Review: Red Swan – The Fangirl Verdict

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show is objectively not amazing, but it has a few things going for it:

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1. Rain is quite pitch perfect, as our story’s stoic, fearless bodyguard with a backstory;

2. The overall story actually becomes more interesting in Show’s second half; and

3. We get some pretty good performances by some of our supporting cast.

On the downside, the writing is not great, and the OTP chemistry is uneven, and, in my opinion, doesn’t really live up to the promises made by Show’s promo materials.

That said, lens adjustments are critical, and might even help you enjoy this one.

THE LONG VERDICT:

To be fair to Show, there are folks who sincerely love and enjoy it, but I think it’s best that I confess upfront, that I am decidedly not one of them. 😅

I finished this show for Rain, essentially.

I just liked seeing him as a smoldering bodyguard 🔥, better yet if he’s incandescent and bathed in candlelight, while doing his badass bodyguard thing. 😁

That, and a morbid curiosity in terms of exactly where this story was going to go. Enquiring minds kinda wanted to know. Or at least, my enquiring mind wanted to know. 😉

And now that I’ve emerged from the other side, I’m actually kind of surprised to say that I liked the ending more than I’d thought I would.

What an unexpected surprise, yes? 😁

OST TRACK: WE ARE

I generally didn’t notice the OST all that much, while watching, but this first track on the OST album did stand out to me more than the others, as the OST’s title track.

To my ears, it does embody the “beautiful angst” vibe that I felt that Show was going for, overall.

If you’d like to listen to it on repeat while reading the review, just right-click on the video and select “Loop.”

HOW I’M APPROACHING THIS REVIEW

First I’ll talk about how to manage your expectations going into this one, and what viewing lens would be most helpful.

After that, I give an overview of what I thought of the story itself, before talking about selected characters and relationships. Finally, I also spend some time talking about my thoughts on the finale episodes.

If you’re interested in my blow-by-blow reactions, &/or all the various Patreon members’ comments during the course of our watch, you might like to check out my episode notes on Patreon here.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS / THE VIEWING LENS

Here are a few things that I think would be helpful to keep in mind, to maximize your enjoyment of your watch:

1. Set your logic lens to a blurry setting

..Or better yet, put aside your logic lens completely, because things in our story world don’t tend to hold up too well, when scrutinized too closely – or when scrutinized at all. 😁

2. A slow makjang lens is helpful

What I mean is, I do think that Show is a blithe B-grade makjang at heart, but it doesn’t actually lean into its true nature, until its later episodes.

Pacing your expectations, and having your makjang lens ready, would be helpful, I think.

3. This isn’t truly romance-forward

Maybe this is true of most CEO-bodyguard lovelines (I haven’t watched enough of them to have formed an idea of their norms), but I thought it would be helpful to mention upfront, that the OTP loveline is ultimately more of a secondary arc, despite Show’s OTP-centric promo materials.

We do get a good amount of OTP moments, however, so there’s that?

4. Your mood is quite critical

I personally found that I needed to be in the right mood, in order to watch this show.

When I was in the wrong mood, I found myself feeling very underwhelmed, but in the right mood, the exact same scenes tended to land much better.

So if you find yourself not enjoying your watch, maybe put this on hold, and then try again another time – if you feel like it. 😁

THOUGHTS ON THE STORY & THE STORYTELLING

Here are a handful of broad observations, about the show in general:

1. Our story world has a rather cheap, B-grade flavor to it

Although Show does appear to have a decent budget, given the fact that there are overseas shoots involved, I can’t help but feel like this one has a decided lower budget sort of feel to it.

Part of the reason is likely the very terrible English dialogue, which is served up quite regularly in the opening episodes, in Show’s focused attempt to establish that our characters are very high-flying, internationally savvy folks who rub shoulders with high society across borders.

