Remember- Son's War

Remember- Son’s War

8.5/10

Remember- Son's War

Genre: Episodes: 20 Year: 2016

Mystery

Melodrama

Synopsis:

After his father is sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit, Seo Jin Woo becomes an attorney in order to defend his father and arrest the real criminal. As his father has Alzheimer’s it is very difficult to prove his innocence. As the trial continues, Jin Woo starts to develop issues with his own memory, and is diagnosed with the same disease as his father. 

Cast:

Yoo Seung Ho (Seo Jin Woo)

Park Min Young (Lee In Ah)

Park Sung Woong (Park Dong Ho)

Namgoong Min (Nam Gyu Man)

Song Young Kyu (Tak Young Jin)

Lee Shi Un (Ahn Soo Bum)

Eom Hyo Seop (Hong Moon Suk)

Lee Won Jong (Suk Joo Il)

Kim Jin Woo (Kang Suk Kyu)

Jung Hye Song (Nam Yeo Kyung)

General Thoughts:

What a cracker. This drama was interesting to watch from start to finish, with hardly any dull moments in between. It’s not the most original content (murderous chaebol), but the extensive cast gave great performances and populated the drama-world with an interesting mix of characters.

I love Dong Ho and all his flashy suits

The plot wasn’t exactly plot-hole free, but as the series didn’t linger too long on any one conflict it was easy to overlook some aspects of the story that weren’t exactly concrete, as you never really had time to think about it too deeply, and could just let it pass as this drama’s logic. The few beginning episodes when the story was setting itself up were a little slow, but once the conflict was presented the drama moved along at a ripping pace.

This expression made me annoyed rather than sad

Our hero was perhaps a little too weepy in the early episodes (I just didn’t find Yoo Seung Ho to be a moving, believable weeper, though I know many do), so I enjoyed the story much more when he was being a confident, in-control lawyer. He was an easy character to root for- underdog hero does everything he can to bring down a corrupt powerhouse. What’s not to like? Yoo Seung Ho was brilliant in scenes where he was strong and determined, and really sold the man-on-a-mission vibe. He was also excellent in moments when his memory loss came into play. While I may not be sold on his crying abilities, his gradual shift from innocent to confused to sad realisation was done perfectly. You couldn’t help but feel for Jin Woo when he had a memory slip and just had that expression of pure confusion and helplessness. Park Min Young was excellent as the heroine beside him, and although she didn’t actually do all that much, she still remained a strong presence in the show. It shows how strong the character was written and how well Park Min Young played her that In Ah could be pretty quiet for a couple of episodes but it always remained clear that she was a source of strength for Jin Woo, and was fighting her own battles in the background. And boy oh boy did those two have some smoking chemistry going on!

Kya~ look how cute they are!

The times they got to play around and flirt with each other were just too cute and actually left me feeling a bit sad that the show didn’t have more romance in it- because I so wouldn't have minded seeing the two of them interact while happy a bit more. It also made me remember just how darn wonderful Yoo Seung Ho is when he smiles- because Lord knows we didn't see a lot of that in the drama.

His accent was icing on the awesome-character-cake

And Park Sung Woong was just magic! I have never come across him before, but he’s totally on my radar now. He made Dong Ho such an endearing yet conflicting character. He was so dynamic and so interesting that I really wanted him to come over to team Jin Woo. My desire for Dong Ho to turn against Gyu Man lead to me having a rather unfounded belief that there was NO WAY Dong Ho would sacrifice Jin Woo and his father. Except…he kinda already had. It was a great effort on Park Sung Woong’s part that Dong Ho remained a likeable character, as he showed his confliction and his constant desire to do the right thing, even though for most of the drama’s run Dong Ho actually didn’t do the right thing at all. I mean, when you think about it, he buried a whole lot of Gyu Man’s crimes and didn’t go back and correct them. The only one we saw play out was Gyu Man’s rape case (which Dong Ho buried) and that was only brought up by Jin Woo and In Ah in order to get Gyu Man in the defendant seat so they could make the investigation focus on the murder Jin Woo's father was blamed for. How many other horrible crimes did Dong Ho help cover up? And yet despite all this, through Park Sung Woong's brilliant acting, he was one my favourite characters for the entire show.

You can't not not love him- he's just so snazzy

The momentum of the show was pretty fast, with new, smaller conflicts being introduced to keep our minds occupied while the heroes prepared for the final showdown. The smaller conflicts always had something to do with Gyu Man or Jin Woo’s father’s case, so it never felt like we were watching filler in order to get through the number of episodes the show needed to air.

