Start-Up (2020)

The worst regression of a plot and its characters I've ever seen

This entire drama is a fraud. It pulls you in from the beautiful pilot episode filled with symbolism, breathtaking cinematography, and the heartbreaking backstory of who you THINK is the main lead, Han Jipyeong. And then it pulls the rug from under you.

Nam Dosan is the main lead, though he had a 10 second clip only in episode 1. Regardless, he was great in the beginning. Relatable, cute, dorky, and very lovable. Until he's not. I really can't pinpoint where this happened, but Dosan quickly became the most toxic, manipulative, serial liar with anger issues and violent tendencies, male lead who never gets called out for his actions. In fact, he is rewarded for everything he does, good and bad. Why? Because he's the main lead, of course! Duh.

On the other hand, we have Jipyeong, our second main lead who feels like the main lead but is treated like a punching bag and a waste disposal. Everything revolves around him: the plot, the letters, the character development, and the relationships with all the other characters. He is the heart and soul of the story, no matter what the writers were trying to convince us otherwise. This was in part Kim Seon Ho's doing, as he breathed life into his character. What I firmly believe happened was that Han Jipyeong was not MEANT to be as loved as he is. Rich, quick-witted with a sharp tongue and a self-made man, he could've easily become the antagonist of the story, but Seon Ho achieves in making him out to be a beautifully flawed human, a man who grew up with nothing and has had to fend for himself all his life. Props to Kim Seon Ho, who was a hidden gem that was discovered through this mess of a drama, and for that reason only I don't regret watching it with my entire self. As much as the viewers learned to love Jipyeong, the more the writers began to hate him, and his entire character arc ended with a whimper, leaving us unfulfilled and demanding justice for him.

As for Seo Dalmi, our female lead, the writers were amazingly horrible in developing her. She went from being independent, hard-working, dream-filled to a pathetic and helpless nobody who couldn't do anything without the help of a man. We never really learn what she's thinking, or why she's doing anything, or the reasoning behind any of her thoughts or actions. Honestly, I don't even know who she is. The show failed in fleshing her out and showing any sort of character growth and development on her end. She's a mystery box. You can't predict anything she'll do or say because nothing about her is consistent. Very disappointing.

Overall the show advertises itself as a business youth drama, but it really isn't. It pretends to be one until the plot falls apart and character development is thrown out the window. Plot holes everywhere, dead storylines, and "main" characters are more like cameo appearances- AKA Kang Hanna. The writers forgot the overall arc of the story and instead focused on a love triangle that went nowhere for 10 episodes. In all honesty, the plot could've been concluded in about 6 episodes. It dragged on for so long and so painfully, with virtually nothing happening in the second half. Without Seon Ho's portrayal of Jipyeong, I really doubt that this show would've caught the hearts of the viewers, and as amazing as he is I would still never recommend anyone to watch this show. You're better off watching clips of him on youtube.

Lessons and morals of the story? Cheat, lie, play dirty, fight your mentor and those who help you, blame others for your failures, never be grateful to your friends and family, use "fate" to explain your mistakes, and win the girl. Wonderful, very heart-warming.

I don't think I'll be watching another Bae Suzy or Nam Joo Hyuk work for a while to cleanse my palate from their portrayal of the worst characters in kdrama history, which is ironic given that I started this for them in the first place.

1/10.

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Ignore the Noise

Dear reader, I urge you to give this series a chance if you enjoy coming-of-age dramas (including talk of dreams, aspirations, failure, innovation, identity, family, friendship, feeling lost, finding love), as well as lovely cinematography, production design, and direction.

Does this drama have flaws? Yes, plenty. The writing goes up and down at times, some storylines are rushed (the revenge plot), and there are characters who should've gotten more screen time (Injae). If you're not a fan of romance in your dramas, then this show is not for you. If you're not a fan of love triangles, this show is not for you.

All that said, overall, Start-Up is a good time. All of the characters are complex and flawed, which makes them interesting. Every shot is absolutely beautiful, and the familial/friendship themes are effectively explored. If you've ever felt lost (particularly in your twenties, as those are the leads' ages) and weren't quite sure what you wanted to do with the rest of your life, you can probably relate. It is certainly not a documentary about starting a tech company in South Korea, but it does utilize its accelerator environment well. The strengths of Start-Up lie in its cast of colorful characters, its emotional throughline, and its visual excellence.

