Saw the teaser trailer posted at soompi and it looks like a melodrama. Maybe even a tragic melodrama at that. Couple that up with SHK's short hair cut and this might become the biggest disappointment of the year for me. I hope it's a lot better than it appears to be.

The drama has since been renamed to "World's Within' BTW :)

wow they look good together.

can't wait

SHG very lovely

I agree, they look really good together. And just an observation, but this is the most boyish I've ever seen Song Hye-Gyo look, usually she's really soft and feminine.

they look like siblings, but i do like the both of them ...

They look so good together, can't wait to watch this

hey..they're in singapore!!

They look soooo good together. Can't wait!

They look good together. Nice promo shot!

So far I am really lukewarm about this. I do wish them well and we'll see if my feelings change in the future

"And just an observation, but this is the most boyish I’ve ever seen Song Hye-Gyo look, usually she’s really soft and feminine."

In my eyes, she's always been a tomboy. She looks "soft." Most of her roles have been "soft" and "feminine." But watching her has always been a disconnect for me. It's not about acting chops per se, the experience is akin to watching a "Go Eun Chan" play a Eun-suh, Su Yeon, or Hwang Jini. Too distant, too "eh? she has to cry here? she doesn't make sense to me." That disconnect keeps me watching her, because this issue seems unique to her.

This role seems to pull down the curtains a little.

@Kobe,

"Saw the teaser trailer posted at soompi and it looks like a melodrama. "

I'm hoping the PD doesn't have a terminal disease. On Air with My Autumn Tale?

I love her look, her short hair looks great on her as well. SHK rocks!!! can't wait this to air.

belleza, I'm with you with the disconnect. I do think SHK is pretty with her delicate features, but so far I have never seen her in any role that I felt was genuinely flesh and blood. That's esp painful in her Hwang Jini for me. For some reason, she had a hindrance in how she emotes that just doesnt do anything for me. That again her 'handicap' may not have an impact on the drama, say Full House, where her role and the drama just set out to be a frothy 'joyride'. I hope it doesnt matter too in this one.

I have 110% faith in the brilliant writer, never seen anything she wrote that I don't craze about for at least a while. But I cant help but cringe on the thought of OnAir x Autumn in my heart....

@ Kobe, saw the short teaser too, it didnt scream anything more than it'll be a drama. maybe it's coz HB cried in it, but he cried like that in MNIKSS too fyi. :)

"Well, this writer is known for being a particularly strong writer, so I wouldn’t dismiss it too quickly."

Oh but see, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if this were true. Writer with a terminal disease doing a show about a terminal disease? Shakespeare in Love with Eye Cancer? Oh I love it. My cold, melodrama heart loves it!

But, yeah, I actually liked the trailer. The trailer featured good behind-the-scene stuff with location shooting, and there seems to be an attempt to really separate itself from On Air. Noh Hee Kyung is a brilliant writer, and hopefully she'll be allowed to write another unconventional story here.

"I do think SHK is pretty with her delicate features, but so far I have never seen her in any role that I felt was genuinely flesh and blood. "

Not just that, I feel it's also there in her modeling work. Sexy? Seductive? Sweet? Girl next door? Just not there. It's like she has no real connection with that aspect of her femininity. She actually has said that in a few interviews too, that she couldn't understand her characters in All In or Autumn Tale. Not because of their predicaments or emotions for their partners, but that she couldn't understand or relate to the core "girliness" -- the pure image -- of those characters. She STRAINS to be girly like no other actress I've ever seen. It's roughly the equivalent of a K-drama actor not understanding why his character gets mad or yells or need to assert his masculinity, and then trying to "approximate" it as best as he can. It's somehow compelling to watch because this is a pretty basic disconnect that even non-actors do not have.

