I know a lot of people blame the love triangle as to why this drama failed. However, I would argue that it actually loses its viewers through the storytelling rather than anything else.

The drama makes rookie mistakes when it comes to storytelling. The most vital one comes only a few minutes into the first episode, and happens twice. The 5 year skip. This was a terrible idea because it means we don’t get to see precious memories which make us care about the relationship between the leads. Had the drama actually showed us a wholesome friendship between the leads that lasted more than 1 episode, I would connect more to the events that came later. But problems between Inha and Taeho came about too early on. So when the twist that Inha was a bad guy came, I didn’t really care as much. The only thing that made me believe in this friendship, was Lee Jae Wook’s acting. LJW really stands out as an incredibly strong actor in this series. Contrasting with the female lead who made unclear choices with her acting. And this I would also blame the director for, as it is their job to guide the actors to make a clearer story.

The other thing that was a vital mistake in the storytelling, was the fact that it wasn’t specific enough. What exactly was the reason as to why Taeho and Hyewon were putting themselves through all of this. Was it power? Money? Ok, why? To do what exactly? Did he want power so he could protect his mum from his dad’s thugs? Did he want to send someone to kill his dad in prison? These things needed to be more specific so that the viewer can empathise more with the motive behind the actions that follow.

Overall, the main thing is that this drama felt too vague. The lack of specificity in relationship dynamics and character building meant that the drama couldn’t hit the beats it needed to in order to make us care. Had the relationship between Hyewon and Taeho been built more so we could have rooted for them, then when he takes drugs and allows himself to be bullied by Inju, we would be feeling more for him.

Honestly, the idea was good but executed terribly. Inha becoming a baddie could have hit so hard but instead fell flat. The only thing that saved this drama was Lee Jae Wook’s incredible acting. He made me feel for him despite not believing in the story, which is a really hard job. I have to also give props to the supporting actors, as I found their performances pretty good as well, namely Kangmoo’s.

This drama could have been great, instead it was below average.