First Impressions: Let’s Eat

Let’s Eat
식샤를 합시다
(Nov 2013 – Mar 2014)

who’s in it
Lee SooKyung (My Country Calls, Soulmate)
Yoon DooJoon (All My Love, Iris 2)
Yoon SoHee (The Blade and the Petal)
Shim HyungTak (My Daughter SeoYoung, You’re Great, Really!)
Lee DoYun
Jang WonYoung (Miss Korea, King of Dramas)
Jung SooYoung (City Hall, Fantasy Couple)

what’s it about
Another trendy cable drama taking stab at capturing the lonely city doings of Seoul professionals. This show, however, actually does it well! Oopsie, already opining. Sorry, moving forward with the summary: the collected urbanites in TVN’s latest quirky-lonely-people drama are a bowl of mismatched ingredients, a bimbim of differently seasoned people, if you will, ranging from the quasi-happily married couple to an independent divorcee to the freewheeling singles. What do they all have in common? They work, play, and live in the same backyard, which really, is a pretty accurate depiction of anybody’s daily routine and foot travel.

Lee SooKyung is our titular character, she’s in her early thirties, divorced, and working at a law firm for a real jerk of a boss, a man who is an uptight, insecure, and emotionally abusive lawyer played by a handsome Shim HyungTak. You see, Lee SooKyung’s not discontent with her life, but she’s not exactly happy either. The indigestible lessons of living alone in a dog-eat-dog society has knocked and hammered her personality into an impenetrable fortress of solitude. Nowadays, she prefers to keep to herself because she doesn’t get hurt that way (well, she does still get bruised, but she always has on hand a few candy bars to mend the small daily hurts). She has learned that she can only depend on herself, her clever Pomeranian roomie Mr. Bara (named after Marxist revolutionary and counterculture icon Che Guevara), and of course, her favorite food blog ShikSha. This is the entirety of her world. And despite living in a building full of people, she wants nothing to do with her neighbors, doesn’t even know their names (ain’t that a truth!). She only wants to exist quietly and be left alone, and of course, eat alone—that is, until bubbly and naïve Yoon SoHee moves in next door and forces the reluctant Lee SooKyung to come out of her protective turtle shell.

Through the brazen disruption from her neighbors into the routine of her mundane life, 805 opens her heart and her dining schedule to the residents of 804 and 806, possibly saying good-bye to lonely dining forever, and maybe even opening herself up to a new love.

It appears this show’s priority, first and foremost, is about HD zoom and slow-mo glorification of Korean food, and the self-absorbed gluttonous notion that it is not shameful to devote one’s whole life energy to deciding the next glorious meal—that good food leads to all else, love, friends, happiness, to absolutely everything. Time doesn’t heal all wounds, food does! A happy stomach is a happy heart! How very Korean. And what a great message! Ha. I already love this show! In the most simple sum up, this one is basically about an attractive cast who create their own urban family. There’s blogging, eating, bickering, and just in case you think the show isn’t trying hard enough to keep your attention, there’s a bit of a murder mystery as well.

I mean, hell, talk about a show that speaks my language.

Heartless City (2013)

Heartless City
무정도시 / Cruel City
(May – July 2013)

--Spoiler Free Review--

who’s in it
Jung KyungHo (Smile You, Time Between Dog and Wolf)
Nam GyuRi (49 Days, Life is Beautiful)
Kim YooMi (Enjoy Life, Country Princess)
Lee JaeYoon (Ghost, Just Like Today)
Yoon HyunMin (Still You, More Charming By the Day)
Choi MooSung (I Live in Cheongdam-dong)
Son Chang Min (Horse Doctor, Man of Honor)
Go Na Eun (Assorted Gems) 

what’s it about 
For a show like this one, built on violence, suspense, and misdirection, any summary becomes too much summary because even a half morsel of information ends up giving everything away.

The bones of this drama, however, is simply about a police task force created for the sole purpose of bringing down a shifty criminal network that has been flooding massive amounts of soul-sucking drugs into Seoul. That is the spine of it, but there is so much more to the tale than the basic promise of cops going after drug dealers. There is blood, heart, brains, and a whole heaping mess of beautifully filmed gore, gristle, muscle…basically it’s a cinematically riveting organic explosion about the darker side of human nature as told from the point of view of a criminal underworld and a legal system that behaves no different than the people it chases. It is a modern story with old themes, ones as old as Rome, about the redemption of devils and the corruption of angels.

Lee JaeYoon plays the detective chasing and Jung KyungHo plays the man being chased. Nam GyuRi plays the innocent caught between two worlds. That’s all you are allowed to know until you watch it, the show will reveal the rest. That’s all you should want to know if you have any interest in watching this one. Trust me on this, Heartless is not the show you should indulge your need for spoilers, as part of its hypnotic quality is about going in blindfolded and tied, being tossed completely innocent into this stylish romance with the dark side. 

commitment 
20 episodes

network
JTBC

director
Lee JungHyo

screenwriter
Yoo SungYeol

music
Nam HyeSung
Amazing soulful music in this one, and perfectly constructed for the show. There were so many layers that it fit so many aspects and themes. Hints of jazz and blues, sometimes even carnie, and all parts emotional.

photography
Choi YoonMan
The look of this one was all vintage style, atmospheric, and a personality of its own. Practically black and white…without actually being filmed in black and white.

first impressions
What’s the date and time? I may have to notarize this moment.

It is possible that I have just begun watching the hands-down coolest, sexiest, most awe-smacking, well-produced drama served up to a kdrama audience in recent memory. Can a person tell they are living a momentous historical moment even before that moment passes? Absolutely I’m going overboard, but that’s how much amazement I have for this one, and how impressed I am by the first few episodes.

Not all the main characters have been introduced yet, in fact, a few only catch minutes of airtime. The ones we do meet have little direct interplay with the wider net of players as yet. They exist in their own corners of Seoul. Still, we already know that they are all insidiously interconnected, whether by circumstance or by people. The showdown we all know is coming already feels epic. We feel it looming ahead like the iceberg that must have seen the bloated tanker Titanic approaching. We know some of these characters only by their aliases, but what will happen when we know their true names and their true faces? How will they be revealed when their costumes are stripped away and the truth of the person inside is laid bare?

This world is a winding clock, and the players in it the gears grinding along…and it is not a natural world in which they exist, not a world built for surviving.

And as spectators, we all hold our breaths knowing that someone or something—pure and hot—is about to come along with a hammer and smash its constant simple logic to smithereens, offering us a glimpse into the chaos and complexity behind the movement of lives. 

Revenge of the Short-Legged (2012)

High Kick! Revenge of the Short-Legged
하이킥! 짧은 다리의 역습 / High Kick 3
(Sept 2011 – Mar 2012)

who’s in it
Yoon KyeSang (Greatest Love, Triple)
Suh JiSuk (Gloria, Manny)
Kim JiWon (What’s Up)
Park Ha Sun (Dong Yi, Ad Genius Lee Tae Bak)
Lee JongSuk (I Can Hear Your Voice, School 2013)
Kang SeungYoon (singer)
Krystal Jung (More Charming by the Day, f(x) member)
Ahn NaeSang (Monstar, Wonderful Mama)
Yoon YooSun (Queen SeonDuk, Giant)
Baek JinHee (Jeon WooChi)
Julien Kang (High Kick Through the Roof)
Lee Jeok (singer)

what’s it about
In a distracting gimmick, this High Kick story comes to us from the perspective of a somewhat dislikable omniscient narrator played by Lee Jeok, who recounts the story of how he met his wife, who remains a mystery until the very end. Thankfully his character presence is small. The occasional wife-searching anecdotes aside, the story really follows the bankrupt Ahn family after they move in with their maternal side in-laws, the Yoon brothers, played by matured handsomes Suh JiSuk and Yoon KyeSang.

