Golden Garden

I was surprised how good this series about a crime that brings together people who were connected in the past by a hit and run. A woman and her mother conceal a switch of identity and a prior marriage and child in order to marry into a wealthy family. The villains are really quite something even by Korean drama standards. The good guys are a woman who had her identity stolen by the villainess and a cop who helps her. The story was complex but brilliantly written and not confusing at all. Everything came together perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle. Perfect ending too. It wasn't frustrating like some makjang dramas where things get strung out too long. Things move along quickly here. Very exciting and tense both from the pov of every character. Amazing how everything was plausible and possible not over the top like Penthouse. Totally believable. Even though there were birth secrets and some coincidences bur they are all well explained. I was on the edge of my seat for much of the show. The villains kept worming their way out of one thing after another. The show lasts 30 hours but it wasn't too long because there was so much story.

The actors are well cast. Firstly the unforgettable villains Sabina and her theatrically monstrous unrepentant and audacious mother played by Jung Young Joo. The actress playing Sabina, Oh Ji Eun is very attractive and acts so convincingly. She is such a good and watchable actress just don't understand why she isn't more famous.

Also worth mentioning are the chairwoman played perfectly by Cha Hwa Yeon. Also her son played by the very good actor Lee Tae Sung does the conflicted tortured man very well. They are really outstanding. Not to say the leads aren't fine. Lee Sang Woo and Han Ji Hye play the good couple.

This series isn't some average day time family soapy drama. It is actually much better than many big budget cable 16 episode series with more famous casts.

The drama main goal was to hit as many makjang tropes as possible even repeating some of them across multiple characters. Almost every single character has a hidden past/birth secret, even the support characters. The revenge was bad, there wasn't actually a revenge. The romance/relationship of the leads was as childish as you can imagine. The actress Jung Young Joo who played the mother as the main antagonist did a truly awful job. Her reactions/interactions were laughably bad. The four leads' performance was fine but nothing note worthy, they've done better elsewhere. There's nothing appealing about the story either since they don't even try. Also, I didn't like the ending or the entire last episode in general.