Another Parting - Episodes 1 & 2

For those of you who don't know me outside of my blogging persona, you are probably unaware that I am a HUGE Seo In Guk fan.  For that matter I would even declare him my #1 bias out of a huge list of favorite actors.  So when I heard that he was going to be in a web series, Another Parting, I was all on board.  Make that 100% on board and so happy to see him anywhere since he is currently in between projects.  This is my first experience with a web series so I went in knowing nothing about how they work.  From watching the first two episodes I guess that they are small 10 min segments of a story.  It has a very indie movie vibe but both of the main actors are very memorable and charismatic so I am enjoying it.  Since they are so short I am going to do a more tradition recap and of course have a plethora of photos that show how awesome Seo In Guk looks.  I know that a bunch of people might not have watched these episodes yet so I am helping you out by posting the youtube links.  So watch and after feel free to read my recap so no surprises are ruined.  I would really suggest watching them since it is only 10 min for each episode.  A really easy and fast treat to end your night.

Episode 1 -Meeting 

* Be sure to turn on the Closed Captions for subs.

Episode 2 - Hana and Hul

Episode 1
We open our webisode with some sad tangoish music wailing in the background as our leading lady, Hana, walks across a bridge looking resolute and holding a brown paper bag.  When I first saw the bag I assumed it held liquor (since here in the US that is usually the bag of shame you get when you walk out of the local liquor store.) but nope, reaching inside the bag she pulls out a gun and walks towards a locked room.  She bangs on the door crying and screaming for the person inside to come out.  Eventually the door opens and we see a more glamorous and put together version of her. (What? Is she a twin?  Is this some serious mental collapse scene where this is all in her head?  I am so confused)  She screams at the other her "why did you do it?"  To which the other her replied "I don't know, you would know better then I".  Hana falls to the floor without firing the gun, tears rushing down her face as she completely breaks down.

We next flash to a hospital where we see a sexy (yes, Seo In Guk is sexy even in a coma) man linked on life support.  The bleeps on his machine start to speed up and eventually go into that long bleep of death (or in this case it means that he was disconnected from his life support system).  The staff rushes into his room but finds that the coma patient has disappeared.

The patient is walking around outside garnering a lot of attention since he is still in his hospital gown and walking sideways (Nothing cries crazy guy like someone doing that weird sideways shuffle).  A taxi pulls up next to him and a hand waves him in.  Going into a deserted parking lot we see an older ahjumma ask (going to use his name even though we don't learn it til later) Hul if he is dizzy.  He says yes he is, and she comments that it is not easy entering into a human body.  WHAT WHAT WHAT????  I totally did not realize that this had a supernatural element involved.  Seems like we have a body snatching alien situation on our hands and this specific alien (seriously Korea really knows how to do Alien themes right.  They are so HOT) is given the task of finding out why humans cry.  Now I am not sure why this is a super special study needing to be done by aliens, but from what I can get from reading between the lines, their culture has lost the ability to show emotions like humans do so they are doing a study.  Kind of like archeologists studying ancient Greek pots, we humans are the equivalent to pottery.  The older alien says that this is something they had never been able to find out and it is the hardest of all the tasks.  She then gives him a watch and says that this will tell him when his time is up.  He also receives a pill and a warning that if he misses his deadline he will become dust.

 She drops him off on a busy street with the suggestion that he get used to walking forward since people don't walk sideways on this planet.  We also see that he has had a wardrobe upgrade as he steps out of the cab in an outfit which is a mix of priest, idol, and Korean thug that just looks amazing on him.  I especially love the long coat which gives him a sexy bad boy vibe.  He looks around then uses his arms to pick up one leg then the other walking forward awkwardly.

He gets started on his quest immediately by going up to random people and asking them where he can find someone who is crying.   Needless to say he gets some weird looks and one ahjumma threatens to beat him if he does not go away.  He just looks quizzically and asks if that would make him cry. HAHAHA.  We see him many hours later walking on the same bridge we saw in the opening scene.  He comes across HaNa looking out into the river and crying.  He says in his head "I found one".

Episode 2
We pick up right where we left off.  Hul finds HaNa crying and staring at the river.  She starts to climb the railing and he shouts (telepathically to her) to stop.  She pauses and looks over at him and asks "what"?  He again tells her telepathically to not jump.  I guess this is a big enough reason to make her reconsider killing herself at that moment since she instead goes to a bar with the hottie alien and tells him her woes.

Turns out that she was a top singer/model with fame and the perfect producer boyfriend.  That is until the newest rookie replaces her both as the current "it" girl and with her boyfriend.  It was even worse that her replacement turned out to be her best friend.  Having lost everything she decides to end her life by jumping off the bridge.  Hul says that he does not understand this concept of "love" since it is something only read in the history books.  Surprisingly she does not seem to be really interested in his otherworldly origins and continues to just focus in on her problems.  He asks her if she really wants to kill herself.  She shakes her head and says "No.  What I really want to do is kill that Bastard."   Hul just grins and says "do you want me to kill him for you?"

And now we enter into our Korean Bonnie and Clyde segment of the show.  Where HaNa and Hul go on the warpath to hunt down and kill her scumbag of an ex.  They look amazingly cool and tough walking down the hallway and she hands him her gun.  He smirks and asks if this relic works.  They burst into the room where her Ex boyfriend and best friend are entertaining a bunch people.  And Hul waves his gun around until he has to pause and ask "which one is your boyfriend?"  HAHA

LET'S PAUSE HERE FOR A QUICK MONTAGE OF GORGEOUS SEO IN GUK + GIRL + GUN PHOTOS!

The scummy ex and party seem very unimpressed mocking her and her "fake" gun.  That is until Hul fires into the ceiling proving that the gun is real.  This of course causes mass panic and the ex hilariously tries to hide himself behind his new girlfriend and eventually the couch.  Hul asks HaNa if she wants her ex best friend killed as well to which HaNa stonely says yes.  Her Ex BFF is actually surprised and is asking why? what did I do?  Hul aims the gun then yells bang bang out loud and blows the end of the gun.  He then chucks the gun at one of the guests, grabs a surprised HaNa's hand and they run off hand in hand eventually laughing.

My Thoughts:
So that was a whole huge bowl full of unexpected.  I actually love that this show is a lot quirkier then I was anticipating.  The synopsis of the web series just stated that it was about two people who found each other at the end of their lives.  Which to me screams tears, angst, and either suicide and or terminal illness followed by more crying.  So it was a happy surprise to find that it is about a weird body snatching alien finding out about humanity quest.  I also love both of the main actors who's style of acting are very dynamic and eye catching.  Seo In Guk can do no wrong in my book but I was also happy that I liked Wang Ji-Won.   She is an actress that I don't think can pull off perky or happy but as a suicidal crazy singer/killer she can totally excel.   I am so sad that this is going by so fast.  I believe that there are only 5 episodes which mean only around thirty more minutes of goodness.  With the speed of the show we also don't have the time to really flush out any of the characters so we just have to accept them the way they are and rush forward.  But since both actors are really selling their roles I will sit back and enjoy what little we get.  I hope that all my readers give this series a chance.  It is something truly different that everyone can try and enjoy.

Sincerely,
Kmuse