Nope. For my money, this didn’t wrap up well at all. I know others looked past everything to focus on the OTP, but I really couldn’t even take another scene of them gazing into each others eyes by the end.

Their happiness rode on a lot of other people’s pain that I don’t feel was thoroughly processed by the writers.

PS: Laughing about how it’s ok to lie to “ugly people” and tell them that they are attractive is not really all that funny. Neither is that reality show.

Ok, The murder resolution was not as bad as I feared it would be. I’m glad that it was vaguely accidental, and stemmed from fear of exposure rather than obsession. It’s totally weird to me that Deuk-chan would not have sent that last text Eom-ji was writing to Seung-joo - I think it would have helped Seung-joo look less suspicious, and already sounded like it could be a suicide note, so it would have fit with Deuk-chan’s plan nicely. I stand by what I said last week: I wish they hadn’t made the only gay character the murderer, but it’s not as bad as it could have been.

About Sol-hui’s parents. Her mom did not in any way deserve that story arc, but I do think that it was important for Sol-hui to get to a better place with their relationship. (I was in favor of that better place being, possibly, her mom in jail, but they didn’t ask me.) For that reason only, I’ll allow it. I didn’t mind her dad getting more screen time, but it would have made more sense for them to spread that story out over a couple more weeks if they were going to go that direction.

We got basically every other resolution I was hoping for! Kang-min and Sol-hui had a sweet final goodbye, Sol-hui realized that her cafe worker had been her friend all along, Do-ha’s mom was properly regretful of her actions for the right reasons for once, Sha-on and Chi-hoon (whose name I learned in ep 16) are well on their way, Do-ha cemented Jazz Club Ajusshi as his musical mentor, Chi-hoon got to flash his great smile everywhere, Do-ha joined up with some new musical brothers and totally knocked it out of the park, AND Sol-hui gained greater agency over her power.

I was fine with Sol-hui losing her power last week, because I imagined it playing out exactly like we saw: doing things she’d never been able to do before, figuring out how to navigate the world without automatically knowing someone was lying, still operating a thriving business without the VIP side of things. But I liked the way they handled it even more. This way she got to be active in the decisions about how she was going to use her power and how much she was going to let it dictate her life. It also occurred to me (along with @mistyisles apparently!) that she might never have learned to read people because she could just know immediately if they were lying or not, because wow is Do-ha terrible at it!

I really enjoyed this conclusion, and I’m pretty sure I enjoyed the drama way more than most folks did. To me the mystery of what happened to Eom-ji was not a subplot but instead one of the main stories the drama was trying to tell, so I didn’t mind as much when they started to focus on it. And the OTP was pretty adorable, from their first bus ride to their last.

So glad the FL's terrible mother got a happier ending than the gay man 🙄

Also, Eom-ji's life was so sad that I'm gonna pretend she was reincarnated into her favorite fantasy romance novel

@jls943 has said pretty much everything for me, so I'll just nod my head. I enjoyed a lot of this show, especially the OTP. Kim So-hyun was a delight to watch from start to finish, and the show was best when she was on screen with lots to do.

I do think too much time was spent on horrid moms (who should both be in jail) and boring side characters with boring stories, and if I could rewrite this show, there'd be lots less of them and their main role would be to trigger more spoof scenes of the Adventures of Secret Agent Kim Do-ha. The treatment of That One Gay Guy 🤨 particularly disappointed me because he was one of the few interesting characters to begin with.

Do-ha being an obviously terrible liar may be the most convincing acting Minhyun has done in this series.

My main beef with the drama was the weird way they framed gay love in the story. Why is it such a big deal why Deuk-chan stayed by Seung-ju's side, even before the murder… are not friends not allowed to have feelings for each other or something? Or is it just homophobia? Ig if one friend falls for another, but their feelings aren’t reciprocated, things can get very tense. But Deuk-chan didn’t make a big deal about it, he didn’t pursue Seung-ju in any way. He just helped and supported and was kind to him for years, even before the murders. I just don’t understand why it’s such a big betrayal that all the kindness and affection was based on romantic love. like, i think the focus should be on the fact he *murdered a girl and lied about it for like 3 years*.

i don't like harping on this, but when there's only one gay person in the entire drama - esp when queer characters are rare in dramaland - care should be taken. one of my queer friends even mentioned how Eomji straight up frames the gay man as dangerous when his only crime at that point was loving someone romantically. Anyways, ig she died as she lived… toxic af.

