Where Stars Land

Where Stars Land

6/10

Where Stars Land

Genre:                                                  Episodes: 16                                     Year: 2018

Romance

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Han Yeo Reum works at Incheon Airport where her desire to be praised by her superiors often leads to her making mistakes. After working for a year, Yeo Reum is transferred to a new team, where her new mentor is Lee Soo Yeon, a KAIST graduate who has only worked at the airport for four months. Unlike Yeo Reum, Soo Yeon wants to live an ordinary life and has no desire to stand out.

Cast:

Lee Je Hoon (Lee Soo Yeon)

Chae Soo Bin (Han Yeo Reum)

Kim Kyung Nam (Oh Dae Ki)

Lee Soo Kyung (Na Young Joo)

Lee Dong Gun (Seo In Woo)

Kim Ji Soo (Yang Seo Koon)

Ro Woon (Ko Eun Seob)

Ahn Sang Woo (Gong Seung Chul)

Lee Sung Wook (Choi Moo Ja)

Jang Hyun Sung (Kwon Hee Sung)

General Thoughts:

This drama is the epitome of what-could-have-been. It had all the resources and materials to make an excellent show, but it never quite got there. Or it did for a while, but then it messed it up at the end.

You were so close 

I heard some rumours that this was supposed to be a 20 episode show and that it suffered an unfortunate episode cut due to scheduling conflicts (which may be why the ending ended up being rushed, and quite frankly cr*p), but I can’t seem to find any evidence that supports this idea. Perhaps it was just the desperate wish of viewers trying to find some reason why this drama that was going along so nicely suddenly fell apart.

I'm not sure this show would have been as good with different leads

The absolute worst thing about dramas that are travelling along so nicely only to fall apart (seemingly randomly) at the end, is that it kinda undoes all the good things they did along the way. ‘Where Stars Land’ was a thoughtful, charming show for most of its run, but by falling at the final hurdle it just messed up all these great things it had going for it. What I can say was fabulous from start to finish was the acting. Despite the shaky start this drama had with its casting, I think it all turned out for the best. Before Lee Je Hoon and Chae Soo Bin accepted, the leading roles were out to Hyun Bin and Park Shin Hye (who are currently starring together in ‘Memories of the Alhambra’), and Park Bo Gum and Suzy. While either of those combos probably would have worked out in the end, I’m endlessly glad that we were treated to the Lee Je Hoon and Chae Soo Bin combo instead. They’re not exactly a pairing I would have thought up myself (he’s so action, she’s so adorable), but their chemistry here was really fabulous. Both of them have proven that they’re excellent emotional actors previously, so I was never worried that they would be unbelievable, but I did fear that the pairing would be a bit…random. Good news for all of us, it wasn’t. It was delightful.

Even if the plot did get a bit wonky, the show was always visually gorgeous

What made both of their performances so spectacular in ‘Where Stars Land’ is that they weren’t exactly playing sensible, logical characters, but they were both still able to draw the audience into an understanding of the characters. While I might not have always believed that Soo Yeon was making the right calls in regards to his health and his relationship with Yeo Reum,

We all felt a bit this way about Yeo Reum at the start

Je Hoon’s perfect depiction of Soo Yeon’s fear and insecurities made me understand why Soo Yeon was making the decisions he was making. Chae Soo Bin had a bit of a harder task as Yeo Reum was a little awkwardly written. At the beginning of the series, Yeo Reum wasn’t exactly a character that was all that likeable. She was loud and abrasive with apparently no skills to back up all her talk. However as the story went on, Chae Soo Bin was able to inject a bit more of a bubbly, nonjudgemental energy into Yeo Reum, and she became instantly easier to root for. Kim Kyung Nam has come out of nowhere and totally grabbed my attention this year. From the dorky younger brother in ‘Smart Prison Living’ to the damaged older brother in ‘Come Here and Hug Me’, to here. These three roles were totally different and just go to show that he’s a wonderfully diverse actor. With the addition of his role as Dae Ki, we can now be certain that he can do funny, emotional and adorable. I’ve got my fingers crossed that he’s on the way to Male Lead Territory, because his performance here as the gruff but squishy security sunbae has made me keen to see what he would do with a leading role.

