This show vaguely reminds me of my days at the catholic high school I attended. Oh, those happy days of the past when every day I got up, threw on the uniform in five minutes and headed out the door to my
quintessential Mercedes with my Diet Coke breakfast of champions in hand. Yes, kids from others schools made fun of us but we were RICH, dammit. They just didn't understand.
Luckily, we were not nearly as bad as these kids. There was no super special group of 'hot' (or supposed to be anyway) guys who ran the show. The level of superness of the F4 is so unimaginably unrealistic that all you can do is laugh - as they enter the scene, light bathes them so one can almost feel that specialness soak into their senses. Yes...they are oh-so-special and I AM OH-SO-FEELING IT.
That feeling of 'specialness' is somewhat diminished, however, by the use of what I can only guess is digital HD cameras which give this spectacular vision the same feeling as a soap opera or an adult entertainment movie. There is no slight blur to the edges to soften the look - it's just Korean guys and girls in gritty HD. Eek. It looks bad and it detracts from the oh-so-specialness of the Almighty F4. It's tragic. Really.
So rekindling the specialness...
We meet the female lead riding her bike -because all female leads have to ride a bike. I suppose this is to show she's athletic or poor. Not sure which but I'm not convinced of either because she just looks so
pained doing it. She's instantly made famous for saving some kid's life as he tries to commit suicide because the ever-so-special F4 (God, please no, say it isn't so) has made him the target of ridicule....just
because they don't like him. Oh, the public goes crazy -bullies at the Richy-rich high? NO! And alas...Super Justice Wonder Girl is born. And Mommy Dearest, big group leader of the super elite group that
practically runs the world decides she needs to get this girl into her school ASAP to save face.
Derp.
You know what's coming next.
From then on, it gets pretty lame. Of course two of the F4 guys are going to fall for her and, of course, she's going to be torn between the two because what is drama without a love triangle.
Love #1: I'll call him Emo, they call him Ji Hoon. Supposedly this guy is in a Korean pop group. I say he's addicted to Botox because his facial movements look painful (or are non-existent). His smiles are so fake that they have to hurt and he is about as emotionally warm as a wet rag left in the snow. But he's cute in that 'oh my god, he looks like like an anime character' kind of way. Asian anime mullet that's been bleached and all. I was really rooting for this guy at first. According to the subtitles, he had been autistic after the death of his parents (when autism became not only sudden-onset but also curable in Korea, I don't know) so he's wounded, has issues, and of course is in love with the hot model who pulled him (at the age of five) from a pit of despair/autism. I'll buy it -just because he's cute and does the typical K-pop blank pouty 'don't hate me because I'm beautiful' stare so well.
Love #2: To be fair, my opinion of Turd Curls, i.e. Jun Pyo, was skewed originally by the horror of watching a young male dressed in a fur trimmed jacket. And the curls. Y'know, I get he's rich but why does he have to be tacky too? This was almost traumatic for me. Anyway, as the effervescent leader of the ever so Almighty and Amazing, F4, Jun Pyo is without a doubt the most clueless of the four (which is odd if you consider Emo as a cured austic). While he's obnoxious, he's stupid, and he dresses horribly, I couldn't really wrap my head around the fact that this guy wasn't getting laid. He's gotta be 17 or so, rich as hell, and he's sitting around the house with three other guys playing on a Playstation? Yeah...I didn't get it either. But as time goes on and his glaring lack of social skills turn a budding crush into a small war, you can't help but like this idiot. Seriously. He tries so hard and fails so miserably.
This, unfortunately, doesn't really amount to a very good love triangle. Emo, with his Botox facial expressions, just isn't nearly as fascinating as Turd Curls with all of his grand overtures and schitzophrenic obsession with the female lead, Jan Di. One moment he's in a rage and threatening to throw her down to lavish rather pitifully unromantic kisses on her; the next he's rather apathetic to the entire mess. There are, however, a few moments of real emotion which keep you hanging on, all made much more fascinating by the fact that the actors use so much chapstick they sparkle. All in all, by the end, you're hoping Turd Curls gets a shot at hitting it because, damn, he's working hard for it.
Does he get to hit it? Or will Emo be the lucky winner of Jan Di's puffer faced declarations of love? I will leave that for you to find out.
Subplots that are worth mentioning:
**LOL, Smiley Face: One of the other members of F4 is having a crisis all his own -his mommy is suicidal, daddy's a manwhore, and he's falling for Jan Di's best friend. Oh the tragedy of falling for the prettiest girl on the show who just isn't rich enough for the rich guy. All the while this guy (Yi something I think but he's not all that memorable really) is smiling this creepy smile that reminds me of how I smile when I'm horrified but, to be respectful, I still have to smile. Y'know those times -like when someone shoves their kid's picture in your face and it's godawful ugly and looks like an alien but you have to smile and say how cute it is. You know those kind of smiles...well, he smiles like that ALL THE TIME. And he plays a saxophone. At the dance club. Yes, I know, he's talented at blowing. I see the possibilities but I just was laughing too hard to care. I just want to
see Ga-eul (Jan Di's friend) get that just because he's the worst kind of snob: the quietly snobby kind that looks down on you without ever actually saying the words 'you're not good enough for me'. Oh yeah...I
wanna see that wake up call: OH MY GOD, WHAT DID I DO?
**Jan Di's family: Mommy's all about the won, Daddy's needs to call Gambler's Anonymous, and her
little brother reminds me of Shorty from Indiana Jones; "Dr. Jones! Dr. Jones!" They have to be the absolute BEST family EVER. Not only do they try to sell Jan Di's first gift from Turd Curls on E-bay, they have her
married and living the high life before the first kiss. I love these people. Seriously.
**The triplets: 'Oh maya gawd' (just like that) - these evil-doing witches are the source of more than one incredibly funny moment on this show. I hope that was the point.
**Jun Pyo's Sister: She's a cool older sister with drama with her mama.
**Ji Hoon's Emotional Breakdown: Yes. It really happens. And, yes, you have to see it. Personally, I thought he was laughing at first. Oops, my bad.
**Woo Bin, the K-Gangsta: It isn't really a subplot since he never actually does anything. Seriously. Nothing. Doesn't even get a girl. Not even sure he knows what one is. He has his one tiny little moment of glory and then it's back to one liners and heavily accented English asides that never fail to make me laugh. Heeeeeey buddy, yo yo yo. Makes you just wanna hug this poor actor and tell him it'll be alright -better luck in the next K-drama you score a part in.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THIS SHOW: You gotta watch it. At least one show. Despite it's flaws, this is a definite must-see for anyone who enjoys 25+ hours of good laughs.
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