City Hunter -- done at last
So, just six or seven months later, I finally finished City Hunter. Reading the year end reviews praising City Hunter made me decide to give it a final go and watch the last 5 episodes. Not to my surprise, I have the same reactions, both good and bad, that I did the first time around.
Basically, the problem for me is that the show might be called City Hunter, but the characters I cared about the most are Kim Young Joo and my darling Na Na. I just can’t help it - it’s the noble but flawed prosecutor and the kick-ass adorable girl that I loved, and not Our Hero the City Hunter at all. I was way more drawn to and invested in Young Joo’s driven prosecutor than Yoon Sung’s superhero - I was so thrilled when Young Joo shot the tire out as the City Hunter was making one of his many leisurely drives away from the police station and finally ripped that mask off Yoon Sung’s face. Yes! And Young Joo’s death, while a total tearfest, also celebrated the best of his character - he would not give up, and his willingness to sacrifice himself to get the bad guys. Awwh, Young Joo. The funeral scenes just broke my heart and were the most powerful moments of the series for me. I hope Lee Jun Hyuk works his way up to lead guy status soon - I’d like to see him again with even more to do.
And then, poor Na Na - oh, what a disappointment. The chemistry between the two actors was major, but in the end, Na Na was almost victimized by the romantic portion of the story. There’s nothing I hate more in a romance than the guy deciding to dump the girl, and the girl just patiently taking all his crap and assuring him that oh no, no matter how he treats her, she’ll totally wait for him forever. Nails on a chalkboard to me. I hated that my awesome darling Na Na had to practically beg her way into Yoon Sung’s life in the first place, then got dumped because HE decided it was for the best, and then told that he’ll come back to her when HE decides it’s time. Ugh ugh ugh. Young Joo’s death was tragic, but he mattered - his death was significant and a fitting conclusion in some ways to his character. Na Na, sadly, just seemed to become “the girl” by the end of the series - all her conflicts, her development, her progress in life devolved into her waiting for Yoon Sung. That was really disappointing, because I genuinely loved her character for her, not as the City Hunter’s ever faithful girlfriend. I understood the show shifting the focus to Yoon Sung and his two fathers for the finale, but reducing Na Na to a sidelined love interest felt like a betrayal of her character development and significance. At least she got to remain a kick ass body guard, until the end, where she gave that up too, for…what? Who knows. Sigh.
Having said all that, despite my frustrations, it was overall a fun, well-done show. The visuals, the music, the action scenes, the actors and our lead, Lee Min Ho - all very good. The amount I did care for Yoon Sung was thanks to Lee Min Ho’s talent and charisma overcoming what I didn’t like about his character and the heavy-handed writing. I also particularly loved crazy bad daddy Lee Jin Pyo and how his never admitted love for his son in the end derailed the last of his baroquely insane revenge plot. The moment when Yoon Sung crashes in and saves him when the thugs attack, and they stand back to back facing off with their enemies - awesome. I also liked the chairman’s baddie that Yoon Sung captured - so what exactly did happen to him, huh? He was pretty cool in a reptile-like way.
And briefly, some other dramas I've watched recently that have been awesome!
Tree With Deep Roots: so utterly fantastic. Filled with amazing performances. Loved everyone, but especially Jang Hyuk. The ending let me down, though - it felt like they went for tragedy because it was Epic and Historical and Jang Hyuk breaks so well, when the story had genuinely felt to me to be about hope for a better life for the citizens, symbolized by Kang Chae Yook and So Yi. But overall, full of awesome and I really really loved it. Song Joong Ki rocked as young Lee Do as well - he’s going places.
Flower Boy Ramen Shop: Come on, how adorable was that?!? Too too too cute. This series was a frothy light trifle, but they did it just right and that made it so very satisfying. I really loved it post episode 3, when the characters gained a bit of depth, and from episode 8 on was totally rabid. It was all clichés, but the series made fun of them AND did them well at the same time, so I was fine with it. And that may be my favorite finale episode ever -- it really elevated the series as a whole for me. I loved Eun Bi’s run through the streets, plunger in hand, to rescue the prince from his tower more than I can possibly say. And *she* kissed *him* after that! Best reunion ever. And all those kisses - whoo hoo. Is that sexiness in a kdrama? Has the world ended?
