Secret Garden, episodes 1 to 4
YES! Guilty pleasure drama!
Lemme preface by saying that this story is flawed in many ways right from the get-go, but it’s really fun to watch, mostly due to the chemistry between Hyun Bin and Ha Ji-won. Oh and, HYUN BIN! I’ve forgotten my massive crush on you. What the hell happened to your face, though? Why is he so gaunt, bone-y and skeletal? It’s upsetting!
I’ve never watched Ha Ji-won in anything, but I expected her to be great, and so far she hasn’t been a letdown. Not the most challenging scenes, but she’s holding her own and I’m sure her character will get better as we go along.
Baek Ji-young’s “That Woman” from the soundtrack:
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I think the song is a little too heavy and hovers on being downright misfitting in meaning, but it’s such a pretty song.
I have only one big bone to pick with this drama, so I’ll get that over with first.
I find the initial Joo-won-falling-for-Ra-im bit a liiiiittle unrealistic. I say this a thousand times, but I’m a fan of the journey more than the destination — I like seeing how two people get to being a couple more than I like just watching them be a couple. Any coupling is a nice pay-off, but I have to love how the couple gets there in order to really love the couple themselves.
And I mean, I like this couple, but am I really supposed to believe that all it took was watching Ra-im do a stunt to mesmerize Joo-won? I can see that she’s very different from all the other girls he’s met up with for marriage dates and stuff — she’s tough, hard, and powerful — but the moment felt a little dramatic to me, especially coupled with Baek Ji-young’s “That Woman.” And right after that, he flips out when he realizes she’s hurt, like he’s known her all his life and is very upset that she hurt herself. Buzuhhh???
But aside from all that, I’m totally ON BOARD.
There are problems with many characters out there in the universe, and Hyun Bin‘s Kim Joo-won is by no means perfect — far from it! — but I think he’s a very compelling one. It’s not like he’s so different from all the chaebols in Kdrama-land who are one thing, but then become another when they meet a girl that rocks their world, but he’s got interesting particularities that make him really fun to watch. He’s really neurotic, SO sure of himself and his money that it’s kinda funny, and he’s got an interesting rival. In a way, I think he reminds me of Gu Jun-pyo from Boys Over Flowers the most. They’re not dark and twisted (like Hong Tae-sung in Bad Guy), but they’re not void of personality either. There’s color to their roles that makes stuff light at times, but also heavier when needed.
And then in contrast, I feel like Ha Ji-won‘s Gil Ra-im is a little less interesting. I have a hunch that Ha Ji-won really shines when a story revolves entirely around her, ie, Hwang Jin-yi. This story does have two equally paced main characters, but I feel like there is more depth and backstory to Joo-won. What makes Ra-im a compelling character, besides the fact that she serves as a “challenge” to Joo-won? We’ll have to wait and see, but for now, we know there’s something to uncover with Joo-won, but we don’t know much about Ra-im yet.
But what I like most about the two right now is how much freaking chemistry they have in their scenes together. When they’re just bickering, I like that it’s like a quickfire game of who-can-outdo-who(m?). When they argue, it’s like a huge bomb exploded all over the place and all you want to do is smush Hyun Bin and Ha Ji-won’s faces together and get them to make out profusely. They argue a lot, but weirdly enough their arguments are just so compelling to watch that you want to know who comes out victorious and who has to hang their head in shame, and that’s what makes this so fun.
And Philip Lee. PHILIP LEE. WHY ARE YOU SO HOT. Why is your speaking voice so magnificent! There’s nothing really to say about this character other than that he’s a stock character fated to suffer through much jealousy and longing while silently and stoically bearing it all. Boring.
And this scene just made me laugh out loud:
I think every time they film an intimate scene between the main male and female, they get a shot of the second male/female staring from afar, just for good measure, just in case they need to come back and revisit and flashback to how hurt and stoic they are. It’s fucking hilarious.
