After the tragic loss of her parents, a young noblewoman opens an inn for scholars to help her make ends meet.  But, despite her best efforts, business at Ihwawon is almost non-existent.  So she is thrilled when she suddenly has 3 handsome, mysterious scholars  staying at the same time.  As the group gets to know each other, they find that they not only share a very important connection from their past, but also a role in the future they are working toward.  And as danger and turmoil close in around them, they will need to rely on each other to stay alive and make their dreams come true.  

Ryeoun as Kang San

Kang San meets Dan Oh in town, but after she steals his bag, he is forced to go to Ihwawon Inn and get it back.  Dan Oh persuades him to stay longer and, although he pretends to resist, he doesn’t put up much fight.  Later we find out that is because San is the missing Crown Prince and the boy Dan Oh met years ago in the dog house.  But although he is thrilled to be reunited with his first crush, he refuses to do anything that interferes with his goal of getting revenge for the death of his father and taking back his rightful throne.  And it turns out that he will have plenty of support from his new friends at the Inn, who are actually his half-brother and his sworn bodyguard.  

Kang San has grown up alone and in fear of being discovered.  Because of that, at first he seems to be emotionally closed off and distant.  But as he opens up to his new family at Ihwawon, we see a very caring and loyal side to him.  He feels grateful to both Shi Yeol and Yoo Ha for their support, protection, and friendship.  I really liked Ryeoun in this part.  His ability to seem earnest without appearing overly stuffy made his character very charming and likable.  I would love to see him in another historical role in the future.  

Jung Gun Joo as Jung Yoo Ha

Jung Yoo Ha has been staying at the inn for quite some time.  He has a crush on Dan Oh, but he is waiting until he can pass his exam before confessing his feelings.  He is shocked when he learns that his father is the dead King and his mother is the gisaeng who runs Buyeonggak.  And he is even more shocked to find out that San is his brother.  But rather than fight against San for royal power, the pair end up working together and San eventually gives Yoo Ha the throne.  

 ♥ Male Leads

The three male leads in this drama were so fun and they had great chemistry together.  Each friendship had its own strengths and challenges, so that there was a unique interaction between each pair that kept it interesting.  While I did like the romances in this drama, I feel like the relationships between each of the guys was even better.  The bond of their destiny was such an integral part of this story and I enjoyed every scene that put them in the same frame.  

 ♥ Whose Who

This drama did such a nice job of keeping us guessing as far as who was the Crown Prince, who was the Watchman, and how the third guy fit into the story.  I liked the way just when I thought I knew who was who, they would turn it all upside down again.  The writers really strung this element out without ever making it feel frustrating.  And then, once we knew who the Crown Prince was, there was a new part of the story to focus on.  The way they were able to introduce the characters from the beginning and still keep some mystery to their identities was well done and kept me engaged in the plot.

San’s Lack of Backstory

I felt like it was a little strange that we found out bits and pieces from both Shi Yeol and Yoo Ha’s youth, but we really learned almost nothing about the life San had lived.  As the main lead, it just seems like we would have heard more about who raised him and what kind of life he had been living.  Has San’s mysterious body guard been raising him this whole time?  Or did he have an adopted family somewhere?  Obviously, he lived a very lonely life, but I wanted to know more.  

More Watchmen

Honestly, I really loved Shi Yeol’s character and the idea of his life as a watchmen was so interesting. I feel like it could have been its own drama.  Between him and the boys training to be future watchmen, there was a whole story and way of life waiting to be told.  While we did see glimpses of it, there was potential for so much more. Of course, you have to love a story that leaves you wanting more, but, more Kang Hoon please!! 

 “The Secret Romantic Guesthouse” gives us the happy ending that I think we all expected.  The rebel forces arrive at the palace to defeat the palace guard and take control.  San and his uncle, the King, come face to face for a sword fight.  After losing the fight, Lee Chang kills himself with his own sword.  Once San’s role as the Crown Prince is safe, Shi Yeol gives up his role as watchman, and after setting the children training to be future watchmen free, he leaves to live the life he has always dreamed of.  At the urging of both the Queen Dowager and Dan Oh, Yoo Ha agrees to take the throne.  Too bad his mother wasn’t there to see it!  Two years later, Dan Oh and San return from their travels to visit the family.  The guesthouse is brimming with visitors, after the success of San, Yoo Ha, and more recently Yook Ho, who has finally passed the test and is working at the palace.  Ban Ya’s status has been restored and she stops by to thank San for helping her get her life back.  Hong Joo hears someone singing Shi Yeol’s song, chases Shi Yeol down at the docks, and begs him to come home with her, which he does.  Hong Joo and Shi Yeol finally get engaged and Yook Ho and Ju Daek get married.  And with that, San and Dan Oh are ready to hit the road again, leaving Ihwawon in the capable hands of Hong Joo and the gang.  

