Jang Hyuk withdrawal and Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

Righty-o. So I decided to go back to Korean dramas because the two Japanese ones I just tried were...meh. (Plus the one I tried previously that I've forgotten the name of and only managed to watch two episodes of). Still waiting on my agent to get back from his holiday...he was due back Wednesday but there was some issue so he's stuck in some tropical foreign country until this weekend. So nothing going on as far as on the work front, other that the reading/research I'm still doing. Also working on little dude's school stuff and getting the paperwork ready to give up our US citizenship (eep). Kinda tired of filling out forms and doing filing though. So...

I wanted to watch something funny and thought another Jang Hyuk drama would be good. But the two I'd really love to watch, Fated to Love You and Bad Papa, aren't available in my region. Can't even buy the DVDs. Annoying. I watched one episode of Fated to Love You on YouTube but I don't like watching stuff that way (crappy quality and dubious legality). So...

I started Strong Woman Do Bong Soon because it was the funniest looking one on my follow list on Viki.

Only watched one episode so far -- at the gym...I'm encouraging myself to go by making it Kdrama time on the elliptical -- and it's pretty frickin' funny. Do Bong Soon (Park Bo Young) comes from a family of freakishly strong women going back generations. But the tricky thing is that it comes with a curse. If any one of them mis-uses their strength for non-noble purposes, they lose it. It happened to her mom (who's a piece of work). Bong Soon is nearing thirty and has held on to her strength so far though she tries not to use it for a variety of reasons. Her twin brother does not have it. He's studying to be a doctor and seems to be doted on by the family while Bong Soon has had to make do working a variety of not-so-great jobs.

What she wants to do is be a game developer and create a character like herself. One day, while out rambling around, she comes across some gangsters beating up a bus driver in front of a bunch of kids. She tries to stay out of it and just report it to the police, but when more gangsters come out and gang up on her, she winds up taking them out. It's pretty funny. She also happens to be seen by Ahn Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik) who was passing by. Coincidentally (I'm going to forgive this, maybe, depending on how it pans out) it seems that he was once saved by her super strength while on a runaway bus, not that he realises it was her yet. He is the CEO of the company that she wants to work for and he winds up hiring her as his bodyguard because he has been receiving threats. She wants to wrangle that into an opportunity to become a developer. He is intrigued by her.

There's also her old high school crush, In Guk Doo (Ji Soo), who is a policeman. It seems there are murders/kidnappers going around in her neighbourhood. Obviously it's the classic love triangle. If I had to guess, she'll probably wind up with the CEO guy but, hey, who knows. They're both adorable. I don't even care.

The humour is really good so far and just what I needed. Here, in fact, is Ahn Mik Hyuk's assistant after engaging in a game of chicken with Do Bong Soon, right before he hits the wall:

The face of a man who sincerely regrets his life choices.

Will update after I've watched some more. I think I'll enjoy this one.

Edit: Episode 2: It's all gone a bit darker (murder! kidnapping! crazy dude in a rubber mask ala Silence of the Lambs-ish in a creepy dark basement with mysterious dripping noises) than I had anticipated and it kind of clashes with the bubbly cutesy-ness of the rest BUT still thinking this one will be good fun. Park Hyung Sik is absolutely ridiculously adorable to the point of he's too perfect to be a normal human. The leads are very funny together and I'm even more convinced now that he'll be the end dude. Cop friend Guk Doo (Gook? I've seen it both ways, so not sure which is right) is also a keeper. Can't wait to see when they turn that corner and Bong Soon is into his character because I think it'll be cringeworthy sweet.

Edit (episodes 3 & 4): the hubster went to bed early as he's still got jet lag so I got to watch two more episodes of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. It's so ridiculous but I'm enjoying it. I really like the chemistry between Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik (also known as Hyungshik apparently from the group he was in...do all these dudes start out in Idol bands??). Too cute. Seriously. Just want to eat him up. Does that sound all cougar-y? I don't mean it that way. Not really. Just so totally adorable. That smile. Both of them, actually.

The Cuteness. It blinds.

