Hyde, Jekyll and I, episode 14: Trying to Play Nice

Have you ever been in any kind of relationship, be it romantic, friendly, or familial, where you maybe didn't quite "gel" with the person, yet you still tried to force it because it was something you thought you wanted? Maybe you scored a date with the "it" guy in school that you crushed on for forever, only to find him incredibly dull and boring? Or maybe a really nice person goes above and beyond to be your friend, but you have to force a smile whenever they are around and consciously make an effort to not keep checking your watch?

Yeah.

That is where I am with this drama. FOUR YEARS! Four years I waited for this man to return to dramaland. 

I wanted SO SO badly to enjoy this drama. Sooo badly. I've tried. I really have. I've tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. Tried to be patient and defend it and everything. I tried really hard to play nice in my recaps. But Kmuse's snarky outburst on ep 13 has sparked my own snark. I can no longer live in this denial. This drama.... It's not the worst thing ever, but it is certainly not the best. Or anywhere near the best. Basically, I'm at indifferent. I just don't care anymore. The story is way too weak for 20 episodes. I'm bored to tears. I. Just. Don't. Care. Really, at this juncture, I propose that we just stick Hyun Bin up on the screen all by himself and let him do a Tom Hanks' Castaway-type performance. Let him read the phone book. It would still be more interesting than this drama. 

Now, and I know this will not earn me any fans, but I have one more thing to get off my chest. Kmuse, rightfully so, has blasted our leading female for being singular in her emotions/facial expressions. I have been hesitant to do the same up until now, because in doing so, I'd have to face another truth head-on, one that I don't particularly want to address. But, being fair and equal in my criticisms, I have no other choice. Binnie. Binnie, I love you. I've endured thus far for your sake, but your love interest isn't the only one that needs to work on her facial expressions. So many shots are him looking just as blank-faced as her. *dies a little on the inside* He's doing a really bang up job though of playing the two characters so differently. I will most definitely give him proper credit for that impressive achievement. Those facial expression tho... Then on the other side of the coin, we have our antagonist. He has the opposite problem. His expressions are so over-the-top that it's rather comical. They underact and he overacts. Blend them all together and maybe we'd have something. Secretary Kwon is really the only one at this stage that I think has figured out that happy medium. Not too hot, not too cold, he's just right. 

Go ahead, take your bow. You've earned it.

With so much wrong in our cast's skills and output, my finger starts pointing in the director's direction. But who really knows what is going on behind the scenes? All we know for certain is that this drama is a floundering mess and it's a crying shame. 

Now, as far as episode 14 goes, I will try to play nice and be objective. But seriously, this one is an incredible challenge to write about because as I start to tell the story, I'm always overwhelmed by the underwhelming story and all the "little things" wrong. There have been moments of hope, but, yeah...the hope is fading. The shine seen earlier on the old rust-bucket must have just been some water droplets that have since evaporated, leaving us with the ugly truth of a dilapidated hunk of junk barely holding it all together as it speeds down the expressway towards its own demise. (Ouch Dongsaeng! Harsh much?) 

Epsiode 14 starts where we left off in 13. Seo Jin, playing Robin, is on his way to have a face-to-face with Hot Doc. What gives it away? The random boy running into him with the (exact same as before because there apparently aren't any other balloons in the entire country) blue star balloon and his re-banning of balloons. 

Hey! That's the face I was making too as I watched! Nailed it!

Because that is what matters right now. And come on, you really think we didn't have it figured out before then? That was like throwing a neon sign onto the already obvious. Speaking of obvious...this little part made me laugh. Because of the inane lameness shown by our leading dullard lady.

You know he's thinking "No @#$% Sherlock"

But whatever. He's Seo Jin pretending to be Robin. Good, since Robin is an idiot goo-brained man-child that shouldn't be entrusted with anything remotely important. Blah, blah, blah...Robin pretends to be hypnotized in order to reveal to Hot Doc this forgotten part of their shared trauma. The big secret? Hot Doc's dad was a co-conspirator and planned the whole thing. Soo Hyun, instead of innocent, unintended captive, was the one that had been commissioned by his father to lead Seo Jin to the haunted house that Christmas Day. Seo Jin at this point wants to find out if Soo Hyun had known what he was doing at the time he did it, or if he was just blindly following dad's instructions as any kid would.

Let's just turn off our brains and enjoy the pretty.

Hello Pretty. What were we talking about?

