Just scary enough, just romantic enough, just funny enough.

I can't think too hard about it, or the killer's plotline falls apart.

My favorite scene-stealer was the dog.

Idk if I cried more over the reveal about Bokhee and her 'mother’ or the damned restaurant finally opening 😭 It’s been one heck of a ride, and while the romance was adorable, I think the most heart touching theme of the drama for me was family. The varying relationships (most thankfully on the path of healing) between people and their families - found, made or existing - had me tearing up more than once and I'm grateful that we got to see so many different family dynamics at play.

There's a fair few things I could nitpick about plot and character but honestly it's mainly because the show built up a solid first half and just fell a little flat of the expectations it created. But still, it was an enjoyable watch and Disney+'s dubious streaming decisions aside, I'm glad I got to laugh, cry and aww along with this one with everyone else here!

@quirkycase Thank you for a wonderful recap.

I liked the ending even though they did not reveal why Gye Young was kidnapped because reasoning and detailed validation was never the intention of the drama from the start. The show glossed over minor details like Gye Hoon's wealth, how Jin Geun lost consciousness in his initial scuffle with Da Hyun or if he really was the guy who murdered Eun Jung's sister, young lady in an apartment etc., to focus on keeping the mystery tightly under wraps and I must say, it did a good job except for a minor drag in plot from ep 11 to 13. The takeaway for me from this story was how human's react in the face of danger or conflict of interest, where logic and morale fly out of the window. For instance, Bok Hee chose murder (twice) over reporting to the police for protecting her daughter and the truck driver did not bother to help Gye Young because it was simply not his duty. Though the emotional link was cliche, I liked its closure because it was also the start of his misery and the end of his sufferings. The show's stronghold was dark comedy, twisting ordinary things into surprise elements, the bond between granma/mom/daughter trio and the fantastic acting by the leads. I don't think there is anyone who is better at crying than Yeo Jin Goo and Moon Ga Young already stamped her mark where she emoted fear in the confrontation scene with a stalker whom she thought was dead. I enjoyed the drama's journey and if not for making the FL wander alone at night, I would rate this drama more than 7.5/10.

I'm impressed. The show ended well: not too perfectly, and with a realistic number of loose ends just like life, and maintained its high level of interest and suspense throughout. I would have liked more of the dark humor, but I accept that it would have been difficult to work that in once the dreadful past really started to come to light, especially in episodes 14 and 15. The major negative element for me was Da-hyun fading out as a character and becoming so blank and passive in later episodes. Why does this happen in so many dramas? YGH was heartbreakingly good and appealing as Gye-hoon. I kind of loved that we could forget he’s a wealthy, famous chef because he never made any mention of it, just kept buying expensive seafood and feeding his friends. And damn, that food looked good. The “eat” part of the title really shone.

Jing-eun was a mystery and the show didn’t quite do him justice. He was a monster, but a monster needs help to become one. A young child like 10-year-old Jing-eun couldn’t actually be guilty of crimes - stalking, murder, kidnapping - in any legal or moral sense, since he would not have the cognitive development for the necessary intent and understanding to be present. That wouldn’t keep him from feeling guilty. Did some fundamental flaw plus shame plus possible abuse make him what he was? When did he move from compulsion to choice? We’ll never know.

Fridge remains my favorite character, and I wish she’d at least had a cameo at the end.

... *sigh*

Viva la Fridge.

Thank you, @quirkycase, for the weecap! That's it! It's done and I still want to know more. I know grandma accompanied Bokhee and Jungho to the police station, implying that they confessed to their crime of killing a man. I would have loved to see them on probation instead of go to jail. I pity Jin-geun who started as Da-hyun's boss but was given no other personal information like family and job after he moved back to Jinhwadong. But, I love YJG and MGY!

Personally, this show was ok, would take it as a show I watched to kill time.
I started it due to the mystery element but I'm still salty that I did not feel an ounce of shock at the killer reveal (I was like ?)

YJG & MGY acting was phenomenal (so were the rest of the cast) esp with the way they handled their emotions. It's insane how they can just cry on the spot. However their romance wasn't it for me, I couldn't feel anything from them.

Only thing I was pissed off by was DH's grandmother's backstory. I wasn't expecting anything from her and would've been ok if they said that BH was adopted. but no. The fact that she knew her son would not treat BH well yet she didnt say/advice or at least warn her. Or even advice her son. Like BH is someone's daughter omg how could you.
Who knew it took one episode to make me change my entire view of her?

Finally my anxiety can rest at the thought that I won't be seeing anymore idiots run out on the street with zero protection in the middle of the night in a neighborhood where kidnappings & murder are strong.

The show came to an end and most of the protagonists were more or less able to make their peace and find closure. I found much of it understandable, but some of it was glossed over too much. Indeed, I was not at all satisfied with the fact that the neighbour who had ignored Gye-young's desperate pleas and simply left her standing doesn't really seem to be haunted by a guilty conscience anymore (at least he doesn't see Gye-young anymore).

Of course, I wonder how and why Gye-young had to die. But the show probably didn't want to go into those gruesome details so that the balance between mystery and whimsical humour wouldn't tip too much.