Kang Yoo Seok as Sa Wol

Sa Wol was left alone as a child, but he was taken in by Seol Ah and Seul Ah, and raised as their brother.  He spends his days outside in the desert, hanging out with his trio of close friends and fighting hunters as a method of training to fulfill his dream to become a delivery man.  When he meets 5-8 by chance, he jumps at the opportunity to ask for his help in making that dream come true.  And when one of the coveted positions opens up soon after, 5-8 and his friends agree to help Sa Wol train.  Following a grueling, Hunger Games style competition, Sa Wol becomes delivery man 5-7, just in time to help 5-8 fight Ryu Seok and his plan to kill all of the refugees.  

Sa Wol is rash and overconfident.  But like 5-8, he is an idealist who believes in the idea of equality and a better society.  And he is never discouraged by the hard work or the hard hits that it takes for him to realize his dreams.  I really liked Kang Yoo Seok in this role.  His youthful optimism was contagious and I really found myself rooting for him.  

Esom as Seol Ah

Seol Ah works for the Defense Intelligence Command as a Military Intelligence Officer.  She is the adopted sister of Sa Wol and is secretly helping 5-8 and his friends get information on how to defeat Cheonmyeong Group and specifically Ryu Seok.  

 ♥ Delivery Heroes

For a world that just a couple years ago faced global quarentines, I am sure I am not the only person who felt like the amazon delivery person was my own personal hero.  And that makes this portrayal of delivery people as heroic knights all the more relatable.  It is the perfect time to tell this kind of story and it worked really well.  The concept of an elite class of “warriors” is certainly not original, but the delivery people concept gives it just the unique flavor that it needs to stand out as something different.  

♥ Amazing Visuals

One of the really interesting things to me about this drama is that they were able to create a whole other world without ever having to leave our universe.  Giving us a land where oxygen doesn’t flow freely and once lush land and busy city scapes are now vast deserts felt and looked new and exciting.  The dusty colors and muted tones of the whole drama reinforced the themes of an emotionally desolate society.  I have heard some complain that the darkness made it hard to see certain scenes, but I never felt like I was missing something I should have been able to see.  Maybe it’s just that I keep my brightness levels pretty high!  But I thought it all looked very cool.  

Undeveloped Villain

So, I love Song Seung Heon and I think he is a talented actor, so this is not a statement on his ability.  But this villain just didn’t capture my imagination at all.  He felt very one dimensional.  Maybe whatever illness he was suffering from was supposed to show us a bit of vulnerability, but since we don’t really find out anything about what is actually wrong with him, that whole storyline just felt like a waste of screen time.  And as is often the case with weak villains, his death felt sudden and completely anti-climatic.  The heroes in this drama were wonderful, but Ryu Seok is a weak villain with no purpose or direction.

Lack of Context

This drama did such a nice job of creating a whole new world, but there were points when I wish we had time for a bit more backstory.  Of course, I understand that 6 episodes is a whole different story from 16.  But there were so many issues that felt like they lacked context.  The whole mutant story is a total mystery.  Other than the fact that it came from parents working in a mine, and that it turns bone to metal?, I think?, the details are pretty sketchy.  And was Ryu Seok actually a mutant as well, or did he have some other illness that the mutants could somehow help cure.  And if he was a mutant, how did he get that way.  I doubt the Chairman was working in the mines. Also, I was very curious about the connection between 5-8 and Seol Ah. In some ways, it’s good that this drama left me with so many questions that I couldn’t help thinking about it even after it was done, but I really would have liked a few more answers.

“Black Knight” finishes with our hero delivery people saving the day.  Both Chairman Ryu and his evil son, Ryu Seok end up dead, along with Ryu Seok’s band of greedy allies.  We do also lose Useless in the battle to stop the refugees from getting the poisonous vaccines, which was really too bad.  But 5-8, Sa Wol, and all the rebel delivery people make it out alive, with Seol Ah at their side.  The President announces that all people will be moved into homes with proper air supply and the social caste system will officially cease to exist.  In a final scene, three months have passed and there is evidence that the air seems to be getting cleaner, according to grandpa’s studies.  5-8 and Sa Wol, as 5-7, are out making deliveries and they seem to have developed a true friendship.  And who doesn’t love to see a rebel victory?

Nam Yoon Su as Goo Joon Young

Goo Joon Young was hired through the interview process to work at Neon.  He is ranked as the top recruit of the cycle, but he is not happy when he learns that he has been assigned to the webtoon department.  And he is even less happy when he hears that the department itself is slated to be closed down within a year.  In the beginning, he is desperate to get a transfer to another department.  So, when he is approached to act as a spy within the department in exchange for a better job in the most highly sought-after department, he is tempted.  And when he finds out that the core of the webtoons department may have played a part in the death of his older sister, he is even more tempted.  But as he works alongside his new co-workers and the artists they represent, he begins to wonder if he has actually found the place where he belongs.

