Areugon (Korean Drama) #review

아르곤

Drama -  Argon

Romanization -  Areugon

Writers -  Jeon Young shin, Joo Won kyu, Shin Ha eun

Network -  tvN

Genre -  Drama, Broadcast News

Episodes -  8

Released -  2017, Sept

CAST

Kim Baek jin (Kim Ju hyeok) is a News Anchor, reporter and leader of investigative reporting team Argon. He does not tolerate mistakes and relies only on facts.
6 months before her contract is to end, Lee Yeon hwa (Chun Woo hee) is assigned to work at Argon. She struggles to get a permanent job there as a reporter. Working with Kim Baek jin, she receives strict training and grows as a reporter. ~~AsianWiki (w/edits)

**With all due respect to the late actor, Kim Ju hyeuk, I had no idea he was dead until after I watched this mini-drama and began my research for this review.

If this is supposed to depict the 'day-in-the-life' aspects of a Broadcast News reporter, I am not impressed.

If this is supposed to somehow make me think differently about how News Anchors, Broadcast stations, and the people involved at the top are somehow making things worse for the honest Beat Reporter, it didn't work.

Also, why only 8 episodes and not 10?

It is painfully obvious to the seasoned viewer that the show began with promise, included a ton of background info and build-up to a more intense plot, and then bad news struck the set, so everyone just gave up and ran with it as best they could.

Chun Woo hee stole the show.

Believable start to finish, a natural on-screen and in character, and someone you just want to root for regardless of the script she's been handed.

She's a beautiful woman with loads of talent and should be making a ton more appearances on screen than she seems interested in accepting.

I'd love to see her in more dramas, film, and perhaps a Romantic Comedy, if that is her thing.

Anyway, the gist of Areugon is that young Lee Yeon hwa has struggled to break into the reporting business for a while and has worked at HBC for a few years when she is suddenly reassigned to the Argon team.

As far as the leader of this team is concerned, it just means Miss Lee has been demoted for the last time and has no talent so he isn't interested in wasting his time on her.

Kim Ju hyeok has a delicious voice, so it was a pleasure to get to listen to him speak, even when he was shouting at someone or about something, which he did a lot in this short.

I'm not sure if Kim Baek jin's personal background story was the original plot's intent or if the director decided to go with that once the ratings starting coming in as too low to go, but it was millisecond touched upon at the start and then dropped like a hot potato for a majority of the mere 8 episodes before returning with a vengeance at the very end.

Meanwhile, pretty and intimidated Yeon hwa continues to plod her way along by listening closely to everything going on around her (while no one seems interested in anything she has to say) and just as slowly begins to use her wits and guts to piece together a puzzling issue of corporate greed, betrayal, and even false imprisonment.

These seem to be standard plot devises anymore in a Korean action/thriller piece.

It is always the same story told in a slightly different tone or atmosphere, but the outcome is always the same.

With Argon, it just went really fast and ended too soon to be a really enjoyable show for me.

It is also always disappointing to be tossed a Red Herring in the Romance department.

Dumb me had high hopes that Miss Lee and Kim timjang nim would get together at some point but no, it didn't happen and wasn't going to happen even if Timjang nim Kim said she was pretty and gave her lots of encouragement, opportunities, and special favoritism over the rest of his crew.

Dang it. 😒

I won't say this was awful or not worth watching because it isn't true.

I will, however, say that it was a big disappointment and, as always, I'm confused as to why this didn't do better in the ratings over there... so as to give it a bit more of a chance to take off and fly like it could have done.

As always, I'll let you be the judge.

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Cheese in the Trap

Cheese in the Trap

Hangul: 치즈 인 더 트랩
Writer: Kim Nam hee, Soon Ggi (original comic)
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Release Date: Jan - Mar, 2016

Cast

Plot

Drama depicts the delicate relationship between female university student Hong Seol (Kim Go eun) and her senior, Yoo Jung (Park Hae jin). Hong seol works part-time due to her family's poor background. Yoo Jung is good looking, gets good grades, is athletic and has a kind personality, but he also has a dark side. ~AsianWiki (w/edits)

Review

When I first began watching this one, I was prepared to give it a 5-star rating without hesitation, and as I waited for subsequent episodes to upload, my curiosity got the best of me so I browsed parts of the manhwa this live drama is based on.

Now that it is over, I hesitated to rate this one a 4 or a 5 so settled on 4.5 stars.

I still wonder if I'm being too generous, but I'll stick with my gut reaction, which should never be ignored. Right?

The best part about this drama turned out to be the Score (OST), one with it's nod to The Cure, and a few Korean ballads I'm not familiar with but didn't mind hearing intermittently during these 16 lengthy episodes.

