Musings of the Obsessive Kind

Is anyone else reminded of Jae Min from Bali every time Ji Heon shows up with his little backpack in Protect the Boss? It's a bit disconcerting, seeing that Bali was one of the darkest, most dysfunctional and intense dramas I've ever seen and PtS is frothy fluff.

I am currently watching ep 7 of The Princess' Man with the same dread as one watches a trainwreck that one knows is coming but is powerless to stop. They are so happy and you know horrible things are just around the corner. I just want to grab them and hide them from the world. I almost wish we'd get on with the murder of his family, his finding out SR's identity and vowing revenge etc because at least it would be out in the open.



Also, I find it reprehensible SR is still not telling him who she is. It was excusable earlier - she was checking out prospective husband, then it was a farewell meeting, then there was no point as he was cold to her. But now? She is starting a relationship with him under a false name! How is she thinking it's going to go? I love her because I understand her - this is her one chance at happiness and she's desperate to not have anything take it away and so she's postponing telling the truth, but it's going to have some nasty consequences.

Because I am so obsessed with the possibly uncanonical ship of Tae Sung/Jae In, I decided to bring you MVs from some ships which started out uncanonical (or at least looked this way to me) but ended up being the main OTP.

I very rarely uncanon ship so perhaps that is why most of those uncanon-looking ships I have ended up canon - I don't swap loyalties without a LOT of canon evidence. If even I uncanon ship, these ships really must be something.

( MVs here )

These are just some random thoughts I keep having about Bad Guy. Pardon me as I ramble.

Whoever tried to advertise BG as a revenge story did it a disservice. At its heart, it's a family story/melodrama. It is best at showcasing interactions/connections between its damaged characters - the revenge plot is not only not tightly done at all, it's not even a driver of the story or takes too much space. Let me put it this way, if you are a revenge story junkie, you are better off with Green Rose or Resurrection or (the best drama ever made, IMO) The Devil (I am lazy and will from now on refer to it as Mawang).

Revenge stories in kdrama are often a conduit for other themes - forgiveness and change and one's own culpability in Mawang and Resurrection, passionate dysfunctional love in A Love to Kill and Queen of the Game, the suffering motivating such vengeful behavior - Green Rose, Dog/Wolf etc. But still, the revenge and its effects are the main driver in these stories. Bad Guy uses Gun Wook's plans almost as a mcguffin to create its emotional interractions and connections. Its vibe reminds me much more of classic melodramas like Something Happened in Bali and I'm Sorry, I Love You (MiSa). Nobody can claim that the revenge plan in MiSa is in any way anything but an excuse to have So Ji Sub's character meet the girl he loves and slowly become a human being. It's not a revenge drama at all - very little time is occupied with any revenge. And Bali, which is the drama BG reminds me most, has never been described as a revenge drama.

Actually Bali and BG have eerie similarity. We have the prevailing, corrosive power of wealth. We have a powerful, soulless rich family which ends up being brought down by a combo of a smart, poor man who has a grudge (after he realizes he will never be accepted and always used). There is a whole subplot between the poor man and an icy rich woman (though unlike the vulnerable Taera of BG, Young Joo of Bali really does have ice water in her veins). The heroine is a warm-hearted, conflicted gold-digger who draws both of the damaged male protagonists to her through her sheer humanity in contrast with what they normally deal with. The other male protagonist is a horribly damaged rich boy who is emotionally very open and very unstable. Etcetcetc. I could really be here all day but I believe I made my point - Bad Guy, like Bali, is IMO a melodrama and just as I had little interest in seeing So Ji Sub's financial machinations to bring Jangs down, I don't really care about the details of Gun Wook's plans to bring down Hongs in the end - I just like seeing the situations as they develop. Interestingly, just as in Bali, I am all about the damaged rich boy in Bad Guy and the smart poor man leaves me rather cold. Bali is what made me a Jo In Sung fangirl for life - I guess I am drawn to off-kilter vulnerability.