If you're thinking of watching this show but are wondering why there are people online who seem passionately invested in hating it as if this show killed their first born child (and you don't mind spoilers,) continue below:

The online reaction surrounding this drama while it's been on-air is some of the most ridiculous and inane I've ever seen in a K-Drama fandom (usually only present in large western or anime fandoms), and this is due to the ship war and the different "teams."

Here's the thing: while the drama did spend an unnecessary amount of time on the love triangle, it was never a true love triangle to begin with. From the first episode, when the cherry blossom petal flew all the way from Dalmi and landed on Dosan's head, if you've ever watched a single K-Drama ever, you should've known what the endgame was going to be. Even more so in Episode 2, with the slow motion walk toward each other during their first-meeting-cut-short and when Dosan showed up at the networking party looking like Cinderella at the ball.

Throughout the course of the story, Dalmi had shown exactly zero interest in Jipyeong as a man, either romantically or sexually. Not even when she was suspicious of Dosan being two separate people did she consider Jipyeong in a romantic light. She’d been curious about him, yes, and clearly valued his friendship and mentorship, but anyone who genuinely hoped she was suddenly going to finally see, in the eleventh hour, how he was the nice guy she’d been looking for all along were going to be sorely disappointed.

It was never going to be Jipyeong, but for some reason, shippers deluded themselves into thinking there was some sort of secret story underneath it all that only they could see. They wholeheartedly believed there was going to be a big plot twist (even though there was never any indication of such), and when the coupling went the way it was always going to go, they got all shocked Pikachu face. And then got angry at the hole they dug themselves into. The most ironic part is that the show has a good amount of symbolism and attention to detail. Just not the symbolism and attention to detail certain factions thought they saw.

Start-Up is not a work of genius, but it's fun and all the actors are fantastic. The OST is out of this world, and there is plenty of comedy and emotional heft to go around. In any case, this is a drama best binged, as it's more cohesive that way.

Ignore the noise and check it out if the synopsis seems interesting to you. And if you don't vibe with it, stop watching and simply move on with your life.

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Overall an enjoyable ride, I'd say it's worth a try.

Main reasons for my 6.0 rating

Cons
1. Messed up life lessons
- Some life lessons are great, but some are bad. Young viewers who don't know how to discern these things might mess up and follow wrong examples from this show.
2. Main Lead has too many red flags but ends up getting the girl.
- You'll know when you watch.
3. Had great potential, the pilot episode is great, but goes downhill.
- It no longer lives to its title, "Start-Up" but begins to become "Love Triangle"
4. There are some scenes that are better off gone.
- There will be almost 15 minutes of your life watching the main lead cry, to the point that seeing his crying face annoys you.
5. Wasted Character and scenes
- In Jae, another main lead was a wasted character. She's definitely more interesting than the FML but ends up becoming a cameo for every episode.
6. Poor Character Development
- Almost not visible, but the characters themselves have to mention it. "I changed, didn't I?"
7. Your typical, predictable drama
- Don't expect any plot twist.
8. No chemistry between the ML and FML.

Pros
1. You'll meet Kim Seon Ho, if you haven't.
- One of the best second leads, sets a great example for all [except being too kind, people abuse kindness].
2. Have an overview of start-ups
- Since I like the business world, this show can give you a briefing with regards to starting your own business.
3. Kindness
- The best scenes are the ones with kindness in it. Look forward to Grandma's scenes.
4. Cameos
- Se Yoon and Jin Goo's cameos are great.
5. You'll get to experience second lead syndrome, maybe.
- Experience is a good thing, I guess.
6. Great OSTs
- Needless to say, most of the OSTs are catchy and you can listen to them anytime.

But for me, Han Ji Pyeong stole this show. Despite the many problems I've encountered in this show, he was the only reason I finished it.

