Definitely not your typical kdrama. But it is for somewhat niche audience, those into long-winded dark, dreary and repetitive points hitting the same spot.

I like those dramas when there is a point to it and not exploitation of negative emotion. And there was. The point, I believe.

Overwhelming in intense gloomy and tragic undertones. Grief and coping are the actors in this drama, taking a large podium, to not immerse but drown each character. As if both take on a mercenary role. Each character is both momentarily rewarded and ultimately punished by decisions they made, rejecting grieving and coping in service of revenge. Grief is the main actor and not revenge, that is the point. And it punishes each character accordingly for that lack of awareness.

Which is an interesting take for a kdrama, not gonna lie.

The chemistry between Soo-hyun and Seon-yul was palpable. It never went the romantic route but I could sense the alignment between two characters that obviously found solace in their similar experience with loss. I wish it was further developed. This one does remind me a bit of My Mister in its attempt for two people to process pain together.

But this is not sad, slice of life piece. This took tragedy and packed a punch with some action, and quite a few, albeit predictable, plot twists.

There are of course quite a few duds, motivatios of Seon-yul fell a bit flat. Wrap up was rushed, general downer, and kind of too each. As if the production got tired.

Not many standouts (good or bad) among actors. The female lead really shone, and Kim Joon, one of antagonists. I did not see Cha Eun Woo laugh once. Gorgeous man no doubt, but I do not think he wants that to be the main takesway. I did think he did not have a range of emotional capacity/expression to deliver each scene, and thought both Park Bogum and Seo In-Guk would have delivered in this type of role perfectly. Albeit his acting continues to be average at best, he was not distracting from the plot for which I still approve of the show as a whole.

(Also, nice to see the lead of the Eight Sense getting his footing into kdrama industry. Little time, but step by step.)

Overall, I do not take this one as a binge. The main characters are complex and I believe the viewer should be a bit more invested to understand their perspective in order to enjoy this one. I would need to rewatch to understand better, but intrigue kind of dissipated.

Not for everyone, for sure. But an interesting one, 100%.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading.