Review:// One More Happy Ending

One More Happy Ending is a 16-episode romantic comedy about a group of ex-idols, now 30-somethings, who are looking for fulfillment in their relationships. The story centers around Han Mi Mo (Jang Na Ra) who owns a matchmaking company for divorcees, and who is desperate to marry for the second time herself. Song Soo Hyuk (Jung Kyung Ho) is a single dad and gossip rag reporter who had a one sided crush on Han Mi Mo in elementary school. The two run into each other while Song Soo Hyuk is pursuing a story, and discover that they live right across the hall from each other.

The Good:  There were a lot of charming scenes that make this a very likeable drama. The two men in our romantic triangle were heartfelt, and then there was Conan O'Brien whose Korean was painful to listen to, but I applaud him for doing it. 

As a bonus, there were period scenes parodying other dramas that poked fun at our triangle. The flashback scenes from Han Mi Mo and Song Soo Hyuk's childhood were also cute and touching. Child actors, Lee Young Eun and Choi Kwon Soo did a great job.

There was bromance! Emotional and hilarious bromantic scenes between Song Soo Hyuk and Goo Hae Joon (Kwon Yool) in addition to their college-days flashbacks made for a painful conflict when they both went for the same woman. 

Aside from our triangle (and Conan), the rest of the characters are compelling. Go Dong Mi (Yoo In Na) is a style-challenged elementary school teacher, desperate for love, but her relationships always come with complications. Baek Da Jung (Yoo Da In) is trying to keep her family together, but her husband wants out of the cold marriage they have. Hong Ae Ran (Seo In Young) struggles with business and aging, and is hesitant to settle down with the man she's dating. Each character grew and changed as they learned from their relationships, and there were some twists and turns along the way making the story somewhat unpredictable.

The Bad:  Our leading and second leading man were attractive and evoked sympathy while they were single, but once they were in a relationship, they were completely obnoxious. I really couldn't stand either of them. And once Han Mi Mo stopped being a vapid goldfish, the obstacles thrown in to trip up the main couple's pairing were superficial and silly. The side characters had storylines that were more interesting and meaningful. If some of that authenticity could have been applied to the main couple, especially towards the end, I think the drama would have come together better.

The lack of substance and cohesiveness with the main storyline is what probably hurt its ratings. One More Happy Ending finished with a nationwide AGB Nielsen rating of 3.0%, though it averaged 5.2% overall. Despite the drama's flaws, it was entertaining and ended in a satisfactory way, so it's worth watching once you're caught up with your other dramas and want something to pass the time. 

First Impressions:// My Secret Hotel

 

tvN's rom/com mystery is light and charming, with the possiblity of being clever, depending on how the mystery aspect is handled. The first four episodes were written by Kim Ye Ri, who also penned Lie To Me, which started out strong and ended up crashing about midway. Sadly, she lost her battle with cancer in March. Script duty has been taken up by Kim Do Hyun of Goodbye Dear Wife. Director Hong Jong Chan also worked on Tamra, the Island, which I enjoyed, so I have hope that My Secret Hotel will deliver on its promises.

 

Our divorced couple are shocked to see each other after seven years. Goo Hae Young (Jin Yi Han) happens to be getting married again at the hotel Nam Sang Hyo (Yoo In Na) works at, and she has to plan the wedding. It's obvious that their parting was due to a misunderstanding, and it's also obvious that they aren't going to clear the air anytime soon. Instead, more misunderstandings are added to the mix, and you have to wonder if it's because they really aren't meant to be.

 

After his sexily stoic role as Tal Tal in Empress Ki, and his disappointingly limited stint in A New Leaf, a comical, tempermental, emotional leading man role is just the right fit for Jin Yi Han. It's gratifying to see him wear his heart on his sleeve, gesture and yell, and let frustration get the better of him.

 

Yoo In Na gives an acceptable performance, but she's not a complex actress. She can do one emotion or another, but isn't genuine as she makes transitions. It seems that she's more of an intellectual performer, following directions, but not feeling the emotions.

 

Our main couple does have chemistry, which is built up through comedic scenes of animosity driven by heartache. Sang Hyo seems to have an uncontrollable arm that punches of its own accord, and it's quite amusing to watch her keep it in check - or not. You can feel their history, confusion and pain, which allows for sympathy for both sides.

 

Jo Sung Gyum (Nam Goong Min) is the hotel's director and our Second Leading Man. He's amused and sympathetic towards Sang Hyo, though as of the first two episodes, he isn't full swing into SLM mode yet. He's poised and charming, and would be a calm and grounding haven for Sang Hyo's brand of neediness.

 

I'm excited to see Kim Bo Mi get her evil on as one of Sang Hyo's staff members. I'm not sure if she's a real villainess or just the sour girl in the office, but it's nice to see her step out of her sweet and innocent supporting role. I'm rooting for her to be a leading lady one day, and this will hopefully get her one step closer.

 

Jung Soo Ah (Ha Yun Joo) is Hae Young's ditzy fiancee, though I suspect she could have a shrewd side to her. One has to wonder why Hae Young would agree to marry her in the first place as she is perfectly annoying, but I suppose there were circumstances that we will hopefully be made privy to.

 

Then there is Yang Kyung Hee (Uhm Soo Jung) who seems like the perfect assistant, but she's got something going on in her personal life, and possibly an edgier side to her personality.

 

Sang Hyo shares a rivalry with colleague, Yeo Eun Joo (Lee Young Eun), especially for Sung Gyum's affections. Hopefully this has a chance to escalate because the comic dynamic between them is really entertaining.