There are news articles claiming he had a crush on his co-star. Welp, they should totally get married and have ridiculously cute kids to carry on the Kdrama tradition for the next generation. I mean, really. Usually the bio photo for all of these actors looks WAY better than they do on the show but this guy is just too handsome in every scene. I can actually picture him (when he was younger) being a perfect Oscar from my third book (especially when he's trying to act gay--did I mention that? He and his secretary have led Bong Soon to think that he's gay but he's obviously not...not sure why they did that, though assuming it is for a) to get her to be his bodyguard and not feel threatened (? this girl? threatened? haha) and b) the ridiculous jokes they get out of it for the show, mostly from Bong Soon's mom, who wants her to marry him and doesn't care that he's supposed to be gay--he's got money and he's handsome...why ask for anything else? no one is perfect. Kudus to the show though for not making the gay thing be something bad or the butt of jokes...am I making sense? It's a joke, but it's not a joke because he's gay. I'm not making sense. Eh, doesn't matter, I know what I mean).

The dark bits are getting a bit more balanced out with the light, fluffy bits, but there's definitely some darkness coming. The second girl has been kidnapped. The teasers point to Do Bong Soon's friend being threatened next. Bit of development with Ahn's family drama situation too, though not sure who Im Won Hee (who was the evil chef in Wok of Love) is playing yet, though it's someone who knows who Ahn is. He's a gangster this time, but hard to say who's side he's on, other than that he's the boss of the group of guys Bong Soon beat up in the very beginning.

Seriously, so loving this one so far. It's quirky. I love quirky. I write quirky. This is so me. I don't often laugh out loud at shows, but I have a few times with this one. It reminds me of the physical comedy in Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun. And I love Bong Soon's ringtone so much that I went and found it online and made it my ringtone on my phone. Now I just need someone to call me. But not now...now I need to go to bed.

Edit: through episode 7 now. Ahn's family drama has played out and it was, as I suspected the one brother that he actually loved and thought loved him (it was kinda obvious as they hadn't really provided enough screen time or background on either of the other "evil" brothers to have it be one of them). But, of course, it wrecks poor Ahn Min Hyuk. But, it seems that all of that has been wrapped up, which leaves the remaining "problems" for the remaining episodes to be a) the kidnapper/murderer, b) Im Won Hee playing the gangster boss Bael Tak (spelling? didn't bother going back to check it) and all the gangsters wanting revenge on Do Bong Soon, c) resolving the love triangle between Bong Soon, Min Hyuk, and Gook Doo, and d) some character development for Do Bong Soon...she's going to have to come to some kind of acceptance with her super strength. For this story to work as a whole, she has to not be in the same state of mind she was at the start. Oh, and that reveal to Ahn that Bong Soon was the girl that saved him way back when on the bus. Honestly, they really didn't need to shoehorn that plot in at all. It's not necessary. There's just something about Korean dramas where they like to have that whole "fated" love story thing. I don't think it adds anything to this one, especially as they've teased it along and now Bong Soon knows but he doesn't (though I suppose they could be using it as a method for her to think of him in a different way? eh, I dunno, that's a stretch).

Eh...and you know how I was saying earlier that I was okay with how they were handling the gay thing? That took a bit of a turn. Ahn did reveal to the shareholders that he's NOT gay and that didn't particularly bother me (it was going to have to happen to clear up rumours but also because they are heading into the part of the story where he's going to have to come clean to Bong Soon if he wants to develop a relationship with her and it obvious he does). BUT the writer(s) also played another even more ridiculous joke with it where Bong Soon and Ahn have captured two gangsters and she puts them on her blanket (the one her mom "enchanted" with a love spell) so they aren't uncomfortable. And when they wake up, they're in love. It's taken the joke a step too far. The only thing holding me back from being really pissed about it is that, at least, when everyone sees the two gangster dudes suddenly all lovey-dovey (even their fellow gangsters later on in the hospital), they at least aren't grossed out. Just confused. But still, it's like the writers were like, hey, let's carry this joke on for a while longer, hahaha, isn't this funny...to the point that, yeah, no, it's not funny any more.

There have been some nice moments in the last couple of episodes though -- Bong Soon cheering up a depressed Ahn by taking him to an amusement park, him trying to teach her to control her strength (including a shmexy boxing/grappling session), a scene between the three generations of Do women (granny is great), and a nice moment between Do Bong Soon's dad and Ahn. And, yeah, any time Park Hyung Shik smiles. Dude just has the best smile.