Great angle, great lighting, great face

Granted, there were a few plot holes now and then (though admittedly most of them have slipped my mind by now), but the show’s constant focus on the big picture made it easy to let minor details slide. I found the plot and the characters so enjoyable that I was happy to not let my mind focus on the messier parts of the show so that I could be fully engaged in the story the show was trying to tell. And as for something that was certainly not messy- the cinematography! The drama was just shot beautifully. A multitude of angles along with playing with light and shadow really made the drama visually appealing to watch, while also tightening the tensions or emotions of a scene, or giving a bit of insight into the characters. Jin Woo and Dong Ho tended to have a lot of shadow, while In Ah- our prosecutor of justice and hope was always filmed with a lot of light. In fact, there were times it seemed as though In Ah herself was actually glowing- as if her inner goodness was spreading to the world around her (cheesy I know, but not exactly untrue). The drama was just so compelling to watch, and the main characters are just so fascinating. 

What Was Great:

Cast:

There’s not much to say here, everyone was fantastic and they all did brilliant jobs. Namgoong Min really was phenomenal as our villain though.

Great actors make for great conflicts

Goodness, he’s dynamic. He’s one of the best actors when it comes to believable tantrums, and his switching between his two faces was excellently done, albeit a tad creepy. But it’s not just how excellent a villain he was, but Namgoong Min also made Gyu Man weirdly relatable.

How do I feel bad for you? You are quite possibly the worst human ever...so...how?

Like, he was a horrible, horrific human being with no redeemable qualities, and yet I found myself feeling sorry for him. How? Why? It really had very little to do with how the character was written, it’s just that Namgoong Min had this amazing ability to show how lonely and hurt Gyu Man really was with very minute facial expressions in very minute amounts of time. Sometimes in K-Drama you get so used to seeing a lot of actors and so used to the roles that come up a lot (such as rich boys with murderous tendencies) that it all kind of becomes the same. Then you’ll have an actor, such as Namgoong Min, come along and smash their role out of the park and it really makes you sit up and notice what a good actor they are. Because no matter how many Chaebol villains we get, Gyu Man is probably going to be one of the ones I remember most- and that’s purely because he was acted so perfectly.

Gradual Progress:

Generally speaking I’m not a huge fan of cat-and-mouse conflicts. I tend to find them a bit circular and slow, as our hero and villain fight all series long but we know the hero will come out on top. So in this sense, I appreciated that ‘Remember’ focused less on how our hero was going to defeat his enemy, but more on how he will change as a person and what he will have to sacrifice on his way to victory.

Gave up love for justice

In the end, Jin Woo spends his last years with memory fighting against injustice and gives up any chance at leading a normal, happy life. He could have easily given up after his father died and spent his time contently with In Ah, but instead he chose to give up his remaining time and his potential relationship with In Ah in order to catch Gyu Man. Cat-and-mouse conflicts also tend to put all their conflict resolution in the last few episodes,

Just look at Gyu Man burn those bridges

but this drama felt more like a net slowly closing around our villain rather than the usual constant circling before the final attack. One of the best aspects of the story is that it wasn’t just our band of heroes that cornered Gyu Man. It was endlessly interesting and mildly satisfying seeing how Gyu Man kept creating more and more enemies for himself. The way he treated those around him, particularly his assistant friend, were huge steps in his own downfall. It wasn’t just the hard work of the righteous that brought Gyu Man down, but his own inability to control himself and maintain his relationships. It’s rather a nice take on the psycho-chaebol element. I’m so conditioned to seeing chaebol villains being so smart and so manipulative that only a very special, highly dedicated and intelligent individual would be able to bring them down. But with Gyu Man it always felt as if he’d become his own undoing sooner or later, and with Jin Woo’s interference it just came on sooner. It’s almost a little relieving to believe that despite all his money, power and connections, Gyu Man’s own arrogance and superiority would have allowed his crimes to catch up with him eventually. Guy Man’s role in his own destruction also meant that there was steady movement towards the show’s finale.

He is his own worst enemy

As our heroes uncovered new ammunition to use against Gyu Man, Gyu Man himself was causing his own allies to turn against him, giving Jin Woo and In Ah even more evidence and information. The slow betrayals from those involved in Gyu Man’s crimes gave the plot a great forward momentum, and made sure the story was always moving forwards rather that just going in circles.

What Wasn’t:

Underutilisation:

There were so, so, so many characters in this series but they were sadly under-utilised. You’d think that with 20 episodes each of the characters would have enough time to get fully developed, but that wasn’t really the case. The biggest case of underutilisation was definitely Nam Yeo Kyung.