Ironically, I find the protagonist of BG the story's biggest weakness. Even though Kim Nam Gil is a great actor, Gun Wook himself is rather a cypher and not a fascinating one. If you compare BG to Mawang the differences are stark and not just because Mawang is the epitome of the revenge drama. Mawang is a story which really shows the damage and the cost of revenge and what sort of damaged person would be consumed by it. Joo Ji Hoon's avenger in Mawang is arguably even more self-contained than Gun Wook but he is a dynamic, interesting character anyway and as the story goes on you quickly see that this tight control hides a destroyed little child within. Reserved and restrained doesn't have to mean so controlled as not to show anything more than the controlled mastermind facade but that is a problem with BG - so far, after 6+ episodes, that is how Gun Wook comes across to me. He is not an interesting character because the feelings of anger and his background causing his desire for revenge come across fine on paper (i.e. I don't think it's illogical he wants to bring down Hong family) but they lack any emotional connection to me as shown and do not feel dramatic.

One does not need to spend episodes showing the hell that the avenger was put through in order to decide to become an avenger (Green Rose goes that route but something like Mawang reveals the truth stingily, slowly, in scattered flashbacks that probably take 5 minutes combined). But there has to be some sort of an emotional connection and I do not feel any. In part it's because Gun Wook's story is made so bizarrely evil and OTT it makes me roll my eyes at kdrama melodrama - sure, his evil adoptive parents realized they made a mistake and he wasn't the illegitimate son so they dumped the little kid in the rain, he hurt his back badly through being shoved, his parents died trying to pick him up, even his dog got run over. I mean - what???? It all seems a bit silly. Contrast it with e.g. Green Rose, where protagonist is a collateral damage for a corporate murder gone wrong and ends up having his family destroyed as a result and see himself convicted for life for a murder he did not commit , and then, when he goes on the run, almost starves to death in China - it's not just Go Soo's amazing anguished acting that sells this, it's just the story is explained in a number of eps, it immerses you. No crazy brief OTT flashback. One can get away with a brief flashback if it's something fairly simple (like in Resurrection - bad guys killed hero's father to hide their corruption and later his brother. Not much explanation is needed) but if the story is crazy OTT, you better spend more time on it.

But ultimately, what fails to sell me on any sympathy with Gun Wook is not the inadequate background stuff, it's his present-day demeanor. I could overlook a backstory that is lacking if the present-day revenge stuff is interesting either in being clever so the viewer is piecing together a puzzle or emotionally connecting because you are invested in the protagonist, or both. (All the best revenge dramas have both). But here, Gun Wook is so self-contained and so well-put-together and functional, I have little patience or sympathy with him and want to tell him to move on and do something productive - the drama fails to show that whatever happened to him in the past truly screwed him up enough to make him want to go all-out for revenge. The protagonists of Mawang or Dog/Wolf or A Love to Kill - they are all wrecked people and if not for revenge there would be no meaning to their lives. Alternatively, in Resurrection or Green Rose, you see how revenge slowly destroys the protagonist. It all makes for a sympathetic, emotionally grabbing story that has dramatic tension. But neither is the case here. Gun Wook is not particularly symathetic because he is not damaged nor does he become damaged by his vengeful actions. Let me put it this way, if Gun Wook walked away, I can see him living a perfectly fine life - I have not been sold on such a dysfunction which would make revenge necessary. And so the tension in the story is gone.

I cannot identify, sympathize, or get interested in emotions of the protagonist when he has so little of them.

The above is not a bash of Bad Guy or even Gun Wook. It is all a very long way of saying that BG does not work as a revenge story, but what it does work brilliantly as, is a melodrama. Gun Wook is boring as dirt in most vengeance-related stuff or by himself, but his scenes with Taera which sparkle with desperate sexual chemistry and her desires or his scenes with Jae In when he shows vulnerability (i.e. melodrama scenes) work beautifully. And I find the family dynamics of the Hongs and the Hong siblings themselves a lot more interesting than Gun Wook anyway. Taera's cold loveless marriage and her desperation for some genuine warmth and love before it's too late. Mone's spoiled sheltered self-centeredness. Tae Sung's self-loathing and childlike craving for love. Jae In's pressing her nose against the window of the rich people's lifestyles. Madame Shin's cold, socially-calculated scheming. This is what I find really interesting. Gun Wook is interesting to me only insofar as he is a catalyst for any of these people. If Gun Wook randomly fell of a bridge, provided the rest of these characters would remain 'stirred up', I could be just fine. To be honest, I think I would love BG even more if it was a Tae Sung show, instead of Gun Wook show (yes, Bali all over again).

