W- Two Worlds

W- Two Worlds

8.5/10

W- Two Worlds

Genre:                                    Episodes: 16                            Year: 2016

Romance

Mystery

Fantasy

Synopsis:

Oh Yeon Joo is the daughter of a famous manhwa author. When her father suddenly decides to kill the main character of his comic, Kang Chul, Yeon Joo is transported into the world of the manhwa and saves Chul’s life. However, Yeon Joo’s involvement in the fictional world changes events, and the story begins to take on a life of its own.

Cast:

Lee Jong Suk (Kang Chul)

Han Hyo Joo (Oh Yeon Joo)

Jeong Eu Gene (Yoon So Hee)

Kim Ui Sung (Oh Sung Moo)

Lee Shi Un (Park Soo Bong)

Lee Tae Hwan (Seo Do Yoon)

 

Park Won Sang (Han Chul Ho)

General Thoughts:

This drama is crazy. It’s been a while since I’ve been so completely sucked into a drama by both its plot and its characters- the two rarely come together, but ‘W’ is a wonderful combination of excellent storytelling and beautifully developed characters.

The leads are all kinds of excellent

The twists and brain-f*ck moments came hard and fast, and gave the series a cracking pace. The whole idea behind the drama was just excellent- a manhwa character being created with too much brainpower and initiative sets out to gain his own self-awareness and just generally creates a bit of a sh*tstorm.

I should learn how to draw, ya know...just in case...

The idea is fresh and interesting, and the writer is clearly a magician, because she takes drama ideas that have been insanely overused and often come across cliche and irritating and makes them into impactful, emotional scenes. This drama is one of the few times that I’ve been genuinely moved by the separation of the leads and not just frustrated by it. The writer also really nails the fantasy aspect of the drama. She wasn’t afraid to really use the fantasy element to her advantage by placing the characters in dangerous situations that they just realistically wouldn’t be able to escape from in a non-fantasy, reality-based series. But add in the fantasy element and suddenly the writer has a lot more room to play. The characters can be placed in broader, more intense circumstances with a multitude of ways to move the plot forward while still making sense. One of the drama's better points was that the rules were mostly explained to us (even if they did change every two episodes), so that while the fantasy element added an air of magic and mystery, it was never used as an easy-fix. Every situation and every resolution was clearly thought through, and that understanding from the writer translates to the viewer even if we don’t 100% understand it ourselves.

Super creepy

The momentum did slow a bit as we approached the second half of the series, but still had a quicker pace than most other dramas. Lee Jong Suk smashed it as our cartoon hero. It doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty enough to look like a fictional being, but his phenomenal acting really boosted the series.

Why does Lee Jong Suk look so attractive covered in blood?

Even though Chul’s problems were very different to that of the viewers (I don’t think a single viewer has ever had to battle discovering they’re a cartoon), Lee Jong Suk was still able to make Chul understandable- and most importantly likeable. His delivery of Chul’s emotions was picture perfect, and he was simply the embodiment of the wounded hero searching for his life’s meaning. The obvious difference between creator and creation were interesting to see explored, and offers a bit of insight into why artists love creating hero-like characters. Chul was everything that Sung Moo wasn’t- brave, determined, and willing to do anything for his family. The scenes of Chul having to face the weakness of his creater, and Sung Moo having to face his own weaknesses were pretty heavy and added a huge amount of depth to the series. The character of Kang Chul was easy to cheer for (he’s basically the perfect man), and his struggles brought about bigger questions that everyone could relate to, cartoon character or no. How much free will do we have? What is predetermined, and how much control do we have over changing our fate?

Creator vs. Creation 

In Chul’s case all it took was his self-awareness to allow him to begin to change the world around him- and that’s a heavy, complex idea that the drama is bringing into play. Wrapped in all the pretty packaging the drama is suggesting that all it takes is your own awareness that you can change things around you, and then can. Yes. Mindf*ck. The drama was good at that.

