First Episode Impressions - 1 OTP, 2 family epics, and 3 roaring good times
I had a chance to check out first eps for all three dramas I planned to watch (if they proved to be to my liking) in August. The verdict for all three is an overwhelming yes.
Giant - I believe I am hooked. First ep was mainly childhood scenes but unlike a lot of people, I happen to like childhood portions of epic narratives (must be all the Victorian novels I read growing up). I love what I've seen so far - the first ep had a very very heavy East of Eden hangover - from filters, to the set-up itself, to even some scenes (the scene with the brothers parting in the station is very very EoE and so is oldest brother jumping off the train). But that is not a bad thing for me at all as I adored EoE to bits. I am a sucker for intergenerational epic/family/revenge narratives. I am also pleased to report that to my shock, Lee Bum Soo, who looked so horrible in pictures, totally won my heart in the few minutes he was on screen (in the beginning before the drama went into flashback mode). He is in no way good-looking but there is something so magnetic about him I found myself not caring.
Gloria - actually the post heading is a bit of a misnomer insofar as I have watched first two eps of Gloria, not just one. They were both subbed and it was too good for me to stop after just one. Bae Doona is wonderful as always (has she ever been less than amazing) and her brand of pragmatic, utterly grown-up heroine with a hell of a temper won me over from the first minute she was on-screen. She is going to be a joy to watch. I also fell in love with Lee Chun Hee who plays a small-time thug and boxer and Bae Doona's best friend. I have never seen him in anything before but consider me a fan. I love their dynamic - it strikes me as real. I actually hope very much they don't hook up because I love their friends dynamic and want to see inter-gender best friends not turn into romantic partners for once. I also see no hint of any such interest between them. But, if we are honest, the reason I don't ship them is because the one OTP I got out of these three dramas so far is LCH with the suicidal rich girl played by So Yi Hyun - she is so fragile and beautiful (I am crushing) and removed from the world (her parents' reaction to her suicide attempts - eeeek). And their few scenes together are just mind-blowing to me because he is so very opposite - not pristine or upper-class and he is so smitten literally silent in her presence. Much as I enjoy rich guy/plucky poor girl OTPs kdramas love so much, I am a lot more into 'girl goes slumming' OTPs kdramas are not nearly as fond of. Plus, my favorite scene of the two episodes was the first time he saw her, when she almost jumped off the roof and you see him look and start stretching his hand very quietly so as not to spook her and then she sees him, so she composedly steps down and walks off as if she didn't just try to kill herself (and goes home and ODs).
Oh, and the later scene with them on the hospital roof (when he asks her if she needs help killing herself and also gives her back her pearl bracelet and I realize he must have picked up all the scattered pearls and strung them back together, which is doubly awesome because he needs money so badly at the time but he still doesn't sell the filthy-expensive bracelet or anything). ARGH SHIP SHIP SHIP RABID SHIP I WANT. The fourth main chracter, the illegitimate rich guy played by Suh Ji Suk is someone I really like as well - he is hardworking and so reserved as to be almost shut-down but he is not an acting out jerk or anything of the sort. I want to see him with Bae Doona on no basis at all :) I am a little less enamoured of various supporting players and the rather dingy setting can be a turn-off for some (I love it, myself) but what Gloria does brilliantly well is moments that stick in my head - the first meeting or rooftop scenes with LCH/SYH, when Bae Doona steps up to the mike and starts singing her heart out, the pearls falling off So Yi Hyun's hand as she loses consciousness, Suh Ji Suk's iron composure slipping for once as he smashes his hand against a mirror contemplating being tossed aside by his family, yet again. Anyway, it's wonderful.
I Am Legend - so much fun! Unlike Gloria and Giant, which are both epic in their different ways, IAL is small-scale. It's very woman-centric - I foresee any men will be strictly secondary, but that is not a bad thing. The soundtrack is peppy, the colors bright, but my emotions were genuinely engaged despite the oddness of the premise (society wife has enough of her awful husband and family, divorces him and starts a band). A lot of that connection is thanks to Kim Jung Eun - the star of the vehicle. She is amazing - funny, strong, pitiable, amazing. I have always loved KJE (Lovers is one of my all-time favorites) and even if Kim Sunah fans come into this LJ to decapitate me, I am glad KJE replaced Kim Sunah - I like the latter but she has a tendency to go cutesy-childlike and this would not have worked nearly as well for this. I really hate the protagonist's slimy husband and his whole family and cannot wait for KJE to become an independent rocker chick. Also, while we haven't seen much of her future love interest, he looks pretty scrumptuous, so there is that.
