we were robbed. absolutely fucking robbed. ep 2-15 were absolutely golden, and then ep 16 goes and ruins it. everything was so tight-knit and flowed well, and then not only does the screenwriter go and rush ep 16, but she completely changes the originally ending, which would have been more satisfying and publicly loved. the screenwriter gave us a twist for the sake of having a different ending, not because it made sense. OBVIOUSLY, THE REASON WHY THE OG ENDING WORKS IS WHY THE WEB NOVEL IS POPULAR. if you go and change that, THERE'S NO POINT.

the actors were absolutely amazing throughout, but oh my gods. lee sung min and song joong ki. the absolute and undeniable best parts of this show.

song joong-ki, how are you the man that you are. i literally can't imagine anyone else doing this type of role; he absolutely kills it. it's always with the slight smirk, after giving the soonyang family a blank stare/death glare/all-knowing look, and then he absolutely demolishes them with a paper to buy their company. he absolutely kills it and i need more of this. song joong ki, please step on me. ily. please.

unpopular opinion: SHB and SJK's chemistry wasn't horrible as everyone says it was. here me out:
1. yes, it was severely underdeveloped, because they hardly had any scenes together, which made them getting together unbelieveable.
2. yes, SHB's role in the entire show was to purely serve JDJ's needs and story development, making her very flat, and to some (not me) annoying.
3. and yes, in comparison to the thriller and succession war and other elements going on, the romance was hardly on anyone's radar, and just took attention away from the main plot.

but was the chemistry bad? no. it was as good as it could have been with all the other shit going on, especially when it's not a romance drama, it's a thriller. there's no need to hate on SHB when those two did the best they could and worked with what they had. if anything, it's the screenwriter's fault for not developing it properly.

lee sung-min was a fricking maniac; no wonder he's a veteran in the kdrama industry. that man can ACT. his scenes with sjk were so charged with chemistry i was on the edge of my seat the entire time. and song joong ki. oh my darling, lovely, beloved song joong ki. the microexpressions he has when he acts; the various combinations of smirks and stares he has, being able to scare you one second and charm you the next; the way he can act old-young (and JDJ) and truly young (his old life) within scenes: absolutely fucking insane. that man is fucking acting machine. there's no going around it. THREE TIMES this year i've been demolished by his acting. DOTS was sweet, caramel oozing from his eyes. Vincenzo was absolutely terrifying mafia boss. this was a mixture of the two, and then some more: childish innocence + betrayal + determination. no matter who he has opposite him, he manages to drag chemistry out from them (him and JYB tho >>>).

(spoilers)the web novel ends with seo min young and jin do joon being married and JDJ grieves his past self dying off the cliff, all the while succeeding at being chairman of SY. i'm going to gaslight myself and try to remember that as the ending, instead of the shit-show we got in ep 16. i mean, we don't even see YHW try to get into a relationship with SMY again, when he obviously could, and he could obviously tell her of him being JDJ and have it make sense. and don't even get me started on the amount of plot holes that arose in the last episode, all because the screenwriter messed with what was a tight-knit story. first, we see in ep 1 that he has no recollection of JDJ at all, as does anyone else; so did he just HAPPEN to forget that he killed him? the OG author created a tight-knit well-developed story, and the screenwriter adapted that scene by scene, without a single change, up till ep 15, and that's where she went wrong—if she had just stuck to the source material, we wouldn't be in this situation right now, left completely unsatisfied and angry. if we accept ep 16, that means ep 2-15 meant nothing. he did all that work as JDJ only to die and then become chairman without getting any shares? without any of the work that JDJ put in? not only would JDJ feel wronged, but us, as viewers, feel wronged. we spent so much time with JDJ that we want him to succeed, not YHW. it makes no sense, first, and second, i feel cheated. as much as i loved ep 2-15 and i loved watching the actors, i can never rewatch this, now that i now that they mean nothing to the ending. the actors demolished the show and i have no comments against them, but the screenwriter needs to find a new job. don't just add in a twist ending just for the sake of "changing things up". obviously the source material is popular for a reason, and the author for it made it so that everything ends up perfectly. the worst part is: the screenwriter made so many changes to the ending, but not a single (coherent) comment from a character about how JDJ and a YHW lookalike. not a single one. what kind of "happy ending" is that? to go on living after everyone you love thinks you're dead. the only, and i repeat, ONLY reason this is a 9.0/10 is because ep 2-14 were absolutely perfect, and the actors deserve a perfect score. the screenwriter is the reason why i had to rate it lower.

overall: a fine, fine drama to end 2022, but left with good memories and a bitter taste in my mouth.