18 Again (2020) Hong Dae-young Fixes Everything *Spoilers*

Hong Dae-young formerly a whitegoods repairman and all-round handyman fixes everything in his life. Well almost everything. And what a great finale -- one of the best. Not because they lived happily-ever-after but because those who needed to, grew in terms of learning how to do better in all relationships. Every single one learnt (or rediscovered) fundamental life skills to make necessary ongoing "repairs" to maintain what's good and precious to them. It's a timely reminder that relationships are made or broken by little choices and little gestures. In the busyness of life, all that can be easily forgotten. Because we are all flawed, selfish individuals, repair is par for the course. Unless one doesn't prioritize the relationship.

Dae-young learns a very important truth in the time he occupies his 18 again body and that is... he cannot be a father and a husband to the family if he remains in his teenage body. His teenage years are well and truly gone. They're a part of his life that he built with the choices he made over the years. But they're gone and all that's left for him is the present and the future. It's not just a case that absence makes the heart grow fonder but absence makes one realise what has been taken for granted when everything seems like a part of the furniture. He was a friend to his family for a short time and was able to be part of their lives in a way that he couldn't before but those interactions were fraught with limitations especially when his heart was drawn to them in ways he had not previously appreciated. In game parlance it was a "time out" that he needed -- to reflect and re-calibrate in order to map out the kind of future he wanted for himself. In fantastical fashion Hong Dae-young learnt he may have lost a potential career in basketball but he gained a family that he loved for life. His investment reaped a different set of dividends that he might not have been able to have if he had chosen a different path. I would go further and say that the choices he made is a reflection of the man he is

Regretting is a normal part of life. But the biggest lesson one learns (as one ages) is that life is often a zero sum game. No one can have everything. It's impossible. And to quote the great philosopher Westley, "Anyone who says otherwise is selling you something, Your Highness." The path that seems the hardest may seem to be the one most fraught with suffering but the advice here perhaps is that if we look just a bit harder, it probably wasn't all bad. In fact the good might have outweighed the bad. Or what's more, on hindsight much good came out of what was seen to be "bad" at one time. Clouds, silver linings ... all that stuff.

There's much in this show that reminds me of an old Christmas favourite, Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. (I'm reminded a lot about that film lately) Like it's predecessor, this drama might seem sentimental and schmaltzy to some but for me it's a timely reminder in the current climate to take time out and appreciate the little things that we do have instead of dwelling on what we don't because it naturally follows that we're bound to miss what's right in front of us.

In Capra's classic, an angel visits a depressed George Bailey on the cusp of taking his own life and grants him his wish for a world in which he had never been born in. His regrets are similar, wishing he had led a different life and bemoaning missed opportunities. He too led a self-sacrificial life, putting others ahead of himself. But a world without George as he comes to see is not a happy one. It's doom and gloom. Without him, crime and amorality runs rife in his hometown. As the angel progressively demonstrates to him, no man who has made so many contributions in the lives of the people around him can ever be described as being "poor".

Before he regains his 37-year-old body, Dae-young meets Da-jung on the bridge in the same way that they did as frightened 18-year-olds wondering about their uncertain future with babies in tow. They made the difficult choice and stuck to their guns. They wept from time to time about what they had lost but also focused on what they had gained. The crucial thing that I observed from this is that these two were responsible individuals. All their lives they took responsibility for themselves and did a little bit extra. There's a scene where Si-a's admirer and childhood friend Ji-ho watches a video of featuring Dae-young during a school sports meet to reminisce. He has no father to join him in the father-son race so a much younger Dae-young steps in. It is at this moment Ji-ho realises that Woo-young could be his favourite ahjussi Dae-young. For us on the other hand this sequence reinforces the type of man Dae-young is -- how the people saw him and how he made a difference to his world even when he didn't know and harboured regrets about what he'd lost.

We are also told that Dae-young was the one who saved baseballer Ye Ji-hoon's niece in a multiple car accident. It isn't just about fated connections that we are given this piece of information. But what's clear from these two incidents is that Dae-young is a decent human being. He doesn't have a lot but he gives a lot of himself reflexively. One take home from this is that his choice to prioritize his children right from the start had positive flow-on effects for others. He tells Ji-hoon later that he saved Seo-yeon because she reminded him of his own daughter, Si-a.

Perhaps another important lesson that we're meant to get from all of this is that relationships matter more than ambitions or dreams. It's not that ambitions and dreams don't matter at all. However, in the scheme of things, I don't think the vast majority of people wishes they'd spent more time in the office or in the basketball court when they're lying in their deathbed. Life is so incredibly short. The time we have left with the people around us is limited. Those are the sorts of things we shouldn't regret. As I get older and as my kids get older, I have fewer regrets about being out of work for their sake. 

