#toke2

The distinction between those two pairs of shows for me is that the first two were fun to watch and I really enjoyed them, I thought that objectively they didn’t really have as much going for them in terms of plot and production value as shows I have rated higher. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend these as great dramas even though I personally did really enjoy watching them. 

On the other hand, the latter pair of shows were really just kinda... meh. I didn’t hate them, but I wasn’t invested in the main characters, and had I been short on time or really busy, I would probably have dropped them altogether. Again, I didn’t think they were bad shows, but they’re not shows I really cared very much about on the whole. There were definitely still aspects I felt strongly about, like Lee Sung Jae’s romance in Warm and Cozy, but not enough to redeem the entire drama in my eyes. If they made an entire show about that couple, I would be on it in a heartbeat, but as it stands? Ehhh, not so much. 

Lookout definitely falls into the second category. I cared about certain characters, yes, but I honestly think if you ask me two months from now, I won’t be able to remember much about any of them. It did introduce me to some actors that I’ll be keeping an eye out for when I pick up shows in the future, but it also cemented for me that I don’t want to spend any more time giving shows a chance when they have actors in them that I just can’t get. I think I’ve tried enough times now to say honestly that some actors’ work just doesn’t cut it for me. It always ends up being an internal debate over “is it the character, is it the writing, would I love it if it were done by another actor, etc etc etc”, and really it’s all so pointless and unsolvable. At the end of the day, there are so many dramas coming out all the time, so why waste time struggling through something that I already have a preconceived bias against, you know? If nothing else, that was a major learning point for me on the personal front through this exercise.

I maintain though that the show had so much potential! The chemistry between the cast was great, there were some moments of brilliant acting and writing, and some really interesting plot points just waiting to be developed. I wish the focus had been on some of those things instead.

This all really came to a head in the last few episodes. The last big climax is all about Se Won and Shi Wan, and we hardly see these two throughout the show. I know it’s made very clear early on that Shi Wan especially has a big role to play in our story, but it just felt like the story went:

struggle struggle struggle to bring Yoon Seung Ro to justice

get foiled by his baddy badness at every other turn

finally one up him

get foiled again!

one up him again!

get foiled again!

one up him again!

oh shiiiit we actually did it, he’s been arrested! that was slightly anticlimactic...

oh but surprise! The thing that takes us all down again this time is his son! Who we knew was a bit dodgy, and had been keeping our eyes on, but somehow we can’t figure out what he was up to in spite of all our combined efforts.

I mean... come on now. It just felt so rushed. If they had wanted this to be a big focus, they could easily have worked it in more consistently throughout the episodes, instead of rushing everything in right at the end. Building that relationship of him preying on Se Won, showing us how she’s not getting the attention she craves at home, hell, even just showing us boss-lady having to rush away from her daughter more often would all have helped so much, and could easily have been done. Especially given the half hour episode format of the show, they could have done something fun like dedicate one half hour to the family lives of the different characters, and the other half to politics, or some other sort of dichotomy to add a little balance and make this whole plot point feel less like it came out of left field.

I got extra annoyed by this since the show spent so much time dragging out elements that made zero sense to me. Like this whole “Hi I’m Do Han and I watched a little girl die I am such a terrible human being and as guilty as the murderer” thing. Uhmmmm, no honey. Firstly you could not have known he was going to push her off the building. And even if you didn’t help her as much as you could have, you didn’t kill her. The show not making this distinction actually acutely annoyed me. I’m not saying he was perfect, because obviously that’s a big fuck up on his part, and I understand him harbouring that guilt, but the back and forth discourse about it just made no sense to me, and seemed like such a waste of screen time. 

Maybe I lack the mothering instincts required to fully empathize with Soo Ji? I have literally seen on my dashboard people posting about how she’s one of their favourite kdrama characters of all time and I just don’t get it! Why?! As far as I can see, she’s so one-dimensional. I’ve mentioned this in an earlier post, but there is so much to explore there - her drive to be a good detective versus her guilt at not being around enough for her daughter, her responsibility as a single mother, whether she is resentful for how having a child has been a set back in her career... and then when Yu Na dies, the guilt of all those feelings could have been such a good story focus, but instead, it’s just “revenge revenge revenge”. 

Other things that I loved - the relationship between Do Han and the not-fake priest. We see the smallest glimpses of that complexity, where the priest is gently watching over his mother’s killer, where he becomes a willing accomplice to fraud, where he lets Do Han take his identity - where was that back story? Where was the scene where Do Han convinces him to agree to a plot that will clear his own mother’s murderer’s name? If someone hurt my mom I would not be able to empathize with their child. Yet they still have a brotherly bond. Where is that story?!

The big step that finally takes Yoon Seung Ro down is Prosecutor Kim betraying his own father. We get this big spiel about him being a stickler for rules and believing in the law, and he makes this huge move of choosing the law over his own father, after he claims to be Soo Ji’s informant because he’s given up on getting things done his way.... so has he reclaimed his faith in the system? Why didn’t I get to see more of his dad being his role model, and the struggle he went through to make that choice?

Even When Shi Wan’s mom finally does the right thing and turns her son in, we get a thirty second montage of him as a baby, and then she goes running to her husband in jail whining about how she’s to be pitied in all of this. That struggle of knowing your husband and child are psychopaths, and wanting to love them and protect them versus getting them the help they need or even just exploring the idea of saving face... nothing. We get none of that. 

