Dear X is a K-drama that will ambush you when you least expect it to. The show is now streaming on Disney+ and is based on the popular webtoon. It's led by Kim Yoo-jung, Kim Young-dae, and Kim Do-hoon.We can classify Dear X as a dark melodrama that spirals into something far more unsettling. You'll know what we mean soon.But if you’re wondering if the show Dear X deserves a spot on your watchlist, find below a spoiler-safe, honest viewer’s guide!Dear X is a slow burn that hooks you View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe early episodes come with deceptive levels of restraint. But once it gets its claws in (by the fourth episode), you can't stop watching.Kim Yoo-jung gives us one of the most unsettling performances of her career as Ajin. She's introduced as having “sociopathic tendencies,” so it makes sense that at first she appears calculating and uses people. But the series peels back her past, which includes years of parental abuse and abandonment. These shaped her survival instincts much before she made questionable choices.The show doesn't label Ajin as a villain or a victim.So, as viewers, we get to sit with the discomfort of both as the camera lingers on facial expressions and silences. A classroom line echoes across episodes as it challenges us to reassess what we are even watching.Coming to the visual aspects, we see mainly moody color palettes and musical cues. One of the best ones is when Ajin’s fate locks in.There is a painful love triangle in Dear XWell, sorry about this, but we are warning you beforehand that there is an unbalanced love triangle between Ajin, Junseo, and Jaeo. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostJunseo (Kim Young-dae) represents guilt and a desperate desire to save Ajin from herself. His childhood trauma makes him believe that he couldn't protect her when it mattered most. His love is sincere but suffocating for Ajinw. He wants her to live a “normal” life, which to her feels way too dangerous.Jaeo (Kim Do-hoon), on the other hand, is as dark as Ajin. He, too, is scarred by abuse, so he understands her without her having to explain herself. His devotion feels like worship, though, because he feels like he needs a need to be helpful to the one person who truly saw him. But Ajin exploits him.As her ambitions grow in the entertainment industry, the scale of her manipulation expands too. Revenge makes her ambition turn ruthless. That's why Episodes 5 through 8 worsen the spiral, as they also introduce a new antagonist and the realization that Ajin may be losing the connection to herself.By episodes 9 and 10, Dear X gets quieter as we see an impulsive marriage and the threat of exposure, all point toward an eventful finale.So our verdict is: watch the show if you’re drawn to complex characters and psychological drama. But please skip it if you’re looking for comfort viewing with clear heroes and villains, or a digestible love story.Dear X is streaming on Disney+.NEXT UP: Dear X ending explained | 5 more thriller K-dramas