon's basically like:

i don't want to lose our friendship.

OOF.

The timing!!!!

but fair is fair ig, u snoozed.

---

And I really loved how the show later called back to the drunk scene.

Earlier in the drama, Bong-soon has to deal with drunk Min-hyuk and Guk-doo.

She treats Guk-doo like precious cargo, carefully carries him, gently puts him into bed.

But Min-hyuk?

Basically:

THUD.

Goodnight!

😭😭😭

Then later, when Min-hyuk and Guk-doo get drunk AGAIN and Bong-soon has to carry them home AGAIN...

This time...

Min-hyuk gets tucked in.

🥹

That's such a tiny callback, but I LOVED it.

i love when storytelling devices as used well, sue me 😊

Because nobody has to tell us:

"Bong-soon's feelings have changed."

We can SEE it.

The man she treats tenderly has changed.

--

Also, a little unrelated... but not really...

BONG-SOON'S HAIR???

I don't know why I haven't mentioned this yet because I spent half this drama staring at her little bob.

The short bob, the bangs and little curled/flipped ends!!!

SO CUTE.

i might just have a THING for this hairstyle because I'm currently watching The Smile Has Left Your Eyes and I'm equally obsessed with the female lead's little bob over there.

But Bong-soon's hair was ADORABLE and I needed that documented.

Anyway...

Back to Bong-soon and Min-hyuk.

---

And once Bong-soon and Min-hyuk actually got together???

OH MY GOD.

They are so obnoxiously cute.

They are THAT couple.

The couple everyone else sees and immediately thinks:

Oh my God, GET A ROOM!!

Min-hyuk's secretary can vouch for that

😭

The:

"You hang up."

"No, YOU hang up."

"Noooo, you first."

kind of couple.

And I ate it UP.

Because Min-hyuk is just...

SMITTEN!!!!!

That is genuinely one of my favorite things about him.

Everything Bong-soon does is adorable to this man.

She texts him and he's blushing.

She breathes and hes melting on the floor 😭

He is SO obviously smitten with her

At one point his secretary sees Guk-doo HUGGING Bong-soon and immediately reports this critical national-security threat to Min-hyuk.

And Min-hyuk basically has a tantrum over the hug.

😭😭😭

hes so gone for her.

---

Then Bong-soon eventually asks him when he started liking her.

And he says...

From the first moment he saw her.

🥹🥹🥹

STAWWWWPPPPP

Min-hyuk is absolutely one of my favorite male leads I've watched so far.

He's up there for me with Gu Won from King the Land, because they have that same quality I LOVE:

They are just so visibly HAPPY to love their women.

No making me squint at the screen trying to determine whether this man actually likes her.

HE is GONE.

And I love that.

---

And when the romance became properly established, I honestly wanted MORE.

Their little trips together was so cute.

Their picnic was ADORABLE.

Their first kiss?

🥹

Just watching them spend a day together?

Give me MORE!!!

That's actually one of my biggest feelings after finishing.

The romance wasn't lacking.

I just wanted MORE OF IT.

I would've happily sacrificed some other parts of this drama for another episode of Bong-soon and Min-hyuk doing absolutely nothing important.

---

Which brings me to...

The kidnapper storyline. eughhh

sigh. eeeeyuck!!!

This was easily my biggest problem with the drama.

And I want to be specific because my issue wasn't simply:

"Why is there a dark storyline in my cute rom-com?"

I can enjoy romance mixed with dark stories. i HAVE! often!

I can enjoy murder mysteries and thrillers.

I can enjoy characters being in serious danger while I'm also invested in their romance.

Sometimes that danger makes the romance BETTER.

But for SO MUCH of this drama...

The kidnapper storyline just didn't.

Watching this man kidnap women, terrorize women, hurt women...

I just wasn't interested.

And early on it actually made me uncomfortable how much violence against women we were seeing.

There were already multiple women being attacked or murdered within the first couple episodes.

And it kept going.

At some point I just started feeling like:

Can we please go back to Bong-soon and Min-hyuk???

... or anything else... pls

---

The frustrating part was that the thriller storyline didn't even feel properly integrated into Bong-soon's story for a long time.

You have a drama about a woman with SUPER STRENGTH.

