The show is heavily, who am I kidding, MASSIVELY driven by the story. It's actors are good and surve the purpose, the characters are there and exist yada yada yada. But without the geniusly written story and complex development it experiences this show would not work.

That said, I personally am someone that needs strong characters, character development and good acting. Was it missing here? Not at all. The actors were all so good, that they delivered the story elements perfectly and every character had a very deep and complex story him-/herself. So why did I give this show not a 10/10 or something close to that but instead "only" a 8,5? That's because they kind of wasted their potential here a bit in terms of even further, deeper and overall better character development. They only scratched the surface on what could have been the right path to a masterpiece. All of the set up there is for Shi Mok and also his relationship with Yeo Jin just blatantly gets thrown out of the window for story purposes. I'm glad I watched this show when I already knew, that there will be a second season. Because this makes me hope, that all this set up wasn't for nothing and they actually focus on it more in season 2. I strongly believe that at least the two main characters will actually experience this severe development I strive for, because Shi-Mok showed signs of his development he made in the last scene of season 1. His smile told me, that in his 10 months he has been doing SOMETHING to express some emotions, sort out his thoughts and stuff like that. I just hope, that the showrunners will not ignore the huge potential the relationship between Shi Mok and Yeo Jin has in season 2 once again. Even though the story will probably be genius again and I will fully enjoy myself because of that, I will most likely not forgive the writers and directors for not making this small step to complete the masterpiece Stranger should be.

More in-depth review: https://youtu.be/p3OXEj-RdyY