Sung joon found something in Yuri that he couldn't find in his wife. I think he was in love with Yuri, but he was too guilty to act on it. When he looked at Yuri he saw his betrayal of his wife staring him in the face. And his character is weak, he cares about what people think of him. In the initial stages the passion outrode the guilt, nothing tastes sweeter than forbidden fruit, but once that affair was out in the open, and the open contempt directed at him with it, he couldn't continue with the affair anymore. He loved his wife, but he was in love with Yuri.

What a beautiful recap of a beautifully written and executed kdrama, @missvictrix. Once again, I marvel at the insights you put into yours. I was pulled deeply into the drama because of the infidelity issue. But then, half-way, I realized that it was more than that. Each character, the women in the company, in particular, have their own interesting stories and struggles. The drama successfully pointed out that any relationship issue can be resolved when both parties are willing to go through the fire for it. Sadly, Jung Sun and Sung Jung (still confused about the names of these couple) were not able to. Perhaps it was because Sung Jung did not in anyway appear to be remorseful about his affair and just as easily turned his back from his marriage. Not once did it show that he struggled or agonized over the choice between his wife and his mistress. Therefore, he so deserves whatever misery he faces thereafter. I am so happy about the Mi Ra and her growing family. What a comple 180 degree turn the husband did for his family. So it os truly doable, huh. As for Hyun Ah, I am glad she took the leap despite the failure of her friend's marriage.

I was more interested by Lee Hyun-A and Song Mi-Na's stories. I really liked how Hyun-A was strong but accepted to be vulnerable. Mi-Na's sons were so cute! I was happy to see her husband understand the needs of his wife.

For the main characters and the affair, I was not so interested because I found Sung-Joon very boring. Even their couple scenes in the flashbacks couldn't convince me that they formed one day a nice couple. But the way the affair was showed and how the 3 of them lived the situation was really well written.

I think people didn't believe in affair in first part of the drama, because in Kdrama world it's usually unthinkable that leads won't have happy ending together and everyone, me included, brace themself for a twist that reveal some noble idiocy on ML part. I was elated when it wasn't a case in here, and Jang Nara gave amazing performance. That only thing that did bother me, was ML, I don't know if it was the actor or it was directed that way, but there was zero chemistry between him and actress playing Yuri, not even hint of sexual attraction from him, he was always very sombre.

I think the show answered the questions it asked in the end:

What makes a marriage work?
It was communication and honesty.
The two things that went missing in Jung sun and sung joon's marriage. He felt scared enough to share his story of birth (because it was also him who could not tell himself that being illegitimate was not his own fault, which just became the biggest reason for having that affair, however unintentional it was in the beginning). His behaviour after the miscarriage could also be seen Just as an extension of him having no idea of what to tell Jung Sun when it was not her fault... He thought they just hide their emotions and keep living on ....

And like Jung sun said when she gave him the divorce papers that he never gave her even the chance to understand him...

It was an exceptionally good drama. The dialogues were very thoughtfully written.

Amazing review and SO much insights from Beanies, pheww! Judging from the fan wall VIP is not really Bean’s favorite but I know those who loved it, loved it hard! So much has been said about the main trio that I’d like to give a special shoutout to the other ladies.

I loved Hyun Ah from the get go but when her story was finally revealed, it just broke my heart esp since the motivation for her opening up was to save her friend. Despite the horrible tragedy, she always held her head high and even gave the sweet marketing guy a chance to win her heart. Which he did. I think he even cried when he found out what happened. He totally had me at that.

As for Mi Na, i thought she was the one having the affair and the husband would be a typical jerk who never helps out and just neglects the family. But turns out theirs was a comm problem and when they finally sorted out their issues, the couple & their two sons just makes up an adorable little family. I kind of related with Mi Na too as i know how frustrating it is to want to move forward with your career but unable to do so as your efforts aren’t recognised. That phone call she had with her mum was 😭

At the end of it, none of these people have a magic solution nor did their struggles disappear but with a lot of faith and communication, each battle was slowly tackled and won. Beautiful VIP 🖤

I am so glad I watched this drama. I don't usually like adult dramas, but his was excellent from start to finish.

