I'm left frustrated, which is exactly what the writers wanted me to feel. If you're looking at One Ordinary Day expecting a satisfying conclusion, you're looking in the wrong place. This isn't a drama that will give you the sort of clean, neatly closed ending that many crime dramas do, and it doesn't want you to feel good. They have an angle and they stick to it, and that's exactly why I respect this drama so much.

I'm sure I'm not alone. We're all sitting here after watching episode 8, wondering what, exactly, we just saw. Angry at the police and prosecution for the absolute joke of a case they formed against Hyun Soo, annoyed at the judge who sentenced him and every person involved who let the investigation of the Guk Hwa's murder become the joke that it was. We're frustrated with the prosecutor's promotion, the team leader's peaceful retirement, all the while our lead is stuck in prison while his very stressed-out lawyer goes and does the police's job for them, only for them to take credit for his achievements in the end. So without an apology, after watching a man die in his arms, Hyun Soo is tossed back out into the world, the family that had begun to doubt him acting as though nothing ever happened. He's expected to return to his ordinary life after all of the unfairness he experienced, knowing first-hand just how corrupt and broken the judicial system is. There's no big, dramatic reveal of who the real killer is, no flashback to the night of the murder, and no repentance from the people who botched the investigation and even demanded the death penalty for our innocent lead. Nothing.

The last several minutes show Hyun Soo returning to life, sombre when surrounded by his family, living in a house with "murderer" vandalized on the wall, buying cigarettes and consciously aware of the eyes around him. Even free, he can't return to his old life. He can't fix anything, and this is his new reality.

So One Ordinary Day doesn't leave you fulfilled. Like its characters, you're bitter and unsatisfied. But you're thinking. You're thinking and reminded of just how warped the world can be, and that's exactly what they wanted. That's some pretty good storytelling, wouldn't you say?

And, you know, the stellar acting didn't hurt. I loved seeing Kim Soo Hyun in a drama again, and Chae Seung Won is as amazing as ever. So I'm angry, but I'm very glad I watched this.