The Reputable Family - episode 1
The first drama of 2010 that I intended to check out, The Reputable Family, has come out. I have watched the first episode (available fully subbed on viikii) and I am in love.
TRF is a historical epic dealing with the merchant class - normally I would be wary of checking it out seeing that it's going to be over 50 episodes, but in addition to the premise (of which more below), I wanted to watch it due to its cast, namely the leads Cha In Pyo and Han Ga Eun. I have not had a chance to watch Cha In Pyo in much of anything, due to his being either in older dramas (he became famous with 1994's All For Your Love) or in period dramas, but I like him on general principles because he's still married to his 1994 co-star and is sort of adorable with her. But my main reason to watch is, undoubtedly, Han Ga Eun in a leading role - I loved her madly as a courtesan/resistance assassin in Capital Scandal.
Neither CIP nor HGE appear in the first episode, which addresses the characters' childhoods (CIP's childhood self is played by the same little kid who played little Iljimae - he's adorable) but the episode really drew me in, nontheless.
The set-up of TRF is this - it is 1640s when we start, and a war with the Qing Dynasty is raging in Korea. But to little Guksan (future Cha In Pyo), this is rather abstract - a young master (who is a bit spoiled but ultimately very sweet) brought up in a loving aristocratic household by his philanthropic and just Grandfather, the war first hits Guksan's consciousness when he sees the refugees stream into the village - among these refugees is a girl about Guksan's age called Dani, a mistreated slave to a rather nasty master.
It is crush as first sight when Guksan sees the strong-willed Dani (who has her own birth secret) and sparks fly as his ineffectual attempts to woo her are by turns cutely funny (sending his flunkies to give her coins) or not as nice (bullying neighborhood children to build a bridge for her in cold water - his Grandfather, however, teaches him a lesson in what not to do by making him stand in that water for an hour - Guksan might be thoughtless but he's sweet-natured and he learns).
Due to a variety of circumstances, Dani ends up being bought by Grandfather and the children continue their friendship. This life might have continued relatively peacefully indefinitely, but Grandfather is appointed War Governor (a dangerous post fraught with possibilities of execution) and rides off - his protection over his family much diminished. Just the opportunity for various family enemies (including the slippery family steward and his obsequious son) to try to bring the family down. Seeing that according to the synopsis, Guksan will have to start from nothing, presumably they succeed...