Let's Eat: A Sexy Slice of Quirk

Who else gets weird looks from the cashier because of the stacks of ramen in your cart? Just me? Drama characters make this snack staple look like noodle heaven. But Let's Eat takes Korean food porn to a whole new embarrassing level as the actors oooooh and aaaaaahhh while the steam rises from their dishes. It's indecent. Not to mention delicious. I want to eat with these people. I don't normally do full recaps, but this show is K-drama comfort food that should be shared. Episode 10 had no less than four seductive scenes for foodies. Warning: This show may cause weight gain due to uncontrollable food cravings. 

In case you missed episodes 1-9, here's a quick rundown of our four leads:

Lee Soo-kyung (Lee Soo-kyung) Our emotionally closed-off, divorcee heroine who just wants a decent table for one without all the weird looks. 

Goo Dae-young (Yoon Doo-joon) Hot, overly helpful insurance salesman neighbor who gets mistaken for an opportunistic player because of his well-meaning meddling and ever-ready sales pitch.

Yoon Jin-yi (Yoon So-hee) Sweet, airheaded rich girl struggling to make it in her tiny, new apartment when daddy loses all his money and goes to jail.

Kim Hak-moon (Shim Hyung-tak) Soo-kyung's overbearing, lawyer boss who has been secretly pining for his oblivious secretary since college when she was the campus queen and he was a bespectacled nerd in a tracksuit. He works his romantic frustration out by making her do infuriating, petty tasks at the office.

The helpful "Previously On" box reminds us that Soo-kyung quit her job in a blaze of glory, much to the chagrin of her love-addled boss, and she now "belongs" to her neighbor Dae-young, thanks to her Mom putting her up as collateral in a game of Go-Stop. So, you know, just an ordinary week.

Jin-yi tries to make a go of her new business venture making designer pet wear, and it seems to be going well. Young women exclaim over a fancy new outfit while their pampered pooches swarm around them in what looks like a restaurant.  I'm sorry. Is that dog wearing rouge?

Elsewhere, Soo-kyung tries to find a kennel for her own dog, Barrassi, but is shocked at the prices. She figures 3 months wages is too much to pay when she is currently unemployed and she decides not to go home for Lunar New Year.

Dae-young prepares for the holidays by readying gifts with handwritten notes for his clients. He can't even get through one card, before whining and holding his wrist. Ah, the tragic lot of an insurance agent.

Soo-kyung decides to branch out after working at a law firm for nine years. She interviews for a customer service job at a plastic surgery place where the woman tries to talk her into an eye lift for a 20 percent discount. Soo-kyung informs her that an unlicensed person recommending medical procedures is illegal and could get her into trouble later. Needless to say, this does not go over well. Soo-kyung smacks her mouth outside the clinic and berates herself for bombing the interview but is distracted by her growling stomach. A restaurant catches her eye and the requisite glamour shots of sizzling barbecued meat are shown before we see Dae-young is already inside, chowing down on some yummy looking pork. The smacking and slurping sounds juxtaposed with the elegant classical music in the soundtrack are hilarious.

Dae-young hears Soo-kyung at the counter ordering pigs feet to go, and calls her over to join him. She refuses at first but is reeled in by the argument that the cold, outside air will hurt the food's taste. He asks if she's following him. She threatens him with a beatdown and he replies that he was just happy to see her. She assumes he must be eating with coworkers and is shocked to learn he is eating alone. Isn't he embarrassed? 

Dae-young gets his lecture face on as he ticks off the reasons that eating alone is best. You don't have to compromise on what to order, wait for people to stop talking so you can start, fight over the best pieces of meat, etc. He finishes his spiel to discover that Soo-kyung is too absorbed by the plate in front of her to pay any attention to him. Considering how much he loves food, it's a wonder he doesn't fall for her right then and there as she piles her bites high, with the singular focus of a condemned prisoner eating her last meal. She smiles and mumbles to herself, holding her nose from the spiciness.

Dae-young guesses that she's been on an interview and she tells him of her bad timing, and how her age and experience works against her. No one wants to pay her what she's worth. He frowns and says that, if she's unhappy, he's unhappy. When she's surprised at his remark, he asks how he can be happy when something that "belongs" to him is feeling down. *Smirk* You can tell he loves teasing his prickly next-door-noona. She slams the table and tells him to stop bringing that up! He sucks his lips in to keep from smiling as she starts quoting legal jargon about the penalty for illegal gambling. Dae-young finally stuffs her mouth with a pork hock to shut her up, and points out that she's just perfect for an attorney's office.

Speaking of the attorney's office, things are a mess at Soo-kyung's former job. Her co-worker grumbles as he's stuck mopping the floor, but he stops to answer the phone. It's Dae-young calling to see if Attorney Oh is in. He immediately walks in the door when he learns that the amorous, overly touchy client is absent.  Dae-young comes bearing gifts and asks if they've replaced Noona, yet. Coworker Guy complains that the boss, Attorney Kim, won't accept any of the good candidates, and Dae-young drops a hint that Soo-kyung is getting scads of job offers, she's so in demand. Awwwwww.