When the Yoon/Ahn family discover an underground tunnel connecting their house to their next door neighbors, the family befriends the household next door consisting of three women and one Julien. And from there the sitcom loopdiloops begin in typical High Kick fashion: bathroom jokes, blockhead uncles, drunk buffoonery, some vomiting, tutoring sessions, adult/minor romances, pretty punks, annoying patriarchs, etc.

FYI, this one seems to derive its name from the idea that the taller cast members are in battle with the shorter cast members. Intentionally, the men are mostly the tall ones in this show, so it’s really about the men being spun around and yanked about by their shorties—I use that word in the hip hop vernacular, so I am talkin’ about all the pretty ladies.

Another FYI, if you loved this show, might be best for you to skip this review. You’ve been warned.

(I mean, I have some nice things to say, but if you are a diehard fan, I’m just saying, you might get a little miffed at me.) 

commitment 
123 episodes

network
MBC

director
Kim ByeongWook
Kim YoungKi
Jo ChanSoo

screenwriter
Lee YoungChul
Jo SungHee
Hong BoHee
Jang JinAh
Baek SunWoo

first impressions
Annoying, annoying dad. Wow, can a dad ever be so annoying? What Ahn NaeSang’s character taught me in the first 10, then 123 episodes, was that there is a very definite line between hapless and hateful. After I forcibly told myself to get over it, ignore the man, only then was I able to enjoy this one—a little. But it was a HUGE obstacle for me.

I sorta endured through it, although with a lot of furious snacking for distraction. Oh, he is sooo annoying. Yum, nacho cheese Doritos. Ok, I’ll keep watching and munching. Hateful characters designed with the sole intent of being stingy and petty are really difficult to just put out of mind, especially when they are never out of sight. Junk food was a necessary comfort that helped me through the watching of this show..

wildcard factor
Thankfully, the younger people tended to be likable, and made up a good sizable chunk of the cast.

gave up

snoozer moments
To be honest, I found a lot of this drama snoozy. I had some serious tunnel vision going on, focusing my love on only a few characters.

soju guzzling (angst factor)

Ahn NaeSang spent a lot time hiding from creditors and causing trouble. You could almost say he single-handedly made me miserable.

Kim JiWon spent all of the show majorly crushing on older Yoon KyeSang...and that also made me miserable.

So most of the angst during this show...was by me.

Gentleman’s Dignity (2012)

Gentleman’s Dignity
신사의 품격
(May – Aug 2012)

who’s in it
Jang DongGun (All About Eve, The Warrior’s Way-film)
Kim HaNeul (On Air, Secret, Stained Glass)
Kim SooRo (God of Study)
Kim MinJong (The Return of Iljimae)
Lee JongHyuk (Chuno)
Yoon SeAh (You’re So Pretty)
Kim JungNan (Creating Destiny, Bridal Mask)
Kim WooBin (Vampire Idol, School 2013)
Yoon JinYi
Lee JongHyun (idol group CNBlue - member)
Ahn JaeMin

what’s it about
Okay everybody, so this is the sequel to Boys Over Flowers and it explores the “what if” scenario of F4 all grown up and leading life as semi-responsible career-minded adults. JunPyo grows up to become an architect, JiHoo is his partner at a property development firm, YiJung’s a successful corporate lawyer, and WooBin totally marries rich.

Ha.
Ok, this is not true.

(What? You haven’t seen Boys Over Flowers and don’t get the inside? I’m telling you this as a concerned drama-watching friend, to be in this kdrama world, there are a few shows that are required homework. Unfortunately—yes I do mean unfortunately—BOF is one of them. Sorry, it’s a rite of passage. Go endure it, then come back.)

In all seriousness, this is the tale of four men—Jang DongGun (architect), Kim SooRo (construction tradesman), Kim MinJong (lawyer), and Lee JongHyuk (sexy beast)—who insist on living their lives as if still at a school playground even when they are climbing into their forties. As a collective group of handsome and monied, no one’s told them forcefully enough that “juvenile” is not a synonym for “aegyo” and that this particular type of youthful wear does not fly with real women.

Therefore when they actually encounter a few of these real women, it’s not so easy for them to adjust. This is where Kim HaNeul (highschool teacher), Yoon SeAh (pro golfer), Yoon JinYi (flirty young person), and Kim JungNan (awesome rich bitch) come in. They are the poor ladies that some cruel deity has decided should love these man-children.

Also, Kim WooBin and CN Blue idol Lee JongHyun add some younger pretty to the cast, giving a little something for the pigtailed fangirls, too.

As for a plot, there really isn’t one. This is all about four men clashing with four women and the fun all that should entail. Obviously saying a show has no plot doesn’t really sound like a positive thing, but this may be one of the rare exceptions.
 
commitment 
20 episodes

network
SBS

director
Kwon HyeokChan (Secret Garden)
Shin WooCheol (Secret Garden, On Air)

screenwriter
Kim EunSook (Secret Garden, On Air)
And it really does feel like Secret Garden mated with On Air.

first impressions
Without a doubt, Jang DongGun is a tall glass of handsome. This is a man that looks his part, a seasoned hottie who’s worked in the K-biz a long time, and he oozes confidence and sophistication. You can almost see him doing the Korean version of a Dos Equis commercial—“Well, hello, I am Jang DongGun, and I am the most handsomest man in South Korea.” He has a style that simply teases, “I’ve been there, done that, and that, and that too, and it makes me all kinds of panther sexy.” It’s hard to argue with his body language…when his body looks like Jang DongGun.

Next up, for his female lead, we have Kim HaNeul. Everything I said about Jang, just repeat it for her, but substitute panther with cheetara.

So for these two mega stars to team up on the small screen…let’s just say kfans around the world stopped breathing for a just a wee sec. The only thing that might have surprised more was if suddenly news rained down that Kim SunAh was going to reunite with Hyun Bin (please, please, please let that happen one day, I beg the universe!). That’s the kind of epic this pairing was, in case you weren’t aware.

And then we had this total anomaly of a character played with pure delight by Mr. Lee JongHyuk, and he defied every definition of what a sane woman should find appealing. I have so much hearts-in-eyes for him and so little words to convey it properly. He was the most lovable jerk I’d ever encountered. The last thing I remember seeing Lee in was Chuno, all historical and chasing after Jang Hyuk. I do believe I prefer the contemporary sexy on him. I have a new appreciation for starched white shirts and pants. 

Last but not least, Kim WooBin had a smallish part in here; this was one of his earlier roles. If ever there was the next generation of Jang DongGun, this might be the guy—like quite literally, Kim having recently been picked to play Jang DongGun’s son in the sequel to 2001’s film Friend. My only complaint with the casting...why didn’t he just play Jang’s son in this show, too?