Da-jung's situation is relatable for all working mothers. Her persistence is commendable even if she's never certain of attaining the Holy Grail of being a tv broadcaster. But she never lets up even while raising kids and caring for her father-in-law who's estranged from his son. In the end her perseverance pays off but not without jumping through all the hoops as well as overcoming all kinds of discrimination. The fulfilment of dreams come late for some but in some cases they do get there. While she had the skills and personality, she could not have done it alone. That's shown all throughout. Without the support of others from her family to admirers to colleagues, she couldn't have gone as far as she did. Especially when things became unbearably hard.

What follows the wedding at the end is an entertaining does of realism that eschews the Disney fairy tale story. Life goes on after the fanfare in raw mundane fashion. Conflicts are par for the course. But it is in the mundane that we find God in the details. Who we are, why we're here and what life is really about.

The wedding isn't the end of the story for Dae-young and Da-jung but it is the end of his search. They both can move on confidently in an unknown future because they now know what they'd prefer spending the rest of their lives investing their time and energy on.

This is what Hong Dae-yang had to fix. Not the past. But his thinking about the past and to forge a future with no regrets.

18 Again (2020) Early Impressions

Despite watching around three times more dramas in 2020 than in any year prior, I still managed to miss out on one of the year's gems. An online, fellow Kdrama watcher sang its praises recently and it's been at the back of my mind to get to it at some point. A couple of days ago a city-wide lockdown was announced for this weekend which provided an opportunity to for a marathon watch.

18 Again is one of those sorts of storytelling excursions that Kdramaland excels in. A white goods repairman (Yoon Sang-hyun) suffering midlife crisis and marriage woes looks back on his life bogged down by regrets, lamenting on missed opportunities. He and his wife (Kim Ha-neul) put aside career aspirations as 18-year-olds when she falls pregnant with twins, no less. They both made the tough choice at that age of keeping the babies and raising them. Hong Dae-young, the male lead seems to have hit rock bottom when his wife demands a divorce and a long-awaited promotion bypasses him. On top of that he barely has a relationship with his children. 

On one occasion he meets an enigmatic elderly man during a repair job. The latter notes that Dae-young has a knack for fixing things but Dae-young remarks that he can't seem to fix his own life. The elderly man offers help but Dae-young notes that since the problems are his, he should try fixing them. One night while he's shooting hoops at a local school, a weather event occurs and Dae-young fantastically reverts back to his younger 18-year-old body. 

Body-swapping stories over the years have provided a comical platform for telling stories about framing regrets and shifting perspectives on one's life. At the end of it, the character(s) involved will have become more reflective and come to the "right" conclusions about where their priorities should be. However, as someone who brings a certain parental lens to this, the show delves into a larger range of topics that I personally find relatable. The drama evoked many emotions. It reminded me of much... not least that many things my own parents did and said only really made sense to me after I started raising my own children. Dae-young's journey to reconnect with his own children is one of the show's highlights as it points to the trans-generational issues that seem to beset every era. It's also a highly insightful exploration (so far) of why misunderstandings and estrangements occur. Much ink has been spilt over the generation gap since I was old enough to read and understand newspapers. But there are good objective reasons why in certain cultures (including the one I was raised in) age is reverenced over youth. The show to my mind makes a reasonable case for acquired wisdom through life experiences.

With the benefit of hindsight and experience, Dae-young in his younger body (Lee Do-hyun) sets to "fix" things. From his newly acquired perspective, he discovers that his son, Si-woo although a talented basketballer like his father, is reluctant to play the game and is being relentlessly bullied. He stumbles on the fact that his daughter is working at a convenience store because she has other ideas about her future that don't include higher education. School, he soon notes, is a complex space of continual negotiation of hierarchical structures and external influences with its own set of problems. It also emerges as an ongoing subplot that a bribery scheme has been at play among the basketball players for some time.

But it isn't just the case that parents don't always know what their kids get up to outside of the home. Children can't always make sense of the adults in their lives as they don't have a full picture of what goes on behind the scenes when matters are deliberately concealed from them. In trans-generational conflict the importance of being able to stand in someone else's shoes or at the very least view things from a different perspective is absolutely key to some form of resolution. 

Dae-young's wife, Da-jung on the other hand, has never lost her interest in television broadcasting, practising for the craft in spare moments and applying for jobs when possible. She edges closer to fulfilling a lifelong dream now that the children are reaching their completion of high school. When she's finally selected for her dream job, she faces all kinds of discrimination -- ageism, and for the fact that she's a working mother. who is divorced. Which apparently is a workplace taboo of sorts in her cultural context. To her credit, she perseveres and proves repeatedly that she has the confidence, natural talent and skills to be at the top of the game. The irony which is not lost on the viewer is that Da-jung perceived weaknesses turn out to be assets. For instance, when she is put on the spot to do a quick interview with a baseball player, she carries it off like a pro and gets instant praise for being quick to react as well as her surprising knowledge of baseball. As an older woman and mother, she's had to learn to adapt to situations in life and her baseball knowledge has come from years of spending time with a baseball fanatic at home in the form of her former spouse.