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I wrote this paragraph after watching the first few episodes:

I struggle with Pilot episodes about 99% of this time, but the first episode of this drama did not disappoint. The cast is stellar and each episode has me wanting more and more. There are also very few dramas in which my mom gets interested in, but she has insisted that we wait for her to watch each new episode and it really has become a family event. I think the topic of the drama is quite interesting with the focus being in this new up and coming start-up world. The acting is superb (especially by our two male leads -hearteyes-), and the music adds such a nice touch to the drama as well. Right now, second lead syndrome is hitting hard, but I guess we can never be too sure how this will play out. Definitely regretting starting the drama when it wasn't fully out yet, but also something wonderful to look forward to each weekend.

These are my thoughts after finishing the drama:

I still loved the drama, but I think it helped that I didn't invest myself in reading up on all the fan / ship wars that apparently broke out because of this drama. To me, this was a drama that provided solid entertainment value during my weekends of relaxation. Both male leads did an amazing job in really getting me to want to root for their happiness. I agree that there were definitely things that could have been given more development, but if every little thing had a reason in this drama, the drama wouldn't have been able to conclude in 16 episodes. To me, this drama had one of the few satisfying endings that I've watched, and I think it tied everything together nicely. By no means is this a drama that's meant to make you think the impossible can happen -- it's very predictable, but most k-dramas are, to be honest. Maybe I'm too simple-minded when it comes to my dramas, but reading other reviews makes me think that ... well, if you think too much about every little detail of this drama, you can easily come to hate it. However, for the beautiful cast and solid acting, it's definitely left me curious and interested in the other dramas of our main leads!

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The plot was hospitalised for COVID19 and never came back

Premise: I'm a Computer Science graduate in the AI industry and this is not a story about business and IT.
Now, as it's about romance: this has pretty bad examples that the actors themselves, in several interviews, agree to be bad life lessons. There is no character development for any characters apart from two characters who are not the main leads. This is a very long unnecessary, dragging, annoying, badly written love triangle that lasts till the end and has nothing to do with real world business and good values for the youth. The cast is fine and Seonho's acting is mind blowing: he even won an award for it and was nominated for baeksang award, which is truly impressive. The initial episodes till episode 9 were ok and then the writer didn't remember to have written the 9 preceding episodes. You might watch it because the initial episodes are nice and decide for yourself but please do make sure to stop and ask yourself if the actions of the lead characters are morally questionable or not.
National and international audience can confirm that this was a low point for the writer and the first kdrama in history in which a not so internationally well known second lead has stolen the whole show from the main leads and the writer when both the leads and the writer are such famous figures nationally and internationally. This was KSH's one man show even when his screentime was reduced when the writer realised he was becoming too well loved by the audeince.

I can't believe the same person who wrote someone like Ji Pyeong, is force feeding the audience such an immature love line for people in their 30s. Hell, didn't she learn from the makers of Reply series or I Need Romance series or Search WWW or litterally every other possible kdrama out there how young people their age behave? This is a lesson in which I hope the writer learns that the mentality of the audience changed. We need more strong and intelligent women like the lead in 18 Again. We need more sensible male leads like JP. We need bromance and respect between the lead characters like in Reply series and no matter what type of triangle they plan to invent next time, that better be well scripted and not so useless, bringing down the whole plot.
Also what family values do we learn from this drama apart from:
1. blood is thicker than water
2. It's ok not to care about your family when you have an aim in life even though they were your ATM machine till your whole wasted adulthood, like: family who?

This was one of the worse dramas of 2020 because I believe anything misleading the masses with wrong moral messages is very vicious. Perhaps this is why I think this to be a bit more dangerous than other "bad"dramas with lower budgets and worse acting. Villains or annoying characters of other dramas do bad deeds but nobody worries because they have " bad " written on their forehead. But making a pretty faced idol with such bad characteristics and unrelistic life decisions an example for youth is highly dangerious.

What did I like apart from HJP? The direction obviously. That was beautiful. It was clear that Directornim liked KSH's acting very much, no wonder he scheduled the show around KSH's schedules of 2D1N. But directornim mislead us audience by giving too many attentive details to KSH's scenes, creating parallelism throught the mesmerizing direction.