The character development arc stuff that I do really like is that, even though Bong Soon has loved Gook Doo for so long, she's also never let him see the real her. Whereas Ahn has known who she really is from the beginning. It's a nice dichotomy and the writers have exploited that well.

The kidnapper/murderer storyline is progressing slowly. Almost too slowly. But it seems that's the one they are drawing out to add tension to the end game, so, yeah, okay. Still enjoying it overall. Very few missteps and I'll forgive the two Parks just about anything, I think.

Edit, about to start episode 12. Hmmmmm. I'm trying to organise my thoughts on this. On the one hand, I am so enjoying any scene that includes Do Bong Soon and Ahn Min Hyuk. Seriously. Could practically just sit and watch them make starry eyes at each for a solid hour. I ship it. I do.

But, at the same time, the serial kidnapper/murderer thing is really kind of dragging. It's almost like this is two shows and they aren't even related -- super cute romance vs. dark crime drama. It bounces back and forth, but one thread gets discarded for another and then picked up again. And the drama-y police procedural bit...well...the bad guy is literally running circles around them and it's so bad it's to the point the viewer is like FFS, can the cops catch a clue? Any clue? They even know who the bad guy is at this point and he's still completely running circles around them. It's frustrating, but not in a "sustaining the plot" kind of way. Just plain frustrating.

So it's kinda weird. The show feels both way too long and way too short. The fact that it works at all I have to put down purely on the two leads. At this point (episode 12 out of 16), I'm usually either feeling like a) oh no, there's not enough episodes left!! or b) FFS when will this end? and in this case, I'm feeling both in equal measures.

Things that have, at least, been resolved...Ahn Min Hyuk now realises that it was Do Bong Soon who saved him on that bus years ago and she realises that the painting in his closet is of her. But...as I suspected...it doesn't really matter to the story. Not sure why they bothered with it.

In Gook Doo finally took the step forwards to confess to Do Bong Soon, but he was too late. Knew that was going to happen, though I do feel bad for him. He literally can't catch a break in any part of his life.

And Ahn Min Hyuk fully confessed (rather than dropping any more hints) and Do Bong Soon, thankfully, didn't fret for too long over the decision between him and In Gook Doo. Glad that they didn't draw that out for ages as they very well could have. After all, she'd loved In Gook Doo for so long, but as she says, one-sided love does have an expiration date.

Edit, about to start episode 13. Hmmmmm. This really is two (three?) shows smushed together.

There's all the stuff about the high school wanna-be thugs that call Do Bong Soon "noona" and Baek Tak (the gangster leader), which is completely removed from all the other storylines at this point. I've only not fast forwarded through it because I'm wondering if they are going to tie it back in. But it feels like they've just stuck it in for comedic effect...but it's...er...not effective at this point. It's just wearisome. And they've added in some pseudo not-Indian guru mishmash of a character. I don't get the point. None of it progresses the story. It feels like filler. Any of my editors would have been, like, time for some cutting!

Then there's the evil kidnapper dude plot, all dark and gritty. Finally the police catch a tiny bit of a clue (Gook Doo figures out the hidden camera in the station). But it really isn't a satisfying story because the bad guy has been SO far ahead of the good guys every step of the way. And I don't want to be victim blaming but he's just kidnapped Bong Soon's friend as she was out WALKING ALONE AT NIGHT and I'm like, WTF girl, you've been targeted TWICE already + been told the real culprit hasn't been found so WTH are you doing? And she had headphones in AND didn't even attempt to push the emergency alert bracelet she was wearing. I get that they're doing this to up the stakes in the last episodes but it's frustratingly stupid. I mean, jesus. Normal woman walking alone at night take more precautions than this girl.

And the romance. Which is great. Seriously. Really appreciate the evenness of the progression of the relationship and how Min Hyuk is always (somewhat) patiently waiting for Bong Soon to catch up to his feelings. Strong imagery with their beach visit and the drawing of the imperfect heart, the kiss on the forehead in the empty conference room. He even took a kabedon and turned it into something that wasn't a power play. Nicely done, Park Hyung Sik.

So I should be probably at about 50% enjoyment level for this one, but it's more like 90% purely because of the romance.

