Shining Inheritance was a riches to rags to find-yourself drama that was well written and acted. Our heroine is plucky, the stepmother / stepdaughter are quite the evil pair and our male leads, the rich heir (starts spoiled and evolves) and selfless friend, are both worthy of love. The Grandmother, who has the inheritance, shakes up her sheltered spoiled family when she strips them of money to teach them about life.
What I liked about the show a) writer So Hyun-kyung crafted 28 episodes of interwoven characters with surprises along the way. His evil characters had nuances. He also wrote the top-notch intriguing 49 Days (2011 kdrama) that I rate as better than Shining Inheritance. b) male lead Lee Seung-gi as heir Hwan, in his first male lead role, whose evolution from spoiled heir to caring person was a joy to watch. I also loved him as the male lead in 2010's My Girlfriend is Gumiho. c) Yeon Joon-seok as autistic brother Go Eun-woo was perfect and you rooted for him to be reunited with big sister. d) loved store Manager Lee who was terse but fair and put up with Hwan's initially hostile reluctance to do his job with patient dignity.
What I did not like about the show a) this drama was extended by 4 episodes and you can feel the storyline stretch. I bet is difficult for a writer to revamp during production when a drama is extended because it is garnering great ratings. b) the evil stepmother, while nuanced, grated on me and I tended to skip her scenes to alleviate the irritation. c) multiple hairstyle-challenged characters; female lead Go Eun-sung mushroom cap pageboy hair bugged me. She looked so much better with the bangs off the face. The Grandmother character had a terrible helmet-head gray wig and don't get me started on the factory worker with the gray pageboy wig.
