First of all, many thanks to Stephanie for asking me to do this! I cannot express how exciting it is to share my thoughts on dramas, something I love, with everyone. I first want to start this year review off with a small disclaimer. I was not able to watch some great dramas this year mainly because I was spending too much time watching mediocre ones. What I would give to watch Queen In Hyun’s Man or Gakistal instead of Fashion King or Dream High 2. So many wasted hours…
2012 brought a lot of great dramas and some…not so great ones. I realize that my favorite drama of 2012 comes down to two little shows that made big splashes in the rating from the same cable channel. Seeing as many dramas come from the big three channels: KBS, SBS and MBS the fact that tvN has managed to produce my two favorite dramas of the year is a testament to the quality of the channel’s shows, so fingers crossed for their upcoming Flower Boy next door because I’ll be really sad if that show disappoints. (Really. Really. Sad.)
As a heads up, this contains many, many spoilers
Best--
Shut Up: Flower Boy Band
This was the second show in the Oh Boy! Series from tvN, a series the network made aimed at a younger age demographic. The predecessor, Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, was also a strong show with a fun, zany vibe, but I never finished it because I got some intense second lead syndrome, and it just hurt to realize the main character would not pick the one she should. And just yelling at my computer screen repeatedly “I’ll take you!” was not satisfying enough. Shut Up: Flower Boy band, however, was a complete change of pace from its predecessor. Despite the name of the band being Eye Candy and the premise that it would follow a band of attractive guys, the show delivered a darker tone than I expected.
The death of Byung Hee was completely unexpected. Rewatching the show with a friend who had not seen the show previously, it was so hard to watch her finally come to accept him as a character, and then have him die. He was a little out of the box and zany but overall he was a sweet guy who really cared for his friends. Then he died. I honestly thought that it was easier to like his character because he dies. He was a little over the top and his incessant come ons to Soo Ah (he bites her at one point) were going to be a little hard to handle if they had happened throughout the show, but what I liked is the show set up a character that was magnetic and off-balance but clearly drew his group of friends together and propelled them, so when he was gone it was easy to see how his presence would be missed.
The show took a more serious turn earlier than I expected, but somehow, the show never felt extremely depressing. I think the show managed to discuss some very depressing emotions, but since it stuck with the heart of the show, the relationship between the band members of Eye Candy, it never felt completely hopeless. I know I personally really appreciated that aspect of the show because I don’t really enjoy watching dramas that bring on a sense of unending misery (it’s why I rarely watch melodramas). I think this was a great strength of the show. It could discuss serious topics without feeling the need to be completely serious all the time. There was always enough humor or at least hope to sustain the show and make me want to keep watching.
The music in the show was good. Jaywalking at this moment might be my ringtone…because every time I hear the opening chords I start to smile and get a sense of nostalgia. Admittedly, they only wrote two songs throughout the show, but I like that for two reasons. The first, as a non-fluent Korean drama watcher I could learn most of the lyrics and the translation thanks to subbers who went ahead and subbed the lyrics. The second, the lyrics were actually well-written. I also enjoyed “Wake Up” even though it is highlighted less throughout the show. I think the important thing was that because the show focused on only two songs, the two songs were of high quality and make for songs you want to listen to again and again instead of just a few times and then getting bored.
The most important distinctive feature of this show to me was the focus on friendship and growing up. Though there are a few romantic plotlines that I thought were well-developed as well, the fact that the show centered completely on the friendships made it stronger. That way, the romance did not take over the show, and I think it allowed for a slower development as well as avoiding unnecessary moments because the writers were not trying to fill time on the show. At first, you assume everyone is equally friend, but the problems become clearer as the show progresses.
My favorite relationship was between Hyun Soo and Ji Hyuk because I felt the show naturally showed a friction between the two. At first I assumed it was naturally because Hyun Soo wished to be the leader of the group and resented that Ji Hyuk always had more power. However, the idea that Ji Hyuk and Hyun Soo were originally best friends who grew apart due to Hyun Soo taking care of his little sister and Ji Hyuk discovering his musical talent felt more natural. The rivalry storyline would have worked, but it would have felt colder and probably would not have brought such an emotional response from the viewers or this viewer at least.
The scene between Hyun Soo and Ji Hyuk when Hyun Soo addresses the problem that has been there forver and Ji Hyuk explains his side to this date probably remains my favorite confession scene. I mean nothing gets to me like a confession of love between friends.
