Triangle

Title:	Triangle
Alternate Title(s):	N/A
Genre(s):	Melodrama, Crime
Episodes	26
Network:	MBC
Year Produced:	2014
Available to Watch On:	DramaFever, viki, dramafans.org

Summary: As children, the Jang brothers are separated after the tragic death of their father. Despite the eldest brother's efforts to care for and protect his siblings, they are torn apart and each set down a path that takes them in very different directions. Jang Dong Soo (Lee Beom Soo), the eldest, becomes a police detective while continuing to look for his missing brothers. Jang Dong Chul (Kim Jae Joong), the middle brother, finds himself homeless and begging on the streets, losing all his childhood memories in the process. He ultimately becomes a street thug. Jang Dong Woo (Im Siwan), the youngest brother, is adopted as a baby and raised by a wealthy CEO to be his heir. The three brothers cross paths as adults when they are drawn into the corporate and social politics surrounding the Dae Jung Casino and its relationship to the death of their father.

RATING:

♥♥♥½

"Look, Dong Woo, we need to have a talk ....."

Recommendation: Triangle is a thoughtfully produced k-drama with an excellent cast and clear path from start to finish. There isn't anything that can be called out as a major flaw in the series but it does lack that special something that might have bumped up its rating just a little higher. Kim Jae Joong shines in the role of Jang Dong Chul / Heo Young Dal and it feels like he found the sweet-spot with this character, having to be neither too good nor too bad. Likewise, Im Siwan is believable as the spoiled rich boy that has everything except his adopted father's love. There's not much to say about Lee Beom Soo - he's a pro and it shows in every role that he touches. It would have been nice for all three brothers to be together in more than just a few scenes but it rarely materializes. Onecould theorize it is a foreshadowing of things to come at the end. Overall, this is solid k-drama that is worth the investment of time. You won't regret it, particularly for fans of crime, melodrama, and Kim Jae Joong's abs.

Wild Chives & Soybean Soup

Title:	Wild Chives & Soybean Soup: 12 Year Reunion
Alternate Title(s):	N/A
Genre(s):	Melodrama, Romantic Comedy
Episodes	26
Network:	JTBC
Year Produced:	2014
Available to Watch On:	DramaFever, Hulu, dramafans.org

Summary: Wild Chives & Soybean Soup is a k-drama that has several intertwined stories that all revolve around three families: Yoo, Jang, and Joo. The primary story begins in 2002 with high school students Yoo Joon Soo (Lee Won Geun/Nam Gung Min) and Jang Gook (Yoon So Hee/Lee So Yeon), who fall in love and conceive a child after a night of drinking and celebrating a World Cup win. The families quickly object to their relationship and they are ultimately torn apart. Jang Gook, unable to cope, flees to the US to heal her broken heart. The show then fast forwards 12 years and the couple is reunited by a strange twist of fate. Other key narratives involve friendship, parent-child relationships, one-sided love, marriage, and divorce.

RATING:

♥♥♥

Sad. I wish it had more episodes.

Recommendation: It is a little difficult to review this k-drama because it was just starting to hit its stride when the series was canceled. Consequently, the ending is rushed and somewhat disappointing with many of the major plots being resolved inadequately or not at all. I think it is worth a watch but with an understanding that you'll be left with more questions than answers. While I personally feel that family themed dramas don't translate well into 50 episode arcs, I thought this one might be moderately successful. I was obviously wrong as the viewers didn't tune in for it. Still, the teen and adult cast are all strong actors and I wish them the best on their next projects.

Golden Rainbow

Summary: Golden Rainbow is a 41-episode South Korean drama produced for the network MBC. It's a complicated story set in the backdrop of the fishing industry that follows a group of orphans adopted by Kim Han Joo (Kim Sang Joong), who was raised as an orphan himself. The show spans a period of 18 years and there are multiple plots intertwined with one another ranging from corporate fraud, star-crossed love, family dysfunction, and the slippery slope of power and wealth. It's a mixed bag of everything. Prominent stars in the series include Uee and Jung Il Woo.

+1/2 heart for the children

Recommendation: This is another series that has me feeling particularly conflicted and that makes it difficult to recommend it wholeheartedly. The show starts out really strong and I enjoyed the performances of all the children. In particular, I thought the young Baek Won (Kim You Jung) and the young Seo Do Young (Oh Jae Moo) were wonderful. The cast of veteran actors all had flawless performances and laid out a great foundation for the remainder of the series. Then.... it fast forwards 14 years and it all falls apart. The transition to the adult cast wasn't as smooth as I'd have liked and a lot of the drama became boring, repetitive, and exhausting. How many times did the audience have to watch Uee and Jung Il Woo cry and pine for one another? Too many to count. Then, after sticking with it for 41 episodes, it all wraps up with a terrible ending. It very well may rival Bride of the Century for the worst ending...ever.

