I knew going in that she was a single mother who doesn't get a lot of respect (South Korea's got some issues definitely as far as that goes; just look at the real world news) but is doing her best. And that a cop falls immediately in love with her when he sees her and he's kinda goofy.
Which is true. The cop is played by Kang Ha-Neul as Hwang Yong-Sik and he is indeed immediately smitten by her as soon as he sees her. He's a bit of a Don Quixote type; tilting at windmills, with an over-developed sense of justice (which is why he's a cop) but an innocent air.
BUT I also knew going in that there was some type of serial murder thing going on in the background. Hence why he's a cop. BUT I didn't know that they were going to tease that it's Dongbaek that's the (or a) victim -- they show a flash forward into the future where a corpse wearing her bracelet is pulled from some swampy land and Yong-Sik being terribly upset. So I'm a little confused because the rest of the show does NOT feel like it's a tragedy, so it's hard to imagine that they're actually going to kill the main female lead. Honestly, I kinda hate flash forwards. Just tell me the story and allow it to carry everything instead of teasing some big thing that you then have to build towards. So, eh. I dunno. If I had to guess after the first episode who the dead body is, I'd say it's Dongbaek's employee Hyang-mi, who they've already outed as a kleptomaniac who only steals small things (like lighters...but a bracelet is also small)...why make such a big point of that small character detail unless it was actually important?
There's also a guy in the city played by Kim Ji-Suk (I saw him in the few episodes I watched of 20th Century Boy and Girl) who is a "nice guy" (maybe) married to some absolute wretched skinny starlet-type Instagram influencer beyotch but they don't even live together, though they have a baby (that the wife won't even touch). I imagine he is the dad to Dongbaek's kiddo (who is 7? But seems older...more like 9 maybe...but she's been in Ongsan for 6 years and he was a wee baby when they moved there) as why else introduce him?
Other than that, there's an assortment of people who live in Ongsan (like Kim Sun-Young who always plays someone bizarre and kinda funny mostly, so another reason I don't see how this will play as a tragedy) who aren't always kind to Dongbaek, even though she's lived there now for 6 years. One is her sleazy landlord (Mr. No) who has political aspirations and is always flirting with her, even though she won't give him the time of day OR any free peanuts...but his wife, a lawyer, suspects that she is the "other woman" because he's always calling her and hanging out at her bar (to be fair, I imagine the wife is correct in that there's bound to be another woman with that horrid man, but it's not Dongbaek).
So...I'd say I liked it so far other than the flash forward thing. Yong-Sik is obviously going to be adorable and one of those unconditionally in love types.
But...I also just looked up how many episodes this sucker will have and F-me...it's gonna have 40. Or maybe 32? or 18? Crap. They are 60 minutes each. And only 10 are out so far. And there's some confusion over whether it's gonna be one of those things Netflix breaks into two seasons or what. One thing shows Netflix having just 18 episodes, with the last scheduled to air mid-November. Maybe the South Korean thing is 32 episodes of 30 minutes each? But then 18 isn't half of 32. So totally confused.
WHY DID I DO THIS?? Maybe I won't watch any more for a while. I would have started the Tale of Nok-du if darn Viki had been working.
Edit: Okay, it's February now and the show has finished and I slightly spoilered myself by seeing a clip that obviously shows them together at the end of the show (but happy I did), so I'm picking this one back up again. I've about to start episode 4 now and I have to say I really love this one so far. I just adore Yong-Sik. I need a Yong-Sik. I can see that there's gonna be a lot of angst coming up, but I am so here for Yong-Sik. Kong Hyo-Jin is also still good, but she generally always is.
Edit: Okey dokey! It's just now March and I finally finished this one. I watched it while doing my exercise time (and a bit on the train). It wound up at 20 episodes. It did drag a bit...and was slow-paced in general. Honestly, the story probably could have been told in a movie length bite. That said, I did enjoy it. As I suspected after the first episode, Hyang-mi was indeed the latest murder victim. Actually, pretty much everything I thought would happen after the first episode...yeah, it happened. So I suppose you could say it was predictable. There weren't any surprises at all. Everyone was pretty much who I thought they would be, character-wise. The fact that it worked is all down to the cast, especially Kang Ha-Neul as Yong-Sik. For me, he's the one that carried it and made it worth watching. He's just a joy. I hadn't seen him in anything before, but I'll be on the lookout for him now.
Kong Hyo-Jin, in contrast, was a little bit of a disappointment compared to other things I've seen her in, but it wasn't her fault. The character Dongbaek had moments, but she also spent a great deal of time being a dishrag. It would be one step forward and then two steps back. She's a very good-hearted character but also frustrating and weepy. So it wasn't my favourite part she's ever played.
Was it worth watching? Yes. I can't say it was super satisfying, in retrospect, but it also may have been a timing thing...a big part of the latter half was the storyline about the mother dying of kidney failure. That ended happy, but it's also coincidentally right now where in my life mom is going into hospice and we're basically on death watch. So it was a bit hard to get through those bits. Timing. Did that colour my viewing? I imagine it did. But I did overall like it a lot. I need a Yong-Sik. He's pretty much one of the nicest K-drama dudes I have ever had the pleasure to watch.
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