It turns out, Attorney Kim doesn't need any prodding because he's camped outside Soo-kyung's building calling her as they speak. She walks out the front door with her dog and he smiles happily, but this quickly disappears when he sees her reject his call.  He waylays her like a spurned lover. Barrassi barks and he backs off as if its a doberman, not a fluffy furball the size of a large hamster.

The two end up at another restaurant that must allow dogs. Seriously, where are these unsanitary places? He tries to make nice with Barrassi but almost gets his fingers bit off. Soo-kyung assumes this is about the severance pay, but he asks her instead to come back, much to her surprise. Attorney Kim acts uncharacteristically humble as he admits he's made many mistakes toward her and promises it won't happen again. Plus a raise! Soo-kyung tries not to clap her hands in glee, instead taking a calm sip of her drink. She plays it cool and tells him she'll consider coming back after the New Year. But he insists they need her back right now. Today! He grabs her hand. You hear someone's heart beating fast and from Soo-kyung's annoyed face, it's obvious that the racing heart isn't hers.

Back at the office, the homely, female partner of the firm, Attorney Oh, is excited to find the present that Dae-young left for her. She opens the gold envelope to reveal a gift certificate for an overnight stay at a resort. She thinks it's a personal invitation from the handsome insurance agent and gasps, though not in disgust. This is hilarious and a little sad, because girls really do overreact and overanalyze what guys say and do like that.

Soo-kyung walks in and everyone is happy to see her. Her coworker complains about everything he went through and earns a nasty look from Attorney Kim. But the boss is all smiles and consideration for Soo-kyung. He declares she will no longer do menial tasks like fetching coffee and he goes to make his own to prove his point. Everyone stares with eyes wide. Soo-kyung remarks that he's never done this in 9 years. The way he proudly waves his cup and strikes a pose before strutting off, you'd think he found the cure for global warming. But all his efforts to secretly woo Soo-kyung are doomed to be misunderstood. She decides he must be doing it because he suspects she'll spit in his coffee. Soo-kyung laments that her job will be worse than ever, and Coworker Guy mentions that Goo Dae-young told him how so many other places wanted her. (I'm glad he's getting credit for that, even if it didn't matter in the long run.)

The sweet, but simple-minded Jin-yi waits in the elevator at their apartment building when a menacing guy with cap pulled low and black face mask gets on. The ominous music plays, and this is where I'd be getting off. She looks suspicious and he avoids eye contact while the slowest ride ever creeps along. A posted warning about thieves in the area doesn't help Jin-yi's nervous state of mind. They finally arrive at her floor and he follows her out. She hurries down the hall, pounding first on Soo-kyung's door then Dae-young Oppa's, but no one answers. The masked man slowly draws closer. She fakes a phone call, pretending that someone is coming up to meet her, but her cell starts to ring just then. It's the stalker calling her and he pulls back in alarm when she screams.

The flustered man pulls off his mask (Hey, look. It's FeelDog from the K-pop group BigStar) and announces he's the deliveryman she was expecting, and he has a cold. He apologizes profusely and shows her the company vest underneath his coat. It's his first time and he's not sure how to do things. Jin-yi is completely at ease now, inviting him in right away, which proves how naive she is. He, on the other hand, seems uncomfortable being alone with her in the apartment and his Busan accent comes out. He places his gloves on the table to check the packages she's sending out, but hears a loudspeaker announcement that he's illegally parked. He yells an apology as if the guard can really hear him from the inside, grabs the boxes and runs off.

Attorney Oh stares at her gift certificate and says it's much too soon for Dae-young to be thinking of gifts like this. Then immediately wonders when he wants to leave. Haha. She giggles to herself and decides to call him. He is with another client where we see he's given the exact same gift certificate to all his VIP customers. He emphatically presses the reject button over and over when he sees who is calling. Attorney Oh decides he must be playing hard to get.

Outside in the main office, Attorney Kim makes his subordinates uncomfortable as he works in the waiting area, stealing adorable peeks at Soo-kyung. He thinks he's being so suave, but he's actually freaking everyone out. Soo-kyung thinks he's surveilling her and cringes at the attention. The end of the work day puts an end to the awkward and he wishes everyone a fun New Year. Attorney Oh negates the possibility of this since all her relatives will nag her to get married. Coworker Guy (I really need to learn his name) knows it will be an endless war between his mother and wife, with him caught in the middle. And Soo-kyung's single life seems blissfully uncomplicated by comparison as she says that she's staying home. Attorney Kim makes a mental note of this information.

Soo-kyung later runs into Coworker Guy with his wife at the market where their children give her full New Year's bows and hold out their hands for the expected money.  I guess kids are the same in any language. As predicted, the wife is already complaining about her mother-in-law.

Soo-kyung spots another restaurant on her way home (How is this girl not 300 pounds already?) and texts her two neighbors to join her. Jin-yi shows up alone because Dae-young had to meet another client, and for the first time Soo-kyung looks disappointed not to see him. Hmmmmm. It took ten episodes, but we finally have progress. More food porn ensues as they sit at one of those sushi conveyor belt counters with the tiny, gourmet plates. Why do they eat even the tail of the shrimp? Eeek!

