This is one of the ones where I think you've got to ignore the blurb entirely because I've watched a couple of episodes now (they're 1/2 hour each and I'm about to start episode 5) and it's definitely not matching up with the blurb. At all. So I won't even give that synopsis. (Edit: after finishing it...it might be the worst blurb ever, actually. Literally about the only thing correct in it was the character names and the fact that they are lawyers/prosecutors. I mean, really. So ridiculous. Who writes that crap?)
So...
Eun Bong Hee (played by Nam Ji Hyun, who was also the female lead in Shopping King Louis) isn't terribly smart, but she works really hard training to be a lawyer. In the beginning, she has an accidental run-in with Noh Ji Wook (played by Ji Chang Wook) and thinks he's the pervert feeling her up in the train (though it's that one actor Jang Won-Young that skeeves me out and annoys me all at the same time...at least it looks as though his part in this will be small--is he always typecast as this kind of sleazy guy? Ugh.). She runs into him again soon after at a really bad time when she discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her. So, ridiculous circumstances wherein he's doing his best to help her despite not really wanting to because he'd been hurt like that before himself.
Three months later...and she's assigned to be his assistant. He's a prosecutor. Then things take a rapid turn into whoa! and the ex-boyfriend is killed in her apartment and she's charged with murder. She'd been acting the crazypants ex to him and cursing him, though she's NOT the one that killed him. He's tasked with prosecuting her, even though he doesn't really want to (and, realistically, I doubt if it would happen in real life--she'd been working with him for 2 months. would they really have assigned the case to him? I doubt it) and after he discovers evidence that indicates she couldn't have committed the crime (and that someone was trying to frame her), he tanks his own career to save her from going to prison.
Whew! And that's just the first four episodes. My guess, based on hints so far, is that the rest of it is going to be about a) him forging a new life as a defender, even though he'd always wanted to follow in his dad's crime-fighting prosecutor footsteps, b) probably some ridiculous "we're fated" storyline wherein they met as kids (he saw a picture of her as a child and had one of those oh, she looks familiar things going on AND has memories of a fake monk telling him when he was a boy that he'd meet a woman who would turn his life upside down, and c) the search for the real murderer and d) him finally accepting his fate and falling in love with her.
At least it doesn't seem to have any real chaebol drama. So far.
I'm liking Ji Chang-Wook and I already liked Ji-hyun from before. There's hints of some good chemistry between them. The dead ex was in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim where he was the uptight guy that turned out okay in the end. Interesting to see him be more of a smarmy ass.
The first two episodes I really enjoyed. The next two...mostly. I'm not sure about the heart of this one yet. Will have to see. I couldn't even tell you what the thing is that I'm feeling isn't quite there as yet. So...will update this after I'm some more episodes in.
Edit: (somewhere in the middle of episode 9) Okay, I'm mostly liking it. There's been a time jump/separation thing and it's two years later (though she's been pining for him and kind of stalking/staring at him from afar while he's been sleepwalking through a life he didn't want). Two years seems rather long in this situation, as the killer has kind of popped back up again. I'm not gonna rehash the whole story though. Just wanted to talk about a moment in episode 7 after they've been thrown back together again.
Wook is thinking back to his life over the last two years before Eun Bong Hee dropped back into it:
The borders between yesterday and today, the blurred borders of today and tomorrow. Yesterday felt like today and the day-to-day where today becomes tomorrow...Basically, he was existing. And she's brought chaos and uncertainty back to him but I like that he's kind of embracing it and reflecting on it and it means something to him that she's there. He's out of his comfort zone but he can see that his comfort zone wasn't a good place.
I'm a little concerned that it's going to be another show where the bad guy/killer is way too far ahead of the good guys. He's already shown himself to the viewer and we know he actually works as a forensic analyst (or impersonating one?) and has had the temerity to basically show up and collect any evidence that he might have left and string Eun Bong Hee along. Also already over the dad of dead ex boyfriend. He thinks she did it and is out to ruin them both and doesn't even consider the fact that there's evidence she didn't do it. I mean, I get it. But you'd think he'd at least look at the evidence seeing as how he's a prosecutor.