Goo Joon Young bears plenty of personal scars which make him cautious.  He is extremely logical and shies away from anthing that involves emotion.  When he takes the job at Neon, he is only concerned with financial stability and job success.  But being teamed up with Ma Eum, he gets a chance to see her love and passion both for people and her job.  And slowly, Joon Young begins to value the relationships he is forming with mentors, co-workers, and artists.  Nam Yoon Su played this role well.  But due to his character’s emotionally distant personality, the actor doesn’t get as much of a chance to develop and show other sides to his acting.  But his consisentency makes the character realistic and likable.

Park Ho San as Jang Man Chul

Jang Man Chul is the Director of the weboon department.  He was the CEO of Ginger Toon before they were forced to become a part of Neon.  Like Ma Eum, his love of manga and webtoons is the thing that drives him to succeed, which is why he saw something in Ma Eum that the hiring committee overlooked.  But like Ma Eum, sometimes his close attachment to the people and toons they create clouds his judgement.

 ♥ Webtoons and Artists

This drama gave such an interesting view into the life of webtoon publishers and artists.  I enjoyed seeing different artistic styles and some of the methods artists use to create them.  The characters of the artists themselves were all unique and interesting.  And while I am sure that not all webtoon artists need full-time babysitters, I am sure that some have a creative apporoach to life that can be challenging from a business perspective.  

 ♥ Webtoon Leadership

The leadership at the webtoon department operated because of their abilities to balance out each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  Years of working together gave them a keen sense of understanding into how they can support each other as a team.  I loved Man Chul’s enthusiasm and desire to see the magic of the industry.  While Ji Hyung was balanced and logical in his approach.  And while Kwon Young Bae could come off as selfish and mean, he had a good intuition about what makes a successful webtoon, and his heart was not as cold as it may have seemed on the surface.  

Product Placement

I understand that many dramas exist in part because of the financial support they get from advertising.  And usually I try not to be too irritated or distracted by the silly product placements in the middle of drama scenes.  But this one just seemed a bit too over the top for me. There seemed to be a lot of them and they were so in your face about it. They brought certain scenes to an awkward, screeching halt that was hard to overlook.

Ji Hyung Loveline

Ji Hyung’s story is just so vague.  It seemed to me that he definitely had moments where his feelings for Ma Eum went beyond that of a co-worker and mentor.  But what was the point of showing that if it’s never addressed?  Were those looks really just deep affection for a colleague he respects?  And what exactly is going on between him and his ex, Jang Hye Mi?  Does he still have feelings for her?  And if so, is that why we can’t tell Ma Eum how he feels about her?  I appreciate the love triangle tension, but I just never got a clear idea of what Ji Hyung was actually feeling for either one of them.

 “Today’s Webtoon” gives us most of the happy endings we were hoping for.  The webtoons department is not only saved, but also promoted to move into the main office building of Neon.  Part of making that happen was opening a second studio with many of their artists working on side projects.  And Ji Hyung was the obvious choice to step in as the new CEO of Ginger Studios.  And with Ji Hyung leaving, Young Bae will get a chance to step up into a higher leadership role as his replacement.  The evidence Joon Young has been gathering plays a huge part in both saving the department and sending Kwan Young packing.  But the CEO has agreed to keep Joon Young’s identity anonymous and allow him to continue on at Neon.  And with the department moving into the HQ and fulfilling Man Chul’s dream for the department, he is finally able to offer Ma Eum a full-time position.  The final scene shows the team loading their old office into boxes and carrying them across the street.  We get a flashback that shows Joon Young finally confessing his feelings to Ma Eum, but she refuses to give him a definite answer.  I am sure that the pair will continue to grow together as a couple, whether Ma Eum can ever bring herself to actually say the words or not. 

Pyo Ye Jin as Ahn Go Eun

Ahn Go Eun left the disbanded group at the end of Season 1 to fulfill her dream of becoming a police officer.  But she soon finds that being a part of the system offers far fewer opportunities to actually do good for those in need than she had with Rainbow Taxi.  And when she finds out that Do Gi is not only out in the field again but also in extreme danger, she jumps at the chance to return to the job she really loves.  Her hacking skills are at the heart of the group’s investigations.  When she gets the chance to join Do Gi undercover she is hesitant, but rises to the occasion to play a happily married couple trying to buy their first home.  

Ahn Go Eun, like everyone involved in Rainbow Taxi, has her own wound.  After losing her older sister to suicide, she mostly kept to herself before she joined the vigilante team.  But her close relationship with the other members has given her a new family.  I love Go Eun’s shy personality and her sincere affection for all of the taxi team, but especially Do Gi and Mr. Jang.  Pyo Ye Jin plays this role well, and I think she conveys both her strengths and vulnerabilities with a nice balance.  This role is a great fit for her.    

