Where to start? I really didn't know much about this drama other than the ever yummy Park Yoochun, my favorite Prince of Time Jumps, who plays Prince Yi Gak in RTP & my favorite God from "Arang", Mr Beautiful (aka Yoo Seung Ho) were the 2 main male leads. Which makes this drama oh so yummy & easy on the eyes, right fangirls & boys?!?! Oh yeah, Yoon Eun Hye from Coffee Prince & Lie To Me is in it too along with a bunch of other people. So I went to the always informative Drama Wiki page for my background/character names info. So here we go....
First off? That pic is the only one you are going to get for a pic in this review. Just warning ya.
Let's start w character's & their backgrounds, ok? (It's my process, this is a complicated Melodrama & I want to try to uncross some of the crossed lines & help un-blur it for myself before I dive in to ep 2).
Cast/Characters:
Park Yoochun (aka Micky from JYJ - Hey Micky...love you!) ...ahem...where was I? That's right, Park Yoochun plays Han Jung Woo. The son of a wealthy man who is also the son of a wealthy man. His story starts off at a high school in the US. (Probably a private school, as he has a dorm room). US public schools do not come w dorm rooms. Nasty dirty bathrooms, covered in graffiti full of dirty words & jokes, that you should avoid at all costs, yes. But dorm rooms, not so much. At least mine were like that. And I went to decent suburb type schools in an upper middle class neighborhood. His back story it seems is very complicated. Now honestly there are aspects I'm still trying to determine. His father's lackey arrives & somehow or other Jung Woo eventually ends up back in Seoul, with a very surprised & not happily so, mother. While he seems to love & worship his father, his father seems to be cold, indifferent & intent on money & that's about it. His mother (not sure yet if she is his mother or step mother...I just started so if you know the answers to my questions feel free to shout 'em out. I like spoilers. Makes it easier for me to understand the plot) anyway his "mother" seems to be just as cold, calculating & indifferent as his father appears.
Now as the episode goes on, he has arrived in Seoul on the day his father is being released from the hospital, no idea why he was in there. After CM #1 is released, he goes to Jung Woo's grandfather's house (CM #2 & has CM #2 removed, in his hospital bed, from his (CM #1's) stepmother. I don't know names yet of these other characters. So far both Jung Woo's dad & grandfather are both going by "The Chairman" so I have no idea what else to call them but CM#1 & CM #2. (#1 being the younger & #2 being the older) After CM #2 is removed, while CM #1's stepmother is screaming, we find out that he wants "The Money". And thinks she has it now that CM #2 is about to die. We also find out that CM #2 & the stepmother have another child, CM #1's 1/2 brother. And that CM #1 is threatening to kill the little boy if his stepmother doesn't hand over "The Money". But the little brother has escaped & is on the run for his life. Meanwhile his mother (CM #1's stepmother) has his stepmother locked up.
Are ya still with me? Nod if you understood all of that.
How many of you actually nodded? giggle Yeah I am still a smart alec. Whatcha gonna do about it?!?! {^_-}
So next character's turn:
Yoo Seung Ho (from dramas like my former DFR Arang & the Magistrate as well as about 5000 other amazing dramas) plays Kang Hyung Joon (Aka Harry Borrison). This character is the little boy who ran away from CM #1. He is the 1/2 brother to CM #1, which makes him the 1/2 Uncle to Yoochun's Jung Woo. Other than he ran away & is thought to have "The Money" by CM #1 he doesn't really play a role yet in the drama. Although as he was escaping he badly cut his leg on the glass in his window. Honestly that scene where his mother goes running out to his room & the dogs are in there & there is blood everywhere, I was aghast for a few moments thinking that CM #1 had, had the child murdered w/ dogs as the weapon & all I could think was, "OH MY GOSH!!! He did not just kill a little boy by having dogs eat him?!?!?!" Boy did I breathe a sigh of relief when I realized the kid escaped. Dang that was intense! We see him again but it wasn't until almost the end of the ep that I realized he was the same kid that had escaped. Foreshadowing...which isn't really foreshadowing since most of you have already seen all of these eps. Oh well, let's keep going shall we?
