Thoughts on Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang, or…And They Called it Puppy Propriety

In Unexpected You, there’s a scene where I-Sook is swinging on a swing in a playground and Jae-Yong sees her and wonders aloud “Who does she think she is? Choon-Hyang?” I didn’t get the reference, of course, not being Korean and all, so I turned to the internet for answers. I found out that Choon-Hyang was an old Korean folk tale, in which a woman named Choon-Hyang is discovered by a man who falls in love with her when he sees her swinging on a swing. In the process of discovering that information I also found out about this drama, which is supposed to be a modern adaptation of the old folk tale. Since it was stuck in my brain and I needed a new drama to watch, I figured I’d just watch it and satiate my curiosity.

I’ll say right up front that my expectations for this drama weren’t very high. I’d never heard of it anywhere besides my own internet surfing, so it doesn’t seem to carry any popular reputation. If you’re expecting a bad review though, you may be surprised.

Plot

Sung Choon-Hyang is a popular girl at her high school in Namwon, a small town out in the country. Lee Mong-Ryong is the troublemaking son of a police chief in Seoul who gets transferred to Namwon. When the two first encounter each other, they have a disagreement that leads Choon-Hyang to destroy Mong-Ryong’s cell phone. Choon-Hyang gets the phone fixed, but the teenagers remain at odds with each other.

Mong-Ryong becomes friends with Ji-Hyeok, a guy who’s been Choon-Hyang’s friend since childhood, and who’s also in love with Choon-Hyang’s best friend, Dan-Hee. One night, when Choon-Hyang is sick and her mother is out of town, Dan-Hee goes over to Choon-Hyang’s house to take care of her. Ji-Hyeok, wanting to spend time with his friends, also goes over to Choon-Hyang’s and brings Mong-Ryong with him. While Dan-Hee and Ji-Hyeok are playing games, Mong-Ryong accidentally drinks a bottle of homemade wine, thinking it to be regular juice. He passes out drunk outside the house, and when Dan-Hee and Ji-Hyeok get ready to leave, they don’t see him and assume he left on his own. In the middle of the night Mong-Ryong wakes up and staggers back inside the house, where he falls back asleep next to Choon-Hyang. In the morning, everyone (including Choon-Hyang and Mong-Ryong) is shocked at what they find.

Nothing happened between them, of course, but that doesn’t stop rumors from spreading about the situation. Eventually the parents decide that Choon-Hyang and Mong-Ryong should be married, in order to maintain an image of propriety. Not only that, but Mong-Ryong’s father thinks Choon-Hyang will be a steadying influence on his son, and Choon-Hyang’s mother thinks marrying will be a good way for her daughter to escape the poverty she grew up in. The two become friendly with each other after living together, but they remain separated romantically.

Mong-Ryong has an older female friend named Chae-Rin. She always saw him as a younger brother, but he always loved her. Chae-Rin originally rejects Mong-Ryong’s feelings for her when he confesses them, but after her boyfriend dumps her, she starts to see Mong-Ryong as a man she could love. When Chae-Rin comes to Namwon to work with a film crew, she becomes an impediment to the married couple’s romantic development. Similarly, Choon-Hyang catches the eye of Byeon Hak-Do, president of a large entertainment company. Byeon repeatedly tries to woo Choon-Hyang, but she never makes any commitment to him, due to her being married. The more rejection he faces, the more obsessive Byeon becomes.

Choon-Hyang and Mong-Ryong go through several trials throughout their relationship, uncertain at times whether they love each other or are simply duty-bound to each other, but they can never seem to remain apart for too long.

Writing and Acting

Since this story is supposed to be a modern-day adaptation of an old Korean tale, some aspects of it seemed a little awkward to me. I thought it was a tad strange for Mr. Byeon to fall in love with a girl while she was in high school, although he didn’t make any overt attempts at a relationship until after she graduated.

The ending was once again well-done. After the first four dramas I watched all ended a bit awkwardly, I began to assume that it was just how these Korean dramas rolled, but I’ve seen plenty of good ones since then.

The acting generally wasn’t Oscar-worthy, but since a lot of this drama was very cartoonishly stylized, I don’t think it was intended to be. In the scenes where full seriousness was called for, the actors usually managed to do their jobs effectively.

Music

There was a surprising amount of Western music in this one. Besides the soundtrack songs (songs that were specifically made as themes for this drama), there was very little Korean-language music. Here are the non-soundtrack songs I could identify.