Jang Hyuk Jin as Choi Kyung Goo

Choi Kyung Goo is the lead mechanic for Rainbow Taxi.  He had returned to his original job during the group’s hiatus, but he is happy to lend his mechanical skills to the team and their mission.  He spends most of his time between cases adding special equipment to Do Gi’s premium taxi that help them chase and catch the villains their clients are fighting against.  

 ♥ Improvements from Season 1

There were a few elements that Season 2 offered that I felt were improvements over the first season.  As much as it worked for the story, the idea of our heroes holding human beings in cages as punishment never sat great with me.  For this new season, their private jail is gone and the team is forced to find other channels to enforce the punishment each villain deserves.  That just works better for me.  Also, I liked how this season, all the cases end up having a connection that kept it all cohesive.  Sure, you have to get over the idea that all those people somehow randomly all found Rainbow Taxi, but as a story tool, it gave the whole drama a great over-arching plot.

 ♥ Characters in Disguise

The way this drama uses disguises and undercover operations is always so fun, especially with Do Gi. Watching Do Gi pause a conversation and answer the phone in a totally new voice is hilarious every single time.  I swear there is no role he can’t play.  From newlywed to country farmer, he nails them all.  And having the others show up is always funny because it’s more unexpected.  Using this element throughout the series gives it a great versatility that allows each story to have its own unique flavor.

On Ha Joon

On Ha Joon has become a great villain in disguise.  He handles both the sweet, shy boy next door and the cold calculating killer with surprising ease.  And because he does both so well, I find his characters to be more sympathetic than the average villain.  I couldn’t help but hope that after Ha Joon found out the truth behind his own story, he would have been able to join the team at Rainbow Taxi.  Sure, it may have been hard to trust him at first, but I think he had the potential to be a part of their group.

Religious Crime Syndicate

I just found the whole religious sect as crime syndicate thing to be a bit strange.  The bishop character felt like the Wizard of Oz, hiding behind some magic curtain.  It just seems hard to believe that these steel-cold criminals would all bow down to any single individual as their own personal deity.  In Ha Joon’s case, because he saw him as a father figure, it made sense, but for others it seemed like a stretch.  Blending the 2 entities of crime and religion together in itself seems weird and believing the whole group bought into it seems even weirder.  

“Taxi Driver 2” ends by tying up all the loose ends from the Season 2 plot, while still leaving the team intact to pick up where they left off for Season 3.  After learning the truth about his past and all the ways that the Bishop manipulated him, including killing his own father, Ha Joon asks Do Gi to take him on as a client. The next thing we know, Ha Joon is  challenging Do Gi to a final showdown on the prison roof.  The Bishop and all the Geumsa VIPs have front row seats to the fight, but the Bishop becomes angry when it seems like Ha Joon is ready to surrender to Do Gi. Determined to kill Do Gi once and for all, he takes out a gun and aims it at Do Ji’s back.  In a moment of apparent clarity, Ha Joon sacrifices himself and sends he and the Bishop over the side of the building to their deaths.  While Do Gi escapes the prison safely, all of the VIP members and corrupt prison guards end up locked into solitary confinement to wait for the police to show up.  A one year time jump gives us a very sweet scene between Do Gi and Go Eun at their favorite spot on the rooftop of what must once again be their apartment building.  Go Eun shyly confesses that while it is still uncomfortable for her to be close to people, she is able to let Do Gi get closer than others.  Here’s to hoping that will set up some kind of romance story between these 2.  The final scene shows Do Gi obviously involved in a new case involving a military sexual harassment case.  Bring on Season 3!!

Han Hye Jin as Lee Seo Jin

Han Hye Jin is a former weather caster who starred on her own radio show.  She is married and has a young son.  She is the first case that Attorney Shin takes when this series begins.  Seo Jin’s husband is secretly abusive, although in public he acts like the perfect husband.  Seo Jin begs Sung Han to take her case, prove that her husband is a dangerous man, and find a way to help her win custody of their son.  Eventually they do win the case and Seo Jin gets her divorce.  But the bad publicity causes her to lose her DJ job, and the courts won’t allow her to retain custody without the means to support her son financially.  So Seo Jin shows up once again at Attorney Shin’s office.  This time to ask for a job.  Her fame brings in lots of new clients and Seo Jin takes on the job of hearing their stories as they come in.  

