In this one, she plays a single woman facing her impending 40s. She hasn't dated in ten years. Too busy with work, who knows. She loves kids and wants one -- she's even the temporary editor of a magazine ALL about babies (the chief editor is on maternity leave). She's got a lot going on. For one, her boss telling her she ought to move to another magazine they control (i.e. one NOT all about kids) because, as a single woman without a kid, she'll never be promoted to chief editor where she's at. And horrible pains that she thinks have to do with her period, but she finds out that it's endometriosis and it will require surgery...and seriously impede her chances of having kids. In fact, she's on a cusp. The doctor is telling her there might be no way she can get pregnant.
I don't know a huge amount about endometriosis, other than that I know it an be incredibly painful. And that you're probably NOT gonna have a baby when you have it, especially past 35 (I had those speeches myself, even without endometriosis). So I'm not entirely sure where the show is going with that, since it's apparently supposed to be about her search for a father for a baby (whether she gets married or not -- at least, that's what I'd gathered from the trailer. But maybe that's wrong).
So...all that sounds pretty depressing, BUT the show is obviously geared towards laughs. In the first episode alone, she takes out a pervert who flashes her and accidentally (and embarrassingly) ends up in the hospital, taken there by Han Yi-Sang, while wearing a fake pregnancy outfit (that was for a photo shoot) after having kids spill water on her and a couple of ahjummas thinking she's in labor when she's doubled over from the endometriosis pain.
Anyway, there are three guys that have already been introduced--and are obviously the baby daddy contenders, since they're also on the poster. ;-)
If I had to guess now, I'd say Go Joon's Han Yi-Sang is the guy she'll wind up with in the end based purely on relative (and type of) screen time (in the first episode). Basically, he's a guy she was interested in dating 3 years before (or maybe longer, I'm not sure) but he was rude and not interested. That's kind of his shtick. He's a photographer and he's supposed to be good at his job. Character-wise, so far I'd say he's...well, he's kind of an odd duck. Not sure what I think of him yet.
Yoon Jae-Young is an old friend of hers that had cut her out of his life when his then-wife demanded he do so. But now he's divorced and a single dad (to a little 8 month old peanut) and her meddlesome mom has invited him to live downstairs in the same house that Jang Ha-Ri is living in (it's the mom's house). Unclear whether they were just good friends/childhood friends or had perhaps once had some kind of relationship. They've definitely known each other a while. Right now, Ha-Ri is mad at him for how he cut her out of his life and has just popped back in pretending nothing has changed. So far, character-wise, he's a mess. Sloppy, confused, and a bit strange. This actor is good at strange though, so I'm here for that. But, man, I hope he doesn't wear the ugly tracksuit for the whole show.
Choi Kang Eu Ddeum (not sure about the name as it's Choi Kang-eu-tteum on Wikipedia) is by far the youngest at 25 (in real life, not sure what he's supposed to be in the show but presumably somewhere around that). He currently calls her Auntie and is very sweet and considerate, but also clueless in that way that helpful young men can be. There hasn't been enough of him in the show yet to know anything beyond that.
So far, I'd say this looks good and up my alley. I actually enjoyed it a bit more than the first episode of Good Casting, but that's partly because Good Casting's plot needed a LOT more set up and a lot of it was quite dark -- I anticipate it will get more crazy silly action-y as the show goes on. Whereas this one pretty much went off the deep end towards funny/silly right away. But since there are just a few episodes out and subbed, I think my plan of alternating back and forth is a good one.
I kind of hope, in a way, that it doesn't wind up being Yi-Sang because he's the most predictable choice. But even when you look at the promo posters and things, he's always the one positioned right next to her. So he's probably it.
Edit 24 May, episode 2 (68 minutes, 893 calories): I watched the second one today instead of going back to Good Casting. Maybe because I'd had a small discussion on Twitter with someone about how they weren't into this one because of the whole baby thing not being up their alley. Which I do get. That part of the show is actually not that much of a pull for me. I was never one of those people that *had* to have a kid. And as much as I love little dude, I know I'd have been okay if I hadn't had a kiddo. I never had that NEED like the character does in the show. And, to be honest, I don't really understand it. So maybe it's just that I like seeing a show with characters that are older/around my age? I'm not sure.