I cringed a fair bit at these points, even though I’ve had to endure pretty bad English in quite a few dramas, by now. I cringed extra, when the prince dude shows up, and his line is, “I’m here to make a contribution.” 😂

I do sympathize that it must be challenging to write lines of dialogue in a language that isn’t your mother tongue, but.. I couldn’t help cringing anyway. Sorry? 😅

To be fair, the Mandarin spoken by our characters, is also pretty terrible. But that’s not unusual, for a drama that’s mostly in Korean, so I’m not holding it against Show too much.

[SPOILER ALERT]

On a somewhat related (international) tangent, I have to say, I’m not sure how I feel about the show using ISIS threats as a plot point.

I think I would have preferred a fictional group to have been used instead; I think that would perhaps have worked better, since I’m sure the mention of ISIS could touch some raw nerves for folks watching.

[END SPOILER]

2. Show prioritizes plot goals over logic, always

I found this to be especially true in the light of the OTP loveline.

I noticed that Show often stretched logic, in order to push this loveline forward. Here are some examples from our opening episodes.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. It doesn’t make sense to me that Wan Soo is so flagrantly nonchalant about security, when she’s just been on the receiving end of death threats by a known terror organization.

I know it’s so that she’ll run into trouble, and therefore need protection, thus creating a reason for her to connect with Do Yoon.

In fact, I realize that Show is happy to ignore a logic fail, if it will get Do Yun and Wan Soo into position to share some moments of closeness.

For example, Do Yun’s clearly adept at dressing his own wounds, like we see in the bathroom, where he cleans his wound, and puts on a bandaid on it.

I would have expected that someone like Do Yoon, would have some existing know-how, when it comes to tying a bandage around his own arm, but he fumbles with it, not just once, but twice – and that’s why Wan Soo steps forward to help him, thus creating a moment of close proximity.

I’m mostly here for the sparks between our resident CEO and her bodyguard, so I’m not complaining per se; I’m just amused.

I honestly thought it was really random that Do Yoon would help Wan Soo wipe the blood off her face (coz really, that came out of nowhere), but again, I’m ready to roll with it. 😁

[END SPOILER]

3. Show can be quite funny, sometimes

I honestly would have preferred it if Show had taken itself less seriously, and maybe have the actors hamming it up for the camera in a nudge-nudge, wink-wink sort of way, but that isn’t Show’s chosen approach, to my disappointment.

However, there were actual times when I found Show to be pretty funny, and here are a few examples from episodes 3 & 4.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E3-4. I honestly cackled for a good bit, at the press conference, where Wan Soo makes that announcement, that Tae Ra’s son is, in fact, born of her late father-in-law.

Hahaha!! Omigosh, it’s outrageous, and kind of impossible to prove or disprove, isn’t it, since Chairman Dad is no longer alive?

Chairman Mom’s shocked, flummoxed expression is pretty great, and Tae Ra being promoted to Yong Kook’s mistress stepmom, is one of the best twists, heh.

In a similar-but-different spirit, I also find myself quite amused at Yong Kook’s statement that he’s not incompetent, he’s just irresponsible. 😂

It makes me think of those report cards where teacher write that the kid would do so much better, if he would just apply himself. 🤭

Towards the end of episode 4, we get that press conference, where Chairman Mom shows up wearing the exact same outfit as Wan Soo, and the eventual photos are hysterical, because Chairman Mom looks so awkward and uncomfortable trying to act all chummy and affectionate with Wan Soo, for the camera.

The fact that these awkward photos are splashed all over the news, is very much bonus. 🤭

I honestly thought that would be the highlight to end the week’s episodes, but no, we then get an eyeful of Chairman Mom sparring with all the (I assume) bodyguards, who all let her win – until she gets to Do Yoon.

I got a kick out of watching Do Yoon spar with Chairman Mom, and not let her win, while still looking extremely respectful and proper, while doing it. 🤭

After that, it’s wild how Chairman Mom goes on a long spiel about how nice Do Yoon smells, and how you can tell everything about a person based on how they smell (you gotta wonder what writer-nim was smoking, to come up with that line, eh? 😂).