These two characters were an adorable side plot I couldn't do without

Lee Soo Kyung hasn’t got a whole lot of credits under her belt, but I really enjoyed what she brought to this show. It can be hard to play an aloof character without coming across as arrogant (and b*tchy in the case of girls), but Lee Soo Kyung added a wonderful sense of vulnerability to her character that cancelled out her rough exterior. Despite the story never actually going too far into the character of Young Joo, the way Lee Soo Kyung played her had me believing that there was a justifiable reason behind Young Joo’s knee jerk reactions to Dae Ki that went beyond her simply being cold.

Do I care about In Woo or his involvement in the story? No. No I do not.

Lee Soo Kyung made me believe that Young Joo had been faced with discrimination in the workforce for being a female, or that she'd had a previous uncomfortable dynamic with a male superior that caused her to be so cautious around Dae Ki and interpret his behaviours as something more than what he meant. I was honestly surprised that the drama never delved more into Young Joo’s character, but it actually left me feeling that much more impressed with how Lee Soo Kyung played her, as I got a very concrete sense of who Young Joo was without it ever being spelled out on screen. I thought Lee Dong Gun was kind of wasted here. To be fair I’ve only seen him in ‘7 Day Queen’ in which he was fabulous, but I have heard he’s a pretty consistently powerful actor. Here he didn’t really do much. His character wasn’t exactly written well, and while Lee Dong Gun didn’t do a bad job, he definitely wasn’t used to his full potential. The angsty brother storyline kind of didn’t make a lot of sense, nor did it have a proper resolution, so while Lee Dong Gun was convincing as both a vindictive, uncaring brother and a desperate, loving brother, these two personas coming to exist as the same character wasn’t exactly smooth.

I'm not sure anyone who leaves their bother in this state deserves a redemption arc...

In Woo’s redemption was hinted at very slightly early on, but the actual redemption came on so quickly that it did feel a touch random, and very much like the writer was throwing the plot out the window in order to force a happy ending for everyone. 'Older' actresses (as in over about 35) tend to get delegated to mother and grandmother roles, so it was nice to have Kim Ji Soo play a character that wasn’t simply someone’s family member.

Seo Koon is the unsung hero of this drama

Seo Koon was a strong and determined character, and Kim Ji Soo played her with a lot of backbone. She was the boss that we all wish we had, and was a refreshing character to have in K-Dramaland- a place that is so often filled with over demanding superiors.

What Was Great:

Romance:

Unarguably the best thing in this drama was the romances. Yes, plural. Every love-line in this show was fab. Our main couple were obviously wonderful, what with their adorable chemistry and actual (gasp) discussions about their feelings.

I will never get tired of the way Soo Yeon looked at Yeo Reum

While it can be nice to watch a couple bicker as they fall in love, it was a different kind of treat to watch a romance that was based on communication, understanding and learning to come to terms with each others’ disagreements. They weren’t a perfect couple by far, but what made them so easy to root for is that you really believed they were trying to make their relationship work. Yes, they liked each other on a fundamental level (which does tend to increase the chances of a relationship working), but there was no great ‘destiny’ or ‘fate’ spin on their romance. Soo Yeon and Yeo Reum were together simply because they wanted to be. Granted, they did have their moment at the end of the show where they completely stopped communicating with each other and were lying because they ‘didn’t want to hurt the other’, but for most of the show’s run they were honest with each other, which is definitely a breath of fresh air in K-Dramaland. Our second love-line was more like the typical K-Drama love-lines, and it was done oh so well. The bickering that Soo Yeon ad Yeo Reum didn’t have, Dae Ki and Young Joo most certainly did.

I don't even know which one was my favourite love-line

It was unbelievably cute watching these two figure out that they liked each other, and then flounder around completely out of their depth and confused as to what to do about it. Their small moments of showing that they cared for each other were a fun, lighthearted break from the more dramatic goings on in the Soo Yeon-Yeo Reum line. Not that Dae Ki and Young Joo didn’t have their ups and downs (because they definitely did),

You can legit see his brain breaking down

it was just far less heavy than one of them being crippled with their awesome prosthetics accidentally killing them. I mean, it’s hard to get much heavier than that. Perhaps one of the most enjoyable things about these two simultaneous love lines is that they were so different from each other. While Soo Yeon and Yeo Reum were both so open about their feelings and unembarrassed about their affections for one another, Dae Ki and Young Joo certainly weren’t. So we got the joy of watching a couple actually communicate and build a trusting relationship as well as a couple that were awkward and embarrassed, tripping over themselves to show that they cared but not that they cared too much. I even liked Eun Seob’s one sided crush on Yeo Reum. Yeo Reum never came across as a poor friend, as she always made it very clear that she thought of Eun Seob as nothing more than a friend. Even when he made his feelings a little more noticeable, Yeo Reum drew a clear line, so there was never any doubt where the two stood. No one could ever accuse her of leading him on, because just as she was open an honest with Soo Yeon about how much she liked him, she was also open and honest with Eun Seob about how she only saw him as a friend and that she was interested in Soo Yeon.