 

The mystery at the hotel is tied to the death of Sung Gyum's father. The only two people who are still around from that time are manager Lee Moo Yang (Choi Jung Woo) and the delinquent worker, Hwang Dong Bae (Kim Byung Choon). They seem shady, but that could be misleading. I'm looking foward to seeing history revealed and how everyone is tied together.

 

And then of course, there's the corpse which really sets things into motion at the end of episode two. There's real potential for wacky humor, a smart plot, and poignant romance. The cast is certainly up for it, I hope the writer is too.

Review:// You Who Came From the Stars

There was a lot to love about this noona-killer rom/com fantasy melodrama. A little gem at the end of each episode contained an extended scene which revealed more of the story. Funny or touching, it was always something to look forward to, and you could often pinpoint which scene was going to be expanded upon beforehand.

Kim Soo Hyun  plays the alien, Do Min Joon, who was stranded on Earth 400 years ago. He meets a girl in the Joseon era who makes a deep impression on him. Now, just as the opportunity to return home arises, it seems he has met her again.

 

Do Min Joon has a variety of powers, including the ability to stop time for a short while. His abilities were portrayed in a believable way and the special effects were done well. Though powerful, he is not omnipotent, and tension is created when his limitations make him vulnerable. Kim Soo Hyun played the iceberg role well, especially as he subtly warmed up, and was at times overtaken by his emotions. Batzy-chan loses it when he cries.

The award for standout performance, though, has to go to Jun Ji Hyun who plays the self absorbed Hallyu actress, Chun Song Yi. She does beautiful, tough and dignified well, which makes it such a riot when she plays wild, goofy cray cray. Her psycho facial expressions and contorted postures were over the top, but completely in keeping with the story, and made the arrogant Song Yi into a lovable character.

Kim Soo Hyun was the perfect straight man to Jun Ji Hyun's comic, with Ahn Jae Hyun who plays Song Yi's brother, doing a fine balance of both.

Multiple references and parodies throughout the drama added another dimension to the entertainment. From Min Joon and Yoon Jae's E.T. moment, to the unexpected scene from Heirs in episode five, to historical figures showing up in the Joseon era flashbacks, the story becomes connected to the world around us.

Then there was the noona who all fangirls could relate to. Bok Ja owns a manhwa cafe and sees otakus all day, but gets breathless at the sight of flower boys. Don't we all? Second leading man, Park Hae Jin is nothing to sneeze at. Although it's impossible to sway my heart when the iceberg is Kim Soo Hyun, I did feel for the sweet devoted character of Hwi Kyung.

The drama really was wonderfully cast except for perhaps Yoo In Na who played a rather dispassionate supporting role. The rest came across as heartfelt and memorable, even the goofy otakus.

There were also a lot of fun cameos including Suzy who thought that professor Do Min Joon looked like her old boyfriend Sam Dong, who Kim Soo Hyun played opposite her in Dream High.

Shin Sung Rok portrayed the sociopathic villain so well, I don't know how I'll ever be able to see those eyes in any other light. His cunning was a chilling match for Min Joon's powers, which is a testament to how effective an antagonist he was.

The writing, photography, pacing, romantic push and pull, and the handling of the fantasy aspects were all done so perfectly, that the stumble at the end was extra disappointing. The saving grace is that I did like the end result, but the way it was arrived at departed from the drama's own logic. The ending was unpredictable only because it involved a concept that didn't make sense, had no correlation to the other events occurring, and was never alluded to previously and so did not seem connected to the rest of the story.

All in all, it was a fantastic romance that will make you laugh out loud and get teary eyed, if not bawl (Batzy-chan). Most of it is brilliant, and the rest is forgivable as long as you can live with unanswered questions.

Chock Full of Spoiler Questions

Highlight text to read:

Do Min Joon doesn't want to get involved with humans and switches identities and professions every ten years due to the fact that he doesn't age. However, he's amassed such wealth, he doesn't have to work or be around people, so why does he insist on working where it's necessary to keep changing his identity? In the end, why did the UFO come to Earth if it wasn't going to pick Do Min Joon up? If it opened the wormhole for him, it should have been explained as such so we would know there was a reason for the way things happened. Do Min Joon explains that the wormhole took him somewhere, but he doesn't say it took him home. Where is this "somewhere", and if he didn't get back to his home planet, how did he regain his health? The most asked question I saw posted about the ending was about bodily fluids. Can they have sex and kids? Since Min Joon and Song Yi were concerned with just being able to be together, those details don't matter too much. However, if they did have babies, would those children lose vitality if they weren't able to go through the wormhole periodically as well?

First Impressions:// You Who Came From The Stars (Version Batzy)

Boy did the graphics suck in the beginning of the drama. WTF was that anyways. Talk about terrible. At least by the end of the episode they seemed to be a little better.

Now lets be serious. I only decided to watch the drama because of Kim Soo Hyun. I figured, hey! I should try and write a first impressions like Unnie. And then the shower scene happened and my brain turned to mush. So read Panda's version instead.

I hear he will be going to the military after this is done. -whimpers-

First Impressions:// You Who Came From the Stars

Otherwise known as My Love From Another Star, this drama is about an alien who comes to Earth in the Joseon era, and has waited 400 years for the coming of a comet which will enable him to return home. Of course being that this is a rom com melo fantasy, love will inevitably get in the way of his plans

The first episode did a good job of introducing the characters, establishing their dynamics, and setting the scene. It was entertaining from the start, though the writing will have to be masterful in order for things to be believable from a relationship standpoint. I have high hopes since screenwriter Park Ji Eun has had a good track record, most recently winning the best screenwriter award for the highly rated You Who Rolled In Unexpectedly.