It creates innate tension that makes her roles always interesting to watch for me, and in that sense, I also thought she was cast in the wrong era of K-drama. She's bullish when she conveys desire; she's "muscling" it when she weeps over a lover; she's unimpressed within a conflict. She was never meant to play the "pure girl", but people insisted on watching her in those roles. I actually liked her Hwang Jini, because it was supremely chilly, like watching a vampire in hanbok, and she enhanced the original story as a cold, cold noir. And here, it just seems that this is an ideal role for her and an opportunity to perform without that disconnect.

eh, I think it depends on personal tastes, it didnt work out for you guys, but it did for me and for many ppl who loves AIMH, hehhe. It's so so, you and me are different. The one you love might be the worst for me as well.

im so excited for this! hyunbin and song hye gyo together :D
are you gonna recap this drama? *crosses fingers*

Echoing what (almost) everyone else said, I think they look so beautiful in that shot. Not beautiful in a carefully coiffed, polished way, but in a very natural dressed down " and we didnt even have to try" way. If its a melodrama (with a potential tragic ending) I probably wont be watching it - Im more of a light rom-com kinda gal - but I look forward to the screencaps :)

@ mookie

Not sure if we saw the same teaser or not, but in the one I saw there were hints of a tragic car accident. My take on the plot goes like this:

SHK and HB were once lovers working together at a TV network. HB gets into a car accident during filming of a drama, goes into a coma but comes out of it suffering from amnesia. He doesn't remember his past with SHK and goes back to work at a rival network. They cross paths many times and HB slowly recalls things from the past....

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean any disrespect to the writer as she has a very good reputation, but that's basically how I see the story judging by the very short trailer :)

sorry Kobe interesting thoughts, but I refuse to speculate Miss Noh's work based on a 15s teaser! :) I can never ever dream of spinning out those terrific works. (I'm just saying I can't, maybe u can....)

I was trying my best to steer clear of any 'spoilers' but fr what I've gathered, HB has an ex gf (not Miss SHK), the car crash shown/hinted is a work-related accident on the set of Mr PD HB causing sth tragic(involving a crew).

um....and the whole ex-lovers/ coma THEN amnesia tangent... Lets just hope I've been a good enough girl this year *cross my fingers*

Belleza, maybe I could get enjoyment in HJN as a vampire noir?! Even a chilling vampire has that lust for blood infested inside. Instead of your vampire in hanbok, I got a very dazzling cardboard in hanbok, I dont even recall her flexing one muscle on her face. Unless all those men the famous gisaeng mesmerized have a gory chilly fetish....for cardboard. But that movie just lost me. Again, the movie itself is not magical, I shouldnt fault it all on the actress.

I cant feel too sorry for Miss Song born with sucha pretty/innocent face and got stuck in roles that maybe very far fr herself. But I do agree with your observation, maybe that's y her most convincing role for me has been FH.

I honor suspension of disbelief, what an actress is in reality is of no concern to me, but when she's straining on screen to be her character, it snuffs almost all of my enjoyment unless it's soo bad that it's comical. Miss Song is not that bad, but I can only stare so long at a pretty piece of scenery. To be fair, as a fan of HB's pretty face, he put me through some cringing strained acting in MFL, at least I've seen him impressive in Ireland or some scenes in MNIKSS/ SQ.

"But I do agree with your observation, maybe that’s y her most convincing role for me has been FH."

Full House is an interesting drama, because Rain actually struggled in that role (the character was supposed to be much, much older), until the writers kinda rewrote Rain character somewhere halfway in the story. They let Rain be Rain and above all let him relate (and mope and gripe) to Hye Kyo as a big sister. The main appeal of Full House was its sweet noona vibe, which is still somewhat unique today. Shows like 9 End 2 Outs, Dal Ja Spring and Sam Soon (or half of Sun Ah's shows) all put a similar dynamic as a key source of dramatic conflict, but from a much older baseline and as a way to comment on single life at 30. Full House, a much simpler story, more or less was a truer reflection of a boy in love with a girl who was also like a big sister to him. Sweet, relaxed, and above all, Rain had to mime to Hye Kyo (not the other way around.) It was the easiest gig Hye Kyo's ever had.

"maybe I could get enjoyment in HJN as a vampire noir?!"

I didn't think the movie was very good, but I liked what the director was attempting to do. As a point of comparison, I liked Iian Softley's adaptation of Wings of the Dove, which imagined the Jamesian New/Old World dichotomy in a gritty, noir backdrop, and then adapted the Kate Croy characters as a kind of 19th century femme fatale. Hwang Jini initially made me think of that movie. The director approached Hwang Jini as a noir -- palace as opium den of fallen noblesse oblige -- and the Jini character as an obtuse, almost soulless cypher. That really interested me, though the execution didn't really fly for me. In any case, I try to put the TV Hwang Jini outside of side, out of mind when I watched it.

