Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
In the first episode of BTS’ latest docuseries “Bring the Soul,” the group’s leader RM discusses how they fit into their role as superstars. “There are things I can change and things I can’t,” he says. “But I’m doing well now the way that I am.”
As a young woman passes by two men, an app on her phone goes off. “There is one person who loves you,” it says. The app is called JoAlarm (좋알람), which alerts users if there is someone within 10 meters who loves them. If you’re thinking that JoAlarm sounds nonsensical, you’re right — in English, it doesn’t make sense. But in Korean, it literally means an alarm to measure if someone likes your. (Remember that Jay Park song, “Joah”/”좋아”? 좋아 means good or to like. Now it makes perfect sense, right?)
Hotel del Luna is a gorgeous five-star hotel that only accepts dead souls, before they move onto heaven or hell. Yeo plays a Harvard-educated hotelier who is forced to work at the eponymous establishment, due to an agreement his father had made years ago. His boss is the otherworldly Mal-Wol, who has run Hotel del Luna for the past 1,300 years. She is neither dead or alive, but can’t peacefully enter the afterlife until she has settled her personal business on earth. Though the pair’s relationship starts off contentiously, they slowly fall in love and feel they are tied together by a force that can’t be explained.
At its core, “Absolute Boyfriend” isn’t about whether the female lead would choose a robot over a human being. Rather, it’s about longing for the robot’s human traits that are lacking in too many people today.
It’s not surprising that “One Spring Night” has the same melancholy vibe as “Something in the Rain” (aka “Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food”). Besides the same leading man, the series reunites screenwriter Kim Eun and director Ahn Pan-Seok. While the storyline is different, the main thrust remains the same: The central male character is deemed as unsuitable to be with the female character, because of an unforgivable character flaw that isn’t a flaw at all.
I knew going into this series who she would end up with (and so will you, because you’re not stupid). I have no problem with that. But what I thought was a cheap cop-out was the way Do-Hyun went from being an upstanding, fun and thoughtful young man in the first season, into a suspicious and jealous boyfriend in this second season.
“Her Private Life” starts off as a clever comedy about Sung Duk-Mi — a cultured art curator who also is a diehard fangirl. But it also deftly tackles child abandonment, reunification and forgiveness. The concept of what constitutes a family was a recurring theme. It was refreshing to see that relationships based on bloodlines weren’t the only ones valued and that families are sometimes borne from tragic circumstances.
Five friends, four of them living together in one house. It becomes clear early on that the writers are setting up the premise for the roomies to pair off romantically. But because this is a K-Drama, there’s a hitch and, in this case, it’s the fifth friend who lives at home with his hard-working father. (Less of a storytelling inconvenience is a snooty rich girl who dates the male lead.)
Remember that last post when we wondered whether KBS — or KBS2 in this case — could have a hit with either “Doctor Prisoner” or “My Fellow Citizens!” It turns out that they could!
I could go on and on about the romance elements. But because I knew the lead character would be fine regardless of who she chose — and that the men would be OK as well — I was more fascinated by the dynamics at the workplace and how difficult it can be for women to juggle being a mom with having a job outside of the home.