What a fab friend

You could also never accuse her of being pushy or demanding, because while she politely turned Eun Seob down, she never told him that he wasn’t allowed to like her. Yeo Reum made it very clear that Eun Seob could do whatever he liked with his feelings (either deal with them and be just friends, or act on them and risk the friendship), but she also made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t going to let him live in a neutral zone where he wasn’t quite a friend and wasn’t quite a lover. And I think we all adored the way that Eun Seob didn’t take the classic jilted lover road of stirring things up for the main couple. By giving Soo Yeon and Yeo Reum fair and honest advice on their relationship, Eun Seob gave them the best possible shot at making their relationship work.

I would not have said no to more double dates either

Sure, he was ready to be a shoulder for Yeo Reum to cry on should it all fall apart, but it was clear that he liked her far too much to sacrifice her own happiness for a shot at his own. It was selfless and sweet, and made him that much more of an endearing character. Sure, the plot may have kinda fallen apart towards the end, but at least we had all these great love-lines to keep us going. Heck, I even liked the separated-but-not-yet-divorced-line of Seo Koon and Moo Ja.

Subtlety:

This drama sure didn’t get up in your face about the themes it wanted to present. Subtlety isn’t something that comes along in your everyday K-Drama, so it was an interesting and welcome change to have a show that mentioned a lot of issues in passing without having to rub our faces in it. Things like sexual harassment, discrimination in the workplace and power dynamics in relationships were touched upon without the drama feeling like it needed to dedicate a whole episode or a whole plot line to each issue.

It doesn't have to be in your face for the point to get across

It helped the drama flow smoothly, as our story was never interrupted by a random side plot, but rather the issues raised their heads in ordinary situations every now and then. Personally I find this a more interesting and realistic take on these sorts of issues. Although it can be interesting and emotional to watch our heroine fight against harassment at work, it’s far more likely that this is a subject that she will try and deal with quietly and discreetly, and not bring to the attention of all her coworkers. Yeo Reum’s short, quiet self defence was easily looked over, and rather than spending a lot of time and effort to try and right was was done wrong, Yeo Reum sadly accepted that it was something that had happened and tried to move on with her life and work. It can be interesting to have a romance between coworkers, but it’s not unlikely that things will skew in the male’s favour should the relationship work out. It wasn’t even something I really considered all that much, and obviously wasn’t something that Soo Yeon considered until Yeo Reum brought it up, and we saw the truth in her fears when a rumour spread that they were dating, and people accused Yeo Reum of seducing Soo Yeon- a man who others considered out of her league.

This show made me rather grateful for my teeny tiny office workplace

Rather than making a huge issue out of these situations, the drama instead chose to show these moments in passing, or expressed them through character interactions without needing to spell it out. Often, I found that this made these issues hit harder to home and feel more heartbreaking, as it made you realise that these situations aren’t something that happens every now and then and becomes a big deal, but is actually something that happens on a day to day basis, but people keep quiet or overlook it because they don’t want to risk their reputation, relationships or career. 

What Wasn’t:

Lost It’s Way:

What can I say, this drama f*cked up its ending big time. It’s not just that I didn’t like the way the ending panned out, but that it also seemed to go against what the drama had previously set up. In Woo was always a problem character, and his rushed redemption didn’t do much to endear him in anyone’s eyes.

