All I can say is watch it!

This one took me by surprise, I admit. When I think badminton, I remember back to playing in school - basically trying to just get the birdie over the net. There was so much strength and power watching the badminton tournaments, and watching all they did while practicing. But badminton takes a back seat to the friendships and the community. I laughed and I cried, a lot.

The young ML character of Yoon Hae Kang starts playing badminton after moving to the country. He was a middle school baseball star, so starting badminton (with his dad as the coach) didn't start out well. He started out with a big chip on his shoulder, and I wondered how long I'd have to put up with that behavior. He kept his cockiness throughout, but watching him develop actual deep, meaningful friendships was such a lovely thing to watch.

Friendships, first love, separating from your parent's help, bullying, corruption. This drama has it all.

The acting was so good all the way around. I loved the friendships between the boys, but I also loved the villagers. You know, the typical quirky characters, but each person had their own story that blended in so well with the others. The sad young couple that come to live in the village for mysterious reasons - I loved their story development and how they integrated into the community. I also loved the old lady that made a playroom, and the kids would go there, because she had Wi-Fi. How the kids were absorbed in their own lives, but also cared about the elders in the village.

I do have to say that at the beginning I hated the dad/coach. He just seemed so stupid to me. But the more I watched, the more memories it brought back of me and my own parents - how they tried to be cool and fit into my world, but all it did was cause embarrassment. I think you'll feel this more, the further you watch.

I loved watching the friendships between the boys develop, especially since Yoon Hae Kang was an outsider and didn't want to be there. As he let the other boys into his life, then it progressed to the boys letting others in as well. I just can't say enough about the friendships.

I loved the BTS music and references. The actors breaking the fourth wall and looking at the camera was funny throughout, but never more funny than when the coach said he thought the boys were cooler than BTS. The boys got really nervous and said he should never say things like that, because it could be really bad (protective Army reference!), and the dad looks straight into the camera, apologizes, and runs away.

I held off watching this for the longest time, thinking it was just a sports drama. It turned out to be so much more to me.

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Why did I suffer through this?

I blame myself and my inability to drop a drama. Please bear in mind that this is just my personal opinion. I'm not saying others are wrong in their reviews, but I had a very strong reaction to this drama, hence my rating. This is time I will never get back! Needless to say, I'm not going to waste my time on Season 2.

What I liked:
1) Though it's not my absolute favorite, I enjoy this genre of show, because there is usually enough going on that I don't fast forward a lot.
2) I loved the amount of screen time they gave Go Gyu Pil as one of the forensic investigators. There is something so loveably cute about him.
3) I liked the way Lee Yi Kyung's character of the policeman was toned down (except for the Stella arc, which I will address later). This actor usually plays characters that are over-the-top, so it was good to see him more serious.
4) The cases, for the most part, were interesting.
5) They didn't try to force a romance between the leads (though it felt like they were trying to go in that direction)