Next up:
Yoon Eun Hye (From Coffee Prince & Lie To Me & Goong) plays Lee Soo Yeon. The daughter of poor parents, one of whom may or may not be a murderer. Her character is introduced as her father (the possible murderer) beats the crap out of her, while her mother, the coward & so far not likable to me at all, watches from outside the window in the alley cowering in fear, not protecting her daughter. Although her mother does call the police & have him arrested. After the cops drag him away one notices Soo Yeon under the blanket, unconscious. He piggy backs her out & runs into her mother. He tries explaining to her mother that she is hurt. The mother then says, "Its not the worse she's had". Then later tells the cop; "If you're so worried about her, you take her & raise her." Nice right? I really don't like this woman. Soo Yeon is known by her classmates as only No 27. They are all afraid of her as she is known as the daughter of a murderer & therefore they are all afraid she will soon murder them like her father.
Soon Jung Woo sees Soo Yeon for the first time. Outside the hospital the day his father is released. After his family drives away, Soo Yeon's mom comes out & we find out that Soo Yeon's dad has been executed for his convictions of murder.
The kids meet again in the neighborhood that they both, coincidentally enough, live in, at the neighborhood park. He has no idea who she is but he recognizes her from the hospital. She is shocked he talks to her, doesn't he know her? He teases her that she must be famous. She is shy & for good reason. It rains & she hands him a broken old umbrella & there is romance blah blah blah. He agrees to meet her the next day in the same park to return the umbrella but he never shows up. Why? Because the next day it's revealed that his grandfather has died, so he spends the day at the funeral. Even though he never actually met his grandfather. His dad, CM #1 gives off this total gangster vibe, I can't wait to find out what that family actually does, did to be so wealthy. So she waits all day & he never shows.
On her way to meet him, sorry forgot this part, a bowl is thrown thru a window in the alleyway. She picks up the bowl & sees a little girl in the window crying & scared & looking sick. She also notices a padlock on the door of the room the little girl is in, but the little girl doesn't answer, so she heads to the park. On her way back after being stood up by Jung Woo, she again hears the little girl & peeks in the window. Just then a woman, the secretary (or assistant) to CM #2's wife, who has been taken captive by CM #1 remember, appears & chases off Soo Yeon. As she is going into the room we hear her calling out to Hyung Joon. And that is when I realized that it wasn't a little girl but the little 1/2 brother of CM #1 & 1/2 Uncle to Jung Woo. So that's where he's being hidden! Made more sense.
At school he finds out who she is & how the other students view her & what they say. And I am disappointed to say, he ends up treating her the same way they do, even though she tried to help him get out of a beating by 3 bullies. Eventually though he tries to find her & apologize. When he does find her, he sees the women of the neighborhood, pulling her mother out of their house & one of them wailing about what her murderous husband did to her family when he killed her husband & son. And once again she wins mother of the year when she throws Soo Yeon at the woman's feet & says, "here take her & kill her & then this will all be over?" When Soo Yeon realizes that he, Jung Woo, has seen all of this, she runs off in humiliation, but he chases after her. He finally finds her at the park & at the last moment, asks her to be his friend.
And that is where the episode ended. Whew! It was good but really serious & I was mildly confused through most of it. I still have loads of questions but after writing this review, it feels a little clearer to me.
My thoughts.... I feel really bad for poor Soo Yeon for her craptastic life. Her mother is a real piece of work. But then all the parents in this one feel like monsters to me, so far. I really hope someone becomes redeemable. I also feel bad that Jung Woo comes from cold hearted, money grubbing bad parents too. I do like the cop that arrested Soo Yeon's dad. It seems, as revealed through a convo w/ one of his superiors, that maybe Lee Tae Soo (Soo Yeon's dad) may not have been THE killer everyone thought him to be. Although, he was an abusive SOB to his wife & daughter, so I still think they are better off with him executed. But the cop's superiors are afraid of the bad press if it comes to light they may have gotten the wrong guy, so they order him to stop investigating & let it go. He on the other hand seems to feel real guilt for all that Soo Yeon has to go through as the daughter of a murderer. So far I like him out of all the adults. But we'll see.
The child actors for Jung Woo & Soo Yeon are amazing. So I am going to list them as well. Their names should be known. I look forward to watching them in other dramas as they grow up.
Yeo Jin Goo plays 15 yr old Jung Woo
Kim So Hyun plays 15 yr old Soo Yeon
Han Do Gyu plays Hyung Joong, although we don't really get to see a lot of him in ep 1.
There is supposed to be another child actor but I have yet to see her character at all...so I will wait until then.
Until episode 2, have a great night readers.
Saranghabnida,
yay!! happy to see you back in the blog world. Hope you enjoy this drama:)
ReplyDeleteAww thank you sweetie! It feels good to BE back. :) I'm looking forward to more of this show too. Fighting!
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