I loved Season 1 - the story, characters, setting, music. I believe it all slowly became the mess that was season 2 because of the change in actress. I'm not a fan of Jung So Min (I found her irritating in Playful kiss) but she did wonderful as Mu Deok. Now she's one of my all time favorite female characters in dramaland. I don't know what exactly happened BTS that led to her not being in season 2 but as a foreboding the last 5 episodes of season 1 had a different feel to them. The first episodes were just amazing. I couldn't stop watching and rooting for Naksu and then Jang Uk. Lee Jae Wook is great - cool and adorable. Gave me feels similar to Gong Yoo in Coffee Prince. A male lead who's vulnerable with emotive eyes.
As I said, despite not knowing what happened and why JSM was replaced, I think we fans deserved a better story that was on par with season 1. Not something that leaves a distaste as an aftermath. This season was a classic example of "love the characters, hate the story". So much potential wasted. It would have been better if they hadn't made a season 2 just because. My fave quote from the drama "It is better to die than to do nothing" doesn't work here. By the end of last episode I felt "It is better to leave it alone if you can't do it justice". They should have atleast tried to bring JSM back or used a better actress than GYJ. Don't know if it was the way she was written or her acting is just only okay.

Overall, I'm so sad and disappointed that I want to rewatch season 1 and see Daeho at its gloriest.