Not bad enough to abandon it, but not good enough to look forward to each week. Minhyun was perfectly cast in Alchemy of Souls, but here he didn't having the acting chops or charisma to convince me of his anguish. He was just a nice boy. Seo Ji-hoon was more interesting as 2ML.

I did like how they wrapped up Sol-hee's loss of power storyline, and the fact that she chooses to give up being the Liar Hunter to focus on seeing the good in others. That was a huge change from the girl we started outwit, who didn't trust anyone.

And finally, who do we need to petition to get Seo Ji-hoon that leading role?

I also didn't hate the mystery resolution. Once we knew the culprit was Duek-chan, I think it was about as good of a resolution as we could get for him.

I do wish we'd spent more time with Do-ha and the musical brothers, and less time with other not so enjoyable storylines *cough - Sol-hee's parents - cough, cough*.

As for the OTP, there were times when they were unbearably adorable together, but then we'd get these scenes between them that felt really awkward and stiff. I thought it was weird, but overall the cuteness ruled and I could see why they were drawn to each other.

also, you know you've become an adult when you're worried about a fictional character's financial stability lol. like, yeah, it's cute that Do-ha and her can have a "normal life" if she loses her ability but how was she gonna pay the bills?? like what career is available for her now?? Is she gonna go into the trades or something??

this is before I remembered she not only owns a cafe, as well as several gold bars. also before she miraculously gained her ability cause why not.

Thanks for the weecap @mistyisles
‘There, they argued over who was more delusional, and when he pushed her in an emotional outburst, she hit her head on a rock and died’👈🏾 love this reference to the second female lead template😆

On the whole I enjoyed this drama the couple were delightful, second male lead was cute and good at his job, the jazz bar Ajusshi, the baker who just needed someone sweet to run his store with and the bodyguard who got to be with his idol were all great side characters, I would have happily enjoyed spending more time with.

I could have done without the relentless PPL ad breaks for the plebs squeezed into the last two episodes because they couldn’t tarnish the high end products in the rest of the drama aka as a test drive of the entire Maserati 2024 line up. I see them as a typical man’s cars so I guess this is why they made a point of having the female lead happily choose to own and drive one.

Unnecessary characters of the year: the salad bar and bar owners off and on relationship, the mother who sucked her daughter dry instead of acknowledging she was a rubbish mum and repenting, politician mum who could not read the room and was clinging on to her fight for office way after everyone else had joined the alternative candidate. Random wilderness man who feels it’s best to be there for his daughter by sending pictures without words.

I cannot believe I watched the last two episodes of this. What did I think was going to happen--that I would continue to suspend disbelief and somehow compartmentalize the terrible bias of the Deuk-chan arc? I was wrong. I wasted that time.

I'm so glad past me decided to drop this drama because what the heck?

Overall, I'm annoyed at how they breezed past sensitive topics, a whole lot of toxicity and the fact that the ML needed serious therapy. Also Eom-ji's storyline was really tragic.

And why, just WHY, did the FL's mom need a "redemption" arc? She was such a lousy individual I'm- :')

This drama start so strong to me but then I get bored in the middle but I keep watching it because I hope it will getting better, but it's not T____T
I thought it will end at eps 14 and I wonder what this drama will deliver in last 2 eps? Then I just remember they need to wrap the issue about Solhee parents, DoHa mother etc etc ..
I lost my interest but I watch it till the end.

Thank you @mistyisles for the recaps, I also wish you could have rewritten a lot of this drama. With more Secret Agent Do Ha and lots more VIP Lie contracts because they were really entertaining. Take out the overacting plagiarizer, Sol Hui’s parents and all the local shop owners. And please give Deuk Chan at least one suit that he didn’t drown in, with a decently fitted shirt collar to boot, the poor guy always looked like he was wearing an office lady blouse.

I expected Sol Hui’s father was set up to live on the mountain because he would turn out to be the magic witness to the murder and … no, just there to cook noodles. 🤔 Like you do.

Amidst the messy kdramas we watched, this one counts as a good one. The thing I liked the most was how the male lead kept being honest to the end. Honesty and Clarity are the most underrated aspects in a relationship.
I hoped, though, that the girlfriend murder was suicide and the people only believed what they wanted to. I didn't buy she accepted the breakup that time. She was too obsessed to accept it that easily.

I ranted about this a bit on my fan wall that the parents resolution is completely far fetched and unnatural. Are we supposed to believe that during the span of the last episode the money hungry mother is going to be happy slumming with her dirt-poor-living-in-nature-among-bees, ex husband? For 15 episodes they told us how materialistic and terrible her mother was. And by ep 16 it is all resolved? Who cares if he finds a ‘hobby’ making money as a spicy noodles maker? She likes diamonds and designer things. This makes no sense!