What I didn't like:
1) You can make a drinking game out of the number of times the line "Don't write a novel" was said. Overused is putting it mildly.
2) It's been a long time since I hated a female lead character so much. Not the acting, the character. Eun Sol is a brand-new prosecutor - early on, she looked like she was just trying too hard, but she based her decisions on "feelings" all the time. She says specifically that she became a prosecutor because she watched a lot of US tv shows (not a good reason to begin with), but she goes to a crime scene and moves the body!?! If you've only watched one crime drama in your life, you know that you don't do this. When she questioned suspects, she was always yelling at them and revealing things that you wouldn't reveal to a suspect. Then she complains that it's not like in US tv shows! She was always arguing with Baek Beom, even disagreeing with his findings. She arrested people without evidence. She took a drug cocktail (that had killed a student) to see what kind of reaction she would have, which gave her hallucinations, then asked if that would prove that the student had hallucinations! She could have died, and it's not like she didn't know what could happen! For me, this character never improved much.
3) Baek Beom - call me superficial, but I didn't find this actor attractive at all. It seemed to be that he would have been better cast as a bad guy. As for the character, he was a tortured soul, but there was absolutely nothing likeable about him and I didn't see improvement in him by the end of the series. He had no respect for anyone, was always yelling, and I don't think any self-respecting person would continue to work with him.
4) Stella and the Stella-Soo Ho arc. She was written in to be some sort of brilliant comedy relief and it didn't work at all. There have been shows when a character inserts English into a conversation periodically and it really works. Here, it sounded clunky. And her and the detective, that whole thing should have been left on the cutting room floor. It was a complete waste of time.
5) I'll put all the following under lazy writing, procedures, etc. a) My biggest problem was with the episodes concerning MERS. One of the forensic investigators runs out of the autopsy room because she's afraid. Everyone that has been in contact needs to be quarantined, I get it. So, they lock down the building to try to find her. (Leads are now locked in the autopsy room together and Eun Sol was even worse in these episodes). Many, many people wandering around, calling out her name, and no one thinks to look in the bathroom!?! Then they let her leave in an ambulance? Another prosecutor runs to the NFS to see how Eun Sol is - they were on lockdown! A group of them left the building to investigate something - but they were on lockdown. b) Putting on protective shoe booties and gloves before getting to a crime scene. These should be put on right before entering the scene itself, because you are increasing the cross-contamination the longer you wear them, plus they are a fall risk, especially if you are wearing them over four-inch heels like Eun Sol was prone to do. c) The ME was checking someone's pulse using his thumb. You never do that, there's a pulse in your thumb and you won't get an accurate reading. d) Unless things are completely different in Korea, autopsies are done using a Y incision, not a straight incision. e) Multiple cases of arresting someone without evidence, yet other times there's evidence and they don't arrest. e) Baek Beom's girlfriend that he thought died 10 years ago - Baek Beom's father had her kept alive all this time in secret. Why? Then she woke up for a minute just to die. Why? f) Baek Beom's best friend that died. He was your best friend, yet you didn't know that he had a younger brother?! I could probably continue on this for days, but if you have read this far, you get my point.

Should you watch it? Everyone else in the world seemed to like it, but for me, I can't recommend it.

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Didn't like the FL at all!

It's short and doesn't take too much time involvement, but while I was watching it, I kept wondering how soon before it was going to be over. Overall, my complaints were with the writing.

1) My biggest gripe is the way the FL is written. Desperate, clingy, immature - I got the feeling that she was more afraid of being alone than anything else. To try to hang onto someone that doesn't want to be with you is so sad.
2) Cha Hun's acting was really bad. His face remained emotionless, his movements were wooden, and watching him try to act was just uncomfortable.
3) FL and her best friend - he's stuck with her through NUMEROUS relationship disasters. Their relationship was cute to watch, but her having that many ex-boyfriends would give me pause before getting involved with her. She's kind of a "love the one you're with girl." Basically, I had a hard time believing in a romantic relationship between them.

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BEYOND pleasantly surprised!

The trailers looked silly, and Ahn Bo Hyun has never been one of my favorites. He's always been that support character that I've enjoyed well enough, but he hasn't wowed me when he's been the lead. All of that has changed with Flexx Cop. But let's back up a little to initial thoughts.

STORY: A chaebol that is used to playing RPG, suddenly finds himself as a cop. This could have gone quickly bad if he had been made out to be stupid. I loved how he was able to look at cases from a different perspective that the cops hadn't thought of. I also loved how he seemed to throw money at almost every case, providing help/resources that only his massive wealth could bring. I'm a big fan of having a case take just a little over an episode. This keeps it from being drawn out needlessly and keeps things moving.
Friendships: I loved to watch the development with the four main characters. Impatience/mistrust/dislike turn to caring and trust. I was halfway through the drama when it struck me how organically the friendships developed. With each case, the other cops grew to like Yi Soo. I love how they came to appreciate/like Yi Soo and were there to support him and keep him safe when he was struggling.
Romance: Hmmm. Okay, so I'll admit I'm a dyed-in-the-wool romantic. I thought the story line of the cop and the medical examiner was cute. However, I wasn't feeling it between Yi Soo and Kang Hyun. I think the writers purposely didn't develop in, knowing that they would have a season 2. I just really enjoyed them getting to know one another and coming to depend on each other.

