I'm on episode five now. In the proverbial nutshell, it's the story of a young 30's lawyer who used to be known as the Venus of her neighbourhood but who is now overweight, frumpy, harried and unhappy in her job. Kang Joo-Eun started out as an idealistic lawyer but her boss is trying to beat that out of her so they can just take on lucrative cases from people with questionable morals.
Her longtime boyfriend (Im Woo-Sik) of 15 years dumps her on their anniversary (wherein she was expecting a long overdue proposal) It says in the description that her weight plays a factor but from the actual subtext on the show and the dialogue, that was only part of the problem...it didn't seem like they'd been getting along for quite a while. He's also probably part of the reason she gained so much weight as many of the flashbacks to their high school days show him feeding her (extra ice creams, etc.). But I'd say her work habits are also a big contributing factor (as well as her hypothyroidism...but you don't learn of that until around episode 4).
Through a serious of random embarrassing incidents, she falls into training with one John Kim, trainer to the stars (kinda) who's real name is Kim Young-ho (the stoic type), and his two acquaintances/underlings?, Kim Ji-Woong (the obvious puppy-type of the show who speaks English half the time), and Jang Joon-Sung (the more serious but nice MMA fighter).
Cue comedy workouts and more embarrassing incidents for Joo-Eun, who proves herself to be very determined in the face of these challenges.
I was NOT expecting from anything I'd heard/read about the show or the show description that Young-ho was going to turn out to be a chaebol with crazy family issues (including a dead mother, a tough old matriarch, a crappy uptight dad, a depressed step-mom, and a younger half-brother who's probably jealous + a company job as exec director that no one--including himself--wants him to have except his grandmother). Crappola. It's a Chaebol Trifecta except with more than three. Exactly one of the things I really wasn't looking for in a next show (after Secret Garden, wherein I had hit my limit for chaebol bitchiness in Evil Mom). But I liked the leads enough to keep going and I find their chemistry together interesting. I'm also not generally a huge fan of "I'm ugly so long as I'm fat" stories or "I love you now that you're thin" BUT Joo-Eun's determined attitude is enough to take care of that. So far. And, at least, even though she's supposed to have lost about 15 kg so far (about 33 lbs...dammit, I still can't think in kilos even though I've been away from the US for so long) and they've finally dropped the "fat face" (good job there, makeup people...though the fat body suit is really oddly lumpy), Young-ho still pretty much treats her the same. He's more about the health than the beauty, which is kinda nice and at least it fits with his backstory (mom's death, his health problems).
Anyway, add in a former friend from high school who used to be fat and miserable but is now slim and bitchy (and still miserable), mix in a grudge from said "friend" that really isn't legit and has more to do with how she sees herself than of anything Ju-eun did...and you've got a boyfriend/fiancé stealer in Oh Soo-Jin...who also happens to be Ju-eun's new superior at work. OMG hate her.
So. Yeah. The storyline is nothing to be proud of. It kind of screams I'm Gonna Play to Every Cliché there is, Yeah, Yeah Yeah.
I think I'll finish it but my guess is that it'll be because I'm enjoying the actors (except for the girl who plays Soo-Jin as she's playing it as that cloyingly sweet kind of backstabbing mean girl that really, really annoys me...though I suppose that's the point) and not because of the story/plot. We'll see. More later.
Edit: (through episode 7) There was even a stalker. A STALKER. He was the excuse for her to move in to Young-ho's place and for roommate/cohabitation hijinks to ensue. So, yeah. This show is definitely hitting the highlights of nearly every cliché you can think of. And there's just been the reveal to Ju-Eun (or Joo-Eun, I dunno which) that Young-ho is the biggity-big chaebol heir to the executive director position at a huge company, which comes right on the heels of their first kiss. The teaser for the next episode indicates there will be angst over that, with her feeling that he lied to her. If anything, it would be a lie of omission, I suppose, as he had told her that he was born with a silver spoon and, if she was paying any attention AT ALL, it's quite clear that he's rich as Midas. I mean, really. It's not like she should be totally shocked by this revelation.
And there's going to be a power struggle that coincidentally her ex-boyfriend is in on (he works for that huge company and he and his boss and some other guy are teaming up to try to take power). I'm not looking forward to all that mess, to be honest. All the chaebol-ish machinations are just...eh...annoying. So...I dunno. I'm nearly at the halfway point of the show. The romance part is okay and has progressed fairly reasonably and realistically (well, okay, if you suspend disbelief quite a bit because the situations have all been pretty contrived).
