I think the concept of this series was really unique and hard to forget, the cast was amazing and the music was alright (nothing amazing.) The idea of a giant statue head is really unsettling (in a good way), and the conflict between the main lead, monks and the governor was a cool plot, but the drama fell a bit flat on the character side of things. I was really intrigued by the relationship between Yongju and Dokyung as well as his mother, and really only that part of the drama made me want to watch + continue watching it. I think this drama could’ve been much better if it was focused more around their stories as the main plot progressed. This is just my opinion, but the side characters were more likeable than the mains.

Potential spoilers below ? ‼️

I really enjoyed watching Yongju and Dokyung’s dynamic, and as we saw each of the flashbacks the story was slowly unraveling, but their story then abruptly stopped? I was so disappointed in the ending because it was so open, it felt like it had so many holes in it. Is Yongju alive? What happened to him? Where is Dokyung? How is he doing now? How is his relationship with his mother? Did he and Yongju make up afterwards?

Of course, open endings can be good if done properly, but this was not. It left me with too many questions, and an unsavoury taste in my mouth. I felt like the ending scenes with the main lead and his wife (I forgot their names lol) dragged on for far too long and then they just timeskipped a year? To then give us a stupid cliffhanger? I didn’t give 2 shits about them finding another statue or whatever, I just wanted to see how all the characters were healing from those traumatic events.. Like at least 60 people were killed in the town, and yet, the main leads a year later just continue as if nothing happened?… ? ridiculous.