ACTING: Excellent. Ahn Bo Hyun owned this role. He could have come off as obnoxious, but he played it so innocent that you couldn't help but like him from the get-go. He really had to run the gamut of emotions in this role, and he nailed every one of them. The scene toward the end with Yi Soo and Kang Hyun's mother just about broke my heart. Everyone was excellent in their roles, Kwak Shi Yang as Seung Joo kept me guessing for quite some time. I was disappointed in the direction he took, but I realize that's the only way it could go. I really liked the casting of Kim Shin Bi as Hyung Jin, the youngest cop of the group. He had the sweet innocence that played nicely against the more seasoned and jaded cops. The hero worship he had for Yi Soo was so fun.

MUSIC: There were some nice songs that faded into the background.

REWATCH VALUE: Usually, the only shows I rewatch are the good romantic scenes from shows I've watched. However, this was so good I'm going to watch it again right away!

WISH LIST FOR SEASON TWO: I'm not normally a fan of a show having a second season, because it's all been done in season one. Going from dislike to working together as a team - that was a big part of this season, and one of the things that made it so enjoyable. I don't know how the writers plan to do this, but I hope that they keep the format of a case an episode. And if you can't give us a good, hot, chemistry-filled, believable romance, just leave the romance out. They are great as friends.

Honestly, I can't get over how much I enjoyed this show!

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Hot, except when it wasn't

I thought Mysterious Love was much better than this one. The script/story were so ridiculous, I spent an inordinate amount of time writing down things I couldn't believe about it. Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but the characters kept doing such stupid things it was irritating. I could feel brain cells dying...

ACTING:
Tsao Yu Ning as Jin Yan - let's be honest, he doesn't have to do much more than stand, stare, and look hunky, which he has down to an art form. He's basically the same character from Mysterious Love.
Yilia Yu as XiXi/An Yue - I thought she did a good job differentiating between the two characters.

CHEMISTRY: Hot, but it seemed like they were together less than they were in Mysterious Love. These two are seriously good together, they chemistry is definitely chemistry-ing!

For me, I was there for the main couple and was disappointed in the relatively small amount of time they spent together. First, there was the convoluted storyline involving a lot of people. THEN we had the second couple which was just WRONG! They got entirely too much screen time and I didn't care about them at all. In fact, there was a triangle, and, in my opinion, she ended up with the wrong guy!

I won't try to steer anyone clear of this drama but be prepared for a festival of eye rolling.

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Wow! What a convoluted story, and not in a good way.

My rating on this was all over the place. I can pretty much suspend disbelief when I watch a drama, but this was like watching a telenovela, with over-the-top characters, consequences for evil too long in coming, and don't even get me started on the "is this my fate? Is it your fate? What do I have to do to correct my fate? Maybe if I try this..." It's fate, for the love of Pete, you're not supposed to be able to figure it out! My rating started pretty high, the story was interesting, and the acting was fun, for the most part. However, when Ha Ye Ji showed up in episode 12 onward, my rating fell like a rock. It was like they had determined that they didn't want to finish the story at 12 episodes, so let's add another random psycho to the mix. The only reason this drama even got the rating from me that it did is that it redeemed itself in the end with a wedding (can we just talk about how stunning her dress was?), and children, rather than the usual hurried final 15 minutes.

I love Park Min Young, but have you ever noticed how, in addition to the ridiculous amount of product placement, they continually show her hands? It's like they are their own version of product placement. Granted, her hands are beautiful, but come on. I hope that in future roles she gains some of her weight back, because even after she went back in time, she looked entirely too thin. Her character in her original life was pathetic, and in her new life, there were so many times I wanted to tell her to grow a spine. Why continue to say the guy is your boyfriend when he obviously gives you the creeps? I guess it gets back to her trying to make fate work in her favor.

Na In Woo as Ji Huyk. I've never seen this actor in anything else, but BOY was his character boring! Bad hair, bad glasses, bad suits, pretty much one expression throughout.

