Oh, my only joke was Park Eun-bin will be the future guest on BBC Radio 4 radio show Desert Island Discs.

See, umbrella-nims? It's safer here, back on the island with your cousins and I, from misuse by psychopath.

Sometimes I lay awake at night wondering about what could have been. They are childhood friends! Who bonded through traumas that only the other could understand! They tried to run away together! He sacrificed his chance so she could escape alone! Separated for 15 years! He never stopped looking for her! It’s because of his insistence that she was rescued! But he couldn’t tell her who he was without risking his family’s safety! So he gave her this hot and cold attitude! And it bothered her! So they did this push-and-pull thing for a bit! He could live hiding himself behind a mountain of lies, but he couldn’t let her bury her dream! But she was willing to give it up in a heartbeat to protect him!! Then they recognized each other and were very happy for a while! Then he had to give her up! But she wouldn’t leave him!! Then they kissed!!! And live happily ever after!!!
 
There was so much going on! They could have made a whole 16-episode miniseries based on that much content. The actors had the chops and the chemistry to carry it all. It would have been a love story for the ages! 
Instead, the writer decided to use the first half focusing on Chaeho’s character and ignoring Kiho’s to keep up the “mystery” of who was Kiho and who’s MH’s endgame. And then focusing on other storylines that weren’t all that engaging or entertaining (I love Ranjoo but they could really chop some of her storylines off and it wouldn’t hurt; and don’t get me started on the whole evil dad thing, which obviously overstayed its welcome). As a result, they completely hindered the main love story’s potential and missed out on all the emotional heights they could have reached.

I think the strongest part of this drama was the childhood. The writing and the actors did really well.

For the present, I don't think she needed to be 15 years on this island, only 7 years would have been way enough. I think a longer period would have made to come back in a normal life way more difficult.

Mok-ha-Ranjoo : it started well. Even if they were lying, I really like their relationship. But after that, Ran-Joo's arc took a weird turn with her relationship with Lee Seo-Jun and it stagnated with Mok-ha. It wasn't clear that her dream was to become a singer, but Ranjoo forced her to live her own life and not through hers.

Mok-ha-Ki-Ho : it was my favourite part of this drama because of the trauma they shared with their father's abuse. They really helped each other to with that. I never had doubt about the real identity of Ki-Ho. So, even if he didn't show anything, I knew that he did a lot of things and it was just a question of timing. But I agree that I would have been nice if Mok-ha shared more moments with him to feel attracted to his present form and not her memories of him.

Kang Sang-Doo was the best character! He cared so much about his family! I'm curious about the mother's past. It seems she fell in love with men who helped her, she wasn't lucky with Jung Bong-Wan, but then foudn the rare pearl! I liked how they just added Mok-ha to their family because their sons asked.

It was nice to see Park Yong-Gwan's evolution. And I liked that Mo-Rae wasn't the typical villain.

Min Sung-Wook takes his role in While You Were Sleeping back as prosecutor! It was a nice cameo :p But I don't understand why the family didn't ask for a lawyer...

During the last two episodes I was either grinning or had tears in my eyes, which is really rare for me. On the whole, I'm happy with the ending. Of course, I would have liked more KH/MH scenes, but I'll take any breadcrumbs I can get.

My highlights:

Of course the kiss, which came across so natural and warm. One of the best kisses in the dramas I've seen, in my opinion.

Ki-ho's statement while sitting next to his biological father but referring to his real father as "father".

That the father has survived and the family is now officially a real family.

I'm glad the writer didn't make a compromise and give the biological father an undeserved redemption arc. It was incredibly satisfying to read on his urn that the deceased had no family or friends. The best punishment there that could be for him.

How fitting for this couple that Ki-ho didn't have to tell Mok-ha what he had done for her, she already knew.

I'm sure I've forgotten various highlights, but that's it for now.

And how glad I am that Ki-ho got a (slightly) better haircut in the end.

@quirkycase thanks for the recap

Not going to lie but Ep.11 got me bad first with Ran Joo's mom, the enquiry scene, then with the adoptive dad, Sang Doo, but WTF is wrong with the writer for pulling that shitty move at the end of the episode? If the writer can put so much details into making the abusive dad even more worse, then she should have put enough efforts into making the final episode seem like a celebration without too much emotional suffering. I am so infuriated and will never again watch this writer's new work until and after I read the good reviews of the finale.