Most of all, I was surprised the main story of the show was about growing up. I did not expect as many questions of motive for all the members of Eye Candy as there were. I assumed the show would be more like Dream High where the wish for fame was just accepted and not really questioned. However, this show challenges that idea, and I think it dealt even more with the cost of fame especially trying to transform a band into an idol band. While unexpected, the grating against these regulations probably offered some of the most interesting conflicts of the show.
Finally, this show was bursting with different plot points that could have been developed. The show probably could have been strung out into a few more episodes (which I would have gladly watched.) I remember getting ready to watch the final two episodes and having no idea how the problems were going to be resolved. And yet magically after just a little over 45 minutes, the show was perfectly resolved, and I felt satisfied. I find this to be very rare with dramas because it always feels like in the last few episodes a rather unnecessary conflict has arisen and you are just waiting for everyone to get back together. But maybe that’s because I watch too many romantic comedies that center on just a couple. This show centered on the close friendship and how friendships change when people due. I feel it’s an issue we have all experienced in our lives (or at least I know I have) and so it felt so very relevant and easy to feel the characters pains with them.
Answer Me 1997
I started this show on a whim with a friend (Miss D, my writing buddy over at All that Drama). We were both on a high from watching the premiere of Faith (which sadly was not really up my alley even though it had LEE MIN HO) and so we wanted to keep the drama wheels going. Well, at least one great drama and that was Answer Me 1997. I don’t know if I have laughed and cried so hard due to one drama. The show’s setting was as foreign to me as well…Korea before I began watching dramas, and so I must admit I was in the dark for most of the 90s references. Thankfully, Dramabeans had my back there, and I looked up recaps midshow sometimes just to understand what had happened. I think the setup for this show was made to induce an addictive need to watch it. I mean, they have a mystery from the very beginning: which couple is announcing their marriage? To me, it felt slightly like How I Met Your Mother except you knew the couple was at the table and that it was going to be revealed in the next few months (instead of years. I say this being a fan of How I Met Your Mother), so basically for a very impatient person such as myself, I knew my curiosity would be satisfied.
The best part about this show is I thought it would be the curiosity of which couple made it out of high school that would drive me to watch each episode. Instead it was for the hilarious moments that just kept coming. The writing in this show was awesome even though it got slow during the last two episodes it always stayed funny. It was a show that had me laughing out loud and getting weird looks from people.
This show also centered in high school friendships, and while I found many of the scenes between pairs of friends touching, I did not find quite the same satisfaction in the friendship zone as I did with Shut Up: Flower Boy Band (but maybe that’s because there were girls disrupting the bromance). Though I had to love when all of the guys were trying to help Hak Chan figure out his relationship (and the reason for being broken up with this time).
I think the strongest conflicts lay in the relationships Yoon Jae had with his brother and Joon Hee. Yoon Jae and his brother’s relationship was painful in that Yoon Jae was left with almost no power in admitting his feelings since his brother basically gave up his life to raise him. Ah! I got the reason why he could not bring himself to do it throughout the show, but I really wanted him to just tell his brother to move on and point out that dating the younger sister of your dead fiancé was a little creepy and clearly points to not having moved past your previous relationship.
Yoon Jae and Joon Hee were also a heartbreaking pair. More so, because sometimes I thought they would be the better couple (sorry Shi Won you spent too much time dating his brother and not realizing your true feelings). Mainly because you knew that there was no possibility that would happen. Even though, Yoon Jae and Joon Hee end up living together essentially as a platonic couple (since Joon Hee pampers Yoon Jae like an adoring wife). When Joon Hee confessed he liked Yoon Jae the first time, I swear my heart stopped beating with him. I thought the show handled that scene well by having Yoon Jae believably brush off what Joon Hee has said as a joke. When Yoon Jae finally realizes the truth, probably the most heartbreaking back hug I have ever seen occurred.
I think this show surprised me in its ability to tug on my heartstrings. Normally, I get a little annoyed when I can tell a show wants me to feel sad with it and cry, but with Answer Me 1997 that feeling of being in high school was so completely captured I just got completely swept up in the emotion of everything. I mean the show did comedy really well, but it also dealt with serious moments in a truly believable but also emotive way.
When Shi Won’s father has cancer, the moment she finds out was so heartbreaking since she has been playing around with that idea to win a radio competition. The scene that really got to me was her father praying to god about his daughter who had died and saying that it was not his time yet to go because Shi Won was not ready. I think that was one of the most emotional moments in the show for me because Shi Won and her father bickered so often you rarely saw the real emotion under the core (even though you knew it was there).