Man, do I wish you'd been written better

Quite frankly I wish that the show had gone to either extreme with his character. I either wanted him to be so obviously selfish and unrepentant that we all hated his guts and were rewarded with a solid downfall. Or I wanted him to be so obviously and heartbreakingly misunderstood by Soo Yeon as he did everything in his power to protect him without his knowledge. Instead the show chose to keep his character somewhere in the middle where we didn’t like him because he was selfish, but we also couldn’t outright hate him because in his own convoluted way he kinda was trying to look out for Soo Yeon. The problem here is that the drama contradicted itself a little. At the beginning, In Woo seemed honestly shocked (and super displeased) that Soo Yeon was alive and (seemingly) well. He should have at least known that Soo Yeon was alive, as at the end of the drama we’re shown a flashback where In Woo (post injury) gives Soo Yeon’s Mum a watch to give to Soo Yeon. Which he wouldn’t have done if he didn’t know for sure and certain that Soo Yeon was alive. I also argue that a quicker, less harmful way to get Soo Yeon out of the airport and away from the gangsters would have been to just tell him the truth rather than literally threaten him with the prosthetics that were helping him live a normal life.

There are like a million ways In Woo could have handled this better

It just seemed unnecessarily cruel for In Woo to use the disability that was (indirectly or not) caused by him to try and make Soo Yeon quit his job. Honestly, the gangsters as a whole just confused the hell out of me. I was expecting In Woo’s involvement with them to get spelled out in a bit more detail, but nope. And as quickly and randomly as they were introduced to the story, they were gone. After Soo Yeon heroically rescues In Woo from drowning (which wouldn’t have bothered me that much anyway)

Gangsters are such a tacky way to add conflict IMO

the gangsters are mysteriously gone, never to interfere in the brothers’ lives again. Sorry, but I’m not buying that a huge criminal organisation who has invested years, and probably millions, in some nefarious airport takeover scheme would just give it all up cuz a dude with a robo-arm beat some guys up and picked up a car. Especially when said robo-arm is taken off only days later. I understand that having Soo Yeon’s prosthetics cause him harm was necessary to add some conflict into the show, but I really didn’t like how it played out between our leads. These two people who have been very open and honest all drama long are suddenly lying and hiding things from each other. I can sort of give Soo Yeon a pass because it’s his body and his choice what he wants to do with it, but I have no idea why Yeo Reum wouldn’t tell him that she knew he was seriously sick so they could sit down and have an in depth discussion about what their options were. I would much rather have seen Soo Yeon and Yeo Reum be honest about what was happening and argue and disagree openly while trying to understand each other than watch Soo Yeon try and hide his sickness and Yeo Reum try and hide that she knew. Like, why? What did she even get from it?

Can we all just stop pretending everything is fine and actually talk about the issue here?

He was still wearing his prosthetics, so he was still getting sicker, so her decision to lie was totally random and unnecessary. Perhaps the worst part of this drama’s ridiculous rainbows and ponies and fairy-dust finale is that we actually ended up skipping right over the issue of the prosthetics hurting Soo Yeon anyway. The last quarter of this drama was essentially Soo Yeon and Yeo Reum disagreeing on whether Soo Yeon should wear his prosthetics and die, or live as a disabled man in a wheelchair.

I get why you don't wanna live without them, but I don't get why
you won't explain it to your girlfriend

It’s a sh*t choice to be fair. Both sides had reasonable arguments. Yeo Reum sees Soo Yeon as a wonderful, respectable, loveable man whether he is on his own two feet or in a wheelchair, so she doesn’t understand Soo Yeon’s willingness to let his prosthetics kill him. On the other hand, Soo Yeon hates his disability and knows how hard it would make life for Yeo Reum and himself if they were to live that way, while Yeo Reum is perhaps not as aware of exactly how difficult that life would be. At the end of the day, while I do understand that Yeo Reum thinks a life in a wheelchair is better than no life at all, it’s still Soo Yeon’s decision to make- it’s his life after all. So, all in all, a great discussion and an endlessly fascinating conflict. It seemed for a while that the drama was going to take the route of killing off Soo Yeon, which would have been sad, but not terrible. The idea that he was just someone that was passing through for Yeo Reum was heartbreaking, but made sense and could have been a very bittersweet ending to the show. Then it chose to save Soo Yeon, which I must say I was happy about. The problem is that it felt like Soo Yeon changed his mind very quickly, and was almost blackmailed into choosing to live.

As aesthetically pleasing as this scene may be, I kinda wanted Soo Yeon to inject it himself

I would have preferred if the show had spent more time on Soo Yeon’s choice, and showing how he learned that a life in a wheelchair is still a life worth living, rather than focusing on some convoluted, confusing gang plot that was going to get dropped anyway. And then we skip the part where Soo Yeon is in a wheelchair. And he’s not even with Yeo Reum during that time. He disappears off to America (the land of magical medical cures apparently) and comes back with shiny new limbs, whole and hearty and ready to be human again.

