The PR/promos led us to believe the PEB would be a castaway turned diva upon her return to civilization. But we get little island life and very little diva which is a shame because PEB has talent and she can sing well.

The series does have a nice "found" family aspect to it, but everything was overwhelmed by dark, secondary story lines.

In the end, I found it to be an average drama. It fell into that growing category of "It Could Have Been Better."

Some scenes of stark domestic violence, could be triggering. But for most part it is a drama with very little to chew upon. There are some very nice people. There are some very bad people. There are some people who would give Santa a headache since he would not know which list to put them in. All the bad people die, either at the beginning or at the end. All the nice people live happily ever after. The middlers, well, chug along. The cinematography is nice, songs are balladic, and if you like that genre, nice. PEB's voice is a surprising stand out. Nothing else is outstanding. No humor, over much explaining. Overall, it is a decent one time watch.

The trailers may lead you to think this will be a whimiscal, fish out of water story and it's not that. It's more of a story of determination, resilience, optimism, kindness/selflessness, and found family. It's very fantasical in many aspects and that is part of the appeal (for those of us who enjoyed the show).

The trailer did include some ominous vibes but I don't think people paid much attention to it and then were surprised by the show starting with a tough subject and it being a relevant thread throughout the show. Honestly, even though it's a tough subject, it was handled well and realistically. It brought to light the difference those 15 years made such how laws change or police respond to a situation.

Yet another drama where the relationships are such a beautiful thing; the relationships between a father and his sons, the relationship between middle classmates, and even the relationship between a fan and her idol.
Also shown was how fandom can be escapism for some and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

One of the things I liked about the characters is they're flawed but it's realistic. People do act selfishly or in ways that are detrimental to themselves or their goals. People can have mixed and complicated feelings about someone who has hurt them.

This drama told a complete story in some ways so it's 12 episode run works but then sometimes I think "but what if it had been 14 or 16 episodes instead?" Would more time been focused on this or that? Do I personally want or need more time focused on this or that? There are folks who will complain about the lacking parts but I think the main thing is I just liked the show so I wanted more of it haha. I don't really care all that much about the lacking parts.

One of the other folks here often said that the music conveyed alot of the character's feelings and thoughts like a musical and I think they may have a point. It makes me appreciate the songwriters who came up with the songs for this drama, especially the song That Night (Night & Day). It really does captured a key theme for Mok Ha and Ki Ho.

I thought all the actors did a good job and I would like to see them work together again. A part of the reason I keep rewatching is because I just like this group of people. The brothers, the family, Mok Ha, all of them.

I think the music agency side is probably the weakest part of the show because it feels a bit nonsensical and unclear about what we're supposed to take away from it. Again, complicated relationships do exist and who knows, maybe stuff like this does happen (life can be stranger than fiction).

Mok Ha and Ki Ho's bond. I love it and I can't even put it into words haha. Romance isn't a big focus but their bond is. Even though they don't have many scenes together compared with other characters, it doesn't diminish their presence or importance in each other's lives. The teen actors were really good at setting the stage. I hope...

This show hurts me.

HURTS ME.

Just to be clear, I'm rating it a 9 out of 10, which is generous (I have lots of generosity when it comes to Eunbin; she's the keeper of my heart). But sometimes I get to a point in the show where I pause the screen and my mind thinks about how this could've been bigger, better, bolder. That is what hurts - having to admit that CD has a lot of unrealised potential - because while it was airing I ignored most criticisms, believing CD was an untouchable masterpiece.

Yes, in my heart of hearts it is, but I've got to be objective and say that this show didn't stick the landing as it was supposed to. It's hard to recommend to others bc not everyone is as forgiving towards its flaws as i am.

Don't go in thinking it is a lighthearted, fluffy romcom. There's barely any rom, and there's even littler com. It gets dark, and sometimes the tonal shift btw a bit of fantasy and the darker aspects is jarring.