Do like the chemistry between the leads. Like how he took the first step. Like her realistic waffling and confusion but also her attraction to him. Kinda feel like they should have let that develop a bit more before dropping the first (of probably many) bombshell as their bond doesn't seem like it would really be strong enough at this point. But, eh, whatever. It's gonna get worse before it gets better. Just leery that too much of the next 9 episodes is gonna be all the chaebol politics crap. As grandma also seems like she wants to marry him off to some rich princess-type, there's bound to be angst there too. Sigh.
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| The dudes. All dressed up. |
Oh, and the humour is good. Even the budding romance between fighter dude (played by Sung Hoon) and some ditzy actress, which is obviously there for comedic relief. Oh, and I especially like the bromance between the three dudes. They're charming together. Henry, the English speaking one, is floofy adorable and ridiculous. He keeps calling her ma'am.
So I'll keep going. Writing that here now so I can remind myself in another 4 or 5 episodes when I'm pretty sure I'll be really annoyed by the predictable nature of the chaebol plot/ridiculous scandal that shouldn't be a scandal, etc. etc.
Edit: Finished it. Overall, I enjoyed it but it definitely had it's share of shortcomings and all out failures. There were too many flashbacks. Too much time spent on the angsty romance between Soo-Jin and Im U-sik when it was basically rehashing the same thing every time. Was happy that they didn't make Grandma the big bad (she basically caved before she was ever actually a threat to their relationship) but that also meant that there was a lot of buildup that, well, really just fizzled. All of the scandal/chaebol will he/won't he be able to take over the company stuff too -- it was all resolved like poof! magic. I mean, on the one hand, I appreciate that because that was a part of the show I really didn't care for, but on the other, it is a let down as, really, if you get right down to it from a storytelling perspective, it's very weak.
Perhaps the most egregious thing was that they shoehorned another frickin' unnecessary one year separation (why is it always a year, Kdrama writers? Why?) where Young-ho goes off on his own to recover from a serious car wreck (as if this character hasn't spent enough time in hospitals) and doesn't even read the 100+ texts and videos from Ju-eun, even though he obsessively checks his phone and knows they are there. It would have been better (and shown character growth/change) from him to have accepted her love/help. She should have been there with him to support him through his trials. He was there for her, she should have been there for him. It makes for an unbalanced relationship that they did it this way AND she doesn't even call him out on it when he just pops back into her life with no warning. I mean, girl, you cried every day for a year while he was gone and you're just gonna welcome him back with open arms? They'd only been "together" for a brief amount of time and then no contact for a year. I Do. Not. Get. This. Trope. in Kdramas.
But, the chemistry between the leads was great. In my head canon, I'm just going to ignore that episode 16 was ever aired -- in a lot of ways, 15 (or even 14) was a better ending. 16 was full of filler and flashbacks and then some nonsense...and then to make her gain back all the weight at the end because she was 3 months pregnant with twins...yech. Even Young-ho was like, I love you, but they only weigh like 100 grams each right now, let's go work out. I found that a really annoying note to end on. She should know better. It's NOT healthy to lose OR gain weight that quickly (he was only away for a month! And even with twins you're barely showing in the first trimester so she'd had to have basically eaten like a sumo wrestler and slothed it up on the couch the entire time he was gone for her to gain that much weight that quickly) so that bit of the ending really felt to me like it was undermining the whole premise of the show. I kinda hate it when they choose to play something for laughs (I am totally looking at you, Secret Garden) instead of staying true to the characters. And I was SO annoyed because I knew they were going to do it as soon as they only showed her from the back when she went to pick him up for the airport. I was crossing my fingers that wasn't what they were gonna do...but they did it. Just. UGH.
And then...they actually stuck like a 30 second flashback epilogue showing a young chaebol Young-ho in his wheelchair hanging out in the street all by himself (why?) and a young Ju-eun comes by and plops an ever-loving effing BANDAID on this kid with cancer and tells him it'll all be better now and won't hurt anymore, I promise. Yeah. They just had to go and tack on a stupid childhood meeting. At least it was only about 30 seconds worth. FFS. O fate.
So, am I glad I watched it? Yes, in a qualified manner. I particular enjoyed the two leads and the two dudes. Would I watch it again? Erm, not the whole thing, but I wouldn't turn off a clip of some of the good moments. Definitely would like to see So Ji-sub in something again. He seems to be the slow burn type and I liked his quiet moments in this. Also Shin Min Ah, so long as it's not in another lumpy fat suit. She was best when she was snarky and confident or flirty.
I do think the show failed in a number of ways to deliver on what it could have been, but at least it did it better than some other shows have done. I wasn't as mad at this one as I was at Secret Garden. My disappointment is mostly in what could have been. Really. It could have been SO much better.
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