"I dont even recall her flexing one muscle on her face."

See, that's one thing I liked about her performance. She had no facial expressions through the majority of the peace. It was cold, cold, cold (and her eyes were nihlistically black here), and she seemed so at home with it. With no pretense to play a tragic "pure girl", with no real inclination to emote, she's a disembodied face in Jini. And not even really that, she's a ivory visage with black eyes that seem to grow colder and annihilating.. I couldn't relate to her. I wasn't even sure of her presence in a given scene. But it was so interesting to watch a chilly persona from an actor with whom you're well acquainted.

"To be fair, as a fan of HB’s pretty face, he put me through some cringing strained acting in MFL, at least I’ve seen him impressive in Ireland or some scenes in MNIKSS/ SQ."

Binnie's better than his reputation (hi and Kim Min Jung in Ireland are still my favorite Binnie couple.) His performances have veered toward self-absorption (and narcissism), but unlike Jung Ki, he is able to deliver lines with smothered, repressed feeling. When he talks, the words seem precious (in Ireland, there's a mix of condescension, pride, confusion, and fatalism going in there) , and that can't be said about most young TV actors. And his anger can be scary, a volatility on par with Kim Myung Min in just coming from a unchecked lava pit. He just needs to build a body of work to make his case.

i think song hye kyo looks fine, but i like hyun bin better with short hair... he looked much better in MNIKSS than MFS :/ get a haircut please :D before you start filming. hurry.

all in all cute couple :] i just hope they can get the chemistry going...doesn't look like much in the pic for some reason ><

@ belleza,

haha what a great read, your post. I can tell for sure you made HJN sound 100x more interesting than it really was. :) I'm very not a fan of FH, so 'interesting' is not sth close to what my take was. repetitive, monotonous, poorly acted out (or 'strained' as u generously put) bickering going to nowhere then thrown in stagnant seconds of lip-touching at the end is not my cup of tea.

Wow, I've seldom come across someone who like Ireland, or at least appreciate the acting in there even amongst my binnie loonie pals. For me, it was an intense drama that can use better directing and editing but the acting (esp HB) was amazing. And I'm sick of the most common description of Kang Kook as angelic, he's narcissistic to the core, but with his lack of self-esteem, he blindly and rigidly conformed to all social norms and craved for being liked/loved so bad that his behavior was all perfect..on the surface. Terrific job by HB playing out all the complexity of the character, that's the performance that made be a HB fan.

Before brokeback, we have Ireland. I didnt buy a second HB's KK and LNY's character were anymore than caretaker and patient. and KMJ and LNY were just like a gal with her gay bestbud. I was always thinking KMJ's character wanna get tog with HB and used LNY as an excuse. lol

sorry for so OT; trailer 2 of WW is out: http://gall.dcinside.com/list.php?id=hyunbin&no=167770&page=1

--blatant off topic stuff to follow - --

"Wow, I’ve seldom come across someone who like Ireland, or at least appreciate the acting in there even amongst my binnie loonie pals."

Oh I know -- Ireland definitely is a love/hate thing for most viewers. One reason why it's not looked as kindly as Ruler of Your Own World (though in some respects the writing itself was an improvement) is that Ireland directly addresses the institution of marraige, while most people who love Ruler nevertheless relate to the show (like most melos) from a remove. In Jung Ok's writing voice and style itself is appealing to hipsters because it's pretty damn close to what we Yanks associate as "Generation X" (not sure how Gen Y audiences react to her work.) She addresses the sociological group (and mistrust) for collective identity from a deeply ironic standpoint, and she asks viewers to do the same. That is also a love/hate thing with her characters, as they are more realistic (though unrealistically didactic) and abstract (though marvelously well-conceived) and -- again -- "ironic." If you are "in the know" as a viewer, watching a In Jung Ok rewards that. If you are "not", watching a In Jung Ok can be an offensive experience. Ireland is comfortable viewing to Western viewers though, more closely following the American comedy model, where you have very weird/quirky characters in normal situations (as opposed to most Korean dramas, where you have normal characters in very weird/quirky situations.) However, at the same time, this flip of the template also turns off K-drama viewers who are more inclined to relating to people rather than situation, public displays of "some important emotion" than a finely sharpened quip.