She is significantly less involved than I thought she'd be

She really is perfectly placed to be a deeply interesting character. As a prosecutor she has a sense of justice, but she is also a part of the Nam family who use their power and influence to avoid justice. Yet her father and brother are constantly ignoring her and treating her like a child who is of no real importance, so it was hard to gauge where her loyalties were. It could have been so interesting to watch her struggle with what she wanted to protect and what she wanted to stand for, but it never really came about. Her turmoil was hinted at, but was never used to its full potential. Surprisingly, another dramatically under-utilised character was Joo Il. The writers only just put in enough effort to make the story passable, but it was still a little confusing, and a fair bit was left to the viewers’ imaginations. It was clear that Joo Il and Dong Ho had a father-son relationship, but I still remain confused as to how that played into Dong Ho betraying Jin Woo and his father. It didn’t appear that Joo Il was being threatened, but rather that he was reaching for more money and/or power. Which doesn’t seem like a decent excuse to let someone go on death row for a crime they didn’t commit, just sayin’.

I kinda get what you're doing here...but I also kinda don't

It was kind of glossed over why Dong Ho decided to pull out of the trial, and so remained slightly confusing when Dong Ho decided to jump back onto team Jin Woo. Nothing had really changed between Dong Ho and Joo Il, and Dong Ho seemed to walk away from their supposedly airtight relationship pretty easily. It wasn’t clear what Joo Il was after in regards to Gyu Man’s company or really any of his actions around Dong Ho. The writers seemed to really be pushing for the whole ‘they’re trying to protect one another’ angle, but it just didn’t really come off, as the writers didn’t really spend any time developing Joo Il as a character outside of his involvement with Gyu Man and Dong Ho.

It made way more sense to me for Dong Ho to pick Jin Woo

The series was still excellent, and there was enough sense in the plot to get by on, but in hindsight there were a few characters that if developed more could have really given the show an extra punch of emotion.

Soft Take on Alzheimer’s:

Basically the series had its rosy-glasses on whenever it was dealing with Alzheimer’s. It focused most on the memory aspect of the disease, but this wasn’t done smoothly or accurately with Jin Woo’s father.

This guy got the worst deal by far

Although it was done in a simple way, it was still passable as Jin Woo’s father’s memory loss was kinda the whole point of the show. My main gripe is how the show dealt with portraying Jin Woo’s Alzheimer’s. I understand that the doctor giving Jin Woo 6-12 months was just to give the show a timeline and ensure that it made sense why Jin Woo was going for Gyu Man so hard and so fast, but it is just so ridiculously inaccurate that it really made the show seem a tad ridiculous. But again, it was passable as it wasn’t a huge part of the show. It was how Jin Woo chose to leave for apparently no reason that really got on my nerves. If someone that young actually had Alzheimer’s and the progression of the disease was actually that fast, there is really very little chance that a year later they’d be with it enough to be walking around unsupervised. Jin Woo didn’t appear to be getting any help for his disease, and it didn’t seem to be progressing much from where we’d left off a year before.

How did he remember to go here? Hoooowwwww?

It’s unlikely that Jin Woo would be sick enough to not remember In Ah or any of the events involving his father and Gyu Man, yet still be able to remeber where to hang his notes and how to get to wherever it is that he’s staying now.

I hate to be the wet blanket, but he would be nowhere near that functional

Not to mention that Alzheimer’s isn’t just a memory thing. Along with his brain forgetting his memories, Jin Woo’s brain would also forget how to do other things- like eat, and speak, and walk. Understandably the series didn't want to go that far as it would massively take away from the happiness of the show, but if they were going to suggest that Jin Woo was sick enough that he wanted to remove himself from In Ah they should have gone all the way with it. Or, they should have gone all the way with the rosy-glasses and let him stay with In Ah and his friends, occasionally forgetting things but remaining happy all the same. The show’s indecision to go all out in either direction left the ending of the show feeling a little weak and a little emotionless when the rest of the show had been packed with intrigue and heart.

Recommend?

Definitely! This drama is fantastic. While it’s not free of plot-holes, the story remains engaging from the start to finish with very few drags in momentum. The hero and heroine are easy to root for, and Namgoong Min gives one of the most dynamic villain performances in K-Dramaland.

Endlessly entertaining

Queen In Hyun's Man

Queen In Hyun’s Man

8.5/10

Queen In Hyun's Man

Genre:                                Episodes: 16                          Year: 2012

Romance

Comedy

Fantasy

Synopsis:

Kim Boong Do is a nobleman in the Joseon era. He works to keep Queen In Hyun safe, which frequently puts his life in danger. A friend worries for Boong Do’s safety and gives him a talisman to protect him. When his life is in danger, Boong Do gets transported to modern day Korea where he meets Choi Hee Jin, an actress portraying Queen In Hyun in a new drama.

