Finally done bingeing {???) Moving .
Despite my reservation on violence stuff I’ve heard about the drama, I was hooked from the first episode. I was surprised that I found the violence weren’t as bad as I thought it would be, partly because I consider it’s a fantasy, so it didn’t affect me much, though I still looked away when there’s cracking bones and other scary sounds from when somebody was hurting.
I loved the main characters instantly; how they each navigated the new part of their lives respectively. I empathized with the kids greatly and felt somehow proud with how they coped with their own situation particularly Bong Seok and Hui Soo; granted, they got more screen time than Gang Hoon. It was an enjoyable watch in most part. I managed to give it my full attention up until ep 8. I love that all three parents showed their love to their kids, although it irked to see how poor the two parents treated Bong Seok and Hui Soo; like they couldn’t do anything and denying them the truth about their current situation. Can’t we have an open and honest relationship between parent and child, writer?
I found the acting was great in general from the adults to the kids. While it’s no secret that Ryu Seung Ryong is a good actor, Kim Sun Kyun’s acting was like a revelation to me; he was totally believable as a character. While some swooned over Jo In Sung, he’s the weakest among the adults IMO; He’s acting was uneven in parts; I was particularly disinterested during his fight in North Korea. He could fly, we all knew that, but his face didn’t show anything (any emotions) during those scenes. It was clear to me that he was only acting while being dragged by an invisible rope.
While I think I’d survive this show through the end based on the first few episodes, it wasn’t the case for me. I skip lots of scenes from ep 8-16; there were to many characters/plots thrown just for the sake of getting more episode, case on point; the romance between Ji Hee and Ju Won, Mi Hyun and Do Shik. The show tried to appeal to the romantic side, I know, but at the same time they ignore the more significant issues such as the real reason for the initial murder done by Frank which was ordered by US government (The show must have thought that one call to the US from SK was enough to explain the murder and its repercussions.) and the mess the North Korea agents caused. Not to mention what did the school actually do to train and protect those gifted kids? Zilch! Why bother gathering them in the first place? If those gifted people considered indispensable by SK government, their treatment prove it otherwise. Many parts seemed incoherent and it heavily relied on the fight’s scenes and the massive cast to keep the show going. I would’ve preferred different people casted as younger characters; how would they expect us to believe Cha Tae Hyun as a high schooler, and the evident age different between Han Hyo Joo and Lee Jung Ha. All in all, It’s no doubt the writer/show in general was over-ambitious ; they tried to serve many things at once that they neglected numerous things; the origin of their super power and Gye Do character included.
My main issue with this show is that there were too many fights scenes that somehow it became counter-productive; instead of building our emotion through their battles, it served merely as fight scenes. It was too much that it became less impactful, add to that was the editing; there were too many unnecessary flashbacks that somehow the story relied on them to explain most things, not to mention we watched the same scenes like more than once due to the editing, but the icing on the cake was the reason for the killings and fights; they were unwarranted no matter how we try to make sense of it. Other than the parent-kids part, anything else was there for no other reason than to make it extra violent.
I was so ready to put this show in a special place like Kingdom from the first few episodes that I enjoyed immensely, but the writing and editing ruined that possibility for me. Ciao!