But the food isn't the important part of this scene. That's the reveal when Soo-kyung finally hears from Jin-yi that Dae-young is the writer of her favorite Mr. Foodie blog that she reads religiously.

With this information out in the open, Attorney Kim has no idea that his imaginary ship of love has sprung a giant leak as he sits at home looking up movies to invite Soo-kyung to see. His nephew wanders in and he slams the laptop lid down like he was caught looking at something naughty. The kid complains that the family keeps pestering him to grow taller. He pulls out his phone and asks the Korean version of Siri how he can make this happen. His technology illiterate uncle gets excited and has his nephew show him how to work the app. After he bribes the kid to go away, he asks the all-knowing phone for ways to get close with the woman he likes. The obvious, but not untrue answer the app gives is to do the the things that she likes? First, he thinks of her puppy but immediately gets scared. Then it hits him. Food!

Soo-kyung is at home also looking at her phone, totally starstruck that her annoying neighbor is actually her favorite blogger. She squeals with excitement and hugs Barrassi to her. Then she presses her ear against the wall she shares with Dae-young, ear stalking. 

The next day, Soo-kyung cooks at home, and the product placement for dumplings is totally working on me. She bemoans the fact that she still hasn't seen Dae-young and he must have gone home for New Year's, which we see is the case when his dad walks into his room and berates him like a teenager for playing games on his phone. The stadium organ fanfare in the background, and baseball terms flying willy-nilly make it pretty obvious this guy is a cameo. (Someone on the Soompi thread cleared up the mystery. He's a famous commentator.) Dae-young declares he's going home. But not until after dinner, of course.

Jin-yi spends a lonely holiday at home, assuring her out-of-the-country Mom on the phone that she's just fine on her own, and making lots of money with her new business. Her sad expression when she hangs up shows that this isn't exactly true. Time for Cutie Delivery Guy to come to the rescue. He shows up at the door looking for the gloves he left last time. She offers him tea from the same mug she was drinking out of. He tries to wave her off, but she presses it on him. Cutie reluctantly gulps it down quickly, scalds his throat, and runs away as fast as he can, almost taking the cup with him. 

Soo-kyung drinks by her solitary self at a coffee shop, remarking on the number of people spending New Year's alone. She sees Dae-young's car go by and her eyes light up like a saesang fan at a Super Junior concert. She bolts out of the restaurant yelling, "Mr. Foodie!"

Dae-young parks in front of their building, and he's taken aback as Soo-kyung races up to him. This is probably the first time in their whole relationship she's acted glad to see him. He congratulates her on getting rehired. She asks if he's the Mr. Foodie blogger and he confirms it. Well, why didn't he tell her sooner? She's a huge fan! He's shocked at her interest, but not too flustered by the attention because he has a much more pressing matter. Hunger pains. He was stuck in traffic and had to miss a meal. He declares she should treat him since he missed the celebration dinner with Jin-yi earlier and is once again shocked at how quickly she agrees.  She hops in his car, and I love the little throwaway bit where he has to contort his body to get in on his side because he parked too close to an SUV. Who hasn't done that?

As they leave, Attorney Kim rides the elevator up to Soo-kyung's apartment, trying to find the smoothest way to say he just happened to be in the neighborhood with a bag full of gourmet food. The elevator doors open before he's ready, and he backs up against the wall. He encourages himself with a Fighting fist, and heads for her apartment. His heart pounds loudly, but all his preparation is for naught, since she's out with Mr. Foodie. He rings the bell and jumps at Barrassi's barking. A confused Attorney Kim stumbles away awkwardly as he calls her number to find out where she is. 

Soo-kyung ignores his call like she always does, and peppers Dae-young with questions as they arrive at a little hole-in-the-wall place run by a grandmother he knows. "How did he start the blog? What made him take pictures of empty plates? What's the best place he's ever eaten?" He ignores her questions and introduces the grandmother, remarking how beautiful the old woman looks. Soo-kyung silently swoons at how well he treats the elder, until he accurately guesses how cool he must look to her. She gets annoyed and asks him if he has to act like Goo Dae-young tonight. Can't he just be Mr. Foodie? He says it's embarrassing. The noodles arrive and he passes out the chopsticks and starts to mix the food. She wants the normal commentary he always gives with a meal, the kind she ignored in the past, and he gets his lecture face on, only to choke under the pressure. He wants her to act like she normally would. Just eat. What follows is a full two minutes of them slurping, sighing, and sharing a soup bowl, like it's a culinary love scene. 

Attorney Kim still waits in his car for Soo-kyung to return. He smoothes his sideburns in the rearview mirror and gives himself a confident thumbs up. A woman walks by but it's not her and he sinks back in disappointment as his stomach growls. He looks longingly at the bag of food for Soo-kyung, but tries to resist. The hungry man wets his lips, and gulps before pulling out a plastic container. He hold a juicy piece of meat up to his mouth, but stops himself, saying he should wait and eat with her. It must be love.

