Preamble: Rarely do I say this, but this was one of the titles whereby the acting and music surpassed all else. This is what made this a heartbreaking piece and the main reason I had to put off writing the review for about 6 months. I wanted to personally fire the screenwriter. Since I knew this was a highly-rated show, I wanted to give it a chance. The first 10 or so episodes were captivating enough to make me believe this would end up a good show. I mainly use C-dramas as background noise. There are only a handful of TV dramas I actually sit down and watch, I simply cannot believe I thought this would be one of them. What a waste of my time! After episode 35+ or 40+ (I don't remember precisely when the director decided to take a permanent holiday), I skipped past everything to save time. My time is more valuable to me than anything else.

Storyline: The story starts off good and with decent pacing, however, midway through the show, there is a major turn of events. The characters' intelligent dispositions get thrown out the window. Towards the end of the story, the audience wonders, what is the difference between having an IQ of 80 versus 150, if they are going to end up doing the same type of stupid shit? Why build smart characters and spend several hours telling me that if they are going to (collectively, might I add) make dumb choices at the end?

Cast: A lot of recent dramas have the worst D-grade acting one could only hope never makes it onto the screen. It's a miracle this was not one of those. I am both glad and dismayed that they picked such an amazing cast for this show. Since the show went downhill so quickly, had it been a terrible cast, I might have thrown my laptop against the wall. The only way I could have even stomached the last 10 episodes (even with the skipping), is because the actors did a great job. At the same time, the actors worked too hard and did too well, they did not deserve to be thrown into a ditch. The director and screenwriter did them a great injustice.

Music: The scores for this show is the other reason I put off reviewing this title for so long. I do quite like the OST, though not all of them. I knew I would bash this show given the chance; for the sake of the music and for the sake of the actors, I had to wait.

Conclusion: Kill the screenwriter, then the director, hang their bodies somewhere public to scare the other screenwriters and directors into making better shows. Fire all the other terrible actors, use this cast for all the other shows.