Nice Guy (2012)

Nice Guy
세상 어디에도 없는 착한남자 / 
No Such Thing As Nice Guys / Innocent Man
(Sept – Nov 2012)

who’s in it
Song JoongKi (Tree With Deep Roots, Sungkyunkwan Scandal)
Moon ChaeWon (The Princess’ Man, It’s Ok, Daddy’s Girl)
Park SiYeon (Coffee House, A Man’s Story)
Lee SangYeob (I Live in Cheongdam-dong)
Lee KwangSoo (City Hunter, High Kick Through the Roof)
Lee YooBi (Vampire Idol)

what’s it about
Here’s the crashdown: a brilliant young man with a promising career in medicine voluntarily tosses everything into the life gutter when he takes the fall for a girlfriend who accidentally kills someone. There’s either a really sad country song (‘I loved her but she murdered a man’) or a super angry hip hop track in here somewhere (‘Ho be ruining my life!’), but either way, when Song JoongKi finally gets let out of prison, he realizes he’d been played for a fool. You see, the girl he totally Bruno Mars’d his life over (‘I’d catch a grenade for you!’) had hitched onto a rich sugar daddy and moved on.

This girl of his youthful passions has now become a calculating woman of grand ambitions, and Park SiYeon is a rich bitch who has tasted the good life, has gained it all, but still wants more. The only obstacle in Park SiYeon and her adolescent son’s path to industrial super wealth is Moon ChaeWon, the sulky and furious biological daughter of her new husband, a stepdaughter who sees her new gold-digger slut stepmother as the reason for her own bio-mother being kicked to the curb, then dying in the middle of nowhere by herself, abandoned.

When Song JoongKi and Moon ChaeWon respectively decide that the other person might be the best means to exact some mega-revenge on Park SiYeon, they find themselves on an unexpected side journey that may end up destroying not only their intended target, but more devastatingly, their own hearts in the process. 

commitment 
20 episodes

network
KBS2

directors
Kim JinWon
Lee NaJung 

screenwriter
Lee KyungHee (Will It Snow At Christmas, A Love to Kill)

first impressions

Look at this boy (above). Song JoongKi, pretty boy bunny, in a story about revenge and murder? Hmmm. I dunno. But this one was getting hella impressive good press, doing well in the ratings, and winning international audiences over. I still thought it was likely that I would dislike it very much but all the hullabaloo around it piqued my interest. If you’ve read my 2012 Year in Review, you’ll note that Nice Guy was my favorite drama of the year. Not only that, but it made my all-time drama fave list, which trust me, is a rarely updated roster. Whaaaa-daaa-who-huh? How did that happen? Sorry, I’m jumping ahead and giving away my conclusion.

Even from the very first twenty minutes, I was hooked. I found myself drawn into the immediacy of the crazy. This show didn’t give a girl a chance to think, it immediately went for the “holy crap” factor and grabbed me by the face and smacked me into the tv. Almost instantly, the story snarled around my emotions, I found myself yelling at Song’s main character, “No, don’t do it! No don’t do it! Noooo!” Even after only the first hour, I already cared too much about this poor shmuck! When Song JoongKi’s nice guy unfairly gets sent to jail, the injustice of it kept me in my seat, still yelling at the tv (like a lunatic sitting at home yelling at her tv while her roommate looks on with rolling eyes). I was totally under water, mesmerized, gasping for breath like a goldfish yanked out of the tank by an eight year old.

Hm, I kind of made my own head spin a little. Was the “gasping for breath like a goldfish yanked out of the tank by an eight year old” too much a weird visual? Yeah, yeah, I’m a little bit painting the lie, but the point is, I really liked it. And, it’s no falsehood when I say I have a roommate who often looks at me like I’m crazy when I watch kdramas, because I’m kind of a noisy tv-watcher. You know, I like to inform characters of their options even when I know they don’t care about my opinions: “Kiss her, stupid!” “Don’t do that!” “Why are you crying!?” “Kick him in the nuts!” Well, you get the picture.

Anyway, Nice Guy:
Likable, pitiable hero. Check.
A killer ‘what would you do in his shoes?’ story. Check.
Possible mega villainess in the works. Check.
Strong, kickass female lead. Check.
Brisk, brisk pace. Check.

Lie to Me (2011)

Lie To Me
내게 거짓말을 해봐
(May – June 2011)

who’s in it
Yoon EunHye (Coffee Prince)
Kang JiHwan (Coffee House)
Sung Joon (Shut Up Flower Boy Band)
Jo YoonHee (You Who Rolled In Unexpectedly)
Hong Soo Hyun (The Princess’ Man)

what’s it about
Yoon EunHye works for the ministry of tourism and she considers herself a servant of the people. She has plenty of energy and has a tomboyish charm about her that is accepted well by her coworkers, as she has a casual and friendly relationship with them despite her tendency for bumble-headed goofiness.

Well, she’s liked by most people but the biggest exception is Hong SooHyun, who is married to Yoon EunHye’s first love (Ryu SeungSoo). This snooty gal often goes out of her way to keep Yoon EunHye in self-doubt, who she considers her ugly duckling childhood friend. She wants Yoon EunHye to always remember she is a subpar version of a girl and will never transition from an ugly duckling into a swan. However, when an innocent white lie by said ugly duckling to save some self-esteem turns into a gigantic misunderstanding in the elite circles, hotel magnate Kang JiHwan somehow finds himself cast in the unlikely role of Yoon EunHye’s Prince Charming husband. Needless to say, it’s not the sort of role playing the career-minded heir adapts to willingly, or with any civility.

Instrumental in all of this confusion is Sung Joon, Kang JiHwan’s happy go lucky but also not-so-happy-go-lucky baby bro who has just breezed back into town, and as these things go, at the same time as the girl both brothers had loved/still love. Jo YoonHee has stepped back on K-soil with the intention of getting back what she had lost...Kang JiHwan.

commitment 
16 episodes

network
SBS

first impressions
Surprisingly, a really good one. Lie is silly, as contract marriage drama plots often are, but if you’re like me and find fake relationship contrivance the best kind of kdrama reality bender, then you also are like me and forgive plot stalls in these ones more than any other type of redundancy. Many of my favorites seem to use the boundaries of marriage as their boxing ring. What can I say, I really do believe a relationship is a battlefield, and somehow, although I wouldn’t personally know, marriage seems like a downright cage fight! Anyhow, I just love the many back and forth emotional punches that always accompany these bouts!

Back to Lie: Kang JiHwan sometimes feels like he’s reprising his Coffee House role, but this version of him is far less eccentric and infinitely more relatable, and if Kang JiHwan does anything extremely well, this actor really knows how to play a handsome, rich snot with an inner lining of gold. As for our girl Yoon EunHye, she makes for a very convincing every day woman and isn’t afraid of going ‘ugly’ for a role. You have to appreciate that kind of freedom. She’s a very pretty girl, but she also has a very normal face. You just can’t help kind of relate to her.

I have a kdrama watching buddy, and she was really reluctant to watch this with me as she does not like Kang JiHwan, but even she admits this one is starting out to be a pretty fun watch—romantic enough to engage, not too narrow a story that growth couldn’t happen, banter quick enough to keep fresh, and just out of bounds wacky enough to make for some real laughs. All in all, not a bad start.