The mom and dad starting over their lives was heartwarming to watch, Bo Gyeol and Woo Hak's bromance was endearing, as should all sibling relationships be, the family getting to retain their jobs with their real identity was justice served right, Moh Ka not immediately shooting to stardom, but having her first live event at a small local festival were all decent closures.

The disappointing and nonsensible parts:
1. Entire RJ plot. What was the point of her saying she will never give up singing after having a renewed understanding of her mom's sacrifice, only to work as a producer at the end?
2. The CEO arc and the company shares. One time he wanted the best for company and was ready to kick RJ, but now he lost the investment because he still cares for her and all his schemes to keep RJ from being a partner was because of RJ mom's wish?
3. Moh Ka working in some company when she should be training as a singer. Is this supposed to be funnh scene or another showcase of Moh Ka's naivety and kindness?
4. Moh Ka continuously changing the lyrics to other people's song! Girl, just write your own song and produce it.

What should have been:
1. More of Moh Ka and Mo Rae bonding. That scene was so funny and showed signs of budding friendship.
2. RJ training young singers in her company
3. Moh Ka can be a genius singer, but how can she possibly know the current trend and new variations in music. She should be shown taking some sort of special classes.
4. Ki Ho taking Mok Ha on small inconspicuous dates.
5. More scenes of Moh Ka's survival on the deserted island.

I remember pointing out in an earlier post about how quickly Mok-ha acclimatized herself to society after being stranded for 15 years and I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one who noticed too.

Mok-ha-Ki-ho:
I agree with the comments here, if we had spent more time developing their relationship, I would've felt a stronger connection to them compared to the connection I felt to Mok-ha and Chae-ho.
The time they used tryna bait us into thinking Chae-ho was Ki-ho could've been used on more interactions between Ki-ho & Mok-ha instead. I remember him being barely present around the first few eps too. They only got a few adorable scenes towards the end but it was overshadowed by the evil dad plot.

Ran-joo & Seo-Jun:
She started off with a TON of potential but I felt that they did her character really dirty by getting her to back out of the contract. I was actually hoping she would take over RNJ as CEO instead.

Lee Seo-jun was such a bland character who had this really weird relationship with Ran-joo (idk I skipped their scenes it was SO weird) and this constantly tired look on his face.
A complete waste of Kim Joo Hun, he's such a charismatic actor which shined in his previous roles so this came as quite of a shock to me to see him so bland.

Aside from that, I did find the final scene really beautiful and the parallelism to the first ep was really well done. I'll miss this lot!:')

I think this show needed two more episodes to flesh out a little more. Unlike many here, i didn't mind the abusive father plot as i get bored really fast if there are no stakes or thrilling parts lol. Probably why i mostly watch thrillers, but this was a nice break from that. The wholesomeness made my heart feel light.

But I really wanted to see more of Morae and Ranjoo, so i think 1(or even 16) 4 instead of 12 episodes would have been a lot better. They could have let the plot breathe a little and have more character interaction and wrapped every storyline up more nicely. Which the writer did well either way, but Ranjoos and Moraes arcs fell a little short compared to the other arcs.

Still, i rate this like a 8.5-9.0. I was looking forward to every episode. I didn't mind the short romance either, i prefer platonic relationships in drama and i didn't need a full romance storyline to take up more screentime. I like that Mokha and Kihos relationship was more open ended, everyone can imagine for themselves how their story goes. Maybe they stay friends, maybe they marry and have a kid. Who knows.

Also, the writer apparently put several crossover characters from her previous drama while you were sleeping (i think the reporter and the prosecuter) so now i got curious about that drama. It was on my watchlist anyways, so it got a little higher on my watchlist ranking haha.

I was expecting this to be posted later in the day haha. Y'all move fast.
Hmmm, where to start? I'm kinda sad that the show is over but then I'm also kinda glad the show is over because now I can just watch it in its entirely without the waiting and wondering.