The series managed to captivate me all through the episodes. At the beginning it was mainly the bizarre characters, later the question of who was actually the murderer. But I have to admit that I liked the first two thirds best.
As I mentioned before, I would have had no problem at all if there had been no love story at all. Gye-hoon and Da-hyun are a cute couple, but I wouldn't have been too sad if they hadn't gotten back together for understandable reasons.

they really handled Gyehoon x Dahyun romance so so well. they almost immediately going back together in the beginning eps 16 after having time to think alone and decide that they are the happiest when with each other and I think that scene was so beautiful.
no unnecessary drama, not eventful fate bullshit, just 2 grown-ups decide to stay together. and after that Gyehoon and Dahyun never have to be alone again. when gyehoon finds the rest of his family, when (if) dahyun's mom surrender to the police they have each other.
I think thats what the writer wanna tell.

I enjoyed this show very much: it had an interesting blend of genres (thriller, mystery, romance), stellar acting, truly heartrending stories mixed in with a good dose of dark humor, and some social commentary on domestic abuse and violence against women woven in. There was also a fantasy element that was intriguing especially in the beginning though it turned out to be less important to the plot than expected. I feel like based on the first eight episodes or so it could have been a masterpiece and didn't quite live up to its potential, but it's still something I would watch again (and maybe binge-watching it instead of two episodes at a time might give me a better perspective of the drama as a whole). I think the kidnapping/murder reveals could have been condensed and the extra time used to more fully flesh out the backgrounds of some of the peripheral characters (Bokhee's relationship with her mil, Jin-hoo's and Eun-jeong's growing closeness, even the relationship between the murderer and Jung-ho), all of which was kind of squeezed into the last episodes.
The link phenomena turned out not to be a grand symbol of romantic and emotional connection between the two leads but more tied into the mystery of Gye-young's disappearance. The "Link" in the title ultimately refers to the interrelated relationships between all the different characters in this run down (and it was interesting how so many were involved and culpable in the crimes).
I personally found Gye-Hyoon and DaHyun learning how to date and understand each other, without the link, funny and sweet and realistic as well. With all the tragedy in the storyline, I'm glad it didn't end on a sad note. Yeo Jingoo and Moon Ga Young were perfectly paired; even their emotional acting seemed similar and complementary. You could really feel their closeness and love for one another, despite the obstacles to their relationship. In her farewell behind the scenes speech, Moon Ga Young said she would like to reunite with Yeo Jingoo after another 13 years, when she is 40, and I would love to see that as well.
The writers and director tried to do something different with Link, and it seems TVN didn't quite know how to market it (initially it seemed more like a melodrama, then the advertising focused more on the romance aspect). I worry that the low ratings for the show will mean producers will stick to genre formulas which can be rewarding if done well but can also be repetitive. The show deserved more love and viewership than it received.
And thank you, @quirkycase, for the weekly recaps and the thoughtful and balanced analysis.

Yeo Jingoo and Moon Gayoung's performance really shined in this drama. I'm going to miss seeing them on my screen each week. I also really enjoyed the writing and directing. I appreciate that the writer knew what they were doing and liked that the story wasn't super messy and confusing. Also, listening to the actor playing Gyeyoung sing the OST 'Your river in me' was such a sad but nice little touch in the finale.

I liked it. I liked the ending. I was happy YJG and MGY had chemistry. It was a sweet show.

the best thing of the show was the acting for me. strong performance with what they were given. no weak link, adult and kids all delivered.

@quirkycase Thank you for this weecap! While there are elements of the plot that I felt could've been handled better, I still enjoyed this drama, and felt that the cast did an incredible job.

Enjoyed the show overall despite some drag in the later episodes before the end. Happy with the finale. They really did save the restaurant opening until the end lmao! I didn't need to see a last minute pairing between Jin Hoo and Eun Jung though. That came out of nowhere.

Yeo Jin Gu and Moon Ga Young were a great match! Acting and chemistry wise. :)

Just want to say, I appreciate that the writer provided the reasoning behind the Link phenomenon. (I was reminded of Again My Life and how its fantasy element was never, ever explained. -_-)

Also, throughout this drama, I kept thinking that Kim Chan Hyung (Jung Ho) and Lee Ji Hoon look similar, they could play siblings~

It was a nice drama!

The humor and the romance were really good.

The plot was kinda disapointing because I would have liked to know Young-hoon's motives. No girls disapeared after that, but he still killed Gye-Hoon's father because I guess he found the truth (I'm not sure what Gye-Hoon's father death brought to the story...). So he just kidnapped a little girl and killed her and then nothing for 20 years? It's weird...

For the end, I'm not a big fan when people who did bad things are just forgiven easily. But it was nice to see the couple learning about each other without any link helping them. They were cute.

YJG and MGY did really well. They cried a lot but as they're good this kind of scenes, it didn't feel cringey. They had a great chemistry.

I really liked the OST too! I think I will listen some songs for a long time.

My takeaway from this show:

The first half was seriously a masterclass in acting, writing, directing, subtlety, comedy, characterization.

Then it bacame flat, then frustrating, and then infuriating. And the final reaveal and confrontation was exceptionally bad too. Shame. I might rewatch the first half maybe some day. But definitely not the rest of it.

I have apparently seen Song Duk Ho recently in Hospital Playlist? Did he talk at all there?? His voice had me transfixed with every word here. Wow... It is so so deep, and I guess the fact that he barely moves his lips while speaking made it a lot more striking. His acting was very good too. Loved all of his scenes.

Shout out to the four other side characters which were fantastic. The mom, the grandma, the unnie, and the friend. The two other nice cops were great too.

I have seen YJG's wardrobe mentioned a lot. I absolutely loved the tops and coats and sweaters. They felt very warm and cozy. But the pants. Yes, those were a crime.

And lastly, was Kim Myung Soo aka L supposed to be the male lead before YJG?? Why is he on the poster?? It is weird and doesn't look like YJG at all.