The manhwa was far more explicit than even I cared for so didn't really get into it but am still glad to know and partially understand the huge differences and slight similarities between the two.

Don't think they know what down low actually means!

As always, it's great to see and be able to appreciate something new and refreshingly DIFFERENT in a Korean drama, and Cheese definitely fulfilled that need.

Yet it also remained true to the formulaic Cinderella theme of two hot guys (only one wealthy, though) going after the mousy poor chick.

I think a majority of the actors did a good job, and the aside characters didn't overpower or overshadow the real plot in any way.

Second Lead Syndrome

My personal favorite was Seo Kang joon as Baek In ho -- the guy I wanted to see end up with Kim Go eun's Hong Seol (the Cheese).

Seo Kang joon as Baek In ho

What I Didn't Like

She chose the wrong dude (big surprise) and went for the wealthy Ken doll instead of the hot, more appealing, and better personality dude.

She also kept unabashedly apologizing to us for it throughout the show, which became annoying around episode six and unforgivable thereafter.

At the start, I liked Lee Sung kyung's Baek In ha character, but after about five episodes, it wasn't funny anymore and her contorted facial expressions, over-the-top maneuvers, AND voice tone/inflection became irritating.

And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Kim Go eun is an okay actress and I like her hair, but not her style or her flat-line approach to people, things, and life in general. Very boring.

Why this one didn't receive a 5-star review from me had everything to do with the message being conveyed.

Manipulation is the element, and in Korea, being rich or poor has everything to do with whether one can get away with it.

Sure, the script writer did attempt to clear it all up in the 11th hour final scenes, but by then it was far too late for me to accept.

By the time we are privy to their story, the stage has long ago been set and the personality quirks are fully embedded, so our reactions to these people are unfair because we're being manipulated as well.

Park Hae jin's Yoo jung being manipulated by his powerful father, who mistakenly attempts to help his son by manipulating his son's best friend and that guy's older sister, narcissistic In ha. They manipulate one another and later anyone they encounter.

The college students manipulated their way through two semesters. Which didn't coincide with Hong Seol's attitude towards them compared with, say, her attitude toward her rich boyfriend whenever he pulled off the same or similar stunts.

While Yoo jung continued to manipulate and destroy throughout the show, Hong seol witnessed, second-guessed, doubted, denied, accepted, and apologized for it again and again and again.

She still liked him and made lame excuses for him and her reasons for sticking with him, but that same reasoning wasn't there for anyone else including the stalker dude (who, by the way, nearly stole the show).

I never saw a single reason for In ho's blame or need to suffer as much as he did, and at the end of the day, he'd never done anything to warrant Yoo jung's manipulative vengeance.

There were numerous instances when Yoo jung reminded him (and us) about a mistaken notion incident from their past, which both boys misconstrued, though I doubt In ho was wrong and Yoo jung was right.

But! Because Yoo jung is rich and In ho is poor, we must accept In ho's plight and Yoo jung's indiscretion.

Right?

The subs were pretty decent, but there were a few times near the beginning of this show where I had to stop and capture them for your reading pleasure.

exactly

on the right side of my FB wall

One conundrum that occurred about halfway through the sixteen episodes was when In ho sees his old piano teacher being interviewed on television.

Nothing wrong with that except that In ho is standing outside of a convenience store staring at the television screen through the plate glass window, and he is able to hear everything being broadcast.

Outside the store.

In the rain.

sorry, screwed this one up

The climax was somewhat riveting even if it was just a grander scale of manipulation than anything we'd seen previously.

Still, I enjoyed this one a great deal more than it might sound based on this review.

The refreshing change and off-beat writing style appealed to me and kept me hooked for the duration, which is always a delight to encounter.

If this had gone on for more than the sixteen episodes, though, I might have had to deduct that half star.

The Yeppeun

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Missing Korea

미싱코리아 (mi-sing-ko-ri-a)

Screenplay: Kim Yeong-eon (김경언), Kwon Sang-hee (권상희)
KBS Mini-Drama
Aired 2015, Nov
Episodes - 6
Genre: Aspiration, Pageantry

Cast

Synopsis

This drama establishes a hypothetical situation that the relationship between South and North Korea thaws in 2020 -- five years from now.  And a Miss Korea pageant with contestants from South and North Korea is held under the circumstances. ~KBSWorld (with edits)

Review

I liked it.

And, if it is true that they run these mini dramas as a way to gauge potential interest in a full-fledged 16 or 20 episode drama, then this should be a winner in that contest.

However, when researching Missing Korea for this blog, I found the following on IMDb :

Miss Korea

South Korean television series

Miss Korea is a South Korean television series starring Lee Sun-kyun, Lee Yeon-hee, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Sung-min, Song Seon-mi, and Lee Ki-woo. Wikipedia

First episode date: December 18, 2013

Final episode date: February 26, 2014

Network: Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

Number of seasons: 1

Number of episodes: 20

The information is completely different, but the images that accompany the above bit of news were all of the Missing Korea mini-series.