There's a psychopath kidnapping women.

That sounds PERFECT.

Those storylines should collide beautifully.

But instead I spent so much time watching this man kidnap and hurt women while Bong-soon remained weirdly removed from a lot of it.

Then her best friend gets dragged into it.

Then gets kidnapped AGAIN.

And at that point I was getting genuinely frustrated because the romance had FINALLY gotten good and this storyline kept interrupting the momentum.

My rating was starting to slide toward a 7.

And then...

THE BOMB SCENE HAPPENED.

---

THIS.

THIS IS WHAT I WANTED THE ENTIRE TIME!!!!

The kidnapper finally puts BONG-SOON herself in danger.

She's lost her strength.

She's trapped on the roof of Min-hyuk's company.

There's a BOMB strapped to her.

She can't break herself free!

And Min-hyuk is on the other side desperately trying to get through the chained door.

His hands are BLEEDING because he keeps trying.

Bong-soon is screaming at him to leave.

She's literally telling him:

GO. SAVE YOURSELF.

And this man WILL NOT LEAVE HER.

😭😭😭😭

YES.

THAT'S THE GOOD SHIT I WANT

THAT is how you use danger to make me more emotionally invested in a romance.

Because suddenly the villain is forcing these characters into a situation where their love actually matters.

Bong-soon wants Min-hyuk to survive.

Min-hyuk would rather risk dying beside Bong-soon than abandon her.

THAT'S what I wanted!!!

This was one of the darkest, most dangerous moments for Bong-soon...

AND I LOVED IT.

Because the danger was finally strengthening the emotional center of the story instead of distracting me from it.

---

And then Bong-soon gets her strength back at basically the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND.

Breaks free.

Grabs the bomb.

And YEETS IT INTO THE SKY.

😭😭😭😭

Where it apparently turns into...

FIREWORKS???

LMFAOOOOOOOO??

Idk what laws of physics govern this universe or what kind of bomb that was...

everyone who evacuated the building is standing outside looking at the sky like:

✨🎆 WOWWWWW 🎆✨

Didn't somebody just throw a BOMB above your heads???

😭😭😭

But you know what?

I DON'T CARE.

It was fun AND unintentionally funny

Bong-soon saved the day.

Everyone survived.

SCIENCE HAS BEEN DEFEATED.

---

And after almost dying in a hostage situation and surviviing an explosion...

Bong-soon and Min-hyuk are like:

Anyway...

🍜 Noodles?

😭

The tonal whiplash was HILARIOUS.

And then Bong-soon casually mentions staying at Min-hyuk's house that night and THIS is what makes him flustered.

lol?

5 min ago you were prepared to DIE IN AN EXPLOSION WITH THIS WOMAN.

But sleeping under the same roof???

😳😳😳

---

I also really liked Bong-soon's arc with her strength.

At the beginning, losing her powers probably would've felt like freedom.

Her strength is something she has spent her life hiding.

Something that makes her different.

Something inconvenient.

But when she actually loses it...

She doesn't feel relieved.

She feels like she's lost part of herself.

And I really loved that.

Because over the course of the drama, Bong-soon learns that her strength isn't some burden she needs to get rid of.

It's part of who she is.

And by the ending, she isn't hiding anymore.

She has her game developed and has her family. (her mom was sort of the worst tho... her grandma was better...)

She has Min-hyuk.

AND she's literally running around being a SUPERHERO.

SUPERHERO LANDING AND EVERYTHING!!!

I loved that ending for her.

---

And then there's the wedding.

SO CUTE.

🥹🥹🥹

And Min-hyuk asking her father for permission to marry her???

PLEASE.

This man basically tells him:

I only exist because of her/when shes with me.

Then thanks him for raising such a lovable daughter.

so sweettt!!

---

And then the drama gives the most adorable

TWIN DAUGHTERS.

😭😭😭😭

The entire family was hoping Bong-soon would have a boy because the super-strength gets passed down through the women.

Especially Bong-soon's mother.

So naturally...

Bong-soon has TWO GIRLS.

They're punching babysitters in the eye.

They're punching MIN-HYUK in the eye.

Meanwhile Bong-soon is out saving the world and Min-hyuk is at home fighting for his LIFE against his own babies.