I knew Abusive Dad's final move was going to be murder-suicide because what else was left? Even if he got what he wanted by them being punished by the law, it's not like they would've come back to him. There was no outcome in which his family returns to him. Plus it's like the final chapter in the abuser playbook.

It's tragic and I almost feel sorry for him because in his mind, he genuinely thought he loved them but his idea of love was so warped and confused. Kudos to the actor because I don't these kinds of parts are easy to play especially when the character is supposed to have complicated, mixed, and layered feelings.

It still bugs me that I don't know how he found the location of their home/salon. It doesn't make sense the insurance selling friend would go to Ki Ho's house or even the vicinity of it.

Abusive dad's pettiness was just so brazen. It wasn't surprising but still, the audacity to say "look at the CCTV! He was the violent one; he was choking me" when that same video would show the women in discomfort on the couch -Mok Ha's call to the cops & him approaching her - him going towards angel dad with Mok Ha trying stop him leading to her & Woo Hak being thrown/knocked into the chair - abusive dad raising his hand to hit Mok Ha which led to Woo Hak throwing abusive dad down in the first place.

Abusive dad did die in peace though since he thought his plan succeeded but man, that was some instant karma for him to get the exact fate he wanted to give angel dad: recorded with no family, the sons not having his name, and the mom is now angel dad's legal wife. And everything just kept going as it always had without him. I'm just the tiniest bit surprised even blabbermouth neighbor didn't show up for him but then again, who would even tell him about the death?

Kinda bugs me that the insurance money goes to waste. Even if the family didn't use it, donate it or something. That was like free money!

The cameo of the prosecutor from While You Were Sleeping! That was a cool surprise and it honestly tempted me to consider rewatching that show, especially the scene when his secret relationship is revealed haha.

I felt like him singing meant something but I didn't remember if that was a thing in WYWS. Maybe it had no reference that show and was just used as a means if showing angel dad's nervous laughter.

I liked how the prosecutor wasn't even the tiniest bit swayed or manipulated by abusive dad and he even noticed abusive dad's smirk. And abusive dad didn't even know what do without himself once he realized, after being told yet again he stalked people, the law *wasn't* on his side and he truly has no power over their lives anymore.

Sidenote: gotta love how he said "they're my family, not possessions that I own. How could I forget about them?" when he legit considered them things he owns and is entitled to no matter how he treats them.

This show was about domestic abuse and stalkers, and as such very realistic. I sometimes talk about how K-dramas mention specific laws as if they need to be changed, and mostly they are depicting as absurd that the police cannot just access any information, look through any phone, and search through any house that they want.
It's nice to see a drama that gives some of the reasons there must be ab actual reason and a warrant before you do such things. And that people can wish to hide facts about themselves that are not illegal; they just need privacy.
It would have been off-topic if the show had explored actual behaviours and traumas related to being stranded for years alone; because the island was a metaphor, and was there to symbolize circumstances in life that feel overwhelming, and the notion of being "too late".
A show about the actual lives up people who have been lost alone could be interesting ... another time.
I am pretty sure she would have been hard to understand, because even people who are isolated in prison have their conversation skills damaged; they forget to articulate and to distinguish thinking from speaking, because when you speak with yourself, that distinction is unimportant. So they often mumble a lot and think they are making themselves clear. That could be a problem for a singer, for example.

I liked the drama, a lot. There were some good meaty storylines there,

1) An aspiring singer stranded in an island for 15 years and then re entering world, will she achieve her dream?

2) Two teens going through the same struggle of abusive dads, helping each other out during the worst times. Will they manage to escape their respective abusive dads and have a peaceful life?

3) A family that took on false identities to protect themselves. Will they manage to prove that the false identity was a necessity or will they lose everything they worked for in the last 15 years?

4) A brother who lost his memories because of abuse, trying to find his true identity and understand his history. Will he manage to find all the answers he is looking for? will he be able to handle the truth?

5) The story of an once popular singer, now struggling to find her place in the world. Will she manage to find it?

6) A story of 2 singers, with very different fates, one became the top singer in the country, while the other became her manager, however both are going through their own nightmares. Will they manage to get over their insecurities?

Seriously, for a 12 episode series, the writer sure came up with a lot of stories. This could easily have been 4 different K dramas of 12 episodes each.