Da-jung too has things she doesn't know about the husband that she gradually grew weary of. His inner turmoil and the hardships that he encountered as a far-too-young father and husband. As life got harder, they both (I think) forgot what it was that they liked about each other and kept them going for the longest time. They both had to re-educate themselves to find their way back to each other.

The show handles Da-jung's relationships with different men with fascinating sensitivity. It isn't that she'd stopped loving Dae-young but she thought he'd change for the worst. So when new admirers come on to the scene, she maintains a respectful distance because in part it's too soon and in part she's got a ton of things to worry about. Her relationship with Lee Do-hyun's Dae-young is what you'd expect in such a situation. Because of his youthful looks, she's instinctively maternal to some degree (once she gets past his remarkable resemblance to her former husband) but she's also confused by reminders of Dae-young in his gestures and speech. She must also be conscious to some degree that his attentions to her are far beyond that of a unusually mature teenage boy.  

With all of these ingredients in the mix, the drama is a guaranteed feel-good watch as the show charts the highs and lows of Dae-young's old and new life. The firm and steady directing elicits credible performances from the entire cast from the very youngest to the most senior. Special mention should be made of Lee Do-hyun who shoulders enormous responsibility as the younger versions of Dae-young: firstly as a young dad fresh out of high school and then also the middle-aged man inside the body of a youngster. He is particularly memorable and humorous when he forgets that he's not supposed to be the 37-year-old Hong Dae-young.

Run On (2020 - 21) More 8 than 7

I'm beginning to regret having started this drama so early. Not that I started it that early. But early enough that when I watch the previews I think... "Dangit! Now I'll have to wait a week before I can see that scene and see/hear her response."

To be honest, I didn't think I'd like it this much. Like a lot of people I suffered minor pangs of disappointment with Start-Up and Record of Youth in recent memory. I couldn't even get past the first episode of Start-Up. My response to that was "So this is just a pissing contest? I'm outta here. I'm getting too old for this. Yawn." 

Fortunately I'm not too old for Run On apparently with its movie nostalgia and troubling parenting issues. There's a bit more to it than that. Just a tad. ;) The most important part is that the leads are immensely likeable (even if occasionally frustrating) and the show... so far... stays away from high melodrama. I say the same thing about this show as I do about The Uncanny Counter. It doesn't do anything remarkably original (not if you've been reading and watching superhero fiction for years) but what it does do with tropes and characterization, it does it extremely well. The balancing act and pacing seems to be working for the plot. And I suspect a satirical edge which is why I am finding it hugely entertaining.

This is why I thought it was odd when a post in the South China Morning Post,  that was brought to my attention insisted that the leads didn't have any chemistry. Okay, that sort of thing can be subjective I suppose. But I don't agree. At all. And there are all kinds of chemistry. Just because a pairing doesn't set the screen on fire doesn't mean it has no chemistry. "Cute" is chemistry too. 

No one in that right mind would debate the point that the show deploys well-used tropes but it does so in part parodying them as well as demonstrating affectionate regard for them. Kind of how The Princess Bride does things.

Dad the Assemblyman Ki is a prime of example of this. He's the classic buffoon and I love to laugh at his ridiculousness rather like how Mr Bennet loves laughing at Mrs Bennet. (A Pride and Prejudice reference just in case you're wondering. As I've said, I'm old.) When he tells his long-suffering missus that "She's the only one for him" and she responds with "I'm feeling nauseous now", I chuckle nostalgically. And when she asks if he's learning how to throw water at their son's love interest, I choke with laughter. Despite him being the stereotypical controlling parent from a wealthy family, he's a caricature rather than a serious threat. He's a cartoon version of the makjang chaebol parent because the show pokes gentle fun of him all throughout. I imagine he might be sincere in his monogamous attachment to his other half but her response helps us understand their dynamic. He is a faithful husband but he's not the husband she hoped she married. The best part of their marriage is that he doesn't cheat on her. (Low hanging fruit) It's feels like a contract marriage but the benefits have dwindled over the years. She on the other hand, tells her son that it was a love match that's deteriorated into a contract marriage. She plays her part in the same way he plays his. It's vaguely harmonious because they're busy with their own things but she's melancholy about the status quo.

Ki Jeong-do is the consummate actor because it's 24/7 for him. I would argue that acting is more what he's doing than his wife. For her it's a job, for him it's a lifestyle. He doesn't know how to do anything but to be the drama stereotype. What's particularly delightful is that puzzled  look on his face when the people around him don't dance to his tune or play according to his script. That bewildered then grumpy look of a self-appointed director who thinks he's the lead character when he's just a recurring act in somebody else's drama. Like that woman on set Mi-joo's new job who thinks she's a real interpreter and throws a fit to convince everyone she's a person of importance. And to add insult to injury, the other actors in this play that Jeong-do thinks he is directing have their own ideas about their characters and have no compunction to say so to his face. Even while his wife lets him have his megaphone from time to time and makes him feel like he's important, she is vaguely aware that he is talking himself into the blackhole of irrelevance. He's stuck in a rut and can't see his way out of it. The irony is reinforced when the wife quizzes him about been shooting a soap opera.