George Michael – Faith
김추자 – 월남에서 돌아온 김상사 (It actually sounded like a remake, not the original, but that’s what Shazam gave me. Maybe 김추자 did a remake album or something.)
Blink – Kiss Me
동물원 – 널 사랑하겠어 (just like in Protect the Boss, the characters sang this song)
임상아 – 뮤지컬
Killing Me Softly (sung by an aspiring entertainer at an audition)
Bob Marley – One Love
Des’Ree – I’m Kissing You
Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby
“엉덩이” (This was some techno dance song that played in a club. Judging by the title, it was telling people to shake their butts.)
The Free Design – California Dreaming
Average White Band – Pick Up the Pieces
McFly – Five Colours in Her Hair
*NSync – Pop
Chingy feat. Nate Dogg & I-20 – I Like That
Nancy Sinatra – Sugar Town
Janet Jackson – I Want You
N*E*R*D – Wonderful Place
Frank Sinatra – My Way
The Wurzels – I Am a Cider Drinker (an instrumental version, but I recognized the melody)
Sam Brown – Stop
B.J. Thomas – Hooked on a Feeling
진혜림 – Lover’s Concerto
C21 – All that I Want
Doris Day – Que Sera Sera
Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman (set to a montage of a woman trying on clothes, again)
The Nolans – Sexy Music
Jean – Over Me
The Shadows – Dance On
The Shadows – F.B.I.
Gerry & the Pacemakers – How Do You Do It?
B.T. Express – Do It (Til You’re Satisfied)
The Knack – My Sharona
Ashlee Simpson – Pieces of Me

The theme song was a bit punk-rocky. It was kind of cool.

There was a trot song that sounded familiar sung by Choon-Hyang’s mother in a cabaret, but many trot songs sound similar. I’m not sure what it was.

I was disappointed that they didn’t work in “Wake Up Little Susie” somehow, given the plot.

English

Here are the English words and phrases I caught that I don’t offhand recall hearing in previous dramas or happen to know are usually used in Korea.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” spectacular, digital camera, tough guy, go stop, alibi, Viking, apostrophe, belly dance, ink, business, scale, ski, design, accessory, romantic comedy, study, copy, jogging, pendant, steak, morning coffee, lobby, shuttle bus, camera test, mascara, love story, box, mystery, “excuse me,” talent.

Hey, I Know That Person

I’ve decided it’s time for a new category in these recaps. Since I always make note of actors and actresses I’ve seen in previous dramas, why not include them all in one section? There were four in this one, and another possibility I’m not sure of.

I was aware before I watched it, but one of the “three dads” from Three Dads, One Mom played Mong-Ryong. I think I liked him better here than I did in TDOM.

The actress who played Dan-Hee was a friend of the title character in Hwang Jin-Yi. Because this drama was based on an old folk tale, each episode ended with a short comedic segment that took place in ancient Korea and featured the main actors in their historical roles. When Dan-Hee appeared in one, she looked the same as I was used to seeing her.

The mayor from Beethoven Virus played a high school teacher here.

Choon-Hyang’s mother was in Protect the Boss as the mother of Na-Yoon, and her acting is just as hammy here as it was there. According to her credits, she was also in Lovers in Paris as the wife that Tae-Young was hired to impress. That was a fairly small role, so I don’t remember her from it, which must be why I didn’t note that in my recap of Protect the Boss. I actually didn’t recognize her here at first, because she wasn’t as heavily made-up for this role.

As I said before, there’s another one I’m unsure of. In Lovers in Paris there was a company lawyer whose face stuck with me somewhat, despite his only making a few brief appearances. In this one I saw a guy whose face made me think of that lawyer, though it was only a small role here too. The credits I can find don’t list the actor either time. Was it the same guy? I might have to rewatch both dramas to be sure, and I’m not going to do that right now.

Other Observations

I thought Ji-Heon’s father in Protect the Boss was the most hot-tempered character I’d ever seen, but Mong-Ryong’s father here makes him look mellow. He flies into a violent rage anytime his son is even suspected of doing anything he doesn’t like, though he softens a bit over the course of the series.

There’s a scene where Mong-Ryong is supposed to be playing the piano, but he clearly isn’t pressing the keys. Couldn’t they have at least made it look real?