One last quick comment - I have a problem with GW's choice of revenge. He can extract all the revenge he wants from the Hong Parents who wronged him and are monsters. But he is purposely hurting Taera (he is wrecking her life), Tae Sung and Mone, and they have never done anything to him. Tae Sung got torn from his family just as Gun Wook was - he did not choose to come into cold abusive household at 8 on his own. Mone was a baby when all the bad stuff was going down. And Taera was a teen with not much agency either. Leave them alone!

Phew, this was long.

These are just some random thoughts I keep having about Bad Guy. Pardon me as I ramble.

Whoever tried to advertise BG as a revenge story did it a disservice. At its heart, it's a family story/melodrama. It is best at showcasing interactions/connections between its damaged characters - the revenge plot is not only not tightly done at all, it's not even a driver of the story or takes too much space. Let me put it this way, if you are a revenge story junkie, you are better off with Green Rose or Resurrection or (the best drama ever made, IMO) The Devil (I am lazy and will from now on refer to it as Mawang).

Revenge stories in kdrama are often a conduit for other themes - forgiveness and change and one's own culpability in Mawang and Resurrection, passionate dysfunctional love in A Love to Kill and Queen of the Game, the suffering motivating such vengeful behavior - Green Rose, Dog/Wolf etc. But still, the revenge and its effects are the main driver in these stories. Bad Guy uses Gun Wook's plans almost as a mcguffin to create its emotional interractions and connections. Its vibe reminds me much more of classic melodramas like Something Happened in Bali and I'm Sorry, I Love You (MiSa). Nobody can claim that the revenge plan in MiSa is in any way anything but an excuse to have So Ji Sub's character meet the girl he loves and slowly become a human being. It's not a revenge drama at all - very little time is occupied with any revenge. And Bali, which is the drama BG reminds me most, has never been described as a revenge drama.

Actually Bali and BG have eerie similarity. We have the prevailing, corrosive power of wealth. We have a powerful, soulless rich family which ends up being brought down by a combo of a smart, poor man who has a grudge (after he realizes he will never be accepted and always used). There is a whole subplot between the poor man and an icy rich woman (though unlike the vulnerable Taera of BG, Young Joo of Bali really does have ice water in her veins). The heroine is a warm-hearted, conflicted gold-digger who draws both of the damaged male protagonists to her through her sheer humanity in contrast with what they normally deal with. The other male protagonist is a horribly damaged rich boy who is emotionally very open and very unstable. Etcetcetc. I could really be here all day but I believe I made my point - Bad Guy, like Bali, is IMO a melodrama and just as I had little interest in seeing So Ji Sub's financial machinations to bring Jangs down, I don't really care about the details of Gun Wook's plans to bring down Hongs in the end - I just like seeing the situations as they develop. Interestingly, just as in Bali, I am all about the damaged rich boy in Bad Guy and the smart poor man leaves me rather cold. Bali is what made me a Jo In Sung fangirl for life - I guess I am drawn to off-kilter vulnerability.

Ironically, I find the protagonist of BG the story's biggest weakness. Even though Kim Nam Gil is a great actor, Gun Wook himself is rather a cypher and not a fascinating one. If you compare BG to Mawang the differences are stark and not just because Mawang is the epitome of the revenge drama. Mawang is a story which really shows the damage and the cost of revenge and what sort of damaged person would be consumed by it. Joo Ji Hoon's avenger in Mawang is arguably even more self-contained than Gun Wook but he is a dynamic, interesting character anyway and as the story goes on you quickly see that this tight control hides a destroyed little child within. Reserved and restrained doesn't have to mean so controlled as not to show anything more than the controlled mastermind facade but that is a problem with BG - so far, after 6+ episodes, that is how Gun Wook comes across to me. He is not an interesting character because the feelings of anger and his background causing his desire for revenge come across fine on paper (i.e. I don't think it's illogical he wants to bring down Hong family) but they lack any emotional connection to me as shown and do not feel dramatic.