Soo-kyung gives the last piece of savory meat to Dae-young and tells him to eat it before she changes her mind. He chopsticks the beef and feeds her instead, saying he should make sure what belongs to him is happy. Instead of flying off the handle, like last time, she seems moved at the statement. He remains oblivious as he takes a pic of the empty bowls for his blog, saying "1,2,3" as if the dishes are going to pose for him. Dae-young looks up at Soo-kyung with a big grin and she instinctively hiccups at the sight. 

Comments

I'm glad we saw hints of Soo-kyung softening toward Dae-young before she found out about the blog. Her romantic caution is understandable since she's already been through the trauma of divorce. But after this episode, we can see that Soo-kyung is well on her way to falling for him. But what about his feelings? He's a guy that girls naturally fall for. He's handsome, considerate, and thoughtful, in a way that's easy to misunderstand. Never underestimate the allure of good manners. I like Attorney Kim's over-the-top crush for the comedic fodder, but he's had nine years to make his move. Time for somebody else to step up to bat. Dae-young makes more sense as a life partner for the food-obsessed Soo-kyung. No matter how wrinkled and flabby they get, they can always renew their relationship over a steaming bowl of soondae.

Romance has never been the central theme of this show, anyway. It's more like the garnish on a bigger dish of funny interactions, and slice-of-life sweetness. There's no birth secrets or evil second leads that cause conflict between the main couple. Everyone is equally likeable and equally ridiculous in their own way. That sounds like almost everyone I've ever met. Now if I could only figure out how to eat as much as these characters, and not gain any weight. That's my idea of a happy ending!

                     

(If anyone wants to hear what happened next, you should check out K-muse's latest post at thecrazyahjummas.blogspot.com. She wrote a top 5 moments of the rollicking episode 11.)

YFAS: You sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet

I just got out of a bad relationship. You see there was this show called The Prime Minister and I. We spent 17 whole hours together and then it went and ended everything with a HANDSHAKE. But I’m an optimist at heart. Surely love would come again. Wednesday followed Tuesday, as it always does. And You From Another Star arrived to wash away any traces of the bad writing left over from PM&I. Thank you, show. Thank you for being so consistently awesome week after week. Even if you betray me at the finish with a sad, weepy ending, I think I can still forgive you because of all the many moments that left me grinning like a loon. Moments like this:

 Yes, YES, YEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!

This scene kept one-upping itself. Min-joon mind-flipping the desk before the evil baddie can press the emergency button. Then slamming him into the blinds, and lifting him off the ground. Of course, the raging psychopath smiles as if he still has the upper hand. So let’s sweep him to the roof and dangle him off the building. I bet there was a whole chorus of viewers chanting, “Drop him! Drop him!” We knew Min-joon wouldn’t kill the villain this early in the show, but I wanted the satisfaction of watching that perma-smirk wiped off his face. So what does our accommodating hero do? Drops him. Just a teeny-tiny bit. Mr. Puppy Killer falters, but still tries to play it cool and so our Joseon Superman mind-bends him back in slow motion and then . . . he let’s go. The bad guy screams all the way down until he brakes right above the pavement and hits just hard enough to scratch up that sneering face. I could have stopped right there and gone to bed happy. But I’m glad I didn’t.

Mystery Solved: Hwi-kyung has a brain and he’s not afraid to use it!

Hwi-kyung drew ever closer to unmasking his psycho brother, as he tracked down the missing sister-in-law to the mental hospital where she’s held captive. How hot was he when he gave Nurse Pants-on-fire the third degree? Not only was his IQ alive and well, but his EQ proved strong and steady when he brought a caravan of fancy, food trucks to Song-yi’s movie set. Just to make her look good. Plus it wiped the self-satisfied serenity right off the face of our second lead, Miss Aspertame (she looks like sugar, but just might kill you). Then he tops it all off by throwing himself under a falling Song-yi to save her life. In that moment, he was almost awesome enough to make me forget Min-joon. Almost.

Did Jun Ji-hyun need a vacation?

I read an article on Soompi that poor Kim Soo-hyun gets maybe one hour of sleep a night during filming. It makes me wonder if Ji-hyun arranged for extra rest as part of her contract, because between Min-joon pulling an Edward Cullen while she slumbered, to her ambulance ride, to her extended hospital scenes, her character spent most of Episode 14 flat on her back. (Has anyone else seen the dvd bloopers from Secret Garden where a tearful Ha Ji-won stands at the sick bed of the comatose Hyun-bin, and you suddenly hear him snoring? Hilarious.) Although I’m all for well-rested actors, I felt the absence of Song-yi’s sparkle. She injects her scenes with an energy which is all the more noticeable when it’s missing. Thank goodness she woke up at the end of Episode 14 in that brief but squeeable epilogue.

Can you blame her?