As you might know, plastic surgery is very common in Korea, particularly among entertainers. I couldn’t help but think of that fact at those moments when Choon-Hyang was at an angle where her features looked almost Caucasian.

I think Ji-Hyeok was my favorite character. He seemed like a good guy who wanted to do whatever he could to help his friends, and he really cared about people. His romance with Dan-Hee interested me too, because for the first half of the series he was the good guy who couldn’t get the girl. Not that I can relate to that or anything…

It drove me nuts that when Mong-Ryong was in college they frequently showed him skipping his classes. Considering how hard he worked to get in, I felt like he was going to flunk out. Of course, he buckles down and does a good job eventually, but early on it’s not so clear he’s going to make it.

Choon-Hyang’s mother was pretty dumb. It was hard to believe her daughter turned out so well considering who raised her. She just disappears in the middle of the drama too. The last we hear of her is that she swindled a woman out of her money, but there never seems to be any reunion between mother and daughter. Wouldn’t you think Choon-Hyang would care about finding her, since that was the only parent she had growing up?

Final Thoughts

As I said earlier, I didn’t expect a whole lot from this drama. In fact, I was fully prepared for it to be crappy. I’m happy to report though, that it exceeded my expectations. While I’m not going to rank it as one of my favorites, I certainly found it enjoyable. Some of the drawn-out love rectangle stuff occasionally bored me, but it didn’t make me want to shoot myself like Protect the Boss did. Unlike that drama, I actually felt some sense of connection to the characters, and as another bonus, this one was much funnier.

I know I liked it better than Hwang Jin-Yi, and I know I laughed harder at Three Dads, One Mom, so the question is how I liked it as compared to Lovers in Paris. It’s a tough call, since I watched Lovers in Paris two years ago now, and this one is obviously fresher in my memory. I don’t want to fall into the trap of overrating things simply because they’re more recent.

So let’s see. Which one was funnier? Lovers in Paris had its humorous moments, but it was less comedically-oriented than this one was, so I’d say Choon-Hyang wins.

Which one touched my emotions more? Well, I don’t recall tearing up for either of them, but I remember having a big smile on my face at the ending of Choon-Hyang. The ending of Lovers in Paris was confusing, and while nice, I didn’t really feel gripped by it. I’ll give the edge to Choon-Hyang again.

Which one had better writing? I’d say Choon-Hyang again, since the story flowed better and made it to the end without feeling like it had been thrown off course at some point.

Which one had better music? Well, I might give a slight edge to Lovers in Paris, thanks to the great song “Romantic Love.”

Which one had a prettier female lead? I’m going with Lovers in Paris again.

Which one had better production values? Probably Choon-Hyang.

You know what? I think I’m going to rank Choon-Hyang above Lovers in Paris.

So here’s my list now:

      1.       Beethoven Virus (5)

      2.       City Hunter (7)

      3.       49 Days (9)

      4.       Unexpected You (4)

      5.       Three Dads, One Mom (2)

      6.       Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang (10)

      7.       Lovers in Paris (1)

      8.       Hwang Jin-Yi (6)

      9.       Spring Day (3)

      10.   Protect the Boss (8)

If we divided this list into tiers, I’d say 1-3 are ones I’d recommend to anybody, 4-8 are ones I’d recommend depending on what the person likes, and 9 and 10 are ones I’d recommend skipping. Just my opinion, of course. You can take it or leave it.

Thoughts on 49 Days, or…A Beautiful Melodrama

Another drama is in the books! It seems like I’ve been alternating between ones I like a lot and ones I don’t care for all that much lately. After the excruciatingly un-compelling Protect the Boss, this one really kept me interested, and even moved me emotionally. I’m really glad that a friend of mine recommended it to me. The title is 49 Days because, well…you’ll see if you read the plot description below.

Plot

(Is a spoiler alert necessary? I guess I’ll slap one of those bad boys on here just in case.)

At first we’re introduced to Shin Ji-Hyeon, a sweet but naïve rich girl who seems to have everything she could ever want in life. Besides being well off financially, she has two close girlfriends, In-Jeong and Seo-Woo, and a fiancée, Min-Ho, whom she’s going to marry in a week. Min-Ho also has a friend named Gang, whom he met when he was studying abroad, who now owns a restaurant in Korea. Gang was a classmate of Ji-Hyeon’s when they were in high school, but the two always had sort of a love-hate relationship.

