> A sadistic ending to an otherwise unpredictable yet very entertaining drama

Snowdrop” is actually predominantly a politically charged spy thriller with splashes of satirical black humor, that masquerades itself as an epic tale of romance. Because in truth, the lovey-dovey scenes between our main couple would probably amount to a paltry <5% out of the ~20 hour total viewing time as it focuses rather heavily on political machinations and its resulting consequences instead, so do take this into consideration if you’re solely looking for a story about star-crossed lovers.

> Would you sacrifice others for survival, or would you be selfless enough to sacrifice yourself for others to live?
Many characters have different answers to this question on this show and you will hate some and love some for their choice.


Characters
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Jung Hae-in is a veteran in slow-romance and it surprised me to see him beefup to be a spy and still deliver the slow dialogues.

Ji Soo also has done a good job for her debut ; she easily expressed the emotions of teen in love , in anger , in sadness and confusion. [spoiler] I only wish she had an happy ending ; the korean writers are sadistic [/spoiler]

Kin Hae Yoon plays Kye Boon Ok, she for me is the most hated character as her answers were always wrong and selfish to the end. she did a great job of making me both hate Gye Bun-ok and pitying her

Jang Seung-jo as Kang-moo is amazing. He’s desperate and calculating, passionate, pragmatic, and vengeful. You look at him and you know he’s a ticking time bomb, but you never know when he’s going to go off. Jung Yoo-jin was less than stellar, but she does portray Han-na as being exactly the opposite to Kang-moo: she’s a bomb whose fuse goes off time and time again. I did get annoyed with her multiple times throughout the show but I can’t say I hate her.

Yoon In-na, unfortunately, did not stand out to me but I suppose it’s just because of how her character is written: cold and detached, pragmatic beyond belief and cold. There is one instance that I did love was her seeing the broken minded Ms. Oh and you can see it in her eyes that she finally realises the future that awaits her: abandoned by the country she served and left to suffer the memories of all the atrocities she committed until it breaks her.

There aren’t many other characters that stood out to me but I will say this: I HAAATTTEEEDDD the storyline of the three wives, like I mean HATED. I started skipping some scenes in the end as it brings illtimed comedy and dragging story unnecessarily.

Music & Cinematography
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The OST used also helped to immerse the viewer in the storyline and fit each moment beautifully. FRIEND is a wonder piece.
Cinematography was good mostly ; except when they did a botched-up job on cars , road and tanks :laughing:LMOA

Overall
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In General despite binge watching i rate each episode a minimum 8 and most of the time 9 ; that how good the show and pacing has been ; despite the watch time being 1hr20min per episode. But the worst was that the ending was really quite unsatisfactory considering how rushed it was, with barely any closure, and revealed how much of a kind of tragedy porn it was for one of the main characters in particular. Tragic endings can be employed very effectively and heartbreakingly, but it sort of fell too flat for me here.

What would otherwise would have been a masterpiece fell flat because the writers didn't emphasize much on the initial connection & affection between the star-crossed lover went straight care-hate package. They also gave too much focus to some unnecessary characters and ending was rushed [spoiler] What happened to the students that escaped ? How come the dorm open again ? Did they make a deal with government to shut-up ? Why couldn't they do it before Soo-Hoo died.[/spoiler]

Controversy
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We have to talk about the elephant in the room . The initial controversy surrounded by student hiding N.Korean spy mistaking for a protestor has drawn flak and criticism and as an Non-Korean who was waiting for this show since its announced I waited for the controversy to die down and seen the appreciation in SNS over last 7 weeks and then binged it on the last weekend.

To me it felt they have really explained the circumstances well regarding the controversy and if you are withheld from watching due to said controversy please watch first 5 episodes and then decide. the story complete changes from 5th episode and goes in a satisfying direction.

P.S : A note for Kim Mi Soo ( the roomate unni who protests) who passed away while the show was airing R.I.P