Cast:

Ji Hyun Woo (Kim Boong Do)

Yoo In Na (Choi Hee Jin)

Kim Jin Woo (Han Dong Min)

Ga Deuk Hee (Jo Soo Kyung)

Eom Hyo Seop (Min Am)

Lee Kwan Hoon (Ja Soo)

Jin Ye Sol (Yoon Wol)

General Thoughts:

This is an excellent drama that was pretty near perfect. The story was engaging from start to finish, and both of the leads were loveable and interesting. The driving force behind the drama was really how fantastic the two main characters were. Both of them were likeable on their own, so together they were just magic.

How I love when the girl is the instigator for skinship

The story was strong and gave the wonderful characters something solid to stand on and work around. Blending history with the modern day always tends to be interesting, but the plot never let itself coast on the fish-out-of-water humour that comes with a Joseon man being thrust into modern times. Sure, the jokes were there, but the story never overplayed them and remained quite like our hero- mostly serious but able to provide some clever comedy when required.

Ohh the feeeeelings

The writing was magnificent, and its strength was in the way it could have several emotions in a single scene. Most mediocre dramas tend to only have one emotion running at a time- funny, serious, angsty, sweet etc. The mark of a well written drama is when one moment can make you feel a mixture of emotions, and ‘Queen In Hyun’s Man’ had that in droves. There were moments that were serious but had a slice of comedy which prevented the drama from ever becoming too heavy, and of course with all the separation there was bound to be angst, but this angst was more often than not accompanied by a sweetness owing to the loveable natures of the leads. It’s a series that's easily and quickly able to capture hearts and makes you care for it’s characters, and that’s basically half the job done- when you truly care for the characters in a story, you’re going to keep watching and a happy ending is probably enough to satisfy. But ‘Queen In Hyun’s Man’ had more than likeable characters, and ended up being a lovely, well-rounded series. While both the main leads take on character traits that we’ve seen in other dramas, both have a touch of uniqueness and feel like real, genuine people.

I love him, I love her, I love them together, I love this drama

They aren’t pigeonholed into one character type, but still react in consistent ways. Boong Do is calm and logical, but he’s not cold and indifferent the way most calm and logical K-Drama men are. Hee Jin is sweet and hardworking, but she has a hint of cheekiness that prevents her from becoming just another Candy heroine. While there isn’t a bunch of development for the other side characters, having two detailed, complex leads was enough to keep the story going, and really, you only notice the lack of other characters in hindsight anyway.

I don't think I've ever enjoyed angst this much

There’s nothing overly complex in the plot, but it almost makes for a nice change in a world were shows are constantly trying to be better and smarter than each other- it showed that the team behind the series had confidence in their story and that it would be enough to win the hearts of its viewers- which it did. While I admit to not always being aware of what was going on the Joseon period (my fault, not the drama’s), it was still interesting, and easy to know who to root for- if he’s swinging a sword at Boong Do he’s a bad guy. The tension was always well balanced- though no one was swinging a sword at anyone in the modern timeline, it still felt exciting. The music did an excellent job at blending the two timelines together, as did having our heroine acting in a historical drama. It was a clever way to link the two times together and keep the story feeling whole, rather than having two disjointed sections that sometimes clashed. 

What Was Great:

OTP:

Probably one of my favourite pairings of all time. A lot of K-Dramas like to go the hate-to-love route, which can be cute and funny, but I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve seen a drama couple just genuinely like each other and decide to pursue a relationship together. If we’re all being real, that’s how most relationships tend to start.

How nice to have two characters just be purely into each other

While bickering can be fun, this drama showed a different way of courting, and while innocent flirting may not be as comedic as love-fights, it is insanely adorable and ran no risk of making the characters seem unlikeable in any way. The chemistry between Yoo In Na and Ji Hyun Woo was amazing, and I had a hunch a couple of episodes in that they might have dated after filming (which they did)- the romance was so utterly believable.