We’re also introduced to Song Yi-Gyeong, a woman who lives in a shabby apartment and works the night shift at a convenience store. Yi-Gyeong has been going through life as a zombie for the past five years, because her boyfriend died in a motorcycle accident and she’s been despondent ever since.

One day, Yi-Gyeong travels to the spot where her boyfriend died and decides to commit suicide by walking into traffic. Her life is saved, however, when someone pulls her to safety just before a truck hits her. Unfortunately, the driver collides with another car in an attempt to avoid hitting her, which causes a huge accident on the highway. Ji-Hyeon happens to be driving just behind this pileup, and when she’s momentarily distracted, she ends up crashing into the back of a truck.

Ji-Hyeon believes herself to have been thrown through the windshield, but when she gets up off the ground and starts walking around, she sees that her body is still in the car, and realizes that her soul is now separated from her body. Her body is rushed to the hospital, where it’s revealed that she’s in a brain-dead coma.

As her soul is walking around, she meets another soul who calls himself the Scheduler. The Scheduler appears as a sarcastic, perpetually exasperated young man, and he explains that everyone has a time when they’re scheduled to die, and his job is then to escort people to the afterlife. However, sometimes accidents happen, and people’s bodies die before their scheduled time, which is what happened to Ji-Hyeon. He gives Ji-Hyeon two options: She can either choose to die right now, or she can get a second chance at life if she completes a mission.

Ji-Hyeon, as you’d expect, chooses to try for a second chance at life. What’s the mission? She has 49 days to collect three tears. They can’t be just any tears though. They must be tears of sincere love for her, and the tears can’t come from parents or siblings, since those people love her unconditionally. Ji-Hyeon assumes it’ll be an easy task, since she has so many friends who certainly must love her sincerely, but as the Scheduler tells her, human emotions are often much more complex than they appear.

As a spirit Ji-Hyeon can move through air, but she can’t actually touch or move anything. Since she can’t open doors or pick up objects, she’s allowed to use the body of another woman to help her on her mission. The woman whose body she gets to use is none other than Song Yi-Gyeong. As long as Yi-Gyeong is asleep, Ji-Hyeon can enter her body and use it to walk around. However, she has to be back in Yi-Gyeong’s apartment by the time Yi-Gyeong normally wakes up, because she’ll find her body in a strange place otherwise. Also, she cannot under any circumstances tell people that she’s actually Ji-Hyeon while she’s using Yi-Gyeong’s body. Furthermore, she has to earn any money she spends while she’s going around as Yi-Gyeong. Got all that?

It doesn’t take long for Ji-Hyeon to discover that her perfect life wasn’t as perfect as she thought it was. She finds out things about her friends and family that she never knew, and her 49 days becomes more than a period of time with which to collect these tears; it becomes her only chance to put certain things right.

Writing and Acting

Dramas often use flashbacks to explain current happenings, and this one did that frequently. A commonly-employed technique in this drama was to show a scene, then later flash back to the scene and reveal that part of it was omitted when it was shown earlier, giving the viewer a new perspective on what happened. I thought that was interesting.

There were times when I felt the writing went into deus ex machina territory, but in some of those cases, they were able to redeem those choices by tying them in with other plot points.

I’ve commented before on how the final episodes of these dramas frequently have a different feel than the rest of the drama, because they’re rushing to tie up as many loose ends as possible. I don’t know if I’d say that about this one, although they did use the last episode to tie up several loose ends, as well as introduce some twists to the story that I personally didn’t see coming.

I appreciated the fact that the ending wasn’t the typical sappy-happy, lovey-dovey ending that you usually expect from these dramas. I won’t give it away, but I’ll just say that if you’re expecting an ending where everything gets fixed and everybody lives happily ever after, you might be disappointed. While the ending employs the usual “jump ahead to the future” technique (I think Beethoven Virus is the only drama I’ve watched where they didn’t do that), and does show positive developments in the lives of the characters, there isn’t the sense that everyone’s lives are suddenly perfect, or are potentially on their way to perfection. The message it leaves you with is that life is precious, and death is a part of it that we all need to accept. We need to cherish our lives, as well as the lives of loved ones who die, and remember what they meant to us. I thought it was much more profound than a perfect storybook ending would’ve been.