Overall I liked how they ended different storylines, except CEO Lee, they gave him an easy way out by putting it all on a poor dead woman, who had dementia. I wanted him to stay all grey, with his moral dilemmas. It would have been more powerful IMO.

While I didn't enjoy the scenes with the abusive dad, I thought the way his story ended was perfect. He wouldn't have gone down without making one final move and as painful as it was to see angel dad suffer, it was needed for the story.

That sunset rooftop kiss was one of the most beautiful scenes ever. So well deserved and well shot. That back light was exactly matching the smiles on their faces, both of them blindingly bright. The kiss was sweet and filled with wonder, magic and tenderness. Why, oh why didn't we get more moments with them both alone. How did the writer even think we needed to see more background stories than private moments of these two!? I will never understand this

@quirkycase..."I felt like the writer sacrificed Bo-geol’s character development for the surprise factor. It took way too long for me connect with Bo-geol given I was all in for both young Ki-ho and adult Woo-hak from the jump." Phew...thanks for this, it's so nice to know there were others that saw the same drama I watched. I completely and thankfully agree with you 100%. You covered ALL the touchpoints that bothered me, but also noted the bits of sparkly magic inside the family of characters that kept me watching the last half of this drama. Sometimes a writer gets too enamored with a plot concept and turns it into a conceit by taking it a bridge too far. In this case it was the mystery of which brother would win Mok-ha's heart, but the OTP relationship was stalled so long that it was inevitable that some (like me) would jump on the wrong ship and never be able to swim back over to the other one. I clung to Mu-hak like a lifesaver buoy, hoping he would pull ahead, but sank into disappointment. Definitely not a popular opinion with many here. I was also disappointed by Mo-hak's character as written, which wasn't as true to life as I would expect from someone who'd been through such hardship. Instead of needing healing from her new family, she came off the island and took on the role as savior instead, protecting them as well as Ra-joon. Just a little overkill for me. She was the poster girl for such unusual positivity and confidence, which is great, but it also veered towards using a lot of "you should or you shouldn'ts" in her unsolicited advice to others. Park Eun-bin is such a stellar actress, but somehow this part didn't land as well for me. I think it was the script because her character seemed laden by things like her thick accent and stiffer body language. Apologies to the many fans of this one, perhaps I'm just being a sore loser because my ship didn't come in?

Thanks for the recaps quirkycase.
The most compelling part of this show for me was the teenage actors, they really were so much more interesting than the adults. 
I did like the adult brothers' relationship but felt they needed more screen time (too much time wasted on the abusive father that could've been better utilized) and stronger writing to flesh out their characters, they both felt two dimensional. 
Overall I only finished this for Chae Jong Hyeop but will also watch Cha Hak Yeon's next project for sure.

When the brothers and their fam found out that they weren’t going to face awful consequences for the identity theft, and Mok-ha met Ki-ho on the roof and just rushed into his arms, I was happily crying more than I ever have in a drama before. I’ve certainly ugly-cried when people have died, or been separated, or are recounting something personal and painful, but in this instance I was so happy that there didn’t seem to be another way to react. After 15 years of looking over his shoulder and hiding and wondering when he would be found by his terrible violent father, Ki-ho could breath, and just live. Him embracing Mok-ha just then felt like such a reunion. He could finally be Ki-ho again, instead of Bo-geol, which meant that he could be with her - and be with her as himself. He said the only time he wanted to be Ki-ho again, the only time he regretted being Bo-geol, was when he found her on the island, and this interaction was him becoming himself again, and embracing her like he wanted to then. Ugh, I just loved it so much.

The show had a nice ending for a mixed drama for me. (I won't rant again about the stuff I had problems with--although it should be noted that I only have rants about dramas that I care about because I feel they had/have potential to be better.)

The stuff I liked and made me glad I watched:
The young actors: They shined in every scene they had together. To the extent I shipped Mokha and Kiho, it was the younger actors that sold me on their bond. The young Mocha also had that Jjang when singing--it was her version of the clear-eyed talent and heart that sold me on her as an optimist and singer.