Took the story into her own hands (literally)

It was excellent that Chul was able to step outside the character set-up that Sung Moo had created for him and grasp his own free will, yet he never had to compromise who he was as a person (or a character- I don’t even know anymore). Next to Lee Jong Suk was Han Hyo Joo, and she was just as brilliant. She made Yeon Joo into an incredibly endearing and understandable heroine- and you cared just as much about Yeon Joo’s happy ending as you did about Chul’s. Unlike many K-drama heroines, Yeon Joo was a character that always made sense. She was our way of viewing the new cartoon world, and was our insight into the difficulties and emotions that occurred as a result of constantly slipping between the two worlds. Dad (Sung Moo) was a good (but not great) villain to have opposite our leads. I found the villain to be more threatening when it was the unidentified shadow man with no face, as it added a sense of paranoia to the series that giving the villain a face kind of took away. While the villain was a faceless, poorly constructed character it was hard to predict his movements- because Dad had just written him as a plot device, not an actual character.

Only purpose is to kill Chul and his family, which is kinda sucky for Chul

His movements were often erratic and simply not having an identity was a threat in itself, because how is Chul supposed to defeat an enemy with no identity whose sole purpose has been (and still is) to kill people Chul considers family as a way to build Chul as a hero and drive Chul’s motivation.

Why were you so worried about Chul when you'd created this lunatic?

He still remained pretty frightening after he took Dad’s face as he still held a rather unhinged attitude, particularly after he became self-aware like Chul and started identifying as Dad himself- not just as a character Dad couldn’t be assed creating properly. It was interesting to see how the killer wanted Dad to give him an identity just as much as Chul did- because his self realisation was basically rendered meaningless once he learned that he wasn’t a proper character and had only been created for the sole purpose of the one scene where Chul’s family is murdered. The killer ends up being the complete opposite of Chul. Chul is so well thought-through and so detailed that everyone who has read the manhwa has a thorough understanding of who he is. On the other hand, the killer has no identity, no purpose, and no set-up that provides him with any limitations or guidelines. The conclusion for the killer was action-packed and pretty satisfying, though I do think that it could have been ramped up into a bigger showdown considering that he was the main villain. If Chul was just going to shoot him, why didn’t he just do it before? Y’know- before he shot and killed Chul’s wife.

Why yes. At one point our heroine actually dies.

I was pretty underwhelmed with Chul Ho as far as villains go. He was a fairly underdeveloped character- like, why did he even hate Chul do much? He didn’t really do much to get in the way of Chul, and he really did nothing after gaining information about the two worlds, which makes me wonder why the writer bothered having him find out.

You need to up your game buddy- the last guy didn't even have a face

He’s not the worst villain to ever grace my screen, but it was a smidge disappointing to have him as our last villain and our final hurdle for Chul when the previous hurdles seemed so much bigger and so much more dangerous. Beyond the main characters and the villains that fought them, none of the other characters really mattered much. None of the characters from Chul’s manhwa world were developed that much (which is weird considering that So Hee was supposed to be the heroine of the comic before Yeon Joo showed up). I suppose they just didn’t really matter all that much considering that Chul would eventually come into the real world and leave the comic and all its characters behind. The side characters in the real world were a little more interesting and given a little more screen time. Soo Bong was a bit of a scene stealer as his reactions to everything were so spot on and basically mirrored how I was feeling as a viewer. I wish Kang Ki Young had a bit more to do in the series, as he can be such a dynamic side character. I wanted to know more about him and his relationship with Yeon Joo (and Chul’s jealousy that might result)- but alas he was a character that fell by the wayside. Visually the drama was spectacular. The directing in regards to the seamless transitions from comic panel to live-action were flawless and added a huge sense of amazement to the drama- not too mention it just looked plain awesome.

It was so magical- it was like Harry Potter for adults (not that Harry Potter isn't for adults)

The soundtrack was also quietly wonderful. It was in the background not demanding too much attention, but spot on when you did pay attention to it- particularly towards the end of an episode when we reached those cliffhanger moments.

What Was Great:

Our Leads:

Lee Jong Suk and Han Hyo Joo were spectacular and they were insanely good together. You know when two leads start to spark rumours that they’re dating in real life then the chemistry’s bound to be good. And it was. Lee Jong Suk and Han Hyo Joo matched each other perfectly and had wonderful on screen chemistry that was addictive to watch.

And the snogging gets better as the series goes along

Their casual flirtation is always fun, but never forgets to hint at the stronger relationship developing underneath. It was such a must-have to have great chemistry in a series like this considering it’s all about a comic book hero coming to life and jumping worlds so he can stay with the woman he loves, and the two lead actors nailed the do-or-die dynamic of their relationship. The relationship between the two characters was so enjoyable to watch develop- particularly after the manhwa world resets and Chul loses his memory of Yeon Joo, as it shows that no matter what, if Chul ever meets Yeon Joo, no matter how short their meeting or how many times he forgets her, he will always be curious about her and that will always lead to his becoming self-aware.