[END SPOILER]

4. Logic fails are the order of the day

I’ve already made mention of the fact that logic fails are real and plentiful in our story, but I thought I should offer some examples, to demonstrate what I’m talking about.

Here are some, from episodes 5 & 6.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E5-6. So, lots of things count as logic fails.

Like, how Wan Soo doesn’t call for help when her mother goes into cardiac arrest at the hospital, and how no nurse or doctor comes running (because surely the system would alert them to the arrest).

Also, there’s really no reason for Do Yoon to prevent Wan Soo from crying over her mother’s body – except that Show wanted Wan Soo in Do Yoon’s strong, all-embracing arms instead of sprawled over her mother’s body. 🤭

Another one would be how Do Yoon, being so competent and sharp, wouldn’t cotton on to the fact that someone was following them, when he and Wan Soo went off the grid, in order to bring her mother’s ashes to their old home.

Seriously, the way he and Wan Soo stood there and looked around, back and forth, for a good long minute before heading up to the house, felt like they were literally posing for the camera, ha. 😂

[END SPOILER]

5. Our story gets more interesting in its later episodes

I’m surprised to find that I was actually more interested in the story than I’d thought I’d be, when I got to episodes 7 & 8.

Even though I hadn’t neem paying super close attention to the cards that our various characters thought they were holding, I did find it interesting to see them play off each other, while trying to guess who had done what and why.

I count that as a pretty big plus, in Show’s smallish stable of pluses.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E7-8. It’s become very clear that the big mastermind behind most of our happenings, like the various murders, is none other than Lawyer Han, and the reason driving his actions, is that he wants to give Hwain to his son, Yong Min.

I liked having this whole thing gain more layers of meaning, over the course of these episodes.

Like, it was interesting to see Lawyer Han get angry and impatient with Yong Min for taking things into his own hands, and try to exert authority over Yong Min, for not asking permission, when technically, Lawyer Han is an employee and therefore has no authority over Yong Min.

It was also interesting to explore Yong Min’s attitude towards Lawyer Han, because at first, I’d assumed that Yong Min’s arrogance in front of Lawyer Han, was for the reason I just described.

But then, in episode 8, Yong Kook confronts Lawyer Han and bites out that even Yong Min looks down on him, even though it’s obvious to see that Lawyer Han is Yong Min’s father, and that the reason for that, is because Yong Min is ashamed of the fact that he’s Lawyer Han’s son.

Ooh. In the light of this context, Yong Min’s disdainful attitude towards Lawyer Han takes on a whole new layer of pathos, doesn’t it?

I also found it interesting to see how Lawyer Han was looking to shift the entire chessboard in Yong Min’s favor, because he has to convince several layers of people with different stories.

Like, he tells Chairman Mom that the reason they should send Wan Soo and Do Yoon to Busan, is so that they can get evidence of their affair, so that they can make Wan Soo resign, and thus have this news divert attention away from the embezzlement case.

And then he tells Wan Soo that the trip is so that she can have a couple’s photoshoot with Yong Kook, so that they can deflect any negative rumors about their relationship.

And then he creates that whole diversion to make it impossible for Yong Kook to leave as scheduled – and then we see that he’s ordered a hit on Wan Soo, via K1.

I kind of marveled at how Lawyer Han’s got so many layers of different information going on at once, in order to further his plan to get rid of Wan Soo – so that Yong Min could get Now Foundation, in her absence, so that Yong Min would receive the money that Lawyer Han believes will go to Now Foundation, after Chairman Dad’s will is executed.

[END SPOILER]

SPOTLIGHT ON CHARACTERS / RELATIONSHIPS

Rain as Do Yoon

The truth is, I came to this show for the CEO-bodyguard sparks, but stayed for Rain. 😁

Very early in my watch, I decided that I just liked looking at Rain, and I also decided that my favorite thing about Do Yoon, is when he just stops and looks at Wan Soo.

He may or may not say anything; the point is in how he looks, when he looks at her.

