How it should have ended (according to me):
- Se Joo notices real damage can be done in the game.
- Se Joo immediately shuts down the server.
- Se Joo makes "safety protocols" mandatory for absolutely every part of the game.
- Hee Joo kicks out Jin Woo when he starts shouting at her.
-Jin Woo still buys the game, but the family gets to keep the hotel to sell at their leisure and Se Joo is emploid as head programmer.
- The game is being thoroughly debugged and gets actual story lines. Not just fighting.
- Jin Woo not only allies Jong Hoon, but they also happily get married
- The family kicks out whiny "nice guy" moocher and find someone better to help with the guitar business.
- Hee jo starts a band and becomes a famous musician.
- NPC's of their parents cheer in the audience.

Thank you so much for this recommendation, @kdramaintrovert! I watched this last night and although it was hard to get through the bullying scenes, it ultimately was worth it. What a powerful, moving, and masterfully acted film! I realized that I didn't watch the end credits, though, so will need to go back and do that. Thanks again!

Can we just have Shin Hye-sun lead a weekender then.

I agree that Seong-Jae has been the most kind, considerate and romantic (limited), especially to Eun-O. However, just as Ji-Hyuk had no romantic interest in Eun-O, Sun-O has no romantic interest in Seong-Jae. I thought Seong-Jae could wind up with the cafe owner who has feisty common sense and speaks her mind which would be a good foil to his father.

I did not think Bo A was a main or secondary character in the show, unless the two week delay substantially changed the story line towards this sudden ML marriage. Yes, the marriage could work well like Bo A's parents, but it not intended to last. Writer cards still in the deck: past serious illness (did not make her unsuitable?), new terminal illness or ToD.

Me and my friend made such a bunch of cool speculations about how this would end but apparently the writer only knows how to write hooks but has no idea how to make those into an actual story because they were trying to write a cyberpunk with zero knowledge about what goes into programming and how that ties into the hardware used with it.

This all would make more sense by using nanobots and some form of AI or even better do a Matrix world where even this reality was actually just an instance of another virtual reality which would explain how laws of physics could blatantly be disrespected until it was revealed what the actual Real World was.

I'm gonna conclude that this series was just one of those tv series cooked up by the Dreamberries "quamputa" from the Black Mirror episode "Joan is Awful". Only then it makes perfect sense

I too wondered why BoA was 'not considered good marriage material in their circle'. It would have to be something truly scandalous.

Seong Jae is clearly a good guy and in love with Eun-oh- and his father is demanding that he marry. So, his father is in no position to object if he chooses Eun-oh. I would prefer this too, but we won't get it. So, I ask why not be original and do it?

Also, have our ML actually go through with marriage to BoA- and then make the next 45 episodes about how they actually come to love each other. Why Not? What could be more of a pro-marriage message than that?

Whatever else we can say to describe our ML the term 'blockhead' clearly fits.

Former gym trainer (and hopeless romantic) as bodyguard is a well-recognized trope that works for me.

In what universe would reporting a stalker be considered a scandal?

My working assumption is that Seoung-jae's mom is Eun-oh's birth mother. But I could be wrong, and it is really a head fake?

I am not sure the message was either pro or anti-marriage but rather raises an issue: Why marry or not marry? Marriage is a universal institution across all cultures- which is why calling it an institution is clearly a misclassification: Instead, it is a common human phenomenon. A question like that is one worth asking.

@alluvial_fan I found it on Amazon Prime in the US. It may also be on Hulu and You Tube. I hope you find it!

I wonder why it's rare to find peep holes in k-dramas.

I also wonder why Bo A is not marriage material in her circle. Was her first love something embarrassing and vox populi?

Agree on the drunk scene. The consequences of it were quite realistic, and that's much needed.

Wait a minute---does that mean the genius species is back? A genius at knowing the perfect frying food temperature? Wonder if his experience in negotiations helps him as he fries that chicken to perfection? Only Han Seok-kyu knows! And, I'll be there to find out the how's of frying cause he can teach me anything he knows hehe.

The team that is bringing us the Weekender OUR GOLDEN DAYS is the same team behind OUR GOLDEN DAYS. KBS was convinced that this show would ultimately be hitting 30% and not the disappointing ratings we see here which are abysmal for a Weekender. While the first four episodes are simply supposed to be introduction and scene setting in this case, they have largely been dreary. Only at the end of the fourth episode did the story pick up.

I would also note that neither of the lead actors has the same ability to carry the show as Shin Hye-sun, who was the FL of MY GOLDEN LIFE.

@cliosservant1846

So much more fun to rail about a hobby-related situation than "real life" 😀 There's no substantive consequences to the issue not being resolved other than first world problems, lol. But I do view the business side of all of these happenings with a jaded eye.