As far as the acting goes, well…as I said in the title to this post, “melodrama” is a good description. There were times when it seemed like they tried to wring as much emotion as they could out of it, and there were frequent tears, despite the difficulty Ji-Hyeon had in collecting them. As a viewer, the only time I really got teary was the final episode, though the rest was certainly captivating enough.

I really admired the acting of Lee Yo-Won, who did a great job playing what was essentially a dual role. There was a distinct contrast between her portrayals of the soft-spoken, dead-inside Song Yi-Gyeong and the Song Yi-Gyeong whose body is inhabited by the energetic, outgoing Shin Ji-Hyeon. It really seemed like two different people.

Most of the actors were pretty good, but the actress who played Ji-Hyeon was the one I had the most issue with. While she was great when she was being bubbly and cute, when she had to cry, it was obvious she was acting. I liked her and her character, but it just bothered me that she couldn’t pull off the crying scenes very realistically.

Music

This probably isn’t a complete list, since I watched several episodes on my phone rather than my laptop, where I write down my observations, but here are all the songs I was able to make note of:

Chuck Mangione – Feels So Good
서영은 – 잊을 만도 한데
F.R. David – Words
ABBA – I Have a Dream
정엽 – 아무일도 없었다
진혜림 – Lover’s Concerto
정일우 – 정일우 스케줄러 송 (This says "Jeong Il-Woo Scheduler Song" for those who can't read Hangul. Jeong Il-Woo is the actor who played Scheduler, and this was some rap song ringtone he had, apparently with him on vocals.)
이문세 – 붉은 노을 (I actually knew this song beforehand and was able to sing along with it when I first heard it.)
나비 [알앤비] – 느낌이 와
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (again, just like in Protect the Boss)
Natalie Cole – Calling You
Ella Fitzgerald – Misty
전화받아 – heavy metal ringtone (This was another of Scheduler's ringtones, presumably with him on vocals. I thought it was a real song, but it didn’t show up on Shazam and then I realized the lyrics were just saying “answer the phone” in Korean.)
Moon River (just like in Lovers in Paris)
정일우 – 허수아비
오현란 – Feneste Che Luciv: 원
Michael Jackson – Heal the World
Avril Lavigne – I Love You
Bon Jovi - Always
신재 – 눈물이 난다
팀 – 안되니

The playlist in Min-Ho’s car had Ne-Yo, The Offspring, Nirvana and Maroon 5. I guess these artists are either known in Korea, or we’re to presume that Min-Ho developed a taste for them while he studied in the United States.

I really liked some of the dream-like incidental music in this drama too. It gave it a nice wistful feeling to several scenes.

English

Here are the words I don’t think I previously noted:

MBA, Private Space A, scheduler, troublemaker, case, shampoo, skin lotion, incentive, motorbike, wit, repeat, secret number, hint, counter, “game over,” kangaroo, before, after, privacy, gallery, freelancer, number 3, “bingo!”, private, pay, hug, knock, dynamic, penalty, “café nickname,” client, syrup, drive, business, wine bar, initials, show, doctor, rug, bakery.

In a hotel, there was a sign that was completely in English and there were no subtitles for what it said in Korean. I guess they figured Koreans have enough familiarity with English to understand it.

The Scheduler enjoyed using English words and phrases a lot, I noticed. I don’t know if there’s any significance to that, it’s just an observation.

Other Observations

Both of Ji-Hyeon’s parents were actors I’d seen in previous dramas. Her father was one of the villains from City Hunter and her mother was one of the aunts in Unexpected You. Interestingly enough, her mother’s name is never given. We only know her as Ji-Hyeon’s mother.

Gang was played by the same actor who played Soo-Hyeon in Three Dads, One Mom. I didn’t recognize him at first, but when I looked up his credits I saw that it was him and felt dumb for not realizing it. It was interesting to see him in a more serious role. While his character was fairly serious in Three Dads, One Mom, the overall tone of that drama was comedic, so there wasn’t much gravitas to the role.

Gang’s family name was “Han,” which made his name “Han Gang,” which means “Han River” in Korean. The Han River is the big river that flows through Seoul. I wonder why they made that his name. Is there some symbolic meaning I don’t understand as a non-Korean?

I saw Kim Hyeong-Beom once again, though his role here amounted to little more than a cameo. Apparently this is the fourth drama I’ve watched where he had a role, though again I say that I don’t specifically remember him from Lovers in Paris. According to this page his role in Lovers in Paris was as Soo-Hyeok’s friend. It’s been about two years since I watched that drama, so I don’t even remember Soo-Hyeok having a friend.