Episode 2 did expand things a bit more. She (at the end) makes her decision that she's gonna have a baby, marriage or not. And we see a bit of Yi-Sang's background where his wife/fiancé dumped him. And a bit more about how Jae-Young was actually kind of asked by Ha-ri's mum to be there for her, even if they live together like brother and sister (which really does seem to be the relationship that they have so far). Still enjoying it as a whole.
Edit: Gonna have to pace myself with this one as I'm just about caught up. Have watched through episode 4 already and only 5 are out. Sigh. Enjoying that Go Joon has been bit by the love bug pretty quickly, though I imagine it might take him a bit to admit it. Based on the first episode, it really seemed like they were going to make him really resistant. And he definitely seems like the end goal. I can see that Jae-Young might love her in a non-brotherly way, but I don't think she's ever viewed him that way at all. I just can't see them connecting in that way, though I think he'll try. The baby boy...ah, he's sweet, but I just don't see it happening at all. Anyway, enjoying it though the embarrassment factor is VERY high in this one.
Edit 1 June, after episode 5 (92 minutes, 1010 calories + 25 minutes yoga [also one episode of Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories). Yeah, so liking this one. I relate to a lot of it, even though I never had that kid bug. But the stuff about how nothing happens if you don't make something happen. About that feeling, no matter how old you get, that you're never a grown up. About being unsure about what to do, unsure about the future. Second guessing. All of that is very relatable. That makes it all sound very angsty but it really isn't. I mean, it is, but it isn't.
Edit 2 June, after episode 6 (70 minutes, 906 calories) Boy, this poor woman can't catch a break. I'd find this story unbelievable if it were set in the US or the UK (given how much she's being dumped on and doxxed in the media for wanting a child without being married to the point she might lose her job), but given what I know about Korea, it's not out of the realm of possibility. But it's sad. But nice to see all the guys stepping up -- though I'm not sure of baby boy's motivation in doing so. Up to now, he's really seemed like someone who sees her as an auntie type figure. But would you go so far for an auntie? Maybe. He is a sweetheart. Though he's obviously meant for the one reporter.
They've teased that Yi-Sang's wife/fiancé/girlfriend (? not sure what she was, other than that they were together a long time) might have left him because they were unable to have kids (his problem or hers, not sure). And at the end of episode 6, he's at a doctor asking if it's possible for him to have a baby (so probably on his side?). Which is sweet on one hand, but also kinda weird as he literally resisted even kissing her (though he wanted to) in the last episode and hasn't made any moves at all towards actually progressing their relationship to her...though, boy, he's smitten. But now he's ready to father her children? I fear that they're setting this up as a Noble Idiocy kind of thing where he loves her but backs off because he doesn't think he can give her what she wants. Though, when asked (in a weirdly personal conversation) whether a kid or a partner would be her choice, she picked partner. Still think he's the end result; all things point to that. And I do love a dude that is smitten.
Also liking the little glimpses into the life of the Editor in Chief mom dragon lady. Bits of truth there.
Edit 7 June, after episode 7 (76 minutes, 1003 calories + 20 minutes yoga): Yeah, definitely looking like the Noble Idiocy route. Yi Sang has declared (however reluctantly) that he just "wants to be alone" and that's all he wants out of life. Meanwhile, Chief Editor has quit because her newest baby is having febrile seizures and she wants to be home. Hari is feeling somewhat better as she wrote a confessional piece for the magazine & it'll be a reoccurring series to explain her side of things to the readership. Mysteriously, she's no longer having her endometriosis pains (did the writer just forget that? Seems weird.). And Tteum overheard her saying something and I suspect he thinks she wants to marry him or something and, at the end of the episode, while he's very, very drunk, he kisses her. And of course Yi Sang sees it...I kinda figured that was gonna happen. Oh, and Jae-Young keeps bringing up "well, why don't you just marry me" but Hari doesn't even give it half a thought. To be fair, he never says anything like "I love you; I've always loved you," etc. even though we see in a scene with his ex-wife that he had wanted to be with Hari once upon a time. If he was framing it differently, he might even have a chance. But I don't think that's where the show/characters are going on. Poor Childhood Friend.
