Start Up

I had absolutely no plans to start a new drama today. I was going to watch another episode of Run On (which I'm enjoying) out in the shed while I exercised. But, for unknown reasons, the next episode had not automatically downloaded like it usually does and I wasn't able to connect to the Internet from out there (sometimes I can, sometimes I can't; today I couldn't). Given what was already downloaded on the iPad, the lesser of all evils seemed to be to start a new drama. So here I am.

I'd actually wanted to watch Start Up for a while because it has Nam Joo-Hyuk in it (he plays Nam Do-San). Even though he has a sketchy reputation (in shows that I haven't seen), I really adored him in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Ju. He was absolutely brilliant in that. 

So I was kinda surprised as I was watching and watching and...nary a sight of him and I'd almost reached the end of the show. Had I mixed up titles again and this wasn't the one he was in? But then, yes, he shows up at the very end of the episode one! But now I'm confused as all of the promo stuff for the show I'd seen looked like Nam Joo-Hyuk was the male lead and his romantic counterpart was the female lead Bae Suzy (playing Seo Dal-Mi), the actress to his left in the picture. But...I just spent an entire first episode where it sure looks like they're setting up a romance between Dal-Mi and Han Ji-Pyeong (the actor on the far left, played by Kim Sun-Ho). 

The final main actress is Kang Han-Na, who plays Won In-Jae (formerly Seo), the sister of Seo Dal-Mi. And, at the moment, I totally DO NOT WANT her to have a happy ending because so far she's your basic bitch so I really, really hope that they either actually redeem her OR she does not get one of the boys. BTW, actress Lee Re plays Won In-Jae in the flashbacks to their teen years, and I just finished watching her in Hello, Me!

Anyway, let's set up the story, which is so far not at all what I expected as it looks like it's gonna be some kind of slightly twisted Cyrano story. 

I'm not gonna go back and explain it via the timeline in the story, because it goes back and forth in flashbacks vs. modern day. Instead, I'm going to start where it begins, in the past.

There are two sisters: Dal-Mi and In-Jae. Pretty sure In-Jae is older, though they are around the same age. The father wants to start his own business and has dreams but the mother doesn't want him to be brave, as all she wants is for him to suck it up and provide for the family even though he's literally getting beaten up at work. I mean, I get where the woman is coming from. BUT she's too rigid and unthinking (said, I suppose, as a wife that has moved country and home many times while following a husband). I suppose I also don't have a lot of sympathy for her because, after they inevitably divorce, she apparently never talks to Dal-Mi (who stays with her dad) again, not even to tell her daughter that she's getting remarried (which Dal-Mi hears from In-Jae...literally the day the other family is upping sticks to move to the US). We also see In-Jae growing increasingly distant over visits with Dal-Mi--she starts out as kinda sympathetic but then turns into a rich, whiny brat who hurts her sister without care. 

I get that they're setting up Dal-Mi as the main heroine, but right now, I really, really don't see any reason whatsoever to root for In-Jae and she appears from the promo posters to be the second female lead. She started turning into a snot when a teen and seems to have continued on with that as an adult and is just a hurtful, entitled beeyotch. I'm sure she's had her own issues but they've really set her up as a hard character to ever root for so far. Even with trauma or whatever....I feel like I'll always compare her to Dal-Mi and she'll come up short. But, we'll see, I guess. Dal-Mi isn't perfect. But you don't want to smack her.

Anyway, In-Jae moves away. Soon after, their dad is finally getting an investor for his start up. BUT he was in such a hurry to get to a meeting that he gets hit by a car. Oh no! Really, Kdrama? But then he gets up! And has the meeting! And gets the investor! But you know it's gonna be bad because a) you already know future Dal-Mi isn't doing well and b) he keeps having nose bleeds...and, yes, on the way home with fried chicken for Dal-Mi, he DIES ON A BUS as the fellow passengers leave him alone as they think he's drunk because he was slurring his speech and dropping things. Because, I imagine, he had a bad concussion or a stroke related to the accident, I dunno. But anyway, dear old dad is dead. 

Which leaves Dal-Mi to grow up with Grandma, his mom.

AND there's an entirely separate thing going on with Grandma that gives us our weird twist on a Cyrano story. Around this same time, she takes in a newly released orphan, Ji-Pyeong. Shoved out by the state as he ages out of the system with not enough money to live on and too young to even open up a bank account in his own name, he's angry and lost. She gives him a place to sleep in her corn dog shack. He's torn between wanting to stand on his own and taking her charity. Long story short, she has him write letters to Dal-Mi to cheer up her granddaughter and he does this under the name Nam Do-San because he'd seen that name in the newspaper from when Nam won a maths competition. He carries on this communication for A YEAR, never revealing his real name or actually meeting Dal-Mi in person. 

This story comes to a somewhat end when he witnesses Grandma taking a large chunk of money and giving it to her son (Dal-Mi's dad). He'd been using her bank account for his investing and had turned her 8 million won into 80 million won. He thinks she's taken ALL the money and gets upset and wants to leave for Seoul. Happily, before he goes, it does turn out that even though she'd taken all the money out of the account, what she gave to Dal-Mi's dad was only her own 8 and she gives him the rest of the money after he says some harsh things (he's hurting, thinking she betrayed him and he's a desperate orphan trying to convince himself he only cozied up to her because he needed to, when what he really wanted was family). They do have a sweet moment of reconciliation before he gets on a bus to Seoul. 