The overall editing and direction (same guy as East of Eden) is really tacky for my tastes (the Ireland bits made me wince), but I did like how he directed the actors and how he gets them to think outside of "talking head" syndrome and to fully engage the environment. This is especially important if you're going to do a In Jung Ok drama, because it's REALLY REALLY tempting just rattling off her marvelous punchlines.

I think Ireland (which ran after Prince's First Love and -- I think -- was pit against Full House) plays better in the head than in the moment. But it's still my favorite thing that Binnie, Kim Min Jung, and Kim Min Joon have done.

"he’s narcissistic to the core, but with his lack of self-esteem, he blindly and rigidly conformed to all social norms and craved for being liked/loved so bad that his behavior was all perfect..o"

Well the thing is, their relationship is actually a pretty accurate representation of what a codependent relationship-turned-into-marraige usually are. I know this, because I've seen marraiges like this. When her character commits adultery, he "diagnoses" this as an extension of her sickness, thus both patronizing her and using passive aggressive techniques to "punish" her while mantaining the guise of a good, protective husband.

But at the same time, Ireland is also a pretty tender and accurate representation of how a husband who does deeply love his wife tries to deal with adultery and tries to save his marraige. It's painful to watch (even knowing his character has a convenient backup option), because steadily and certainly he goes through many of the cycles (anger, rationalization, bargaining, more rationalization, more bargaining, resentment, rationalization, etc.) before finally accepting that she no longer loves him and that their marraige cannot continue. The plot seems to meander but the structure is actually quite wonderful; it adheres to the cycles and (besides the accident) doesn't attempt to manufacture climax and denoument but from the husband's development. It's sad in that sense because he has to accept that (unlike most adultery K-dramas), the "evil couple" IS the perfect couple. Ruefully, but completely.

"I was always thinking KMJ’s character wanna get tog with HB and used LNY as an excuse. lol"

Oh, that's normal Kim Ming Joon though. He's more in love with his clothes and looking fashionably scruffy than uhhh, you know, connecting. :D (yes yes, great in Damo . . . but when does Ha Ji Won NOT have chemistry with her leads? Exactly!!) I still love watching him though. I love watching men in love with themselves, especially if they can rock Versace.

Interestingly enough, East of Eden (same director as Ireland) plays like that too. I get so weepy when Dong Chul and Dong Wook embrace like . . . brothers(???????) I love when they cry out for each other like . . .brothers(???????) I love it when they look at each other like . . . . brothers(?????)

It's going to be SO awesome when they find out they're not related. I can't quit you Dong Chul!! You complete me Dong Wook!! SIGH!!!!!

two of my fav actors!!!
i am so pumped for this drama!!!!!

-- I'm still in my very OT corner --

Belleza, that's y I have a serious distaste for Ireland's Mr. PD (and EoE just confirmed it). Ireland has a very poignant, sharp, 'refreshing' (abeit kinda depressing) script, trying to give us a new k-melo that at least resonates as u said the irony of our existence. I appreciated it. But it COULDve been so much more, and I fault the PD solely in being way to ambitious beyond his capabilities. He was trying to made an artsy contemporary kdrama with no clear artistic vision of his own to drive it behind the wheels, he resorted to soapy tactics, and old worn melodramatic shenanigans and most buggingly, he lacks an editing eye in scenes resulting in...draggy repetitive bore. As for great direction resulting in those performances in your opinion, I beg to differ. I saw much more complexities and artistry in those performances than I can remoting relay to Mr. PD. In a sense I think HB understood and got his character more than Mr. PD, and my theory is..to his advantage, since he's a newbie, he was not yet too honed in following exactly to his directing, which I think the 'veterans' LNY or KMJ were ( and I felt their characters were flat and less interesting than it was on paper as a result). To this day I still cant shake the thought that it might just be random luck (or he's very similar to KK )+ some raw talent in the case of HB that he nailed his KK beyond belief. lol

That's also my impression of EoE. And EoE lacked those incredible surprisingly great acting (+ characters) and a great script in Ireland. SSH is a fine doll, for a photoshoot ...only. I didnt share your amazement with LDH's acting, but it's more the fault of a not too interesting character to begin with. Yes, she's the best of the bunch, but her lines, her character is nth we havent seen before. I'm glad I can see her as sorta normal again after her cartoonish overacting(s). AND...the plot : mixed up at birth / pseudo sibling love/ marrying your rapist ... the inaccuracies (in styling, clothes (SSH in particular) + that's NOT Macao and HK in 70s?! come on)...and the repetitive black/white good v evil...all reeked CLICHE.