End notes: In the beginning I was worried about the review because in the future I want people to come here and watch the show for KSH and feel his powerful acting. I would have never put such a low rating and such an articulated review to let people know NOT to learn these life lessons but I realised NJH and Suzy's fans will evetually come and give a lot of high reviews so I antecipated that the review score would find the balance it deserves, just enough that people still watch it and discover KSH, although it's hard not to know him already. His little moments were enough to turn this rock of a show into gold, for those few minutes he was on screen, just by standing and breathing while expressing thousands of words in an eyebrow twitch while having romance with an AI voice and a plant.

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Life is Work in Progress not Pot of Luck

**Fan of the drama.. you are free to press this review not useful. But please refrain from commenting any hate speech. I made this review as unbias as possible, if you disagree, just press no.**

Before I start, I would like to emphasize that I am not KSH's fan nor HJP's fan. I do not follow KSH in Instagram (and not plan to). So do not take me as a salty fan where the 2nd Lead do not get the girl.

I also understand that the intention of the writer is to portray the journey of the start up and not the start up itself. But personally there is something bothering me on the message and portrayal of the drama. Many instances the conflict of the drama is resolved by mere luck than empowering of 'doing the right thing'.

I still give recognition to Nam Joo Hyuk, Bae Suzy, Kim Seon Ho and Kang Hanna (and other supporting characters, most importantly Kim Hae Sook) for bringing the portrayal to life, though to some, many improvement can be done to bring more layer to the characters instead of giving one dimensional character.

Few things I would need to mention to those people that say the drama is inspirational and it become moral compass for some. Tough I agree, some are good but some can't be taken at the face value. It rather become disturbing at some point when the drama justifying some of its flaws

- SDM is a very lucky girl. She has a guy that want to be her pride and trophy, she also has a guy that want to be her sandbox. No matter what she want, she can fly very high or fall softly. In reality, not many people can change the world (despite the inner desire) with low risk.

- NDS always whine on how he become his parent's tool to attain their dream. He is pressurized to be their pride, to be the best in the eyes of his parent. Making his whole lecture and statement on how he should live his own life to go back to square one where he become other people's trophy and dream. Perhaps he don't love his parents as much as he loves the girl.

- "Follow Your Dream" is such an inspirational quote. It tells people to dream high. Aim for the moon, even when you fall you will fall amongst the stars. At the end of the drama, NDS literally "Follow Your (Dalmi) Dream". A great innocent guy instead of being an inspiration for many is degraded as smitten young man at the end of the drama.

- Cheating - I look down on myself but I forgot that I did 9 questions right. It is great the drama address how to acknowledge the mistake but the drama forget to address how to 'own' the mistake. Regretting it, self pity, remorse, shameful of it, is not how one should own and responsible on the mistake. Even worse, later on when he did it again, those feeling become numb and repeating it has no more impacts in his conscience.

- Lastly, this is the most disturbing of all is to sail without a map. Business, shouldn't be taken lightly. As business owner, one is responsible to other people's life. So sailing, should be taken with calculated risk. Can you go to one destination without a map? Is there any phone that do not has GPS nowadays? That show the importance of map in our life. Personally I feel very insulted with this quote.

Youth should work on building their map. Slowly, step by step, learning from mistake, that is their map. Immature youthful Dosan 3 years ago, I can forgive. But Dosan that supposedly has learnt from experience, still sailing without map, that is irresponsible. You are irresponsible to yourself, to the people working for you, to the people look up at you.

Planning doesn't mean do not take risk. It means measuring the risk. To make a preparation, be ready, calculate the risk, mitigate it, plan it. Take the residual risk if you are comfortable. And even if you fail you will learn from it, and that will be part of your map. It is a business, not a gamble.

Entry level engineer (3 years) in Silicon Valley will receive annual salary between 100k-200k USD. It is high but not that high. Imagine thousands of engineers, they do not receive stock option for one or two successful apps. Any profit from the apps will go to the company, not to the engineer. Best performer may receive some bonus for performance, some in the form of bond, stock, but not substantial. Their project, products and intelligence is belongs to the company as long as the tenure of the contract. Especially when they portray 2STO as tech giant - imagine Google, Facebook, Apple.

