If I could, I would marry this drama. From start to finish, and even with the added two episodes, it had strong story telling and characters. There was never a moment that I felt the need to jump into my computer and smack some sense into the characters. That is not to say that they didn't have their issues and make mistakes, but they weren't those completely idiotic mistakes that are so prevalent in dramas. The writers even play the amnesia card, which can become such a crutch in dramas in order to draw a story out, but this was used very well.
There is a lot of back story to this drama which the audience is still being given information about until the very end. It begins ten years before the drama even starts when our main character Jung Hye Sung and her frienemy Seo Do Hyun witness a murder, which brings me to this question: why is Kim So Hyun always cast as theses super damaged children? I suppose I can answer my own question by saying "because she's good at it", but seriously, here are the dramas I've seen her in, I Miss You: super damaging and traumatic childhood; this drama: super damaging and traumatic childhood; The Moon that Embraces the Sun: she is kind of evil and her dad sucks, making her a sucky adult; Rooftop Prince: she puts her younger step sister on a truck and watches it drive away as her sister cries and tells her to save her, she then becomes my least favorite female adult in drama history. She always rocks it though and I love her so good job on being a damaged child type actor. Hopefully this doesn't mess her up in the future.
At about the twelfth episode mark this drama got its two episodes extension. Fortunately, these two episodes were used very well and didn't drag the story out unnecessarily. The only main change with the extend is that the story did slow down a little, but not for the worse. It wasn't case after case and attacks from Min Joon Guk anymore, there was a more talking and character building. This also gave the writers a better build up to the end, which was amazing. We also got more of this
which is totally fine by me. I would watch the Hye Sung and Soo Ha show all day long and love every minute of it. They had such an easy relationship and you could see that the actors genuinely liked each other. Some of my favorite scenes were when they were sitting in her house talking and one of them couldn't get something open. The other person would then take the object, open it, and hand it back without either of them missing a beat. It's a small and random thing to like, but it's one of those easy relationship moments that a lot of dramas lack.
Something else that I liked about their relationship is that Soo Ha was so careful with Hye Sung and you could just feel how much he loved her and wanted to take care of her. Especially when he kissed her hand when she was asleep for reasons that I will not disclose here because that would ruin A LOT of things. Just know, that it will make you go "aww" and then "aww" again.
While watching their romance unfold, I would occasionally think about the romance in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop because these couples have about the same age gap. Where Ramyun Shop had a lot of sexual tension and you were just waiting for the moment that Cha Chi Soo and Eun Bi confessed their feelings and then commence to kiss the crap out of each other, that was definitely not something that I expected, or wanted, from this drama. I think is what makes their final kiss so endearing to the audience. It was cute and romantic all at the same time and it was wonderful.
One of my other favorite characters was our bad guy Min Joon Guk. He was so creepy and played his part so well that he just made your skin crawl whenever he was on the screen. The other reason that I liked him is because he does end up becoming a tragic villain, which is the best kind of villain in my opinion. About half way through the drama, he started to form layers and by the end, while he is still evil and deserves to be punished, you understand him a little better and feel bad for him.
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| Doesn't this picture make you want to feel bad for him? |
A theme that was played with during the end of the drama is whether or not a person can be turned onto a beast based on their surroundings. It was very White Christmas in that way, which I recently watched and quite enjoyed. I think that this drama dealt with it better though because it was clearer than White Christmas, which got a little confusing at times.
Another theme that this drama used is what is the definition of truth. I think that it would be obvious that this idea would be dealt with because we are watching a drama where almost all of the characters work at a law office. The issue of truth is brought up early in the drama when Soo Ha asks Hye Sung "doesn't truth win in the court room?" to which she replies that that statement is backwards and that "what wins in the court is truth." As sad as it is, there is a lot of truth in that statement which out characters come to learn as they get deeper into their jobs and personal issues. They also learn that truth isn't as obvious as we would like to think and it takes a brave person to be able to look at the truth and accept it.
This drama does deal with a lot of dark things so, luckily for us, there were lighthearted moments sprinkled through apart from the interactions between our main couple. There was the moment that Soo Ha realized that the woman that he had loved for ten years was a dirty, jaded lawyer
The scene where
And any time these two were on the screen together. I hope that someday Choong Ki can take his foot out of his mouth and then they can have a beautiful, if slightly angry, relationship.
So, should you watch this drama? Yes, a million times yes. It is wonderful and will have you feeling all the feels by the end and then, when it leaves, you will beg it to stay and give you more. I will now leave you with the very adorable Soo Ha, have a good weekend!
What else am I watching?
Cruel Palace: War of the Flowers - Something that I don't like about sageuks is all the torture, especially in a solely sageuk sageuk. I'm glad we don't do that any more.
School 2013 - This is wonderful! It's right up my alley with the teaching angle and the bromance in absolutely heartwarming. I'm just sad that the teachers aren't going to get together.
Who are You? - This drama is like Spellbound in the sense that it mixes the romance with horror, so I'm excited to see where this goes. I am not excited to watch Taec though, thus far his acting has not impressed me and has made me cringe a little.
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