One does not need to spend episodes showing the hell that the avenger was put through in order to decide to become an avenger (Green Rose goes that route but something like Mawang reveals the truth stingily, slowly, in scattered flashbacks that probably take 5 minutes combined). But there has to be some sort of an emotional connection and I do not feel any. In part it's because Gun Wook's story is made so bizarrely evil and OTT it makes me roll my eyes at kdrama melodrama - sure, his evil adoptive parents realized they made a mistake and he wasn't the illegitimate son so they dumped the little kid in the rain, he hurt his back badly through being shoved, his parents died trying to pick him up, even his dog got run over. I mean - what???? It all seems a bit silly. Contrast it with e.g. Green Rose, where protagonist is a collateral damage for a corporate murder gone wrong and ends up having his family destroyed as a result and see himself convicted for life for a murder he did not commit , and then, when he goes on the run, almost starves to death in China - it's not just Go Soo's amazing anguished acting that sells this, it's just the story is explained in a number of eps, it immerses you. No crazy brief OTT flashback. One can get away with a brief flashback if it's something fairly simple (like in Resurrection - bad guys killed hero's father to hide their corruption and later his brother. Not much explanation is needed) but if the story is crazy OTT, you better spend more time on it.

But ultimately, what fails to sell me on any sympathy with Gun Wook is not the inadequate background stuff, it's his present-day demeanor. I could overlook a backstory that is lacking if the present-day revenge stuff is interesting either in being clever so the viewer is piecing together a puzzle or emotionally connecting because you are invested in the protagonist, or both. (All the best revenge dramas have both). But here, Gun Wook is so self-contained and so well-put-together and functional, I have little patience or sympathy with him and want to tell him to move on and do something productive - the drama fails to show that whatever happened to him in the past truly screwed him up enough to make him want to go all-out for revenge. The protagonists of Mawang or Dog/Wolf or A Love to Kill - they are all wrecked people and if not for revenge there would be no meaning to their lives. Alternatively, in Resurrection or Green Rose, you see how revenge slowly destroys the protagonist. It all makes for a sympathetic, emotionally grabbing story that has dramatic tension. But neither is the case here. Gun Wook is not particularly symathetic because he is not damaged nor does he become damaged by his vengeful actions. Let me put it this way, if Gun Wook walked away, I can see him living a perfectly fine life - I have not been sold on such a dysfunction which would make revenge necessary. And so the tension in the story is gone.

I cannot identify, sympathize, or get interested in emotions of the protagonist when he has so little of them.

The above is not a bash of Bad Guy or even Gun Wook. It is all a very long way of saying that BG does not work as a revenge story, but what it does work brilliantly as, is a melodrama. Gun Wook is boring as dirt in most vengeance-related stuff or by himself, but his scenes with Taera which sparkle with desperate sexual chemistry and her desires or his scenes with Jae In when he shows vulnerability (i.e. melodrama scenes) work beautifully. And I find the family dynamics of the Hongs and the Hong siblings themselves a lot more interesting than Gun Wook anyway. Taera's cold loveless marriage and her desperation for some genuine warmth and love before it's too late. Mone's spoiled sheltered self-centeredness. Tae Sung's self-loathing and childlike craving for love. Jae In's pressing her nose against the window of the rich people's lifestyles. Madame Shin's cold, socially-calculated scheming. This is what I find really interesting. Gun Wook is interesting to me only insofar as he is a catalyst for any of these people. If Gun Wook randomly fell of a bridge, provided the rest of these characters would remain 'stirred up', I could be just fine. To be honest, I think I would love BG even more if it was a Tae Sung show, instead of Gun Wook show (yes, Bali all over again).