(first impressions initially posted Jun 1, 2011)

wildcard factor

Well, there’s a significant amount of good-looking to be found for female watchers, most especially relative newbie Sung Joon, who moved on after this to put his delicious deep voice to better use in 2012’s Shut Up Flower Boy Band. Some Shut Up fans might be motivated to seek this one out, if it hasn’t been seen already.

And, obviously, Yoon EunHye and Kang JiHwan fans will also have a reason to check it out.

City Hunter (2011)

City Hunter
시티헌터
(May – July 2011)

who’s in it
Lee MinHo (Boys Over Flowers, Personal Taste)
Park MinYoung (Sungkyunkwan Scandal)
Lee JoonHyuk (Three Brothers, Equator Man)
Kim SangJoong (My Man’s Woman, Life is Beautiful)
Goo Hara (KARA – idol group member)

what’s it about
In 1983, at night in the hostile waters of North Korea, a South Korean special forces group awaits evacuation after a clandestine assignment to infiltrate Pyongyang. However, instead of rescue, they are systematically executed by their own military. One survivor—Kim SangJoon—makes one of those maniacal blood vows to avenge the murder of his comrades.

Fast forward to now: Lee MinHo is the son of one those fallen comrades, one that had also been Kim SangJoon’s best friend. So naturally, to get the gears moving on his grand revenge, Kim SangJoon steals away his friend’s infant son into the jungles of Southeast Asia with the purpose of hoarding tons and tons of illicit drug money in order to train the kid into a lean mean handsome killing machine. Well, a lean mean killing machine, anyway, the handsome is just a lucky genetic bonus (for us).

The two converge upon Seoul like night vultures to exact their brand of justice—unfortunately, plans go awry when our faux-playboy slash secret-hunter-of-corrupt-politicians Lee MinHo finds himself questioning his purpose in life after falling in love with beautiful presidential guard Park MinYoung.

commitment 
20 episodes

network
SBS

first impressions
After the first episode of City Hunter, I was a smidge dismayed. Let’s see, we had several big explosions, a submarine, a couple of mass murders, jungle drug lords, landmines, and elephants—and that was all under one hour. Honestly, it felt like a hot mess, like some badly done sixty minute mash up of Lee JunKi’s 2007 kdrama thriller Time Between Dog and Wolf and the crazy 2008 Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. action spoof Tropical Thunder. Was this going to be yet another long nonsensical glare-athon mixed with some unintentional machine gun comedy? Everything about this premiere hour sat ill with me, the tone promising all kinds of mayhem that I normally feared of a typical action series.

At the time, I thought to myself, “MinHo, hon, I love ya, but I don’t know if I’m ready for this one.” The show was relocated to my back shelf and left to percolate. Months later, after the show concluded its broadcast run and kdrama fans around the globe unanimously loved it, I decided to go back for a second try. City Hunter fans, let your concerns ease away, the above is only my first impression of City, I have generally nice things to say south of here.

wildcard factor

As everyone knows, Lee MinHo is quite the CF princeling, a celebrity who can seduce people into buying almost anything, from coffee to Cadillacs. Realistically speaking, even in a fictional setting, the groundwork for the main character of this drama was a bit...um, how can I put this nicely...absurd? The concept of a trenchcoat-wearing city slick crusader called the City Hunter was a pretty tough sell: skinny pretty dude who looks like some sort of Burberry model is raised in the drug cartel jungles of Asia to master the art of assassination while cultivating superhuman ninja skills that can take out hordes of nefarious men in a frenzy of swirlies and kickeroos, and of course, not only is he a devil of a prizefighter, but an uber nerd with a surreal brilliant techgeek robot mind like Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook guy). This was a textbook example of improbable perfection...but Lee MinHo actually turned this far-fetched concept into a pleasing watch. I tell you what, he was good, really good at creating just the right persona and making you buy into it. Even if a part of you didn’t completely believe, your disbelief was no match for his self-confidence.

Lee MinHo goes undercover.

This was a huge wild card, in my opinion, as the character description on this guy was so hilariously implausible. I mean, how does someone raised for most of his life in a jungle become a hacker expert? How? Anyway, if Lee hadn’t done such a good job shrinking down the exaggeration into a credible person, this show would have flopped all ten thousands ways silly. They were really lucky to cast him.

Midas (2011)

Midas
마이더스
(Feb – May 2011)

who’s in it
Jang Hyuk (Tazza, Chuno)
Lee MinJung (Boys Over Flowers, Smile You)
Kim HeeAe (Snow Flower)
No MinWoo (My GF is a Gumiho, Pasta)

what’s it about
Jang Hyuk, the Jang Hyuk—Mr. Chuno-badass himself—gets all suited and tied in this melodrama that grabs its name from the Greek mythology king that turned everything he touched into gold. Jang used to be a badass money guy, in fact, he was soooo good at this particular career path that he had a KOSDAQ ticker scrolling across his forehead, down his arms, and wrapped around his little fingers. Ok, not really, but our hero was so damn offhandedly awesome with money that he got bored fed up with the greedy side of trading it and went back to school. What did he pick? The same thing all aimless career-lost people pick: law school. Well, it turns out, he’s also damn awesome with law manipulation and he writes a mean thesis about loopholes in the legal system, which gets some corporate wolves pretty excited.

So at present we get to meet the freshly law degreed Jang Hyuk who has the Seoul law community all abuzz in excitement to get him on their payroll. His girlfriend/fiance is Lee MinJung, a bright-eyed and youthful nurse at a VIP ward who is innocently planning their future of love together. (Unfortunately this VIP ward has nothing to do with Big Bang, but some fun trivia for you: Lee MinJung was invited to star in one of G-Dragon’s music videos in 2009 during his solo Heartbreaker promotions, but declined.)

However, when Jang Hyuk decides to throw down with a law firm that babysits a crazy rich family of powerful screwups that idolize Mario Puzo’s fictional mafioso Corleone family (emphasis on crazy here), our freshman lawyer gets in over his head. Warning to all: if any of your potential employers waxes poetic about Al Pacino’s Don Corleone, take my advice, run like hell. It’s not gonna end well, and that’s not a spoiler, that’s just good American trivia to live your life by.

director
Kang ShinHyo (Tazza)

screenwriter(s)
Choi WanKyu (Swallow the Sun, The Grand Chef)

commitment 
20 episodes

network
SBS

not interested, passed
Soooo…let’s see here, Jang Hyuk decided against rubbing his latte hotness up against Ha JiWon in the comedy Secret Garden in order to challenge his acting boundaries...by playing this ridiculously intense but, let’s face it, rather unoriginal role about a corporate lawyer who gets sucked into a whirlpool of greedy evil. He gets to make lovey dovey eyes with Lee MinJung, which isn’t a bad trade off in terms of costar actress hotness, sure, but the drama itself is lacking some key things. Logic, for one. Flow, another. This one feels like 2011’s effort at a Bad Guy redo, and I suffered through that one only because I fell for Kim JaeWook’s version of a sexy suicidal tramp stud.

Midas just doesn’t have what it takes to stay on my watch list. This show is clearly going to be a gnarly ride down a ridiculous story line. No thanks.

BUT for those of you who might care, eye candy is rich in here with the likes of pretty No MinWoo (who likes to frolic in trampy hotel harem five-somes) and studly Jung SukWon (who at first blush seems to be a nonessential character, but probably will develop into more, pity I don’t really care about the show), so if you love them lots, maybe it’s worth a check out.

