[Drama Recap] My Love Eun-dong: Episode 2

On the May 30th episode of JTBC's "My Love Eun-dong', Park Hyeonsoo (Baek Seong-hyeon) said "Because I heard you had a boyfriend, it's hard even trying to hold your hand once", when the two were coming out of a movie theater.

~2005~

Ten years have passed and Hyeon Soo (Baek Sung Hyun) never gave up trying to find Eun Dong (Yoon So Hee). He got into college after the third attempt, but his parallel dream of becoming an actor wasn’t flowing well! Even though he didn’t have much talent he tried really hard, but everything was ending in failure and we witnessed many hilarious scenes while trying to work on his facial expressions, performing tap dance and failing at his auditions and acting attempts! His manager is a “friend” from the motorcycle gang days, Lee Hun Bal (Kim Hyung Kyu). Eventually, Hyeon Soo decided to join the army and he got assigned to work at the city hall where he was having a hard time since an idol actor was there as well and his fans were appearing all the time bringing more work upon Hyeon Soo’s shoulders! One rainy day a girl almost hit him with her bicycle and she fell on the ground. He instantly recognizes her and he can’t hold back his tears as Eun Dong’s shivering filled with emotion! Both of them found themselves in a dreamlike state and later on at the restaurant Hyeon Soo’s almost at loss for words since he’s absorbed by Eun Dong’s beauty, he’s even embarrassed to look at her as he’s heart racing!

The change upon him is omnipresent once again while singing and dancing at home with his parents and sister being unable to read through the lines! Spending time together was essential and he not only gets to know her last name but what she’s been up to all this time. She’s teaching Korean to grandmas and she’s in the fourth year at the university studying literature. Amidst flashback scenes and the current present’s magic the moments they meet grow in numbers and she even cheers for him at his workplace! Hyeon Soo’s enamored by Eun Dong’s presence in his life and the more he sees her the more he loses himself in her, but he’s not the only one! Eun Dong’s feeling the same way, but she played a little trick on him by not giving him an answer on whether she has a boyfriend or not! It’s something he can’t stand and asks for his sister’s help! Park Hyun Ah (Kim Yun Seo) appears at the bar where Hyeon Soo had been drinking while in the background Bon Jovi‘s Always is rocking the place with love! All he wants to know is how to steal Eun Dong from her boyfriend, a brother-sister relationship is not to his liking at all!

 

A grandmother at Eun Dong’s class definitely approves of the young couple and both of them secretly enjoy the lovey ambiance! Hyeon Soo wants Eun Dong to watch a movie with him, as for whether he’s a brother or a man to her? He will take care of his feelings and she should start caring about her own! During their picnic there was a scene of immense affection as she was reading the poem he had memorized while he was at the hospital ten years ago and he was protecting her eyes from the sun with the palm of his hand, that scene could only get surpassed by a rainy scene of ever-flowing love! She appears in front of the cinema and she walks shyly, just like when she was waiting for him in front of his high school, as both of them are wearing the pair of shoes they exchanged in the past. After having watched The Notebook he tries to hold her hand and step by step he achieves it. Even though he thinks she’s got a boyfriend, he can’t give her up and he wouldn’t expect anything else if her heart felt the same way. It’s always the rain and as they find shelter inside a call box she urges him to increase the amount of love! A slow, romantic, old school, affectionate kiss completes the scene as they are unaffected by the pouring rain around them!

 

Hyeon Soo appearing at Eun Dong’s workplace and staring at each other through the glass was a moment of blissful silence and the grandma made it happen by urging everyone to remain silent! Now that he’s happier with Eun Dong in his life everything starts flowing well and he will get auditioned for a supporting role that could actually have a positive impact on him! During dining time Hyeon Soo lets his parents know that his sister wants to marry someone and all the expected questions pop up making her life uncomfortable! Hyeon Soo takes her side urging them to stop asking senseless questions since it’s the person that matters! Soon the truth comes to the surface, the man Hyun Ah’s in love with is a cancer patient she’s taking care of, but she’s not mad at Hyeon Soo since he helped her tell the truth to her parents. Through her brother’s reactions at the table she also understood Eun Dong’s background when it comes to her real parents. Even though she had told him that her adoptive parents were treating her well it definitely wasn’t the truth, but her father can’t prevent her from traveling with Hyeon Soo by bus where she reminds him of their song!

Days have passed and Hyeon Soo inevitably wonders whether she’s still seeing the other guy and during the tension of the moment he mistook her ring as one of his presents and threw it inside the water at the park. The truth behind the ring is that it was her mother’s and he jumped into the water to find it! He had found it, but he intended to give it to her after she would come back with a towel. He kept waiting and waiting, but the only thing that came was the rain. On her way to bring Hyeon Soo a towel Eun Dong was hit by a car and was transferred to the hospital and for the second time they were bound to part ways.

 

[Drama Recap] My Unfortunate Boyfriend: Episode 16 (Final)

