You Are All Surrounded Korean Drama Review

Everyone has that one drama that really sings the song of their people. For many drama watchers, it's a nuanced, deep, heartfelt show that really speaks to their soul.

For me? It's You Are All Surrounded, where people run around chasing cars and punching bad guys. I am what I am, okay?

Even though I said from the very beginning that I couldn't possibly offer an objective view of this series, now that it's over, I do have a few bones to pick. But first, let's talk about the things that I love:

Things I Loved

The cast. Historically, I haven't been a huge fangirl for any of the actors in this series, but the combination of cast members here was pure magic. Bro time between Lee Seung Gi and Cha Seung Won was predictably fantastic, but even the side characters gave me warm fuzzies inside my heart. The chemistry of the central cast gave this show a lot of leeway to overcome downsides (which I will address in a moment).

Hug it out, you two.

As part of the cast interactions, I also enjoyed the relationship between Seung Gi's Dae Gu and Go Ara's Soo Sun. The couple was allowed to develop in a natural way, and, in spite of Dae Gu's early complaints that Soo Sun was a bird brain, they had mutual respect and friendship. Not to spoil anything, but I also loved how the writers handled Dae Gu's love confession. They had a million opportunities to make him run away out of noble idiocy, but they opted to take the less obvious route, and the relationship worked better as a result of that choice.

One of the most pleasant surprises was the character of Chief Kang. She wasn't the lead of the show, but she was probably the most interesting female character I have seen in a K-drama this year. K-drama characters (especially women) tend to fit into cookie cutter roles of first lead, mean second lead, or terrible mother-in-law, but Chief Kang defied categorization. As a viewer, I felt like I was learning about her from episode 1 to episode 20.

Things I . . . Didn't Love

Frankly, the cast was great, but the writing was sloppy. The first half of the series balanced romance, mystery, comedy, and character development really well, but the second half of the series lost momentum. Maybe I was hyper-aware of this because I watched the series as it aired, but there were far too many episodes where I felt like there was no payoff. Every once in a while, there would be a superb scene or series of scenes that sucked me in, but those scenes were a bit too few and far between.

When I say that the writing was sloppy, I mean that the writers tried to make interesting things happen, but they did so in the most obvious way possible. The central mystery that completely took over the second half of the series wasn't nearly as mysterious as the writers would have us believe, and, for how great the good guys were, the villains were basically cardboard cutouts. I think I speak for quite a few viewers when I say that I would have been happy with much more Pan Seok/Sa Kyung romance in the second half and much less of the evil chaebol woman laughing smugly at the camera.

We aren't happy that you're here, either.

Similarly, while the case-of-the-day format was great for some laughs and team-building moments at the start of the series, most of the cases weren't all that compelling. The sheer number of random coincidences that allowed them to progress on any case was a sign that the writing was a bit weak.

Conclusions

Saying that the villains were terrible and the writing was lacking might sound like major negatives. If this were any other show, that might be an accurate assessment, but this one is an exception for me. It's absolutely worth it for the characters. Regardless of what kinds of shenanigans they were trying to pull, I cared about them, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their interactions.

P.S. (SPOILERS--BEWARE)

I was pleased that bag lady's husband wasn't really Dae Gu's daddy, but the fact remains that he legitimately thought he might be the father. I know babies have some leeway in conception dates, but that means that Dae Gu's mom was doing some hanky panky with that guy and Dae Gu's real dad in a very short span of time. Was I the only one who thought of that?

P.P.S. Best kiss reaction ever:

Where to watch You Are All Surrounded

DramaFever

Viki

Kdrama.com

New Drama: You're All Surrounded

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Well, it looks like I'll be watching My Love from Another Star, which won the reader poll for my next drama in an absolute landslide. I still have a few episodes left of Nine, but once I'm done, I'll get started on your MLFAS. I hope you all chose wisely....

More importantly, I started my simulcast for this round of dramas with You're All Surrounded. Having seen episodes 1-4 so far, here are a few thoughts:

Overview

You're All Surrounded is an action/thriller/ensemble buddy cop show starring Lee Seung Gi, Cha Seung Won, and Go Ara. Eun Dae Gu (Lee Seung Gi) enters the police force as a rookie under the celebrated detective Seo Pan Seok (Cha Seung Won). He has a chip on his shoulder and a secret in his past. He is joined on the rookie squad by a handful of other misfits, including the hardworking Eo Soo Sun (Go Ara). Can Detective Seo turn this ragtag band into real detectives? (Answer: Yes, obviously.) Is Detective Seo a villain in disguise? (Answer: Probably not.)