I so desperately want them to be happy forever

It’s a nice bit of fate, but isn’t so in your face that it seems ridiculous or against all odds. I particularly loved the way Yeon Joo always brought about Chul’s awareness that he was in a cartoon because, despite what was written for his character,

I love them as much as they love each other

he chooses to go after Yeon Joo every time- which is his first ever real choice as an independent being. Which kind of brings on the warm fuzzies. It was wonderful that Yeon Joo and Chul had equal footing in the relationship. Chul was the badass action hero of the manhwa who could do anything and everything, but Yeon Joo is his original creator who knows almost every aspect of his life. While Yeon Joo is left shouldering all the burden and hurt after the comic world resets, it's evened out by Chul waiting for her for years as time in the two worlds flows differently. It was a great move for both of them to have a period of wanting an waiting for the other (even though I usually hate that), as it showed that it wasn’t just Yeon Joo suffering and waiting on her own- Chul was just as invested and just as in love as she was, and was willing to go through hurt, loneliness and heartbreak in order to achieve their happy ending. 

The Tease:

The drama was far from predictable, and that’s always a good thing. It wasn’t unpredictable because the writer was just doing whatever she wanted- but continued to have clear movements and momentum.

Please don't kill Chul, please don't kill Chul

And one of the upsides about this unpredictability is that it made me fear for the characters lives. Not many K-Dramas can pull that off because there’s just no way in hell that the writers would leave us with a dead hero on our hands- but I honestly wouldn’t have put it past this writer to give us a sad ending to the story. Fearing for the lives of the characters adds a huge amount of tension to the drama and makes for one hell of an addictive watch. Because unlike other dramas, you’re not waiting to see how the happy ending comes about- you’re waiting to see if there is a happy ending, or if everyone dies and the comic world combusts and the plot reaches a satisfying conclusion but all the characters are miserable anyway. There were lots of hints that the drama might be heading towards a not-so-happy ending, so it only served to increase the excitement in the last episode, and made the eventual happy ending feel so much more earned than in most other dramas. Technically the ending wasn't completely happy- although Chul got what he wanted, he spent two years in prison (which still seems a little unnecessary, but whatever) and Yeon Joo’s Dad died which was a bit of a bummer (for her, not us). 

How I was watching this drama

Correct Use of Amnesia:

I have never ever, not once in a K-Drama enjoyed the use of amnesia or even the forced separation of our leads. Because it’s cliche, often frustrating, and just generally sucks.

I was actually sad for her instead of just ridiculously annoyed

Until now. I was on every emotional beat of Kang Chul’s amnesia and the effect it had on Yeon Joo. It was sad. It was heart-breaking. It was basically soul destroying. I’m not exactly sure what it was that made this amnesia work when so many others have failed- but good job drama. Maybe it was the fact that the separation wasn’t for an extended period of time, and that Yeon Joo is just such a top heroine. Rather than shrinking into herself and just wandering around with sad-face on, she helps out at the hospital and actually responds when Chul talks to her (no matter how sad it is that he doesn’t remember her), and it actually produced some pretty funny moments. So the couple of episodes were sad and emotional, but they had some humour in there that stopped it from becoming a total angst-fest. Also, it does help that both of our leads went into this situation with the knowledge and agreement on what was going to happen. Yeon Joo could have written the dream and reset the manhwa world without telling Chul- but she didn’t. Chul could have done a huge Noble Idiot and just pretended he didn’t actually love Yeon Joo in order to keep her safe from the killer- but he didn’t.

Just remember her already!

The two had a rational, level-headed discussion and came to a mutual decision. Isn’t that nice to see! It’s just another part of what made these leads such a wonderful couple- they communicated, made plans together, and were basically not self-centred knob-heads. 

What Wasn’t:

Villain Switch-Up:

The one thing I think sapped a bit of tension and drama from the series was that it didn’t have one continuous villain throughout. We had three. Well, maybe two and a half. The first villain, the original killer, was my favourite of the villains. He was so unhinged that he was hard to predict, and his knowledge of the manhwa world and the real world made him very dangerous, but also made a lot of sense.