Even while he's pushy, mischievous and glib, I find Yeong-hwa attractive. (Kim Tae-oh is a revelation) If for no other reason he is someone who dares to challenge Da-na's narrative of herself. He's not oblivious to the cues and he's not backwards in being forwards about promoting himself to her because he senses that she's not indifferent. It helps that he's not intimidated. I like that he sees past the prickly facade and he's challenging her to come out of her shell. I guess for me, I suspect he will be good for her in that she can't play her mind games successfully with him. I am really looking forward to seeing his painting. I love trees of course. But what I want from this mysterious painting is how he depicts Da-na in it. Presumably she will be in it in some fashion.

It's not hard to see why Da-na is who she is. Or pretends to be. She's up against male chauvinism and trapped in a family that is barely functioning as one. 3 siblings from 3 different mothers. Well, it's not necessarily a recipe for disaster. Under the right conditions and leadership, it could work. But the chauvinistic father is responsible for this man-made disaster. At this point I don't know why he kept her from playing soccer full-time if he wasn't going to let her take over the family business. The truth, I've realised is that Da-na is actually doing her bit to play family as much as possible. She's actually a good daughter and not the rebel we were led to believe she was. It's all boils down to perspective.

Rather than cute, I'd say that Seon-gyeom is adorably eccentric. There are moments you wonder... is this guy really that clueless because he has that confused innocent aura about him but then the next moment, something insightful and occasionally acerbic pops comes out of the blue from that wide-eyed boyish facade. He's especially good at looking after people. Maybe too good. Recklessly so even. But you know he always means well. I think he is enjoying being unemployed (and it's a great excuse) because he can hang around Mi-joo at the drop of a hat. He's also blessed with a kind of versatility which allows him to be usefully unemployed: He has people skills. He has a seemingly bottomless pit of dosh to dispense at his good pleasure. He's considerate. He is conversational. He doesn't mind driving to places at short notice. For a boy from a rich family, he can do laundry.

But Mum, Ji-woo, tells us that he practically raised himself. Perhaps the best thing she ever did was leave him alone. Seon-gyeom apparently was born sensible. 

His reaction to the mouldy walls to the shabby motel room was gold. Mi-joo's remark about the toilet was also chuckle worthy.

I have heard the word "slowburn" used of their relationship. Maybe I have a different view of what "slowburn" means. I don't think there's anything slow about the progression of their relationship. Chocolate I would say had a slow burn romance. In Time With You had a slowburn romance. Most of the romances of Hospital Playlist can be described as such. But in this drama it is obvious that both leads like each other and show it. They're faux dating already although they couch the dating under the cover of "work", being helpful, "hobbies", sympathy and kindness. She gets completely wasted for his benefit. She's jogged and gone to the countryside with him. In backhanded fashion Seon-gyeom certainly doesn't deny it when Yeong-hwa asks him if they're on a date. As far Seon-gyeom is concerned, Mi-joo is his girlfriend.

Just look at Mi-joo raising the roof when he doesn't answer her text. Then he makes the mistake of trying to be logical ... "you could have called" and she loses it. Who cares about logic at a time like this? She's already done her drunken confession and he's already kissed her once, followed that with "really" and confessed to liking her already when she conveniently dozed off at that moment. When she calls, he comes running. Then when she's sickly he nurses her and tells her to rely on him. He says "What would you like me to do?" in a way that sounds suspiciously like he wants to have babies with her. They hold hands without any awkwardness or pretence to reluctance. Given permission, he grabs her hand with both of his and almost does something else with it. Seon-gyeom is a happy lad.

To be honest, this looks a lot like one of the fastest progressions of a romance I have ever seen. These two people talk to each other with honesty and clarity that would be the envy of many married couples. They like each other and it's clear to everyone looking on that they do. 

Still with all the goodies that we got in these last two episodes, my favourite moment between them has to be the ending sequence when he tells Mi-joo to call out for him when things are hard instead of her deceased mother. How good is that brainwashing? A none-too-subliminal reprogramming. It's a turning point for her... a new way of thinking and living. She doesn't have to live in fear or embarrassment that she has no one. She has someone she can rely on because he is actually there... for her.

I will pay the show the best compliment I can give a rom com... the show does a good job of building the main romance, using old tropes in a way that feels new and takes the trouble of convincing you why these 2 people should be together. You see, I like it when a drama shows me things not just tell.