What hurts most is the underutilization of Park Eunbin because that woman can ACT but there's something off that I still can't figure out. I think it's more of Mokha's characterisation - we could've gotten a character as iconic as Woo Youngwoo, yet all we got was viewers' comparisons of both characters, and most of it wasn’t positive. Although Mokha's 15 years of isolation was unrealistic, there's a way her survival mode in the island and subsequent acclimatistion to society would've been portrayed to draw the audience in and make us understand why Eunbin acted her the way she did.

As much as I love Lee Re, I don't think Eunbin was supposed to portray Mokha the same way Re did. However, it might’ve been better if present day Mokha's behavioural and personality changes were shown as a trauma response due to being isolated, instead of the audience having to make an inference from the little we were shown of her life in the island. We would've better understood why present day Mokha's dialect was more pronounced, why she walked oddly, behaved socially awkward, why she was eccentric. We weren't supposed to wonder why present day Mokha behaves the way she does; her behavioural change is a process that should've been showed.

I feel like most of Mokha's trauma was overlooked, and she ended up helping others rather than getting help herself. For a titular character, at some point it didn't feel like her show. The songs were amazing though. Her voice is chef's kiss. The album is no-skip, on-repeat.

I also wish the who-is-kiho mystery didn't go on as long as it did bc they pushed the ml in the background as a red herring. I think the show was purposely trying to make romance not the main focus, which is something I don't understand. Their backstory was well developed, but their present day romance wasn't as developed. I wish there was more romance, really. It's such a waste of chemistry.

CD focused on things it shouldn't have, and when...

I definitely recommend this drama, just don't come in expecting 1) a light and fluffy story or 2) a realistic depiction of surviving in the wilderness. Know going in that the desert island is more of a metaphor. Also know that Mok-ha's singing career isn't all the drama is concerned with, either. Rather, this is a story of escaping and healing from trauma. The drama captures the experience of people who survive child abuse and intimate partner violence, but also gives them identities and stories outside of just that.

This is a very character-focused drama. The characters make mistakes and have flaws, and even the worst people in the drama have moments where you might even feel empathy for them. The storytelling is thematic and has a lot of parallel structure; it has its flaws, but overall it is tightly written and it has an overall connecting story. While there are some gaps, some plot threads that don't really get tied up, and areas that could be improved upon, there is a feeling like it was planned pretty meticulously from beginning to end and they aren't just trying to fill episodes. I'm pretty sure you could watch this drama over and over again and pick up something new everytime. There are too many callbacks to list.

Anyone who is familiar with me on here knows that I'm a romance fan. I will not watch something with romance. This is not a romance in the traditional sense. There aren't many of the classic tropey scenes and you don't get much skinship. But, I have said this repeatedly now: despite that, I would say that this is one of the most romantic stories I've ever encountered. There is a love story deeply embedded--it isn't really the focus of the drama, but everything stems back to it. The love story is filled with yearning, longing, and breathtaking levels of devotion. There is a love triangle in the sense that two characters have feelings for the female lead, and the drama spends more time on it than I'd prefer, but IMO at the end of the day it's not even a competition. I don't think anyone will feel misled provided they pay enough attention and look at what the drama is showing you rather than what it is saying.

Finally, it has an amazing soundtrack, with songs that tie back to the story even if they are diagetic. The emotions and situations of the characters are expressed through the songs, even when the characters themselves can't tell you how they're feeling. I really recommend this to anyone who loves musicals or even just singing.
This is the first drama that I think ever made me outright sob, and it was during one of the musical performances.

I think a good measure of how you'd enjoy this drama depends on how you feel when watching a Disney/Pixar movie despite the domestic violence subplot. Even Disney/Pixar movies their dark, adult moments when you imagine them fleshed out in a real life context.

It's a lot of wish fulfillment. Sometimes that could be what you want. I found it magical, warm, and compelling in its theme of overcoming obstacles, fortitude, patience, and bringing together a family. Is there a word equivalent to squee when all you want to do is say "awww" and your face feels like the face-holding-back-tears emoji?

On the flip side, they can come off too maudlin and overly simple, and I can see how that can turn people off.