So I do feel for Miss SHK, I do feel that she finally caught some burning desire to be an actress, but working with Mr. John Woo is not going to work. Mr John Woo reminds me of Mr Ireland/EoE PD. I bet they r fine, nice guys but their artistic taste r more in tune with cheap extravagant Vegas shows than their ambitions required. Most damning/heartbreaking for them r they have well thought out intentions but very disastrous judgement, and they dont have a clue!! Who in their right Chinese mind wanna tackle uber sensitive 1949 with an actress that cant speak mando??!?!

lol and VERY OT: KMJ not only rocked Versace, he rocked those shocking pink plastic hairclips better than we did when we're 5. I just wished if his character was this ladened with homosexual undertones, they should just go right at it. Theme of the drama is isolation and loneliness anyways.

"Ireland has a very poignant, sharp, ‘refreshing’ (abeit kinda depressing) script, trying to give us a new k-melo that at least resonates as u said the irony of our existence."

Actually I didn't watch Ireland as a melodrama. There's heavy moments to be sure (and of course Joong-ah's situation was tragic), but I treated the tone more or less as somewhere between a comedy and a family drama.

"He was trying to made an artsy contemporary kdrama with no clear artistic vision of his own to drive it behind the wheels, "

I felt In Jung Ok did a marvelous job (as usual) following through the story's themes. She sacrifices real emotional release and plot twists in Ireland, but in turn she made persuasive arguments about self-determination and unconventional familial bonds and tied the conclusions together bow and tie. The director's vision was a touch tacky to me (mostly the allusions to Ireland felt extremely arbitrary and therefore cheesy to my American sensibilities) and at times I felt like I was watching a Powerpoint slide about modern Korean youth sociology.

"which I think the ‘veterans’ LNY or KMJ were ( and I felt their characters were flat and less interesting than it was on paper as a result)"

Oh I liked both LNY and KMJ here. After her Big Breakdown Scene in the beginning of the show, Lee Na Young kinda sleptwalk through the rest of the show. But, her unique acting style and persona makes it worth watching anyway. I liked that her character was in the recovery phase of grief (i.e. using antidepressants to make through each day), and that she was working through much of the show trying to heal and connect with her new home. I give a lot of credit to the director bcause Lee Na Young, even in a half sleepy state, did played a person in a codependent relationship pretty much spot on. Because in that state, if you fall in love with somebody else, you do feel a level of guilt/responsibiltiy (and need to protect your own fragile state) to those who nursed you back. It's just a weird mix of gratitude, distance, and passive resentment, I guess.

I really enjoyed Kim Min Joon's performance, mostly due to the casting. He tends to invest his characters with a upright (and sometimes noble) posture. The character is written as an absurd misfit; but casting an actor like him, he is inclined to play his character's fatalism and general silliness as a unique cavalierism. Which -- I felt -- worked. He reminded me something out of the Fisher King, one who from his lack of purpose or familial authority runs through the story like a misfit Don Quixote. I felt it was unique.

I guess for me, Ireland just turned on my Richard Linklater shades and I just totally watched this as a Gen X show starring Korean actors. If Korea ever did a Before Sunrise (or uhhh EMPIRE RECORDS), this is kinda the direction I like to see.

What you like in LNY's character is what exactly was lacking for me. All these characters in Ireland to me were just variations of the same narcissictic tragically wounded sad puppies plunged in this milieu. So I demanded more fr her character than that distant sleepwalking adulterous wife. Yes, she's still interesting to watch, all 4 main characters were well acted out, but she did it with an almost clinical exactness that is a bumpy ride for me. Every normal being in her shoes will feel the exact level of her guilt, but for her it should be much more complex and intense as the betrayal was not just in their marriage but also their dependent/ caretaker relationship and to complicate things further, she's fallen for a bum of the bum in KMJ juxtaposed with the 'angelic' KK. There's just a detachment of her character's behavior and the intensity of turmoil that she should be going thro that lost me, thus I felt her rendition was flat, but very coherent with Mr. PD's lacking vision. And that alone is why I still loathed him.