The chemistry between Shi Won and Yoon Jae was awesome in almost every scene. I was rooting for them to be together from the moment they were on stage together. I thought the acting in the show overall was good. (But I must admit I’m not the best judge of acting unless it’s phenomenal or really, really terrible). I thought the actors embodied the roles and made each character feel real and fleshed out. That’s all I really need in a show to make me think the acting was good.
But the strongest part of this show was the writing. I briefly mentioned it, but I feel like I have to say it again because too often recently it feels like shows label themselves as comedies when there really are no comedic elements. For instance, School 2013, a show I am currently enjoying, is labeled as a comedy on Drama Fever. That show is many great things, but a comedy it is not. So for a show to be able to sustain the comedic element throughout feels like a rarity. And let’s be honest, a show that can make the baaing of a sheep into a funny ongoing joke clearly contains a very talented production crew. At the same time, I must say my main issue with the show is that is started to wander a little at the very end of its run. I would say this was mainly due to its numerous nineties star cameos (which were way over my head because I was not listening to Kpop during the nineties), and the a little over drawn out final question. I know, the question kept me watching as a viewer, but I felt like it got to the point where I knew the answer, and they should have just revealed it a little sooner instead of pretending I did not know who it was. Or maybe that’s just because once Shi Won’s beau was revealed I wanted more scenes of the two together being a couple since I had waited so long for it to happen. (Seriously, my number one failing is my impatience as a viewer. Oh and inability to handle a lot of crying. You know, I’ll make this list some other time…)
Dream High 2
There’s nothing like that feeling of realizing you have wasted sixteen hours watching a really bad show. Sadly, that is the feeling this show will bring if you decide to watch it. I was a huge fan of Dream High. I loved it all so much: the music, the dancing, the many competitions, the love triangle, the side plots, everything. So when I heard there was going to be a sequel. I was overjoyed. I am already a huge fan of music dramas and to hear it would be a follow up to Dream High in particular…well color me excited. I think the worst part about Dream High 2 is while it was mediocre from the beginning, (see that never ending musical number in episode two of Roly Poly or JYP in any scene), I was willing to stick around because I still rooted for the characters. But the thing was, after a while it felt like I wanted Shin Hae Sung to become a star more than she did.
But that was not the worst part of the show. There were random plotlines like when everyone goes to idol trainee camp and then everyone suddenly returns. The fact that no romances seemed to progress at all. JB liked Shin Hae Sung or was it Rian because I could never tell since he seemed infatuated with both even at the end of the show whenever one of them was on the screen. The same could be said with Jin Yoo Jin who was obsessed with Hae Sung, but it seemed likely he would develop feelings for Rian since they spent a lot of on screen time together, but wait, that was never developed. In fact, I don’t know if anything was developed in this show. Except maybe JB’s injury, which turned him into a total jerk because he started using Hae Sung.
Then there were the unexplored areas that would have been more interesting than that eight minute long dance number such as JB and Jin Yoo Jin’s rivalry. Why that was not the focus of the show, I will never know.
So maybe you think, well this does not sound too bad.
I mean, yes, there were entertaining dance numbers after that Roly Poly debacle
and enough scenes offering hope that there would be development in characters.
There was also the romance plotline which sort of worked. And there was a lot
of dancing. Oh, but then you reach the end of the show. But is it really the
end of the show? Because there were no conclusions. Literally, not even a
resolution to romantic subplots. Then those characters you were rooting for all
gave up on their dreams…um what? Okay, I get the idea of season 2 being about
finding a dream you can achieve. That’s great because we saw that with Hae Sung
and her ability to write songs even though she cannot sing. So why is she a director
at the end of the show? And why is she producing a show at the very end that
contains all professionals except for her sister? Is that really how one
becomes successful? Just hiring the people you know? And why do we only get a
GLANCE between her and JB? Why in heaven’s name are Rian and Jin Yoo Jin not together
and why is he still teaching at the school instead of being the rockstar we all
know he could be? Why? Why? Why?
That’s all I was left with after ending the
show. I had mildly enjoyed it until then. I mean it had some really bad parts,
but it passed. But if you are going to drag me through sixteen hours of not so great,
you do not get to b.s. your way through the ending. So I’m left mad and
questioning. But mainly, I’m pissed I didn’t just watch Queen In Hyun’s Man
because that looks a lot cuter and way more satisfying than watching a show
that just refuses to develop anything or even leave me, the viewer, the
satisfaction of seeing everyone together at the end. So stay away from this
show. It really is just not worth it.
0 commentaires:
Post a Comment