The trauma of an abusive marriage and the humiliation Lee Seo Jin suffered after being the victim of an illegal sex video cause her to have extreme social anxiety.  But the work she is able to do at the Law Office gives her a sense of purpose and begins to rebuild her shattered confidence.  And in the end, she is able to go back to working as a DJ, while having acquired a wonderful support system through Attorney Shin and all her new friends.  Han Hye Jin did a nice job of acting this role. While her individual story didn’t get a lot of screen time once her divorce case was settled, we do see her growth and her motivations are always clear.  

Jung Moon Sung as Jo Jung Shik

Jo Jung Shik is Sung Han’s other best friend.  He runs his own real estate office on the first floor of the building where Sang Ha’s law office is.  He is single, although he attends clubs to try to help him meet eligible women.  He likes flashy cars and nice clothes.  He is the comic relief among the trio, but Jung Shik is deeper than he might seem on the surface.  He is the devoted friend who always tries to bring levity to their harder moments, and he has his own painful memories in regard to Ju Hwa’s divorce and death.

 ♥ Friend Bond

Kdramas love a good bromance, but we seldom get the relational depth between guy friends that we did in this drama.  And I loved every minute of it.  These guys are in it through thick and thin.  And whether the occassion called for long talks and tears, cathartic karoake, or long silences where they simply were there for each other, we got to see it all.  There were certainly plenty of silly times, and I got some great laughs, but there was also a very realistic depth to their friendship that was wonderful to watch.  

♥ Case to Character

I liked the way Seo Jin started as the first case of this drama.  We get to know her as the victim of some horrible abuse and humiliation.  But then she joins the legal team, and we get to watch her heal slowly while also interacting with the current cases being tried.  There was a smoothness to it all that made her transition from the victim of a case to a lead character seem natural.

Dangling Plots

It’s not really fair to call these loose ends, but there were several hints at plots that never materialized.  The most obvious is the romance line between Sung Han and Seo Jin.  But I also felt like there were hints about Jung Shik and Ho Young  and Jun and Se Bom, as well.  And, maybe this was just me, but I felt like the set up was pointing toward more of a relationship between Sung Han and Seo Jin’s son, Hyeon Woo, that would later bring in Ki Young. It felt like the 2 young boys were destined to be friends, especially since they shared an important experience being involved in difficult custody cases.  I just pictured the boys with Sung Han and Seo Jin, eating and playing video games together.   

Ju Hwa and Young Ju

For the fact that Ju Hwa’s marriage and death has an impact on almost everything that happens in this drama, I strangely felt like I didn’t understand much about her character or her marriage.  Was she ever happily married, what caused her emotional instability, and how did Young Ju fit into the full picture?  I feel like knowing more about Ju Hwa and her situation would have helped me to understand Sung Han’s feelings as well.  And also, I don’t quite understand how Young Ju fit into the picture.  Is it true that she and Jeong Guk would have been married if his mother hadn’t interfered or was there more to the story, as his mother seemed to imply?  What made her such a terrible, greedy person?

 “Divorce Attorney Shin” gives us lots of happy endings.  Sung Han and Ki Young win their day in court, with a little help from Ma Geum Hee and Jeong Guk.  Young Ju’s fall from grace is very satisfying and it sounds like Jeong Guk plans to stay married to her for the sake of their daughter.  And Ma Geum Hee still intends to divorce the Chairman so she can live out the rest of her life in peace.  Seo Jin has reclaimed her position in radio and got the courage to stand up for herself against all her haters. And she and Sung Han have agreed to stay in touch and root for each other from a distance.  Hyung Geun and So Yeon make their relationship official and decide to celebrate with a 2 month trip around Europe.  And everything finishes up as it should with our trio of guys sharing a quiet beer at their favorite ramen place.  

Bang Min Ah as Kang Ji Hyeon

Kang Ji Hyeon is a detective who is killed in the line of duty and loses all of her memories.  Now as a ghost, all she knows is that, besides other ghosts, Yeong Min is the only person who can see her, and she is tethered to his taxi.  Luckily, the question of who she is gets answered fairly quickly, but she still has no idea how she died or where she is supposed to go now.  And since she is stuck in Yeong Min’s taxi and causing him to lose any income he would be able to make, she comes up with the idea to cater to ghosts.  And that stroke of inspiration will eventually lead them down the correct path to answering all of her questions about her own life.  

Kang Ji Hyeon is bright and cheerful.  She has a strong determination and sense of justice.  These qualities are what lead her to personally confront a serial killer.  But her biggest regret is that decision unintentionally leads to the death of Yeong Min’s mother.  As the layers of her identity unfold, she is only more driven to catch the person responsible and see him punished so she can leave this world.  Little does she know, her biggest surprise is yet to be revealed.  That she isn’t actually dead, but just in a coma!  Bang Min Ah has an outgoing personality that translates well with this kind of character.  Her enthusiasm felt sincere and infectious.  I think she was a nice fit for this role.