One last quick comment - I have a problem with GW's choice of revenge. He can extract all the revenge he wants from the Hong Parents who wronged him and are monsters. But he is purposely hurting Taera (he is wrecking her life), Tae Sung and Mone, and they have never done anything to him. Tae Sung got torn from his family just as Gun Wook was - he did not choose to come into cold abusive household at 8 on his own. Mone was a baby when all the bad stuff was going down. And Taera was a teen with not much agency either. Leave them alone!

Phew, this was long.

(I also posted this in my Communal Bali watching sticky post, but it's long enough to be a separate post and so I am putting it here - maybe it makes it easier to find?)

It's really interesting, rewatching this. God, I'd almost forgotten how much I love Jo In Sung. LOVE. I mean, I love him and his nervous energy so much that I don't even notice So Ji Sub, who normally I really like. If Jo In Sung ever makes another drama (once he's out of the Army), I just might spontaneously explode. I know movies are more prestigious and all but I am greedy for more screentime (side note - A Dirty Carnival was the best Korean movie I have ever seen, and what made me truly and utterly lose it for him - but it was so brutally hopeless, it made me depressed for days. One of these days he should make a comedy).

Anyway, back to the drama.

1. I'd almost forgotten how unpleasant the two guys and Other Girl are in this, at the start. None of them are monsters (though by the end the Secondary Girl comes close, IMO, even if I end up feeling a repelled kind of pity for her) but they are all in their selfish shells - it's little things, like not helping Soo Jung with her heavy bag or treating her as an extra in their lives. Even their kindness is this thoughtless kind. It's funny because I am not sure if they change in niceness quotient that much (though both the men become much more desperately vulnerable, especially Jae Min) but I guess I get to know them so well and their reasons for being the way they are, I sort of end up not caring - I end up adoring Jae Min as a character, especially, so much. Even if he is the biggest trainwreck I have ever seen as a kdrama lead.

2. Soo Jung. I adore her. You could see how annoyed she is she is dealing with the tour group from hell (the other 3) but the way she pushes and carries on is WONDERFUL. So is her drunken camaraderie with Jae Min. She is in another universe from the poised, iced, controlled Young Joo. But it's interesting, she seems so (relatively) well-adjusted compared to the rest of them but as the drama unfolds, you see that this hard-earned cheerfulness is a facade and she is very broken too - between her and Jae Min, I am not sure, which one is more screwed-up. For him, it's his family, but for her, it's her poverty that has made her so.

3. You know, there are hints about her screwed-upness even this early on - the scene where Jae Min offers her $$$ for a one-night stand and she calls him a jerk (and you see by his reaction he doesn't even understand that what he said was insulting - he is puzzled. In his world, everything can be bought and sold, and there is no such thing as affection.) and then asks whether he is going to pay before or after. In her world, there is no room for the grand gesture, for throwing money in his face. She leaves only because he kicks her out (giving her money but not doing anything) telling her to buy her new shoes (hers are broken) and saying "it's not fun any more" (the first of many instances she really throws him off any usual ways he deals with things). And then she trips on her broken heels walking out, sprawling in the lobby, inelegantly grabbing and picking up money.

4. You know, one of the biggest delights of this rewatch for me is contrasting in my head the way Jae Min is going to be with her later - utterly desperate and "brought down" and willing to beg and beg and beg, and the way he is now - emotionally detached, with all the 'power' on his side - I mean, contrast his propositioning her for that one-night stand and the scene where they finally make love, a dozen eps from now. Though she is totally rattling him even now - I love the scene where he first truly notices her - seeing her in the parking lot trying to fix her shoes, eating, and drinking. She is just so REAL and alive and immediate. No wonder he's caught (and then quickly looks away).

5. Jae Min's father needs to die in a fire after being slowly cut with a myriad of razors - the scene in his office in ep 2 where he is practicing golf in his office and Jae Min flinches any time the golf club is in his vicinity, and almost stutters, just - RAGE. Increased 1000x by what I know he does later. But I confess to being amused in the scene where he is throwing things at Jae Min during the board meeting and a flunkie keeps moving things up to him to throw - folders, bottle of water, so he won't run out of things - a definition of a brown-noser.

God, I love this drama!