The Uncanny Counter (2020 -21) Recent Episodes

The best thing about So Mun getting stripped of his Counter privileges is seeing how much Mae-ok and the rest miss him and feel their loss acutely. On an occasion Go-tak and Mae-ok watch him leave the school gate from across the road wondering if he's okay. In their eyes, he wasn't just a fellow team member, he was family. Losing him from the roster hurt them emotionally as much it hurt him. Mae-ok seemed especially crushed by recent events despite having sacrificed a year of her strength to ensure his survival after his near-death altercation with Ji Cheong-sin. Her empathetic nature sees her heading to the Yung immigration office to seek other avenues of having him reinstated. In her mind, he did everything for family and as someone who cares deeply about family, it's good enough of a reason for her to have more gray hairs.

This is one of the reasons why this drama is gaining widespread adoration. It knows exactly how to make you like characters.

I was wondering how they were going to handle Mun losing his abilities and memories but thanks to some good sense on the part of Chairman Choi, Mun retained his memories.  Logically speaking, there could be no other way. Especially with the school bullies still nipping at his heels. What's surprising though is that he seems to have kept his physical strength to some degree. Though not yet explained, that could be the unintended benefit of the rigorous training or perhaps there's something else going on with Mun that's not yet revealed. That's entirely possible considering how he wasn't recruited in the usual way and he has the ability to manipulate Yung territory. Well, he is supposed to be the Uncanny Counter after all. :D

Speaking of recruitment, it seemed that the spirit guides were trying to co-opt the services of an ex-firefighter who is in a coma. He seemed to be a ripe candidate for the vacancy but he turned it down immediately. For some people death is a relief and release. I've seen it first hand. Even though the people around them would prefer that they remain, they're exhausted, the body's had enough and they know better than most that their time is up. Death isn't always to be avoided. Sometimes it's a welcomed prospect particularly when there's been much suffering.

Even though divesting Mun of his abilities was the right thing to do because he was on a slippery slope to the dark side, it was never ideal. There were never any good or easy choices to begin with. I had an inkling a while back that it would leave him and the rest of the team rather vulnerable. It was never a good solution even if on some level it was a necessary one. As I had feared, this change of status quo played into the hands of the demons. I suppose one could argue that it was  Mun's fault for creating this scenario but there's a war looming and he's the raw recruit who hasn't been given a lot of time to make mistakes and learn from them. He was thrown into the deep end. To his credit he acknowledges his shortcomings to the high school bully, the mayor's son. But I'm also convinced that there are extenuating circumstances also at play. Mae-ok seems to understand the urgency on his part and the recklessness that goes with it. Ultimately he's a kid with a lot on his shoulders who has had very little time to process everything. The ramifications of being a Counter has only just sunk in. It was always a double-edge sword bestowing superhuman abilities to a teenage boy who is working against the clock to save his parents from complete oblivion. On top of that, the window for his training and on the job experience has been limited. The circumstances surrounding his selection as Counter was extraordinary from the first. 

The other thing that bothers me about the Counters Code of Conduct is this odd delineation between "human affairs" and demon expunging work. How is that supposed to work? It seems to me nearly impossible to compartmentalize in that way. How can anyone who has any sense of responsibility and convictions about justice be able to look on and turn a blind eye to things?  (Considering that it's a criteria for Counters) But the other problem too is that the "human affairs" and demon-hunting seems to be inextricably tied. For instance, Mayor Shin seems to be giggling rather too much for anybody's comfort levels. It's creepy teetering on maniacal. (I'm getting Ghostbusters feels) It's true that we haven't seen his eyes turn glowy red but there's something not quite right with him. The man appears to be off his rocker but it's more likely that he's a host to an evil spirit or an evil spirit that has found a way to take on human form. Looking at how Ji Cheong-sin and him interact, I feel we might be on the cusp of some kind of apocalypse.

Jeong-yeong is now sensibly working with the rest of the Counters. Now that she has got the full picture of what she's been up against, she takes the Counters into her confidence. Yeah, more gruesome stuff is happening as the demons go on a rampage for some kind of apocalypse. But it's not so clear why Ha-na isn't picking up on the most recent attacks. Is it distance? Is there something jamming the "signal"? 

As Jeong-yeong gets re-acquainted with Mo-tak in his new context, I wonder if they will rekindle their lost love. It isn't necessary for the plot presently but it seems to me that she hasn't really moved on from him. But there's the sticky thing about him not remembering.

I sound like a broken record when I say this but I really love how the women are written here. They have their own voices but more importantly they are smart, caring and dedicated. When I talk about "the women", I mean Mae-ok, Ha-na and Jeong-yeong. Not the crazy shopping spree spirit at the back of the paddy wagon. I shouldn't be so unusually elated but let's put it this way... I have one tumultuous relationship too many with K and C drama female leads. Far too often for my liking.

Awaken (2020 - 21) Episodes 11 and 12

If you haven't watched the show or think that this is best thing since deep fried chicken... it might be best to give this post a miss.