Chemistry between leads - for me, I didn't feel the chemistry at all. I did appreciate that they took time to talk to one another, that they supported each other, and they planned things together. That said, I didn't believe the romance. Kisses were okay (not dead fish kisses), but to me, this relationship didn't bring the heat.

Now, for chemistry, I thought Lee Gi Kwang as Chef Eun Ho and Choi Ghu Ri as Hee Yeon were precious together. I LOVED her energy. I would have liked to have seen more of them.

STANDOUTS - Lee Yi Kyung as Min Hwan and Song Ha Yoon as Soo Min. Oh, my goodness, they brought the passion, the pathos, the greed, and the degeneration into insanity. His anger was scary, honestly. And I normally don't like actresses that scream, but her out-of-control screams here were excellent. The cat and mouse game they played throughout the drama was very entertaining...what will they do next? Just when you think someone can't sink any lower, they prove you wrong.
Oh, and I loved the BTS songs and BTS references. Very cleverly done.

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Not enough romance for me

Disclaimer: this is my own opinion. Everyone's tastes are different. If asked, I wouldn't tell anyone to run away from watching it, but it was a disappointment to me. I think it was the writing that let this show down for me. It was drawn out, and often uneven. Was it a comedy? A drama? It couldn't seem to make up its mind. The story was somewhat interesting, but, in my opinion, could have been improved with some editing.

What I liked:
Kim Hye Yoon as Kim Jo Yi. I really like this actress, and her voice is great. I liked them turning the tables and making a woman in a historical show be the strong one. She was strong, outspoken and was willing to fight for what she wanted. Sometimes her wide-open, doe-eyed looks were overdone.

OK TaecYeon as Ra Yi Eon was okay here. I've never been blown away by his acting (I think I need to watch Vincenzo), and he managed to portray a wide-eye innocent well here. Some of his expressions were over the top, which worked when they were trying for comedy, but not when they were attempting seriousness. The scene with him and the bad guy (one of the MANY bad guys) on the edge of the cliff was seriously overacted.

Choi Tae Hwan and Park Do Soo. Hated him with a passion, which was the intention. This was a character that was definitely a hamburger short of a happy meal. Absolutely no conscience, he kind of lived in his own psychopathic world. His smiles at absolutely inappropriate times were chilling.

The friendships. The sidekicks, the friendships made along their journey, found family. I liked watching these relationships develop.

What I didn't like:
Way too much palace intrigue. I was surprised, because by all the clips I'd seen, this seemed like it was going to be very light. It started out that way, and then turned pretty heavy for most of the rest of the episodes. And how many scheming bad guys does one show need?

The romance felt like it was added as an afterthought at times. We got some cute scenes of them realizing that they liked each other, then episodes full of neither one of them wanting to get married, then a rushed, unsatisfactory ending.

They talked about how all he wanted to do was cook, that's what he wanted to do with his life. Suddenly, it was forgotten. We never got to see evidence of that passion until the very end, and even then, I didn't think it was portrayed correctly.

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Started out great

I'm not a big fan of historical dramas, but the trailers made this look like it would be more comedy than melodrama, so I thought I'd give it a try. I liked it a lot...until I didn't. Unfortunately, they took a show that was really working as a comedy and switched it to palace intrigue/kill the crown prince/don't trust anyone in power/melodrama about halfway through, and it became a different show. Did they switch writers halfway through or something?

What I liked:
-the comedy in the first part of the show.
-Rowoon's (as Jung Woo) comedic timing, goofy facial expressions
-Jun Woo's servant. He was excellent and so much fun to watch!
-a good king
-beautifully filmed. The sets were beautiful. The camera work was interesting. I especially liked the filming of the wedding of the multiple couples. Filmed from overhead so it reminded me of a game board, which was appropriate with all that was going on.
-The costuming was good as well, other than the front of almost every dress the FL wore. The top layer of her dresses were gathered and shorter than the rest, probably so you can see the layer underneath. But it just looked like she got part of her dress stuck in her belt and she needed to pull it down.