Obviously, PD-nim loves him like this too, because whenever we get scenes like this, Do Yoon is beautifully, beautifully lit.

His skin looks so luminous, like it’s bathed in candlelight, and the way the lighting’s done, the light is reflected in his eyes. It’s quite breathtaking, really.

To be very honest, it was roundabout this scene in episode 2, with Do Yoon looking so beautifully lit, that I decided that I was interested enough to want to watch more of this show, after all. 🤭

I would say that I’m pretty pleased with Rain’s delivery of Do Yoon, our stoic and very capable bodyguard.

Do I wish that we could see more nuance in his delivery? Yes, I would; I think that would make Do Yoon even more appealing as a character.

However, I am content with his broody aura, his studied decorum around the “Royal Family,” and the amount of intensity and smolder that he gives off, in general, but in particular, around Wan Soo.

I also do love that we get to see Do Yoon show off some sharp fight skillz over the course of our story. 🤩

Given that Rain’s trained in various martial arts for action roles, like in Ninja Assassin, it’s no surprise that he looks right at home, and pretty excellent, in the sparring scenes.

I honestly perked up, every time Do Yoon had a reason to fight somebody. 🤭

Kim Ha Neul as Wan Soo

I’m sure Kim Ha Neul has her fans, but I have to confess that I found her delivery in the role of Wan Soo rather flat and underwhelming, as a general rule.

I understand that Wan Soo would be guarded as a character, and that that could translate into an impassiveness about her, but.. the sense I got, is more like Kim Ha Neul’s not owning the delivery, and the lack of expression isn’t actually an intentional interpretation of the character.

Rather, I felt like that’s just her being on the flat and uninspired side of things. 😅

To be clear, Wan Soo does show a range of emotion, and there are even some scenes where she cries hysterically.

I just felt that Kim Ha Neul’s delivery lacked a certain something; Wan Soo just never popped for me, as a character.

The OTP

Like I mentioned earlier, I came for the CEO-bodyguard sparks, but quite quickly ended up putting aside focus in favor of Rain himself.

Partly because I found Kim Ha Neul’s delivery on the flat side of things, and partly because the writing just wasn’t very strong at teasing out the connection between Do Yoon and Wan Soo in an organic and believable fashion, the OTP connection ended up being pretty uneven for me personally.

Mainly, you could say that I was happy to just roll with it, on the strength of Rain’s smolder, but was definitely hampered by the ungainly writing.

Mostly, I’m referring to the sudden ramping up of concern on both sides, for the other person, as well as a sudden strengthening of their feelings for each other.

I was low-key amused by the jerky connection of the dots in their relationship, but let’s just say it was.. hard to buy. 😅

I found it easier to roll with randomly inserted moments of smolder and care between Do Yoon and Wan Soo, but I did feel like the writing failed at some pretty key points.

Here are those key points – as well as my eventual conclusion, about this OTP connection.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E5-6. Show’s ramping up the bond between Wan Soo and Do Yoon, and as long as I don’t demand things like an organic build-up, I suppose I’m content to smirk at the OTP-esque beats that Show serves up.

Like the way DoYoon wrist-grabs Wan Soo when she goes to see him in his room after he’s been punched by Yong Kook, and then, the first thing he says to her, all smoldery and intent, is, “Will you be my woman?”

Hahaha, I actually giggled at this point, because it really feels like this randomly came out of nowhere. 🤭

And then, I blinked in surprise, because I couldn’t figure out whether the scene itself was meant to be romantic or not.

It felt like Show was trying to make it romantic, but it didn’t feel romantic to me, y’know?

The whole thing about Wan Soo asking him in return, whether he’d be willing to be her man instead, feels weirdly defiant, and then the way she tells him to become someone whom she can trust, feels like she’s challenging him.

This.. does not feel romantic or sparky to me, honestly. But the edgy romance-adjacent music in the background makes me think that Show intends this scene to be romantic.

The whole thing felt a bit off to me, honestly. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The entire message feels like, prove yourself to me, and after you do, I will love you.