I really liked what I watched of this drama, which was about six full episodes and key clips of the rest. I acknowledge that it was a brilliantly crafted drama that deserves to be praised. But the reason I couldn't get all the way through is simply that it made me miserable. I wasn't thrilled, I wasn't moved, I was just miserable. So this wasn't the one for me, but for those who like a really gritty and heavy melo, this is for you.

I still say Sung jun was just hedging his bets re: Yu ri. His wife from a wealthy family pretty much told him to eff off so that is why he stuck to Yu ri, as not only was she from a wealthy family but also one that could benefit him beyond the monetary.

And that self righteous attitude after the scandal saying he would honor his firing, no dude, you don't get to be on that pedestal. He should have walked the halls in shame and have eggs thrown at him while security threw him out on his ass.

I enjoyed this drama so much more than I thought I would. Normally I avoid dramas about affairs because I have a hard time having an ounce of sympathy for the one who cheats in a relationship. This show surprised me with its thoughtful treatment of everyone, including the husband and his mistress. I just... left feeling exactly as the show wanted: mistakes were made, and many people suffered for it - but at some point you have to move on. Hatred is draining, revenge is not the right answer.

I just want to give a big huge to this entire cast for working so hard, especially to the main leads - Jang Nara for her astounding performance and Lee Sang-Yoon for having to act through a character whose biggest weakness was expressing himself (to keep a blank expression while knowing your character must be dying inside has to be difficult), and to the director and writers for making the show so poignant and captivating that a viewer like me with adultery hangups couldn't look away even for a second. KUDOS. This is quality television.

@missvictrix Thank you for the amazing summary of this amazing drama.

It has portrayed every emotion, every struggle and every win right, to say the least.
We saw love, when our main couple took a walk on a way that we thought was endless. We saw fights, misunderstandings and endings. But what struck me the most was how heartbreaks were shown. Lee Sang Yoon's pain as unexpected as it sounds, stayed with me. Don't get me wrong he is awful for making suffer our heroine. But gosh, when he cried, I wondered when was the las time I saw a male character being this vulnerable during a heartbreak. Not when he lost his fiancee in a car accident or other boring stereotypical plot turns. But just a simple heartbreak. It was so relatable.... and it felt unusual how relatable it was.

The second thing that I will dearly remember with this drama was the female sorority. Perfectly written, they were benevolent with each other, forgiving and loving with Min-A. They supported each other, and some of them appeared strong, but never one of them forgot for a second that they were all vulnerable at some point, that all of them needed a friend in every situation they dealt with.
The women were beautiful inside and out, true inspirations.

The only thing that I did not like, was the work they had to do : caring so much for the rich of the rich, going as far as organizing a special team for them to find spouses (aka protecting and preserving a class system which usually becomes rich by exploiting the environment and or inferior classes).. I was not really feeling the pride that serves the craziness of capitalism....
I wish they had chosen another setting for this very human story.

Conclusion : this drama was truly a year-end gift, anyone who didn't watch it missed something !

Loved the overall of the drama! Though I did want more of Hyun-ah and Jin-ho’s story, I loved how this couple progressed. Jin-ho’s honest but a lil awkward behaviour towards Hyun-ah made me giggle and gave me a breather with everything that’s going on with Jung-sun.

I’ve always thought that Jang Nara is a great actress but I think this is one of her best works! She was awesome as Jung-sun! Her vulnerability, her fierceness, she embodied it so well!

Hands off to the cast and crew for a wonderfully made drama!

I found this a completely engrossing drama...from start to finish. Also a very satisfying ending. The good end happily and the bad unhappily and that is the meaning of fiction, to quote Oscar Wilde.

I know I am revealing myself as a very petty person, but my favorite part is that our heroine got her revenge without having to actually be a part of it. She can keep her dignity and self-respect, which is lovely, but the cheater still pays the price.

Like I said, very satisfying.

I wish the wealthy a-holes suffered more, but that's the breaks, I guess. Yu-Ri will go on to find a rich boy and will eventually forget all about her first love. It was a little too close to a daddy relationship anyway, wasn't it? I agree with the people here who have noticed the complete lack of passion and chemistry on the part of the adulterous couple. He felt sorry for her and sorry for himself; she was desperate for approval and support and turned manipulative and conniving. You knew this affair wasn't going to last.