Coincidentally, this is the day that Dal-Mi's dad dies. So Dal-Mi has lost not only her father, but her pen pal, even though she didn't know it was Ji-Pyeong. 

Ok. Confused? Flash forward to modern times. Dal-Mi is struggling. She's still living with Grandma and working two jobs, including at Grandma's corn dog stand. She meets In-Jae and confronts her at Sand Box, some kind of start up convention-y thing where her rich sister is being featured. When Dal-Mi says her name, Ji-Pyeong (also on stage) starts -- he's obviously now a successful dude and he immediately realises she's his former pen pal. 

At the end, we see Ji-Pyeong reconnect with Grandma (but doesn't meet Dal-Mi). And Dal-Mi has declared she'll attend sister's start up incubator presentation meeting thing along with Do-San (WHO SHE HAS NEVER MET) because she just reached for a name when her sister was being mean to her. And now she wants to find Do-San...who we get a brief glimpse of at the very very end as a developer working on his own start up along with two other guys.

So, interesting. Where is this gonna go? Who is Dal-Mi destined for -- Ji-Pyeong who once was her pen pal? Or Do-San, who she *thought* was her pen pal and who it looks like Ji-Pyeong and Grandma are going to try and convince her actually *was* her mystery friend? 

I just...don't want either one to wind up with evil sister.

Edit: Okay, so I'm over half way now with this one--finished episode 10 out of 16. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, but Dal-mi has FINALLY learned the truth. And, at this point, both the dudes like her. And she was liking Do-san, but partly because she thought he was the Do-san of her youth. So much of what she thought she knew about him is completely wrong. But now she's (rightfully) confused.

I feel like I'm supposed to root for Do-san. And, truth be told, he's at a more similar life stage/state to Dal-mi. But I'm kinda liking Ji-Pyeong a bit. Though...girl kinda needs to just have confidence in herself. But...based on all the posters/art, etc, I'm guessing she winds up with Do-san. We'll see.

Older sister has not really redeemed herself in any way at all but at least neither of the guys seem to like her. I...just really don't like her. She even stole Dal-mi's memory/story of the sand under the swing and claimed it as her own so as to get a leg up in Sandbox. Cheater. I get that she has her own confidence issues but she just goes about everything in the least nice way possible.

There has, however, been a bit of a reconciliation with ex-wife and grandma, which was kind of nice. But weird.

There's also a kind of out of left field sub-plot where they'd been teasing that the younger brother of someone who had been in Sandbox before and committed suicide is there seeking revenge...and it turns out it's one of Do-san's friends/co-workers. That was unexpected but also kinda WTF? They finished the episode with him attacking Ji-pyeong in the lift. Did they just feel like they needed to add a little oomph to the story? It really doesn't tie in with anything else, at least so far. And it's kinda weird that it's the friend (and also the friend that has seemed more level-headed and sweet than the other goofy one).

Anyway, I am enjoying it. And since the episodes are a bit long, they give me about 80 minutes on the elliptical.

Edit: Okay, just one episode left. Though, bleh, it's definitely a big case of Second Lead Syndrome in this one similar to She Was Pretty and True Beauty. My advice to every Kdrama Second Lead Dude EVER: when there's the inevitable 3 years where the Main Lead Dude is gone doing whatever, don't just do NOTHING. In this case, he really did have opportunities that he waited too long to take advantage of. He is, as Grandma says, "Good Boy" and does the same thing as Seu-jun and provides that last "nudge" that brings the main couple together. 

And, you know, I like Nam Joo-Hyuk as Do-san. But I kinda wanted to see Ji-pyeong (Kim Sun-Ho) with a chance. Not sure why. Maybe because Do-san has tried to solve problems with his fists first even though he's a smart guy? Maybe because Ji-pyeong is an orphan? Maybe because he was so sweetly excited by even the smallest bit of affection? I dunno.  

They have managed to bring the sisters more-or-less together, though I don't think they'll ever have a completely comfortable relationship. I can't say that I like older sister much still, but, eh, it's okay. 

Edit: So, I finished it last week, but was too busy to write things up as taking the niece around and about during her visit. 

Overall, yes, I enjoyed this one. I did feel like the last episode was a bit weak in as far as it wasn't super satisfying. But it was okay. The only really odd bit was that, while they (thankfully) didn't fob off Mr. Second Lead Ji-pyeong to the older sister, they gave this weird scene where he meets a young handsome guy (who I'm being too lazy to look up, but I've seen him in things and he's good) who has a start up that's all about helping orphans (so perfect fit) and he decides to personally invest...but they made it give off a strangely gay vibe. And I have no issue with a gay vibe, of course, but it didn't fit the character. Like, the young guy asks him why he's going to invest and he answers "Because I like your voice" and he's got this flirty smile on the whole time and the whole dynamic was just...odd. Now, if they'd given any hints that he might lean this way (or go both ways or whatever) at any point in the show, then, yeah, sure. Totally behind that. But up until this point (and in this episode in the same time frame), he's still broken up about not being Dal-mi's choice and has never shown any attraction to ANYONE else before. So it just felt very weird. Maybe it would have felt better if it had been a female? I'm not sure. Maybe it's just me. 

So, yes, I liked it. Would I watch it again? Nah. It was a good watch, but there weren't many scenes that were seriously swoonworthy to make me want to revisit it. Like...no scene hit me right in the feels (either as a personal success bit or a love bit or a family bit). Does that make sense? It was all solid but not...eh, doki doki. 

Definitely good on them for getting so much about start ups right though. Some of it was a bit off, but a lot of it was good.