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I can't fathom how a series of this quality could have such a low rating. It's beyond me. The only reason I can think of is that 'puritans' have decided to downgrade it due to it being about affairs.

Whilst yes, that's true, neither the writers, nor the director make any attempt to romanticise the affairs. Nor do they shy away from showing the catastrophic repercussions for all involved. Watch this and you'd definitely steer a million miles away from any type of illicit relationship.

Onto the actual drama. It's beautifully acted and directed. Oh the angst! The pain. The loneliness. Be careful who you marry is I think the message plus dont wait till you meet someone else before getting out of an unhappy relationship.

The purpose of my review is to say... Ignore the low rating. This is well worth watching if you like beautifully acted melodrama.

I'm not sure I've struggled to rate something on here as much as I have with this series.

I've given it an 7 but I could as easily have given it a 3 or 4. I'm attempting to justify the 7 by confirming I eagerly continued watching right up until the end, but towards the end I was watching partly in fury at its portrayal of the female characters as always being at the mercy of the men's whims and barked orders, and of its attempt at eliciting sympathy for a villain as evil as any I've ever seen portrayed in a drama. Eurrgghhh. Even the hero male lead is easy to dislike.

I'm viewing in 2025 when this series is 11 years old so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. Lord knows why? It's not that long ago, but I'm positive you wouldn't see female characters & female/male interactions written like this now. Would you?

Anyhow... would I recommend this? Probably not, but maybe it's indicative of some small progress made in attitudes towards women in Korean society that this now seems so dated and problematic.

Yet another masterpiece of poignant and meaningful storytelling from South Korea.

You know what you're signing up for when you read the short synopsis. You will cry, and there are scenes that will break your heart, but what the writers manage to do so amazingly well is, in the midst of watching a woman we all come to love, die, manage to also gift us an uplifting story, not about death, but about life, grabbing hold of it, and living it well.

The performances of the two leads were phenomenal. Totally expected from Min Nam-koong, but I was blown away by Jeon Yo-been. I so hope her performance is rewarded. Special mention to Kwon Hae-hyo, who played Da-eum's dad. I think I cried during every scene he was in and their talk on the beach.... gulp... oh the tears.

This will definitely be deserving of a re-watch because the quality of the writing was that high and I know I'll pick up on amazing lines that I missed through the sobs.

One of the best dramas of 2025 for sure!