Edit: (end of episode 17) Well, there've been some good (bad guy?) plot surprises that I didn't expect. There's actually two people involved in the murders and they aren't random (other than the people like Eun Bong Hee/dead ex boyfriend that they've gone after because they think they've witnessed something), but instead some kind of revenge plot (guessing the one guy's sister/girlfriend killed herself or something after being raped by the famous chef dude that was the last victim). The first guy that they outed as part of it is actually the lesser of the evils. So yay for unexpectedness.
Also some traction on the relationship side as No Ji Wook has finally sorted out his feelings -- they've been there for ages, but he was scared. That previous relationship damaged him. But now that he's stepped up to the plate, Eun Bong Hee is feeling burned and scarred herself. So it'll be a while before they're both in the same place. But you can see it headed that way, so that's okay. Still really liking Ji Chang Wook. Have to watch him in Healer too. That's been on my list for a while.
This one does have a good ensemble cast and they work well together. So yay for that as well. Pacing is doing okay now and hasn't flagged overly much throughout this middle part so far. At 40 episodes of about a half hour each (so 20 normal sized hour long episodes), I'm thinking it might be a little long overall but we'll see how it ends up. Have to keep an open mind though. When we already know who the killers are by now and that Wook at least suspects their involvement, I'm wondering how they are going to fill so many more episodes as I'm not even half way there yet.
Edit: (about to start episode 21) Hmm, another surprise or two but also the start/hint of the dreaded childhood connection plot twist. I'm really starting to hate that. Ji Wook's parents died in a fire when he was young and he has bad dreams that somehow involve Bong Hee's dad -- her dad is also dead and apparently "wronged" in some way. And looks like they (his parents and her dad) died on the same day as they visited the memorials on the same day? So, I imagine that it'll come out that there's a connection there. And hints of some kind of connection where they had run into each other before as kids. Why do Kdramas have to do that? Why not just have the story be the story rather than having to tie things in with the past?
And there's been this sudden weird psychic guy that shows up and can predict things. Why in the world did they have to shoehorn some mystical thing into this show? I guess you could count the weird monk as another mystical moment, but that seemed to be played for the joke whereas this is being played as a serious thing. Well, more serious, anyway.
Well. At least they are finally starting to discover some things related to the past murder(s). It's about time.
I'm also really liking Chief Bang (Jang Hyuk Jin--who is actually older than me, yay! man, these shows make me feel so freakin' old) as the office manager/inspector guy and Choi Tae Joon as Ji Wook's (former) best friend/still best friend who had betrayed him by sleeping with his girlfriend. Except for the weirdly uncomfortable laugh that he does. Does he always do that? Or is it just in this drama?
Edit: (mid episode 24) Okay, I like the characters. I enjoy watching them, even if they did extend Bong Hee's waffling for a bit too long with some Noble Martyr stuff. BUT the feeling I had earlier? This drama is too long. Now there's yet another new side story come up with a friend of Bong Hee's that was attacked. There's been too many things that don't really have any direct connection to the main story line and they aren't really quite interesting enough to hold a viewer's attention on their own (like the whole side story with the sort-of psychic guy who predicted that two people in the room would die...and then himself died in a car accident, leaving one more to go...which I suppose is to heighten the tension as you wonder who it will be -- though we know it isn't Ji Wook...I have the horrible feeling it will be Inspector Bang, which is gonna piss me off...actually, all of the side characters have their own charm, so it'll be bad no matter who it is). The story didn't really need the added created tension of thinking omo! who's going to die? when we already know about the evil murderer dude and already knew that they were all in danger. And adding a mystical angle at this point seems really weird and unnecessary. This friend side story is even less relevant so far (unless they somehow tie it back in, though I don't see how unless there's some connection to evil dude's protector complex).
