What I thought about: Sweet Home

If you want to see a slideshow of horrible things happening to undeserving people; of despair and violence and gore and destruction, you’re in the right place. If not, run. Run far away from this show.

Monster or human? The answer is more complicated than you might think.

What’s it about?
One night, an infection (or some say a curse) sweeps across South Korea. The first symptom is a torrential nosebleed, and those unable to fight the darkness often turn into powerful monsters with various ‘abilities’ that are said to relate to their deepest desires. The residents of the Green Home apartment complex find themselves barricaded inside. When someone tries to leave and is promptly skewered by a monster, they realise it’s for their own good.

Essentially, it’s an apocalypse survival series. Except it somehow manages to weave an insane amount of backstory and side plots into its 10-episode run. It’s also ghastly and brutal. Bad things just keep on happening to the residents, relentlessly. The monsters, aided by some pretty impressive CGI (and some of whom are just plain human, if you catch my drift), keep coming.

What do I like about it?
I really can’t tell if this is a great show or a terrible one. On the one hand, it is technically brilliant. It’s gripping, the cliffhangers at the end of each episode are perfect, the acting is top notch and the audiovisual elements add so much depth to it (watching this with a 5.1 surround setup was a real treat).

The show also benefits from typical K-Drama quality. You become attached to the characters, all of whom, besides the usual background characters, have such unique personalities and qualities. This allows the show to deliver some side plots and flashbacks that add a surprising amount of depth to the crisis, even if I wished they would tie together a little more neatly.

What do I not like about it?
On the other hand, this show is absolutely awful. The monsters are really, really bad. You can’t kill them unless you set them on fire. They are strong. People keep dying, all the time, in every episode. Whenever there is a shred of hope dangled in front of you, the show executes more characters all over the place.

There is so much violence and so much despair. Also, lots and lots of blood. This is not a show for the faint of heart. Blood pours out of infected people’s noses and splatters onto people’s faces. At one point, someone picks up a sword from his own severed hand in order to make one last attempt at stopping a monster from killing everyone else. It’s fucking horrific.

Worth a watch?
I don’t think I know anyone who would find this an enjoyable watch.

By the way…

• There is a setup for a second season but, considering the characters who are left standing, I’m not sure if it would be worth watching
• I kid you not, Imagine Dragons’ Warriors (a song they wrote for a League of Legends gaming tournament) is played at least 5 times during the show. Criticism of the show’s soundtrack is warranted.

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What I thought about: My Secret Romance

My first foray into Korean television is this ridiculous romantic comedy whose premise is truly absurd and which stretched on for far longer than it had to. I still finished it, though.

The show goes into multi-camera slow-motion whenever something like this happens.

What’s it about?
Three years ago, Yoo-mi, a struggling nutritionist student, caught a bus to her mother’s third wedding at a seaside resort. On the bus, she met Jin-wook, a chaebol heir (that means he’s the son of a wealthy businessman). A spoiled brat, Jin-wook had been sent to the same resort for hard work and discipline. Long, painfully comedic story short, the pair have a one night stand.

Fast forward to the present day, and Yoo-mi has achieved her dream of becoming a qualified nutritionist and begins her first proper placement at a large conglomerate in the city. As she soon finds out, Jin-wook is the CEO of the company, and he never quite forgot about the night he shared with Yoo-mi. What follows is a nonsensical plot – all you need to know is that it is, after all, a romance story.

What do I like about it?
It can be funny. Jin-wook’s personal assistant is hilarious – sharp, professional, but good friend to him when he needs to be, he wears patterned suits to impress his crush (one of the other staff at the canteen). In fact, there’s a theme here – much of the supporting cast were really quite good, such as Yoo-mi’s best friend from school, a popular travel author who owns his own bar (literally, ‘Beer and Book’), exudes an effortlessly cool vibe.

And, credit where it’s due, actor Sung Hoon fulfils his role as an attractive lead character with what has to be the most chiselled jawline I have ever seen.

What do I not like about it?
Two things stick out to me. Firstly, the show’s entire premise is ridiculous – this guy is so emotionally damaged that he never moved on from a one night stand he had three years ago? And she ends up working in his company’s canteen? I suppose this is completely international – is it supposed to be funnier this way? I’m not sure western viewers will find comedy in this.

Secondly, without going into the plot too much, it felt a lot like Jin-wook was massively abusing his position as Yoo-mi’s ultimate boss. It seemed a bit abusive. But it is romantic – Yoo-mi gets a happy ending, it’s all fine. I just cringed a lot whenever Jin-wook would exercise some kind of control over her in a way that made her appear uncomfortable. I suppose this is another cultural difference, perhaps?

Worth a watch?
Not really. This is rather different to western TV and honestly, not even worth it for the plot. But do go ahead if you’re curious – I was.

By the way…

• Yoo-mi is played by K-Pop idol Song Ji-eun
• One episode has Jin-wook meet with an overseas investor. I have NO idea what country this guy was supposed to be from. He spoke English in a weird sort of Dutch-American accent.

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