I loved it. Just the yearning, hopefulness, and earnestness that most people have shed by their early 30s. Any holes are filled with all these moments - big and little, but mostly little - that give the feels. Even though there are wonky parts, there is a lot of careful attention and intention to how the drama was ultimately implemented and delivered in the 12-episodes. It did a good job depicting the barrage of conflicting feelings and obstacles those facing domestic violence face - offering sympathy rather than pity.

The Castaway Diva isn't quite appropriate since the drama isn't about a diva or about being castaway on a literal island, but about all the characters who felt castaway and how Mok-ha takes the revelations from her hard times on the island to current struggles.

The actors all did a fantastic job and the director had put together an amazing ensemble who more than brought it. The writer and director did a great job allowing supporting actors to be in the spotlight.

PEB's voice was a surprise. Even more of a surprise is how her expressiveness in singing the songs on screen added to the songs. Listening to them on spotify is actually inferior to watching her perform them.

It did a great job with 12 episodes, covering 6 months of time in these characters' lives. I think it should have gone for 14 or 16 to really flesh out some of the transitions and storylines.

I agree with most of what has already been said here. I loved the first half, but the second was a big disappointment. The combination of characters making choices that felt out of character and my dislike/negative interest in the evil father plotline killed my interest in the story. I got part way through episode 10 and just couldn't muster up the energy or desire to finish.

This was one of my favorite dramas of the year, and it also lives in my drawer of all time favorites now.

To me, the heart of this drama is about healing from domestic abuse. The characters had hopes and dreams and other plotlines, but until that problem was resolved, everything else was on hold. I agree with the commenter in one of the recap threads that the castaway island part is a metaphor for dealing with these other issues that came up for Mokha (and one she used to help others deal with problems, too). Yes, she wanted to be a singer, yes, it was a bit about her diva idol, yes, there was a lot of great music and we explored the difficulties of being female and aging in the music industry. But really, it was about healing from domestic abuse. I felt that the final cornerstone was complete when at the end, Mokha and Kiho said that they used to hate the word "father," but finally they could feel warm at the concept. It meant they were finally free.

I loved the found family aspect, I loved the bond between Mokha and Kiho, I loved the music, and I found the discussion of the fan-idol relationship really interesting. It showed both the good elements and the bad. I have known people who have been very supportive, enthusiastic fans, and also people who have sort of merged their own identity to that of their idol in some unhealthy ways as well. But I haven't seen that really discussed in a storyline before, so it was interesting.

I also thought the drama did a great job of showing the intersection of justice and mercy, forgiveness and boundaries. The law leaned on mercy in the case of the stolen identity, but at the same time, the family did have to step up and be willing to take responsibility for their actions. Mokha suffered greatly at the hands of her father, but she still expressed her complex feelings when he died, how she didn't like what he did but she still felt sorry for him and the difficulties of his life. Kiho's family worked hard to bring their evil dad to justice, but there was that moment when the mom walked over an umbrella to him as he was standing in the rain. An uncalled-for act of kindness--followed by her drawing a boundary as she walked back to her real family. And, I just enjoyed the worldview presented in the drama of sometimes people make wrong choices in an attempt to protect someone they love, and we can look on the situation with compassion. But to truly fix things, you have to come clean. Otherwise, it's just a bandaid and things can get worse. These are the kinds of things I enjoy in dramas by this writer.

The promo focused on the most lighthearted elements of the drama (which certainly did exist as well), leading some viewers to expect things that weren't in the actual script, and then feel disappointed when it didn't go that way. I think there should have been more thought on the part of the advertisers. It's not like it was being written and filmed on the fly--the drama was finished by then...

This drama is not perfect but after a mixed bag this year, this was a satisfying watch. It's a heartwarming story that'll tug at your heart and grab your attention from the very first episode. Cinematography, directing and acting.... All perfectly executed! I think the writer tackled the domestic abuse plot with respect, couldn't have done it better so hats off to her. So much introspection to take in from episode to episode, you'll definitely take something with you at the end. There are a few disturbing scenes depicting domestic abuse and violence, to escape discomfort, make use of the FF button.

I don't think the rating above is accurate to the actual quality of the show. It should be higher.

I don't know how many people or how often folks refer to the rating when deciding on shows but the show is really worth more than its rating, flaws and all.