E5-6. Wan Soo is now convinced that she can trust Do Yoon, because of how he’d gotten so injured saving her, and we get a confirmation embrace, in the hospital room.

It’s a little shaky, sure, since he’s already saved her once, from a highly dangerous situation, but whatever. I guess Wan Soo needed confirmation?

ALSO. Can I just say, Wan Soo going to Do Yoon when he’s still recovering from his wounds, and asking him to infiltrate the annex, to steal the money laundering ledgers for Now Foundation, decidedly uncaring?

I mean, I suppose I get that Do Yoon is just that badass, that this isn’t a huge problem for him, but if you love the guy (and you’ve just kind of established that you do), then would you really ask him to do something risky, while he’s still recovering from the serious injuries that he sustained while saving you??

I have to admit that this makes me think less of Wan Soo’s level of care and concern for Do Yoon. 😅

I guess my worries are all for nothing, though, since Do Yoon manages to get those ledgers with what seems like just a few minor hiccups.

E7-8. I realize that I’m just here for Rain, basically, and have no real interest in the relationship between Do Yoon and Wan Soo.

Therefore, I honestly wasn’t actively looking for a kiss scene between them, but when Show serve up a kiss scene on the boat in episode 8, I couldn’t complain – because Rain works it. 🔥🤭

Watching the kiss, I suddenly remembered how famously sensuous Rain’s kpop performances used to be, and was all, “Ahh, of course he can make it work.” 😁

[END SPOILER]

Seo Yi Sook as Chairman Mom

I hadn’t been sure of what to make of Chairman Mom as a character at first, but soon  (at around the episode 3 or 4 mark) settled into an idea of her character that made sense to me.

Chairman Mom comes across as a weird mesh of a character, because she’s the powerful matriarch of Hawin, but she also keeps showing streaks of bimbo about her.

I eventually realized that that’s just who she is. She might want to be an imperious matriarch, but that’s not the kind of cloth she’s cut from, though she tries hard to live up to that role.

That’s why we’ve got all these attempts on her part, to be commanding and scary – which often take a sharp left turn into more air-headed territory, when she quickly loses her grasp of the situation.

And that also explains her rather oddly kooky moon chants, which we see in episode 1.

Credit to Seo Yi Sook for leaning into her character, and blending those two opposing traits so well, in Chairman Mom.

Jung Gyu Woon as Yong Kook

It honestly took me a lonnng minute to realize that Yong Kook is played by Jung Gyu Woon, whom I remember best as the lead actor in 2010’s Dr. Champ, where he’d played a really clean-cut, very wholesome judo athlete.

Seriously, doesn’t he look so clean-cut and wholesome in this screenshot?

And so, for a while, I was slightly perplexed that the wholesome, lean judo athlete had now become an aging chaebol prince who’s clearly on the shallow and sleazy side. 😅

I honestly hadn’t expected to be too interested in Yong Kook as a character; in my head, he was just there to provide an obstacle for the OTP pairing involving Wan Soo and Do Yoon, y’know?

But then, in Show’s later episodes, I suddenly felt like Yong Kook was popping more for me, as a character, and I have to say, Jung Gyu Woon’s delivery of the more poignant moments, was a very pleasant surprise.

Suddenly, Yong Kook felt interesting to me, y’know? 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E7-8. I found myself surprisingly becoming more sympathetic towards Yong Kook as a character, these episodes.

He suddenly.. came alive to me, a fair bit more.

It’s basically from the point where he sits down next to a sleeping Wan Soo upon arriving in Busan, the morning after the failed assassination, and looks so startled when Wan Soo sleeps so easily on his leg, when she turns over.

I honestly really like the way Jung Gyu Woon plays the moment; he’s startled, but also vulnerable.

You can see that he likes it and dislikes it, at the same time. He likes it because he loves Wan Soo and wants nothing more than to be close to her again, but he dislikes it because he knows that that ease that she’s showing, isn’t for him; he senses that it’s for Do Yoon.

