 |
| If you don't tell me... |
 |
| I won't know since I am idiot. |
We stan the self-aware leading man of Our Beloved Summer.
The great pleasure with some K-dramas is the hidden depths
that you’re not expecting.
With Our Beloved Summer, it is structured around high school sweethearts who once filmed a reality TV together when they were young. They fell in love afterwards but had a crushing break-up and have not spoken for five years. Now Kook Yeon-soo (Kim Da-mi) works in PR and Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) is an artist. They are reunited for a follow-up documentary by a mutual high school friend, Ji-ung (Kim Sung-cheol) and agree to participate out of a mix of necessity, spite and curiosity.
While the explosive
surface is about these former lovers turned enemies and what went wrong with
their relationship, the undercurrent is something more complex and profound. Throw
in a celebrated idol, NJ (Roh Jeong-eui), who inserts herself into the middle
of them and watch the sparks fly.
In a way, the documentary is simply the McGuffin to get all
these characters together. The richness comes from the emotional stakes each of
them has. The story is full of broken people who are muddling through a lot of
pain they don’t voice or share. Raising class issues, poverty, abandonment, absent parents, or the struggle to grow-up, somehow this
breezy romantic-comedy becomes a mediation on the deep loneliness and fears
each of them have. The gulf between what they say and what they feel is
immense. So we watch them say one thing
when they want to express something else.
Also, the story avoids easy clichés. NJ ends up one of the
more observant ones when it comes to the behaviors of the others. Her life of
fame and attention is as hard to navigate emotionally as any of their paths
are. The brotherly affection between non-brothers Ji-ung and Ung becomes
complicated since they both have feelings for Yeon-soo but are basically family.
Ji-ung was a latch-key kid showered with affection by Ung’s
parents. But no matter how much love you receive from surrogate families it
doesn’t heal the lack of love from your actual parent. The show does not shy
away from that either.
Choi Woo-shik brings incredibly subtly to the role. Once we
get beyond the couple's bickering (which is still quite enjoyable), he gives many shades of how his character’s pain
manifests and also how his character tries to hide that pain. I was more frustrated with Kim
Da-mi who does not have his range. Yeon-soo is an unlikeable character at the
start but without a hint of what’s happening inside it’s hard to get as
invested in her as we are in Ung.
But it's overall a strong ensemble, a poignant romance, and as we learn more about
each character the harder it is to look away.
The Secret Royal Inspector and Joy is light and
fluffy series which blends comedy, mystery, and romance. It’s uneven and a little dumb at times, but
the cast is winsome and there’s a female lead whose interior journey is
fulfilling.
Kim Joy (Kim Hye-yoon) is a woman begging local officials to
let her divorce her gambling louse of a husband. Ra Ian (Ok Taec-yeon) is a foodie
who has been dragged into the role of secret royal inspector. Unexpectedly,
they find they can help each other achieve what they need to. They team up to
investigate political corruption. Between his cunning and her seasoned
street-smarts, they make a good team.
The characters' struggles are not particularly heavy or
painful. Certainly, extracting Joy from her terrible marriage early on helps
things and her desire to live independently is refreshing. She’s lived a
difficult impoverished life and her excitement at going places and doing
meaningful work has a deeper resonance.
 |
| Long-suffering Joy |
But the secret inspector is supposed to be very naïve when
it comes to women but I struggled to believe Taecyeon as such a dimwit about
romance or all that inexperienced. He’s such a perfect matinee idol
that this is a stretch. And he always reads smarter than this particular character. It’s what
makes him an interesting actor to watch, but that knowing-nature didn’t quite fit the role here.
The whole plotline about him just wanting to be a cook and
live out his days making gourmet meals disappears for whole swaths of the
series. When it returned, I had forgotten it had been there.
It also was not at all clear to me that the two “servants’”
who were helping the secret inspector were actually slaves. So, his threats to
them or their forced participation in some of his schemes hits differently with
that information. The light comedy gets a bit grimmer.
But Taecyeon and Kim Hye-yoon have great chemistry. I’d love to see them together in a better written series. Even if this show was flawed, tuning into for them was worth it.
***************************
Imitation
With real idols in the cast (members from Ateez, SF9), Imitation
involves a mysterious disappearance of an idol from the band Shax, the
struggles of a debut girls group, and the serious challenges of idol life.
It's certainly an interesting subject matter with plenty of behind the scene machinations by managers and unique power of fans in K-pop. But other than that, it felt like a very low-budget series that was underwritten and mostly poorly acted. Whole plot points that made no sense and timelines were poorly laid out. I didn't even realize some scenes were flashbacks. But I liked Jeong Yun-ho who played the second-male lead.
For a series about idols, the music was totally dull.
Comments
Post a Comment