Another drama finished!
Bad Guy 16-17! the end. Argh, Mo-no pulls the trigger, and has no idea what she does. The show was engrossing until the end, but it's a shame it didn't have a happy end.
While Gun-wook can be satisfied that his revenge plot would have gone perfectly well, the final twist put a huge damper on his victory. The fact that the mother switched him and Tae-seong because she couldn't stand the real Tae-seong living with her was an unpredictable plot device. Gun-wook had flashbacks of the mother trying to choke him as a child, so when she said the real son had died, it didn't make sense that she had tried to kill him and then later simply kicked him out.
I didn't enjoy the female characters too much in this drama (with the exception of Jae-in's little sister). They were way too easily manipulated by Gun-wook. They didn't think or say anything intelligently. Tae-ra while probably the logical choice for CEO turned out to be an arrogant, deluded woman at the end; trying to lie to Jae-in and still trying to get it on with her brother...ew. Jae-in while almost the heroine, was completely dense towards Tae-seong and at times, Gun-wook throughout the series. The writers didn't give her any well-rounded, nice qualities. Mo-ne turned out to be more delusional than Tae-ra. She comes back from the US and without getting any facts straight, shoots Gun-wook AND doesn't even realize what she had done even when there's a giant red gaping hole in his abdomen.
The mother, Mrs. Shin, turns out to be a great villian. She instigates murder. She shuns the lower class. Her shrieks are utterly annoying. And she gets away with everything and will probably not change. Ok, she did get sentenced, but gets out of jail fairly quickly. Both Gun-wook and Tae-seong are out of her life, and I suppose her influence will be spread among her remaining children..joy.
The only reason to watch the drama would be the boyz. Gun-wook's revenge was entertaining. I suppose he planned the accident in episode 16. I didn't buy the crazy act, but I thought he was seriously injured. Maybe his training as a stuntman helped in that situation. I did enjoy how he pushed Mrs Shin over the edge. While he did say several times throughout the show that he was prepared to take the consequences of his actions, it is a shame how it ended.
Tae-seong got the short end of the stick. The writers should have given him 2 seconds at the end; showing him partying in Hawaii or something. It was good to see his character grow from a brat to good son to tragic orphan. I suppose being detached from the family is fortunate for him.
Overall, ~8/10 rating~ for this drama. Gun-wook's manipulation of the family was highly entertaining even if was unintentional humor. I also think the servant and maid's roles were interesting even if their inaction caused ALOT of the consequences. I would also recommend this if you don't mind watching women being dumb.
I do wish that kdramas were written and shot before they are aired. There's something to be said for a story without plotholes and a feeling of randomness. Those gifts at the end of the episode were confusing, too. I suppose the writers threw that in there so the audience would hope that you'd think he was still alive? It's more that his accomplice sent those when as a final will gift..whatever.