My Name Is Kim Sam Soon, ep. 12-16

[oyceter]

Um, so I watched all sixteen hours of this over a long weekend. I blame my sister!

This was the first drama I've ever finished; I am now scoffing at my long-held disinclination towrad watching Asian dramas (everyone back in high school was into jdramas). I know many of the things I love about this series are probably atypical of the genre, but who cares! This was awesome!

For those of you who think I have lost my mind in the marathon run, here's why I love the series:

• Sam Soon takes no crap from anyone, and she has no problem telling everyone exactly what's on her mind.


• The show has a remarkably refreshing attitude toward sex. It is all heterosexual and couple-centric, but I like that people are not punished for sex and that the sex feels fairly true to life.


• While many of the women on the show are catty rivals (argh), there are a good number of strong, assertive women, including older women.


• I like the emphasis on family relationships, particularly the ones among Sam Soon, her mother, and her older sister Yi Yoong. There's this one scene with the three eating dinner, and Sam Soon's grumping her way through her meal (she's on a diet... stay with me!), and Yi Yoong and her mom are just eating messily out of a giant pot on the table, and it feels so real.


• It ends well.


• Sam Soon never gets prettified. Ok, I don't think she's ugly or overweight or old AT ALL, but some of the most romantic moments happen when she's in an old t-shirt, random shorts, and flip-flops. There's no miraculous "And then she lost weight and dressed better and started to wear makeup!"


• The focus is still on the younger characters, but the two mothers actually get a good deal of screen time.


• It's freaking hilarious. And a lot of the humor comes from exaggeration and screwball comedy, but a lot of it was me watching something and thinking, "Dude! I totally do that!" or "That is something that could actually happen to me."


• Have I mentioned just how awesome Sam Soon and Yi Yoong are?

Spoilers!

Er, Jin Hun eventually won me over with teh cute, though I still yelled at him! But I love the confession of love in the men's bathroom and him climbing up a mountain in the rain to find her and his fear of Sam Soon's mother and him hugging Sam Soon and that he sent the postcards to the wrong address! I'm not quite sure what the actor did, because usually the barked-command thing turns me way off, but in the end, it was sort of endearing. I suspect a lot of this was because I knew Sam Soon wasn't going to do anything she didn't want to.

I did yell at him a ton for not breaking things off with Hee Jin right away, and I am very glad Sam Soon, her mother, and Yi Yoong took him to task for that. A lot. And kicked him. And his car. Bwahahaha! I laughed so much any time he got chewed out.

Hee Jin got a little better, though I still really dislike her. I felt horrible for her when Jin Hun broke up with her, because we all know how that feels, but I hated how she would take everything out on Sam Soon and not on Jin Hun. Argh! This is why I hate love triangles! They always pit the two women against each other! Anyway, when she was telling Sam Soon that Sam Soon made her feel uncomfortable, I was yelling at her for attempting to make Sam Soon give way for her not once, but twice. And then she asked Jin Hun to accompany her to America?! What?! Seriously, who does that? I would understand if it were only the childhood friend thing, but after she repeatedly tried to get Sam Soon out of the way and never tried to talk to Jin Hun about it, no sympathy from me!

Though unlike most people (I think?), I actually do think she and Henry are sort of cute. I like Henry! I do not think he is believable as a doctor at all, but he is cute and I am a total sucker for guys who stay by people's sides.

I am extremely glad Sam Soon didn't change her name, and I'm even more glad she ended up deciding not to and that it wasn't just Jin Hun's schemes. I should be angrier at him for them, since that would be obnoxious in real life, but it was too funny!

I love love love that Sam Soon doesn't end up going back to the restaurant to work, that she and her sister set up their own business and try to make it work without any magic happening, that they do this on their own, without any help from the rich men around.

I didn't expect to like Yi Yoong and Mom Kim so much; when I had last left off, they were backing Sam Soon up but also scolding her in private. Having been the recipient of many lectures like that myself, I feel that is not the best tactic while the recipient is heartbroken. But they won me over! I think one of my very favorite parts of the series was Jin Hun attempting to win over Mom Kim, from the bowing to the commentary ("Mom! Don't be so old-fashioned! No one digs holes to put jars of kimchi in any more!") to the karaoke! OMG, I nearly died laughing during the karaoke scene. The tie on Jin Hun's head! The tamborines! The bad dancing! Everything I love about karaoke!

And they actually named the dog "50 million won"!

