And This Is How Americans Ruin a Fun TV Show

So Rebekah and I just finished a delightful Korean drama from 2019: My Fellow Citizens.

It's about a man and a woman who "find" each other after they've been jilted and then marry on the rebound. 

Now she's a police officer, white collar crimes detective specifically, who never shares that piece of information with her new husband until they're on their way to their honeymoon. That's because her job intimidated her last boyfriend.

The problem is that her husband, although he freaks out and definitely doesn't tell her HIS real profession, is a third generation con man. And he's just conned a powerful Korean loan shark, whose now fighting for his life after the stress of the con.

Fast forward a bit: the loan shark's daughter threatens to kill the con man and his wife unless he runs for National Assembly to protect a law that helps the moneylending industry.

All of this makes for some really dry humor, interesting subtext, and good fun that delighted Rebekah and me until the very last episode.

Well, an American version is now playing on ABC. It's called The Company You Keep, and it's everything predictable in an American show with nothing of the funny subtleties we enjoyed in the Korean one.

Here are some links to illustrate my points.

First link: brief trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NaAejP-6x4&ab_channel=KBSWORLDTV

Second link: Marriage proposal and the cop telling her husband the truth (he doesn't reveal, of course). This link sold me on the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY-FlemsB4c&ab_channel=KOCOWATV

Third link: Where the con man tries to con an assembly man who the mob girl wants to help the con man get into the National Assembly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHopOGw9vbI&ab_channel=KOCOWATV

BTW, if that older assembly man looks familiar, it's because Kim Eui Sun played the nervous and selfish businessman in this zombie film.

Fourth link: How the con man cons the mob chick and the assembly man who wanted him to con an old couple into buying a building.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CizwMJHyGfg&ab_channel=KOCOWATV

Fifth link: Trailer for the American version. So, so, so predictable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J33DvjU9724&ab_channel=RottenTomatoesTV

Siwon and Character Development

I have a fun link to share with you today. But first, I'd like to give the link some context.

I've been watching Chinese and Korean dramas with Rebekah for the last few years, and I'm really glad she introduced me to this form of entertainment she's enjoyed for a decade and a half.

We watch one at a time, and it can take us a couple of nights to get through an episode. She's the curator of the selections, although I have suggested two dramas, and only one of my picks was good. So I'm happy to let her decide.

Now Rebekah's going through some challenges right now, so she's veered to the lighthearted. Still, if you've ever watched any of these rom-coms, K-drama-style, you'll know they're not all rom and com. 

The subplots also address trauma and other complex issues. I've not seen one yet that's two dimensional, although I'm certain they exist. 

Our current drama is called She Was Pretty and the internet said it's based on a true story. What true story, I don't know. I can't find any more information on it.

The setting is a fashion magazine (Most) that might get canceled as staff are planning for its twentieth anniversary special edition and celebration. The staff doesn't know the publication is under the guillotine; only the top editors do, so the staff don't understand why the leaders are short-tempered and pushing them extra hard.

Here's quick synopsis of She Was Pretty so the clip makes sense.

Two lifelong female friends in their thirties live together. They are so close that they have each other in their phones as "the husband" and "wifey."

Both are hardworking. One is pretty, comes from a rich family, and dates a lot of shady men. The other "used to be pretty" and isn't anymore. She has a younger sister in high school who is pretty and is afraid she will not be pretty later in life.

"Used to be pretty" had a male best friend growing up. He was overweight and bullied and had panic attacks on the school bus when it rains because he was with his mother when she was killed in a car crash in the rain. 

He likes Renoir and gives "used to be pretty" the missing piece of his favorite puzzle, a reproduction of Dance in the Country and kisses her goodbye when his family moves to the U.S.

Well, now the kid is all grown up and can't forget his first love. He's visiting Korea and wants to reconnect. So when "used to be pretty" arrives at the meeting place, he's gorgeous, doesn't recognize her, and walks right past her.

So "used to be pretty" asks her friend to stand in for her, which she does. The friend makes an excuse while she can't see him again: she's moving abroad. He sad but accepts it.

Except he's staying in Korea as editor-in-chief of Most. Except the friend is a hotelier and he runs into her again. So "pretty" keeps seeing him while pretending be his former love and (I'm sure you know where this is going) winds up falling for him.

In the meantime, "not so pretty" gets a job in support services at Most. She gets transferred to the editing department and her new boss is her old friend. And he can't stand her. So "used to be pretty" spends her time trying to avoid him and being heartbroken at the new them. \

In the meantime, she carries around the puzzle piece and loses it.

Now what's making this drama super fun for me is the magazine's features editor. The actor's name is Choi Si-won, also known as Siwon. He's a model, singer-songwriter, and part of the Korean boy band Super Junior, which Rebekah has loved for years. 

In fact the first K-song she ever played for me more than ten years ago was from Super Junior. Siwon is an evangelisic Christian, a regional ambassador of Unicef, and would like to become a mssionary. 

Siwon is also recording himself reading the Bible on YouTube, a new iniative that Rebekah showed me last night.

Apparently Siwon typically plays very suave roles when he does act. And the clip I'm sharing today starts with one of those roles - and then does a rewind into his role in She Was Pretty. Siwon's character is off the charts bizarre and makes its mission to annoy "she was pretty" (as in dipping little girls pigtails in inkwells-style of annoy) as often at work as he can.

So why am I sharing this?

Because now that you have the background, the clip is super entertaining. Enjoy!

And for those of us who craft characters, whether visually (on stage or in file) or on the page, I'm in awe of the mastery here. To create somebody who is absolutely not you and make someone else believe that person exists somewhere because that person is SO real is the dream of many who take their crafting seriously.

Furthermore, in this character's case, I'm pretty sure the actor is playing a character who is also acting. That's my theory. But we still have a few more episodes to go.

Either way, I hope this clip makes you laugh. Or, at the every least, smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq50Vo0rJHI