I'm kinda gonna go against the grain here, even tho I agree with the outstanding majority. The general consenses is spot on--The show has tons of wasted potential. The most redeeming qualities are the pretty cast and cinematography.

That being said...I still enjoyed this, at least the first 4 eps. But even after that I cared enough to see it to the end. Let me be honest: As someone who loved Penthouse and Sky Castle I came into this for rich people mess and high school shenanigans. As crazy as they get, you gotta have a high tolerance for bs and throw logic out the window with makjangs. Compared to those dramas this pales, especially in the mess department. Still, I have to think a drama is really bad or boring in order to drop it. Eps 4-5 is when things started downhill. And it did go downhill. But...I want a S2. I found it likeable enough to want to see more. The finale was open ended enough and the premiere was successful so it'll prob happen.

The biggest reason why this wasn't impactful is there simply wasn't enough time to flesh out anything. 7 eps isn't long enough to bake the cake. The outside is delicious but the inside is underdone. I don't call for this as much anymore but 16 eps seemed better this instance. That way we could've had more room for the plot to cook.

Characters were ok overall. Unpopular opinion: Lee Chaemin carried. Losing sight of his motivation was what ultimately brought him down. It would've been more interesting if he led Jae-I on as part of his revenge plan despite actually liking her. Only then would I have gotten behind them as endgame.

To sum it up this was a good example of presentation >> substance. Its true we got a half baked cake but I still ate it up. Maybe folks should lower their expectations next time?