This is a rather fun show that had a lot of hype surrounding it and largely delivered. The acting was phenomenal and the story beautifully crafted a message about struggling through adversity imposed internally and externally, finding the new sense of willpower once you are mentally burned out.

Lee Sung-Kyung was superb in her role and she carried this shoulder like a barbell made out of paper. Her character was endearing, flawed but always with a giant heart and she enjoyed a terrific chemistry with Nam Joo Hyuk's character. I would say however, the character who I was most interested by was Kyung Soo-Jin's character, Song Shi Ho. Her story of turmoil, hardship and quiet despair played out in front of others without anyone noticing a young woman crumbling under the pressures of her responsibilities. Her story was captivating, Kyung Soo-Jin's acting terrific, and though I felt the resolutions were a little too neat between her and some of the other characters, I was happy for her by the end. She really was fantastic.

I'm a little less enthusiastic about Nam Joo Hyuk's character, who though a main character himself, was really just a prop throughout for Kim Bok Joo. He was a swimmer who suffered from anxiety and yet this was rarely given the screen-time it deserved. There was also a family drama at the end that was written and concluded essentially over an episode or two when it deserved so much more. This show could have been an all-time kdrama great, at least for this decade, but barring the two lead female characters, the rest just weren't very interesting.

I would recommend this to everyone however. The story is still really engaging and some of the core elements that make a kdrama show great were there in abundance.