And I’m just scratching the surface here. There was so much in this universe to be explored. Instead of going in circles plot-wise they could have cast a wider net and shown a richer, deeper portrayal of human relationships and psyche, but no. It boils down to just another story of corrupt individuals and revenge. And that’s what really upsets me. 

To top it all off, that ending was one of the worst I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. It was not even a proper ending, like what the hell was that? What was the whole deal with the detectives and the lawyer talking about the vigilantes? Is that supposed to be a set up for a possible season two? Because you don’t bring the corrupt detective back from the dead just to then kill off my favourite character, so I’m assuming Do Han isn’t actually dead... but again, such a mess of an ending that I don’t really know. I mean I legitimately would not have been surprised if they turned around at some point and went “Oh and look, Yu Na’s actually been alive this whole time as well, haha!”

This is turning into an extremely lengthy essay, so I’ll add on a couple of last quick points:

I know the whole “girrrrl you thought! But check out my Plan B!” cliche is so overdone in con movies and heist movies and things like that, but I actually love it to death. I binge watched BBC’s Hustle, and that is basically just episode after episode of this trope in particular. And I love it. Loveeeee ittt.

If they had gone a little more along the 38 Task Force route, and mixed it up with more side missions of conning people/bringing people to justice, with that overarching revenge factor still playing into it, I would have had so many fewer complaints. I get that maybe that’s not the kinda show they wanted to do, but.... I wish they had. And that’s just me.

I did appreciate the little nod towards the end at how much potential the relationship between Prosecutor Kim and Do Han had. 

And I definitely appreciated these two. 

I guess it’s pretty obvious that this show wasn’t the biggest hit for me - but, I’m still grateful for the person who recommended this, because I’d been on the fence about watching it and this was the perfect boost to make me pick it up at last. I can only assume it was recommended for Soo Ji, and I’ve made no pretense about liking her, but I’m able to appreciate the many other good qualities the show has apart from her, even while lamenting how they don’t play into my own personal preferences in a drama.

I’m definitely glad I took part in this round of TOKE, and I’ve learnt a surprising amount from this exercise about myself as a drama watcher - about learning to let some dramas go, no matter how promising a premise they may have, about balancing my drama watching time with my real life schedule (hah, balance my ass), and, if not already evident by this extremely lengthy post, I’ve clearly got my commentary writing mojo back, which is a relief. 

Over the last four episodes our heroine has shown some epic growth. She is no longer going to university to match the level of her husband, but for herself. I for one am glad to see her letting go of any attachment to her husband, especially now she knows that he has another woman.

While this drama exchange is all about our female characters, and while I do really like No Ra as a character. The character I probably like the most and sometimes the least, is our romantic lead, the epically hot and cold Cha Hyun Suk. He can be pretty frustrating as he is flip flops between treating No Ra really well and then switching to a complete douche canoe. He’s a very immature love interest and maybe not worthy of our girl. Out of the four main characters he is the one who knows everything and like the brat that he is he brings out his worst on all of the characters. I really am enjoying watching him play with Professor Kim and Yi Jin. Hopefully from now on he’ll be on good behaviour towards No Ra but only time will tell.

A couple of secrets have been revealed but quite a few remain. Gladly the cancer didn’t play out for too long and No Ra found out about her husband’s infidelity, although she doesn’t know who the other woman is or when things started.

I really hope they don’t push for a love triangle between No Ra, Hyun Suk and Sang Ye. When the friend mentioned she had drunkenly admitted to liking her boss I screamed internally, “nooooooooo!”. It’s a rom-com so they probably will but it doesn’t really need any extra tension, especially when her husband will probably want No Ra back at some point.

Min Soo is finally starting to realise his Mum is actually kind of cool. Although he still doesn’t really understand or appreciate her. The more he likes her, the more I warm to his character. I hope in the end he chooses her over his Dad when he finds out about the divorce. I wonder how he will react to her performance - pride or embarrassment.

The thing I enjoy most about this drama is the characters silly antics, the little adventures they go on. I really loved the scenes of the friends fulfilling No Ra’s bucket list items of visiting her high school and when No Ra and friends went to play a trick on the boss who wouldn’t pay up.  

And finally, my haiku -

Answer six questions

Who, What, Where, When, How and Why

I honestly don’t know what to say besides this show oozes quality. I’m already on edge for In Yeop’s character development as she’s thrown from her position as a noble into the depths of slavery, and interested to see whether the show will be as I expected, or whether those expectations will be exceeded. As it stands, seeing how she deals with the fact that her family isn’t in good standing is just as fascinating.

I especially loved the kitchen scenes that gave so much background information on the characters while stating almost nothing explicitly. This drama does a great job at highlighting the fickleness of aristocratic social events and the people involved, as well as the casual disregard and even disdain society has toward their servants, without being as brutally straightforward about it as other shows addressing this matter (Chuno, Rebel, etc.)

Cast wise, this drama is in good hands, with Jeong Yu Mi, Jeon Mi Seon, Kim Gap Su, Park Cheol Min, Lee Chae Young, Lee El, Jeon No Min and Oh Ji Ho, I’m not worried at all about acting skills. What I am worried about though, is how the story and production in general was affected after the horrific fire that killed one of the show’s scriptwriters.

With that in mind, here are my predictions (you’re free to refute them if you like, I don’t mind knowing what happens next)

When In Yeop becomes a slave, she’s gonna be Yun Ok’s slave

We’re gonna have to put up with Eun Gi internally debating whether he should treat In Yeop as a person because of her status at first