So...yeah...16 episodes left to go. I feel like they're packing it with unnecessary things that don't really drive the plot. Plus that last hurdle for them being together is probably going to be all the past stuff they've been teasing, which I am NOT looking forward to at all. Just Keep It Simple, Stupid. The main plot with the being accused of murder / evil bad guy being a step ahead / love story etc. is compelling enough. All the other stuff is really just extra baggage.
Edit: (about to start episode 26) Eh, I hate being right. Though maybe I'm not. I can hope. There have at least been a few surprises in this one. But Chief Bang has been attacked (knifed) by Evil Dude, though at least he gave a bit before he got taken out. But he's not quite dead yet though it's not merely a flesh wound. He's in the hospital. Are they going to start getting ahead of the Evil Dude? I dunno. I hope so. Though I'm still thinking there's a lot of episodes to go. 14. So 7 more hours? That's a lot of time to fill.
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| haha, loved this, as Chief Bang and Eun Hyuk pretend to be shocked. |
Edit: (finished it). Okay, I'm reasonably happy with how it all ended. And thankfully, they didn't try to pull any stunts like at the end of Secret Garden or Oh My Venus or Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, etc. where they went for the joke instead of keeping it real to the characters. Glad they worked a proposal scene in there at the end, so the viewers got some closure on the relationship...especially since most of the last episode was all about insignificant spats about daily living stuff -- which, okay, I can understand...if the whole first part of your relationship is full of killers and stabbings and serious angst, once they got to "normal" life things would be different and almost weird...but, at the same time, not entirely sure I needed to see that from a pure satisfaction point as a character wrap up? So, glad they did include the proposal at least because it's nice to end on a high note.
I still kinda feel like it was too many episodes as there were parts that felt like they dragged on for too long and stuff like the bit with the kid (who disappeared at the end and was never even mentioned again really -- almost like they just stuck him in for the cuteness after his character arc wasn't useful any longer) or the attack on Bong Hee's friend that weren't really necessary. I mean, I get how it tied in (especially the arson thing in the case of the kid and the parallels with young Wook) BUT...
And there was too much of the Noble Martyr thing where it almost became disingenuous. But, overall this was a really good drama with great actors. I liked them all -- even the bad guy (played by Dong Ha). He did good with his part. Hmm, though it feels wrong to say I "liked" him...let's just say he did a good job with the role. He was Evil Dude but he was also somewhat sympathetic and that's hard to pull off when you're a completely non-remorseful serial killer, no? And they even managed to make you not hate the Other Woman who had cheated with Bong Hee's boyfriend and she was a right twat at the beginning.
So, am I glad I watched this one? Yes. Would I watch it again? Well, there would be bits I'd skip but I wouldn't say absolutely no as there were some really lovely parts. Definitely a fan of Ji Chang Wook now. He's just lovely and I'm curious to see him in some of his other more action-y roles. Him and his little lip bite-y thing. Will he still be able to get away with that when he's 40? Probably not. But he's pretty adorable now and not just in the physical sense -- his acting is good too and I found him believable.
Still like Nam Ji Hyun too, more so in this than in Shopping King Louis, actually, though it's more of a character commentary than anything to do with her acting. Bok Sil's character arc fell flat in the last episodes of Shopping King Louis and they didn't give her much to work with. Bong Hee is a stronger character overall, even with all the waffle-y Noble Idiot stuff. And, to be honest, I might be more forgiving of that as a character flaw if it just didn't keep popping up in nearly every freaking Kdrama. They really like to flog that to death. Is it a cultural thing? Maybe. I dunno. Could be. So, if I hadn't seen it so many times already, maybe it wouldn't have bugged me so much here. Eh, but maybe it would have since it KEPT HAPPENING. She'd get over it, and then fall into it again. So, yeah.
But, yes. I enjoyed this one. And there were even a few plot surprises, which I am thankful for. Sometimes it really sucks to never be surprised when watching a show. So that alone bumps this drama up in my heart. I'd put it at 95%? It'd be in my top 5 right now, I think.
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