someone please get a therapist for this poor guy

@solstices thank you for stating what the show messed up on this week. I was very disappointed with the way the story was written. It gives the impression that as long as your heart is in the right place abusive means to manage a risky situation is ok. The neighbours knew her son was in the home alone and as soon as he was at risk from the fire, in most countries social services would have been involved and she would have been in serious trouble. That alone was serious neglect.

I just don’t understand even after the online claim came out why Maeum held so much important information from her supervisor. Just sharing the childhood abuse story from the book would have given him the information he needed to advise from an informed position.

This drama was ambitious in terms of trying to show the challenges of the artists, the growth of the rookie PDs, and the survival of the webtoon department. These were all covered well in the Japanese version. I think adding Maeum’s family was a nice touch in this drama but a lot of the other elements just took away from the parts that would have developed the story in those three areas. I am glad it is finishing next week and although I earned a bean it wasn’t what I was hoping for.

This week's episodes felt like so many mixed emotions. This Kdrama had so many tears and even so many laughs. So I knew that Today's Webtoon did finally and actually turned out to be a real comedy-drama Kdrama. I loved Dae-ryuk's most emotional cries because he had a traumatic and sometimes unhappy childhood flashback. What a tearjerking moment it was.

And I'm so sad that the Today's Webtoon ratings were disappointed recently. So I might wish a good luck and praying for highest rating for the final week

In a terribly cliché reveal
😅😅. I can see the rancid taste about how the show handled Daeryuk from afar. They could have done better just as you described up there.
The Alzheimer's got me and I did feel sympathetic for the mom, but I was happy it was that her actions were from Alzheimer's but that she developed it as she aged on. It seemed like they were gunning for her to gain peace so I was quite pleased when they got back on track and made it about Daeryuk as it should have been from the start.
That recoil was perfect and realistic to the core. I don't know what I'd do but I'd go along that line as well.

Truth be told, I never liked Joon-young ever since his character was introduced, I never cared about his story except for when his actions where affecting the team adversely. And I had the all knowing look on my face with his final act to put the team in despair by sending PD Kwon's file to Director Heo. The porcupine trusted you for heavens sake! He was the problem all along, not the team. Even after Man-cheol pep talked him about a plausible reason why he was sent to the team he was still being an annoying character. Thanks to Pomme, I got to like him a little bit, but then he never changed and the taste just got more sour, not bad but sour. I still don't like him, I don't think I will by the time Today's Webtoon concludes, but I did appreciate the fact that he confided in Ji Hyeong when he saw that things were probably more than he could handle. Perhaps the show could have given this scene a lot more earlier so I could relate to his conflict but it's late. As Today's Webtoon progressed from the premiere I found my fingers using the FF button more and more. Whatever you do, don't ruin the team. That's all I have for Joon-young.

And can On Ma-eum learn to fill up her superiors when things happen. Good thing PD Kwon and Deputy Seok gave them some scolding.

CEO Yoon...I do like that woman. I like her acting. I definitely knew she had the charisma after what she delivered in Crazy Love. She does match Heo's cynicism to the 't'.

Just as Sin Daeryuk is blooming, Writer Baek is retiring. It's sad, and I wasn't even expecting it. I had the notion he'd draw for another 3-5 years, not what we have now. I'll prep myself for that this weekend.
And I like the familial friendship/bond Daeryuk has gotten in the form of Dong-hee.

I want more Ma-eum and family scenes especially her dad's, then her dad and mom's. This woman definitely holds the key to handle her husband 🙈.
...And more pouty Na Gang-nam.

There is a real sour taste with these last few episodes. The rookie editors have too much naive decision making authority while trying to make sense of their situations. Dong Hee outright tells Ma-Eum that Shin has psychological issues but she does nothing to get him treatment for his childhood trauma and abuse. Adding to the disgust is the fact Ma-Eum sees artist Baek in pain with a hand issue, but she does nothing about it. Further, Ma-Eum “signing” the TV deal with Shin is head shaking bad even when a character said “Neon’s legal department reviewed it.” Legal does not review it, it implements it. When an artist is libeled, it is the legal and PR professionals that file suit, gather evidence and demand corrections not low level employees. You do not attempt M&A or million dollar investments without getting your CEO approval. At this point, the show’s the corporate operations are more fantasy than the webcomics.

