Let's Eat - Season 2 #review

식샤를 합시다 2

Romanization -  Shiksyareul Habshida 2
Genre -   Romance, Comedy, Food, Suspense
Writer -  Lim Soo mi
Network -  tvN
Episodes -  18
Released -  2015, Apr - Jun

   

CAST

SYNOPSIS

Koo Dae young (Yoon Doo joon), an insurance salesman, moves to another city and meets his new neighbors, Baek Soo ji (Seo Hyun jin), a freelance writer who eats once a day, and Lee Sang woo (Kwon Yool), a public officer admired by women. ~AsianWiki (w/edits)

REVIEW

Found this quite by accident and had to watch because it involved FOOD.

Weird thing about that, though, is that while I do tend to enjoy a drama that depicts native fare on a frequent basis, and most of the meals do look delicious, it also has the opposite effect depending on what is being served.

octopus head with black ink oozing out into the soup

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I have to wonder how long after the production ended that Yoon Doo joon got his taste buds back.

EVERY freaking menu item he shoved into his mouth was piping hot with steam curling upward, and he barely took the time to let it cool down before eating.

More than half the close-up shots of him eating showed just how hot the food was, and with him fighting hard to hide his pain.

I'm probably alone in this, but eating anything that hot ruins the whole experience for me.

My teeth and tongue go numb after just one hot bite and it takes hours for the feeling (and my taste buds) to return, so I've always eaten everything at or near room temperature as a result.

I digress . . .

This is about more than just a handsome salesman wanting to be top-dog again in the world of Life Insurance.

Dae young gets into trouble in Seoul and is transferred to another branch in a smaller town a few hours south of Seoul.

There, and after renting a small apartment owned by Kim Mi ran, he meets his across-the-hall neighbor, Baek Soo ji.

She recognizes him instantly and is startled to see him again, but it takes a bit longer for Dae young to figure out who she is and why she's behaving so mean.

Soo ji is a freelance writer currently working with the city government on Food aspects of the city and country, where she's hired to put together brochures for the travel industry.

Her boss, Lee Sang woo, is quiet, diligent, and work-absorbed but Soo ji is smitten and can't stop thinking about him.

Hong In ah is his assistant and starts out rather crass, always sneering at and insulting Soo ji while making every attempt to hook up her younger sister with Sang woo.

When Dae young arrives on the scene, Soo ji begins to waver but still has enough resentment inside her to keep her budding feelings at bay.

She enlists Dae young's help in getting Sang woo to notice her, and it takes about half of the 18 episodes for this plan to succeed.

Sang woo eventually falls for Soo ji and they begin dating, but Dae young is also responsible for getting Sang woo to open up, express himself honestly, and let go of some of the stuffy, uppity brainwash he's been practicing since passing the civil service exams.

Aside characters and a suspense plot twist were included in this drama that really revolved around food.

Lee Joo seung is a young runaway pretending to be 30 who falls hard and fast for Hwang Hye rim, a drug store clerk who uses and abuses guys at about the same rate that they use her.

Joo seung is on the run from more than just his parents and is very angry, which equates to his being overly aggressive, and his age equals immaturity to make him a caustic, brooding soul in much need to a good confession.

Lee Jeom yi is the downstairs halmeoni who befriends Joo seung and treats him like her own since she lost her first-born and never fully recovered.

Im Taek soo works with Dae young and is a Father Goose on the verge of losing his family to divorce, so he drinks a lot, broods a lot, and clings to Dae young a lot for solace.

Out of all these characters, though, only one managed to scene-steal.

Happy the Pomeranian

I started out by watching Season 1 but didn't get into it so walked away only to discover this Season 2 version (which seemed the same) just a week later and ended up watching beginning to end without stopping.

As for its being Comedic...

Yes, this had its moments of laughter and I think the whole cast worked well together, were in sync, and gave the impression of not only being relate-able in that setting but also liking one another both on and off-screen.

It became an easy-going romp about a young woman who was fat as a child and therefore lonely and oppressed, afraid to make the first move and still living in the shadow of her former, heavy self.

Dae young treated her kindly back then, until she discovered he was only using her to help his mother make money selling tteokbokki.

But, was there a

SECOND LEAD SYNDROME

Kwon Yool                            Seo Hyun jin                              Yoon Doo joon           

Yes, believe it or not, and no.

Not at first, because I rooted for Soo ji to get with Dae young from the beginning.

However, as Soo ji began to get over the past and start to realize how foolish she'd behaved, I was suddenly pouting at the screen feeling very sorry and anxious for our poor Sang woo.

I like Kwon Yool and think he's a promising young actor who will likely come into his own in about ten years, when he'll be dynamite as the ajusshi in gangster and sinister chaebol dramas.

I just don't LIKE like him the way I so easily do with other, more hunky male stars of the Korean drama ilk.

Even more strange -- there wasn't a whole ton of chemistry going on between Soo ji and Sang woo any more than there was a ton of it going on between her and Dae young.

I just felt that Soo ji and Dae young made the better couple.

THE HEA

It was cute and worth waiting 18 episodes to find out if everything would go as I had hoped.

It was a quiet, slow lead-in to a natural and believable romance, so kudos to the writer for making it that way.

No eye-pop kisses here, folks!