Met with the stairs to heaven, only to never use it.
High potential, low delivery.
Every now and then, a story you haven't quite seen before comes along. Familiar on the surface but riddled with a acute uniqueness the more you sit with it. Ms Incognito, a young woman marrying an old wealthy man for a promise of money--a gold digger--only to find out that the real wealth was with the people you love. It explored (or tried to) not only romance but also other forms of love just as or even more important.
It starts off with nothing but a contractual relationship between the Chairman Ga Sung-Ho and Kim Yeong-Ran. The age is gap is so large that their marriage stirs up something uncomfortable within you, it's not the usual plot you are used to. Yeong-Ran's aim first is money but then it becomes what's least important to her. She took upon a duty to help the Chairman, she sincerely wanted him to die happy. Both Yeong-Ran and the Chairman were similar, they both had family on paper but none by their side. They filled that void for each other, the Chairman saw his daughter in Yeong-Ran and Yeong-Ran saw in him the father she never had.
There are many parallels drawn in the series. Ga Seon-Yeong and Yeong-Ran were twisted somewhat reflections of each other. Seon-Yeong was woman so glamorous that everyone knew her name and Yeong-Ran was a woman so plain she went unnoticed. The both of them risked it all for money. The difference was that Yeong-Ran saw money as a path to happiness and Seong-Yeong saw it as happiness. Yeong-Ran grew selfless while Seong-Yeong grew more selfish each day. Yeong-Ran protected and Seong-Yeong destroyed. Both only experienced the cruelty of their mothers and the absence of their fathers. Both their mothers were money hungry. The difference was that one was at the pinnacle of wealth while the other was in the depths of poverty. Yeong-Ran escaped her shackles, Seong-yeong never even noticed hers.
Another parallel was between Muchang and Seoul, and Jeon Don-Min's (ML) house and the Chairman's house. Chairman's house was so big, so extravagant but so dark and soulless. Don-Min's house was small and simple but colourful and so full of life. Seoul the bigger, greater city where all the important events took place. Muchang the smaller, tiny town where almost nothing eventful happened. However, Muchang felt so much more full than Seoul. For Yeong-Ran who was invisible all her life, Muchang where everyone knows each other to the point that nothing ever goes unnoticed was what she needed. Muchang gave everything that Seoul couldn't give her. In Seoul, she prayed for money but in Muchang she prayed for love.
The cast and their acting was amazing. Jin-Young, through his role as Jeon Don-Min embodied comfort. He was simple and serene. Jeon Yeo-Been, completely different to her popular role in Vincenzo where she was undeniably bold became so plain here (in a good way). She played Yeong-Ran so well that you would have never thought that she was the same person that played Hong Cha-Young in Vincenzo. She had this subtle strength and carried herself so softly. I know that everyone expected a badass bold Yeong-Ran but this version piqued my interest so much more. She was a strong bodyguard and a soft person. I liked that contrast. The entire cast did a great job.
This drama frustrated me so much not because of something they did but because of what they could have done but didn't. All the relationships felt underdeveloped. The parallels had little to no impact in the drama because of the fact that the relationships that those parallels were built upon was not explored as it should have been. I firmly believe that this drama should have been at least 16 episodes, there was so much left unsaid. Yeong-Ran went from having a contractual duty to filial duty to the Chairman with basically no on-screen development of their relationship. Seon-Yeong's life was virtually unknown but so important to why she was the way she was. There was justifications mentioned but really no emotional reasoning to Seon-Yeong's actions shown on screen.
Baek Hye-Ji, acted so oddly but was accepted as a friend so fast and their relationship progressed so far that Hye-Ji cared for Yeong-Ran more than herself. They teased that Hye-Ji had a traumatic past of her own but never actually showed what it was. Since it wasn't shown, her random fascination with ballet felt so out of place and unnecessary. Even Song Tae-Min, why was possessed by ghost? How did Hye-Ji and Tae-Min even fall that hard in love so fast... Baek Hye-ji and Lee Don were classified as main characters but never had their stories explored. Why would Lee Don go to the extent he did for the Chairman. Just mentioning that it was because of a scholarship was so lacklustre. Even Jeon Don-Min's story was unexplored. They missed so much potential by not exploring the emotions of him and his son Ju-Won. It would given Yeong-Ran's romance with Don-Min so much more depth. I can say that not a single character got the development they deserved.
It felt more like a read through of a great plot than a viewing of a completed series.
Maybe the lack of a good script was due to the fact that Hyun Gyu Ri (screenwriter) was not very experienced. The direction was good in my personal view. Park Yoo Young directed both Kidnapping Day (one of my favourites) and Love Alarm 2 (another series I loved despite the popular dissatisfaction). I felt that it was the direction and the acting that salvaged the underbaked script. A good idea doesn't always mean a good product after all.
I hope that another scriptwriter would work together with this cast and do a revamp of sorts.
Despite all my criticism, I hope everyone gives it a try.
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