Song-yi put on her big girl designer pants this week and showed Min-joon he couldn’t toss her around like his own personal Barbie doll. She didn’t swoon at the sight of him appearing in her hospital room. She switched to formal speech to keep him at a distance (not that she always remembered to keep it up). And the sight of her cheerfully stomping her feet in the cold as she waited to film her tiny scene somehow got to me. I respect her for taking charge of her own life. After spending her entire adulthood in a pampered famous fishbowl, she’s finally learning how the other half lives. She could take the easy way out, and accept the help of her hot, manager-neighbor, but she’s got more pride than that. I feel for our poor, misunderstood hero. He’s only trying to do what’s best for her. But don’t we all hate to see him go down the noble idiot route?

Can you blame him?

Thankfully, Min-joon seems to be taking a detour into Selfishville. And I applaud the move. Especially if it will give us more kisses like this week. *Swoon* His overactive imagination gave him a much needed push toward Song-yi as he continuously pictured a romantic future between her and Hwi-kyung. Looking at it objectively, he should be pushing for her to get over him. He’s still a 400-year-old alien who’s leaving the planet in a month. How is this relationship a good idea? But he’s past caring, and so am I. We’ve both decided to enjoy the warm, fuzzies while we may. The future can go throw itself off a building.

So many shows have let me down this year. Marry Him If You Dare, The Prime Minister and I, Pretty Man. Is it any wonder I’m feeling a little hesitant to embrace something new? But I’m taking a page out of Min-joon’s book. Let’s see how selfish I can be as I relish every pratfall, superhero save, and toe-tingling smooch that this story will give me. It might hurt down the road, but I’d rather live in the moment.

You From Another Star: You remind me of someone

I got a snow day this week, thanks to the Head Weatherman Upstairs, and spent part of it re-watching Miss Congeniality. Anyone else remember, “I’m GLIDING here!”? When I later watched You From Another Star, it struck me how Sandra Bullock-like Song-yi can be. The girl has a gift for comedy. I never got around to posting about last week’s episodes. (Well, technically, I got around to the screencaps and typing out a few words on the computer. It was the finishing that never happened.) So I thought I’d pull from last week and this week to showcase several moments where our lovable egomaniac was the most Sandra-esque.

Roly-poly Princess 

This bit went on and on. But it never got old! The way she shuffled around in her vinyl cocoon. Min-joon flipping her over his shoulder and dumping her on the couch. And who could hate her doing a ninety-degree new year’s bow to her host’s “father”. I hope Jeon Ji-hyun isn’t claustrophobic. She probably spent hours wrapped in that full body straightjacket to get all those shots. For which I am ever so grateful!

I’d like to be a fly on the wall 

Let’s just ignore the fact that her outfit is lemon yellow. That might be the latest trend in South Korea, and I have never been what you would call a fashionista. But this posture! Watching Jeon Ji-hyun play this role makes me realize how prissy a lot of the K-drama actresses are. If they kick off their designer heels to chase after the guy, that’s a big action scene. But JJH climbs on furniture and sticks to the wall like a piece of silly putty. She hobbles around in sleeping bags, and careens across the ice like a five-year old. I wonder if she runs marathons or something? Where does she get all that energy?

Nutty as a fashionable fruitcake 

Again, let’s ignore the fact she’s wearing a primary color, striped poncho. Maybe it’s supposed to represent the bars on the cell they’re going to toss her into when she’s declared legally insane. Cause Song-yi is giving new meaning to the phrase “crazy love”. Her eyes bug out as she compares love to chicken legs and designer handbags. And the doctor wastes no time in upping her meds. I admit this scene felt a little over the top to me. But I’ll take over-the-top slapstick over unbelievable-amnesia-twist-makjang any day of the week.

Lock up the liquor cabinet 

On second thought, please don’t! Cause drunk Song-yi guarantees all sorts of funny-bone-tickling good times. Props to the writer for revealing her descent into Plasteredville bit by hilarious bit. I love the little things, like the way her body went straight as a board as she slid off the couch. Or the giant clip just dangling from the ends of her hair. And I REALLY love the big things. Like her screaming DO MANAGEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRR over and over. And Song-yi trying to buy Min-joon’s love with her sparkly heels. Remember, he has super-hearing. Did he have to listen to her drunken ramblings all night? Pfffft. Serves him right!

A little goes a long way 

You could feel the heavy in episode 12 as our leads spent most of the time unconscious or apart. Min-joon pushes Song-yi away knowing that every card in the universe seems stacked against them. But there’s always that glimmer of frenetic funny that our heroine brings, no matter how dire the situation. How about her faking tuberculosis as she hobbled to her front door, in an attempt to keep someone from buying Min-joon’s apartment? And who didn’t guess what was in her head the moment she glanced at the giant flower box separating her balcony from his? It was only a matter of time before she’d be scrambling up there. Thank goodness he called when he did, or he might have had to pull another Superman when she fell off the skyscraper, screaming DO MANAGEEEEERRRRRRR all the way down.