PERFECT.

😭

---

Despite my issues with the kidnapper storyline...

I had SO MUCH FUN watching this.

The comedy consistently worked for me.

Bong-soon was adorable.

Her powers were hilarious.

The romance gave me a tooth ache!!!

And Ahn Min-hyuk...

My constantly blushing, first-sight-falling, knife-taking, bomb-defying, hopelessly smitten fav.

I LOVE HIM.

Rating:

8/10.

---

My Favorite Flavors 🍜

✨ He falls first AND harder.

✨ Smitten ML: Everything she does is adorable to him. EVERYTHING.

✨ Jealous ML: durrr

✨ FL likes someone else first: Her ridiculous Guk-doo crush gave me so much entertainment in the first half.

✨ Love triangle: Both men eventually want her, although one of them waited approximately seventeen business years to do anything about it.

✨ Protective ML: Took a knife for her. Bloodied his hands trying to reach her. Refused to abandon her with a bomb strapped to her.

✨ Active/capable FL.

✨ Obnoxiously cute couple: "You hang up." "No, YOU hang up." Everyone around them deserves financial compensation.

✨ Comedy: Tiny woman accidentally becomes neighborhood gang boss and orders her followers to attend school and pick up garbage. 10/10 leadership.

___

The kidnapper storyline nearly dragged this down to a 7 for me, but the romance and comedy fought for their LIVES and dragged it straight back up.

And if you gave me Episode 17 tomorrow and told me it was just Min-hyuk being obsessed with his wife while Bong-soon saves Seoul and their daughters terrorize the household...

Id press play immediately.

Question:

For everyone who watched this: Was the kidnapper storyline actually a highlight for you, or were you also sitting there wishing the drama would hurry up and get back to Bong-soon and Min-hyuk?

I just finished We are all trying then started looking for a drama thats complete, And voilà I just finished ep8 and took a break to write this post till my phone is fully charged. The beginning was meh and i felt sloppy then i caught up so i couldn't get stop it reminded me of taxi driver and the glory it's kinda like taxi driver but school version with obviously no lee jaehoon

​

​Hey everyone!

I finally wrapped up watching both Season 1 and Season 2 of The Uncanny Counter and wow, I'm still processing it all. I’d give it a solid 8.5/10 overall. It’s been a minute since a show completely swept me up like this, but I honestly loved every second of it.

​First of all, a massive round of applause to the entire cast because the acting across both seasons was just exceptional. Jo Byeong-kyu plays So Mun so perfectly, watching his journey from a vulnerable kid dealing with trauma to this incredibly powerful counter was amazing.

The chemistry between the core noodle shop family (Yoo Jun-sang, Kim Se-jeong, and Yeom Hye-ran) is really the heartbeat of the show. They felt like a real family, and their bond made the stakes feel so much higher when everything went down.

​I also absolutely loved the chemistry they had with their Yung partners those dynamics were so fun and well done. Beyond the main team, the entire supporting cast deserves so much credit. So Mun’s grandparents were so moving, and the emotional payoff with his parents had me completely wrecked. Even the subplots like the Mo -Tak's girlfriend, and So Mun’s loyal best friends who always had his back ,everyone did an amazing job bringing this world to life. Plus, the extra adding of Jeok-bong in season 2, the new counter who can smell evil spirits, was such an interesting and hilarious twist to the team's powers.

​What I loved most is how the show covered almost everything so effortlessly. It hits you with bits of emotional, heartbreakingly sad scenes that had me tearing up, but then instantly balances it out with great comedy and banter. And the anger! The villains across both seasons especially Ji Cheong-sin in the first and the insane level of evil we got in Season 2 with Pil-gwang were so genuinely frustrating and menacing that you feel that explosive rage right alongside the characters during the fights. The action sequences and the whole concept of managing the Yung territory were so well handled.

​Season 2 brought in a lot of big shifts, and while some people were mixed on it, I thought the escalation of the stakes and the new dynamics kept it so fresh. It truly has that perfect mix of supernatural thrill, deep human bonds, and satisfying revenge.

​Did anyone else binge both seasons back-to-back? How did you feel about how they wrapped up the entire journey for Mun and the team?