The Park/Lee Family: Found and made family. A family that was a family with based on actions, not ideas or birthright. And the dad showed that it's not the hairstyle on a hairstylist that matters, but the heart with which one does everything--he was the icing on the cake and I too will always love you. As someone who was a little late in growing out of the too cool for school stage to accept easily such lovely heartfelt gestures from a similarly open-hearted loving parent, the whole cake sequence was poignant to me. Love you, Angel Father!

The Brothers: I discovered both CHJ and N in this drama. Rizz in each their own sweet way. And together--WooHak blowing Kiho a kiss after he decided that he was going to always express himself was really a master chef's kiss.

Okay: One minor rant about something I haven't ranted about before. Ranjoo should have sued the CEO's ass about the shares when it was clear she had met the 2 million threshold way before she terminated her contract. How that all played out, using the mother's desires for her daughter (her living through her daughter to fulfill her unfulfilled dreams, I didn't love) and that CEO Lee honored that, was just plain insulting. Give her her rightful shares. She could decide after that whether she wanted to be an executive or an artist. Nothing noble or sweet about what happened her--just plain old fraud and stripping someone of her rights and money.

The home stretch home run??? No, a long fly out at the warning track.

Episode 11 gives the theme of givers and takers, and who is trash.
Who is trash? Just about everybody. Who are the givers? Who are the takers? Just about everybody in some form or fashion.

Ran Joo’s mom story gets the clarity we assumed: she was once a singer but had a child (out of wedlock?) and gave her daughter her stage name. This was the most compelling aspect the finale weekend. (Which led to an open question that I cannot recall was even mentioned: what happened to Mok-ha’s mother? We think we see her attachment to Ran-joo as a big sister, but really it was more parallels RJ/mother-daughter.)

Mok-ha’s weak confession as Ki-ho and his family was about to be cross-examined in their criminal fraud cases appeared to be an attempt to put hope into Ki-Ho just as Mok-Ha held on to her feelings for him during her 15 years of isolation. But I never got over their trauma bonding friendship as the foundation for something more.

Man, just when the show turned the happiness corner, it went very, very dark. The shock value was clearly directed at Korean audiences’ fears after a year of random public knife attacks. I just don’t why Evil Dad was not arrested by the prosecution that knew his domestic violence, his threat to his family and attempted murder charge.

The finale’s last 17 minute Mok-Ha introspection was boring. Her first stage “Fly Away” was a Disney princess song, not a k-pop diva song. The show ended without any resolution of key issues: Mok-Ha’s relationship with Ki-Ho, Ran-joo’s agency share drama; and how fame and its success anxiety would affect her; and how everything around her would have changed after her debut. But we just see a happy found family around the dinner table like nothing happened to them.

In the 15 hour run time for the show, we maybe had 30 minutes of short island scenes (about 3 percent of show) and we maybe had 30 minutes of PEB actually singing (which was odd since she can actually sing well - - - I was perturbed that they used an OST cover when she was recording in the studio). I think the promo PR was a bit bait and switch. I wanted a full castaway story and a full diva story for PEB but got nothing substantial (like filling up on free, tasteless bread sticks before the meal). The elements and premise were there waiting to be harvested. Instead, we got no fish-out-of-water story of MH having trouble getting back into society, or trying to reach her dream. It was too easy. We got a pile of criminal cases of identity theft, domestic abuse, business fraud, harassment/stalking and attempted murders.

Kim Hyo Jin was the real star of the show. Her character had the most castaway and diva roller coaster moments. But her character was never fully flushed out (the relationship with the CEO, her new career as producer, and whether she found any happiness outside the industry.) Ki-Ho was next in line as being the focal point...

For me, this drama is disappointing in some respects. On the one hand, it is a fairy tale about rescue after 15 years, which should not have happened. No one would survive this. About a singing career that would never happen in Korean reality. About a love story that existed, but so far away in the script that it almost didn't exist. One thing I really liked about the script was the story of a family in which there was a father who abused other members of the family. Here, the overcoming of Korean stereotypes that always prefer the superiority of DNA over interpersonal bonds is shown. I liked that the biological father who didn't deserve a family eventually lost it and no one even wanted his ashes. I liked that the non-biological father became the beloved father. In this way, for me this drama became the story of two brothers, their mother, her new love, i.e. this family. For me, FL was like a supporting character and I'm not talking about airtime here. Her story was just too fairy tale.