I saw Jeon Ji-hyun in The Thieves, but this drama has opened my eyes to what a well-rounded actress she is. She rips your heart out one minute as she faces her former “best friend” telling her their relationship was a fake from the beginning. Then she’s pure comedy gold as she flops around in a t-shirt and shorts with mascara streaks running down her face. If she ever gets together with Sandra Bullock for a movie, that is one ticket I will be lining up to buy.

Golden Rainbow: Mining the good stuff

I am loving 20% of this show. I don’t have any quantitative results to back up my statistics. This is just an estimation of how much is squee-inducing rom-com. And that 20% is so worth fast forwarding through the other 80. Believe me.

Golden Rainbow is one of those 50 episode weekend family dramas that throws every kitchen sink cliché in there: birth secrets, noble idiocy, separated first loves, wrongful imprisonment, scheming chaebols, backstabbing second leads, etc. But the hilarious push-and-pull relationship between Do-young (Jung Il Woo) and Baek-won (UEE) keeps me digging for more, more, more. Allow me to offer some choice nuggets for your inspection.

She started it 

So . . . the GIRL grabs the GUY, on the STREET, and kisses him. FIRST. Unbelievable, right? This is a Korean drama. Isn’t she supposed to stand there like a wide-eyed, block of ice? The wide-eyed one is actually Do-young. But he recovers quickly and grabs her back for one passionate po-po. You may ask what brought on this public display of affection? She pushed him away emotionally for a few episodes. (I’m not sure why since I fast forwarded through that part, but I think it was a misunderstanding involving the evil second lead female.) They finally have it out and she tells him to ignore her and look after himself. But he replies that he can’t even see himself, because he loves her so much. I find her response quite natural. Grabbing him by the collar and laying one on him. And I find her response to his return kiss even more natural. She runs away in complete embarrassment, while the hero (and me) grins like an idiot.

You aren’t getting off that easy 

Jung Il Woo’s character cracks me up. (Think Cha Chi-soo from Flower Boy Ramyun Shop minus the entitlement issues. He’s completely cuckoo for our heroine, but not in the unhinged stalker way of Secret Garden or the violent, revengy way of Secret. He just flat out adores her.) Any other guy might give a girl a chance to process, but not him. He beats her home, and is waiting there to tease the life out of her. Being a prosecutor, he says he’s arresting her for sexual harassment unless she compensates him. They end up at a café where he strikes an aegyo pose while she hems and haws. He relentlessly cross-examines her for why she kissed him until she finally whispers meekly, “I like you.” Again, any other guy might be happy with this. But not our cheeky Do-young. He declares that you “like” dukkbokki and coffee, but you don’t kiss them. And she yells back, “I love you. I LOVE YOU. Satisfied?” I bet I’m not the only one who assumed they were in some quiet, out-of-the-way place, but we find that’s not the case when the camera pulls back to reveal this:

Yes, the room is FULL of diners who burst into applause. If I heard a conversation that interesting at the table next to me, I’d be eavesdropping too. What does our heroine do? Runs away for the second time. And Do-young (and me) is once again left grinning like an idiot.

This guy is relentless 

You know those K-drama heroes that take 10 episodes to confess their feelings and then backpedal immediately afterwards. Yeah, well that’s not Do-young. Now that he’s got the advantage, he’s gonna work every angle he can. Baek-won, like any normal girl, is reliving the glorious liplock that night in the safety of her room, when she gets a text-pic from Do-young of a kissy-face. He follows this up with a call saying it was the most intense kiss he’s ever had. She calls him a player and hangs up. And then he texts her an audio file of a heart beating, saying he won’t be able to sleep because his is pounding so fast. *Sigh* I must have the wrong service provider, cause I never get texts like that.

Why does feeding always equal love?

Is it a Korean thing that feeding someone is a sign of affection? When Baek-won prepares lunch for her new beloved, he opens his mouth with the cutest “aaaaaaaaah.” She, of course, refuses to comply. Keep in mind that her Oppa is sitting right across from them, but Do-young has no shame. He then tries a variety of “Aaaa-eee-aaaaah?” and “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” until she chopsticks the sashimi into his mouth. I know it’s a little thing, but again, it just makes me smile.

From 0 to 60 

After their lunchtime shenanigans, Do-young remarks how fast they’re moving when they haven’t even held hands. He offers his for Baek-won which she hesitantly accepts, and then he pulls her into a full-body bear hug. And remarks that after hands and hugs it must be time for another kiss. Sadly, we don’t get it. I like how he always pushes for more with Baek-won, but not in a randy, player kind of way. He teases and twists and gently bullies affection out of her, and you can see that she doesn’t really mind.

Lest you think I’m overreacting to the cuteness of these two, I’d like to point out that all of the above moments happened in only one episode (22). Girlfriday wrote a great review of the show over on Dramabeans if you want to check it out (www.dramabeans.com/2014/01/gold-rainbow-an-introduction). Golden Rainbow begins when they are teenagers and skips ahead after episode 11. So if you really don’t want to commit to 50 episodes, just start with 12 and then only watch the parts with our dynamic duo. It’s working for me.