What I didn't like:
-the whole melodrama aspect. Does every historical have the storyline of trying to kill the king or prince? The murder plots were messy and took up too much of the show.
-Rowoon's constant throat clearing. Give the man a lozenge!
-no chemistry between leads. I mean, seriously, no chemistry.
-one REALLY bad kiss in episode 12. I couldn't get over how bad it was. Their lips weren't even aligned correctly, no movement, no feeling, no chemistry.
-There's a lot said about the fact that no one recognizes the FL without makeup, even her brother. That was so unrealistic, because they didn't recognize her voice either?! There was virtually no difference between how she looked with and without makeup. Gorgeous either way.
-Did I mention no chemistry?
-A few of the bachelors looked alike, as well as some of the potential brides. It was hard to track who was who.
-Too many storylines to do any of them justice.
-A 14-year-old marrying the oldest of three daughters. This was just all kinds of no.
-Each episode had either the ML or the FL talking about why they couldn't be together. One episode it was him, the next episode it was her. Due to their lack of chemistry (have I mentioned that already?), I didn't think they should be together anyway, so this just made the show more drawn out.
-The evil mother-in-law. Excellent acting. But everyone knew that she had not only been part of the planning to kill the crown prince, but she actually murdered her husband and her brother, and the only thing that happened to her was she lived alone at the end of the drama!?!?!? And she told her daughter-in-law to kill herself? This woman was obviously a burger short of a happy meal and shouldn't have been allowed to roam free.
-The whole multiple people, convoluted mess of a wedding.
-The FL going on and on about how much she had loved her husband. It was talked about so much, but the FL's actions didn't line up with what she was saying, and I felt that this really diminished the feelings that the ML and FL were supposed to have for one another. But since they had no chemistry anyway... (sorry, I digress.)
-The whole storyline with her supposedly being dead. I didn't feel the emotion of loss from him, she just shows up out of the blue, and his non-emotion continues.
-The ending. Lackluster is the only word I can come up with. He almost died, he thought she was dead, we've spent 16 episodes watching them try to get together, and they stand there talking about whether they should get married or just date?! As I watched the ending scene, all I could think was that the actors actually hated each other and were agreeing to the ending as long as there was no emotion, and they didn't have to touch each other.

If you are a fan of historical dramas, you might have the patience for this one. As for myself, if I'd known my feelings were going to change so dramatically by the end, I would have dropped it halfway and given it a higher rating.

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Give it a try

Mostly all reviews praise this show, with a lot of comparisons with Hometown Cha Cha Cha (and rightfully so). There was a lot to like about it, but there were numerous things that really bothered me, hence my lower score.

What I liked:
-The acting by all was very good, but I did find Shin Hye Sun's constant pursed lip/pout talking very irritating after a while. I have loved her in other things she's done and never noticed her doing it before. I loved the friends, the families, the townspeople, and Samdal-Ri's little niece was just precious.
-Jeju. The cinematography was just stunning, and if this doesn't increase tourism, I don't know what will.
-I really like the idea of friends that have known each other for years, supportive of one another when apart, and then coming back together like no times has passed.
-2ML. I may have seen this actor in another role at some point in time, but I really liked him here. He had that almost palpable sadness surrounding him. Though it's not really realistic for someone to have one-sided love for that many years, the romantic in me just loved it. I also like how he was at odds with himself as to whether he should tell her or not. On top of that, he was just such a good friend to both the ML and FL.
-The sisters' storylines were well-developed and didn't feel wasted.
-Happy, though lackluster, ending.
-The friendship between the ML and FL. Which brings me to...