'This is the real me.' ...Is it though?...

Which f*cking blows. To me, the whole point of this drama was for Soo Yeon to come to terms with his disability and live his life regardless of what his body could or couldn’t do. The show went out if its way to criticise the way we focus on perfection and normality, and then basically smacked us in the face by telling us that Soo Yeon couldn’t be happy with Yeo Reum without his prosthetics. Needless to say, that wasn’t the message I was wanting out of this show. I mean, for all their talk of being true and honest with each other, Yeo Reum never saw Soo Yeon in his wheelchair once. Sure, he showed her his prosthetics, but that’s not who he is. I truly wanted this drama to show at least a a glimpse of Soo Yeon and Yeo Rim living a difficult, but still enjoyable life together without Soo Yeon’s prosthetics. Yes, it would have been a nice happy bonus for the prosthetic issue to be fixed so that Soo Yeon could have more independence and whatnot, but not before we see Soo Yeon and Yeo Reum continuing to love and care for each other as they lived with Soo Yeon’s disability.

Also it was just fr*ggin' weird that they didn't show Lee Je Hoon's face in the final scene. Like, is that even him?

To be honest, I didn’t even need the overly happy ending with the prosthetics being fixed, as long as Soo Yeon and Yeo Reum were together and figuring things out. So on that front, the show f*cked up royally. At the same time that the show’s subtlety was one of its great strengths, it was also one of its greatest flaws. While it did a great job of not being super, painfullly obvious about some issues it was addressing, it also kinda dropped a lot of its storylines that it had going and hoped no one would notice. While occasionally bringing out a small reveal about the characters’ lives worked nicely (like realising that Moo Ja was the husband Seo Koon was currently separated from),

Let's just try to remember the cute and forget the rest

it was a total fail when it did this to points that were actually necessary for the story. We would have been so much more sympathetic and understanding of Soo Yeon’s hatred of his disability and his belief that he couldn’t be loved because of it had we known earlier that his Mum skipped out on him after the accident. His reckless overuse of his prosthetics and unwillingness to live without them also would have been much more understandable had we known that he’d only had them for a year. With Yeo Reum’s Dad saving Soo Yeon from driving down those stairs right after he’d had the accident, I’d (incorrectly) assumed that Soo Yeon had got the prosthetics not long after that. These points were crucial in shaping Soo Yeon’s identity, and I desperately wish the show had given them to us earlier, rather than throwing them at us in the final episode like bonus pieces of information. I also coldem the show for not having Dae Ki and Young Joo get together in the ENTIRE YEAR that was skimmed over. Before the time skip they’d pretty much revealed that they liked each other, so why the hell were they still in the EXACT SAME STAGE a whole year later? Why, show, why?

Someone needs to go to Korea and hold a writer convention to spell out that time skips are generally a bad idea

And there were countless other stories that we just never heard the end to- what happened to In Woo, where did the gangsters go, what was the deal with Yeo Reum’s Dad and the doctor who made Soo Yeon’s prosthetics, what was the deal with Yeo Reum being adopted, what stopped Yeo Reum and her Dad from meeting each other then he was still alive (presuming he’s even dead, because while it was heavily hinted at it was never explicitly stated), how did Seo Koon meet Soo Yeon, why is Eun Seob suddenly being shipped off overseas? Long story short, the end of this drama is a complete and total fail.

Recommend?

I’d like to say yes, but I wouldn’t really. There were great parts to this show, but overall it was pretty disappointing.

If only, if only, if only...

Sassy Go Go

Sassy Go Go

8.5/10

Sassy Go Go

Genre: Episodes: 12 Year: 2015

School

Romance

Synopsis:

After their street dance club is abolished, the bottom ranked students at Sevit High School are forced into a cheerleading club in order to create better credentials for the top students.

