And this is my problem with this story, because it was showed at the beginning as the one to get Ian's development, his healing journey, self reflect, and we've got nothing from that! It was just bunch of sex scenes, going to one guy later to another and .... that's it, where is Ian's journey to kill his struggles and demons?! I don't vare who's the end game, he could even just drive away and be alone loving himself, but damn this is just such a shitty writing, already in the middle of season 2 I've noticed that there is no progress... gosh, wasted potential and good artstyle!
My exact problem as well lmao, it just feels like a whole lot of waste and it’s such a shame
Exactly, it was always funny for me how people were fighting for that end game part, like is that really all you vare about?! Some sex scenes, hot character and that's all, you'rw pleased?! So I was rooting for Ian's self healing journey and character development... but yeah, it was a pointless hope for some time already I think I had a high expectation, I love stories where we have correctly showed trauma, dealing with your demons, and at the beginning it was portrayed this way... I had my hope probably for too long, damn, I'm so disappointed for this poor writing
Girl he didn't even heal lol he was busy grinding his ass to earn enough money to buy a house for him and the root cause of all his misery and trauma what was the point lol
Me too, I would have hoped that Ian wasn’t going to get reduced to his traumas, settling for a life with TJ instead of actually being able to fight through what the past had set up for him and actually being able to pull through all of that. It’s just disappointing, it makes it seem like Ian trying with Jo just ended up hurting him and Ian being with him could have potentially caused harm to his family as well, and I’m just not a fan of that in the slightest. It’s basically painting an image of Ian being a person that drags his past everywhere he goes, reason why he’s better off just being for TJ once and for all. It’s such a shame.
And the saddest part for me is I genuienly thought this story was kind of the story showing struggles of people who stuck in the past and thinking they are in the state of no hope and it really did a good job in the start too. Whether it was Ian's substance abuse dulling his emotions or his habit of handling everything on his own due to never receiving love from his mother, during the time he was with Jo, we saw an Ian who no longer felt obligated to hide his feelings or handle everything on his own—exactly what the character needed. But TJ kept Ian burdened with guilt for 20 years. And he kept him by his side like that. At the end of the story, Ian has ABSOLUTELY NO reason to wait for TJ idc. "Oh, but their love is so strong," "Oh, but Ian chose TJ despite everything." They officially state that Ian will never prioritize himself as long as he's with TJ, and this is entirely about the author acting on the readers' wishes and making their favorite ML the endgame, but not even knowing how to do it herself. Someone said the author had decided on ML from the very beginning of the series, but if we've read the same story, I don't believe that for a second—and honestly, I would have happily accepted it if Ian hadn't chosen Jo and focused on healing on his own, but no, this ending is one of the worst and most rushed choices ever
Exactly, his trauma was simply shallowed to the bottom, what was the point of introducing that when it was not even correctly addressed?!
This series was truly only about love triangle part and constant angst, no true writing, no execution, no sense, the punch line of the series is you cannot escape your demons and your part defines you...yeah... I think I expected too much
Couldn’t have said it better myself Word for word, bar for bar.
Exactly this! The beginning was soooo promising, the decline began in the second season, Ian with his trauma, he doesn't know how to deal with emotions, still kept down in emotional pain, I really hoped for his journey, how he's focusing on himself first, and the same I expected from TJ, to show that he grew, that he reflected on his actions, a damn redemption! But no... all that matters is - they have a good sex and chemistry... gosh... I'm extremely dissapointed, looks like this series was about sex and love triangle to begin with... wasted 3 years for nothing
Yes! I also don’t understand why it had to be a love triangle either, speaking of that. All of this just for Jo’s existence to be used as a plot device when the story could’ve went the way it did without another character in the mix (and would’ve made more sense that way as well lmao).
Jo’s presence really sold false hope, narratively. It really would’ve only made sense that Ian can pull through together with Jo or even alone, based on what we have been shown about Ian’s past with TJ and the fact that they didn’t have much real positive development ever since the series started.
Don’t know, I just don’t get it. It seems like a very shallow way to conclude a story that was supposed to built off on the main characters’ traumatic past and the impact it has had on him until the present. Maybe we were indeed too hopeful about the writing making sense from a narrative viewpoint
THISS I REALLY ONLY KEPT READING CUZ JOS CHARACTER GAVE ME HOPE FOR IAN TO HEAL AND GROW
It would make even more sense if Doyak would use Jo, since already added, for Ian's character development, but we've got nothing! The basic of this story was always just a love triangle angst, that's all, poor writing, I'm glad it's ending, wasted potential
to be honest, i don't think tj should've even come back to confess his love at the end, it really undermined the entire progression of the story where it was established tj routinely chooses power over than ian and ian was learning to accept that he could do better than that.
like, tj throwing EVERYTHING away just for ian never seemed part of his character - way too naive for him, at most he should've come to regret his decision in the future after realising what he'd sacrificed for success.
and finally, if ian was going to show growth at all, he definitely shouldn't have accepted tj just because he's saying what he wants to hear, because despite how much they love eachother, the story was about realising how toxic that love has been to him so running back is just so... underwhelming.
it just kinda of feels like the author decided to just feed the drama in the fandom instead of commit to the characters personalities and growth arcs and that really annoys me because of the wasted potential.
Like shit, our bad for not considering the fact that TJ going to jail for 2 years will magically undo so many unresolved, unaddressed problems Dude came out of jail and had his dream scenario (Ian waiting and them being “home”) lined up as if nothing ever happened or as if they had positive development towards this throughout the series, which just didn’t happen
It doesn’t add up and feels like a slap in the face to what was going to be growth and Ian being able to outrun his past traumas and the people that were in it. Instead, we just see TJ get exactly what he has been wishing for. Idk. I hate to see topics like this get handled this horribly.
Throughout the story, we read about a character who wants to leave his dark past behind and step into a bright new future. In return, he meets a man who, for the first time in his life, allows him to imagine a happy future, and moreover, makes it possible for him to do so. But in the end, despite everything, all his passions and desires, why the hell does our character choose to return to the man who kept him by his side twice—once by breaking his leg, and once by sending him into jail and binding him with debt—through the manipulation of guilt? I don't think readers who are happy about this understand the story at all or care about Ian in the slightest; they're just partying because sexy mob boss did chosen, without caring about the direction of the story or the depth of the characters. I understand that love doesn't necessarily have to be a "lovey-dovey" or safe thing; it's actually quite an consuming and complex emotion. But that's the problem. Ian and Jo's love was complex enough. A man drowning in his own self-esteem and despair learns to value himself, to live again, to dream with Jo. He realizes that the dreams he desires aren't so absurd after all. Wasn't that story complex enough? It wouldn't be surprising if a character like Ian, whose life has been filled with trauma, clung to his past and the first person he knew as his love, IF we hadn't been reading about Ian's desire to break free from this toxic cycle throughout the story. So what's the moral of the story, don't even think about making a healthy start and revert to your toxic roots?