What I didn't like:
-For me, there was no chemistry between the leads. I loved them as friends but didn't buy them as a couple at all. Add to that that he thought she broke up with him, she thought he broke up with her, and all I could think was "how hard is it to just talk to each other?"
-So much drinking
-Drunk confessions
-The way the FL was written was problematic for me. She was portrayed as this strong, independent woman, but yet she slinks quietly away when the woman made up lies about her? She doesn't stand up for herself. She attended a long pity party for herself. I realize that the lie was pretty much the whole premise for the show, but it could have been written much better.
-Working with your ex? Nah.
-There needed to be a more satisfactory ending for the evil girl, she just kind of went away. I'm not a big revenge person but come on!
-After the 8-year (I think that was the amount of time it was supposed to be) time skip, we get another two-year time skip at the end. And that one made no sense. Suddenly he's going away to "realize his dream". Throughout the first part of the show, I really got the feeling that he NEVER wanted to leave Jeju.
-The ML's father's story line. It was immature and went on too long. If he was that troubled by Samdal-Ri's family, I'd think he would have moved away or something.

If you are still reading, I'd say give it a try, you might love it. I'm definitely in the minority.

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Watching this I thought I was frozen in time

For me, this was so slow. I felt like I'd been watching it forever, imagine my surprise when I was only on episode 5! I stuck it out, hoping it would improve, again, I'm only speaking for myself, it didn't.

There were a couple of positives:
1) Chae Jong Hyeop. He had the great ability to go from nerdy to "spy" in a moment. He did a lot of switching back and forth. One minute he's someone that has no drive, just wants money, then the next he is standing up for the underdog.
2) I loved Im Chul Soo's scene in the last episode when the police asked him what other jobs he's had, and he referenced his characters from other dramas. That was so funny!

Otherwise, too many bad guys, a wasted and useless romance (romance is my favorite genre, but don't try to fit it in where it doesn't belong), lots of repetition, and I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending.

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Hmmmm....

Granted I watched this years ago, when I was first getting into K-dramas. At that time, I only knew who Park Seo Joon was, and I watched it for him. I struggled with this one because it didn't seem to know what it wanted to be, it slipped from slapstick comedy to melodrama in the blink of an eye. Which wouldn't be too bad, but it was back and forth between the two for most of the show.

I loved the bromance aspect of it. I didn't buy the romance much.

Since I seem to be in the minority, if you haven't watched it, and are considering it, give it a go. There's certainly enough eye candy to keep a person happy!

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That’s time I’m never getting back

The story was soooooo slow! There was so much unnecessary stuff in this drama, my fast forward button really got a workout.

I really didn’t like the FL. Always trying to be “cute”, stalking the ML, and do not even get me started on how irritating her voice was! Why do they tend to use female voices that are so high pitched and irritating? It was like she was talking baby talk through the whole thing.

I’ve seen the ML in other things, and he always plays the same type of character.

So, for me, this was one I’m sorry I wasted my time on.

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This was cute, but uneven in my ability to enjoy it

The first half of this show had me on the irritated side. 1) Everyone saying, "Eh?" all the time. I know it's a Japanese thing, but it was so prevalent here I felt like I needed to turn it into a drinking game. 2) SFL - she was a mean human being with no redeeming features. I was seriously disappointed in the lack of repercussions for the terrible things that she did. I understand that the writers wanted to wrap this drama up in a cute, happy ending bow, but this character was just too mean. 3) ML going around asking everyone, "Are you captivated?" 4) At the beginning, even the FL was working my last nerve. The bowing, the lowered eyes, the apologizing for everything. Again, I realize it's part of the Japanese culture, but there's a point where it gets to be too much. 5) the FL's extreme reaction to the scar on her face. I get it, it's teenage land, where hormones run amok, and all emotions are way over the top. The scar wasn't bad enough to warrant that much angst.

I persevered, however, and I liked the last half so much more than the first.

1) The FL grew through her experiences. Strong theme of the importance of loving yourself.
2) The supportiveness of friends, and people apologizing to those they have hurt in the past. (Still not enough to forgive the SFL, however. Maybe a lot of scenes were cut that would have made her change of heart forgivable?)
3) Her parents were lovely. I loved the scenes after the ML and FL were caught in front of her house in the middle of a school day.
4) I'm still not sure, in my heart, who I think the FL should have ended up with, but I loved how both of them wanted what was going to make her happy. I also loved how they grew to respect and like each other.
5) I absolutely loved the parts of episode 7 where the ML was trying to come to terms with his feelings and had no clue how to express them! I rewatched that, multiple times.