When they come back to Korea, they will have the good resume. They can work for Samsung, create their start up. But not become celebrity before they even create/ patent their own apps. That is shallow and insulting.

Americans, on average, say that it takes a net worth of $2.27 million to be considered “wealthy,” Charles Schwab reports in its 2019 Modern Wealth Survey. San Francisco locals say you need a net worth of at least $4 million. New Yorkers say $3.2 million. Koreans consider W3. 9b in assets as threshold to be wealthy. South Koreans consider a person who owns an average of 3.9 billion won ($3.2 million) in assets is wealthy, a local survey showed in Dec 2019. According to Private Banker, high net worth individual (HNWI) is a wealthy person with at least $1 million in liquid assets.

You may say Dosan has USD3mil. Remember, 3Mil has to be divided amongst the shareholders, excluding tax. And that's all his money, considering if he want to buy house or car, that amount is reduced even further. He is not rich according to US or Korean standard. But the drama again magically solve the problem by making the start up become a unicorn in 1 year.

In reality, in 2018 survey, New research from Compare the Market has found that on average it has taken seven years from launch to grow these companies into unicorns. 19 made it to $1bn in less than a year - this is not a common story and I do feel it shouldn't be used in the plot to solve all problems.

In my opinion, the drama fail to show how youth are allowed to make mistake and learn from it. Instead youth are making mistake, repeating it and eventually success based on luck. It is not a success story, the writer do a quick fix by making too many luck and coincidence. Life is work in progress and this drama is responsible in misleading many young entrepreneur.

But of course "other people's opinion, shall not make it your reality." :)

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Recommended

I have zero idea why this drama is getting this much hate just because a ship failed. This is a normal kdrama with very warm and cosy plot. And I don't think it should be considered as a business drama and yea maybe be the IT industry portrayed here is flawed well who cares. This drama definitely has some heartwarming moments and shows us how kindness will always be repayed in some way or the other.
Han Ji Pyeong and Seo dal mi - yes hjp was sdm's first love but that was not the case for HJP. Her letters were comfort for him too but he left and never looked for her. And then later whatever he have done for her was to repay halmeoni's kindness. And in that process he fell in love with her.
Now coming Nam do san and seo dal mi.. Even though he never had any kind of history with her he started loving her from the very beginning. Much before HJP even realised his feelings.

If you keep aside the strong second lead syndrome because oh my god Kim Seonho and his charm is too great to ignore but still this drama doesn't deserve the hate it's getting now. And yes it's highly recommended..

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It DOESN'T DESERVE low ratings!

The drama's ratings went drastically down during the last few episodes of the show, and I thought what happened in the ending, but honestly nothing big happened. So I don't really see where all the 1.0 or 2.0 is coming from, like hey, if this is 1.0 or 2.0, you probably hardly watch any Korean drama. Like seriously! This is already considered quite a good piece!

I guess people were mainly expressing their disappointment on how the series became a romance-based story and also the main couple's love story but I really think it is pretty okay and I don't think it deserves a strong hate. The story became less focused on startup? Maybe a little, but not that much, maybe people's expectation are abit too high. If you are looking for more tension kind of story, then you may go for Itaewon Class instead, that show got a good main story but weaker on the lovelines. I guess drama just have their flaws.

Talking about second male lead syndrome, I like Han Ji Pyeong more, but I think the main couple suits each other. Although people feel bad for Ji Pyeong as he is the one who started the love story but male lead took over after 15 years. Well, I would say honestly Ji Pyeong wasn't really sincere with the letters at that time (if he really likes the girl so much she would have gone to look for her throughout the 15 years). He lost his chance to chase after the girl so he didn't get it, and it is pretty obvious from the first few episodes already. Well, if we were to say, isn't Reply 1988's second male lead story even more heartbreaking? Just saying.

The "theme" of the drama are quite new and refreshing (although it doesn't really interest me by reading the synopsis), but after watching I really think it is a good piece and all should give it a try (but without having too high expectation). Although the story is kinda predictable but I think it is not boring, hence I would considered not-bad written! Especially I really enjoyed the story between Han Ji Pyeong and FL's grandmother, pretty touching and made me teared up for quite a couple of scenes.