OK, ladies! I have my Something Happened in Bali watching crew - darkeyedwolf, mishane, cranberrysheep, uisceros, sodahands, scanky_chops, anime_heart, iheartkleenex and possibly bzoppa and thelana. (Btw, the offer is still open, everyone, you can join us any time).

In exchange I am watching The Rose, Miss No Good, The Vineyard Man, My Boss My Hero, Fated to Love You, Seikei Bijin, and Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. Heeee.

I know everyone watches things at different speeds and schedules etc. so episode discussion posts might not make sense (if you do want them, let me know and I'll be happy to oblige). I am thinking however, it would be good to have a sticky Bali communal watching post and if anyone feels like dumping thoughts there (spoilers marked with wipe-out font) that might be fun. (That's in addition to anything else anyone wants to do or not do re watching or posting or anything, no obligations or anything, I am not trying to be pushy or anything - I have never done a communal watching before :P)

So, here is the I am watching Something Happened in Bali sticky post. Post anything here - requests for links, episode comments, musings on Jo In Sung's and So Ji Sub's brave desire to parade without a shirt, whatever. Join us if you are one of communal watchers or if you've seen it and feel like blabbing, or for any reason whatsoever.

And if people will use the "send me a notice anyone comments on a particular post" feature, it would make it all really easy to keep track of :)

OK, ladies! I have my Something Happened in Bali watching crew - darkeyedwolf, mishane, cranberrysheep, uisceros, sodahands, scanky_chops, anime_heart, iheartkleenex and possibly bzoppa and thelana. (Btw, the offer is still open, everyone, you can join us any time).

In exchange I am watching The Rose, Miss No Good, The Vineyard Man, My Boss My Hero, Fated to Love You, Seikei Bijin, and Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. Heeee.

I know everyone watches things at different speeds and schedules etc. so episode discussion posts might not make sense (if you do want them, let me know and I'll be happy to oblige). I am thinking however, it would be good to have a sticky Bali communal watching post and if anyone feels like dumping thoughts there (spoilers marked with wipe-out font) that might be fun. (That's in addition to anything else anyone wants to do or not do re watching or posting or anything, no obligations or anything, I am not trying to be pushy or anything - I have never done a communal watching before :P)

So, here is the I am watching Something Happened in Bali sticky post. Post anything here - requests for links, episode comments, musings on Jo In Sung's and So Ji Sub's brave desire to parade without a shirt, whatever. Join us if you are one of communal watchers or if you've seen it and feel like blabbing, or for any reason whatsoever.

And if people will use the "send me a notice anyone comments on a particular post" feature, it would make it all really easy to keep track of :)

Because for various reasons I've been talking about Something Happened in Bali (aka What Happened in Bali/Memories of Bali) a lot lately, I want to do a rewatch.

But I don't like being lonesome and would appreciate company.

So I am offering a deal - if you will watch Bali with me so we could blabber about it together, in exchange I will watch WHATEVER drama of your choice and blog about it. Any drama - from any country, any genre, any actors, any length (with a caveat - I draw a line at anything over 50 eps. Bali is only 20 so that's only fair).

Offer's on the table.

Here is what you need to know about Bali before deciding whether you feel like going for it.

1. Korean contemporary. 20 eps. Which means 20 hours or so.
2. Stars Jo In Sung, Ha Ji Won, So Ji Sub - if any of these actors turn you off in a major way (how? Philistines!) then this is probably not for you.
3. Really angsty and dysfunctional. Think a much darker, adult Hana Yori Dango.
4. Plot revolves around Ha Ji Won who is a poor plucky guide who attracts the attention of dysfunctional rich hottie (JIS) and icy ambitious poor one (SJS).
5. When I say dysfunctional, I definitely MEAN it.
6. Worst kdrama parent EVER. Tough competition, clear winner. A plus for me, might not be for you.



So, do Jo In Sung, Ha Ji Won, angst and a chance to make me watch a drama tempt you?

Let me know if you need links!

This is my OTP for Take Care of the Lady:



Cheeky hardworking butler (r) and a human rights lawyer who's given up his rich family to pursue his cause (l).