Hundred Years' Inheritance

Plot: There are about 4-5 different plot lines throughout this 50 episode drama. This drama is centered predominantly around the Uhm family and their 100 year old noodle company. The audience follows the journey of various family members as they work through professional crises, money issues, romance, marriage problems, divorce, sickness and other hardships. The primary focus is on the character Min Chae Won (Eugene), her divorce from Kim Chul Kyu (Choi Won Young), and her subsequent marriage to Lee Se Yoon (Lee Jung Jin).

Too Long. Too predictable.

Recommendation: Honestly, I'm really torn on how to recommend this one. If you are a die hard k-drama addict, you will probably enjoy it. Everyone else might be better off investing their time elsewhere. The truth is that I fast forwarded through most of the family plot line and only focused on the parts involving Min Chae Won (Eugene) and Lee Se Yoon (Lee Jung Jin). I loved the chemistry between the leads but everything else was just noise and didn't add any particular value to the story.  By episode 35, I found the constant obstacles to the main characters' marriage to be repetitive, boring, and unoriginal. The audience knows exactly how this drama will end by the third episode. That means the focus is on the the journey and, IMO, the trip should have been cut in half.

My what big teeth you have....

Other Thoughts: There are really two things that stuck out for me while watching this drama.

The first is Chae Won's crazy ex-mother-in-law, Bang Young Ja, played by Park Won Suk. She is a phenomenal actress that has a list of credentials that started before I was even born. I've seen her in several other dramas and she is currently playing the grandmother in the series, Golden Rainbow. For Hundred Years' Inheritance, she really channeled some serious Crazy. And, I mean CRAZY! It was a little over the top. I think my illustration captures the expression she wore for about 90% the show.

The other thing that caught my attention was the styling. One reason that I love watching Korean dramas is because the fashion is so interesting. The stylists are really thinking outside the box and producing looks that are innovative and creative. But, in the case of Kim Chul Kyu, there should have been some editing and a little WWTGD (What Would Tim Gunn Do). There are only so many ugly sweaters and clashing patterns that my eyes can handle. A few examples are on display below but they are not by any stretch of the imagination the worst offenders.

Make it stop. Please.

I Summon You, Gold

Summary: I Summon You, Gold! is a 2013 k-drama produced for the television network MBC. It follows the interaction of the Jung and Park families as their different lifestyles and values come into conflict through both work and marriage. The main characters are Jung Mong Hee (Han Ji Hye) and Park Hyun Soo (Yeon Jeong Hun), who unexpectedly cross paths and realize that Jung Mong Hee looks exactly like Park Hyun Soo's estranged wife. Hoping to keep his impending divorce a secret, he strikes up a deal for her to impersonate his wife until she either returns or he can break the news to his family.

Recommendation:  This is a 50 episode k-drama that requires some serious commitment to watch from wing-to-wing. It starts off strong and I was drawn into the lives of these two families. But, like with most of the 50 episode series, I was bored 1/2 of the way through it. Then, the drama took a strange turn and I was left completely confused as to the direction of the show. One of the saving graces of this k-drama is the narrative around the arranged marriage between Jung Mong Hun (Baek Jin Hee) and Park Hyun Tae (Park Seo Joon). Despite an overall terrible ending, I think there's enough content along the way to make the experience worthwhile.

Other Thoughts (And Possible Spoilers):  I've never had a glass of soju but I imagine that three bottles of it would be enough to make me feel really good before I wake up the next morning with a killer headache. That's how I feel about I Summon You, Gold! It had a great start but left me somewhat disappointed with the outcome.

Typically, from the many k-dramas that I've watched, the leading lady and leading man meet and they eventually fall in love. I Summon You, Gold! did not stray from this convention and we, the audience, came to believe that Jung Mong  Hee and Park Hyun Soo were destined to fall in love. In fact, this was the overriding storyline for the first 30 or so episodes (I might be overestimating a little) and it seemed like that was settled. Park Hyun Soo just had to divorce his estranged wife, who hadn't been seen since the second or third episode of the show.

But it never happens...

There are reasons for it and I get what the writer was trying to accomplish. But that doesn't mean I agree with it or that I like it. Plus, I don't know that the producers wanted to promote the idea of divorcing one's wife to marry her twin sister. My views on divorce are probably somewhat liberal and even I think that premise is a bit strange.