There are scenes where people are driving and the person behind the wheel will face the passenger for long stretches of time without looking at the road. That always really annoys me, because I’m afraid there’s going to be an accident.

As I mentioned before, when Ji-Hyeon was in Yi-Gyeong’s body, the rules were that she had to work for any money she spent, rather than using Yi-Gyeong’s money. She does indeed get a job to earn that money, but I wondered to myself, wasn’t she just subjecting Yi-Gyeong to further taxes? While such an issue becomes inconsequential over the course of the drama, in theory it could’ve made her responsible for money she didn’t even know she earned.

Ji-Hyeon still wears makeup even when she’s in a coma, strangely enough. You’d think they wouldn’t bother making up her face after 49 days.

I know I’ve complained about entitlement-minded statements in these dramas before, particularly in City Hunter, but there was an interesting change from that in this drama. At one point (spoiler alert again), we find out that Min-Ho grew up poor and had a really rough life, and the reason he does bad things to people is to get his revenge on fate now that he’s made himself into a success. Gang, who grew up rich, is the voice of integrity who tries to discourage him. It was a refreshing alternative to the “everyone rich is evil and everyone poor holds inherent moral superiority” message that’s so prevalent these days.

Final Thoughts

I really liked this drama. In fact, after watching just one episode I already liked it better than Protect the Boss. I hate to go on about how good or bad certain dramas are, but considering what a chore it was to get through that last one, this one was truly a breath of fresh air.

I was still unsure of where I’d rank 49 Days up until the very end. The final episode though, was superb, and that really boosted its status for me. It pushed it past Unexpected You, which had such a bizarre closing scene that I could only scratch my head. I hope I’m not ranking it too high because it’s fresher in my memory than the others I’ve watched, but I’d say it was good enough to make it to my Top 3.

Ranking:

1. Beethoven Virus (5)
2. City Hunter (7)
3. 49 Days (9)
4. Unexpected You (4)
5. Three Dads, One Mom (2)
6. Lovers in Paris (1)
7. Hwang Jin-Yi (6)
8. Spring Day (3)
9. Protect the Boss (8)

Thoughts on Protect the Boss, or…Workplace Ethics? What Workplace Ethics?

Having finished another drama, it’s time for another recap. I’ll say up front that this drama underwhelmed me. Perhaps after the thrill ride that was City Hunter it just seemed like a bit of a letdown, or perhaps it just didn’t click with me. Either way, I’ll share my observations.

Plot

No Eun-Seol is a former “bad girl” who spent most of her life making trouble, getting into fights and not doing well in school. However, she manages to land herself a job as the secretary for Cha Ji-Heon, the notoriously difficult son of a conglomerate owner. Ji-Heon only works for the company due to his father, because he’s otherwise ineffective as an executive. His father, a stern man with a short fuse, wants Ji-Heon to succeed him as chairman, but due to several factors the father is unaware of, including anxiety disorders and emotional baggage, Ji-Heon has fallen short of expectations.

Eun-Seol has two qualities that make her the perfect fit for the secretary job: She’s a tough cookie and she needs the money. She’s willing to put up with Ji-Heon’s antics on account of the latter quality, and she’s able to keep him in line on account of the former quality. It isn’t long before Ji-Heon falls in love with her, however, and their relationship takes on a whole new dimension.

Also complicating the storyline is Ji-Heon’s cousin Moo-Won, who also works at the company, is much more competent than him, and is competing for his position. He takes a liking to Eun-Seol as well, as does she to him, but Ji-Heon’s possessiveness makes it hard for her to pursue any relationship with him. A childhood friend of the two cousins, Na-Yoon, also factors into the story, as she hopes to marry one of them.

Writing and Acting

It was passable, as it usually is in these dramas. I thought the actor playing Ji-Heon could’ve been better at times, although he was usually good. Na-Yoon and her mother were both a bit hammy, but that may have been how their characters were intended.

As for the writing, the more I watch these dramas, the more frequently I notice repetitions of certain words and phrases. The characters have certain stock phrases that get used all the time, but they aren’t really catchphrase-ish. I wonder if it’s just lazy writing.

There were occasionally moments that made me emotional, but they only happened near the end at really pivotal moments. The constant back and forth in this drama wore on me pretty quickly, and I was often too disinterested to really care about what happened.