And Ireland is just my def of melo. All these characters r tragic, just coz the script is brilliant and controlled as in not milking it (but Mr PD did... unsuccessfully *scorn*)in the usual excess of cry fest kdrama style, just coz they r all putting their energies in surviving their damaged states but all r just that close to trainwreck instead of all the gawd-awful petty revengeS, wailing self pity and nonsensical glorified suicides didnt make it less by definition more melo.

And again, I do agree KMJ injected an air of boisterous 'cavalierism' to his character... I am logically guessing Mr. PD asked him to be a comic relief (in many redundant, 'not that funny' lighter scenes) and he did the part marvelously, but then back to his character.... he was a very lowly bum... he was this 'likable' caricature that did deplorable stuff to 'good' ppl whom he owed some. I'm not judging who u can r cant fall in love with, but the self guilt is same for all. If he played more towards the antisocial detachment of this character to the world around him, it would make the character that much more believable. Cute sensitive cavelierism is just not rhyming with a character without one responsible upright bone in him, just wrong judgment of Mr PD to convey sth understandable. I think I just urged for some development of the character but he's flat-out pompous all through and dealt with his mistakes with the same shrug through and through. I'm not saying KMJ's character is not likable or enjoyable to watch, but it ended up becoming the most patchy character for me. Like instead of given a fair chance of just liking the character, I'm coerced into sorta liking/enjoying him for all the wrong reasons AND with me all conscious about it. I was interested in Ireland coz of him and LNY and my curiosity of HB post-mnikss. Rant aside those r 4 very good performances by 4 young promising artists. Never would I expect the most rounded performer out of those 4 good ones was Hyun Binnie's. Again , plucking any one of the 4 and dump them without any sense into EoE, scene stealer for sure.

--More Offtopic Goodness --

"All these characters r tragic, just coz the script is brilliant and controlled as in not milking it (but Mr PD did… unsuccessfully *scorn*)in the usual excess of cry fest kdrama style,"

Even then I still view Ireland as a comedy. Even if I were to qualify the melodrama genre sans typical "tragical" histrionics and repeated weep catharsis -- which is fine -- Ireland never really tries to illicit strong emotional reactions after establishing the tragic situation. Although one character is coming out of a tragic situation and the storyline initially appears to develop into a "lost family member" tearjerker, the writing quickly deflates the oppositional tension regarding the issue. Because it itself was not that important to the storyline, and the isolation itself is mostly expressed, but not congruent to the tone of the show. It better fits the conventions of comedy (albeit one with a lot of tragical circumstances) in that the basic storyline has a jolly time subverting and poking fun at family setups, whether it's the child actress-turned-softcore/"man of the house" of her family. It makes all the surrogate role playing and mirror image characterization more accessible to the audience . . . provided that you are not searching for emotional release with these characters.

"There’s just a detachment of her character’s behavior and the intensity of turmoil that she should be going thro that lost me, thus I felt her rendition was flat, but very coherent with Mr. PD’s lacking vision."

Yeah, that's the thing. Even when it was happening, I never felt inclined to type her as "adulterhous wife" because I felt the story wasn't really leading me into that direction. I think at that point, I was kinda accepting her and Min Joon's characters as blissfully amoral/immoral catch-alls for Ireland's generational drift gestalt. It seemed that's what In Jung Ok intended, so I followed along. It required a suspension of belief, but I gladly suspended it because I was so tickled at the gleeful irresponsibility here. :D

"but she did it with an almost clinical exactness that is a bumpy ride for me."

Yeah, that's a fault I feel with In Jung Ok's work in general. She's very precise with her characterizations and dynamics (as one would expect from a writer with a degree in sociology), and her stylized dialogue and punchline distinct is as distinct as, say, a David Mamet script. But she also likes to violate "show but not tell" (though a lot of playwrights do that for the sake of breaking 4th wall.) I don't know . . . in a way, she reminds me of Joss Whedon. The punchlines are so dazzling that I can almost forget that her characters sometimes seem built from them. All the same, I felt the director again did a pretty good job making sure the actors didn't just sit back and sling all those poison point lines without actually engaging in environment.