You can legit see the hearts falling out his eyes

There’s something nice about watching two people fall in love with each other (hello, it’s why we watch so much romance media), and having the actors falling for each other made the drama seem that much more genuine, and the couple moments that much sweeter. Something else that really added a lot to the drama is that Boong Do and Hee Jin actually wanted to be together. I mean, the hero about kills himself every time he hops over to the future for a date. I’m not a fan of forced separation, especially when it’s one of the main characters that willingly leaves, but there’s something intensely engaging in watching two people fight against all odds to be with each other- it makes it really feel like a romance worth rooting for. Another thing K-Dramas tend to love is the idea of fate- that everything is predestined and there’s a set love waiting at the end of your path. It’s not a bad idea, it’s actually quite a comforting thought to think that everyone is destined for someone else- no doubt why destiny plays such a large role in so many romance dramas. But there’s also something nice in having two characters decide that f*ck destiny, they’ve found someone they want to be with and they’ll make it work no matter what. It’s a sense of empowerment, and this series definitely leaned more towards our characters making their own futures, which is where a lot of the conflict sprung from.

I wish a handsome man would leap through time and get tangled up in my destiny

Us K-Drama viewers are so pre-conditioned to thinking that fate controls all, that fate becomes a force to be reckoned with even in a drama that doesn’t expressly say ‘fate is a big deal, don’t mess with it’. The show does drop some hints about some greater power and the complications of going against that power, but the writer was smart enough to know that the idea of fate is a widely accepted notion, and that a few hints were all that was needed. This idea was further supported by having Hee Jin in a happy relationship with Dong Min during the time she forgot about Boong Do.

Bummer- if a talisman hadn't spewed a Joseon man into your film set she might've ended up with you

It was as if the show was pointing out what fate had planned just so our characters could go against it and choose each other instead- which was just so wonderfully romantic. It seems like a weird thing to say about a romance, but we’ve all seen so many romantic stories that you kind of have to up the game to make hearts flutter now. Having our characters seemly go against this greater power not only added a great amount of tension, but further enforced the love story- if these two characters believe that their love is something worth risking everything for, we’re likely to believe it as well. 

Time Travel:

This is one of the older time-travel dramas I’ve seen, and yet is probably one of the best. When you introduce a magical element to a drama, it runs the risk of becoming something too big to control.

Oppa, you look cool in every era

However, by limiting the magic to a single talisman (well…mostly), it was easy to control fantasy element. The basic rules were set up early on so that we could understand how the time jumps were happening, but there was still room for the understanding of the magic to grow- which it did. There was always an element of uncertainty about the talisman- would it stop working, would Boong Do be trapped in one time or the other- and that was where most of our story’s conflict came from. While there was plenty of danger in the Joseon period, it was really the risk of Boong Do not being able to jump back to the future or constantly being ripped back to the past that was the real conflict. The drama also didn’t use the time travel only for the romance, but cleverly incorporated it into Boong Do’s Joseon struggles. Having him able to go to the future and use modern transport to move around was a clever way to solve Joseon complications, and also gave the time travel more substance than simply having a lover in the future. 

What Wasn’t:

Get Out of Jail (Literally) Free Card:

The drama's one great weakness. Most of the magic in this series is well understood and works within the bounds of the rules it set for itself. Which is great, because when you have magic but no rules it’s nothing but chaos and you never really feel a sense of urgency as you know that some specky magical solution will poof out of thin air and ensure everyone’s happiness. Because the talisman had been set up with limitations, it ensured that we felt a sense of insecurity about our lovers’ future- when will Boong Do disappear from the future for the last time?

What if he disappears for EVER?!

It added a huge amount of intensity to the drama as it made every choice Boong Do made to go back to the past much riskier. However, the trickier the conflict the trickier it is to resolve, and sad as I am to say it (because I loved this drama from start to finish), the drama did pull a magical solution out its ass in the final hour. While the talisman is adequately explained, the magic of memories is not.

Good thing your phones are magic or you would've been in some real trouble there

Although we did see memories play an important role in the series, it mainly came across as our characters actively choosing to seek an answer for one question they had or another, and thus their desperation to uncover the truth led to lost memories being restored. Sure, I can accept that as it places the power in the hands of our characters- they keep fighting against fate, so they keep ending up at the same place. Makes enough sense for me. But never once had memories been used to drag one character into the other’s timeline. But lo and behold, in the time of need magic memories zap Boong Do back to the future via phone call. I so desperately wanted a happy ending that I was satisfied enough to see our characters living together happily, but man I would have been much more pleased if our final resolution was one that made some sort of logical sense. I get the romanticism in the idea of desperation and love reaching through time and whatnot, but the rest of the series was so logical that I was a little bummed when the finale relied on pure magic that hadn’t been explored in the series previously.

Re-watch?

Perhaps. It’s an enjoyable show, but half the fun was not knowing how our leads were going to make it work. It will also remind me how sad I am that Yoo In Na and Ji Hyun Woo broke up.

One of my favourite K-Drama couples of all time