My Princess (2011)

My Princess
마이 프린세스
(Jan – Feb 2011)

who’s in it
Song SeungHun (East of Eden, Autumn Fairytale)
Kim TaeHee (IRIS, Love Story in Harvard)
Park YeJin (Queen SeonDuk, Something Happened in Bali)
Ryu SooYoung (Lawyers of ROK, Bad Couple)
Lee SoonJae (Flames of Ambition, High Kick 2)
Lee KiKwang (High Kick 2, member of B2ST)

what’s it about
Background: ROK (Republic of Korea) wants to become CMOK (Constitutional Monarchy of Korea, or something like that) and reinstate the crown by heralding forth a long hidden blood descendant of Emperor Sunjong, the last monarch of the Korean empire. Emperor Sunjong apparently has one of his true bloodline living strong in contemporary times due to a heir he kept secret back in the day, this fact validated by a document long thought lost but now found and presented to the baffled public. This push to give rebirth to the royal heritage of Korea’s past is the result of diligent efforts by varying people with varying motives.

Presently:
A student and a part-time historical reenactment photo-op princess (whoa, mouthful), Kim TaeHee, doesn’t know it when she first meets the rich Daehan Group heir Song SeungHun, but she’s a real princess that Song’s own ailing grandfather has been longing to enthrone all his life. As far as Kim TaeHee’s aware, she’s little more than an orphan-turned-innkeeper’s daughter…and Song SeungHun’s the kind of rich kid that has a friggin’ museum named after him…so the two have very little in common when their universes initially collide. Well, little in common but for their mutually ridiculous cuteness. When his dry and condescending type of charm mingles against her loud, in-yo-face brand of all-encompassing vortex type of charm, there is surprisingly good synergy.

The darling prince of the Daehan Group, Song SeungHun, is actually a pretty nice non-stuffy guy who is working against a one-sided crush on the curator of his namesake museum, played by the fab Park YeJin. She’s just adorable, this woman. She should have been the lead gal. Hahaha, I joke, I joke, I’m just teasing you Kim TaeHee fans. Anyhow, YeJin’s already got her love triangle going when we meet the characters. Her first love, played with professorial dignity by Ryu SooYoung, is still madly in love with her, incidentally, this is to the chagrin of our princess-in-secret Kim TaeHee, who is also crushing hard on this intellectual sweater-vest type of gentleman. By the by, Kim TaeHee is also a nice gal, who despite her financial instability and slightly lonely life, doesn’t struggle with an inferiority complex (thank goodness!). She’s got a healthy helping of pride, and this next thing is pretty rare, she’s got a nose for self-preservation. This is a young woman who looks out for number one (but not in a nasty way) and she doesn’t seem the sort to be sacrificed on the alter of Kdrama “pitiable girl” syndrome. Or maybe I’m just hoping. We’ll see.

(what’s it about initially posted Jan 12, 2011)

director
Kwon SeokJang (Pasta)

screenwriter(s)
Kim Eun Sook (Secret Garden, On Air, City Hall)
Jang Young Shil

commitment 
16 episodes

network
MBC

first impressions
Oh, the handsomeness.
The Handsomeness. The Handsomeness.
THE HANDSOMENESS.
Be still, my beating heart. ^^ To say I’m somewhat partial to Mr. Song SeungHun’s brand of yummy would be like understating my love for fried foods. Doesn’t he totally look like a real life prince, or what?! Seriously now, let’s all have a moment to revel, didn’t Mr. Autumn Fairytale guy grow up oh-so very dreamy? Drooool.

Basically this beginning felt like the drama I was waiting for all last year, the kind of casual romantic comedy that takes immediate advantage of the really snappy chemistry between two main leads. Zip is hard to predict when casting the main couple, obviously, otherwise every show would be a hit. Here, however, it seems we have a real win. Pretty A-listers who don’t negate one another’s charms, fangirl-tastic Cinderella fairytale, lots of twinkling rapier wit and physical comedy; I especially liked the duo’s friendly gravitational reaction to one another, their immediate touchy feely coziness due to their innate meddling personalities (they resorted to banmal - casual language - pretty quickly with one other, Kim TaeHee often calling him “dummy” in affectionate teasing).

Helmed by the director of Pasta (a 2010 winner in my book) and the screenplay writer who scribbled On Air (another winner), I had some rather high hopes. The best part of this drama was that despite its type of humor, when it turned serious, it didn’t feel out of context and managed to be fairly real (well, minus the whole reinstatement of the monarchy bit, that’s quite a leap of faith, but I’ll bite). Considering the director and screenwriters involved, things boded well for Kim TaeHee and Song SeungHun’s fate. I’m definitely not minding a visit with this “adult” Goong…and obviously when I say adult, I’m not implying a pole dancing princess, but a more grown up interpretation of everyone’s favorite fantasy: orphan girl learning she’s really a princess. My Princess managed to find the appropriate tone in blending fairytale and reality.

Kim TaeHee is taking a page out of the Shin MinAh’s acting textbook and trying her spin on bubbly comedy (Shin rocked last year’s My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox). Kim appears a natural for this kind of comedy (versus, imo, her more creative ventures...like 2006 movie The Restless, cringe cringe cringe! Or her mediocrity in the drama IRIS, snore, snore, snore! But that’s neither here nor there). As the Gumiho role did for Shin MinAh, this earthy and vivacious part suits Kim and shows fans her more approachable, down-to-earth side.

One small concern from me: for now, while Kim TaeHee is the cuter of the two, it’s Song SeungHun who delivers more for me when the plot twists become more serious. There are small moments when it feels Kim is trying a smidge too hard to please, when she feels just slightly off key, but it’s not a distraction, and she’s quite charming enough to make the misses inconsequential. I’m sure she’ll settle into her role once this really gets going. I’m looking forward to seeing her shine.

How much do I love this drama’s introductory steps? A LOT. My energy was sapped by the end of 2010 by holiday and cold, and it took all my last reserves to post my year end review but this drama has sent new energy coursing through me. What a pleasant way to kick off 2011. As of now, our lovable princess is trying to help the dashing prince win another girl’s heart…I wonder which of the two will fall for the other first?

*giddy*

(first impressions initially posted Jan 12, 2011)

wildcard
Well, this one was more about the pretty than about achieving any kind of profundity.

Be warned: while Princess did manage enough enjoyment to manage a respectable fan base—due to its successful packaging of Song SeungHun as the most handsomest man in all of Korea (nope, nope, I don’t want to hear any arguments on this, not today) and Kim TaeHee as a nicely wrapped fairy who wore poofy-skirts-too-short-for-winter—yet in the end, it lacked for a lot of plot logic. Now I don’t want to discourage anyone from giving it a try, as it was generous in its own way (as I mentioned, it gave us a lot of the pretty), but inevitably it cannot be ignored that Princess lived too far into self-centered confusion to be wholly recommended. The premise had a lot of potential, but the actual development of the story did not live up to it.