I enjoyed this drama quite a bit without expecting to. I was not majorly invested, and at the same time I enjoyed the story. There were many moments that made me tear up, the domestic abuse felt very real, and one felt so helpless to see it played on screen.
The castaway bit felt very unreal, and actually maybe a bit unnecessary. The life lessons learned on the island could have been picked in other places too! That a kid could make fire, feed herself, learn to swim, build a house, run away from wild animals etc seemed too farfetched. Although fun to imagine.
What really worked for me in this drama is that everyone worked towards something and the small steps we take were shown as really important. One of the characters I enjoyed the most was that of Yoon-Ran-joon. She faces her fears, her failures and disappointments in small steps. It was fulfilling to watch her understand her limitations, come to terms with it slowly and change directions in her career.
One of my main reasons of picking this drama up was Chae Jung Hyeop. And I am glad I did. I had fun watching him in this role after enjoying his role in 'Love All Play' way too much. I watched a few episodes of 'Unlock my Boss' for him but didn't like the drama too much. So, to watch him here was like a nice gift I enjoyed very much.

One thing I really liked: MH and KH's relationship which was so steady. We didn't get the usual heady build-up to a relationship - they kind of just started as a long-married couple and kept going. And it was brilliant and beautiful.

Also, I gave a cheer for the prosecutor. After so many dramas where the prosecution is corrupt, or the only ray of hope in a failing system and fated to spend days battling the odds in court, it was kind of refreshing to see a prosecutor simply do the job well, spot the inconsistencies in statements, get to the truth efficiently and wrap it up quickly. I did half wonder if this was PPL for the Prosecution Service...

I do agree with @stberry above that this needed to be a more tightly focused drama, and I would have preferred the focus to be on the family and the escape from parental abuse. That was a drama I really wanted to watch. Honestly, the diva part did not grip me, and as others have pointed out, the title mis-sold the drama, as both the "castaway" and the "diva" were not as prominent as they needed to be. On top of that, the writer clearly fell foul of the child-decorating-a-Christmas-tree syndrome - keep bunging everything on it and it's bound to be amazing at the end!! Needed to stick to classy and elegant, methinks...

I loved this drama so much. It really landed in my top drawer of most-loved dramas. It had what I really love in a drama--likeable characters, an actual plot, characters who struggle with inner conflicts centering on the clash of core values (in this case, safe anonymity vs integrity), and warm family connections.

To me, the main conflict was the one with the abusive dad(s), and nothing else could fully happen until that was dealt with. I feel like the key conclusion to that was the moment in the last episode where Mok Ha and Ki Ho look at each other and realized, in the past, the word "father" was a horrible word to them, but now they could look at it as a lovely one. They were free of the terror, and they got a nice dad in the process. Which meant they were finally free to follow all of their dreams, whether music or producing or developing their relationship more or whatever.

I love how this writer seems to find a perfect balance between justice and mercy, forgiveness and boundaries. It's a theme she's explored before. How can you bring an abusive person to justice while at the same time, not let it devour you into resentment and vengeance? So many dramas are about revenge; hers always stand out to me with their themes of forgiveness. (I don't mean, saying sure, it's okay that you beat me, let's be besties. I mean, handing an umbrella to someone standing in the rain AND THEN walking away to your own life without letting yourself be constantly yanked back in to the emotional manipulation game.)

I thought it was really interesting how they explored the fan-celebrity relationship. Fan obsessions with idols can be a little over the top, which they showed, but they also showed positives from the fan-idol interaction as well. And I did like how they made steps towards reducing the competition between the three female singers. Support each other, don't tear each other to pieces. There are enough elements (media and public opinion) doing that already.

Finally, with regards to the male lead, I never felt confused about which brother was Kiho. He was always there, quietly being himself, and while I certainly did feel for Woo Hak being left in the dark and left out of a lot of decisions, I never felt confused about who was supposed to be the lead or love interest. I realize others have read this in a variety of ways, but I found Kiho/Bogeol and Mokha's relationship very believeable and satisfying. So I was really glad that they were able to resolve the other issues they faced and finally pick up where they had left off. If there had been more episodes in this drama, I would have hoped we'd have seen more of their interactions, but for 12 episodes, it was still enough to convince me emotionally.

