I had heard about "Crash Landing on You" because its gained quite a large following! It's arguably become one of the most popular K-Drama series I've ever heard of. So since I just had finished "It's Okay Not To Be Okay", I figured why not pick up another K-drama to watch? Though I didn't like this one nearly as much as IONTBO, it had some really solid stuff in it and my mom loved it. So that's a plus!

The premise of South Korean and North Korean star crossed lovers really interested me. Since that's a very real issue and could potentially discuss many important things surrounding that divide. Which they did in various ways! Which were my favorite parts of the show. The romance plays a primary part of course, but that other added stuff was the gold to me. It was so interesting how North Korea was represented in this show. You definitely don't see it in a necessarily good light, with so much poverty and neglect for its citizens. As well as downright mistreatment in the judicial system and lack of medical resources. It's so much fake happiness and control. However, it made me so happy to see the people portrayed as kind. They aren't bad people, just many of them are stuck over there for various circumstances and its an extremely complicated situation that isn't black and white. There's good and bad on both sides, what's really the problem in N.Korea is how its ran by dictatorship rather than freely.

The characters were (for the most part) really well done and portrayed. I loved that Seri was not just a damsel in distress. She's a business woman with no nonsense. Who worked her way up and had struggles on her own. She's given a personality and isn't reliant on the relationship to define her character. Jung Hyuk was well done, after awhile of watching I was like "okay show, don't beat up this man too much please! It's making my heart hurt. Dude plays the piano and is actually a literal sweetheart. So leave him alone!" The side characters who became a side couple Dan and Seung Jun (or Alberto lol) were actually pretty solid. I felt for each of them and sympathized. So when Seung Jun dies, I felt terrible! I understand why he did and I'm glad to an extent that Dan is finding her own independence. It just was unexpected that he would out of everyone. All of the soldiers in Jung Hyuk's group were likable in their own ways. My faves were Eun Dong (precious child) and Ju Muk (his love for dramas made my heart sing!) Getting attached to them made the ending that much harder to watch.

So the romance is nice in this, even if it was a little too fantastical for my taste. Meaning endearing looks and peck kisses don't scream "believability" to me lol. So I kinda started to get annoyed with the trope of dramatic pauses in this especially concerning those characters interactions. They were sooooo slow at delivery sometimes and I'm not blaming the actors at all because its the direction. But holy crap! Such a solid cast of actors though seriously. The entire plot of Jung Hyuk's brother getting murdered was devastating, but amazing to watch. The Man Bok's (the rat) storyline could've been its own story. Eventually though I was like thank god were out of the North by episode 10! Because I was getting sick of those sets. Seeing the boys from the North interact in the South was so funny and entertaining. I kinda wanted more of it! Also Jung Hyuks just doing a bunch of good deeds around Seoul was so wholesome.

Now we'll get to the stuff leading up to the ending and the ending itself. People were doing a lot of dumb s*** towards the end. Like going places alone and driving in front of bullets rather than into the shooter himself which I still don't understand! Either way we lead up to the ending. I predicted it pretty early on. I had a feeling the soldiers would have to return North. It was ironic that there's writing at the border that states "peace" while the North is literally ripping people apart from their loved ones. And in handcuffs no less! It was devastating and I sobbed. I didn't want to see them go back because at that point I would die for any of those boys! I wanted them to have better lives and be happy. That didn't happen and it was disappointing. Jung Hyuk and Seri get a bittersweet ending where they see each other 2 weeks every year, which is kinda crappy but its something. He still had to serve under the North though which was like, eww. After all of that. I just wish they weren't stuck there by the end. The conclusion with the moms talking about ending the arranged marriage was beautiful. I really loved that. The ending was meh in some areas, but really solid in Dan's storyline of independence. So idk.

Finally, I wanna say the filming locations in Switzerland were GORGEOUS. It made me want to visit there so bad! Overall, I don't think "Crash Landing on You" necessarily deserves the overmassed hype it got. However, I think its an important series! If I were to rewatch it I'd watch it for only certain scenes and storylines. It was still an enjoyable experience overall and I hope someday there truly is peace between the South and North. In a way that saves all the people and sets them free <3