One scene that stuck with me is when the heroine tells her husband "I don't really know you." To have an affair is one thing; but he is revealed as a very dishonorable person--his boss's "bag man," is what I would call it? She was drawn to his character in the beginning--a very stand-up guy--and then he turns out to be some skeevy character cleaning up his superior's exceedingly dirty messes. I think that is when she realized she just needed to walk away.

Good on you, Jung Soon. Stay classy!

In the end, he lost it all. One can feel sorry for him, of course, while still feeling he deserved every bit of his misery and suffering. Personally, I hope he has many years ahead of him for reflection, remorse, and (perhaps) reformation.

Love, love, LOVE all the secondary characters and both secondary couples! I'm so glad they, at least, were able to find happiness.

A miscarriage is a very bad thing but not at all uncommon and lots of marriages survive one (or more). It was the inability to talk to each other and be there for each other which doomed the marriage. The cheating is inexcusable - and you can see that even Sung-joon understands that and literally cannot understand why he did it- but that was because in the end it was a symptom and not the underlying disease. Many people cheat and for many reasons (none of them good) but in this case the cheating was not the basic problem but rather a second problem that revealed the basic one.

I wonder if the writer intentionally chose the names Jung Sun and Sung Joon. I can’t look at one name and not think of the other. It takes me a moment to make sure I identify the correct person.

After a storm comes a calm.

Great, insightful review. Right after watching the finale, I wasn't sure how satisfied I was with it. Maybe it seemed somewhat lackluster. The drama did an awesome job of creating suspense in the first half, and along with viewer comments/theories, I was anticipating a big reveal behind the affair. So it was my fault for believing there would be a twist. But the drama wasn't just about the affair. missvictrix is right that it was about the relationships.

Cheaters are often shown as terrible, sleazy, mean, etc. so it was interesting to see the contrast here. I was frustrated with Sung Joon and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt several times. Yes, he still cheated. I didn't hate him, but I wanted him to hurt some more. To feel pain like Jung Sun had. However, she endured all of this trauma and made the mature decision to move on without seeking revenge. The way they show their emotions and deal with pain is not the same. I'm accepting that now.

I like it that you said the drama wad about letting go. I also noticed, how all "letting go" took place in stages: packing up the baby room, packing up SJ's belongings, then being able to thank him for happy moments together, and even being able to smile at him in the end.

Unpopular Opinion
By the end of the drama, I felt sorry for sung joon. The choices he made, made him lose everything. His wife, his job and his mistress.
He may not have shown it with his expressionless face, but he loves his wife so much. He brought up the divorce issue first because he knew how much pain she was in because of him and wanted to alleviate the pain by divorce. It wasn't a smart move but he's been shown to make stupid decisions in his relationship.
This is not a drama I'd repeat. I'm glad its over

You're right @missvictrix! Sung joon and Jung soon's problem is lack of, forgive the word - honesty. Even though JS shared her whole life, her bad feelings for her mother, her distress at the loss of their baby, SJ kept everything to himself. He didn't share any of his feelings. And that is where Yu ri got an edge - she saw SJ at his vulnerable moment and was there for him. I'm not justifying what he did as correct - Never! JS never knew about SJ's father, why is that? Because he didn't want to tell her and that is not a relationship where only one side is honest.

I have to read again the post of @oppafangirl and I have to say I appreciate it a lot. It was a disinterested person's point of view yet, it is a deep understanding of the character of Sung Joon, more than that of his mother's characteristic understanding and love. I am as guilty as many others who, during the run of the drama, spewed hatred on the character of Sung Joon, exasperated by his silence and disgusted by his infidelity in his marriage and a much disguised greed for power in the work place. That being said, these character flaws of Sung Joon can be attributed to his illegitimacy, however grossly unfair to his mother.

Thanks for this review! I thoroughly enjoyed VIP and the stories it told about all these women. I particularly liked the way the stories were told, the writing was really great, and the acting stellar.

Yuri is just so selfish and evil. No like I just hate innocent looking evil btches like her. Jung sun was so nice and kind to her but she just kept fooling around with her husband and ruined their marriage she could've stopped but she didn't! Is just so pathetic and sad to see. And the husband too a whole coward and a loser. I'm glad Jung sun didn't revenge, is good to move on and leave everything to karma