The final episode opens up with a final board meeting to end them all. As usual the lack of serious dramatic urgency is palpable. Hee-cheol doesn't actually seem to know what he wants. Which is of course the entire point. Even if at times Hee-cheol has tried to play the villain here he's forced to realize that picking fights just isn't that much fun in the long term. And so, with a slump to his knees, that pretty much does it for the last character arc.
One of the strong points of "My Unfortunate Boyfriend" is, somewhat paradoxically, that even the weak points are elevated by the situations. I've never really been that impressed with the acting in this drama beyond rudimentary roles- but it's very easy to empathize with these people, whatever the skill level of the performers, when the theme is something as universal as grief over the passing of a loved one. For Hee-cheol, it's this late reassurance that finally makes him appreciate that it he's working for trust and confidence more than a paycheck.
Similarly sweet is the indirect exchange between Tae-woon and Ji-na regarding their feelings. Note how the letters aren't really love letters in terms of content- Tae-woon and Ji-na are principally discussing who they are and how they relate to each other. It's an extremely thoughtful, personal gesture that aptly explains why Ji-na has been mostly nonplussed by her apparent exposure. In the end, Ji-na too wants more than just work prestige.
Even if the acting hasn't been award-winning, "My Unfortunate Boyfriend" has always had a tremendous amount of heart and that's especially overflowing here. Noh Min-woo-I has always done excellent work selling Tae-woo as a person who tries to avoid being complicated, and mostly succeeds. Even if, as Ji-na's final voiceover demonstrates, Tae-woon is a rather unfortunate boyfriend, there are more important things in the world than just being suave.
"My Unfortunate Boyfriend" isn't a standard romantic comedy- the longer the drama went on the less it relied on staple genre tropes. This might be a bit of a disappointment to those wanting something more standard, but for me the that's been the main appeal of the characters. Episode by episode I really just wanted things to work out because Tae-woon, and by eventual extension everyone else, deserved a happy ending for being such a kind thoughtful person. That's not a traditional fantasy, but it's one I enjoyed tuning into throughout this drama's run.

Review by William Schwartz

[Drama Recap] Missing Noir M: Episode 10 (Final)

First, just to make it totally clear, the final case of "Missing Noir M" is just another one-off case. We get some details regarding Soo-hyeon's backstory, but it's made quite clear that we're only getting all the answers if "Missing Noir M" is renewed for a second season. I'm not sure that's happening- to be honest I'm not sure I want it to happen, because while "Missing Noir M" has certainly had its strong points, right to the end the drama seems determined to make things as depressing as possible.
It's a bit of a disappointment, because until the final act the case is actually reasonably compelling. It's an unusually generic case, that requires all three team members use their skills in roughly equal fasion. Dae-yeong uses on-the-ground canvassing to unlock the direction the clues they need to move forward, Seo-joon comes up with the more elaborate schemes necessary to come up with more elaborate information, and Soo-hyeon interprets the data so they know where to go next.

It's depressing. There's no getting around that. It's depressing and honestly kind of spiteful. If this is the only season of "Missing Noir M" we end up getting I can't help but be annoyed at writer Lee Yu-jin for choosing to end it on that note. Now, in all fairness, the Western stories from which "Missing Noir M" takes its inspiration use the same trope with some regularity. It's not exactly unprecedented, and if nothing else "Missing Noir M" hardly misled us on that point. The title itself is a pretty gloomy one.

For me personally the issue is that I've drifted away from American media to the Korean stuff in large part because the former has taken to being disturbingly grim in recent years, even with obviously childish products like superhero franchises. I can take some depression in my police procedurals, but "Missing Noir M" really has been just a tad much in that department. Well, I liked the multi-part episodes at least. And even if the ending was on a sour note, overall "Missing Noir M" has been a strong production. But it is unavoidably one that's filtered on lines of personal taste.

Review by William Schwartz

[Drama Recap] Ex-Girlfriend Club: Episode 8

Kim Soo Jin (Song Ji Hyo) dropped around MSG sees Na Ji Ah (Jang Ji Eun) wearing the shirt she returned Bang Myung Soo (Byun Yo Han). She is waiting in front of his house with his belongings which he left in the film office. Myung Soo arrived from a trip brings home Soo Jin and confesses his love in the dark.

At all once the light goes on and his ex-girlfriends and Jo Geon (Do Sang Woo) show up unexpectedly at the point of her answering his question. She is taken aback by their sudden appearance and she says they are just close friends to save the awkward situation. However, she expresses her feelings after everyone left and the writer cannot conceal his joy.  

Jang Hwa Young (Lee Yoon Ji), Lara (Ryu Hwa Young), and Ji Ah hassle about their ex-boyfriend's romantic relationship with the new woman. The lion and cat try to dissuade him from going out with her driving a wedge between the two of them, but Lara only is in favor of their romance because she likes the director who shows a special interest in Soo Jin.

Myung Soo pays Soo Jin a surprise visit with fried chicken. He hears the director comes in the office in the instant of creeping up on her and scaring her and ducks under a table next to the producer's. Geon asks about Soo Jin's true feelings the day before in the writer's house and the producer, who pretends that she doesn't know Myung Soo is under the desk, is under a difficulty to answer honestly. Geon leaves the office saying enjoy the chicken as if he has sensed what Myung Soo is hearing. 

Soo Jin searches for a shooting location and Myung Soo magically appears to help her pretending he bumps into her by chance. He takes a shot for her chasing the woman around. They have a good time all day.

Myung Soo got Soo Jin home kisses her on the cheek before she enters into the house. She is embarrassed by the unexpected action, but she kicks her heels up into the air in the delight over the affection he showed.

Her heart gets heavy when she finds a video clip from Ji Ah in the memory card for his digital camera.

Myung Soo sits down to a meal between Geon and Soo Jin with a disapproving glance the director. They quarrel over a piece of potato in Dak-Kalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) and fight over the woman.

As Lara hears that Soo Jin wants to eat MSG's risotto from Myung Soo, she strongly advises her ex-boyfriend to announce his love about her in front of everyone to set her heart at rest.  

When the couple enters the restaurant, oil in a skillet catches on fire. As Ji Ah is so scared that she pours it with water, Myung Soo quickly has his arms around the woman not to make the hot oil splash in her face. He burns himself on the oil and is treated at a hospital. Soo Jin wanders through the labyrinth of her mind recalling what he has said and what he has done to her and she assures that the he still doesn't forget his first love.