Park Hye Jin as Park Bun Ja

Park Bun Ja is Yeong Min’s grandmother.  She spends a lot of time at home with Ji Hyeon. Even though she can’t actually see her,  she seems to sense her presence, so she carries on one-sided conversations with her.  Bun Ja loves her grandson and does her best to care for him.  Whether that is cooking him meals or trying to find him a girlfriend, she puts in her best efforts.  

 ♥ Do Kyu Jin

Kim Min Seok is really the best part of this drama, in my opinion.  He can go from smooth, charming hero to cold, calculating villain in the blink of an eye.  And it’s all totally believable.  It was easy to see how eveyone could be fooled by him, and I thought the character was written well.  I appreciated the fact that they drew us in first, before they started to hint that there was more going on under the surface.  That made him feel more diabolical to me, that he could be so nice to people’s faces and a stone-cold killer behind their backs.  

♥ Connecting the Dots

Although I definitely feel like the whole serial killer thing has become a bit overused recently, especially in rom-com style settings, I did appreciate how this drama managed to connect all the stories together in the end.  Even early cases that didn’t seem to be connected at all, fit into Kyu Jin’s reign of terror.  As far as the ghosts and their role in the overall story, everything fit very tidily into the main storyline.

Taxi Drivers

I really enjoyed the taxi driver side characers, but I wish they had found a way to make them more central to the overall story.  It would have been fun if their taxis could have run back-up for helping the ghosts.  I’m sure there is some comedy missed there, with them driving ghosts they can’t actually see.  It just felt like they tried to establish each drivers individual character and then they didn’t do anything with them.  For me, it just felt like another case of missed story and character potential.  

Phone Tether

I’m not sure that I ever got a clear idea of how or why the phone tether idea works.  Is it only because Ji Hyeon isn’t actually dead that she needs a source of power?  And how does the phone allow Yeong Min and later Kyu Jin to see her?  The whole search for the battery bit made a fun distraction, but after making it through the entire series, I still don’t really understand the rules of how this tether thing goes.  

Lee Sung Kyung as Shim Woo Joo

As the middle child, Shim Woo Joo has always felt the need to hold her family together.  Through her father’s messy betrayal, her mother’s fight with cancer, and her siblings struggle to find a career path and build their own lives, Woo Joo has been the glue.  But when her father suddenly dies and her stepmom kicks Woo Joo and her siblings out of their house, she is finally stretched to the breaking point.  Bent on revenge, Woo Joo takes a job at her “step-brother’s” company.  And a plan quickly forms when she finds out one of his most trusted employees is in the process of betraying the company.  When circumstances continue to throw her and Dong Jin together, she finds herself falling for him.  But even without her revenge plans, her family will never be able to accept him when they find out who Dong Jin really is.  

The abandonment by her father really forms the basis for Woo Joo’s whole outlook on life.  She is distrustful of everyone, but most especially men.  Her view of love has been shattered.  And she has devoted her life to her siblings because it’s easier than dealing with her own pain.  Lee Sung Kyung is such a versatile actress and it’s fun to see her step outside of rom-com to play a more challenging role.  She has the confidence to play this kind of blunt and outspoken character well and I enjoyed her in this part.  

Ahn Hee Yeon as Kang Min Young

Kang Min Young is Dong Jin’s ex-girlfriend.  The couple dated for 7 years, but thanks to Dong Jin’s mother constantly begging her for money, Min Young breaks it off to marry a guy in the US that her family approves of. But the engagement falls apart and Min Young comes back to Korea, hoping to get back together with Dong Jin.  Unfortunately for her, Dong Jin has no interest in rekindling their relationship.

 ♥ Best Friends

I loved that each of the leads in this one had their own sidekick, best friend.  Joon and Sun Woo were both fun characters and I enjoyed watching their interactions with the leads.  I find it very satisfying to know that while both of the main characters suffered from terrible emotional wounds, they each had someone who stayed by their side and accepted them for who they were.  It is also proof that while both of them acted closed off from emotion and human interaction, they still longed for love and friendship.  

♥ Family

I really liked watching Woo Joo and her family.  This is not the picture perfect family that many dramas try to depict, but it is also not the totally dysfunctional mess of melodramas.  This family, like many other elements of this drama, just felt real.  They aren’t overly loving or close by many standards, but they knew how to comfort each other simply by just being there.  And they also aren’t afraid to call each other out when they disagree.  Family is often imperfect and messy, and this one felt authentic.  

Min Young Romance

It’s funny, but for me, I never really saw much romance between Dong Jin and Min Young.  If they hadn’t told us all about it, I never would have imagined them as a couple.  But they gave us plenty of opportunity to see Min Young with Sun Woo.  Really, from the beginning, it felt like all the romantic connection was between them.  And I completely expected them to end up at least kind of together by the end.  But the lack of chemistry between her and Dong Jin made it hard for me to understand or sympathize much with Min Young’s character.  