The ending was good, though it was another one of those dramas where the last few episodes had sort of a rushed feel to them, because they were trying to wrap everything up. I was glad they told us what happened to the supporting characters, because as I believe I’ve mentioned in previous write-ups, it seems like there are often loose threads I wish they’d tie up regarding the supporting characters. The way they relayed the information though, seemed kind of shoehorned in.

Music

Country music isn’t that popular in Korea as far as I know, as it’s a pretty distinctly Anglophonic genre. The only countries I know of where they listen to it are the U.S., Canada and Australia. However, one recurring piece of incidental music had a fiddle in it, and the background songs included selections from The Zac Brown Band and The Eagles. It seems there must’ve been a country fan on the musical staff.

Here are the songs I was able to identify (in part thanks to the Shazam app):

Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Girls Day – Twinkle Twinkle (Eun-Seol imagines singing and dancing to this song while she’s bored at the job interview)
Hyuna – Bubble Pop
Sarah McLachlan – Building a Mystery
Manhattan Transfer – Java Jive
Zac Brown Band – Knee Deep
Earth, Wind and Fire – Boogie Wonderland
김수희 – 남행열차
린 – 잘 알지도 못하면서
2NE1 – Don’t Cry
The Eagles – Best of My Love
이적 – 다행이다
허영생 - 슬픈 노래는
At a noraebang, Na-Yoon sang what sounded like a Korean version of “I Will Survive.”
신성우 – 서시
성시경 – 넌 감동이었어
백지영 – 잊지말아요
Brian – 못가요
Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop
휴우 – 너 때문에
A Pink – Let Us Just Love
Chris-DeBurgh – Here is Your Paradise
동물원 – 널 사랑하겠어
재중 – 지켜줄게

Some of these songs were sung by the characters, while others were just in the background. Also, I’m pretty sure several of these songs are unique to the soundtrack of this drama. It’s common for dramas to have songs specially-made for them. The last song on that list is sung by “재중,” which is actually Kim Jae-Joong, the actor who played Moo-Won. Jae-Joong is a member of a popular boy band, so it figures he can sing. For what it's worth, I thought he was a pretty good actor too.

Moo-Won’s ringtone was “Brotherhood of Man,” just like Eun-Seob’s on Spring Day. It must be popular in Korea or something.

In one scene two characters were in a coffee shop and a piano version of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” was playing in the background. I don’t know why. It wasn’t Christmas.

English

Here are the words and phrases I heard (that I don’t offhand remember hearing in previous dramas):

Smart, supermodel, freedom cash, Ivy League, golden brand, hegemony, grooming, leadership, kickboxing, elite, fresh, X-man, intranet, slam dunk, tissue, noblesse oblige, stop, Botox, testosterone, estrogen, serotonin, cute, ninja (OK, not really an English word, but still), sunglasses, season, business, positioning, prince, wrestler, trauma, yes, reception, curriculum, superhero, trend, “yeah baby!”, goodnight kiss, “Isn’t She Lovely?”, relax, simple, event, rush time, whipping cream, “bye bye,” risk, consortium, application, happy, cross line, business, percent, coffee experience, “go ahead,” update, nightmare, client-friendly, “dumb and dumber,” campus, opening, sample, massage, eye mask, blockbuster, academy, “new resident,” penguin, soulmate, pass (Korean people annoyingly use this word), headhunter, scout, software, upgrade, marketing team, proposal, incubating.

Eun-Seol’s friend wore a shirt in one scene that said: “LIFE: SNOOPY of the 1970s.” I have no idea what the meaning of that is.

In one scene, Ji-Heon and Eun-Seol speak English to each other and it made me laugh out loud, because there were parts that were hard to understand. At least they’re aware of it, because Eun-Seol comments afterward “your pronunciation sounds as bad as mine.”

You can see the English portion of that scene in this video, at about 2:12 to 2:44:

There were other uses of English too, such as Ji-Heon singing the song “Isn’t She Lovely?”, Eun-Seol’s English teacher speaking it to her, and secretaries speaking it.

Other Observations

I saw some more repeat actors:

A doctor early on was one of the actors from City Hunter, but I don’t think he was in any episode but the first one.

Ji-Heon’s first secretary was Il-Sook’s husband in Unexpected You. The actor’s name is Kim Hyeong-Beom, and a look at his credits says he was apparently also in Lovers in Paris, though it must’ve been a small role, because I don’t remember him.

