Greetings and salutations all! And how has your week been? Fabulous I hope. All is well here at Camp TCA.
I'm going to cut right to the chase. This episode is the kiss episode. Awesome right? Well, you would think so, but sadly, sadly, I have some rather bad news to break to you about that. You know where I'm going with this I bet. We have to address it. As difficult as it may be, the subject must be broached before we can go any further. Let's talk Park Shin Hye for a moment, shall we? Now, first and foremost, I love and respect and adore Park Shin Hye. I think she's a talented actress. I like her in this roll even. However, no one is perfect. Everyone has something they may be, shall we say, less than brilliant in? Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what I think Shin Hye's weakness is? Anyone? Shall I bring up Heartstrings? Or how about You're Beautiful? I'm sure there are others I could add to the list, but those are the only ones that I have seen. If you haven't seen them or have forgotten, the kiss scenes in these otherwise great dramas lacked a little umph. Okay, they lacked a lot of umph. Shin Hye can do the hug pretty well, but when it comes to the kissing, it's all solid squish kiss territory. Usually full on, wide-open-eyed fish squish kiss. No lip movement. No indication of any sort that she's got her lips planted on some of the world's hottest leading men. Talk about opportunity wasted! Holy moly! Now, before you go off saying something rational like, "well, it does take two, maybe it's not just her", let me say, no, in this case, it's her. Two of my most favorite ever drama kisses were performed by two men in other dramas playing opposite of other actresses. Take for example You're Beautiful. Shin Hye and Jang Keun Suk. Squish kisses, all of them. Now, how about Jang Keun Suk in Love Rain? Specifically the fountain kiss? Remember that? Yeah, JKS was juuust fine in that. *shivers with the memory* Obviously, he's not the issue here. His lips and his technique all work satisfactorily. They have my QC stamp of approval.
Now, how about we take a look at Yoon Shi Yoon's impressive resume of smooching? Arguably one of, if not the top, favorite drama kiss for me was in a drama I didn't particularly even care that much for, but wow, the kiss scene made it all worthwhile. Oh yes, I am talking about Me Too, Flower.
Amazing kiss. What makes it rank up there so high for me was just the sheer length of it. Wow. Like really long, passionate kiss in a crowded place. It took me by surprise and therefore is extra memorable for me. Whether you agree with my ranking system or not, I'm sure we can all agree that it was indeed a fab kiss. Missed it or forgot it, take a look and see for yourself and you be the judge... (p.s. kind of a long segment, the good stuff starts at the 3:00 min mark).
Yeah, Yoon Shi Yoon, he's got the kissing down too. Which just proves my point in this situation. It may take two to tango, but when one is dancing like a stiff wooden board who looks like she's barely enduring torture, not macking on some hottie with mad skills, it takes some of the fun out of the whole experience. So yes, we get a kiss and it has all the potential to be very, very nice. It starts out so yummy. The bold approach, the intense gaze. All the pieces are falling perfectly into place, the angels are cued up ready to sing, and then...lips touch. And stop. No movement. Just painfully awkward standing with lips touching. And a pained look of torture on her face. Like she was being fed raw sewage instead of Yoon Shi-freaking Yoon. Gah!!! Wae? Why can't an otherwise talented actress at least act like she's enjoying this moment that we have waited so long for? I actually get the point of the squish kiss in younger dramas. Children and high school students don't need to be all pawing and groping at each other. Child actors have my permission to act innocent and childlike. But guess what Shin Hye or what ever evil controls how she kisses in these dramas - you are an adult. It's okay to enjoy it. Let your passions run wild and, oh I don't know, close your eyes and move your mouth even just a little. Maybe even smile a bit? At least take the "ew gross" expression off your face. For the love of all that is beautiful in this world, put some umph into it girl!
Okay, Shin Hye kiss rant over. Sorry about that, but it's time to just lay it all out on the table. Now that I've purged, I can continue. Since you were so good to listen to the long-winded kiss rant, I'll do you a favor and shut up for most of the rest of this review and just give you what you really came for, the pretty pictures of pretty boys. Let's face it, we're not exactly watching this one for the plot, now are we? Sure, that's mildly important I guess, but not as important as seeing our flower boys.
How cute was Jin Rak trying to hold Dok Mi's hand? And then her obliviously thinking he meant something else when he came right out and told her that he wanted to hold it. Awkward! Poor, sweet Rak.
Ah, Jin Rak gets the brush off. The date was a goodbye - a final gesture towards this great guy who has been watching over and crushing on her for 3 years.
To add insult to injury, right then, after getting dumped on their first date, Jin Rak gets a text letting him know that Enrique has been in a serious accident and he has to not only break the news to Dok Mi, the girl he loves who loves this other guy, but then takes her to the hospital to see him. He's just the sweetest thing, isn't he? Poor baby though, my heart was breaking for him.
Turns out Enrique was okay, the one seriously injured was the crazy stalker phone stealing shovey lady. She's out to get Enrique because she has lost her son to the video games that Enrique has created. Really? Lady's got issues. Enrique takes this to heart though and tries to talk to the boy while Dok Mi comes to Enrique's defense and talks sense into Crazy Mom.
Muppet Hunter shows some emotion that looks like it might be real. Hmm.... Still don't trust her yet. Jin Rak tells her to come back when she's ready to tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He's sick and tired of her crap, as are we all.
This scene cracked me up, as all scenes with the webtoon boss do. Here, she is getting advice from Jin Rak as to how she should lower her voice in order to get men to take notice. Why? Because then they'll have to lean in real close in order to hear. Oh, and by the way, wash your hair, you stink. LOL. How cute were she and Dong Hoon??? She is expressing her distress at the money she has co-signed on and is losing sleep because of the nightmares. He tells her soothingly that he's good for the money and that she has nothing to fear and that the next time she has a nightmare, that she should call him for reassurance. Aww! These two may have come out of left field, but I adore them together.
Dok Mi and Enrique have a heart to heart. Dok Mi is pushing him away. He's hurt and isn't sure if he will ever be the same lighthearted, happy soul he once was.
She admits she has liked him all this time.
And boom. Dok Mi and Enrique sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
Lack-luster squish kiss aside (and really, I do have to give her props, out of all of her kiss scenes I reviewed, this one was the best. There's hope for her yet), this was a spectacular end to the episode and made me squeeee with delight!
I'm really rooting for these two. It makes me nervous that they are together so early on though. You just know that something is going to happen to come along and upset the budding relationship. It always does. But until then, I will savor this wonderful moment and keep cheering for our two fragile love birds. I wonder what episode 12 holds for them? Guess you'll just have to stay tuned and see. :)
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