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| Even the cats are K-drama devotees |
Summer is here...and I've been struggling to find good dramas. One show I can highly recommend this month but otherwise it's been frustrating.
The Story of Park's Marriage Contract is a charming time-traveling romance with a murder-mystery thrown in.
There's a sad longing here as Yeon-woo wants to go back to the past and at the same time finds herself drawn towards staying. This is a little gem of a drama.
The Atypical Family has a unique and unusual tone and I got into it quickly BUT the persistent fatphobia with one of the side characters really made it impossible to fully embrace this show.
Clearly these are characters in need of a lot of healing and Do Da-hae herself has lived a hard life. She has never had a true family. She is scamming the Bok family because of pressure from the crime family she is a part of but she tries to get out when she starts to have feelings for Bok Gwi-ju. So what starts out as a con becomes quite real and that's when this all gets very interesting.
I loved Park So-yi and her teen struggles and her storyline is well-handled. But I wish the other material was as thoughtful. Dong-hee's weight and her relentless effort to lose weight to get back a boyfriend who is obviously a jerk is just awful to watch. The fat suit or digital fat suit that they use (I don't know what is) is unforgivable. We are all just supposed to wait and watch until she can be "beautiful" again when she is thin. Vomit.
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The Story of Park's Marriage Contract
The Story of Park's Marriage Contract is a charming time-traveling romance with a murder-mystery thrown in.
Park Yeon-woo (Lee Se-young) is a noblewoman in Joseon who secretly designs clothes on the side. Her parents finally force her into a marriage with Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk). On their wedding night, Tae-ha dies. Shortly after, Yeon-woo is kidnapped and thrown into a well to die. However, she wakes up in the future rescued by chaebol Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk) who just so happens to need someone to pretend to be his bride to get his grandfather off his back about marriage. Yeon-woo, confused about this other Tae-ha, agrees. She struggles to adapt to life in contemporary Seoul but eventually Tae-ha realizes she is not crazy but really from the past. But this contract marriage blossoms into a real relationship over time. Yet, she is living out of time so something has to give.
In 12-episodes, this series has just enough plot to sustain it. The show leaps nicely from Joseon to the future with echoes of the past. Familiar faces pop up and there are parallels between what Yeon-woo experienced in the past and now.
It is a sweet potential romance with well-matched partners in Joseon and then that same couple has to find the connection all over again in modern Seoul. Meddling family members in both eras make their lives difficult. Tae-ha is fighting with a stepmother for control of the family company and she is doing everything in her power to keep him down.
Bae In-hyuk shades the two versions of Kang Tae-ha differently. His Joseon Tae-ha is more innocent and hapless. His contemporary Tae-ha more guarded and cold.
There's a sad longing here as Yeon-woo wants to go back to the past and at the same time finds herself drawn towards staying. This is a little gem of a drama.
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The Atypical Family
The Atypical Family has a unique and unusual tone and I got into it quickly BUT the persistent fatphobia with one of the side characters really made it impossible to fully embrace this show.
A wealthy family has a secret. Each member of the family has a superpower. Bok Man-heum (Go Doo-shim) can see the future when she dreams but she has been suffering from insomnia and unable to use her power. Her oldest child Bok Dong-hee (Claudia Kim) can fly but since she is now obese she cannot get off the ground. Her son Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-yong) can travel to his happiest memories of his past but since his wife died in a car crash he has been suffering from depression and cannot use his power. Gwi-ju's teen daughter Bok In-a (Park So-yi) hides from the world behind thick glasses and moves through life like a ghost, somewhat forgotten by her family distracted with their own problems.
Bok Gwi-ju is rescued from drowning by Do Da-hae (Chun Woo-hee) and his mother invites Do Da-hae into their lives not knowing she is a con woman. But Do Da-hae is connected to them by fate and her presence does help them start to find their powers again.
Clearly these are characters in need of a lot of healing and Do Da-hae herself has lived a hard life. She has never had a true family. She is scamming the Bok family because of pressure from the crime family she is a part of but she tries to get out when she starts to have feelings for Bok Gwi-ju. So what starts out as a con becomes quite real and that's when this all gets very interesting.
I loved Park So-yi and her teen struggles and her storyline is well-handled. But I wish the other material was as thoughtful. Dong-hee's weight and her relentless effort to lose weight to get back a boyfriend who is obviously a jerk is just awful to watch. The fat suit or digital fat suit that they use (I don't know what is) is unforgivable. We are all just supposed to wait and watch until she can be "beautiful" again when she is thin. Vomit.
I've really liked Jang Ki-yong in a number of shows but this time he gets to be the focus. It's a good performance as he re-emerges from his depression and starts to connect with the world again (even if it's really weird how much pressure his family is putting on him to get together with Da-hae when they don't know her at all).
Here the 12-episodes feel too short. As usual with Netflix trying to rush the narrative, the pacing gets ruined by the end as they try to force a 16-episode idea into 12. There was something very different about this show from the start in tone and style...and I wish it had fulfilled its potential. I also wish it hadn't chosen to treat fat people like a nightmare.
I wanted to watch another Jang Ki-yong show and from the vague Viki description thought this was a romance. IT WAS NOT. It was a terrible serial killer drama.
Talk about trauma. Your dad’s a serial killer and when you are a teenager he killed your first love's whole family, kind of to punish you. Then you grow up and you are forever known as the son of a serial killer. Then you bump into your first love and lo and behold she is being stalked maybe by a devotee of your serial killer dad. And you are both still fucked up from all this stuff. Add in a series of increasingly insane people and sadistic journalists and you have a really unromantic premise. I watched this all the way through but I cannot recommend it.
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Come and Hug Me
I wanted to watch another Jang Ki-yong show and from the vague Viki description thought this was a romance. IT WAS NOT. It was a terrible serial killer drama.
Talk about trauma. Your dad’s a serial killer and when you are a teenager he killed your first love's whole family, kind of to punish you. Then you grow up and you are forever known as the son of a serial killer. Then you bump into your first love and lo and behold she is being stalked maybe by a devotee of your serial killer dad. And you are both still fucked up from all this stuff. Add in a series of increasingly insane people and sadistic journalists and you have a really unromantic premise. I watched this all the way through but I cannot recommend it.
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| Obsessed with this scene in a PRISON where they have a wall of candles! |
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