Even the office politics of Heo trying to undermine a weak performing division seems too far fetched at this point. Jun-Young’s feeble attempt at counter-intelligence to help his team was bad, immaterial, and a thud heard all around the writer’s room.

Where did the light, fun, office comedy lose its way? When it tried to force feed “drama” into the office setting. Drama that did little to advance the development of our office crew but to make them into balloon headed comic characters. I liked the show's early episodes when it focused on the up-beat rookie learning a new job with an interesting cast of artists. But around the halfway point, they were teleported into super office hero roles which makes no sense.

Kdramas do this a lot and they really need to kill it with fire and then take it to a volcano to make sure it never sees the light of day. Her Alzheimer's doesn't excuse her evil, for why was this a storyline. It is not heartwarming, it is manipulative and incredibly dangerous. Dae Ryuk needs help, professional help, I was happy when his sunbae came because I thought, awesome we are moving in the right direction, but ALAS. SIGH. This drama is another one that I am disappointed in and just watching for the bean.

@reply1988 Have you seen these episodes? (These were handled much differently in Sleeper Hit) (Sadly, in none of the versions the traumatized writer seeks the help of a therapist but this was far worse than the Japanese one)

When I read how Dae-ryuk's trauma was explained and "solved" and how the mother's actions were quasi-excused, I'm glad I haven't really felt like watching the last two episodes yet. Just reading the weecap left me frustrated, so I probably won't watch the remaining episodes.

Once again, I am grateful that the Neon webtoon team is fictional and not a real life one. I've never seen a bunch of more unprofessional folks! Every decision they make just leaves me scratching my head and wondering why their team hasn't imploded yet.

And what in the twisted happy ending did this show attempt to give Artist Shin and his mother?

This Dae-ryuk storyline was so disturbing and disappointing. There is no justification for the physical and emotional abuse he experienced. If the writer wanted to raise awareness why not show Dae-ryuk not only unburdening himself by sharing the trauma, but then seeking out the professional help he clearly needs? Couldn’t one adult at Neon have helped him do that? And what a message the writer sent to abusive parents. “Hey, its okay to treat your kids bad and then show up years later to traumatize again as long as you are real sorry and have dementia.” What? Horrible.

Finally caught up. My excitement for this drama has gone down. Started fast forwarding some parts. >.<

I did like the short, but cute scene of Artist Oh and his PD with the new fantasy story. At first they looked silly and laid back, but their bond seems strong.

I sorta wanted Dae Ryuk's mother to have stayed a villain. I didn't want the writer to go soft on her. I can understand her situation at that time, but she had better methods in protecting her son. Couldn't she have asked for someone to watch him? Neighbor? Friend? She traumatized him with those chains for a long part of his life.

I do want to see him getting better and having someone close to him again, but I want to see him get professional help. At least a hint of it.

Really liked to see Dong Hee back~

Worried about poor Artist Baek Eo Jin being the next one with the problem. His character had his own arc handled well in the beginning already. Why must he face another issue? Arghhhh

I'm late to this party, but straight after I watched this episode, I went on an appalled rant. Echoing what many Beanies have said, What. Just. Happened?

I’ve enjoyed the drama so far. Yes, it’s had its wobbles and a few things where we’ve needed to suspend disbelief and just roll with it, but I love the team and all the artists. However, the resolution of Daeryuk’s situation was more than deeply problematic: it felt damaging.

A mother neglects her child by leaving him home alone all day and then eventually chains him up, but that’s ok because she’s just protecting him from himself. In no world is that ok, and the suggestion that she can be glibly excused (because now she’s got Alzheimer’s) for something that caused deep ongoing trauma is breath-takingly wrong. That Daeryuk would suddenly want to meet the object of his decades long nightmare and would be distraught that he’s missed her bus and the opportunity to talk to her – what now? How did he manage to do a 180 in the space of half an episode? Feels like his trauma was trivialised there… Of course mum didn’t get on the bus – this is dramaland – so that final conversation can happen, and Daeryuk now sees that he was not a victim, should not have hated her, is able to touch women again, wants to help her get treatment for her Alzheimer’s. The implication that childhood abuse and its resulting serious trauma can be fixed by the victim just by having a conversation with his perpetrator – there are no words. So wrong.

