Angst at Live

Well, I've been watching Live week after week on Saturday and Sunday nights. I stream the show online, and sit through it even though I do not understand what the characters are talking about. Then, I found out that there was a website called Drama Milk, where there were live recaps. So while watching Live live, heh .... I'd read the recaps on Drama Milk and get a gist of what's going on. Then, I will wait till the following Friday night for the subtitles to be ready, and thereafter, I rewatch the episodes.

I started watching because of the lovely actress Jung Yu Mi, but no matter how I liked an actor or actress, I would not be watching if the story itself did not interest me. Like KRW's Black Knight. Loved KRW. But I just couldn't stomach Black Knight.

Live was as it promised - real. Indeed, the writer Noh Hee Kyung was known to be very realistic, and this drama definitely simulated real life. It can be difficult to watch, as every character seemed to be struggling with one thing or another - unemployment, divorce, impending retirement. I was thinking to myself whether life was really so tough in South Korea? Or was the drama just depicting the worst of scenarios?

In the first few episodes, I was actually drawn to issues of morality - do you report your colleagues if they neglect their duties? do you let a person off because he is a congressman? or do you go by the procedure and arrest him? Often in life, we find ourselves in situations like this. Say, my best student brought a mobile phone to school. Do I confiscate it right away? Or do I let him off with a warning?

No doubt it was the lead actress who got me into the show. But after a few episodes, I found myself drawn to actor, Shin Dong Wook. He's easily the best-looking cop at the patrol station. Not only that, he is depicted as a very wise, trustworthy, reliable, efficient, and a very likeable colleague. Just the perfect sort of guy. Judging from comments I read online, I think many were won over by his character as well.

I myself wanted to watch more of him, and to get to know him more, especially of his life outside of the patrol station, for example. Alas, Shin Dong Wook was a supporting actor. His role was limited to that of a very calm, level-headed cop. With only 16 episodes to tell the story of the 4 main leads, there is hardly any time to develop his character.

Because of Shin Dong Wook, I'm suffering from the Second Lead Syndrome - heh ... I much preferred to watch him than the two male leads. Heh. Don't get me wrong, I'm full of admiration for Lee Kwang Soo's acting. I don't mind his character either. And Bae Seung Woo himself is a very distinguished actor. I really loved his emotional scenes too.

But Shin Dong Wook, with his perfect visuals and perfect characteristics left me wanting more. Which leads me to believe that he is recruited for this drama, precisely to break our ideals of the world. The writer, in wanting to portray reality, tells us that the world is less than perfect. How often do we wish to do the right job, to marry the perfect man, to have a wonderful family. Ideally, we want our heroine and our dashing second lead actor to hook up. They did not because in reality, that rarely occurred as well.

I did not watch Live to expect it to be a romantic series, but having that suggested to me was delightful. From episode 3 onwards, there were a few scenes which hinted attraction between the lead actress and the second lead ... and I think those scenes were effective reliefs against the heavy plots of murders and vices.  A very beautiful scene by the lake was shot for episodes 8 and 9, and I thought the sweet atmosphere was such a welcome. Such scenes were short-lived though, and what followed was a longer and darker plot that dealt with sexual violence. Very difficult to watch.

Personally, I thought the loveline should not be there, if the writer did not intend for the couple to end up happily ever after. For one, the loveline was not developed at all - they met, he liked and supported her, she reciprocated ... but as viewers, we did not get the satisfaction of watching these two grow as a couple. I also thought the loveline was badly executed - because in one scene, he stared at her fondly ... and in the next scene, he suddenly had a love token from his past relationship in his pocket. Huh? Where is that logic?

While I know that the writer meant to portray the message that love did not necessarily result in happy endings, my rationale told me that the second lead was a second lead and he would never get the girl. That made me even more angsty because I felt so cheated. The writer had used the second lead as a bait - to lure and engage audience's interest in the show. She did it successfully, as evidenced by that scene by the lake in Episode 8 which attracted about 280K views and 3.8K likes on Naver. The break up scene in the latest episode yielded 57K views and 350 likes so far.

That's my greatest regret about this show. Other than that, I loved all the cops at the patrol station. I loved their friendships. I loved their warmth. I loved how they have each other's backs. 4 more episodes to go. Fighting!