Once in a while I ask myself why I'm still watching this show. But of course they're merely rhetorical questions. I know why I'm still faithfully... following it six weeks later despite the myriad of issues I'm having with it. It's in part for Namgoong Min, the laid back, somewhat reluctant superhero who has a penchant for lollipops (and now we know why as well) and spots a moustache. I am grateful for his newfound relationship with the moustache. It has come in handy during those moments when I want some kind of distraction from Seol Hyun's dazed, bewildered looks. It's obvious she does nothing for me performance wise and Gong Hye-won is, for the most part, a non-essential addition to the drama. I'm glad that the so-called love line between Hye-won and Jung-woo hasn't amounted to much. Plus it plays badly when the matter comes up.

Needless to say I am also persisting for the mad scientists plot. I'm fond of my sci-fi (the nuttier, the better) and it's a change from the time slip crime dramas that have graced our screens all year. They've established (and sledgehammered us over the head) with the fact that unconscionable men and women were doing highly immoral experiments on orphaned children 28 years ago on an island. And they still are in some secret location as the original White Night Village is now in ruins. 

Sometimes I wish this show was outright terrible so I can drop it like a hot potato with no compunction. But when there's progress in the plot, I cave immediately. And then there's Namgoong Min with his cynical smirk to contend with. When the show has these flashes of almost-brilliance, I feel like weeping because the feeling that it could be so much more never leaves me. The ideas are all there but the plotting needs a firmer hand.

In recent episodes the unhinged woman who called the shots in the old days has re-emerged, still calling the shots apparently. Choi Hyun-chee has evidently discovered the fountain of youth. She hasn't aged in the slightest so one can safely presume that she's injecting herself with something other botox to stave off the inevitable wrinkles. It seems to be the case too that the Chief Secretary of the Blue House, Oh Jung-hwan is popping pills to deal with his dermatological issues. Obviously the Foundation mob appropriated the anti-ageing formula  that Jung-woo's younger self worked out all those years ago except that he left out a few crucial details because he caught on that these were Really Bad People.

The third kid, Moon Jae-woong is apparently throwing an almighty tantrum against the world. Hence the serial murders by proxy. He is doing away with individuals who are/were connected with the White Night Foundation. It's old fashioned revenge. The tantrum also includes Jamie and Jung-woo. Apparently they cruelly left him behind except that they didn't really. He's either mis-remembered or has selectively remembered the events of the night they left the island. Or put a different spin on it. I still don't know if he has psionic powers but what's clear is that he is inducing lucid dreams using drugs and the watches are just a reminder or trigger for the victims to act according to his schedule.

Jamie has lately been relegated to being a recurring character or an extended cameo. Which is odd anyway you look at it. Considering that she is one of the the Three Survivors, her screen time seems absurdly paltry. Things are slightly better in Episode 12 for her. She's finally off to the island with the loud-mouth broadcaster to regain her memories and help us all the piece the puzzle together. I'm not sure why they bothered with the rain scenes in Episode 11. On hindsight it seems suspiciously like the show was trying to stall time so that all three of them could be on the island at the same time so that we could have the Big Confrontation. For Jung-woo to do his "hail Mary" also before the cliffhanger ending. 

The so-called Special Team or what's left of it is now demoted to the status of comic relief. I wonder why they bother. That said, they did make some small contribution in Episode 12 to saving a life and turning tables on Son Min-ho so that Jung-woo can be elsewhere. I'm also unsure as to why Hye-won happen to burst into the room at the right time to overhear a conversation when she's already resigned especially after her big speech about being disillusioned with the government. But I guess she just can't stay away and her timing is impeccable.

Sadly the women in this show are just not that well-written or well-utilized. We probably didn't need two female leads because it's increasingly obvious that they will remain largely underdeveloped. In the end, my feeling is that they are people in Jung-woo's life. Bystanders in his war against the evil Foundation.

Episode 12 was somewhat better. Things at least felt like they were chugging along, rather than the drama rehashing old ground. Yes, I get that the drama is attempting perspectival storytelling on some level but it doesn't do it nearly as well as many other dramas. In that regard I've been spoilt by better made dramas so I tend to find the pacing of this one rather slow. Frankly, the drama could have easily been achieved in 12 episodes. 

I wonder what Kim Min-jae (another survivor from the first cohort) will do now that he knows about the continuing experiments on kids. He seems to have a conscience and he's had his time as a lab rat. Of course not everyone is naturally inclined towards heroism even if they're having pangs of guilt. It is however, pretty appalling how the power that be think about the "test subjects" and dispose of them. 

Drugs seem to be a recurring motif in this drama. Whether they be experimental, prescribed or for recreational use... popped, sucked or force fed... it is a common thread. Whatever the show is trying to say, it's true to say that we are such a drug-dependant world. There's a ready-made panacea for everything including ageing it would seem. No wonder Big Pharma is raking in the big bucks. I can't help feeling though that often we'd rather take a pill than do the hard work of eating properly and exercising regularly (also thinking about Run On here with Mi-joo's supplements) or accept the limitations of being human. Science is a great tool but in the wrong hands, it is an unmitigated human disaster in the making.