The OTP was cute but I could feel the greenness of acting skills in our dear ML. In some scenes it was glaring. He is easy on the eyes though so I guess that makes up for it. A bit.

In my opinion this drama could have been wrapped up in 12 episodes. I get my bean so I am happy with that.

I wonder if this is that "I did it for the bean" moment for me. Then again alot of shows this year might fall under that category for me since I don't think I've ever felt particularly strongly or invested in any of them (that I remember; at least not recently aside from Heartbeat) but I just wanted to see how it concluded.

Anywho, as said I was never too into the story in the first place so none of the conclusions were particularly satisfying or impactful to me. Eom Ji's final unfinished/unsent text seemed (to me) that she really may have been suicidal but she still wanted to let Do Ha know whatever happened to her wasn't on him. I feel sad that the company is officially over but it's nice that everyone was able to move on. People in dramas are almost ALWAYS more forgiving and understanding than I am which makes my cynical, jaded self roll my eyes even if *technically* that's the more mature response. At least everyone fessed up to their actions and took responsibilty.
I don't know how I feel about her giving up her liar hunter business but it's also like whatever.

If I think about it too deeply, it would probably annoy me.

I figured Eom Ji's death was gonna be argument/fight which led to a shove which led to her hitting head but I kinda wanted that to play out differently; more like they were both at fault and it was a genuine accident but nope, from the moment the writer had them move locations, it wasn't looking good.
I did get his explanation for why he hid things as well as why he kept the evidence but sigh.

I once again don't know why things appeal to people the way they do cause I didn't find any of the pairings all that swoonworthy. But I think this was a popular and/or successful drama so clearly other people see things I don't about it.

The intesting point of this drama was her power. But it was not very well addressed. I think they addressed the point she didn't use it well, she lied herself a lot but very superficially. She didn't really have to make a retrospection of her actions and her lies. I didn't really understand if her power cameback why it worked differently... The past could have been treated better, they didn't give more elements about her mother going in prison but it clearly took a toll on their relationship.

For the rest, it was quite boring. Two very toxic people fighting over the same guy was so pathetic to watch 😅

The rest was just fillers :
- The brother should be in prison and not being at the funeral. Trying to stab every suspect and a poor innocent guy is not correct. He had years to help his sister when she was abused by their father...
- Who cared about the parents?
- The neighbors couple
- The employee and the toxic idol

For the couple, in theory they were great. They communicated a lot, were honest with each other, spent nice moment together. But in the reality, I found them super boring. It was too soapy and bland...

I dropped it long ago, but I see I was write who killed the girl from ep 1 I think 😂

The drama was fine I guess, lol. It didn't need murder or 16 episodes. This would have worked as a 12 episoder. That is all I have.

Thanks for doing the recaps, @mistyisles. :)

The best part of this show is the OTP and how healthy their relationship is. I remain firm in saying this from the beginning of the show till the end. Their scenes were a delight to watch because I knew that they trusted each other and was super supportive of one another. There was no one angsty moment between the two. They seemed smitten with each other, and this is something I want to see more on my screen.

And for a hundredth time, probably, KSH glows in this role.

I could do much less with violence involved in all shapes and forms here. DC has been sus since the beginning, but to treat his character this bad was so unexpected. It is the year 2023, and queer characters deserve much better than this. I'm disappointed at how the show wrapped up his arc. The actor did well, but I guess directing and editing did not. That is why I empathized with him much more than I expected, and that is quite irrational. It's true her death was accidental (tbh, she was so mean in saying those things. There were moments I also wanted to shut her up), but the way he handled the situation did not say he loved the ML at all. The excuses didn't add up. I was left confused how I should feel about this character.

I don't like Eom-ji's brother going on a killing spree trying to kill Do-ha. It was too violent and stupid. I wish the writer wrote the side characters more rational and multi-dimensional. They are too cartoonish and one dimensional here.

Cinematography is top-notch. I love it. The colors used, the costumes, the makeup, I think they are very on point. Even the FL's mom looks great in many of her outfits. What I don't understand is when the FL's mom said she couldn't get over how handsome the FL's dad was, I was so shocked. I wanted to ask what made she think so.

I loved the choice of having the FL dressed like Wednesday in the neighborhood festival. In Wednesday, she dated the killer not knowing he is the killer. Here, her boyfriend was assumed a killer when in fact he is not. I think it is a nice play, and I think it was intentional.