OK, I am kidding. Sort of.

The thing is, I am not big on our heroine, Hae Na, at all. I have no patience for poor little rich girl or boy who treats people like dirt while thinking that they are owed everything because of their unearned money and wallowing in undeserved emo while being waited on hand and foot. I start thinking longingly of French Revolution and guillotines.

Now, a hardworking rich person, like Lee Byung Hun's character in Beautiful Days, I am fine with. Otherwise, the spoiled rich brat better have some genuine cause for lashing out like Jae Min from Bali - I would not want to be a member of his horrific family for any money and Bali never shies away from the fact that despite being angsty and magnetic, Jae-Min is not a loveable cuddly thing only needing a love of a good woman to fix him, but a total mess.

Hae Na reminds me of Domyouji in all his incarnations and I loathed early Domyouji with every fibre of my being. To be honest, she is even worse - Domyouji was younger and was around one of the worst mother figures ever. Hae Na is close to a decade older than Domyouji and seems to be a product of a nice enough family. She has no excuse! Her grandfather is warm and loving and treats her well, her staff jumps to her every whim, she is healthy - wtf is her problem! Boo-hoo, some relationship 6 years ago did not work out. Since when is that a legitimate excuse to treat people like dirt? (There is no hint that her ex was abusive or similar and she has some sort of PTSD).

I adored Sung Yuri's heroine in Snow Queen even when she was a horrifying bitch because there was good reason for her behavior - a deeply dysfunctional family, suicide of a loved older brother, and knowledge that she is bound to die in her 20s due to a health condition. Yeah, that makes for some lashing out. Someone like Shin from Goong might have been no picnic as a significant other but he performed all his myriad duties in a proper manner while Hae Na does absolutely nothing, spounging off her grandfather, refusing to work. Charming! Contrast her her with Anna from Fantasy Couple - Anna was a nightmare but competent and at least her being awful to the hero had some rational basis at the start.

She is not utterly self-absorbed and is capable of gratitude (the way she behaved with Dong Chan when she countermanded his dismissal after he covered for her as she asked) - she is capable of improvement. But she has a long way to go before she becomes worthy of being anyone's girlfriend.

I think her being in tears after realizing Tae Yoon wasn't her first love but someone who looked a bit like him was supposed to humanize her but I was left rolling my eyes at the fact that her wealth insulated her from anything - she caused such a scene chasing after him and then was free to sit and emote while someone else, in this case Dong Chan, was left cleaning up her mess - pacifying the owner of the horse she took, getting her car etc etc. What a contrast with something like Worlds Within where heartbreak or not, Song Hye Kyo's character still had to go to work and do her best, without even time to finish her conversation with the man who was dumping her. Or something like Thank You where, whatever else went on in her life, Gong Hyo Jin had to work in the fields, take care of her daughter and her senile grandfather, and deal with it all. Awww, Hae Na, poor little rich girl, see me weep! Whatever other flaws I am easy on in my characters (iciness, jerkiness, dysfunction, whatever), I cannot stand people who are simply spoiled.

The reason I am enjoying this drama and do not hate Hae Na is, in part, because she does have potential as a character to develop, and in part because Yoon Eun Hye is, as always, gorgeous, charismatic and a good actress, making Hae Na a real person with hidden little-girl warmth, as opposed to a nasty rich witch she could easily come across in someone else's hands.

In other news, I am very very eager about upcoming Angel's Temptation. The plot? The heroine's family is killed and her family is ruined so she decides to punish those responsible. (Now, see, Hae Na? That's a woman with a legitimate reason to be pissed!) However, instead of doing the sensible thing and hiring a hitman or maybe using a pipe bomb on their house, she...that's right...seduces and marries the son of her enemy. The logic? Is brilliant.

I adore revenge plots and this sounds so deliciously OTT ridiculous, I cannot wait. All the more so as the male lead is the scrumptious Bae Soo Bin, who you all might remember as the gorgeous Jun Se oppa from Brilliant Legacy. Mmmmmmmm. MMMMMM.

This is my OTP for Take Care of the Lady:



Cheeky hardworking butler (r) and a human rights lawyer who's given up his rich family to pursue his cause (l).

