The beginning of this drama was a little rough and it was hard for me to get into. It wasn’t until around episode 11 that I felt the show hooked me, which is way too long. This show is often recommended as a comp to Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha and since that’s one of my favorite dramas, I was very excited to try this one, but it does not have much in common with HCCC except its seaside location.

The scandal that ruined Sam-dal’s career felt a little weak and didn’t seem like something that would make that big of an impact or attract that much media attention. The girl that orchestrated it all was infuriating to watch and it was so easy to root for her downfall.

Everyone in this show was an alcoholic. Characters get drunk in dramas all the time, but this was on another level. Sam-dal and her sisters did nothing but pound beer and black out. It was pretty annoying to watch. Both of her sisters were really compelling characters with great romances, but it didn’t seem like they got enough time to explore their backstories or romances in depth, so it ended up feeling like a bit of a letdown.

Yong-pil was really the highlight of the show. Ji Chang-Wook is great at romance and he played this super endearing and sweet male lead so well. I found the relationship timeline to be a little confusing, but I was rooting for them to get back together. He and Sam-dal had the cutest relationship. It felt a little hard to understand why they weren’t together. The character ages made it less believable because they were in their late thirties and it just doesn’t seem like his dad’s approval would be something that could keep them apart. The dad was truly such a terrible man, the true villain of the show, and he did not deserve a redemption arc.

There is some great family dynamics, romance, and an exploration of finding yourself after getting knocked down real hard that all worked so well in this show. I think if this show had been shorter, it would have worked better, but I still think it was worth a watch overall.