I ended up really enjoying this drama. It was romantic, very emotional, and had powerful things to say about family and social status and the idea of 'propriety'. There were moments that were just unbelievably tender and felt so real that I almost felt like a voyeur watching real people. I did have some issues with the drama and felt like there were areas where the writing wasn't as good and the pace didn't work for me, but on the whole I can recommend this drama freely to other people with a clear conscience.

First of all, I love our leads. I felt like I was falling in love with both of them as the drama went on, which rarely happens to me. Jung Hae In was astounding as Yoo Ji Ho (a character far more nuanced and complex than his role in Something in the Rain) -- he portrayed all the many sides of the character so well. Obviously he was practically born to play puppy-dog sweetness, but he was also so good in the more bold and fierce moments and the vulnerable ones. I felt like there was a depth and softness to him that a lot of male leads never get. I also loved Han Ji Min as Lee Jung In, even though it took some time to get used to her. She also felt like a real person: bold but not reckless, blunt but not rude, prickly but still warm. I would say that initially I felt a bit disconnected from her character, but by the end of the drama I was completely on board. She says she doesn't like adventure, but she's brave and confidant by the end of the drama. I also really enjoyed their relationship. They communicate A LOT and spend a fair amount of time trying to get on the same page with each other, which I enjoyed. It does take some getting used to (a more naturalistic and nuanced portrayal of a relationship), because it's so rare in dramas to see this that it can feel clunky for the viewer. I also felt like they had a very domestic and comfortable chemistry, so I wouldn't describe this drama as 'sexy', but it definitely made you feel very alone watching it as a single person! They are crackling onscreen, but not in the same sultry and sexually charged way as in dramas like Something in the Rain or Before We Get Married.

I was surprised by how much this drama focuses on social issues. Misogyny, family hierarchy, marriage, domestic violence, divorce, single parenthood, wealth -- these things were all front and centre in the drama, to a degree that I wasn't really expecting. Where I'm from single parenthood and divorce aren't really taboo at all. Getting divorced won't really 'harm your image' and being a single parent doesn't make you some king of social pariah. I didn't really understand what the big deal was until we were halfway through the drama and I realized that these things (at least according to One Spring Night) are still shameful. While that made the drama heavier than I thought it would be (the guilt Ji Ho feels for having 'saddled' Jung In with his shameful reputation as a single dad, the dilemma Jung In's sister faces between her career and getting divorced, the pressure Jung In's family has for her to marry the man she's in a loveless relationship with), but it also made for a very impactful and emotional story. Watching Ji Ho and Jung In face very real obstacles like their parents' disapproval was painful, but it only made their love feel more miraculous and powerful.

Here are the things I didn't like: I found the start of their relationship really uncomfortable. I felt like it took WAY too long for Jung In to really firmly break things off with her boyfriend, and the sneaking around and secret friendship made me very anxious. I know this is par for the course, but their dishonesty both with each other and the other people in their lives was a murky place to begin a relationship and got in the way of me feeling any chemistry between them. I also felt like their actual dialogue in many of those scenes was disjointed and clunky, and the character motivations felt off. After they actual got together and Jung In's more firmly broke up with her boyfriend I felt like his scheming stuck around for way too long. I felt like there were a lot of repetitive scenes in that storyline (I know that to a degree that was the point, but I also felt like there was a point where it just got ridiculous. What! You're meeting him again?? To tell him that you're sorry you broke his heart? Didn't this already happen like FIVE times?). There were definitely some skippable moments.

On the whole, this drama is solid. There is such a powerful central love story here, even if it got off to a rocky start. It's also a very heavy drama, with a lot to say about many social issues. It's a tender and painful depiction of love and families, and finding the balance between our duty to ourselves and our duty to others. A solid 7.5/10