Thanks for the weecap @missvictrix I agree the lack of closure on the main love relationship is the one element of disappointment for me.

This has been my favourite drama because it was an ‘only in Korea’ drama:
The feature film like award winning cinematography.
The OST which was a perfect match for capturing the mood.
The long term nature of the friendships, and the complications of family dynamics.
The second lead who can’t read the room and assumes they can charm the lead enough to win their heart from their true love.
The two people who personified nunchi; Yijung climbed the ladder and used it to her advantage time and time again but was genuinely thoughtful not at all manipulative whilst Chuljun was like the social narrator but still fell victim to the systems and was unable to prosper.
The fact that Yijung had to explain gender politics to her daughter.
The friends to lover trope beautifully done until …
The friend’s meeting place that was empty most of the time.
The childhood connection that made sense, and had Fight for my way similarities.

This was the highlight of my week, the two episode drop was perfect but I wished it was a Netflix whole series drop, I would have gladly stayed up all night to binge watch this one.

The only thing I am not liking is the infiltration of smoking into K dramas these days. I can just about handle that alcohol is the liquid of choice, with very little long term consequences ever shown but smoking is a massive trigger for me.

My 2023 Korean drama of the year, yes I am calling it at the halfway point.

It was a good drama but it was frustrating too because it could have been better with more episodes.

My favourite moment of these 2 last episodes was Jae-Min's speech to the Vice-President : I never felt ashamed to work for Seyong because I didn't care enough. I think it's the issue with big society, there are so many issues (nepotism, favortism, fraud, etc.) that the employees are just here for the minimum.

I liked how the office worked and how they handled each character. Chul-Jun was quite surprising, I thought he would be more on side to keep things like they were.

Yoon-Jo's familly plot was not very well handled. I understood the anger of her sister, she never tried to protect her from their mum. She was quite naive with her mum.

Yi-Jung has different facettes and it was nice to see her as a badass boss, bad mother, ex-wife, good friend. But I still can't understand what happened between her and Jae-Min...

Dong-Hoon was a nice second lead but Yunho kinda made him bland.

I was expecting more about the "romance". They aren't young anymore. They could date during her studies. It's not like they will stop to see each other in the mean time. They don't have to go to the usual Korean dates like the amusement park. So I don't think it makes sense to wait again.

The PD did a good work with this drama. He suits romance office!

A good recap. Overall, this was a really enjoyable watch me, but yeah, these last two episodes were a little underwhelming. I actually thought the drama was clear the lead couple were going to get together, and not a "semi-rejection" at the playground.* Was I wrong? But I agree, the events after the confession were pretty unsatisfying. I'd loved the friends to lover arc thus far, but why spend most of the last episodes on her tepid relationship with 2ML. I get jealousy as the motivator, but this much time, this late at the expense of the main couple? And why do they have to wait till she completes grad school? Couldn't they have given us something to indicate their status in the closing scene? Uff.

(*I swear if I visit Korea and there are actual children in a playground instead of beautiful young couples in midst of some drama, I will be so disappointed.)

Thanks to Race, I was kinda cured of my aversion towards Hong Jong-hyun. My drama first drama of him was Wild Romance, and he was stiff and awkward on the screen. I think he is suited to playing characters that do not show extreme emotions. Jae-min was competent, but never boastful. He dislikes office politics but knew he has to play the game a bit. There was so much groundedness and humility in his body language, and also jadedness, that I was really surprised that it was Hong Jong-hyun that plays this character. Maybe my bar was really low. But he makes Jae-min very charming and endearing and I can totally understand why Yoon-jo has such a long crush on him.
I also love the friendship between the three friends. They do not overshare and they respect each other's boundaries. They don't share everything with each other but it was more of a constant companion throughout their life, which was really nice and realistic. Compared to other shows that depict this trope, I found that this is the mature version of it. It's like, these people have been in my life since forever, and I hope we can stay like this for a long time to come. Although they went to different high schools and universities, and Jae-min at some points went abroad and did military service, their friendship withstood the tests of time and distance. There is a sense of familiarity and comfort in all their scenes, whether as a triplet or duo, which warms me.
I don't think I would love this show for a long time but I loved it while it lasts.

For most of its run, this was almost as enjoyable as my favorite office drama Misaeng. But the ending almost ruined it for me--not so much the lukewarm resolution to the main romance, but mainly by Yoonjo's decision to resign and pursue further study. To me, it completely went against her character and experience. One of the reasons I was rooting for her and one of the tensions in the show was to see how Yoonjo would survive corporate culture without the usual educational qualifications/connections. And so it was great to see how her integrity, wits, skills and experience got her through all the challenges. But then suddenly she quits just so that she can study more? After turning down an offer of a big promotion? What a thoroughly unsatisfying, nonsensical capitulation to the conventional wisdom on how to succeed in Korea or how to measure success in Korea! I thought if anyone could succeed in a place like Seyong without the conventional qualifications it would be Yoonjo, but no, the writers had to make sure that Yoonjo becomes just like all the other people running the rat race in corporate Korea. I for one don't believe for a second that taking some more business classes (probably much of which can be learned online these days for free) will help her do her job better; in fact, her mentor Yijung had already acknowledged that she's more than qualified by offering her the promotion.

The drama was very enjoyable as long as it focused on the office politics and business practices. The romance and family relationships were written and acted poorly, so many side characters remained a flat caricature, from the most boring SML to the promiscuous mother.

This is why the last episode was so disappointing. The office part took a backseat and the relationships the front seat. No escape from tropes either (playground and swings, time jump, mother and daughter reunion brought about with this ridiculous scrapbook, grandmother's funeral giving ML an opportunity to offer a shoulder to cry on). At least it made me understand why I had trouble liking the FL. It was the discrepancy between her professional ability and the often immature, childish manner of speaking, I don't know if this was supposed to be cute. She was the most credible when she was not cute.

Another nice drama that I should have finished by only reading the last recap.

I really enjoyed this drama. I am sorry it ended, it needed a little more. Also if you were going to have a romance, have a romance. I am sad we never got to see the bartender decide to date the newspaper writer. I wanted to see her make that decision and follow through. Also if you are going to do a time jump, do the 2 years and lets see our leads get together. Outside of that though, I really enjoyed this drama and hope to see more like it.

Good series. This is one of my favorites for 2023.

Liked the open ending. I like the main characters so I wouldn't mind a second season with these characters.

Good work by actors in front of and staff behind the camera.

Personal note... I enjoy the work of Baek Ji-won. She is outstanding and she appears in a lot of good k-dramas. She always brings her A game.

I expected the identity of Chul-jun's ex-wife to be revealed, but it didn't happen. I was thinking his ex-wife was someone the audience would know. In fact, I was thinking his ex-wife was going to be team three leader: Eun-jeong.

RACE. Does everyone know what it stands for?

Last two series (RACE, and Call it Love) on Wednesday have been outstanding. I hope the next series is just as strong.