Took me some time to work through all the episodes...but I'm glad I watched it. One of the better older melodramas and except for "That Person" coming back (and her portion of the missing 10 years) the rest felt very true to life. I liked the FL more than most did because I can step back a bit and think about the drama's background and setting. Based on their culture's 2,500 years of confucian roots FL's behaviors make a lot of sense in ways that a young country like mine couldn't easily understand.

We don't have traditions spanning thousands of years that are ingrained and very hard to overcome ie. that of obedience to those in power, but they do...it's buried in their culture, their nation, their history, everything/everyone around them tells them that they should follow and obey those who are "higher" than them, be it by age, gender, social status, wealth, or power.

If you have that understanding built into the cultural background of the childhood of the FL, it makes it a LOT easier to understand her and why she behaves they way she does. It frustrates us to no end because we are used to standing up for ourselves and fighting back, but she isn't because she's used to being powerless, a single mother, and poor AF, basically the lowest person on the totem pole of status in their country. Put all that together with her natural tendencies to want to be a peacemaker and to us looking in she seems to be a doormat...but in reality I think it makes her a stronger person, one who despite all her disadvantages kept struggling, kept going, avoided the pitfalls of hate and came out the other side better. But that's just my perspective and part of why I could enjoy her and the show in a way that maybe others might not be able to.

I also appreciated the friendship between the FL and her group of ride or die friends, I wish more dramas had characters that were as well rounded and fleshed out as they were. I went back and forth on liking and disliking the SML, but in the end he proved to have a lot of growth throughout the series too. Even Shadow went from my most loathed character to one that I was willing to let go and see her go on with her life without spitting nails at the screen anymore, though tbf it took way too long of a time for her fake white rabbit storyline to play out before she became herself again.

I do recommend giving this one a try and I'll more than likely rewatch this even if it is an older drama.