Well,
Bad Guy started as a heavy drama, was really great in the middle (btw, who was in the cast apart from the leading man, can't remember keke), but they messed up the ending. It was all SBS' fault. They could start filming this damned drama three months earlier, but due to some issues (I guess no one is interested here), they postponed it few months. And then we got army draft. Gunwuk was supposed to die in Ep 17, but drama was scheduled to 20 eps. I can't see through their thinking while they made that decision. It was the worst move of the last year in dramaland. I couldn't even hate SBS more for hat. This is why we got such f*cked up ending, and ruining one of the best premises of the last year.
Secret Garden, on the other hand, is not a fluff, but it's not
Bad Guy caliber either. I guess few of us were repeating as mantra that this drama is not fluff. Romantic moments - eggs, funny moments - butter, but cake is not a cake without flour. In this case, we don't have pure white and fluffy flour, but a wholegrain one. Dark.
This makes drama bad? Do we always want to watch happily-ever-after? I don't. I prefer tragic ending than cheesy, far-fetched happy one. Because I never seen SG as a total rom-com.
Like Ara said, there were hints of something ominous awaiting over the corner.
On the happy note, netizens "discovered" what Gil Ra Im's name means: "thinking about stripping". No joking