The show is based on a famous novel. I have not read the book, and even if I had, I would not compare the show to the book as I believe shows like these should be rated on their own merits. So, is this a show worthy of investing 15 hours or so of your viewing time? It's a maybe for some, but a definite "No" for me.
The biggest problem with the show is the pacing. About midway through the show, I Googled the show to get some background info. It turns out that the show aired on one of the major broadcast networks in Korea. That explains why the show is (or had to be) 16 episodes long. It feels like a story that could have been 10 to 12 episodes (or even less) was stretched out to fit the 16-episode format, which explains the slow build up and many repeated scenes. Sure, there's enough intrigue and you quickly build empathy for the main character. You get the sense that just about every character knows "something" and you're eager to find out. The plot line becomes more and more interesting as the "mystery" and the involvement of each character are revealed. However, when everything is revealed, you cannot help but shake your head. It's like waiting in line for 2 hours for a new ride at an amusement park, and when you finally get on the ride, it's only 2 minutes long and is a dud.
You have to take a big leap of faith to accept that two highly unusual events can take place in the exact same place on the same night, just minutes apart. Then, the final reveal in the final episode pretty much ruins everything. I won't give away any more details for those who might insist on watching this show anyways.
Other annoyances in this show:
The acting, especially the main characters, is excellent. However, there are few minor characters whose performances stick out like a sore thumb. Perhaps most audiences would find this bearable.
Poor attention to details. There's a scene where A (in a cop car) is trying to discreetly tail B (in a black car). Yes, that's right, A is trying to discreetly tail him in a cop car and stays less than 20 yards behind the black car the whole time. What is ridiculous is that when shown from the perspective of the cop car, the black car is in the #1 lane and cop car is in #2 lane. When the camera cuts away to the black car's perspective, the black car is miraculously in #2 lane and spots the cop car over his left shoulder in #1 lane. This is just one example. There are plenty more.
Poor editing. This goes back to the length issue. There are way too many scenes that are unnecessarily long. A scene of a woman crying that could have been impactful with just 30 seconds drags on for nearly 2 minutes. Conversations between some characters become unnecessarily long. Maybe the editor's hands were tied. Who knows.
If you're a huge fan of any of the actors/actresses and must watch the show, sure. For others, with so many shows available on so many different platforms today, I think you'd be better off investing 15 hours elsewhere. If you're still interested in the show, perhaps it might be better to find a reaction channel or one of those channels that offer condensed 1 hour summary.