I also love Yi Yoong's relationship with the chef. I mean... she pays him after they have sex for the first time! They have booty calls! She's in it for the sex, not the love! He's the one trying to convince her to date and get married! I love the scene when he asks her what she'll do when she becomes an old maid, and she tells him that she's already figured out which nursing home to go to and has been saving for it.

The misunderstanding regarding the postcards in the final episode was a little too much, but I liked that it ended up being the result of Jin Hun's stupidity, not some scheme of the evil ex. The look on his face when Sam Soon told him it was the wrong address was great, as was him attempting to get back on Mom Kim's good side. They should all definitely go karaoke-ing again. I also loved the hunt for condoms at who knows what hour of the morning and getting home to discover Sam Soon had fallen asleep. Because you know that happens all the time to people.

And, um, mute little moppet got to me as well. She is so cute! And she is even cuter when she finally starts speaking!

I was happily surprised by the ending. I like that there are still loose strings and that Mom Na doesn't miraculously change her mind about Jin Hun and Sam Soon. I like that they don't have an epilogue with a wedding and kids and that the ending note is "I'm still scared we'll break up. But I'm here now, and we'll see how it goes."

Anyway, I am very happy with this series, despite how frustrating some of the middle episodes were (People! Just talk to each other, for heaven's sake!), and the Kim family is made of awesome.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen KSS yet, but the stuff you like sounds more typical of jdramas than kdramas.

Anyway, I am very happy with this series, despite how frustrating some of the middle episodes were (People! Just talk to each other, for heaven's sake!),

problem with virtually every drama ever...

[oyceter]

Oh, what bits sound more like jdramas? I have no idea!

Bwahaha. I feel the "people talking to each other" is the problem of every story ever.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

Sam Soon never gets prettified. Ok, I don't think she's ugly or overweight or old AT ALL, but some of the most romantic moments happen when she's in an old t-shirt, random shorts, and flip-flops. There's no miraculous "And then she lost weight and dressed better and started to wear makeup!"

Hee! I would like this a lot too. Some of my best situations were at my highest adult weights (and like, significantly overweight, it's never seemed to have much of a correlation for me).

This show sounds so great, maybe I should start seeking out Asian dramas to watch (are they like soap operas, like little television shows?).

[oyceter]

They're basically like soap operas, only with a set number of episodes, so they actually end. They're usually a full hour long (I am guessing they are aired with very few commercial breaks), and so far the series have been about 16 eps. long or so.

[jabbberwocky.livejournal.com]

Yay, you've finished! Couldn't agree with you more about the loose strings and the ending- I was expecting something corny, but no! It was open-ended and real. Real enough for a teledrama, anyway. ^^

One thing I hated was the amount of flashbacks, but I think that's a fault of my watching all 16 eps in 2-3 days. One of the many things I loved was that Sam Soon can't keep a tune. XD

[oyceter]

I loved the open-endedness so much! And Sam Soon's awful voice! And all the kicking!

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I also really loved Samsoon's family. Yi Yoong's relationship with the chef was one of my very favorite things about the series, and Jin Heon's fear for Samsoon's mother was also excellent. I laugh and laughed.

[oyceter]

I loooove Yi Yoong. I wasn't sure of her or Mom Kim in the beginning, but they were awesome. I love that Yi Yoong pays the chef for sex! And refuses to date or marry him! And threatens Jin Hun!

[raucousraven.livejournal.com]

So I obviously have to watch this now... Right after I finish Coffee Prince. Oh holidays, why are you so freaking far away?

[oyceter]

Yes! And post!

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

It's kind of strange to have people watching things I recommend, (aside from close friends and family, generally when I physically force them) but this strange power seems limited to KDramas.

Now you need to finish Coffee Prince. Or at least get through the first twelve episodes.

And I need people to watch Hana Yori Dango, it's the lamest/best thing ever!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hana Yori Dango is giddy, lovable, OTT crack.

And Hanizawa Rui is my jdrama love. If Shizuka REALLY doesn't want him, I'll take him.

[oyceter]

I keep meaning to watch all the Bollywood films you've recced, though I haven't gotten around to those yet.

I may skip on Hana Yori Dango though, I read the first vol. of the manga and threw it against the wall for the near-rape scene. Is that still in the drama?

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I completely forgot the near-rape scene! I suppress the memory completely, and enjoy the cracktasticness of it all.

Once you get past the first two episodes, it is the best/lamest thing ever. Trust me.

[oyceter]

Heee. Ok. I figure I should watch it some time, given that everyone and their mother has seen/read it, but the near-rape! Gah.