The Guardians. WHAT a show.
Straight off the bat, I fell in love with my usual favourite character. The smart-ass, hysterical and weird one.
Oh and then I fell in love with the badass mum who can do anything she puts her mind to, thank you.
And then the .... I'll stop.

Strong female lead? Quad-ripple check.

Now, yes, there are some predictable moments, but they happened to suit my taste, so they never bothered me.

What a story, a twisted, in depth look of means and justice, what's wrong with how we've built judicial systems in modern society, what it takes for innocent people to stand up to those who ruined their lives for no reason, and the impact that cruel people have on innocent lives.
All the main characters have been mistreated by the justice system, had horrible things happen to them for no reason but the ruthless actions of people in higher power.

And we get to see the toll it takes on them, giving up their previous lives as they're forced to live on, and turn their energy into obtaining their justice, working together to achieve what they'll fight so hard for.

Acting. Brilliant. Key, special shoutout, did an amazing job as Kyung-soo and brought so much depth to the character.
But. Kim Young Kwang stole the whole thing.
With the opportunity to showcase everything in his acting, with such a diverse, 4D, more like 12D, character, he displayed the themes, and depth and message of the drama so brilliantly, and though, unlike many, I never disliked his character, the plot and his development of his character will have you twisting and turning through genuinely questioning motives and means.

Is giving up on the system you work for, going on the run, really the thing to do? Not even Soo-Ji knows, but it's what she does.
You follow these characters as they press forward after having been through events so traumatic that many would have lost their own will to live. They are all strong, there are no useless characters, no weak moments, no relationships shallow.
There are also no stupid moments on the antagonists' side, it's a high-stakes, one slip up and they're onto you environment, you really don't know at any given moment how it will turn out. And boy....

It really IS the perfect drama for me, as it has all the tropes I like and some of my favourite types of characters, but it's also so deep and packed with so many details that you can't blink if you don't want to miss them, there's that many.
The action scenes, while a lot to look at, and tense and dramatic, were never over the top to the levels that other shows would take it.
The feats that seem a little far fetched are only ever performed by people who had training, beginners can't fire off a gun, they have to figure out another way to achieve their goal with their own skills.