JAZZHOLIC

ay_link May 3rd, 2008

Episode 1 started off with a detective rushing in and arriving at a crime site. Then we know upfront that Lee Dong Wook’s character, Lee Joon Soo has committed suicide. Boo. What a way to start off things right?
I usually hate this kind of drama — too dramatic and ‘pointless’. Especially when it happens to the first lead character. But for this one I stick around for the entire episode. Just because. *grins*

From MBC Global Site synopsis:

A high-priced luxury apartment in the downtown area of Seoul. In this peaceful neighborhood, one young man committed suicide under uncertain circumstances.
Park Byeong-shik, a retired detective, discovers that the dead man is Lee Joon-soo, a fugitive he had been pursuing for years before he left the force. He picks up clues to solve the uncertain cause of his death.

The story begins with events that happened six months before the man died.

Did Lee Joon-soo really kill himself? His lover was Hong Da-ae.
And how was he linked to Yoon Hye-jin, a middle-aged housewife?
The drama traces events in the past and present to reveal the intricate web of story arcs.

So okay. If Lee Dong Wook is the lead actor in this drama, and he’s supposedly dead already, then

This drama is expected to be as ‘dark’ as it can be, judging from the storyline and also, the people behind it. In their (PD Kim Jin Min and Writer Jung Ha Yeon) previous work, Shindon, which we’re also subbing, I have only seen episode 1, but oh boy, lol. It’s truly like Korean shakespeare! I guess watching it while half-asleep really doesn’t help at all. The rest of the episodes are still sitting pretty in my HDD, but I want to get to it somehow, some day.

From the beginning, the theme has a very DARK vibe to it. The backsound, the songs, the facial expressions. Kinda remind me of the previous weekend drama, “Winter Bird” which carried the depressing mode through its entire series.

OK, let’s move on to 6 months before…

At first I thought they met in Hokkaido, Japan. After Hye Jin got in her rental car, she was about to leave the snowed parking lot, when suddenly there was there’s a knock on her door.

Joon Soo asked for a ride, and took the liberty to get in her car before she could say anything else.
From the look of it, it doesn’t take a genius to see how annoyed and bothered Hye Jin was. lol. Poor her. A strange, suddenly speaking in a foreign language. (Oh btw, Lee Dong Wook’s Japanese is not bad, I mean, from the way it sounds. But Oh Yeon Soo still has some Korean accent to it when she speaks Japanese, which makes me o_O everytime I hear her speak)

So then she drove off… feeling ticked off and irked, but couldn’t say a word.
And while she was driving, he was doozing off all the way until they stopped by a restarea.

Though the characters were introduced quite smoothly, this drama still gives me the ‘chills’ and the ‘aura’ within the drama is very dark and strong. Has the tendency to go over to the mellow-dramatic side, especially when they show us the beginning of her marriage.
Her wedding day.

Doesn’t she look like she’s about to be the runaway bride?
Which makes me wonder… who pressed her on to go ahead with the marriage?
Why did she marry such a jerk husband if he’s up to no good from day 1?
And yes, he has something very suspicious and dark about him too. But I’ll cover that later.

But Lee Dong Wook, hmm he surprised me somehow with his new, matured look, with facial hair and all.
After “My Girl” 2-3 years ago, though he does look friggin the same as before, his chemistry with Oh Yeon Soo is undeniable.

And… we got to sneak in to see how they actually first met.

It was before they got to Japan, at the Air City, errm I mean Incheon International Airport. She was sitting in front of his table, facing his way. And he was playing around with his camera (I think he’s a photographer, looking at all those pictures and collages in his luxury apartment at the beginning of this episode)

I like this capture because it tells us all. Her sorrow, her sadness, it all captured in one shot, and Joon Soo saw all this before Hye Jin’s husband came back to the table.

After she left, the camera rolled back in to another flashback… potraying the present time after Hye Jin left for Japan.

Apparently, the cheating husband (I gotta learn his name soon), really has an affair with Da Ae, a scarlett, young and beautiful.

In that cap above, it’s Park Shi Yeon’s first appearance in this entire episode, maybe towards the middle somewhere. Da Ae dropped the bomb by saying, “Let’s break up.” (Let’s end it.) In which Dong Won immediately asked, “What? why?” and she replied with a light shrug. She gave him back the keys (apt keys and car key)

So right after she left him, he walked outside the restaurant and the vallet driver brought him the mini cooper (possibly was Da Ae’s car, given by Dong Won). The furious Dong Won drove by to the apartment, only to find it already dark and abandoned. Then he started to reminisce the good ol’ times.

They fought, he mentioned his wife, and she got all pissed off.
They, then, kissed and made up, and yeah, this is the WTH-hot scene of the day. lol. Err.

So I supposed there was a continuous problem between them, which made her point the gun and finally left him alone. Totally alone since his wife ‘left’ him to go to Japan, the place where they first met, if I’m not mistaken here.

Then they introduce Da Ae.. the carefree, beautiful, energenic, fashion-diva who owns a jewelry vintage store, Scarlett.

*Park Shi Yeon looks really pretty in this cap. Her facial structure is just amazing.
No wonder Eric was madly in love with her =P*

Just gotta include the shoe. So cute! Hee.

And then we go back to Japan, to where Joon Soo and Hye Jin met again at the temple.
What’s the deal with Joon Soo? He seems to be quite mysterious himself, which I’m sure we’ll see more after episode 2.

Overall…

Quite a solid first episode, though as usual, I don’t like first episode.
It tends to get messy and confusing and all over the place.
And based on the ratings I mentioned before, I hope this series will do well as the writer/PD combo is such a big temptation for me not to miss this drama.

Tags: La Dolce Vita

• K-dramas , La Dolce Vita
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