Cast:

Jung Eun Ji (Kang Yeon Doo)

Lee Won Geun (Kim Yeol)

Chae Soo Bin (Kwon Soo Ah)

Ji Soo (Seo Ha Joon)

Kim Ji Suk (Yang Tae Bum)

N (Ha Dong Jae)

Kim Min Ho (Min Hyo Shik)

Park Hae Mi (Choi Gyung Ran)

In Gyo Jin (Im Soo Yong)

Lee Mi Do (Nam Jung Ah)

General Thoughts:

This was such a fun little drama. I feel that advertising it as a cheerleading show is a bit of a lie though- I think they had about two scenes of it in the whole drama.

Fun, but definitely not the main draw of the show

I was in the mood for a drama that was light and happy, and while I thoroughly enjoyed his one, it is a tad meatier and a bit darker than it would lead you to believe. I always find that I enjoy dramas that are character focused rather than purely plot driven-

I love Jang Eun Ji playing high school heroines

as it’s easier to overlook lulls in momentum or small plot holes when you’re so invested in the characters, their reactions and their relationships. ‘Sassy’ was definitely a drama that was character driven, and it had a whole world of beautifully developed characters to hold our attention while the story was unveiled. I honestly thought that this was one of the most perfectly cast dramas I’ve seen in a good long while. Good casting isn’t just about who the better actor is (as I’d argue that the second leads were probably the better actors in this equation), but it’s about how well the characters match the actor, and the actors’ chemistry with each other. Despite not being as objectively good at acting as Chae Soo Bin, I absolutely adored Jung Eun Ji as our heroine. She has a beautifully innocent energy that makes her perfect for high school roles. She played a similar character here to her character in ‘Reply 1997’ and it suit her to a tee. Jung Eun Ji has such a magical draw to her that makes you want to know her, which suited the character Yeon Doo perfectly. Her innocence and mischievousness mixed together to give us a character that was flirtatious but unprovocative.

She's so bubbly and fun- I just adore her

 I feel like I’ve been stalking Lee Won Geun with my drama watching lately (‘Mystery Queen’, ‘Jugglers’), and I’m not mad about it at all.

Oh my Geun

That boy is delightful. Again, he suited his character excellently. His sweet face and playful nature downplayed his character’s arrogance and made him seem up himself, but not unapproachable. And boy did he have good chemistry with Jung Eun Ji. The two had a lighthearted, flirty chemistry that matched well with their teenage characters. Ji Soo was an obvious choice for the marshmallow with a tough exterior. Why would you go for anyone else? While his character’s story was heartbreaking all on its own, Ji Soo has a way of really making viewers’ hearts bleed. Especially when he’s playing a high school kid. Chae Soo Bin has only come on my radar quite recently despite being in quite a few big name dramas. ‘Sassy’ was one of her earlier works, but boy she is just as good here as she has been in her newer dramas. Soo Ah was one of the most hateful characters I’ve ever come across in K-Dramaland, and yet Chae Soo Bin was able to maintain a level of pitifulness that made Soo Ah seem like an unfortunate character rather than a horrible one. Though she could be pretty horrible. 

She was fun to hate

While there were times (quite a few times) that I found myself wanting this nasty girl’s brutal downfall, towards the end Chae Soo Bin was able to pull me back from those feelings, and generated sympathy for her character.

This show's casting was just so spot on

Vixx’s N is someone I’m not sure of as an actor (I’ve only seen him in ‘Tunnel’ and his character was mostly just dead there), but he pulled a pretty respectable performance here. While nothing dynamic, he gave Dong Jae a cute naiveness when the character could have very easily come across as stupid. While there was a lot more in the character that could have been explored, the story tended to delegate Dong Jae to the sidelines. I do think it’s a pity that Dong Jae’s character didn’t get explored as much as he could have been, but I was also glad that N wasn't pushed out of his comfort zone. We got a sweet and happy character that was a nice break from some of the heavier moments in the drama. I always appreciate high school dramas that include one or two teachers as main characters, as I find it tends to elevate the show as a whole to a more mature level, and makes the drama more accessible to adults rather than simply catering to teens. Teacher Yang was a character that I really enjoyed watching, and was a character that really warmed your heart.

I am mildly in love with Teacher Yang. And by mildly I mean definitely.