Run On (2020 -21)

At long last... a K rom com I can get excited about. Hallelujah. I've caught up with all 6 episodes and haven't felt the urge to FF or drop it. In fact, I eagerly await the coming episodes. Will the leads continue their gentle push and pull or will they take the plunge and go with the flow? It's been obvious since the beginning they're not destined "just to be friends".  To be frank, I don't think the show does anything original but its merits lie in the characters being likeable and humorously depicted. Unfiltered. Better still, I'm seldom bored by the antics of all concerned even if they faintly resemble some character I've seen somewhere else. It's always nice that a show is smart enough not to take itself too seriously

Although the chemistry and set-up of both sets of major pairings work for me, the real star of this drama is the dialogue. It's almost as if the drama speaks with one voice through differently modulated microphones. Sometimes it's the purely random gems that fall out of characters mouths unfiltered. At other times it's a humorous understated but catty bickering especially between the women. On other occasions, it's the matter-of-fact frustration of Seon-gyeom who blurts things out with a straight face. Maybe he can start playing poker now that he's officially unemployed. On some level it seems to be doing something different but then on another, it's really just an old fashioned rom com remixed with 21st century verbiage. One gets the sense that everyone knows they're playing a role in this farce... in the original sense of the word... there's more than a little nudge, nudge, wink, wink in those irresistible pearls of self-expression. Especially in the form of Soo-yeong's Da-na. She's smart, she's sassy and she seems to enjoy playing the sociopath. I suppose it's a survival mechanism, a cry for attention and a demand for respect from certain quarters... close to home.

Seon-gyeom who's a non-conformist male lead, is wired in a completely different way. He seems to on the one hand have a martyr complex because of his perceived privilege but on the other hand, I do think there is something wonderfully genuine at the core of his dilemma. His manners are impeccable and he's a veritable sweetheart. He wants to change... not the world... but how his particular niche does business. Maybe it's the way Im Shi-wan plays the character with unmitigated earnestness. Rather than being a truth seeker, he's in search of authenticity. It's no accident that Oh Mi-joo mutters to herself that he is Peter Pan because in a real enough way he is the boy that hasn't grown up. His life until the bullying scandal has largely revolved around competitive running but by the time we get to Episode 6, he's out in the real world mixing it with other bodies that aren't athletes. It's a whole new ball game he must navigate to find his raison d'etre. The question that follows him as he ventures out in the great unknown is this: Is there life after the track?

To help him make sense of this brave new world, isn't his very public family or his former agency but interpreter and translator, Oh Mi-joo. Mi-joo who purports to be more worldly-wise lives with her friend May and has no family. It's clear early on that Mi-joo and Seon-gyeom are attracted to each other but for one reason or another they've held back. Mi-joo's initial excuse could be a reluctance to mix business with pleasure and Seon-gyeom wants to be get a lot closer but feels vaguely rebuffed. Their repartee might seem desultory on the surface but the words gradually come to hold deeper meaning for both as they interact in all kinds of troubling (sometimes comedic) dramatic contexts.

Part of the charm of the primary leads is their unerring directness with each other. There's an always that sense of unpredictability in how they respond to each other. The confrontation outside his hotel room where he asks her about being paid by his father to "keep an eye on him" was especially well played. It was done with surprising calmness. The show chooses its lighter tone by eschewing the histrionics. She anticipates his response and resigns herself to the fact that it marks the end of any kind of future interactions. Except that it doesn't. Except that she gave back the money and consistently takes it on the chin that she took a bribe from Despicable Dad. Why? Perhaps she doesn't want to excuse herself or make herself out to be a better person than she feels that she is. She perceives herself as the grown-up that takes responsibility for her actions.

Episode 6 sees the two embroiled in a cohabitation scheme. A familiar and well-used romance trope that seldom feels old. Seon-gyeom emerges from his hiding place in his grandfather's hotel and gets willingly conned into moving into Mi-joo and May's place after hearing a cock and bull story about a neighbourhood mugger. I want to pinch his cheeks for his cluelessness in taking things seriously but I'm sure after that jogging session with Mi-joo, he's won't be too unhappy at being white-lied to. Mi-joo is strangely aloof at first, keeping to her room and odd working hours until she is reminded that there's an attractive young man taking solace in her living room dying to spend more time with her. When Mi-joo comes to her senses, the two head off to the beautiful rural Korean countryside to recruit his former coach to take up the coaching position for a non-profit. Mi-joo makes her drunken backhanded confession and he makes his matter-of-fact response of mutual attraction but she finally succumbs to the effects of alcohol.

