I thought a lot about why people hate this show so much. Of course bad shows and scripts exist, but the key difference is that they’re not “trying” to be this niche, grey/noir show about corporate finance. The problem here is that a very stupid writer thinks the audience is dumb as well. So, he never bothered to research any finance or business terms, and wrote random nonsense.
The story is set in a magical monopoly of a company called Kangho that does… everything? They seem primarily like venture capitalists, but no one explains anything in this show, except for going on and on about how much insane social and market power their magical business has.
Taeho the ML especially ends up being an awful character since he’s meant to be the “smart one”. Some of his actions include: repeatedly going after his best friend’s wife, not knowing how embezzlement works, establishing a magical paper company that gives him all the power. Pure BS.
Inha is turned from this flawed/not as smart friend to an unexplained psychopath. In the end they don’t tell us the reason why he did the dumbest thing, because they never even bothered to create a reason throughout the show!
Hye won… I hated her character honestly. Completely apart from the actress, she’s written as someone who lacks all brain cells (and emotions?) Couldn’t she just be the politicians aide, since that’s how she ended up anyway, and not marry a man she doesn’t love? (She got the job on her own!). Weird cheater/gold digger cliche who says and does things that make zero sense. I don’t understand why the character’s a part of the show honestly.
I do feel happy for Huiju and second brother, they’re the only ones with a character arc. Brother learns that power and being at the top isn’t everything, and Huiju will live her own life freely after dodging the arranged marriage nonsense.
The acting was excellent from LJW and Jun, them sharing a screen brings me joy. I won’t say anything about FL, she’s getting enough (correct) criticism as it is. But, all in all, this show is a cautionary tale of what happens when a writer is overly pretentious and thinks the viewers are illiterate. I hope he will either retire or pick up finance for dummies before trying this again.