You From Another Star: Hero Supersized

 

I must not be the only one noticing the Superman resemblance. Apparently, SBS ran a mock poster contest and the Boyscout in Blue made several appearances. Not that I'm complaining. I love the superhero vibe permeating this show. The swoony, save-the-day moments keep piling up, and this week only added to the ever-growing list. Let's check-off our snobby alien's other-worldy attributes, shall we?

Faster than a speeding fishbowl

Why the motorcycle stalker chose to throw a giant fishbowl at our heroine I'll never know. Wasn't it uncomfortable lugging that thing down the street? Didn't he get any weird looks? Anyway, Min-joon swooped in to pull Song-yi out of the way and then carried her off to safety, like a good hero should. And our leading lady wasn't too shook up to notice that he was in the car, and then he wasn't. Deny it all he wants. She's on to him.

More powerful than a runaway sports car

Did they rip this moment out of a DC comic? It was classic, damsel-in-distress being pushed off a cliff. But I don't mind. Him flying in from the sky and slamming his hands on the car as it screeched to a halt. *Sigh* So good. But how heartbreaking was poor, disoriented Song-yi crying for him to come back? Left all alone in the middle of nowhere. I understand why he had to protect his identity, but it was still a little cold.

Able to leap over the moon in a single bound

I suppose this answers the "Can he fly or just levitate?" question. If he can take his Joseon horse on a drunken joy ride across the sky, I think he can support his own weight just fine. I wish we could see more uninhibited smiles like that from our prickly professor. Is a full-on Superman-cradling-Lois-Lane-as-he-rises-above-the-clouds moment in our OTP's future? A girl can dream.

Standard Superhero Equipment: X-ray vision, Super-hearing, etc.

The superpowers keep piling up. He scanned Song-yi's teddy bear, no problem. And picked up on her cries for help from across the city. But there's one thing that's even sexier than super-hearing. Super-listening. She tells him to buy a cell phone, and he asks the salesman for the one with the best reception and saves her in his call list as #1. She mentions Udon, and he buys two servings. Because she previously said she doesn't like to eat alone. He pretends he doesn't hear her, but his ears are tuned to only one channel and it's all Song-yi Show, all the time.

You're my Kryptonite

Talk about an important epilogue. What could possibly top the kiss? How about Min-joon's confession that he regrets how he spent the last 400 years. He finally sees the value in a human life well lived: eating meals with another person, sharing your days with someone you love, and being remembered when you're gone. And it's the 15 Second Fairy that led him to this revelation. His heart is no longer invincible. But what can he do about it when he only has two months left on the planet?

What other superhero tropes await in the second half of the show? I'm hoping a cape will somehow make an appearance. I'll probably clap my hands together in glee if that happens.


*Thanks to Soompi for the top picture and their article on the poster competition. If you want to check it out, just cut and past the following address: http://www.soompi.com/2014/01/08/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-kim-soo-hyun/#.Us8SoMu9KSN

Happy Together: When Yoon Shi Yoon stole the show

I worried for darling Yoon Shi Yoon as he sat at the end of the fake, wooden sauna bench. Three co-stars separated him from the funny hosts. He looked awkward, like a fourth-cousin at a family reunion. Drat. He was going to get no screen time on this episode of Happy Together.  Shows you how much I know.

Even if you don't care for this interview-cooking Variety show, you should check out this episode with our darling puppy. Study his restrained humor. It's like a class in how to monopolize the room without being loud or pushy.

The funniest thing he said all night

When asked about his recently canceled show Barefoot Friends and whether the cast cried at the end, he denied it. Then said honestly, "We had no idea what was going on." Did anyone else suffer through most of those 31 episodes like I did? I had two excuses: Yoon Shi Yoon and Kim Hyun Joong. But even these 2 K-hotties couldn't save the Adventure Travel turned High Diving Class turned Cooking Show trainwreck that was BF. I don't think the writers, producers, or anybody knew what was going on. 

Oh My Word, he IS Enrique!

YSY first hit my radar as the fast-talking, hyperactive, hug monster that was Enrique in Flower Boy Next Door. And according to one of the Happy Together cast members, this isn't so far from reality. He described how YSY walked into the salon chatting away, and kept on non-stop even when his hair was being washed. This shocked me since he spent most of Barefoot Friends as a pretty face in the background with nary a syllable. I'd begun to think he was the shy, quiet nerd type. Later in the HT interview he also talked about being class president almost every year, and how he liked to play MC on bus trips. I guess he just couldn't get a word in edgewise on BF with Kang Ho Dong around.

Not just another pretty face

South Korea is seriously obsessed with things like skincare, plastic surgery, ramen bloating, etc. So it was nice to hear YSY freely admit that he packs on the pounds in between roles. According to him, he gets nice and plump the way his grandmother likes him. Awwwwwwwww. I know from watching Barefoot Friends that he's got stacks and stacks of books at home. And he revealed on HT that he once appeared on The Golden Bell Challenge. I'm not sure what that is, but from the hosts impressed reaction it must be something like Jeopardy.