And he’s hurt, and scared, and he doesn’t want to lose Wan Soo, and he’s jealous and angry too – and it all shows in his face.

Because of this, I found my interest growing in Yong Kook, and my sympathies too, even though I absolutely don’t condone his multiple flings with other women.

I felt really quite bad for Yong Kook, when Chairman Mom and Lawyer Han release those pictures of Wan Soo and Do Yoon to the press, in order to galvanize a divorce between Yong Kook and Wan Soo.

The desperate way he beelines for Chairman Mom and confronts her with so much hurt and anger in his eyes, really got my attention.

I actually really appreciate that he also confronts her with all of the hurts that he’s been carrying, all these years, of why she hadn’t protected him from her affair, and why she hadn’t been sorry towards him, for hurting him.

Chairman Mom is pretty unrepentant, and I’m with Yong Kook on this; no matter her situation, she should have considered her son, and taken measures to protect him.

Later on, the way he goes to Lawyer Han, tipsy but with lots of truth bombs to drop, was interesting to me, mostly for the insight that Yong Kook provides, in regard to Yong Min’s attitude towards Lawyer Han, and why.

I also find Yong Kook’s hypothesis, that Lawyer Han had had Chairman Dad killed because of how Chairman Dad had always disdained Yong Min, quite persuasive.

Also, I appreciate that Yong Kook threatens Lawyer Han, that he will personally kill anyone who harms Wan Soo.

I don’t know how seriously Lawyer Han takes that threat, but hey, at least someone is threatening him to not harm Wan Soo, yes?

I did think it was OTT for Yong Kook to have Do Yoon confined, and then threaten him with a rifle, but importantly, I found the shade of hurt in Yong Kook’s eyes saved it for me.

Like, yes, he’s angry and kind of unhinged at points, but I can tell that this is mostly driven by hurt, and fear that he might lose Wan Soo, and those are things that I do feel sympathetic towards him for.

I do appreciate that even though Wan Soo (who bursts onto the scene in a fit of worry for Do Yoon) admits that she loves Do Yoon, she tells Yong Kook that she trusts him, which I feel is a suitably healing sort of silver lining.

The way she pats his back while he cries on her shoulder, feels important and healing. 🥲

[END SPOILER]

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

E9-10. Y’know, considering how perplexingly uninteresting I’d found some of Show’s earlier episodes, I am quite gleeful, honestly, at how well I enjoyed these finale episodes.

Your mileage may certainly vary, but I was personally quite thrilled that Show finally leans into being the makjang queen that I always wanted her to be, because that made these episodes so much more entertaining to watch.

Certainly, as with the makjang genre at large, you need to suspend your need for logic, but I do think that once you’re able to do that, this finale does work out to be quite satisfying.

A lot of stuff comes spilling out in these episodes, as they should, and I was quite pleased with how this felt like a rollercoaster ride, in the watch experience.

To Show’s credit, most of the plot pieces come together to make a makjang kind of sense. 😁

The big reveal, which I’m only mildly surprised by, is that Yong Min had been the one who’d killed Chairman Dad, and that it had been an accident, which Lawyer Han had promptly covered up, in order to protect Yong Min.

I think the bigger surprise, was the reveal that Lawyer Han had never destroyed the gold bar evidence, and had, in fact, hidden that evidence, for its potential usefulness, in the future.

I found it surprising, because he’d always appeared to shield and protect Yong Min, and this entire gold bar, with the blood and fingerprints still intact, could easily put Yong Min behind bars for a very long time, if it were to be brought to light.

But, the way he used the evidence, to blackmail Chairman Mom into taking the fall for ordering the hit on Wan Soo, made sense to me, in that, I could believe that Chairman Mom would care about her reputation, even if she didn’t care as much about Yong Min, as she did Yong Kook.

Speaking of Yong Kook, I didn’t think that Show needed to kill him off, though I can see the tragic appeal of his death.