"he was a very lowly bum… he was this ‘likable’ caricature that did deplorable stuff to ‘good’ ppl whom he owed some."

Oh, I absolutely loved it though. And that's where I liked the casting. Played by most character, you realized just how slimy this bloke was. But Kim Min Joon -- who seems too proud and upright (how Leo lol) to invest his characters with true shamelessness -- successfully played the character as he usually plays characters, and in turn that believably conveyed his free spirit/sweet pervert/grunge-boy to me. It's not so explicit defined in the script. It's also the way the character sums up his family's problems and doesn't seem to care. Of course he cares a lot, and therefore he HAS to shrug at the face of tragedy. But, that would mean he'd have to be sincere, and he's "way past sincerity." I felt that if I could abide by his "isn't it ironic?" style guide, I could accept his amorality and self interest. Here he is now, entertain him. There's something to be said about charming boys who do very bad things. :D

"Never would I expect the most rounded performer out of those 4 good ones was Hyun Binnie’s. "

Mm hmm!! Binnie was deeply affecting as the straight man in the piece. He just seems so disarmingly vulnerable that it was easy to forget that he never saw his wife as an equal or free will, and that he entertained the relationship baldly to satiate his insecurities. That all said, the love was real and I always enjoy Binnie in love!

Whoa what are we talking about again?!? Oh yeah. Can't wait for TWTTLI!! Yup. :D

haha I'm very tempted to rewatch Ireland now...

I still feel there were a lot of liberties in the script that shouldnt be portrayed as literally as Mr PD did. Those Ireland scenes r just boring cheesefests.... a millisec flashback with ONE recap fr LNY is fine enough and suit the tune.

And one scene particular that I thought should be handled differently was when LNY was blatantly telling HB she had fallen for someone else... literally describing it in glorified stylized lines of like ' He's starting to build a castle and has moved into my head' ARGH...KK was not your best gf (maybe in essence he was), go dump that to your more understanding sistas, not to your dutiful abeit self indulgently in-the-closet-egoistic hubby. IF I see more glee in them, I'll let them be sinfully amoral...but their relationship was just so flat and thin... I just need one burning glance fr LNY and KMJ and I can let them go do whatever... but it wasnt dealt with care to make sense why it escalated to this final mess. o well... I guess I needed a connection with the characters to enjoy them, but Ireland is so literal in how it set out to tackle isolation. Mr PD decided we better exp the drama with almost the same abandonment/isolation as those characters r undergoing. I'm in over my head I supposed.

I just thought that intense vulnerability under such a square/guarded character with that flood of insecurities just pulsing under that flawless/calm/cool/collected constrictive facade is not sth I thought can so realistic and effortlessly portrayed. KK was a flawed man who just set out to be good and all 'angelic' to establish his self-worth and to 'bargain' back some love. As a caring dutiful hubby to LNY is just part of what he felt an investment to uphold his 'image' so to speak with her love as dividend in return. Though what he did is essentially quite calculating, u do fall for his simple yearnings for love...but in the end even if u do like him, I doubt if anybody who really got his character will fall for him, imitating what LNY's character must've been thro. And he was dealt an economy of lines. I was just blown away simply by the fact that I didnt fall madly in love with his KK...and by now we should know it's the hardest task for HB NOT to charm our socks off...AND as 'angelic' KK!! It was sucha well controlled, self absorbed performance that I cant believe it's all done with a crafty deliberation by a green HB without just 'mavercicky' raw talent/luck. So even if he didnt do a good job here in this new drama. or his movie, I'll cut him a good 10 years of slack.

Honestly I just skimmed thro it and to be babbling on for days about it was not warranted... just to get this last bugging out of my system. I think I can enjoy it as much as u did Belleza if PD just blatantly made HB and KMJ openly gay in the drama. HB had a boss who sexually harrassed him by hitting his behind quite pervertly....and HB just gave him a cute doe-eyed 'aww, y?! What did I do?!' Same after KMJ planted him a meat kiss on his cheek. AND a bodyguard carrying around mirrors and combs coz he's obssessed with his bangs?! And it's a fact that KMJ/ his character looked at binnie with those longing hot glances only a horny st guy will be capable of when say Halle Berry was struting in front of him.
Stop teasing me. Just freaken do it.

Good that we've got to see them going at it again in 친구, the prequel come next year. lol