This drama’s subtitles seemed to be less literal and more simply rendered, which made some of the dialogue seem dull and straightforward. Often the subtitles made it seem like they were saying less than they actually were.  At one point I even caught a joke that the subtitlers completely left out.

Moo-Won abruptly changed hairstyles in the middle of an episode, which was kind of silly, because I wasn’t even sure it was him when I first saw him with the new hairstyle. I guess being in a boyband means you have to work around the look they give you.

The two lead actors (for Eun-Seol and Ji-Heon) were born in 1977, and it definitely gave the drama a strange feeling at times. This drama was from 2011, so they were both about 34 when it was made. The character of Ji-Heon was supposed to be in his late 20’s, and he actually looked the part. Presumably though, Eun-Seol is about the same age, and it was clear to me that she was noticeably older. They actually seemed to make her look younger as the series went on, because in the early episodes her face is definitely not of the young and fresh variety.

Jae-Joong (the guy who played Moo-Won, if you’re confused by all these Korean names) was born in 1986, making him 9 years younger than the two leads. His pursuit of Eun-Seol seemed a little absurd when you consider the age difference.

As I noted with Lovers in Paris, sometimes there were ambiguous potential sexual encounters. It’s strongly suggested that two of the characters sleep together at two different points, but it’s never definitively stated. I’m pretty sure they were supposed to have done it both times, but they have the tact not to go into graphic detail.

The main reason I chose this drama was because I saw a message board thread where someone said it was extremely funny. I figured I’d laugh frequently, because hey, who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh? While there were definitely some funny parts, I laughed a lot less frequently and boisterously than I was expecting. Considering how much Three Dads, One Mom made me laugh, I know that dramas are capable of much better humor.

A big problem I had with it is that I didn’t feel much emotional connection to the characters. They just seemed like people doing stuff, but I didn’t care all that much what happened to them. I mean, I wanted them to succeed and all, but just in a general sense of caring for one’s fellow man, not any personal involvement. Often when they slowed it down and focused on the romantic storylines, my mind would wander because I just wasn’t all that interested in who ended up with whom.

As I mentioned before, the character of Na-Yoon was a bit hammy. I suppose it added humor to have a character like that, but because she was portrayed more clownishly than realistically, it created a barrier to empathy. She seemed like a character that was only there to laugh at, so when they showed her crying or genuinely sad, it was hard to suddenly see her as a real person who we were supposed to relate to.

The scenes that moved me the most involved Ji-Heon’s father, Cha Bong-Man. The older I get, the more I appreciate the bond parents have with their children, and I become more aware of the way one’s view of the world changes with age. Chairman Cha was perhaps the most interesting character to me, because he had been rich and powerful most of his life, and the questionable and downright unethical things he had done over the years were finally catching up with him. His realizations that he needed to change his ways and also be more understanding of his son perhaps affected me the most.

Another character that I really appreciated was Mr. Jang, Chairman Cha’s secretary. Mr. Jang took a lot of abuse from his boss, but he remained fiercely loyal to him, and did his best to serve him. It was clear how much Chairman Cha actually appreciated him underneath it all, because he knew how difficult he was to his employees. There was something touching about Mr. Jang’s humility.

Final Thoughts

Protect the Boss is not a bad drama. It had high production values, and was acceptably written and acted, but of all the dramas I’ve seen, I probably got the least out of watching it. I’ve long put Spring Day at the bottom of my rankings, but thinking back on that one, as mediocre as it was, I feel like I was more invested in it than I was this one. Besides that, I think I was able to glean some insight into Korean culture from it, as I detailed in a past post. Bottom of the list, you’ve got a new occupant.

1. Beethoven Virus

2. City Hunter

3. Unexpected You

4. Three Dads, One Mom

5. Lovers in Paris

6. Hwang Jin-Yi

7. Spring Day

8. Protect the Boss

A Would-Have-Been Significant Date

I'm just dropping by to say that if I hadn't left my second Korean job early, today would've been the last day of my contract, and I'd be getting ready to come home now. I mean, if I hadn't gone insane before then, which of course, is a pretty big "if." Do I regret leaving when I did? Not in the least!

This observation also makes me realize that it's officially been more than a year since I taught at my first school, which I liked. Time sure flies. I can only hope things are going well there.