For the most part, the show is fluffy and enjoyable to watch, I was just hoping for a little more.

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A drama I didn't know I needed

I don't watch shows until they are completely available to watch. I've been burned too many times by sad/terrible/rushed endings. I skulked around daily under the comments for this show, reading everyone wax eloquent about how wonderful it was. That's normally the kiss of death for me. If everyone thinks it's the best thing in the world, I'm usually meh about it. Then, add to that my aversion to time travel movies (they always raise more questions than answers for me) and that this sounded exactly like Back to the Future, I wasn't holding out much hope. My hand is raised here, I admit it, I was wrong.

I won't reiterate the storyline, but I will say this didn't reach out to me as a romance so much as a family/friend-fest. I didn't even feel that the focus was so much on the school aspect of it, but the kids themselves, which I loved. This show had so much heart. I laughed a lot, I cried quite a bit, and I vacillated back and forth between "hurry up and show me what's going to happen next" and "slow down, because I really want to savor this." The story was great, but the characters themselves, and the actors portraying them, were what kept me coming back for more. I really liked the direction they took with two people going to the past, one to save a life and one to end a life.

Ryeoun as Ha Eun Gyeol. This was a teenager that was old for his years, by necessity, as he was the mouthpiece for the whole family. That's a lot of responsibility to have from a very young age. Ryeoun was excellent, and I felt his wonder at meeting his younger father and finding him completely different than he imagined. Most of the scenes that made me cry involved Eun Gyeol. He was trying so hard to make things right, time after time. I could feel his desperation, as well as his sense of being unsuccessful. This story arc spoke a lot to destiny - are certain things that happen in our lives fixed? If you change something in one direction, does the river of destiny re-route itself to make it happen anyway?

Choi Hyun Wook as Ha Yi Chan had the gangly puppy/bouncy behavior going for him, moving from one thing to another quickly. If you are going, you run, if you are talking, you yell, if you don't know how to react to someone, you put them in a headlock. He was very immature, which was a perfect foil for Eun Gyeol, who had to switch places and become the father in the past. I did struggle with the length of time that he liked Sy Keong, so when he switched to Cheon Ah, it was kind of sudden and didn't necessarily flow well.

Seol In Ah as Choi Sy Kyeong/On Eun Yu. I had difficulty with this character. First, her voice is so distinctive, I kept flashing A Business Proposal when she talked. Other than that, my difficulties were more character related. Eun Yu was a totally repressed young woman, being driven by her mother's wishes. I don't feel that she would have been able to have the personality change that she did in the past. And, to me, there was something not always very nice about her, like she thought she was better than everyone else. And we didn't get to see any difficulties with her adapting to the past.

Shin Eun Soo as Yoon Cheon Ah. She was the standout for me. Eyes wide with sadness, living in silence, being betrayed by those that were supposed to take care of her, the character of Cheon Ah had a strength about her. I was so glad they didn't make her a doormat. It is really hard to act without using your voice, and Eun Soo was wonderful.

Go Doo Shim as Lee Chan's grandmother - she was terrific. She surrounded herself with students, cared for everyone and kept everyone fed. I love how she didn't baby Lee Chan, but was raising him to be a responsible adult, supporting him in every way she could.

The band mates were fun to watch, full of pen-up energy, running here and there. It was like they were all amped on caffeine, then I remember that's what it was like as a teenager. The Master was mysterious and brought levity to a lot of the scenes. I loved when he'd throw random English words in. Cheong Ah's step-mother - don't even get me started.

The soundtrack was very good and, of course, went along with the theme of the show.

BONUS - the lengthy BTS reference was a hoot!

Small nit-picky things:
I would have liked to have seen Yi Chan and Cheon Ah together for a longer period of time in the past, and watch their relationship develop.
So much bullying by so many people. And what about Yeom Byung Ho and his mother? They made a big deal about them and then they disappeared.
All the past band members, in 2023, thought Eun Gyeol "looked familiar". Did everyone get amnesia or something?
It was very vague as to whether his father remember him from the past as well.

Bottom line? Watch it!

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