At some point in this whole interaction, Seo Jin reveals himself, as does Soo Hyun. Things get heated, Dr Kang is found and Hot Doc runs off, effectively evading the entire police force that is waiting there for him. How? Hmm...well, he uses a door for the 4 cops at the door. An elevator as the cops run up and down stairs. And then, the climax of the whole escape. Many guns are drawn on him. They have him surrounded. It looks like his goose is cooked. His number is up. I'm cheering that they finally managed to get it right and catch the slippery fella.

But no. Nope. Not so fast. It's not that easy when you're chasing a Psycho Psych with hypnotizing super powers. Oh yeah. They went there. He plays a song on his phone, thus causing all of the armed officers to go immobile as he casually walks right past them. 

You said it, buddy

Unnumbered police force inside and surrounding the building, and he gets away, proving that these men in blue are bumbling idiots that can't do anything right (which is probably why they continually follow orders from and the plans of plain old civilians in the first place). It would be laughable if it weren't meant to be so dang serious. *smh*

Ooh hai~ moar pretty!

The stress of the whole event of course is too much for our heroine who ends up in bed with a fever. Seo Jin and Robin are both there to take care of her. 

Not a whole lot happens with our romance, mostly because we're dealing with two/three characters fairly devoid of strong emotion. There's some sleepy-time staring (cuz that's so not creepy), 

some hugging,

some snuggle timez on the couch,

and even a little jealousy,

but not a whole lot of development. They all talk. About nothing much. It's all just...kind of...there? I don't know. I don't have much to say on it. I did think it was sweet that Seo Jin was willing to bring Ha Na along when he was leaving his message for Robin, kind of like letting her into his inner sanctum.

He comments about how he never thought he'd have anyone there as he recorded a message to his alternate personality, which is his way of saying, "thanks for being there for me, Sweetcheeks". But yeah, that's about as intimate as we get in the romance arena. 

But did you see the preety???

Back to our villain on the loose. He's managed to once again outwit the police and security at the hospital where the beaten kidnapper is being held (shocker) and has kidnapped his kidnapper. He wants to find out the truth, verify for himself what Seo Jin is accusing his father of. Only problem is that this kidnapper has just been beaten to a bloody pulp for saying that Soo Hyun's father was involved, so you think he's going to talk now as he is bound and facing a psycho with a fire-engulfed 2x4?

The guy's a criminal, not an idiot. Of course he denies the claim, which just makes Hot Doc go even crazier, convinced that Seo Jin has lied to him. Oh brother. Is this how we're going to stretch it out into 6 more episodes? Just toss a straight jacket on the crazy man, put him in a padded room, and let's call it a day. His twisted sense of revenge rekindled, Hot Doc once again goes on the hunt to destroy his arch nemesis. Guess who's wearing the target on (her) forehead now? Oh yeah, wait, never mind. She got that sucker episodes ago. Well, now he's aiming for it.

Robin cooks Ha Na a meal while she is sick, and when Seo Jin sees this on the security camera footage, he is envious and follows suit. It is as the two of them are sitting there about to eat, that the lights go out and Hot Doc appears.

Ha Na is grabbed from behind and Seo Jin sits there. Yup. Sits there, staring, looking fairly nonplussed by the whole thing.

I'm just watching and waiting for him to, oh, I don't know, look like he cares? Maybe even say something? Fight back even a smidge? But no. He just stares as his lady love is in the menacing arms of a crazy man. And that is our cliffhanger.

6. More. Episodes. *groan* I don't even want to postulate on how they're going to fill those episodes. I'm seriously at the point where I want to start discussing props, scenery and wardrobe. Those are at least somewhat interesting. Like that wicked sweet fireplace that Seo Jin has at his crib. How it hangs there and has fire in it. That's cool. I've never seen anything like that before. I also like his pretty refrigerators. And did you happen to notice the soles of his house shoes? They had feet on them. Like the outline of a foot. It was weird but interesting. Hyun Bin was looking good in those glasses.

He's one good looking fella, that's for sure. I wouldn't mind having him stare at me.

And that voice. Ohhhhmmm...that voice. Not his Robin voice. Nope. His Seo Jin voice all Hyun Bin-like. I may not be thrilled with how this drama is going, but I am still a solid Hyun Bin girl. This won't change that. No worries there. He's still dreamy. As is this guy...

Our final pretty of the recap. He doesn't even need to say anything, just stand there and be pretty.

And, well, yeah. That's all I have for now. My apologies for my frustrations at this stage of the game. I know I'm not the only one fed up though. It seems to be epidemic and spreading as the already low ratings continue to drop. Heartbreaking. 4 years. 4 years I waited for this. 

I want my 4 years back.

~Dongsaeng