I couldn’t love Jung Il Woo’s over the top but surprisingly touching performance as Cha Chi Soo more - he was hysterically funny but brought it for the deeper moments and the heated romance. I’m a total fangirl of his after this series, that’s for sure. You go boy. I’m all ready for his next series and plan to watch his Return of Iljimae as well. I understand the hair is *awesome.*
The Princess’ Man: Now this is what I like. Romance, adventure, sword fights, tragedy, and lots of Park Shi Hoo. I became quite rabid about this one and marathoned it in less than a week - those were some good cliff-hangers! It wasn’t perfect, and it was especially odd watching it while also watching currently airing Tree With Deep Roots. The contrast with the depth of discussion in TwDR regarding methods of government, the role of the king, and the right to participate, or not, of nobles, scholars and citizens, made the power struggle in TPM seem a little shallow. Aside from the show hammering me over the head with Suyang being EVIL for wanting the throne, why should I have cheered for Kim Jong Seo’s unofficial regency once Danjong inherited the throne? Why was it better to have a young kid on the throne than the guy who, as it would turn out, proved to be one of the better and more stable kings in Korean history? Hindsight aside, it was just a dynastic power struggle in the royal family - no one seemed to care about what was best for those being governed. “What about the people?!?” I kept thinking. “Sejong would be so ashamed of you all!” It was also a bit strange because I knew that Suyang wasn’t going anywhere, so all of Kim Seung Woo’s attempts at revenge/rebellion were doomed to failure. I think it would have been more intriguing if the show actually addressed the Suyang/Sejo dilemma - he bathed in blood to get there, but he turned out to be a good king. Just playing him as the baddie was shallow.
But, to be honest, I wasn’t watching for the politics. I was there for the romantic angst and melodrama, along with swordfights, and the series was very very good at that. I was totally absorbed and it really delivered on the swoony and the angst. They fall in love! He wants to marry her! Her father massacres his family! He finds out about her lies! He’s dead! He’s back to exact revenge! But they still love each other! He can’t take it anymore and finally goes after her! Multiple rescues and reunions! Excellent kisses! They marry themselves and even have a love scene! So so fun. I loved Se Ryung a whole lot as a character - her spirit of adventure, and her determination and strength in pursuing her goals from the very beginning, made her really appealing. She thinks for herself and does not give in, not for anything, and I love that. Seung Yoo had the way bigger angst, but it was really more Se Ryung whom I cheered on at every turn. I really only grew to love Seung Yoo after he was shipwrecked, bonded with his gangster/pimp hyung and started hanging at the brothel as the bodyguard/night avenger. For one thing, it was a big relief to introduce non-noble characters into the story in a real way, and to have some humor and humanity in contrast to all the revenge and politics. And it provided the awesome moment of stone cold black clad "revenge is my life" Seung Yoo asking everyone to take care of Se Ryung when he’s hiding her out at the brothel, then fleeing the room in embarrassment. Priceless! Plus the show included a crossdresser into a sageuk, so go them.
I also loved Shin Myun, who betrayed his friends for his family and Suyang and then could never fully reconcile himself to his choices. In another story, he would have been my hero and I would have been all about his redemption, or not. The way he kept trying to cling to relationships that he’d completely destroyed, the way he could never give up on Se Ryung and trying to force her acceptance of him (and his crimes) -- he was hateful yet heartbreaking, and Se Ryung's complete resistance and increasing loathing for him only seemed to feed his self-destruction. His story did begin to spin its wheels, and I was a little disappointed that he rather predictably just gave up and sacrificed himself for Seung Woo at the end. The power of that moment was with his father, Suyang’s co-conspirator, and the look on his face when he left the king following Shin Myun’s death - he’d brought his son into the schemes with the justification that it was the only way to save their family, and in the end, those schemes destroyed his son. Good moment.
There were several threads left open with the finale - what happened to Seung Woo’s niece and sister-in-law, for one? But the part that bothered me the most was that, after Seung Woo’s driving determination for umpteen episodes to bring down Suyang and willingness to sacrifice everything for that, he just - gives up? I mean, yeah, he’s blind and all. But this was the character’s motivation forever - if he’s going to make that big of a change, I kind of wanted to see that on-screen. I loved that Se Ryung and Seung Woo got their happy ending against all odds (especially all sageuk odds, TwDR!), but it was hard to accept after ALL those episodes spent trying to bring Suyang down. I wish they’d set that up a bit more at least, considering large numbers of people died along the way in all the real and imagined attempts to bring Su Yang down. It was like the writers sort of gave up - they’d created a dilemma there was no way out of, so they just said “eh, he changed his mind.” Not that Se Ryung and acceptance of a new life wasn’t totally valid or worthy, but I wanted to see it happen!
As a final note, I must give credit to TPM for finding a way to have Park Shi Hoo in a sageuk shower scene - that totally gratuitous scene where he angstily pours a bucket of water over his half-naked self? Thank you, Korea!