The six shorts depicted three young ladies from North Korea who work at a work house, and they got drunk one night, boarded a parked bus thinking it was the camp's bus, and fell asleep due to their having imbibed.

By the time they awaken, it is too late and the bus has delivered them to a South Korean hall where the rest of the contestants in a North-South Beauty Pageant are stationed for the up-coming contest.

It's funny, it's a refreshing concept, and despite the hints of Cinderella-isms involved, it isn't overdone and neither are any of the catty bitch instances that are standard issue when a group of Korean women are thrown together for anything at all.

The leading man, Kim Jeong hoon, is dough-boy and boy next door, but he is a good actor and sings well, too.

There was no time for a relationship between him and the leading lady to really take off or actually go anywhere since they're from two distinct 'nations' as it were.

But if this ends up becoming full-fledged, I can see where the writers would have some fun working out the kinks in such a relationship.

There was some chemistry going on, but again, it is too short a duration to really gauge how well these two work together or mesh decently in order to make that kind of a call.

And, like always, I had to wonder who made the decision to cast the three ladies as ug, ugl, and ugly.

Ug being the least.

My personal taste said that the tall, thin one with long dark hair was far more appealing than the girl the writers chose to play the lead.

the one in the middle

Anyway, it would be nice to see this drawn out and played up because it'd be a bit fun to understand and view the inner workings of a Miss Korea pageant, and to watch as the three of them slowly but surely transform from hum-drum to wow over time.

That didn't occur here, except to see the gal on the far left (above) have her moment in the sun on stage.

Human nature insists that it would be far more interesting to watch the gal in the specs transform, right?

A funny thing about these mini series is that for years I (and likely others) wanted the folks over in Hallyu la-la land to cut to the chase and stop forcing us to watch episode after dragged-out episode of the same thing before ever reaching a climax (that usually fizzled and died instead of grabbing us by the throat and shaking us senseless -- the way a good story should).

And yet every once in awhile, when something like this comes along, I wish it was for a little while longer.

One aside.

The guy who played the nosy reporter, who kept accepting leaked information as gospel only to come out looking like a fool?

Dead ringer for Gomez Addams if KBS ever decides to do a re-make of the original Addams Family.

Or maybe a remake of the Pink Panther series as Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau

 If you missed Missing Korea, give it a chance and let me know what you think.

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Shoot Me in the Heart

Movie: Shoot Me in the Heart (literal)
Hangul: 내 심장을 쏴라
Novel: Nae Simjangeul Sswara by Jung Yoo jung
Genre: Mental Illness, Human Interest
Release Date: Jan, 2015
Runtime: 102 min.
Distributor: Little Big Pictures

Cast

Plot

Set at a psychiatric hospital. Soo myung's guilt over his mother's suicide causes him to suffer from schizophrenia. He meets Seung min, who is forcibly hospitalized by his wealthy family's inheritance fight. Dreaming of getting out of the hospital, Seung min constantly tries to escape, and Soo myung begins to follow. ~ AsiaWiki (with changes)

Review

This was a good one.

Simple yet elegant in its portrayal of two patients at a psychiatric hospital reminiscent of 1950's America, which gave the backdrop a little bit of a chilly, Cuckoo's Nest feeling.

But, this wasn't about psychiatry from the Seoul perspective and didn't go into analytical details about the system or its current plight.

What it did do was tell us a story about two young men caught in dire circumstances who end up in a psychiatric hospital for two separate reasons.

We are introduced to a lot of fellow inmates and learn a few of their sad stories, and the supporting cast were marvelous.

Still, the two male leads are the main focus throughout, which is much appreciated by the viewer.

Funny, terrifying, and thought provoking scenes littered this tale, but none of it detracted from the premise, which is to discover why these two are there and how or if they plan to break free.

The soundtrack was wonderful.

Looks like Lee Min ki is out of the military now, and while he appeared beefed up and masculine in the 2013 movie, Monster, in this one he appears to be a tad on the gaunt side, but no less sexy.

Yeo Jin goo did a great job portraying a young man lost inside his own world of self-doubt and horror after discovering his mother's lifeless body at a tender age.

He's got a sexy voice, and I adored him with his long hairstyle, but in the end, it is replaced with a modern shave.

As someone on the outside looking in, I find it incredibly difficult to understand how Korean movies can be this far removed from their drama counterparts.

Perhaps their cable and local channels never run movies, and therefore it is safer to show real life, reality-based themes, and sexual content in a movie?