Ohh man, it's gonna be hard to write up my thoughts in the fifteen minutes that I have free. But I'll try my best!

First, I loved this drama so much. I don't know if I've ever felt this much during a drama? Not even my first ever drama, CLOY. I actually cried real tears during it. That is not a thing I usually do. I rewatched episodes while waiting for new ones. I read analyses on Twitter and MDL and everywhere. I did and STILL AM listening to the OST every free moment I have at work. I downloaded GIFs and videos to watch on my phone of certain scenes over and over again. I have the YouTube video of the kiss open on my work computer and am randomly rewatching it when able. I literally squealed at the TV to the extent that my husband asked me what was going on. I have to consider this one of my top five, likely top two, favorite Kdramas of all time.

I hope that this doesn't come across as defensive, but I just don't understand people who are saying that Bo-geol wasn't developed enough as the male lead, for romance purposes. It was subtle, yes, but it was so beautiful I don't know how anyone could come away from this story thinking that she should be with Woo-hak. Woo-hak had some nice turnaround towards the end, but for the majority of the story he was selfish--it was understandable, given what he was going through, but the contrast with Bo-geol could not have been more clear IMO. I do agree that it's in part the writer's fault for dragging out the love triangle too long, especially when even in EPISODE 12 we're seeing his sad reactions. As others have said here, there is no way I can even remotely compare his pain to what BG/KH experienced over the past fifteen years. I'm glad that WH/CH himself realized that, and decided not to confess. That seems like growth for this writer? I read that she always has her 2MLs confess even if it's hopeless.

As I wrote on my fanwall, this was not a romance in the traditional sense, but it was one of the most romantic stories I've ever watched. The love KH and MH shared was the foundation of the story, and everything depended up on it. Critical plot points would not have happened without it. Even when KH was pretending not to know her, you could see it in his eyes. The pain, the longing! I think that's probably why this romance connected to me so much. Would I have loved more evidence of relationship milestones at the end and more skinship, and would it be lying to say I'm not disappointed by the lack of it? Obviously, yes. But I don't think the lack of it takes away from the love story. I don't need any more convincing that those two are in love. There are romance dramas that had all of the requisite scenes and I felt NOTHING. I think I'm realizing that, when it comes to romance, I prefer to be left wanting more. I also have to admit that I almost didn't watch this drama because I wasn't even sure it would have any romance (I didn't know it was by this writer until I'd started...

Haven’t seen the last two episodes. Will get to it tonight

I didn't understand Woo Hak's "someone else felt the same way I did" line. Did he not realize the depth of Ki Ho's feelings/dedication until he learned he got the apartment?
But he explicitly asked them if they still had [fond] feelings for each other and Ki Ho/Bo Geol said he did; that it would be weirder if he didn't considering he was looking for her 15 years.

Maybe he thought Ki Ho's actions were driven by guilt or responsibilty for how things happened when they were kids but getting apartment showed Ki Ho was still trying/planning to take care of her after her return? I don't know; I just didn't get it.
Did he not know about everything he's done? But then he had said Ki Ho was incredible for waiting for someone he didn't know was alive or dead.

I mean I never thought of Ki Ho and Mok Ha as being romantic, their relationship seemed deeper than that. That might not be the best phrasing but I don't know how else to put it. It wasn't rooted in romantic feelings but other things such as comfort and selflessness.

Something I wanted to add: IMO adult Mok-ha's feelings for KH were expressed mostly via the music. All of the songs she sings, even if they weren't explicitly written about him, reflect her feelings for him. And, of course, her inability to get rid of the shoes he gave her. Adult Ki-ho's feelings were expressed through acts of service, of making sure that MH had what she needed even if she'd never know who was behind it. And we saw all of that throughout the entire story, which is why IMO romance was embedded in the story even though it wasn't the main focus (and I knew going in that romance wouldn't be the main focus, anyway).

And that's why I also never doubted that BG was KH, from the second I saw him give her those new shoes in episode 2.