Cha Young Min

The whole office espionage plot kind of fell flat compared to the rest of this drama.  There is never any explanation about why a trusted employee who has been with the company long enough to be in the inner circle, would suddenly side with their competitor and risk his own career.  And then he kind of just disappears without any conclusion to the whole story.  Even the trouble he causes by telling Sun Woo about Woo Joo never really amounts to anything.  

“Call it Love” gives us a hard-fought happy ending that would have been nice 30 minutes earlier, but they’re together now and that’s what counts.  After Hee Ja’s scheme is finally exposed by Dong Jin, the siblings are finally able to move back home.  Joon and Hye Seong have started to date seriously, and the lonliness of an empty house prompts him to spontaneously propose to her.  Of course, she complains that it doesn’t live up to her romantic fantasies, but she accepts nonetheless.  Dong Jin and Woo Joo have broken up for the sake of Woo Joo’s family.  Dong Jin quit the company and is travelling around in his camping car, living the life he has always wanted, but he misses Woo Joo terribly!  Woo Joo has taken her work experience at Best Fair to work as a fair coordinator for another company.  But her lonliness has returned and even Hye Song can’t hold on to her anger anymore in the face of her sister’s unhappiness.  So she tells Woo Joo that their mother had already come to a truce with Dong Jin, and if their mom was fine with it, then who was stopping them from being together.  Ji Gu has continued to pursue music and he finally has his first show.  He invites Dong Jin and tells Woo Joo that Dong Jin might be there.  The couple spot each other in the crowd, Dong Jin carrying a bouquet of flowers, and as they approach each other their eyes meet.  The rest is left to our imaginations, but it’s obvious that they are back together and probably happily touring the country in their camping van for a honeymoon.  

Kim Joon Han as Choi Ji Hoon

Choi Ji Hoon is the promising young CEO of a start-up company.  He has his eye on the position of Mayor of Seoul, but he needs a beautiful, refined woman to stand at his side and make him look good.  His friend works with Anna, and sets the pair up on a blind date.  And they are married after a whirlwind romance.  But once he has filled the role, he turns his attention to politics, leaving his new wife on her own most of the time. And when she begins to challenge his expectations of the perfect wife, he takes extreme measures to make his will understood.  

Although Choi Ji Hoon appears to have grown up in the lap of luxury, he and Anna really aren’t all that different.  His family was also poor growing up, but he is able to make the right connections and get the right backing to open his own company and later run for political office.  Kim Joon Han was compelling as the sinister and guarded politician.  Even when he is smiling, his eyes give off a coldness that makes you suspicious.  This makes him the perfect villain.  I liked him in this role and I thought he fit it well.

Park Ye Young as Ji Won

Ji Won lived in the same boarding house as Yoo Mi when they were young.  The two become good friends before Yoo Mi vanishes suddenly.  But years later, the pair reconnect.  In college, Ji Won worked for the school newspaper and dreamed of becoming a political journalist.  She struggles at a small local paper before Anna asks Ji Hoon to get Ji Won a job at a major publication.  But as Ji Won becomes suspicious about who Yoo Mi really is, she is torn between her job and a person she thought was her friend.  

 ♥ Cinematography and Music

In my opinion, this drama looks and sounds amazing.  The cinematography is beautiful and the music really captures the mood of the drama itself.  The scenes of lavish luxury and posh living were convincing without being over the top.  I love how the music from her ballet solo as Esmerelda becomes her theme song in the final episodes.  It brings everything back around in a very satisfying way.  And the scene of her throwing her burning hand bag into the car and walking away was epic!

♥ Hyun Joo

Although I didn’t like her much, I found Hyun Joo’s character to be thoroughly enjoyable.  Jung Eun Chae really nailed this performance and her deliverance was perfect.  The news after her death that she suffered from bi-polar disorder made perfect sense for this character and was well supported by the actress, even before we knew it.   

Marriage Trouble

It seemed like when Anna and Ji Hoon were first dating, their relationship was at least a bit sincere.  The cute montage of them playing together in the snow was sweet and believable.  Of course, as Anna found out what he was really like, it is reasonable that she would come to hate him.  But I felt like her change of attitude was too sudden and without any central reason.  I think it would have felt more realistic if they had showed some breaking point in their relationship.

Ji Won

I felt kind of bad that in the end, Ji Won believed that she knew nothing about her friend Yoo Mi.  While there were plenty of lies, it seems to me that Ji Won knew her better than anyone else.  Yoo Mi allowed herself to be just plain old Yoo Mi when she was with Ji Won, especially later in life.  I just wish Ji Won could have realized that she was the only real friend Yoo Mi ever had, and that while their friendship was not perfect, it was at least, at times, honest.  