If I were to criticize something about this show, it would probably be the completeness of the ending. It could have been better if they have a more detailed on how they win and become successful, instead of just showing a few pictures etc. As it was being built up the tension between the Morning group and Cheong Myeong company at the last bidding, but it wasn't really explained and just suddenly ended.

Just wanted to share my thoughts, I just feel so bad for the drama looking at all the bad reviews swarming at the front page. Uhhhh, come on guys, it's really not that bad, so much worse ones out there, you guys should watch more dramas and you will know how good this was.

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i dont care what others said :(

i absolutely loved this drama!! i just finished watching episode 16 today. i was originally watching it for Suzy and Nam Joo Hyuk. but after watching into episode 8 i actually really liked it. even thought there is a time jump of 3 years, and the characters may not change a lot i liked it. it can show that the characters being together really change one another. where being apart lets them go back to their own habits/ways. and yes there was a huge ship war between Dosan and Jipyeong but i honestly thought it made the drama better. i do think some characters have their flaws like pettiness, stubbornness, and etc. but i think it makes it more human because no one is perfect which make it realistic. not every kdrama character is perfect and fits inside a box. i also like the antagonists and that the protagonists are let down in the beginning. not giving it the "perfect" and underdog "prevails" stuff. and later in the kdrama you start to see the character's competence come through and how they HAVE grown and matured.

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Make Choices Instead of Answers

The best revenge is indifference. So true.
How we react in any given situation reflects our very character. The two to five seconds where we think of a reply to a question or statement to comment is crucial.

I am into the digital media world and project management. Hence, this TV drama is so relatable. Start-Up has this vibe of how it is to work for Google or a similar company. To work for Google or even walk in the building is a dream come true.

Start-up was indeed one hell of a rollercoaster ride to building a dream and doing everything you can to realize that dream. To the point of sacrificing family, loved ones, and heart.

Life lessons.
Everything is a choice. It is really up to you if you stand by that choice or not. How will you know that you made the right choice or not? You will never know unless you fail. For every choice, give it your all and best. For every failure, regret comes after. But in the end, always learn to forgive yourself. Then, move forward. Repeat.

Instead of finding answers, make choices instead. If you can’t make tough decisions, you can’t be a CEO.

Just like in life, you are the CEO of your life. There is no other person who came decisions about your life than yourself. Accept the hard truth. Whatever decision you choose, know that criticism is but expected. As long as you are clear on the why, why are you doing such things? Everything else will follow.

On another note, since this is my review, I am going to voice my choice. Who here is team Good boy? Well, I am! I was frustrated by how long it took for him to realize his feelings. And to do something about them. I guess that is how his character is.

In general, it was good drama. I highly recommend you watch it.

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This drama has a breath of fresh air. The main lead Dosan is the best thing to happen to kdramas

Okay so.. I love dramas with a touch of reality. Makes me connect with them especially when I can feel the main leads. I like flaws being displayed and people being portrayed like people. I started this drama for Nam jo hyuk and Suzy and thankfully they never disappoint. I like the whole vibe of the show. It's basically youth oriented. How we in our 20s dream, take risks and fail only to get up again. A lot can be learned from the story. Coming to my favourite character in the show and probably in the entire history of kdrama- Nam Do San. I mean he is so damn realistic. He is a child who suffered immensely because of his own intelligence. His background story is deeply connecting cause every household has this one gifted child who loves studying and tops every exam and majority of these curious minds crumble under the society pressure. He is introvert, doesn't talk much, doesn't even know how to hold a conversation, brings science in everything, looks flustered unsure of himself most of the time. He is just trying to prove himself and fails miserably a lot of times and everytime his father or second male lead is there to tell him that he is good for nothing ( although ji pyeong's criticism is what made them grow, I felt a lot of times it was just too harsh) His confidence is down to level zero where despite being the most intelligent character in the entire show he thinks he is nothing. A lot of people had second lead syndrome in this show and I agree I too liked him a lot but damn! If someone tells me that Dosan is anywhere less than him. Nam jo hyuk does an incredible job playing Dosan. I loved the ending. This show and specially Dosan deserves all the love in this world.