Admittedly I'm spoiled as a relative newcomer to Asian dramas. There were reliable platforms when I started, and even more so now. But I've been around long enough to see a shift in tone, especially from k-dramas.

I don't like seeking alternative places to watch, and rarely do (usually only for much older dramas no longer available elsewhere). I've sat out all the Disney releases in recent years (except for one), and for the most part, their hand in k-drama production has not been a good one. Which is perhaps what is adding fuel to the fire of (potentially) not being able to watch one of my most anticipated c-dramas this year.

I'll look forward to reading your reactions while I wait to see how it all shakes out😉 And now, back to real life 😂

Dorotka, you may have pegged our ML correctly. His decision to marry changed my mind on that point- he is responsible indeed. His spontaneous decision to quit was probably justified even if it would have been wiser to line up a new job first.

Sadly, the one thing that will not happen is his setting up a new company with BoA's help. The reason BoA needed him was to provide a successor to her father at their company- and her Daddy definitely approves of her choice. The fact that she and or ML are probably perfect for each other is almost beside the point even if her father's remarks indicate that he believes that this may be the case as he talks about his own happy marriage.

Even sadder is my doubt that this marriage will actually take place. Too bad if I am right.

I found these two episodes to be considerably better than the first week's. They had a good pace, no dull moments, and dialogues were quite natural.
The financial situation of the entire ML's family has worsened overnight, and that makes the plot move quickly. I still don't see any romantic connection between the main leads, which is a problem because we know sooner or later they'll be together; the series won't be so original as to go down any other path. But the truth is, I'd rather see Eun Oh falling in love with Seong Jae.

@reply1988, thanks for the 2023 jdrama recommendation WORST TO FIRST: A TEEN BASEBALL MIRACLE. (I was in NYC for almost a week so this drama for me is: (WOIST TO FOIST lol) Unfortunately it appears not available to me on a legal site. Since Netflix has been increasing its jdrama content with some dramas going quite a few years back for the heck of it I searched Netflix US. WORST did not appear but an older (2008) high school based baseball drama ROOKIES (11 episodes) is available.
I loved the MDL synopsis:

“ Koichi Kawato is the new Japanese Literature teacher at the ill-famed Futakotamagawa high school, whose baseball club is composed of thugs and bullies who have been suspended for a year from all school competitions, for causing a brawl during an official match. The newly appointed teacher finds that the club members left are only interested in women, smoking and doing nothing until, under Kawato's guidance, they discover their dream of going to the Koshien high school baseball tournament. However, the road to Koshien is far from easy as many obstacles await them.”
LOL I don’t know why, but I laughing over that description.
I am going to take a look at ROOKIES.

@hacja, as someone (along with your wife) who has had high school teaching experience how about joining me and taking a look at the 2008 jdrama ROOKIES (Netflix US)? It can’t be worse than THE WINNING TRY.

@isagc @imzadi

I'm still watching Legend (up to episode 22) and it's getting a bit better. I think the writer did a good job with the slow reveal of the truth behind the conspiracy. What I don't understand is the shift in the FL's personality/behavior to a girly girl when a major plot point is that she's lived as a boy/man nearly her entire life. When she's playing the latter role is where this drama shines (along with the seriously fantastic fight choreography. It's almost worth watching for that alone.)

The FL may not be able to recognize that she’s falling in love, but she shouldn’t be acting like a lovestruck girl, even if it’s entertaining to watch because these two actors have nice chemistry. Her character should be tougher emotionally, and the attraction between them shown as something powerfully magnetic and fated that they are both resisting. It needs to be adult romance between hardened warriors, not puppy love. We could have some seriously hot scenes paired with the excellent fight choreography and the mystery/politics. Instead of thrilling, they went for fluffy laughs. This is a huge flaw in the direction, imo. Maybe they were afraid that the target audience wouldn’t be interested enough without the fluff. IDK, but they missed a great opportunity for a truly kickass "female empowerment" drama. They've winnowed it down to soap box speeches from the FL, and they just come off like pandering.

Anyway....!

Summit of Our Youth is definitely on my watch list. I'm just waiting to see what happens with some other shows right now. And September looks to be a lot more exciting with k-drama releases than the whole of this past summer.

@zindigo @gikata @hopefulromantic

What a wondrous Rant! It was cathartic to even read this, much less write it. It's hard to be chirpy in 2025.

Before I get all bent out of shape about streaming, Disney+ or any other purveyors, I gotta say things are STILL a lot better than the days of waiting for/checking out videos from the slim foreign DVD selection at my library. Now I have multiple access to dramas from many, many countries. And I have DB WWW with so many experienced viewers to guide me. So, I'm going to give MOONLIT a chance and try to fit it in amongst a banquet of drama riches.

@cliosservant1846

My apologies for not tagging in you in my last rant! 🙏