Dream High (2011)

Dream High
드림하이
(Jan – Feb 2011)

who’s in it
Kim SooHyun (Giant, Father’s House)
Taecyeon (Cinderella’s Sister, 2PM-member)
Suzy (Miss A-member)
Ham EunJung (T-ara-member)
IU
Wooyoung (2PM-member)
Uhm KiJoon (Hero)
Lee YoonJi (Goong)

what’s it about
The entire drama is actually a flashback about an artist called K who rises to international fame—WORLD STAR fame (oh, Rain, you better watch yo back!). Right away, we know K is a [money-making] big deal because our first introduction to K is at a Grammy awards ceremony, and we all know only the best of the best [who sell lots of albums] get to go to the Grammys [don’t mind my raging cynicism =)].

But K’s real identity is kept secret from us because...

Alright, let’s travel back in time and get to the facts. The director of Kirin Art School gets the story rolling, and he is played by Bae YongJoon, aka Mr. Winter Sonata (that’s what I call him, the show calls him Ghost…I like my nickname better). Real kpop idol-con Kim HyunJoong makes a quick cameo and gets named-dropped as a former student of Kirin, so we know two things right off the bat: 1) Kirin is a well-known performing arts academy in Seoul, and 2) this is not a violin and ballet kind of education, they totally do the kpop at this school.

Back to Mr. Winter Sonata, who is a man who wants to encourage aspiring young talent—which is…not too far from real life, actually. He handpicks three “special” students, letting them bypass the school’s traditional selection process, which sets off sparks between the jealous incoming freshman and these leapfroggers. There is also some mythology and wonder about some kind of pendant that supposedly gives good mojo to its owner…it is symbolic of dreams, I believe, but these kids take it more literally. It is the shape of a K. Dun-dun-dun.

The drama is about these Kirin students and their struggles to overcome their personal and professional growing pains. During Kirin’s open auditions, Mr. Winter Sonata tells all the hopefuls, “The contest has now begun. Don’t fear it, enjoy it.” It’s like he’s talking to us, the viewership.

Not unlike a sitcom, this one is an ensemble cast with multiple story threads intersecting a million different ways. Here are your main idols characters:

Relatively new, and real female kpop act Miss A donates Suzy (who plays Go HyeMi), a richly voiced girl with a richly bitchy attitude to match. When her comfortable world comes crashing down around her due to her father’s business failures and loan shark debts, she is forced to give up her dreams of Juilliard and head for Kirin instead. Her main motivating factor to attend a school she considers crappy is her fear that the loan sharks will focus their terrorizing intent on her little sister if she doesn’t somehow get rich and pay them back their money. Yet again, a kdrama Dad has run away all by hisself and left children to deal with the bag of horse pile.

Suzy

Of Bo Peep Bo Peep fame, cutesy female kpop act T-ara donates to the drama cause Ham EunJung (Yoon BaekHee), the most veteran idol-actor of the gathered crop. She plays Suzy’s meek ex-friend, a girl who has been contently living in her friend’s over-talented shadow...until she suspects her deep feelings of sisterhood may have been one-sided. When opportunity gives her the chance to shine alone, she gets a taste of glory and public validation…and realizes it is something worth a fight.

Ham EunJung

Popular male act 2PM gives up Taecyeon (JinGuk) for a while. In his second effort at acting, Taecyeon finds himself playing another character with some rough edges. Like every kid collected in this special group, he also suffers from father issues. It may (or may not) be of interest to you to know that he rides a motorcycle and has awesomely spiked highlighted hair. He’s gonna do just fine. Also, it’s obvious he has a thing for our lead gal Suzy.



Taecyeon

 2PM is feeling generous (or maybe it’s just cuz this show is one-half produced by Park JinYoung, their boss…), but not only do 2PM fans get Taecyeon’s ab-licious presence, they get a cool and charming Wooyoung (Jason) in the deal, too. He plays a foreign-Korean freshman, a kind-hearted dude who thinks life is just chill and, turns out, this seemingly unambitious starlet is the #1 ranked talent in the frosh Kirin class.

Wooyoung

Real life ingénue singer IU (Kim PilSook) makes her tv debut as herself (kind of). She is a musically gifted girl who has trouble managing her weight (I’ll let you figure out which part of that sentence is the departure from real life). She is, in a nutshell, completely lovable. She almost instantly falls head over heels for her foreign classmate Jason (above), who has charmed her with the usual classy Casanova trick: not being a douchebag. He notices her despite the fact that she tries to stay unnoticed, and wins her over completely with his common decency, a personality trait none of her other peers have learned from their parents.

IU

The best thing about having IU on the show? We kpop fans get little gems like the clip below. IU doing a cover of 2AM’s tearful crooner 죽어도 못 보내 (Can’t Let You Go Even if I Die):



Alrighty now, I’ve saved the best for last. Our lead-lead is played by the only actor-actor among the main cast (thank you drama gods), the natural talent-overflowing Kim SooHyun (Song SamDong). He plays a musical genius trapped in the package of a “country bumpkin,” but the sage Mr. Winter Sonata recognizes his musical talents and recruits him as one of his special project kids. Our country boy immediately falls for Suzy, the tough-talking city girl, and follows her to Seoul to join Kirin. Oh right, he also goes there to pursue his dreams of becoming a big star so he can make lots of money and take care of his mother.

Kim SooHyun

(what’s it about initially posted Feb 4, 2011)

Dr Champ (2010)

Dr Champ
닥터 챔프
(Sept – Nov 2010)

who’s in it
Kim SoYeon (Prosecutor Princess)
Uhm TaeWoong (Queen SeonDuk)
Jung GyuWoon (Loving You a Thousand Times)
Cha YeRyun (Invincible Lee PyungKang)
Jung SukWon (Creating Destiny)
Shindong (Super Junior – member)

what’s it about
He says, “When there are two or more coincidences, it’s destiny.”
She says, “No, it’s still only coincidence.”

The he is played by Jung GyuWoon, a judo athlete aspiring for the international stage—and a medal. He’s made a deathbed promise with his older brother to hold gold and he means to keep it, at any cost. He’s got a cutie pie nephew who is his most devoted pint-sized cheering section (of one), but unfortunately his sister-in-law feels different. She can barely spare a kind thought for him. He’s athletic (martial arts lean) and good-natured (easy to smile, easy to offer aid to strangers), but he’s also pretty seriously focused on this one goal. Although not so completely single-minded as to ignore a pretty girl worth scoping.

That leads to the she in this equation. Kim SoYeon is an aspiring orthopedic surgeon (a promising one) who has been granted a coveted fellowship spot at the prestigious research hospital she’s currently interning. But when her sponsor and mentor does the unthinkable during an operation, the young doc is forced to choose between career and morality. She makes the more human choice and finds herself blacklisted. She’s bright, a bit stuffy, and a total workaholic cursed with the kdrama fate of having to support a troublemaking family while dodging power hungry superiors who want to keep her well positioned below their lowering heels.

Both he and she end up at Taereung National Village, he by design, she as a last resort. Taereung is a massive compound dedicated to the training of Korea’s top athletes. Once there, the oversight of Kim SoYeon’s career and Jung GyuWoon’s fitness is managed by newly appointed medical director played by Uhm TaeWoong. I tell you what, if I thought Lee SunGyun’s cranky chef in Pasta reeked of House-ness (FOX’s long-running hit about an irascible doc), Uhm TaeWoong was an even better twin candidate, right down to the bad leg and cane. His unconventional diagnosing methods only concreted the comparison. Forget Johns Hopkins, this guy must have studied at Princeton Plainsboro under Dr. Gregory House. I joke. Anyhow, Uhm TaeWoong seemed an interesting character despite the all too familiar setup.