I really couldnt care less about ranjoo or mohka singer career. ff every scene related to this. I liked the conclusion about the identity issue even though it was really unrealistic. at least in dramas we can pretend there's some type of justice against domestic abuse.

overall, my biggest disappointment of the year.

I have (almost) nothing else to add as what I wanted to say were already said. I also never wavered about Bogeol as Kiho from the very 1st episode and thus my biggest complaint is the forced love triangle which was unnecessary.

One thing that impressed me was how well-casted the young and adult Kiho actors are. In the hospital scene when they all masked up, talking to the dad - onky CJH's eyes were showing and I was startled a bit as I sincerely thought it was Woo jin under that mask and PPE.

One thing I

How did Mok Ha know about Ki Ho waiting at the station? Who else knew that he waited at the station each week that could've told her? Yet another thing that was nagging at my curiousity.

I think there was a mix of some coincidence and luck involved in finding Mok Ha because even if they did clean the shore, it's kinda hard to imagine they would go into the forest part and discover her set up there. Then again, maybe they would've eventually come across the SOS even without the drone but still, it was lucky that she was also on a part of the shore and spotted the drone. Also it's a coinkydink that both her and Ki Hi were wearing similar clothes to how they had last seen each other all those years ago.

I'd like to say this is one last thing but we know it isn't true...

I love how this drama also emphasized the importance of living in the moment. It reminded me of "The Secret of Happiness" from the Daddy Long Legs musical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnYdqgty8Jc

I liked this drama all the way through, although I would agree that the first half had a magical quality that the second half did not. But it all hung together well, and even with a dark abuse plot, felt hopeful and poignant more often than not.

The most disappointing thing for me is that I never truly warmed to the adult version of Mok-ha. Although adult Ki-ho seemed very much like the grown-up version of middle school Ki-ho (thanks in part to CJH's nuanced performance), middle school Mok-ha (who I absolutely loved) seemed completely disconnected from adult Mok-ha. Now one could say that was intended because of the whole 15 years on a deserted island thing, but that explanation doesn't work for me. I'm not sure if this was a failure of writing, directing, or acting, but adult Mok-ha never felt fully fleshed out to me, and I often struggled to emotionally connect with her.

In contrast, I was very attached to the brothers and their parents. I know other people didn't care for the whole Evil Dad subplot, but it was well executed, and I'm glad that we weren't shown a forced and unbelievable change of heart on Bong-wan's part. His final plan was true to who he was all along: a deeply insecure man who relied on violence to exert his will and blamed others for his own mistakes.

I would have preferred if Mok-ha had more clearly fallen for Bo-geol before finding out he was Ki-ho, but I never felt that her connection to Woo-hak was deeper or more romantic than hers to Bo-geol. I also didn't think Bo-geol was denied character development given to Woo-hak; Bo-geol was just a more emotionally controlled person (for good reason). The show clearly wasn't primarily a romance, but that kiss on the rooftop was lovely, and didn't feel like an extension of a childhood connection but the result of their clear attachment in the present.

I think there was a deeper story to be told about Ran-joo and Seo-joon's relationship in the past and present, but it obviously wasn't a priority. By the end, I admit that I was tired of them both.

I like the reveal of Mok Ha's voiceovers were her journal entries and she always addressed them to Ki Ho. Again, he was a source of comfort for her and she wanted to share her experiences with him. Even after meeting Ki Ho, she still addresses her journal entries to him. He's such an important presence in her life, whether he was physically there or not.

I think there's so many elements of what people assumed the show would be but it was shown in unexpected ways.

I feel like there some symbolism or something to all the pictures. Why else did the final scene include Mok Ha taking pictures even as they were eating? I think one of the the final shots at abusive dad's place showed a child's drawing symbolizing happier times.

Mok Ha seemed to reach big headliner status awfully fast haha. Congrats to her being able to achieve it in like a year's time haha

I do not understand gambling and Korean culture. Obviously people gamble there and yet it's a scandal when a celebrity does it? Out of the country no less?

I swear the only vice people are allowed is drinking alcohol. People are praised for being able to drink and encouraged to get drunk and their actions are excused if they're drunk but have any of the other vices? You are a deplorable human being and an embarrassment to everyone who knows you.