Pretty Boy vs. Porkchop

One off-the-wall hijink occurred when they asked Yoona to choose her ideal man from those sitting at the show. Her choices included the nation's MC Yoo Jae Suk, her onscreen husband from The Prime Minister and I Lee Bum Soo, Yoon Shi Yoon, and a few others. But then they threw in the show's Director Seop just for fun, whom they affectionately dubbed Mr. Porkchop. The poor guy got so tickled as he beat out one after another, even trouncing babyfaced YSY in the fight for Yoona's heart. He eventually lost in the final round to Lee Bum Soo. But I think he felt pretty good about himself when he went home that night. 

Gross, but memorable

HT is a strange show that combines celebrity interviews with a late-night snack, cooking competition. The guests bring in their cheap and wacky creations to vie for a spot on the cafeteria menu. Unfortunately, YSY's creation will not be hanging on that wall anytime soon. His combination of seafood flavored ramen with a tuna-mayo kimbap is about as disgusting as it sounds and the judges were not impressed. But the best part was his eloquent defense of how the rice triangle looked like an iceberg tip poking up from the soup, and his explanation of the proper way to unwrap the kimbap by tab 3, and NOT tabs 1 and 2. It was all very detailed, and serious, and kind of hilarious.

This guy's really funny

The hosts looked surprised at YSY's deadpan humor. He delivers a line so straightfaced and sincere that it makes it all the more funny. Like when he was talking about his first love, and said she was so perfect that he didn't even think she went to the bathroom. Yoo Jae Suk seemed to find him especially hilarious, and I have my fingers crossed that YSY will soon show up as a guest on the most awesome of all Variety shows, Running Man.

I find this guy adorable, and hope he gets a killer leading role after The Prime Minister and I which proves he's not just a one-hit wonder. I'm including the link to the KBS World subtitled Youtube video of his Happy Together appearance in case anyone wants to watch it.

You From Another Star: And he's down for the count

After a round of kisses, co-habitation, and fake eyelash shopping, our touch-me-not teacher is finding it hard to stay on his feet when love keeps knocking him for a loop. Let’s count the chinks in his emotional armor, shall we?

Mr. Passive-Regressive 

Is it jealousy season already? This week the green-eyed crop was in full bloom. Never has a purple hair tie caused so much conflict. Min-joon just HAD to mention that Song-yi left it when she slept at his place. And he just HAD to mention that she was stone, cold sober at the time. This sequence played all the better intercut with the lecture our Passionless Professor gave on how childish and regressive the emotion of jealousy is and how he’s NEVER felt it. Welcome to the human world, Sir. It’s petty, but amusing.

So what’s the deal with Saliva, anyway? 

Has spit ever caused so much discussion with a drama before? Our strange visitor from another planet made one mention that he couldn’t mix blood or saliva and our imaginations ran wild. Was it poison? Could he get drunk off it? What was the deal? But then came the kiss. And now a shared meal. Seeing Song-yi grab his food with her own cootie-laden chopsticks kind of puts the final nail in the speculation coffin. Is it possible that there are no evil aftereffects at all? Maybe he just has a serious case of Extraterrestrial OCD.

400 year-old issues

Now we know why Min-joon feels sorry to the girl from so long ago. She traded her life for his. Whoever this young actress is, she’s just killing it. She makes you forget the age difference. And there’s already ample evidence that Kim Soo-hyun is an excellent crier. But that didn’t lessen the impact when he sobbed like it was the first time in his life. It looks like Min-joon truly loved Yi-hwa, even if his future self tries to deny it.

The Reincarnation Wrinkle 

In the real world – past lives? Give me a break. But in the drama world, it adds up to all sorts of interesting twists. I doubt it was accidental that they kept emphasizing Yi-hwa’s wish for her protector to see her all grown up. It’s like her dream is finally coming true in the person of Song-yi. But do they just look alike, or are they the same person? The scene in the museum points toward the latter. When Song-yi stared at the ancient hairpin, I expected them to turn it into a joke. Like when she got so nostalgic at the first snowfall, then she says she’s craving chicken and beer. But not this time. Out of all the exhibits in the room, she zeroes in on the pin. And then admits it makes her feel sad. Poor Min-joon’s frozen heart doesn’t know what to make of it, as it melts like a polar icecap.

Every centimeter counts

The epilogues are like a box of those mixed candies where you never know what you’re going to get. One moment it’s a good-natured nougat with Song-yi biting her manager on the head, then they suddenly drop the bitter, dark chocolate that she refuses any Sageuks because she hates the Joseon period. Even though she doesn’t know why. And I loved the sweet, cherry cordial extension of the balcony scene where Min-joon orders his reluctant houseguest to stay at least a meter away, then silently steps closer because she went too far. The poor guy tries so hard to keep his guard up, but fails every time.

I feel a little like Min-joon when I watch this drama. I know I should keep it at arm’s length because there’s a strong chance I could be huddled in a weepy little ball at the end. And then I take one step closer, because it’s just too beautiful to ignore. Whatever the ending, happy or sad, I'm in too deep to turn back now.