Initial Reactions

I'm clearly the wrong person to ask about this show because I won't even pretend to be unbiased. I love action comedies. I love any show where things might blow up at some point. I love ragtag teams of misfits. I have seriously considered naming my firstborn child (male or female) after Jason Statham.

"Statham, honey, you clean your room RIGHT THIS MINUTE!"
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I know that action thrillers are already kind of passé with the saturation from last drama cycle, but I opted for the romantic comedies in the last round of shows, so this drama is actually a nice break for me. 

Is the plot groundbreaking? No. I (think I) can see where this thing is headed from a mile away, but I don't even care. I thoroughly enjoyed it from the second the comic book intro started. 

The one thing that has surprised me so far is the tone of the first two episodes. It started out quite a bit darker than I anticipated, setting heavy emotional stakes from the start. I though this was a smart move before getting into the workplace hijinks. Otherwise, the inevitable tone shift later in the show would have been completely jarring. I will say that the drama seems more effective than the comedy up to this point, but I would rather have a show with some emotional core than a slapstick laugh riot any day.

So far, it's everything I want it to be. In the first few episodes, the casting is divine. I can't think of anyone better for the leading men, and while I have heard some complaints about Go Ara's casting, I actually think that her brand of quirkiness works pretty well for the character. 

The veteran/rookie setup is pretty typical for a cop show, but an unexpected bonus is that it allows for different types of romantic relationships. While Dae Gu and Soo Sun are headed down the well-trodden Kdrama pathway of over-the-top hatred slowly blossoming into puppy love, Seo Pan Seok and Kim Sa Kyung (Oh Yoon Ah) have space for a more adult relationship. We haven't seen much of their relationship yet, but the sexual tension sizzles off the screen every time they're together, almost as if to say, "Move over kiddos; we'll show you how grownups fall in love."

Even though I'm a sucker for cop shows, I'm also a sucker for strong female leads, and in that regard, I'm withholding judgment for now. Soo Sun seems like the typical bumbling female lead in many ways. I was definitely rolling my eyes when her lover-to-be kept calling her "Bird Brain," but I still like her, and I'm hoping she'll prove her strength of character in upcoming episodes. Based on the promos for this show, I assumed that it would be all about the boys with a girl tossed in for good measure, but I really appreciate the focus the show has placed on her character so far. Allowing her to narrate the conclusion of episode 4 was a positive sign that maybe her narrative arc matters in this drama, and I'm hoping she grows throughout the series instead of becoming a convenient romantic prop. 

At least she isn't a docile, wilting little flower.

Overall, I have high hopes for this show. Then again, I have high hopes for every single new entry into the Transporter franchise, so I really can't be trusted. Who's watching with me?

Where to watch You're All Surrounded

Dramafever

Viki

Kdrama.com

Not Quite Kdrama Magic: City Hall Review

City Hall was an interesting watch for me.  I went into the show with really, REALLY high expectations because every person who had ever mentioned it made it sound like it was the best thing that they had ever seen.

I have to be honest. It wasn't the best thing I had ever seen. (Cringes and waits for angry protests)

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Now, don't get me wrong; there were some elements of the drama that were quite good, and I think if I had watched it earlier in my drama-watching career with lower expectations, I might have enjoyed it more.  That being said, I didn't quite feel that magic that I get with the best of the best dramas.  You know what I mean--the kind of magic that puts a permanent smile on your face and makes you want to start the whole series over the second it ends.  With City Hall, I was mostly engaged, but not mesmerized.


Here's the breakdown:

Highlights

I have found that most dramas start out strong and then start to drag through the last few episodes.  Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I am a fast-forwarding monster when it comes to the last 5-ish episodes of most dramas.  Not so with City Hall.  This drama, if anything, started out kind of slowly and gained steam in the second half of the series.  For the first 10 episodes, I actively disliked about half of the main characters, but then they suddenly started to grow on me in sneaky ways. The male lead was a complete dirtbag for a really long time, but looking back, I kind of like that he didn't give up on his dirtbaggery all at once.  He grew in baby steps, but you still had time to enjoy a full, satisfying personality change for several episodes, unlike some other dramas I know (*cough* You're Beautiful *cough*). The chemistry between the two main leads similarly grew over the course of the drama.  At first, I didn't buy it at all, but by the time they started kissing (and I mean kissing), I was 100% sold.  I blame it on this smolder:

Uh, hello.

