Sup guys! How has your week been going? Hope you’ve all been good? Now Encounter is a drama that I honestly wasn’t particularly excited about watching and this had been because of certain factors:
I. Song Hye Kyo’s on screen romantic partner being Park Bo Gum, the one who is like a younger brother to her new hubby, Song Joong Ki. The thought of them romancing or kissing each other truthfully made me cringe. I was appalled and confused at the odd pairing. Like what were the writers thinking?? What were Hye Kyo, Joong Ki and Bo gum thinking????
II. A negative review I read from one of my favorite reviewers worsened everything and made me totally disinterested to the extent that even finding out that the drama is one of the highest rated dramas in cable television history, still didn’t make me interested. Never mind that their pairing wasn’t what put the reviewer off.
However disinterested I was though, somewhere in the back of my mind, I still wanted to see what the highly rated drama did awesomely and how Hye Kyo and Bo gum managed to match each other. As fate would have it, upon resuming school, a friend of mine who has high taste in k-dramas, strongly recommended and praised the interestingness of the film. I was so taken aback by her enthusiasm for the drama that I instantly felt like watching it and seeing what my own evaluation would turn out to be.
And to be honest in my general evaluation, I enjoyed the drama. It was nothing spectacular or out of the world, but it was a drama that I still ultimately found interesting. The first episode (Cuba Glory) especially and the latter ones. Without furtherado, let me go straight to the gist.
WHAT CAUGHT MY FANCY
I. The Female ‘Chaebol’ Thing
CEO Cha Soo hyun and her fight for love with an ordinary man of low social status was pleasantly new for me. For the first time in K-dramaland, for the first time since I’ve been seeing K-dramas guys, I get to see a female ‘chaebol’ lead, stinking rich in her own right, fall for the plain, bubbly, polite and well mannered young man. It wasn’t the typical love story of the chaebol guy falling in love with the poor but chirpy girl who shows him there’s more to life than living rigidly and stoically. It was the other way round. PRAISE GOD. I still remember asking one of my fellow k-drama enthusiast friend if such reversal role could happen for k dramas and she was like, “I doubt it, Yaytee. It’s easier to create the poor girl and rich guy love story. It’s perceived as more romantic and realistic.” So for the writer to take a risk and swerve the other way, and still do it well, is a huge SCORE for me. This time around an ordinary young man is being bullied by the rich families; an ordinary young man is crying over being inadequate; an ordinary young man is the one showing the rich older woman how to live freely and enjoyably; the rich older woman is the one winning stuffed animal for the ordinary young man. This aspect of the drama was exhilarating and interesting to watch.
The cinematography of the first episode captured in Cuba was ethereal, dreamy and absolutely gorgeous. The aesthetics of the horizons meeting, of the sun slowly disappearing into burnt orange darkness, were all magical sights to behold. And the whole scenery of tall colorful old architectural buildings, the ancient cementing, the colorful vintage taxis, the rich cuban music, the street busking, the latino guitar tunes, the salsa dances under the dusk (this scene reminded me of Damien Chazelle’s La La Land’s opening number), the merrrying, the jubilation, the serene breezes, everything was majestically beautiful. I felt like I was there. But unfortunately, the breath taking cinematography majorly ended in the first ‘Cuban’ episode. I really need to visit Cuba someday. Their city and culture is so rich and colorful!
II. PARK BO GUM
Park Bo Gum’s acting was highly impressive. This is the first drama where I would see Bo gum play a lead role and boy, his charming portrayal of Jin Hyuk made me realise why he has so many fans. BOY CAN ACT. It’s tricky to play the simple nice innocent guy and still manage to completely hold sway over the audience who are comparably easily drawn to mysterious and cold male leads. His acting was sincere and full of emotions. His reactions to situations and other characters were very natural and human and they were endearing. I was completely taken in by his acting.
He played Jin Hyuk so cooly, confidently and sweetly in such a way that cold, narcissistic and unapproachable male leads will no longer appeal to you. Trust me. The writer did herself and her story a great thing by casting Bo gum. An inefficient actor would have otherwise ruined the whole thing. The whole thing.
III. The Warm Home
I loved Jin Hyuk’s little, close knit family. Their ease, familiarity and warmth towards one another didn’t look like acting at all to me. It looked like a REAL family that loved and cared deeply for one another. In fact they left me longing for such a close knit family, never mind that I kinda have one.
IV. This Badass Secretary
Soo Hyun’s Right-hand Sass! Gosh! I love her character and the beautiful Kwak Sun-Young that played her! It’s crazy that right from the first scene of her yawning in a car she left a deep impression on me. Her acting was consistently so effortless and natural that it never looked like she was in front of a camera. It felt like she was all Mi Jin in real life. And I love Mi jin’s straight forward and sassy attitude. It’s badass guys. And it amazed me how Mi jin could be so diligent and obedient at work to the person that she could easily insult and mess around with once they were out of formal spheres. I will never forget how shocked and thrilled I was at that first scene in Cuba when she abruptly shouted ‘Soo Hyun!’ so loudly and insolently over the phone. The writer did a cool job with the creation of this unique character that cared deeply for a friend whose pains and tears she often shared but I think the beautiful Kwak Sun-Young did a cooler job playing her. I’m definitely going to watch out for her other works.