The two are like night and day content-wise, and I often wonder why they never at least mix it up a bit and add some spice to their dramas or a little cutesy to their movies.

Since I started watching their stuff back in early 2000, I've liked both but will easily tire of the drama fluff and so switch over to their movies for a time -- just to get some balance and perspective on what is real and what is make-believe over there.

I still prefer their dramas but adore their movies and wish our Hollywood was more like this and then I might be more interested in going to the theater.

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Answer Me 1988

Romanization: Eungdabhara 1988
Hangul: 응답하라 1988
Genre: Nostalgia, Romance, Human Interest
Network: tvN
Episodes: 20
Release Date: Nov 2015 - Jan 2016

Cast

Plot

In 1988, Duk sun (Hyeri), Jung hwan (Ryoo Joon yeol), Sun woo (Ko Gyung pyo) and Dong ryong (Lee Dong hwi) are high school students and Taek (Park Bo gum) plays Go. These five have been friends since they were little and grew up together in the same neighborhood. Their families are also very close. They hang out inside Taek's room and spend time together. ~~DramaWiki

Review

Just finished watching the last as-it-was-uploaded episode today (1-22) and have to say I'm disappointed with the outcome . . . again.

For those of you who might be new to the Answer Me series, this is the 3rd installment, and the plot description above doesn't do this series much justice.

The Answer Me (or Reply) series take us back in time and show us what life was like in South Korea at that time (1997, July of 2012, 1994 in 2013, and 1988 in 2015).

It introduces us to the main characters -- youths who are close friends -- and we then watch episode after episode as they grow, learn, experience life and first loves, and with the whole thing culminating in a surprise ending of sorts when we at last learn who it is the girl has chosen from among those boys to be her husband.

This occurs with infrequent 'interviews' with the cast as modern-day adults being asked about their past and how they came to be united.

So far, I have to say that 1997 was the best of the three, and with 1988 coming in a super-close second, followed by 1994, which was just as great a watch with terrific story line and characters, but with a very disappointing outcome.

I'm sure a majority of the fans of this series will disagree with me about 1988's final decision from Duk sun, but I didn't care for Taek as much as I did Jung hwan.

Plus, that Jung hwan's character just kind of fell off the side of the earth towards the end bugs me, too.

He just did more to show her he cared even when he wasn't able to be as vocal as he was hands-on.

I suppose that was meant to throw us off and keep us guessing for a majority of the show, but it still doesn't change the fact that he would have made a far better husband/lover than the Go dude.

Taek as an adult in 2016 was far more attractive and interesting than he was as a comatose young one surrounded by four very spastic, emotionally charged kids at or near his age.

The best part about this series is the nostalgia factor, and according to sources at Wiki, the writers and set designers are pretty darn accurate in their recreation of popular events, things, styles, slang, and music.

Scene stealers included Duk son's older sister, Sung Bo ra (Ryoo Hye young) as a terrifying college attendee who participates in rallies and protests, and naturally bullies the younger kids on the block as well as her two younger siblings.

The appah, who also starred as the appah in 1994

and the three omanee's who were just as close friends as their children turned out to be while living in close proximity to one another in this old neighborhood.

Jung hwa's appah was ridiculous most of the time and yet he managed to capture my interest in no time and make me laugh.

A real dork with zero fashion sense or class, but who remained true to himself, his domineering wife, and to his two sons as well as to his friends and their children.

I grew to like Kim Sung kyun despite his weirdness.

1988 was also probably the funniest of the three so far, too.

All three shows employ the intermittent sheep baa  whenever someone says, does, or looks stupid, and for me, it'll never get old. 

I end up giggling every time.

The one who tended to put the most effort into his roll as the abused misfit of the troupe was also the most fun to watch and even root for on occasion.

Lee Dong hwi as Dong ryong

There wasn't too much in the way of current events going on in 1988 Seoul to make this one a tear jerker the way that 1994 turned out to be, but 1988 managed to work in some at-the-time stuff that proved interesting as well as confusing.

Koreans who share the same last name weren't permitted to obtain a marriage license.

Wouldn't a simple blood test have worked to erase any doubt?

Taek never went to school. He remained a champion Go player, Dan-6 to Dan-9, and never attended school. 

Not sure if the laws have changed in that regard, but that one floored me.

Jung hwan's older brother had a heart condition that required a pacemaker, and yet he spent a majority of the show wolfing down sugar and vegging inside his bedroom.

The only real issue I ever have with the Answer Me series is the annoying fact that they always blur the television highlights.

I'm sure there is something legal in that decision, but it is still frustrating since I'm not knowledgeable about the original shows, their stars, or what all of the hype was about at the time and would really like to be able to see for myself but can't.

Good one, recommended, and if you're new, start at the beginning and work your way up to this one before the next Answer Me airs.

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