Ah, you should know, he’s also a genius, apparently, because in the past he was charged with rehab programs for both of ROK’s premier sports darlings, footie player Park JiSung and baseballer Park ChanHo (which I find very amusing; let’s just pick two of the most famous Korean athletes and affiliate this doc to them, then he’ll have instant cred, or so I’m sure the writers were thinking). Side note: Ji has been in great form this past month. Just saying, as a devoted United fan…makes me as happy as a candy coated in caramel. It’s a bummer he’s leaving the team during a critical time in our title race, but good luck to him in the Asian Cup. Hey, the show brought up Park JiSung first.

Back to Champ:
This drama takes place in a very specific, very self-contained and passionate setting…and this interesting environment could make the characters more exciting than they initially come across with their stuffy career credentials (doctor, doctor, athlete, coach, athlete, etc). Also conspicuous, Champ is taking itself seriously and not making a joke of the story (me = relieved).

(initially posted Dec 22, 2010)

director
Park HyungKi

screenwriter(s)
No JiSeol

commitment 
16 episodes

network
SBS

first impressions
So…the thought of dedicating the prime of my life to an insane state of inhuman super fitness gives me the major hives. It is so out of my comfort zone, so completely beyond my comprehension and well, so beyond the concept of what I consider a good time (sitting on my lazy butt and watching tv), that this drama utterly fascinates. Things that I don’t understand are way more interesting than things that I do. These people and the things they strive to accomplish are very interesting. I bring this up in effort to share my mindset going into this one.

Right off, this drama felt familiar. Was this another helping of Prosecutor Princess, Kim SoYeon’s most recent past project. I wondered and even feared, a bit. Being a passing reminder of PP is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not exactly a great thing either. I wanted this show to stand apart. And more, I wanted it to be better. There was a point in the introductory episodes when it poked fun of itself and gave cameo to Prosecutor Ma, Kim’s former character in PP. I groaned out loud. Um, really, not a good time. It’s a little too early to be making those kind of jokes. 1) PP aired only earlier this year, and 2) I don’t think it’s ever a wise gambit to point out the uncanny same-sameness between [any] two dramas. Here, it only served to remind me of my inkling discomfort over the similarities between the character of beleaguered prosecutor and beleaguered doctor when I was just coming around to letting go of the former.

Kim SoYeon’s character bio in Champ was actually completely different than her PP character…but they felt similar. The overall natures of the characters were different, but the premise was still about a woman trying to tread water in a pressure cooker of a career. I couldn’t completely shake that hanging cloud...of her past performance.

Another similarity to PP? This show had the same high gloss coloring—a real slick magazine look about it. It wasn’t bad, but it was unnaturally sharp. I dunno, the lighting was almost too vibrant, dare I say, unrealistic.

But don’t let my whining above mislead you. Those are just some minor complaints about the paint job. As for the interior design, I have better things to say. In fact, I very much liked it. The story gave me some real anxiety moments in the early hours where I truly worried for the characters, which meant I must have cared for them despite the earliness in the game. The hints of trauma between the various relationships had the potential to be absorbing. I especially liked Kim SoYeon’s stoic woman who worked harder than everyone else despite the fact that she was already the smartest in the class. She played the kind of person who may not be the most approachable from a social point of view, but carried the kind of integrity one would want in a real doctor. Bad with peers, great with patients. She’s honorable when it mattered the most—when no one was watching. The kind of heroism that is unadulterated, and not conditional on personal gain. The main couple had that in common.

There was a surprising amount of detail to most everyone introduced, very richly textured, complicated, uneasy people. I was pleasantly won over. While I’m not completely on board with their choices regarding the superficial aspects of the drama, such as the lighting and even the music, to an extent, I do recognize what the production is attempting and understand why they are doing what they are doing. And you know, sports stories are a lot like war stories only without the hail of gunfire, all about the fight for honor, the reach for a conquering spirit, the endurance against pain, and finally, the ultimate victory. It’s arousing stuff, very easy to get caught up in the tears and the bloody drama of it all. As for the writing and the acting, it supports the heartfelt tale it is trying to convey to us, and so remains (most gratefully) outside the reach of my criticism (so far). 

(first impressions initially posted Dec 22, 2010)

wildcard
It’s a drama about sports medicine that follows the daily trials of clinicians who treat athletes training for competition on the world’s stage. The actual story will be about as exciting as your own personal interest in, say, the Olympics, or the World Cup, etc, but the strength of this one isn’t in the groundwork, but lies in the goodness of the people, including the artless charm of our male lead, Jung GyuWoon. His goodness is the perfect casting to pull a viewer through 16 episodes of underdog sports tribulations. I mean, it’s one of those things: why do people watch a sport even if they don’t play the game themselves? Because they like to see good people attain their dreams...and it’s totally a vicarious thrill.

Fugitive: Plan B (2010)

Fugitive: Plan B
도망자: Plan B / Runaway: Plan B
(Sept – Dec 2010)

who’s in it
Rain (Full House, A Love to Kill)
Lee NaYoung (Ruler of Your Own World)
Lee JungJin (Nine End Two Outs)
Yoon JinSuh (Return of Iljimae)
Daniel Henney (Spring Waltz)

what’s it about
The construct: lawless private investigator Rain, based out of South Korea but globally networked, gets hired to find the location of this noun called Melchidec by Lee NaYoung, a beautiful and mysterious lady with a big fat bullseye on her back. She’s got a curse on her, you see, as some malefactors have killed everyone she has ever loved, excluding one lucky survivor, her rich is he or isn’t he boyfriend played by the sculpted handsomeness called Daniel Henney.

Meanwhile, rebellious police detective slash brooding hottie Lee JungJin will stop at nothing to get a pair of silver bracelets on Rain because the job description called PI is illegal in the ROK and Rain regularly totes around guns and shoots shit and is basically an all around lawless troublemaker, as already mentioned. That’s the official reason but most of Detective Angerball’s hate stems from the fact that he was shot by Rain in the chest at close range 10 years prior. Bang. Nevermind that Rain made sure to ask him about a bullet proof vest before plugging him. Apparently the police officer doesn’t know when to be grateful in his line of work. Memo to Lee JungJin: when a dude confirms that you are wearing a bullet proof vest and then doesn’t shoot you in the head, he’s probably trying to spare a cop his life.

The conceit: the lawless private investigator is a goofy and selfish superhuman prototype that—

1) can safely dodge hot lead fired from a firing squad of machine guns while doing a wheelie on a motorcycle and looking slick in his designer duds,

2) is a walking-talking wikipedia that can deconstruct evidence and situations within minutes,

3) finds the art of dissembling not only a job necessity, but a personality compulsion,

4) reveres both technology and miles of female leg—irresistible hobbies he indulges with wanton gluttony.

The deceit: Rain is a bad guy, Lee NaYoung is an innocent victim, and Daniel Henney is just a doting boyfriend. In a show like this, some or all of the facts presented will probably be proved wrong. Will viewers survive the ludicrous action somersaults to find out?

director
Kang JungHwan (Chuno)

screenwriter(s)
Chun SungIl (Chuno)

commitment 
20 episodes

network
KBS2

first impressions
After the early fist of episodes, I was left a little numb. I had no idea what to make of this kdrama, this thing so full of pomp and circumstance—it was pompous and evidence of its quality completely circumstantial. Was it good? Was it bad? Or was it sooo bad it was good? Was it soooo good it felt bad? No, it was probably just plainly bad...but someone help me, totally addictive.