All in all, I enjoyed this one much more than I expected. Many things don't make the cut, objectively speaking; but somehow they didn't matter much to me. I enjoyed the ride a lot, and here is the conclusion I got from watching this one.

When something is right for you, you'll just know it. Even when it's not right for the whole world, you'll just know that it makes you happy.

I got my bean, and that's the good part (with Seo Ji Hoon). But we nearly forgot to watch this week's episode... it tells you how much we were interested in the (non)-plot. I'm not even angry at this drama to have devolved in such a bland mess with candy good ending for all.

There was no adult in this drama. No romantic spark either. The last scene picture is pretty but who can reasonnably belive that a couple in love sit with the bus alley between them? I wish at least as much efforts as for the visuals were put for the sound effects (and the writing). What should have been clear as a drumbell, was confusin till the end. Baby girl loose her magic ability and suddenly no lie ring. And she doesn't find the silence strange? Later there are echos when Cassendra talks. So bell when lie, echo when truth. But nothing = fine, suddenly everybody's honest??? Why am I tring to find some logic in this?

Another could have been drama, this one with a ML that could not.

Agree, Beanies, that this show was on the dull side, but the romantic realtionship between the leads was good. I was so glad there wasn't a love triangle between the cop and the composer. The arcs for both sets of parents were uninteresting and unnecessary fillers. I would have liked more on bodyguard Chi-oon and singer Sayoen and all of the friends arcs.

I was a bit stumped on what to write here, which is a first because I always seem to have thoughts ready to go! I think Beanies have already captured most of what I did think through this finale and overall, but @mistyisles I think you summed it up best - it is a bit more complex than just “bad show” or “good show.” The OTP were cute and there was definitely some very interesting food for thought. Could we have done away with some plot points or changed how they were written? For sure, and I think this is where my slight frustration comes from because it had potential and it was squandered for the most part. Doesn’t make it a bad show but it wasn’t as good as it maybe could’ve been. I’ve definitely enjoyed squeeing and having debates about the morality of lying with fellow Beanies though so thank you all for that 💜

This show was a mixed bag for me. I like the leads and the trajectory of their story. But I still felt that there could've been more to the story.
I think Kim So Hyun is great and overall better than this drama. I liked that she seem to enjoy her scenes especially the cutesy stuffs with HMH. HMH was serviceable but could do well to improve more as an actor to make his emotional scenes believable. I am not as invested in the murder mystery and was always looking forward to his scenes with KSH.

If I were to rewrite this drama, I would've liked DoHa's Mom to have done more for her son.
I didn't like that SolHee's Mom got a slap on the wrist. She is still her money grubby self especially when that PD told SH's Dad that he could earn a lot of money for the spicy ramen. It would be nice if he got the business going on his own or with another woman. Then he earned a lot of money to rub it in his ex's face. Then SH's Mom end up with a man who conned her back.
Deuk Chan was awful for hiding the truth for so long. If he really wanted to minimize the harm to DoHa, he should've given himself up sooner. I guess then we don't have any topic for 16 episodes.
Instead of reconciling SolHee's parents, the last episodes shouldve been focused on giving more direction to the leads's careers. More of DoHa's songwriting, SolHee arc about choosing to llom T the good in people is all nice and all.
But she could also find another purpose for her gift to help ppl example, aboiding to be wrongfully accused for a crime or something.

Hyun Min is so pretty, I dont care that he cant act LOL. The last two episodes were pretty much fillers. The story ended with the first part of episode 15.
I wouldve definitely preferred to see more of the shopkeepers and less of the parents.
This was a good watch, regardless

My god, they’re so cute. They whole blushing and squeeing when they changed their way of addressing each other; so adorable.
Also, Why would Do ha tell her she’s ugly? That’s a truck request/demand 😂😂😂😂

Finally done with ep16. This drama could have ended in ep15 and I wouldn’t care about the relationship shenanigans of the parents or the business owners in the next episode. Her powers could have remained gone and I would be satisfied. Ep16 served to prove my grievance against the unnecessary subplots and side characters. This drama could have been 12eps if they dealt away with all the side characters.
Nevertheless, it was a cute storyline. The OTP never separated, they had matured conversations and they understood each other. They could kiss too.
The murder perpetrator could have had any other reason to kill the ex girlfriend and not chalk it up to another queer character committing a crime of love. There were several reasons they could have used while Duek Chan will still be the perpetrator.