Edit 8 June, after episode 8 (88 minutes, 956 calories) Some slow progress now with Yi-Sang, though I don't know that they really showed him transitioning from "no, I can't" to "okay, I can't help myself" but what the hey, I'll take a kiss while watching the fireworks any time.
Edit 12 June, after episode 9 (72 minutes, 929 calories) Jae-Young, ah, sweetie, too little, too late. Though I am a bit sad because all the signs are pointing to the next couple of episodes being that angsty middle bit as Yi-Sang and Hari are bound to have a very short dating honeymoon period before his probable chance of not being able to father a kiddo comes up. Also, poor baby boy Eutteum, but he'll get over it. Unlike Jae-Young who only has his bitchy ex wife (and I have to admit here that the actress who plays her is one I've only seen in bitchy parts, so that probably colours my perception of her...I don't even like her face), at least he has the other editor girl.
Edit 25 June, after episode 11: (78 minutes, 1014 calories). I didn't want to catch up again, so I took my time watching another episode...also because I knew it would be hitting the angsty part where Yi Sang has finally told Hari about his infertility issue. Honestly, I knew this is where the show would lose me a little bit because I've never been the woman that *had* to have a baby. So it was hard to watch her stewing and simmering and waffling after his honesty when she herself had said that she'd choose her love over a baby episodes ago. At least, somewhat happily, at the end of the episode she has run to him to grab him in the classic back hug and declare that she can't give him up. Though we know that won't be the end of the drama or the Drama.
Edit 29 June, after episode 12: (84 minutes, 932 calories -- including an episode of High End Crush) I feel like I ought to feel bad for Jae-Young but I'm not. He's trying, but not in the right way or with the right words (or, really, any words that make sense--why would you tell someone in a relationship with someone else, hey, come and look at houses with me when you've never even told them how you feel? Of course she didn't show up. Why would she?) and he knows it is too late.
I do like the bits with the other ladies, wherein it kind of even passes the Bechdel test -- the friend that's married with twins and struggling because she can't find a job and she's going crazy, even though she loves her kids and her husband is a nice guy; the other friend who is married and happy, but they are childless by choice and getting grief for it. I've been in both those places. So they feel really real. Other than that, really liking Ko Joon as Yisang. He's got such a good smile, though I understand he's mostly played tough guy parts? I can see that in him, but he also seems like such a mush. I'm enjoying him.
Edit 6 July (watched it yesterday): Okay, so I'm through episode 13 and I think I know why I've been going through the latest episodes so slowly. The more I watch, the less I like the women in the show, including the main character. Well, mostly Hari and her mom. I was really rooting for both of them in the beginning but now...eh...sigh. Especially as I am getting premonitions of a needless break up. I can't fault Yi Sang though. Even Jae-Young is finally doing the right thing, however grudgingly.
Edit 9 July, after episode 14 (68 minutes, 749 calories): I am really dragging with this now. It wasn't so much this episode, though it had it's downs, but that the previews indicate a huge Noble Idiocy / Forced Separation alert in the next episode. And...just...UGH. At least there's only two more episodes. Two tropes that I really, really don't like because they are almost always unnecessary. Seriously. Out of all the dramas I've watched where this happens -- and it's A LOT because it's apparently a very popular "twist" -- it's only made sense in a few of them. And even in those, it could often have been done in a different way. So, bleh.
Maybe it makes me so mad because it feels so lazy when so SO many shows do this? I don't know. But it's really, really annoying.
Edit 12 July, finished it. Eh. Didn't love the last couple of episodes. I mean, it ended okay, but they basically did the typical. And it wasn't a very satisfying ending, somehow. It was a bit like they went through the motions, but...I dunno. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what didn't do it for me. Maybe that there weren't any big romantic moments? They didn't really wrap up a bunch of threads? Maybe because I really connected with it in the beginning but then it was losing me by the end? I dunno.
So...am I glad I watched it? Sure. Would I watch it again? I don't think so. But I would watch Ko Joon in something else, definitely.
No comments:
Post a Comment