And he was by far the scariest of the lot

He wants to know who he is and what his purpose is. These desires are realised when Dad gives the killer his own face and things kind of snowball into one big clusterf*ck. It’s riveting to watch, and the killer poses a real sense of danger to Chul, to Yeon Joo, and also to Dad whose face he (literally) stole.

And that's what you get for being a lazy ass writer

Which was super creepy- but also a bit of a plot hole. While the idea behind Dad accidentally giving the killer the exact same face as the one he had is an interesting concept, the logic of it fell a bit short. Dad’s face didn’t disappear when the killer got his face, which leads me to think that the killer somehow stole Dad’s face. Which is cool and creepy, but doesn’t make much sense. The killer gaining control of Dad when he’s faceless is also a great plot twist in the story and creates a huge sense of urgency for Yeon Joo and Chul as they are now living in a world that is completely controlled by the killer via puppet Dad the artist. The how factor of the killer's control over Dad is also left a bit too under explained for my taste. Then the killer is dealt with a fair few episodes before the drama concludes and suddenly, oh no, we don’t have anyone for the heroes to fight. So then Dad goes kind of crazy, not sure if he’s the killer or not due to him actually recalling the killers memories as if they were his own. Which is again an interesting point as it begs the question of just how connected Dad was to the killer, and how similar they were that Dad himself is confusing the two of them.

Pretty easy to keep him under control

But he wasn’t really all that threatening. They just tied him up until he was sane enough to come and save the day. So that leaves us with Chul Ho as our main villain for the last few episodes, and he wasn’t really all that great. He didn’t seem all that smart, and didn’t do anything even with the knowledge of the two different worlds. Frankly I’m surprised he even managed to shoot Chul as Chul is way too much of a clever badass to walk into a situation like that, but I guess they just needed something to actually happen in the last episode.

I don't think Chul would be that dumb, but we'll let it slide for dramatic tension

What’s most frustrating about Chul Ho is his apparent lack of motivation. He was pretty much ignored for the most part, not really being a character of actual importance until the last few episodes, so it did leave us wondering what his actual problem was. Why all the Chul hate? The drama hinted that if Chul found the real killer that Chul Ho’s popularity would drop, but I don’t really see that being a reason for Chul Ho to try and kill Chul and his bodyguard friend.

But...but...he's self-aware...

Chul Ho seemed to accept pretty easily that he was a manhwa villain and didn’t seem too motivated to change that, so I did wonder a bit about his obsession with the other world. It came out sounding like he wanted to go there and conquer that world, but that makes little sense considering that he knows nothing about that world, and hasn’t even conquered the world he actually lives in. His death was short and sweet and brought on pretty easily- but it also kind of defies logic. We’d never before seen scenes of characters doing things they didn’t want to do once they became self-aware. All drama long we’ve been told that once the characters become aware that they are characters in a cartoon they can start to control their own fate, and not be guided by the will of the writer. Yet I’m pretty sue Chul Ho doesn’t want to shoot himself, but Dad ends up making him do just that. The scene itself is pretty cool and pretty dark- but it does open a few plotholes that the series didn’t have before the final episode. Chul Ho’s time in the spotlight was pretty short, and I’m a little disappointed that this amazing, heart-racing drama didn’t finish with big confrontation with a well thought out, fear inducing villain.

Where are My Snoodles?:

I wanted way more of this than we got

I was kind of hoping that we’d have time for a lot of kisses and cuddles at the end of this drama. All series long the different plot-points tended to wrap themselves up pretty quickly without becoming too drawn out, and that left me thinking (and hoping) that we’d get at least half an episode of seeing Yeon Joo and Chul being cute and happy together in the real world.

Where all my cuddles at?

Or even a whole episode on Chul having to adjust to the real world and the big issue of him not actually having a real identity there. But instead we had Chul sit in prison for two years while Yeon Joo was sad for a week and then they kissed on a bench- that’s it, the end. WHERE WAS THE CUTENESS?! WHERE WAS THE HAPPY-FUN-TIME FOR THESE WONDERFUL CHARACTERS?! The first half of the series had a lot more cute and a lot more romance than the second half did. While I’m not upset that the show decided to go for a darker, more villain-focused route, I do wish it had returned to it’s lighthearted spooning and snogging a bit earlier than it did.

Re-watch?

Maybe not the whole thing- but probably the first half. Because I love these leads together.

I don't really care how they got their happy ending as long as they got one