So much about this drama—tone, special effects, multi-language communication, acting, Chuno cameos—offended me on a purely instinctive level. It chafed me in a visceral, gut belching way. I admit, I am not the sort of person programmed to like this type of drama. It was insane, in the literal definition of the word: a derangement of the mind. So much so, it was surreal.

A shoot out in broad daylight in a city intersection and there was deafening silence. Sirens, anyone? How about screams from bystanders? Guns without silencers were fired but they whispered their presence—and guns aren’t even quiet WITH silencers. A guy shot in the chest (bullet proof vest on) three times was able to run a marathon of a chase scene without fainting from pain. This show was like an itch under the skin, the annoying tickle being that it wasn’t satisfied with just bending reality, it wanted to completely redefine it.

You say all action shows are unrealistic? To a point, yes, but the writing still needs to respect gravity! If gravity doesn’t apply, there’s no suspense in jumping off a bridge, you know? Action is built on the idea of actual danger, not just the ‘oh, that looks kinda cool’ factor. Much of the movement in here wasn’t effective because it was not suspenseful, but only theatrical. It didn’t follow…I dunno—physics! Everybody defied the laws of...well, the laws of everything. Which was ironic since this show liked facts, as Rain’s character went out of his way to spout factoids like his mind was constantly in a state of googling (or navering).

I must say, the shenanigans that worked so well in Director Kang’s period piece Chuno did not carry over into contemporary action all that well. The over-the-top action cheese that felt artsy fartsy and well-employed when shot in rice fields and under the rocky crag of mountains felt unsuited for the contemporary locales. Thankfully, the actual quality of the special effects was decent and did not look to be bought at a bargain price. The problem wasn’t technique but the lack of restraint in the utilization. It was like a kid in an action candy store going nuts over the pop rocks.

Here’s my quick list of initial complaints:

1) Super superficially speaking, I dislike gaping v-necks on men (yes, as much as I like your bared chest, Rain, I don’t need to see it revealed in triangulated cleavage for an hour).

2) I admit it, this is a reoccurring pet peeve of mine. The employment of multi-language communication between characters in a Kdrama tends to bug me. Personally, I think it is a false construction to suppose one can fully understand a language that one cannot speak. Only Artoo Detoo and See Threepio got away with it, and that was because they were robots. Besides, it’s just common courtesy to converse in one language, especially with your own boyfriend/girlfriend. 

On the one hand, I know it is somewhat unrealistic to expect an actor who is not really fluent in ten languages to be able to perfectly portray a character who is supposed to be, but a main character in a show that is supposed to know the main language should be able to speak it, or that actor shouldn’t have been cast in the first place. I have nothing against the actor, but I think Daniel Henney, for one, can earn his pay and deliver most of his lines in Korean. From what I’ve heard so far, he clearly has a passable grasp of Korean pronunciation and has the chops to do it. It’ll probably make the role more difficult for him, but a sacrifice worth making because it would help give the show some much needed cred. When Henney spoke Korean with Lee NaYoung, I fully invested in his character. When he switched to English, his acting and dialogue immediately felt awkward and clumsy.

3) I am tired of over-the-top-physics-defying-unrealistically-choreographed action scenes that appear to have no purpose other than to be expensive. If you are on a motorcycle and an angry wall of bad guys aim machine guns at your head, accuracy is not really required for you to DIE. Oh, and by the way, all you have is a teeny little Glock to defend yourself…tell me, do you think it’s realistic for you to escape without even a scratch? I think not.

4) Last but most important, let’s talk about Rain. His character was both a clown impersonation and a James Bond caricature. It is the kind of duality that Lee JunKi does exceptionally well, the merging of slapstick and machismo cool in an oddly endearing package. On Rain, I don’t think it worked as well. I can’t quite define why it didn’t work, it just didn’t feel as natural. Instead of complicated character layers, it felt more like a dissociative personality disorder. I wished he would tone down the mania a couple of notches and focus more on the suave, as that suited him best. In the moments where his character’s sobriety was allowed to show, I saw glimpses of a great show and a great Rain. I know he has more to offer than these early episodes indicated. Yet despite my criticisms of this character and the limitations of his portrayal, Rain was still the most (the only?) fascinating thing about this drama.

And that, I suppose, is the magic of Rain. He has a commanding presence on stage and screen. He’s an entertainer all the way and if nothing else, completely bold and confident in everything he attempts. I think this is a brave choice for him as a comeback role into dramaland, as this PI character isn’t always a well-manicured personality, but completely messy, awkwardly angled, and at times, downright unattractive. And it requires some major acting balls. Critics can say what they will about his singing or his acting but they cannot deny that this guy is a star. This may sound like fan bias on my part, but he felt like the duct tape holding a shattering show together.

Lee NaYoung and Daniel Henney did not impress. In fact, I preferred Yoon JinSuh’s brand of quirky female strength over Lee’s and desperately wished she’d been cast in the lead role instead of the higher billed star. As for the rest of the expanded cast, there were too many cameos and character acting popping up all over the place. All of that served less entertaining and more of a distraction to the story than aid. But that was Plan B’s problem. There was so much noisy pomp and circumstance all over the place and unfortunately, all of that peripheral stuff masked what actually appeared to be a story in there somewhere.

Now, I love action...but only when done proper. In fact, it is actually my favorite genre, just not in a kdrama. Maybe that’s where the problem lies when I’m faced with an action drama, I’m overly critical. And like many other kdrama thrill ride forays, this one was awfully flawed, but despite its many issues, I could not hate it. It’s really quite weird. I am looking forward to the next episode, and more, looking forward to seeing Rain grow into a better character. The good news to take away from all of its many early blunders was the definite feeling that Plan B had greater things in store for the viewership. It feels like there was more a promise of improvement than failure.

Let’s hope I’m right.

(On a totally irrelevant note, in the poster art above, doesn’t Daniel Henney look like he’s doing the “Sorry, Sorry” Super Junior dance? Actually, they all kind of look like they’re k-popping.)

(first impressions initially posted Oct 18, 2010)

wildcard
Fugitive: Plan Bi, not B.

This drama was a sort of epileptic exploration into the many alter egos and facial contortions of Hallyu supah-stah Rain, who plays here the Korean lovechild of Austin Powers and James Bond (not Daniel Craig’s most recent Bond interpretation, but Pierce Brosnon’s failed one). In other words, there’s a lot of zany in this drama and most all of it is Rain worship...and yes, it does feel like hot pokers being repeatedly stabbed in the eyeballs.

Not only were there some serious nuclear flaws in the cohesiveness of the writing and story, but the vulgar execution of the action scenes did nothing to help the show’s cause. I am assuming, of course, that the goal (of every kdrama) is to create some form of cogent, credible product.

On the other hand, maybe credibility was never the point here…maybe it wanted to be the television equivalent of a wet T-shirt contest: gratuitous and juvenile. The sad part? Gratuitous and juvenile were the only salvageable parts, everything else felt like a hamster running in circles. Apt that the title song was called Running & Running.