V. And Mi jin’s chemistry and ease with Lee Dae chan, Chan’s Moon Snail CEO, Lol, was fun and interesting to watch. They were funny and endearing together. Thank God the writer hinted that they were going to end up together. Their scenes were definitely one aspect of the drama that I always looked forward to.
VI. Kind of Enjoyed Ex Hubby’s Smirks
I ‘almost liked’ Soo Hyun’s ex husband as well. The knowing and mischievous smirk he had on his face throughout the drama was something that I weirdly enjoyed watching. I guess there was something sad yet charismatic and mysterious to Jang Seung Jo’s portrayal of Jung Woo-seok. However as the drama neared its end and he started to mess around with Jin Hyuk and continued to pursue Soo Hyun’s desperately, I found him completely annoying. Now, my ‘almost liked’ makes sense right?
VI. The Writing
At first the writing seemed mundane, cliché and boring to me. Rightly so. But as more conflicts unfurled and the climax drew nearer, I found the writing simple yet encompassing and emotionally intelligent.
VII. And the budgeting, mind blowing. TVN obviously spent a loooooooooot of money in bringing the drama to life. They practically went all out. The luxurious hotels used, Soo Hyun’s home, the Cuba locations and the wardrobe were totally glamorous.
VIII. Speaking of wardrobe, the fashion was classy, elegant, sophisticated, stylish and impeccable as expected of K dramas. Soo Hyun and Mi jin were stunning and angelic in their office attires and the dressing of the two madams of the rich families brimmed affluence and wealth.
WHAT WASN’T COOL
I. Song Hye Kyo’s acting or portrayal of Soo Hyun is something I really couldn’t place my hands on. All I know is that her acting didn’t impress me like Bo gum’s even though she did quite the job playing the woman emotionally burdened and pressured by ‘wealthy family’ problems. Sometimes I found it difficult to believe her acting, sometimes her facial expressions seemed too blank in cases where more emotions or reactions should have been shown.
Sometimes I could feel her pain, other times I couldn’t empathise. In fact, hardly could I believe her profession of love and affection for Jin Hyuk. Honestly till the drama ended I felt like Bo gum’s love for her was more palpable and believable. Hye Kyo didn’t really make me feel like Soo Hyun loved Jin Hyuk. True, some tears fell and sometimes she looked genuinely sad but I don’t know why I couldn’t believe she was truly in love with Jin Hyuk. Now that I’ve thought hard about what could have caused it, the only explanation I can give is the character she was to play. Soo Hyun is a gloomy subdued woman who never gave her true feelings away. Maybe in the process of trying to play this woman who never seemed to really let herself go, Hye Kyo failed to imprint on my mind that she was truly in love with Jin Hyuk. Anyway, I didn’t like that I felt like Jin Hyuk’s love was one-sided and unreciprocated.
II. There were too many lingering on reminiscing scenes, especially those of Soo Hyun and Jin Hyuk. Letting quiet, sentimental scenes do some talking is brilliant but lingering too much on what I didn’t seem to be getting much emotion from was quite frustrating and annoying. But then again, maybe my hurry to finish up the drama and read for my test and write posts for my blog made me impatient. I’m not sure.
III. The drama ‘fell’ my hands with the supporting office cast. Normally k drama office cast are usually full of character, life and fun. There is always so much humour and silliness too. But these office characters were not well developed thus they made the office scenes somehow boring and dry. The full drama and gossip and jealousy I had been expecting with a fellow employee dating their most authoritative boss did not match my expectation at all. The office cast were rather quiet, welcoming and supportive.
IV. In the earlier episodes there was some poor editing and transitioning. I had difficulty differentiating flashbacks from present scenes. Thank God this menace did not go on for long.
IV. The Mid-Bore
After the Cuba first episode scene, the drama was still upbeat in tone but close to the middle, the general tone became boring and I’m sure it had to do with the boring supporting office cast and the lack of chemistry I no longer seemed to feel between Soo Hyun and Jin Hyuk when they found out that they were ‘boss and employee’. Now I know that the circumstances they found themselves in on arriving at Korea might have put them in awkward positions but there was too much awkwardness and uncomfortable gap between them that felt so genuine for acting that I didn’t like.
Thankfully, as the drama progressed and Jin Hyuk and Bo gum got closer, the awkwardness dissipated and they actually started to look like a cute couple and I eventually forgot that Hye Kyo’s real hubby was buddies with Bo gum. But guys, to be frank, I still didn’t feel Hye Kyo completely letting herself go, even with all the hugs and *clears throat*, deep kisses. Only Park Bo gum was filling a lot of space for me, not Hye Kyo.
V. And lastly, as much as I enjoyed Bo gum’s amazing performance, I felt like he over-smiled in the earlier episodes. He over-smiled to the extent that some of his smiles looked fake and seemed like an obvious effort at making his character look all bubbly and cute and pleasant.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Despite the few things I didn’t find cool about the drama, I sincerely appreciate its novelty and execution of the rich broody older woman and ordinary free-spirited young man romance and the neat and inspiring ways conflicts were resolved. It’s a drama that when you exercise patience and really take time to watch, (if you’re willing to) you might just find yourself absorbed and wanting to see how the conflicts get resolved. It’s not extra-ordinarily interesting or out of the world, but it’s still no waste of time.
RATING: 65%
See y’all on my next review. Love yourself, eat well, sleep well, work hard and always strive for happiness even when things get dark.
Peace.
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