Though I get the feeling I'm about to get pissed off. They've been teasing since nearly the beginning that Bong Soon will loose her super strength at some point. The fact that her mom and another ancestress lost it (one by fighting on the wrong side, her mom by shaking down people for money). Conversations about it. Her asking her grandma if powers can be regained once lost. Now Min Hyuk has had a prophetic dream (really, writers? really??) with a helpless Bong Soon being attacked. And the evil bad guy, pretending to be her friend on the phone, getting that tidbit of information out of her, that she can lose her power if she attacks someone innocent.

It's not so much that I think they are going to make her lose her powers at some point now but that I get the feeling it will wind up with Min Hyuk running in to save the day. Why have a show about a powerful female character and then take that away from her so that she can be the damsel in distress? It was a nice little moment when Min Hyuk asks Bong Soon about her game design and she explains that the main (girl) character is trying to save a lonely prince. I mean, come on, writers. You've been (mostly) consistent with flipping that shit on it's head and now it looks like you're going to go back to the standard trope. I sincerely hope not, but I fear it.

And also...I imagine the bad guy is going to make her attack someone innocent by having someone else wear his mask or something and trick her. I dunno. But why would that work with the "gods" or whatever higher power it is that's given her this power? Tricks shouldn't do it. The people who, in the past, lost their power knew what they were doing when they did bad.

Anyway. We'll see. Maybe they won't go there.

Edit: Nah, yeah, they went there. Basically, to sum up this episode: angst, angst, tears, noble-idiot-trope "I can't be with you because you'll be in danger", more angst. When Bong Soon goes to meet evil dude, he has trapped her friend under a descending elevator at some building site. She saves her friend, throws the elevator (that she thinks is holding him) away. Innocent bystander disguised as bad guy rolls out of elevator. Of course. I knew they were gonna do it, but it still pisses me off. Actually, most of this episode pissed me off. They went the typical drama route instead of doing anything interesting. And Min Hyuk and Gook Doo come running in to save the day.  Again, don't think it should count as harming an innocent when she was tricked. The guy was harmed BECAUSE of the evil dude, who'd already even beaten him to a pulp. So it feels like a trick from the writers to get Bong Soon to be forced to deal with being "normal." Don't like it. Don't like the typical thing either where she feels she has to do things on her own because she "might hurt someone." I really detest that and so many shows/books/movies do that. WHY?? Honestly, it's not even realistic. It's just forced angst-y separation.

Three more episodes to go. Hope they fix it in some kind of reasonable fashion. I'll still be pissed about this one though. And the teasers for the next show make it appear that something might happen to Min Hyuk. FFS.

Also, enough with Bong Soon's mom beating up her long suffering husband. It wasn't funny the first time and it hasn't been funny throughout the show. I wish they'd quit with that. I don't even get the feeling that they'll try to redeem her in the end.

Edit...went to lunch, came back. The more I think about it, the more it doesn't work for me. If she could lose her super strength in this situation then she should have lost it earlier. Take when she broke Secretary Gong's tailbone playing "chicken" -- she went into that KNOWING that she might hurt him (and even suggested he wear a helmet) and DID actually hurt him. She could have refused to play. If anything, she was MORE culpable in that situation than in the one in which she did lose her powers. Writer-nim -- this was a cop out and it ticks me off.

Edit...about to start the next episode. The dudes have been playing Terraria all day, freeing me up to finish this show. Thanks, guys. Heh.

So...this isn't a recap as it's just my thoughts, so I'm not gonna cover it all. Bong Soon gets her strength back after evil dude comes to Ainsoft (Ahn's company building), straps a bomb to her and locks her up. I liked that she got it back because Min Hyuk wouldn't leave her no matter how much she begged and she basically prayed to be able to save him. It was a nice touch and fits in well with the re-occurring themes in the show. Still don't think she should have lost her powers that way in the first place, but yadda yadda. Really strong acting from both leads, so well done them.

The next to last episode, when they FINALLY capture evil dude is good because it firmly places Bong Soon in charge of her fate BUT accepting help from both of the men that love her. And that they don't try to stop her -- they just insist she not go in alone. That works for me and it's a strong character arc for all three of them.