His unwavering dedication to do what was best for the students was admirable and endearing, and he was the type of teacher that everyone wishes they had in school. Kim Ji Suk was delightful in character and he gave off a tremendous amount of warmth. Even before we knew just how invested he was in protecting his students and giving them a safe environment to grow in,

I am also in love with Kim Ji Suk

it was obvious that this was a man who truly cared for his students. Kim Ji Suk played the character with a great gentleness that never undermined his authority, and even in moments when his character was downtrodden he could always maintain a wonderful tenderness in his expressions that conveyed his love and dedication to the kids. It was a many layered character, and Kim Ji Suk did a marvellous job at peeling those layers back to expose more of what motivated Teacher Yang and the lengths he was willing to go to. One thing I noticed in particular is that he was very good at having warm and loving chemistry with the students without it coming across as creepy or inappropriate. Even throughout the sexual harassment scandal, Kim Ji Suk (and Jung Eun Ji also) showed a clear understanding of the boundaries of the teacher-student relationship. It was a relationship that was very close and extremely loving, but was very obviously parental, which was an important distinction to make.

Like happy parents watching over their kids

Teacher Yang’s arc to me is something that made ‘Sassy’ go from a entertaining school drama, to an entertaining drama without the school limitation. The drama didn’t downplay the importance of adults in children’s lives, and showed how important it is for kids to have at least one adult they can admire.

Instructor Nam don't take sh*t from no one

Instructor Nam had a similar role to Teacher Yang, but was less pronounced. Her addition in the story was refreshing due to her willingness to stand up to the controlling parents and teachers. While Teacher Yang was there to be a source of comfort, protection and love for the students, Instructor Nam was there to be a support to Teacher Yang and show that not everyone can be intimidated by money and power. One downside of this character is that the initial jokes made about her facial appearance were a bit distasteful- especially when Lee Mi Do isn’t exactly an unattractive woman. The writing of this drama was pretty brilliant, knowing exactly how to build situations and relationships. When you look back on the earlier episodes of the drama the issues faced were problematic, but not all that extreme. Our kids started with their club being unjustly disbanded, but as the story progressed, far deeper issues started to unfold such as bribery, parental pressure, and child abuse. Much more intense than kids struggling to get their dance club back. The way the relationships developed was also an extremely satisfying thing to watch.

These kids had the perfect level of flirty chemistry

Yeon Doo and Yeol had chemistry fairly early, but it was fun to see that chemistry go from antagonistic to flirtatious. Obviously Yeon Doo had a big effect on both Yeol and Ha Joon, as she showed them the benefits of loyal and loving friendship.

Cute lil' twinsies

I usually find characters like Yeon Doo a bit too perfectly good, but what made Yeon Doo stand out from other classically too-good-to-be-real heroines is that it was shown where Yeon Doo drew her strengths from. A heroine with a horrible family and terrible situation who is sugar and sunshine is always a bit unbelievable, but Yeon Doo’s loving and warm relationship with her Mum showed where Yeon Doo learned to be loyal, kind, compassionate, and also stand up against injustice. I always appreciated when the show commented on how Yeon Doo was similar to her Mum, as it gave cause for her to be the way she was. She wasn’t just an unbelievably sweet girl- these were values she had learned from her mother the same way Jin Ah learned that success was everything from hers. Due to her mother’s warm and loving upbringing, Yeon Doo was able to be a warm and loving presence in the more troubled kids’ lives, and it was wonderful to see that warmth spread from student to student, as each of them impacted each other. 

What Was Great:

The Kids:

The characters are definitely the draw in this drama. There was something just so inherently entertaining about two groups of kids from opposite walks of life learning to trust and love each other.

High school dramas done well can be so rewarding and satisfying

The problems these kids faced never felt blown out of proportion, and it was always enjoyable to watch how they worked together to solve their issues- especially when their teamwork was originally so begrudging.

This friendship is so precious

Yeon Doo and Yeol are definitely the stars of the show- they’re both so cute and delightful, but have enough substance that they make the show more intellectually engaging rather than just pure, fluffy fun. Ha Joon was also a character that you couldn’t help but love, and I was endlessly glad that the love-triangle didn’t destroy the boys’ friendship the way it usually does. When the end of the drama came around, I was glad to see that Yeon Doo, Yeol and Ha Joon were all still close friends, and that they were able to laugh about the past situation. Ha Joon’s simple ‘if he cheats on you come to me' line made the ending completely satisfying as it showed that he was able to express his love and gratitude to Yeon Doo, but also move past his romantic feelings so that he could remain friends without any awkwardness. I liked that his friendship with Yeon Doo existed outside of his friendship with Yeol, as it made it plausible that he could return to just being friends. It made Ha Joon’s relationship with Yeon Doo that much more believable (and a little bit more heartbreaking) when the writers gave him a few scenes that are typically given to the lead- such as Ha Joon being the first to find and comfort Yeon Doo when she was lost.