I can’t imagine there’s a single viewer of this drama who is buying this resolution, so all the writer is doing is creating a cynical, or scoffing, or angry, or traumatised audience. In what universe is that the aim of a drama writer??? I will finish the drama to see how Neon is saved, but it’s left a bad taste in my mouth.

its moments like this (dae-ryuk's backstory) that I'm really satisfied with sticking to reading weecaps rather than wasting time watching it.

Gosh that last episode was frustrating. It felt like they were forcing us to sympathize with the mother. But how can you possibly justify chaining up your child alone at home for the whole day. Jeeeez. Ma-eum annoyed me too this last episode. I'm glad she refused to share Da-Ryuk's address and also told him clearly that she is not a god and cannot take on the responsibility of being his 'saviour'. But I felt she was too quick to push his mother on him just because she has Alzheimer's. In the real world, seeing how traumatized he is, a meeting between the mother and son should only be encouraged with a therapist's guidance because I don't think just a 'im sorry it was a misunderstanding' would fix years of trauma.

It has just dawned on me that as both dramas based on the manga had similar core elements re the artists in their versions of the story yet neither added therapy as an option that they may not have had permission to change that element of the story despite having free reign in other areas.

However, if they had permission then it seems that no one in the writing team, from original pitch to first reading considered it would be a helpful part of the story. It only needed one line with Maeum suggesting it, as we already know he will do whatever she says. They could have left it with him thinking about it. However, they chose to do a moral of the story voice over re the role parents play in their children’s lives. Somehow they failed to include the message about roles and responsibilities of parents or the significance of the betrayal of trust and loss of security when abuse of this scale is normalised as appropriate parenting.

I can’t believe that no one giving the manga live feedback at the time it was being released, even if it was just a small percentage, queried the need for therapy to be added to the story? It also gives a spectacular example of art imitating life that the real life PD didn’t suggest this as a potential missing element from the story either.

I like the interactions between the members of the team but the different stories are pretty disapointing, first the dead sister, now Dae-ryuk's arc. But it's something pretty commun in Kdramas, that you need to forgive your parents whatever they did. Even in Our Blues, a drama written by a famous writter, had the same theme...

The writer has made Dae-ryuk's mum story just for its dramatic impact, not because they care about this deeply disturbing relationship. There are other stories in the drama that need to be shown, so the horrible mother arc is swiftly wrapped up and brought to a 'happy' end, because apparently all is well and healing on its way once children have forgiven their parents (which they are expected to do in Korean dramas). I have lost respect for the writer for the thoughtless and cheap story telling. I am not sure even Joon-young's dimple will tempt me back for the final episodes.

Now, I love a truly over-the-top rereading of a story, with all the super-extra elements like the evil executive and the dead sister and the stalker of the one successful female cartoonist. I've been into it, and into the whole (really unnecessary) romance plot. But when they decided to resolve the problems of the troubled genius by having his mom reappear and demand a reconciliation? That was a terrible move. Do you think they see their audience as likely to be offended by the idea that a mother could be abusive?

Finally getting around to seeing theses episodes. Not impressed with the Artist DR storyline, way too complex an issue to tie up neatly like that, for all the reasons commented on by other beanies and @solstices.
Glad everything is in the open now with our leads, even if it's just to clear the way for the final episodes. Disappointing episodes overall though.

I'm so frustrated and appalled at the turn this show has taken. I am struggling to make it through episode 14 and I just feel downright betrayed by the writer. Abuse is abuse. They could've gone with a different direction, perhaps making it so he could've had a false memory or something but she actually did put him in chains. Her reasoning does not matter. Please spare me from this revisionist nonsense! I just want Dae Ryuk to get some therapy...

The way this writing team handled Dae-ryuk’s storyline has completely ruined the drama for me and there is no coming back. Dramas need to kill the narrative that victims need to forgive their abusers. It DOES NOT MATTER what underlying issues the abuser may have had, absolutely nothing excuses their violent behaviour. What Dae-ryuk’s mother did to him was extremely abusive and has damaged his ability to function as a regular adult. She should not have been forgiven under any circumstances and the message Today’s Webtoon sent with this conclusion is potentially very dangerous. Disappointment doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about it. I am thoroughly disgusted and appalled.