I’ve always preferred thrillers or action dramas over romance dramas, though I did enjoy _True Beauty_. I had planned on watching _'Alice in Borderland'_ again—it would have been my fourth time—but I decided to try something new instead. While browsing through the Korean dramas on Netflix, this one appeared. It’s been sitting on my watchlist for a while, but I just hadn’t gotten around to it. I think this series does an excellent job of immediately grabbing your attention. The introduction to the first episode was captivating because it began at the end. Im Si-Wan's character, Yoon Jong-Woo, is possibly one of the best-developed characters in the entire show (which you’d expect from a protagonist), and what I especially like about him is his relationships with all the other people around him; we get to see both sides of his thoughts during conversations. For example, we witness Jong-Woo's desire to physically harm his boss, Shin Jae-ho, but he refrains from doing so. This aspect of Jong-Woo’s personality suggests that he is more similar to Moon-Jo (the main antagonist) than either he or the viewer wants to admit. The real strength of this drama lies in how it manipulates the viewer—almost as much as it does Jong-Woo himself. We come to deeply empathize with Jong-Woo because the filmmaking shows us every facet of his situation and how other characters feel about him. One of the most intriguing characters for me was Yoo Gi-Hyeok (played by Lee Hyun-Wook), since we never really learn much about him. We only briefly get to know the character before Moon-Jo kills him off, and at that point, we also knew very little about Moon-Jo. I had many questions left unanswered: Why was he such an imposing figure? Why was he presented as a subtly tyrannical presence within the commune? This series created so many memorable characters—as I watched it, my favorite character changed almost every episode, shifting mainly between Yoo, Jong-Woo, Moon-Jo and Kang. I really want to focus this review not just on the plot but on the writing of the characters because that’s what truly stood out; no other series, perhaps apart from _Alice in Borderland_, has drawn me in so much through its characters. That's what makes a series worthwhile. **Now I want to mention something separate.** Today, April 8th, is Kim Jong-Hyun's birthday, and he remains forever in our hearts. I plan to celebrate today in his honor; he was someone who always made people smile, especially his bandmates in Shinee. He will never be forgotten. Rest easy. You are continually loved.

Source on TMDB