Another first watcher (EU) who fell for the show!
I just finished the show yesterday and I’m happy to read about people sharing the same feelings so I thought I’d give it a try myself! I’m EU based, not native English speaker for the disclaimer.
New to the romance k drama world since a few months, I was looking for a new show to watch on vacation after finishing King the Land (which I loved no matter what people say, and its OST!). I started Lovely Runner without expectations: the script on Netflix is supposed to be about a girl who goes in the past to save her idol/celeb crush. I thought I would give in to the fangirl delulu trope and that it could be nothing more than a palate cleanser between two shows and… I was proven so wrong!
I don’t know how I am going to move on because I’m mentally still there. I’ve had so many emotional waves watching the show!
The time travel arc was very interesting as a plot builder, I also liked how we often had some flashbacks explaining what led to a particular scene and revealing even more details.
The villain story added some darkness and made the difficult choices even more relevant. I thought it was mirroring well the FL/ML relationship, the threat (re-) appearing and getting more intense as they get closer (again).
Every time I thought he was finally gone, he wasn’t, so at the end I was still on ptsd mode, fearing we would see him messing up the story all again.
The supporting characters were good additions and balancing the heaviness of the rest. The families and friends all had their own ways of contributing in a way or another to the love relationship, sometimes by being against, sometimes by trying to facilitate. A lot of funny moments even with the rival turned friend (Tae-seung).
My heart still melts for the grandma who had dementia but with intentionally selective memories and actions to help Sol, I love that she’s the only one also seeing through the time travels and love interest. And can we talk about when she gives him her blessing at the end?
Keeping the best for the end: the love story! Biggest prank ever from the writers to make us think it was a hardcore delulu fangirl x celeb crush story. We had fated love but also love against fate.
How she sacrifices her happiness for his life every single time, all that while keeping the painful memories of the consequences of every time period. I genuinely cried when he falls off the cliff looking at her and at the last of her attempts where she decided to erase herself completely from his romantic life and never meet him. Every time she has to lie to his face and say there’s no interest from her, there’s not a time period she’s in love with him, or pretending to be back and not recognizing him.
How he finds her and falls for her in every single time version no matter where he is in his life or what he remembers, and how he keeps making the same sacrifices for her. Because he gets her, he feels her and it leaves a mark even if the memory is changed.
And of course, the fact that’s he’s the ridiculously tall and handsome kind of guy doesn’t help to move on. I loved how her family swoons over him in every time period, it’s so ridiculous it’s funny! And he’s like a bit shy when he’s younger but totally plays that card in the more recent eras. There was some styling of her I didn’t like much (the younger her, when they meet) but she’s absolutely stunning as time goes by. I love that her style is a bit downplayed compared to his to fit the storyline of being someone in the shadows (and sad) when she’s older. My fav styling for her was when has long waves as hairstyle and pastel or light colored clothes. For him, they really went hard with the boyfriend material card in the today’s era: very long coat, cozy sweaters, turtlenecks, out of the shower looks. Loved it!
Anyway, after so much longing and crying and failed attempts, when they finally get united for the first times, it’s so painfully beautiful: their chemistry is insane, their kisses and stares are making the time stop (ironic, I know), they become their own world. When they’re young it’s so cute and promising (when he gets she’s from the future and asks her to love him even if he’ll die) but when they’re in today’s era, it has even more power because of the history somewhere present even at least for her and for him, even if he doesn’t remember it, he has the scars of a life so far empty.
I didn’t know what to expect as story ending because it had changed so many times. But I thought it was executed perfectly: it makes sense he finally gets his memories back and remembers her. And he remembers THAT song! And after the hospital escape, he doesn’t let her push him back again, won’t take no for an answer and for the first time, he gets to decide what’s next and what’s next is them being together no matter what. I thought it was mirroring well the fact that the villain dies. Their final reunion felt like deep connection between two souls finally being together. And he won’t care about what others may think, about his celeb status, it’s just about her.
I also loved how the proposal attempt number 2 was more suited to them. Would have loved more time on the wedding and what could be their life in the future but I guess I won’t be too greedy.
Hope it will resonate with anyone who watch the show, thanks for reading until there
Thanks to u/harissatotally for the rec!