OK, I am kidding. Sort of.

The thing is, I am not big on our heroine, Hae Na, at all. I have no patience for poor little rich girl or boy who treats people like dirt while thinking that they are owed everything because of their unearned money and wallowing in undeserved emo while being waited on hand and foot. I start thinking longingly of French Revolution and guillotines.

Now, a hardworking rich person, like Lee Byung Hun's character in Beautiful Days, I am fine with. Otherwise, the spoiled rich brat better have some genuine cause for lashing out like Jae Min from Bali - I would not want to be a member of his horrific family for any money and Bali never shies away from the fact that despite being angsty and magnetic, Jae-Min is not a loveable cuddly thing only needing a love of a good woman to fix him, but a total mess.

Hae Na reminds me of Domyouji in all his incarnations and I loathed early Domyouji with every fibre of my being. To be honest, she is even worse - Domyouji was younger and was around one of the worst mother figures ever. Hae Na is close to a decade older than Domyouji and seems to be a product of a nice enough family. She has no excuse! Her grandfather is warm and loving and treats her well, her staff jumps to her every whim, she is healthy - wtf is her problem! Boo-hoo, some relationship 6 years ago did not work out. Since when is that a legitimate excuse to treat people like dirt? (There is no hint that her ex was abusive or similar and she has some sort of PTSD).

I adored Sung Yuri's heroine in Snow Queen even when she was a horrifying bitch because there was good reason for her behavior - a deeply dysfunctional family, suicide of a loved older brother, and knowledge that she is bound to die in her 20s due to a health condition. Yeah, that makes for some lashing out. Someone like Shin from Goong might have been no picnic as a significant other but he performed all his myriad duties in a proper manner while Hae Na does absolutely nothing, spounging off her grandfather, refusing to work. Charming! Contrast her her with Anna from Fantasy Couple - Anna was a nightmare but competent and at least her being awful to the hero had some rational basis at the start.

She is not utterly self-absorbed and is capable of gratitude (the way she behaved with Dong Chan when she countermanded his dismissal after he covered for her as she asked) - she is capable of improvement. But she has a long way to go before she becomes worthy of being anyone's girlfriend.

I think her being in tears after realizing Tae Yoon wasn't her first love but someone who looked a bit like him was supposed to humanize her but I was left rolling my eyes at the fact that her wealth insulated her from anything - she caused such a scene chasing after him and then was free to sit and emote while someone else, in this case Dong Chan, was left cleaning up her mess - pacifying the owner of the horse she took, getting her car etc etc. What a contrast with something like Worlds Within where heartbreak or not, Song Hye Kyo's character still had to go to work and do her best, without even time to finish her conversation with the man who was dumping her. Or something like Thank You where, whatever else went on in her life, Gong Hyo Jin had to work in the fields, take care of her daughter and her senile grandfather, and deal with it all. Awww, Hae Na, poor little rich girl, see me weep! Whatever other flaws I am easy on in my characters (iciness, jerkiness, dysfunction, whatever), I cannot stand people who are simply spoiled.

The reason I am enjoying this drama and do not hate Hae Na is, in part, because she does have potential as a character to develop, and in part because Yoon Eun Hye is, as always, gorgeous, charismatic and a good actress, making Hae Na a real person with hidden little-girl warmth, as opposed to a nasty rich witch she could easily come across in someone else's hands.

In other news, I am very very eager about upcoming Angel's Temptation. The plot? The heroine's family is killed and her family is ruined so she decides to punish those responsible. (Now, see, Hae Na? That's a woman with a legitimate reason to be pissed!) However, instead of doing the sensible thing and hiring a hitman or maybe using a pipe bomb on their house, she...that's right...seduces and marries the son of her enemy. The logic? Is brilliant.

I adore revenge plots and this sounds so deliciously OTT ridiculous, I cannot wait. All the more so as the male lead is the scrumptious Bae Soo Bin, who you all might remember as the gorgeous Jun Se oppa from Brilliant Legacy. Mmmmmmmm. MMMMMM.