The ending of this drama has been telegraphed since the very first episode.  We have seen Anna trudging alone through the snow, and we see her at the scene of the car crash.  So now that we’re here, it’s just a matter of filling in the blank spaces.  In the end, Ji Hoon tries to have Anna institutionalized in the States.  Anna causes their car to crash on the way there, and finished the job by lighting her bag on fire and throwing it into the car where Ji Hoon is trapped.  And in case you doubt the outcome, we later see his empty funeral service, with his son happily throwing the mourning flowers into the air.  We learn that Ji Won finally told the full story, with the details Anna gave her.  This gained her a nice promotion and the money to buy a nice place to live.  And Anna is hiding out somewhere in the mountains of Canada.  While it appears to be a lonely life, she seems to finally have found a bit of peace.  

Kim Ji Eun as Baek Ma Ri

Baek Ma Ri finishes her training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute expecting to start work at her grandfather’s firm.  But he has other plans.  As a way to continue her training, her grandfather, Beak Hyun Moo, sends Ma Ri to work under Ji Hoon as an intern.  Ma Ri is obviously disappointed with the apparent demotion and being stuck in a small, tacky law office with very few clients.  But the more she works on cases with him, the more she learns to appreciate his skill and care about him.  And when her curiousity about his private life begins to gnaw at her, she goes to her mentor, Ji Hoon’s former co-worker, to find out what happened to him in his past to make him the person he is today.  

Ma Ri has an overbearing mother who believes the world owes them everything, and a grandfather who wants to see her become an honest and hard working lawyer.  Luckily for her, her grandfather is the one holding the purse strings.  His idea to send Ma Ri to Ji Hoon’s practice is a turning point in her career that is definitely for the better.  Kim Ji Eun played this role well, but I’m not sure she ever felt much like a star of the drama.  She played a great support character for Ji Hoon, but I wish she could have had a storyline of her own.  

Lee Deok Hwa as Baek Hyun Moo

Baek Hyun Moo is Ma Ri’s grandfather.  He is the CEO of a big, successful law firm.  He admires Ji Hoon for his skills and character, so he sends Ma Ri to him to be his intern.  While Hyun Moo represents some very influential people in his firm, he is honest and hardworking, and manages to steer clear of the wide-spread corruption.  

 ♥ Cases

This drama has some interesting legal cases with fun twists.  I enjoyed watching the way Ji Hoon solved each cases.  He has a unique perspective that made his methods interesting and I always looked forward to how he would solve each case. Watching he and Mu Jang fumble their way through each investigation was entertaining and their chemistry was a highlight of the drama.

♥ Flashbacks

This drama handled flashbacks better than almost any drama I have watched.  Using 2 episodes to really take their time telling the story, worked so much better than random clips repeated over and over, to the point of boredom.  The abrupt shift to a darker tone is a bit jarring, but the story quickly draws you in.  The love story between Ji Hoon and Joo Young was beautifully told.  It gave us a chance to fall in love with her and their romance, even though she is already dead.   

Weak Female Lead

Compared to the dynamic personality of Ji Hoon, Ma Ri never really gets a chance to shine in her own right.  She is forever designated as the sidekick.  I wish we could have seen more character development for her.  She did well with what she was given, but there was so much more potential for her role.  Maybe her relationships with her grandfather, her mother, and Min Hyuk were all left on the cutting room floor.  It’s hard to say, but they certainly felt incomplete.  

Production Turmoil

The terrible friction going on behind the scenes in this drama has been well documented.  There were arguements about product placement, and scenes were sent back for endless revisons.  And all of the static is reflected in the chaotic tone of the second half of this drama.  It’s really too bad, because the cast gave their everything all the way through.  But the plot struggled to stay consistent and parts of the story felt flat, rushed, or incomplete.  

“One Dollar Lawyer” has a rushed and predictable ending, but it does manage to tie up the main loose ends and give us a happy glimpse into the future for our fearless law team.  After taking some time away to prepare for his final battle, Ji Hoon comes back ready to take down Choi Ki Seok once for all.  In the end, Ji Hoon relies on his excellent acting skills to coax a confession out of Ki Seok.  The team gives the Prosecutor’s Office the evidence they have gathered, with the help of Ma Ri’s grandfather, and the confession.  Ki Seok is arrested and Ji Hoon serves as a special prosecutor to try the case, where, of course, he is found guilty.  3 months later, Ma Ri and Mu Jang try to raise their legal fee, but Ji Hoon won’t hear of it.  He vows to always remain the “1000 Won Lawyer”.  The final scene reverts back to the series’ earlier comedic style, with Ji Hoon showing up on a deserted island to help a potential client in need.  Obvioiusly, the law will go on, with our fearless trio working together for justice.