Giant - I believe I am hooked. First ep was mainly childhood scenes but unlike a lot of people, I happen to like childhood portions of epic narratives (must be all the Victorian novels I read growing up). I love what I've seen so far - the first ep had a very very heavy East of Eden hangover - from filters, to the set-up itself, to even some scenes (the scene with the brothers parting in the station is very very EoE and so is oldest brother jumping off the train). But that is not a bad thing for me at all as I adored EoE to bits. I am a sucker for intergenerational epic/family/revenge narratives. I am also pleased to report that to my shock, Lee Bum Soo, who looked so horrible in pictures, totally won my heart in the few minutes he was on screen (in the beginning before the drama went into flashback mode). He is in no way good-looking but there is something so magnetic about him I found myself not caring.
Gloria - actually the post heading is a bit of a misnomer insofar as I have watched first two eps of Gloria, not just one. They were both subbed and it was too good for me to stop after just one. Bae Doona is wonderful as always (has she ever been less than amazing) and her brand of pragmatic, utterly grown-up heroine with a hell of a temper won me over from the first minute she was on-screen. She is going to be a joy to watch. I also fell in love with Lee Chun Hee who plays a small-time thug and boxer and Bae Doona's best friend. I have never seen him in anything before but consider me a fan. I love their dynamic - it strikes me as real. I actually hope very much they don't hook up because I love their friends dynamic and want to see inter-gender best friends not turn into romantic partners for once. I also see no hint of any such interest between them. But, if we are honest, the reason I don't ship them is because the one OTP I got out of these three dramas so far is LCH with the suicidal rich girl played by So Yi Hyun - she is so fragile and beautiful (I am crushing) and removed from the world (her parents' reaction to her suicide attempts - eeeek). And their few scenes together are just mind-blowing to me because he is so very opposite - not pristine or upper-class and he is so smitten literally silent in her presence. Much as I enjoy rich guy/plucky poor girl OTPs kdramas love so much, I am a lot more into 'girl goes slumming' OTPs kdramas are not nearly as fond of. Plus, my favorite scene of the two episodes was the first time he saw her, when she almost jumped off the roof and you see him look and start stretching his hand very quietly so as not to spook her and then she sees him, so she composedly steps down and walks off as if she didn't just try to kill herself (and goes home and ODs).
Oh, and the later scene with them on the hospital roof (when he asks her if she needs help killing herself and also gives her back her pearl bracelet and I realize he must have picked up all the scattered pearls and strung them back together, which is doubly awesome because he needs money so badly at the time but he still doesn't sell the filthy-expensive bracelet or anything). ARGH SHIP SHIP SHIP RABID SHIP I WANT. The fourth main chracter, the illegitimate rich guy played by Suh Ji Suk is someone I really like as well - he is hardworking and so reserved as to be almost shut-down but he is not an acting out jerk or anything of the sort. I want to see him with Bae Doona on no basis at all :) I am a little less enamoured of various supporting players and the rather dingy setting can be a turn-off for some (I love it, myself) but what Gloria does brilliantly well is moments that stick in my head - the first meeting or rooftop scenes with LCH/SYH, when Bae Doona steps up to the mike and starts singing her heart out, the pearls falling off So Yi Hyun's hand as she loses consciousness, Suh Ji Suk's iron composure slipping for once as he smashes his hand against a mirror contemplating being tossed aside by his family, yet again. Anyway, it's wonderful.
I Am Legend - so much fun! Unlike Gloria and Giant, which are both epic in their different ways, IAL is small-scale. It's very woman-centric - I foresee any men will be strictly secondary, but that is not a bad thing. The soundtrack is peppy, the colors bright, but my emotions were genuinely engaged despite the oddness of the premise (society wife has enough of her awful husband and family, divorces him and starts a band). A lot of that connection is thanks to Kim Jung Eun - the star of the vehicle. She is amazing - funny, strong, pitiable, amazing. I have always loved KJE (Lovers is one of my all-time favorites) and even if Kim Sunah fans come into this LJ to decapitate me, I am glad KJE replaced Kim Sunah - I like the latter but she has a tendency to go cutesy-childlike and this would not have worked nearly as well for this. I really hate the protagonist's slimy husband and his whole family and cannot wait for KJE to become an independent rocker chick. Also, while we haven't seen much of her future love interest, he looks pretty scrumptuous, so there is that.