They also finally gave some kind of point to the gangsters and the young punks, though not nearly enough of one to justify the amount of screen time we had to sit through watching them. No point AT ALL to the weird fake monk dude or Baek Tak's poetry, though...at least not as far as I could tell. Or the doppleganger idiot twins (gangster no-teeth and Team Lead Oh). Why did I have to watch that?

Bong Soon's dad did finally stand up to her mom and her mom is at least seeing some consequences to him running off and leaving her alone. Don't think it's going to be enough, honestly, as I'm sure he'll be back in the last episode and I sincerely doubt she'll really have changed her ways.

Do absolutely love when Min Hyuk turns into a puddle of goo. Seriously. Just once in my life I'd like someone to look at me the way he looks at Bong Soon. I know it's not gonna happen, but I can dream.

So...on to the last episode...

Ah, it did lovely Min Min.

Welp. Finished it. I have complicated feelings about this one. On the one hand, the things I loved, I really loved...which, to be honest, was mostly the love story (and even the somewhat triangular shape of it with Gook Doo...the tragedy of first loves, man...I was almost wondering if they'd fob him off on the best friend but I'm thankful they didn't...she shouldn't be a next best prize). Totally adore Park Hyung Sik. Someone should just put together a highlight reel of his best moments and I would watch the hell out of that. I think he and Park Seo Joon are my current favs (though I really do want to see more of Jang Hyuk, if I can find anything else I can legally watch).

But...the so-so stuff...

•  The mom. They tried to wrap up the spousal abuse thing as playing it off that she never "actually hit him" and he just tripped and got the black eye from a sewing machine. Nah. Come on. They show her whacking him all through the show. I know they were playing it off as if it was supposed to be funny, but it really wasn't. Her feeding him a lettuce wrap at the end doesn't make up for how she's treated him the entire show.
• After making a big deal out of Ahn Min Hyuk's family problems -- dad giving him a marriage ultimatum, him pretending (at the time) Bong Soon was his fiancé, the stuff with the brothers, the taking over of his dad's company...they basically didn't do anything with that after the mid-point of the show. Got too busy with random gangster-thug-monk idiocy. They don't even show up to his wedding (which, on the one hand, is fine as they were all crap). 
• The "how she lost her power" thing just really, really doesn't work for me. It doesn't seem to fit the mythology of the show or even the previous things that happened in the show. Lazy. The how she got it back, however, does work really well.
• Boss Baek Tak, the swindling monk, and the high school punks...WAY too much screen time for very little payoff and little to no story progression. 
• The pacing. If it hadn't been for Park Hyung Sik's sheer adorableness, I probably would have given up somewhere in the muddle that was the middle. 

But the thing that has actually annoyed me the most is at the very end and part of the "fan service" so I'm sure I'm meant to like it and giggle about it. So, they get married (yay!). Cut to omo! mom praying to Buddha that Bong Soon have a son so that lovely son-in-law can sleep well. Cut to hospital. Wail of a baby being born. Cut to poor Min Min looking desperate as he talks to Secretary Gong, who is wondering what's so bad about twin girls? Cue Boss Tak providing two gangsters as nurse maids. They get beat up by little wickle baby fists as they try to feed the wee little babies. They run. Min Hyuk takes one to the eye too, calls Bong Soon who is out busy saving the world one heavy thing at a time and now, apparently, able to leap off of tall buildings with a single bound. What do I do? he wails after she berates him with "Didn't I tell you not to call me when I'm working?" And that's it. WTF. Seriously. W. T. Everloving. F. Go home, Bong Soon. Don't be a bitch like your mom. Take care of your family. 

I know, I know, it's just supposed to be funny. Haha. I take story and character seriously, O show writer(s) and this does not work for me at all and it finishes off a lovely romance with a cheap laugh instead of a nice awww. I am angry about this beyond all reasonableness somehow because Ahn Min Hyuk was such a lovely ridiculously perfect swoonworthy character.

Still...am I glad I watched it? Yes. Would I watch it again? Not in it's entirety but I would totally go back and watch the good Bong Bong and Min Min moments. Was it what I expected? No, not really. I went into it thinking it was going to be mostly fluffy and funny and, while it definitely had that, the dark bits were really quite fucking dark. (See that? Totally just used a full on "F" word there).

Maybe I would LURVE things more if I didn't think about the structure of them. But I'm never able to NOT do that. Sometimes I wish I could.