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A Drama who Embraced Both the Good and the Bad.

I'd be lying if I said this drama was satisfying. However, I'd also be lying if I claimed it was downright unsalvagable or disappointing. I think the ending was okay. Could it have been better? Certainly. But honestly, it could've also been way worst.

THE PLOT
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If you're hoping to see a drama about business, this is not it. If you're intolerant of love triangles, this may not be your cup of tea, as once we cross into the second half, it's all about the love triangle.

Having said that, the plot focuses on Dal Mi trying to follow her father's footsteps and show her sister that she made the right call in choosing to stay with her dad over leaving with her mom. While the show makes it look like that would be the heart of it, as we move towards the second half, the plot shifts to being romance-centric.

Basically, this is a story about a girl deciding if her heart belongs to her first or second love.

THE PORTRAYAL OF ROMANCE: Questionable and Borderline Toxic
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Perhaps the most problematic aspect here is the love triangle and the message it conveys. The love between the main couple starts with a lie that is never dealt with properly. The FL feels wishy-washy while the ML is left to struggle with an identity crisis that is never resolved. The fact that the couple stuck together despite the unresolved issues, felt like the romance embraced a problematic message of "pretend to achieve your goal" rather than "show/embrace your true self".

WRITING: A mixed bag
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While the construction of the romance was problematic, the absence of consequences and the minimization of mistakes are marks of bad writing. Why have characters face problems if the writer will keep them safe from the consequences via cop-outs, plot armor, and/or having those consequences happen off-screen? Characters are supposed to face problems and make mistakes so they can learn, adapt, and grow.

Out of all the characters, Do San faced the most problems but had the least growth. The very fact that his identity crisis was never fully addressed and dealt with is perhaps the biggest disservice his character got.

I think the best thing this drama did was to showcase some beautiful family moments. It also gave us some beautifully written characters we got to enjoy whenever they stepped on-screen (HJP, Grandma, and, to a lesser extent because she had little screentime, In Jae). I also absolutely enjoyed comparing and contrasting Do San with Ji Pyeong --not to see who was better, but to see how similar they were despite their differences. I hoped they would've established some sort of friendship after the halfway mark, but Do San never matured enough to make it happen.

CHARACTERS
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This is perhaps the best thing about the show and where the good, and bad aspects of writing comes into play.

Seo Dal Mi: A character who's introduced as someone who's decisive, ambitious and hardworking. Although she's shown to be happy, charismatic and a go-getter, her character is quickly overtaken by the love triangle until we hardly see her outside of scenes involving one of the guys. Her independence got replaced by her choice of a partner; shoving out of the focus her journey to success. Before the halfway mark, Dal Mi was the star of the show. But after she found out about the letters, her character lost her identity, becoming little more than a "love interest".

Nam Do San: A guy who's introduced as sort of a loser; a boy who has yet to grown into a man. He's constantly shown as uncertain about who he is, what he wants, and where he wants to go. So in an effort to find his own way, he relies on following other people's instructions. While Do San has family and close friends, he tends to disregard his own feelings and makes decisions based on others. Mainly, on trying not to disappoint his peers. However, in so doing, he ends up frustrated with himself because he's not being honest. So everything he's doing also feels fake to him and he ends up hurting himself most of all.

Han Ji Pyeong: A man who's introduced as a hotshot with a successful career. He's nonetheless shown to be a sacrificial character with no family and no friends. He doesn't want to think of others, let alone struggle with trying not to disappoint them. However, he's just as lonely and as dishonest with his feelings as Nam Do San. The difference is that he prefers not to bother with others so as not to give them an opportunity to hurt him. So in trying not to get hurt, he pushes people away, and, in turn, he ends up hurting himself most of all.

Grandma (SDM's Family and HJP's benefactor): She is one of the very best things about this show. Her bond with Han Ji Pyeong is marvelous to watch. The scenes between them are worth muscling through some of the flaws. She also gets a few but powerful scenes with Won/Seo In Jae (Dal Mi's estrangled sister).

