Run On

Ok, I was bad. I know, I know, I said I'd try and stick to Chinese shows for a while...but I wasn't loving any of them. So, I started Run On. 

Ah, and darn it, I'm liking it so much. I know exactly why too. The male lead, Ki Seon-Gyeom (played by Im Si-Wan) is delightfully off-kilter. He doesn't say the things people expect him to say. He doesn't do the things people expect either. The social contract that we all operate under -- he doesn't really have a huge amount of use for it. And I love people like that. He also plays Seon-Gyeom with a very deadpan, blinking style, another thing I am a sucker for. I haven't seen him in anything before, but I'll have to look for him again.

And it's not just him. The female lead, Oh Mi-Joo (played by Shin Se-Kyung) is a little off herself. She's snarky and she talks to herself. She's plucky but also a bit of a mess. I like her. I also haven't seen her in anything, though she's in some shows that are on my list to watch. 

Anyway, as for the story...he's a national athlete (sprinter) who's dad is an Assemblyman (and, even though I've barely glimpsed him in the first two episodes, is apparently going to be a jerk...seriously, is every politician in every show always an asshole?) and his mother is a famous movie actress. He's kinda steeped in wealth and privilege, but it hasn't made him a snot. He's dealing with a situation with his running where two members of the team are ganging up on a junior member...and, when I say "ganging up" I mean assaulting him so badly he winds up in hospital. Seriously. These guys should be arrested for attempted murder. But, so far, it seems like Coach doesn't want to do anything about it because one of them is a star runner. From what I know of the show, I imagine this is the incident that prompts our hero's exit from the sport. 

Oh Mi-Joo is a translator (mostly movies) and dealing with some jerkiness from an old professor and an old boyfriend both. She winds up being hired as translator to our runner boy, though they'd already had a few fateful meetings already.  Strange ones. Which I love.

Throw in the secondary couple -- the young & beautiful head of the agency Seo Dan-A, played by Sooyoung (who runner boy has some history with of some kind?) and an aspiring artist. She's a bit of a psycho. He seems like a total sweetheart...which feels really bizarre because the character is played by Kang Tae-Oh who was the Oh-so-Evil-Yul-Moo in The Tale of Nokdu. 

I'm not sure about her yet, though she's a bit "off" herself...it might be that she's a total dick to her brother and I haven't seen any reason why yet. He's played by Choi Jae-Hyun, who was the younger gay brother in Sweet Munchies. And I already feel bad for him because of that.

I'm just two episodes in, but so far it's charming. I honestly don't even really care too much about the plot (though I already suspect I'm going to be annoyed at Assemblyman dad). I just want to see them all being slightly odd and falling in love.

Edit: Okay, so I'm up through episode 6 of 16. I'm still liking it -- at least, all of the NON Assemblyman Dad stuff. Gah, I really don't enjoy the evil self-absorbed power hungry parent trope. But the 4 leads are all quirky and odd and I really do like that. Not entirely sure about the pace as I don't actually feel like much has happened yet so even though I'm enjoying it overall, I'm also starting to feel a bit antsy about it. And, honestly, the end of episode hint that Asshole Dad is going to try and make Dan-A and Seon-Gyeom seems absolutely absurd. Seon-Gyeom has already proven repeatedly that he's past the point of doing what his dad wants and Seo Dan-A is not even remotely a pushover. So it kinda feels like...why bother? I can't think of anything that he could threaten either of them with to make them bow to his will. 

Edit: Actually finished this one some time ago and didn't get around to writing it up. Overall, it was good. The last episode was the weakest -- the main couple had an "okay" resolution (a few scenes showing them growing closer) but the whole thing with the dad was...solved by the mom divorcing him? And then all his political machinations just...fell apart? And he retired? And was giving mom flowers again? I mean, WTF. He spent the whole show trying to meddle and even started a (fake) reporting scandal about his own daughter sleeping with a married opponent...just...eh. 

Though that was somewhat better than how they wound up the second lead couple. They had, oh, about 3 heart wrenching "we have to split up because reasons" scenes and then...in the last episode, nothing's ever said or solved but there they all are having dinner together like nothing has happened. So, what was the point? And nothing really happened with her half-brothers?

So...on the plus side, I really liked the characters and the actors. And the plot was mostly okay, a bit bildungsroman at an older age, but, eh, okay. It just kinda fizzled with the story at the end. I wonder if there was a reason for that? Dunno. Would I watch it again someday? Probably not. Looking back, I don't feel like there were any moments I was like "AH!! Love this!" but I'm glad I watched it once.