I've been wanting to write this review since the finale but wanted to take some time to see if my thoughts about it would change - they didn't. This doesn't deserve anything less than a 8 in rating & the only reason why I gave it a 7 for rewatch value is because I don't think I would be able to watch all 16 episodes again, at least any time soon.

Looking at the poster & romance tag may disappoint viewers as the romance is more of a subplot & subtle. Because of the hostage situation that the leads find themselves in, it wouldn't really make sense for them to be all lovey dovey. Their love is the love at first sight kind & one that is expressed through lingering looks. (&, boy, do Haein & Jisoo do an amazing job acting with their eyes.) Given his status & circumstances, Sooho tries his best to protect Youngro, at times acting as if he doesn't care about her. So, while I would've loved to see more lighthearted sweet moments between them, their actions speak louder than words - they literally are willing to sacrifice their lives for each other.

While the political part of it can be confusing at first if you're not really paying attention, this story is a dark comedy more about the decisions that characters make. Even if you hate a certain character and hate/don't agree with their actions, I think the writing does a good job in setting up the characters so you aren't really surprised by their actions. What I mean to say by that is that characters aren't acting out of normal of how they've been written. While you may not be able to guess what they're going to do or say, when it happens you have that feeling of "yeah, they so would do/say that."

To speak more about characters, this was Sooho's story & everyone else was along for the ride (I don't mean that as a bad thing.) I loved seeing Sooho's journey as he questioned his beliefs to the moment he realized he couldn't follow them. As for Youngro, I personally liked that she wasn't completely jaded by everything & stayed kind at heart. (Some may complain that she cries too much but her reactions are perfectly warranted with everything that she's gone through. Also, she has her moments of bravery when she tries sacrificing herself for the hostages more than once. Keep in mind she's only a young woman in her 20s .) Moving on to Boonok, she was a menace whose actions can't be justified because of her sufferings, especially when you had other character who suffered just as much or more yet didn't resort to being horrible. She was an infuriating good antagonist though. I thought that the headmistress & doctor kang were the most interesting characters.

This drama isn't without its flaws but the few things I could criticize about it weren't enough, or strong, to stop me from completely enjoying this. (Even the end that had me in a slump for months was fitting because of the way this story and character was developed.) Every episode was full of tension & felt like watching a movie. (But, if you don't like character driven stories & stories that take place in mostly one setting, then you may not like this.) The acting was all around great & the actors make you feel invested in their characters. (I think this is Haein's best role/performance so far. Jisoo showed great potential with her acting debut. Kim Hye Yoon & Yoon Se Ah were amazing .Yoo In Na was a show stealer, etc.) The cinematography was beautiful & the ost is one of the bes & one of my favorites now. Snowdrop is a drama that broke my heart yet I'm thankful to have watched, especially as it aired.