Two years later and we're still waiting for Ji Soo to star in his own romance drama

All the different relationships between the kids were unique and entertaining, and made for a very addictive show. Even the characters with smaller roles felt like very fleshed out characters with their own insecurities and issues, and no one felt like one-dimensional classmate characters that most high school dramas tend to have. 

What Wasn’t:

Saving Soo Ah:

Look it’s not like I totally hated the idea of Soo Ah getting a redemption arc (people’s lives aren’t decided in high school after all), but I wasn’t completely sold on it.

All those sympathetic scenes defiantly means redemption

What softened the blow a bit was that it was insanely obvious that Soo Ah was getting a redemption- it didn’t come as a smack out of the blue. Although I was a little miffed to think that this horrible girl was going to get forgiven, the show did give me a long time to come to terms with it. Yeon Doo’s complete and utter unwillingness to cut Soo Ah out of her life (annoying as that could be) was a big redemption arc flag. The occasional shows of sympathy or pity coming from other students pretty much guaranteed that our final plot move would be to bring Soo Ah into the circle of friends. The biggest alert that this was coming was how frequently we were shown the pressures coming from Soo Ah’s Mum, and her totally twisted ideology that she was passing onto her child. What I didn’t love about this redemption is that I’m not quite sure Soo Ah deserved it. Yeah, yeah, I know that forgiveness isn’t something you earn or deserve, I just didn’t buy Soo Ah’s switch up. All drama long Soo Ah has been doing horrible, horrible things. I mean, she used Ha Joon’s self-harm as blackmail in order to get her own way.

This is not a situation you try and use for your own benefit

Even when she knew that revealing this fact would put Ha Joon in a precarious situation with his physically abusive father. Like, dog move man. There was really no saving her in my books after that. And all series long Soo Ah felt no remorse for her actions.

I'd be more on board if she'd sown a bit more remorse

The only time we see her freaking out and cracking under the pressure, it’s because she’s scared she’s going to get caught. In the moment, Soo Ah has no qualms with pushing someone under the bus, and she’s completely unfazed in the aftermath until it looks like someone is catching on to her. In my mind, Soo Ah never really regretted her awful and destructive (and often potentially dangerous) actions, she only regretted getting found out. Which for me made her sudden remorse and love for her classmates feel…well…a tad unbelievable. It wasn’t the redemption as a whole I was against- I liked the idea of Soo Ah getting a second chance and learning what friendship is about- and I certainly didn’t want her to be driven to suicide, I just wished the show had presented her as a bit more conflicted about her actions- not just freaking out over the consequences of those actions. One thing I am glad of is that Soo Ah’s mother didn’t get a redemption. Her daughter’s attempt at suicide changed nothing in her, and that matched pretty well with how her character had been constructed. 

Your Mum is a Grade A psycho, but that still doesn't excuse your actions

Parent Love-Line:

Interesting side story as it was, it was still one I think this drama could have done with out. While I appreciated the extra screen time for Yeon Doo’s Mum (as it also helped us get a better understanding of the environment that shaped Yeon Doo), I just didn’t think this particular plot point added much to the story.

Interesting plot point, but at this point all I'm interested in is seeing Yeol and Yeon Doo be happy together

It’s an interesting problem to look at for sure- what do you do when the man you want to marry turns out to be your daughter’s high school sweetheart’s father? It’s just that the timing didn’t exactly work here.

That's better

While the show was presenting this issue, it was also in the middle of Soo Ah’s redemption arc. Which took up way more screen time, thus delegating the parental love line to a rather small corner. The conclusion is also brushed under the rug while both couples continue dating. It’s casually thrown out that Yeol is trying to get his name switched to his Mum’s registry (which coming from a country without legal family registers means little to me anyway), and apparently that makes the whole situation a lot less weird. Apparently. To be honest, if they weren’t going to put in the time and effort to resolve an issue such as this one, I think I would have preferred if the show just didn’t even go there to begin with.

Recommend?

If you’re a fan of high school or youth dramas this is definitely one of the better ones around. I’d also recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good slice-of-life story with beautifully flawed characters.

Go go watch this drama