The scenes that we got of Yong Kook trying to do the right thing by Wan Soo, in cutting ties with Tae Ra, and giving her all his savings to make up for everything, actually got to me.

I liked the way Jung Gyu Woon played those scenes, injecting a good amount of wistful pathos into his expression, because Yong Kook knows that everything that he’s doing to honor his relationship with Wan Soo is futile, because he knows that she loves Do Yoon.

The fact that he did it all willingly anyway, despite knowing that there was no chance of him reviving his relationship with Wan Soo, tugged at my heartstrings.

And the fact that he wouldn’t back down from declaring that the money that Chairman Dad had left, was entirely for Wan Soo to use for good via the Now Foundation, even when Yong Min was pointing that rifle at him, was quite touching too.

I don’t think that he thought he was really going to die, in that, I believe that he felt Yong Min was too cowardly to actually shoot him, but I also think that he was prepared to defend Wan Soo to the death, if that’s what it came down to.

I don’t actually know how solid a piece of evidence it is, but I like the idea that Lawyer Han’s greed did him in, because he’d ordered K1 to kill Hyun Soo after getting the ledgers from him, which had gotten caught on Do Yoon’s camera, and then turned in those ledgers to incriminate Chairman Mom of embezzlement.

I just find it low-key amusing that it had never occurred to Lawyer Han that Chairman Mom wouldn’t order K1 to kill Hyun Soo, and then have the ledgers turned in, to incriminate herself. 🤭

I rather thought that the grieving in these episodes was too restrained, both Wan Soo for Hyun Soo, and Chairman Mom for Yong Kook.

In particular, I’d expected Chairman Mom to practically lose her mind with grief over losing Yong Kook, but instead, it seems to shock her into her right mind, and that thought low-key amuses me too. 🤭

I thought it was fitting that Lawyer Han and Yong Min both end up in jail, and it also gave me some measure of dark satisfaction, to see Yong Min try to strangle and kill Lawyer Han, for everything he’d done to him.

If I squint a bit, it kinda-sorta mirrors how Yong Min had killed Chairman Dad, and effectively puts him in the same category as Chairman Dad, whom he’d looked down upon, because Lawyer Han is now being attacked by his own son.

It makes sense in my head, at least. 😅

With Yong Kook’s death, it makes story sense that Wan Soo and Do Yoon separate for a period of time, before reuniting again.

It would have made Wan Soo appear too heartless to have embarked on a romance with Do Yoon right after her husband had been murdered, after all.

Like I said earlier, I do think that it was unnecessary for Show to have Yong Kook killed, but I think writer-nim was gunning for: 1, a tragically appealing ending for Yong Kook, and 2, a reason for Do Yoon and Wan Soo to separate, and then reunite after a time-skip.

Honestly, I called the separation and time skip, the moment Do Yoon handed in his resignation, and they said goodbye. 😁

My gut reaction, is that they did this out of respect for Yong Kook, even though it’s not specifically stated.

ANYWAY. Right on cue, a year later, we see Do Yoon show up for a charity trip with the Now Foundation, which Wan Soo is leading, and we don’t need to be told, to know that romance is absolutely going to blossom all over again for them.

THE FINAL VERDICT:

More interesting and entertaining in its tail end than its front. On balance, not amazing but not bad.

FINAL GRADE: B

TRAILER:

MV:

PATREON UPDATE!

The next drama I’m covering on Patreon, in place of  Red Swan, is No Way Out: The Roulette [Korea].

You can check out my episode 1-2 notes on No Way Out: The Roulette on Patreon here.

Here’s an overview of what I’m covering on Patreon right now (Tier benefits are cumulative)!

Foundation Tier (US$1): Entertainment Drop (Sundays) + the first set notes of all shows covered on Patreon (that’s 2 episodes for kdramas and 4 episodes for cdramas)

Early Access (US$5): +Serendipity’s Embrace [Korea]

Early Access Plus (US$10): +The Tale of Rose [China]

VIP (US$15): +Miss Night and Day [Korea]

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