Won/Seo in Jae: A character who the writer forgot existed halfway through the drama's run. She had one of the most interesting arcs, but ended up being pushed aside. She was someone who seemed to have made it in life, only for her adoptive father to double-crossed her, taking with one hand everything he'd given with the other. In Jae had the most painful thing happened to her. She fell from high above and yet, she landed on her feet --with her pride bruised but not broken. And somehow, she managed to build something great in the wake of that loss. However, it's rare for a K-Drama to showcase a female character pursuing success --less so as decisively as In Jae did, so this aspect of her character was minimized and ignored. Instead, all her success and growth happened off-screen and we're left to lament the potential for the portrayal of an strong, flawed, independent and kick-ass successful female character.

THE LOVE TRIANGLE: Drawn out, Questionable & Ultimately unpopular
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A thing we can definitely make as one of the biggest flaws is the drawn-out love triangle. This is why I don't think someone who barely tolerates an undecisive Female Lead will enjoy this show. I think this show would've benefitted from putting the triangle to rest sooner. Allowing all the characters involved to step out of the romantic plot and into a role more "self-involved".

But since that didn't happen, allow me to briefly cover the big aspect that got people riled up with Dal Mi's ultimate choice of man.

Nan Do San: is portrayed as outwardly a selfless guy but inwardly a selfish guy. While he's always trying to accommodate other people and fill in the role others need him to be, when it comes to Dal-Mi he turned out to be quite selfish. In a nutshell, NDS wants Dal Mi. But let's just clarify that loving and wanting are two different things. Wanting is about what you get. It's about possessing more than wishing someone well. So Nan Do San always considered his feelings first.

Han Ji Pyeong: may be portrayed as outwardly selfish, but he's inwardly a selfless guy. While he may push and disregard people left and right when it comes to Dal-Mi he really just wants her to be happy, even if that happiness doesn't include him. In that regard, he's selfless and loving. Because Love is about giving, even if you get nothing in return. So HJP always considered Dal Mi's feelings first.

Seo Dal Mi: I think the writer failed to transmit this character's love for her chosen partner the most. She never gave proper reasons as to why she had fallen in love with Nan Do San. So ultimately, her choice felt forced, wishy-washy, and more out of convenience than actual passion.

I still believe that putting the triangle to rest and having the guys make amends with each other and moving into a friendship (in typical K-drama fashion where we have to suspend our disbelief) could've elevated the show.


MESSAGE: Mixed & Problematic
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I think it's important to emphasize again the problematic message this drama embraces. One of which has to do with the character that has the community most divided: Nam Do San.

I think his character was the one that had the most potential for not only becoming an interesting and different type of ML but also for showcasing the important message that, before you can find love, you need to love yourself first. Unfortunately, the writing failed his character by making him embrace his flaws, pretend his problems away, and have him solely focus on his love for Dal Mi (which was portrayed more like an unhealthy obsession).

Honestly, I didn't like how the romance was constructed at all and I wished more thought had been given to the message they ended up putting out there. "Fake it till you make it" only makes sense when we talked about work, not when it comes to one's own sense of self. You can only wear a mask for so long before you start to hate yourself.

In that regard, I think Do San got a band-aid treatment for the gaping wound that was his inner, self-esteem problems.

The drama also lost out in tapping into the potential for an epic sismance. It's bad enough that we get so many dramas where there's either not even a second female lead (instead we get an FL surrounded by guys) or an antagonistic till the end type of second female Lead (my least favorite). So this show could've stood out by emphasizing the sister's love and reforging their bond, rather than focusing on so many lovey-dovey moments between the main couple; most of which felt unearned.

OVERALL
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Suffice to say, when it comes to directing, this will be a drama I will refer to as the "exception to the rule" when it comes to visual mastery. A drama that shows even the director can lie to an audience for the sake of building false hope or cheap uncertainty so that, regardless of the ending, we "won't see it coming".

However, despite the problematic romance, I think Han Ji Pyeong's character encompasses and embraces the healthiest message I've seen in a K-Drama... love is selfless and kind. Love doesn't need other's acknowledgment, it just gives and expects nothing in return. And for that alone, this drama is worth a watch.

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