The plot thickens for Da-na and her art student, Lee Young-hwa. She's intrigued by his artwork and for a busy person who plays up the role of someone who is above it all, she seems unusually fascinated. He is unabashedly smitten at first sight and takes her prickliness all in his stride. She amuses him and he humours her. It's all part of the charm for him. Young-hwa is also responsible for cheekily and randomly throwing up a piece of my childhood with the ET reference when he meets Seon-gyeom for the second time. This time they're at the supermarket. It might not be that random of course because it's the drama saying that Seon-gyeom is an oddity ... a fish out of water... an alien that doesn't belong in this world that the so-called adults inhabit and make their sandbox. Seon-gyeom doesn't do politics or business as usual. 

The potential pairing between Da-na and Young-hwa feels like a modern K production of The Taming of the Shrew. When she patronizes him (in all senses of the word), he plays along and toys with her. It's  water off a duck's back, Yeong-hwa takes it one step at a time. He knows that compared to her he's a penniless student but that's no deterrence. In fact, he savours the challenge. Besides, he has something she wants. Something that her conspicuous wealth can't buy. He's also perceptive enough to see through a bit of her haughty rich girl act. 

The rich people's families here are deliberately dysfunctional. They suffer from the usual rich people's malaise. Seon-gyeom is routinely reduced to a prop for his father's political ambitions and Da-na's half siblings have more dollars than sense. Myung-min constructs her as his rival for the family coffers. Tae-woong is ridiculously possessive. Her father, on the other hand, wants her married off despite all her protestations. It seems to be a hobby of his.

Assemblyman Ki is the typical K drama Despicable Dad. Except that he is cartoony at the edges. In other words, he is a caricature. He is the stereotype to a T and he is being gently mocked not only by his long-suffering unreligious spouse but the show itself. He seems to have stepped out of a Charles Dickens novel. His religious zealotry isn't just a role he plays for his electorate, it also blinds him to the extent that he cannot be the husband or father that his family needs him to be. His wife, the actress, plays along to keep the peace but to her credit she doesn't pretend that she's Mother of the Year. At least she knows that she's on display, playing the roles that she's been designated by life to do so.

The Case Solver 拆案 (2020) Head-scratching Cliffhangers

 

Frankly, I'm not sure what to make of the ending of a number of C dramas especially the shorter ones which are notorious for their cliffhanger endings even when no subsequent seasons are scheduled or forthcoming. It's a marketing ploy undoubtedly but if everyone does the same thing and if there's no set date for a sequel then all this ends up tainting the viewing experience rather than leave audiences wanting more. Some of us are still waiting for the resolution of Detective L's cliffhanger ending which is nowhere in sight. That was far more annoying because we remain clueless about the good guys' prospects of surviving the Big Bad's last ditch attempt to get away. But I'm going to pretend that The Case Solver ends in Episode 24 at around 21:33 with the main character's promotion. The rest of the finale is white noise and irrelevant filler.

It did take me two episodes to warm up to this one and to the male lead. However, somewhere around the halfway mark, I came to like the male lead who is more or less cut according to the Sherlock Holmes mould and started digging around for other productions that actor Jason Gu Jiacheng has been attached to. For an idol actor, I would say he's actually not bad. Gu Yuan, a newly appointed chief detective at the French concession, has a first-class intellect and handily has knowledge of feng shui (geomancy) applicable mostly to the first episode. Gu Yuan's promotion comes to the disappointment of chief aspirant, Kang Yicheng (Su Xiaoding), also the only child of Chamber of Commerce head, Kang Shaoqing. The quick-witted Gu Yuan, is well aware that Yicheng's biggest asset isn't his brains or his brawn but his connections especially when important inquiries have to be made pertaining to active cases. Gu Yuan humours Yicheng by indulging him in a faux rivalry now and again but it doesn't take long for these two essentially good-natured men to become friends. 

A series of events purporting to be paranormal mishaps capture the imagination of Shanghai's populace. Gu Yuan is tasked on each occasion to get to the bottom of things. Of course he doesn't believe in ghosts, demons or the living dead. It's a no-brainer from the start that flesh and blood are the real perpetrators behind these seemingly inexplicable phenomenon as he gets embroiled with gangsters, corpse thieves, illusionists, pimps and prostitutes. It is the seedy side of Shanghai under the veneer of respectability. The show often feels like a cross between Psych-Hunter and My Roommate is a Detective although I find the female leads in this much more likeable.

Gu Yuan is also ably supported by the local medical examiner, Che Suwei who eschews the stereotypical typical female lead by being unscreechy, cool-headed, competent and reliable. The show hints that the two might have feelings for each other although the primary romance is between Kang Yicheng and his verbal sparring partner Cao Qingmeng, a reporter also with important family connections. She does her best to whip up public fervour by sensationalizing the criminal misadventures and occasionally she manages to bring vital clues to the table.

Each episode is roughly about half an hour long and each case is solved within 4 episodes. The low budget web drama an easy watch and not a bad way to while away 12 hours if you're a fan of whodunits. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to make comparisons with Scooby-Doo. It falls loosely along similar lines. And it makes the same sorts of gags as well. 

And remember to stop the video at 21:33 towards the end of the last episode.