millywk
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Unfortunately could not live up to the trajectory of the first few episodes, the writer hit the ground running but clearly could not maintain stamina. It's frustrating because it did start out well, the child actors were good and the flashbacks invigorating but beyond that it fell flat: the love story between the adult Namu and Nakwon was very one note, beyond staring in each others' eyes for endless wasted minutes and a sickeningly repetitive dialogue of "are you okay?/"yes, are you?" there was nothing to believe in. I wouldn't put this down to the actors, I'd say they were more limited by the writing which is frustrating because these are two extremely complicated characters, who've both been through hell and back, battling odds unfavourably against each other and are supposed to be held on for their love for each other alone, all of which is barely conveyed despite the fact it's what holds the whole drama together. After years of being kept apart and a bond formed by an incredibly traumatic experience, once they finally get together you almost wish they'd never found each other it's THAT annoying to watch. The child actors were great I loved their scenes but the later ones were so boring and never added anything new.
It was supposed to be a psychological thriller I think rather than a crime drama which is what it came across as, but there wasn't enough psychology in the lead villain. Heejae is supposed to be this terrifying, cold blooded killer but his relationship with Namu for me kind of destroyed that, he's randomly fixated on Namu as his prodigy which is not supported in the flashback scenes and randomly introduced like five eps in. Additionally, as a viewer you're supposed to believe in this 'dark/evil' side of Namu, to suggest at an ending in which he lives up to his father's expectations of him which to me was absolutely ridiculous. Also, the fact that Namu hit Heejae 'that fateful night' seems like it's supposed to be this huge shocking revelation that changes the tragectory of the drama was ridiculous, like it was apparently so shocking it literally needed to be covered up by the police and then massively changed public opinion once it got out and also was seemingly evidence for why he was destined to follow his father's footsteps....idk should've been scrapped added nothing to the storyline.
Other characters:
Hyeonmu and Okhui were honestly the best written characters I thought, there was a depth and redemption to their actions that was unseen in everyone else, both characters pay the price for their sins and you understand their motives and intentions and love them at the end. Especially Hyeonmu his character was the depth that everyone else in the show needed to be at. Loved both of the actors' acting, and Okhui was for me, the stand out character of the show.
As for the other villains, Jihong was okay, a bit annoying but relevant at least. Jeon Yura was randomly shoved in with no explanation or development, besides from a surface scratch in her confrontation with Nakwon at the end I really didn't understand why she was included.
Mostly the characters just weren't properly developed... Nakwon literally the female lead is never really given a chance to talk through her trauma and vocalise literally anything besides a profession of love to Namu every two seconds.
Also the plot was just so irritating sometimes, like the lack of security throughout actually enraged me, someone was kidnapped and nearly murdered every episode and no one thought to give them a couple guards maybe???? Or put them in a safe house ridiculous.....
Overall, I really liked the cast and I don't really fault the acting I just think it was shocking writing that felt very rushed, for a drama with this much tragedy I never felt moved or really much attachment to any of the characters, I've seen worse and it was definitely enjoyable for the first half but won't be rewatching.
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Hmm entertaining watch, but a frustrating one. I don't regret watching, it's a lot of fun, the action scenes are choreographed really well and the budget and visual effects make for amazing viewing! The pace of the action scenes is really good and keeps you hooked but there were just so many elements of it that were so frustrating.I think the main issue was there were too many episodes but horrendous use of time... so many characters were introduced whose storylines went literally nowhere (the two cops and the children, the schoolgirl who gave birth, the politician, even Onjo's father whose storyline was built up so much for the most ridiculous and avoidable death ever).
It was so full of plot holes as well like it's actually screamworthy watching the inconsistencies with the 'halfies' which was never explained beyond one comment that the only thing stronger than the virus was human will? Or something like that but the characters' individual drives weren't all very clear. Generally I think Gwinam made a pretty good baddie I believed his motivation that he was so inherently twisted and evil it was his drive to continue to cause chaos. I loved the good v evil rivalry with Cheongsang but it was super frustrating that he had some ridiculous inability to be killed that just proved uneccessary and repetitive, can't even count the amount of times he fell off a building and then recovered in 2 minutes. Whereas Namra's abilities apparently only appeared at the very last second to save them, even though there were so many avoidable deaths or failed plans that would've so easily been solved by literally anyone remembering she had superhuman strength and basically supernatural abilities. And then that weird bullied girl who became a halfie, failed to burn down the school and then ended up killed; an already unrealistic character arc built up only to go nowhere.
I really wish they'd had the bullied school girl about to burn down the school and then have Cheongsang and the group talk her out of it and make her realise she's not evil at heart so she ends up sacrificing herself protecting them from Gwinam. I think that would be the perfect showdown between the two 'evil' characters and redemption for her and his comeuppance. And then I think Cheongsang could've sacrificed himself for the group but his drive to protect his Onjo and his friends would be enough to turn him into a halfie too. I don't know.. so much they could've done with the characters and concepts but failed to execute.
Furthermore, a lot of the characters and dialogue was ridiculous I mean the amount of time spent on Onjo/Cheongsang pining when they were literally in the face of death. But I could excuse the vapid love stories because at the end of the day it wouldn't be a teen drama without them.
Generally I think it started really well, I liked the concept and I really like the main group and generally think the acting was good as much as dialogue allowed. I do think it was entertaining and I probably would watch S2 and while I generally thought the dialogue was good I'd probably account it to overambitious writing.
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