The building nature of the series also means that it has one of the most satisfying kdrama endings ever.  You know how you sometimes invest 20+ hours into a show only to get to the last episode and you get absolutely no closure on any side characters and the main characters don't even kiss and they just end in a freeze frame where they are staring at each other from opposite ends of the scene and then you double and triple check that it actually is the end and that your computer didn't just freeze up and then you throw something (hopefully not said computer) across the room and immediately start a different drama that will hopefully fill the hole in your heart left by that terrible, terrible ending?  No?  Never mind, then. 

If you get all the way through City Hall, you will finally be rewarded for all of those lame kdrama endings that have made you tear your hair out all this time.  They give you closure on basically every single side character, and they round out the love story with an appropriate amount of "Awwwwwwww" moments. This was definitely in the top 3 final episodes I've seen.

Low Points

One consistent kdrama problem is finding the right balance in the heroine's personality.  It's a fine line between being upbeat and being obnoxious, and for me, Shin Mi Rae falls on the wrong side of that line more often than not.  I had seen Kim Sun Ah in My Lovely Sam Soon and Scent of a Woman before this series, and I liked her characters in both of those.  In this drama, though, her character is so over the top that I cringed almost every time she talked.  And when she did her squeaky baby talk voice? ("Mi Rae want purse! Mi Rae want horsey!") I vomited a little.  

Mi Rae want pukey puke from cutesy overkill?

My scale for kdrama female leads is pretty simple: Would I want to hang out with them in real life?  Sadly, while Mi Rae is a great person who undergoes a lot of character development, I don't think she's going to be my new imaginary kdrama bestie any time soon. For the record, I WOULD be best friends with Mi Rae's buddy Boo Mi.  I kind of wish that they had made her single and written the entire show around her instead.  Then she and Vampire Prosecutor's Lee Young Ah and I would get together and have really sarcastic conversations together.

My other MAJOR complaint with this show had to do with the way the characters reacted to Jo Guk's engagement.  This is something that drives me crazy in romantic comedies.  Just because someone is engaged to a terrible person DOES NOT make cheating okay.  Mi Rae mentions in one of the early episodes that a fiancee is different from a girlfriend because you made a promise to that person, but after that brief conversation, they both still go ahead and do whatever they want.  That's not okay.  

Late in the series, Go Hae confronts Mi Rae about the relationship, and the sighing and crying and reminiscing makes it seem like we should feel sorry for Mi Rae.  After all, she's the plucky heroine and Go Hae is the evil corporate monster-lady, right?  Wrong. Mi Rae slept with an engaged man, and her only worry seemed to be about what their relationship would do to her duties as mayor.  And then that man told his fiancee to deal with it like Hilary Clinton. And we're supposed to loathe the fiancee for being bitter?  Even though I hated Go Hae, I would have been right by her side chewing Mi Rae out on this one.  I also don't buy the excuse that Jo Guk was trying to let her leave with dignity since he basically used her for as long as he could before dumping her anyway.  Even if your fiancee is a serial killer, you should at least have the honor to end one relationship before you begin another one.  And then maybe call the police so she stops killing people. *Steps off soapbox*

Random Observations

- One of these days, I'm going to make a list of weird things in kdramas that shouldn't happen in real life. Somewhere near the top of the list will be the ole eyelash-stroking-while-asleep move.  I don't care HOW dainty his eyelashes are.  If you aren't dating someone, don't touch his face when he isn't conscious.  It's weird. Also, how are these girls always so surprised that the men wake up?  You've been creepily patting his face for five minutes.  He was bound to notice at some point.

No.  Just no.

-While City Hall tends to rely pretty heavily on flashbacks (and my personal favorite, the flashback-within-a-flashback), I appreciate that some of the flashbacks, like the one above, actually give us information we didn't know in the original scene.  It's like a hidden treat!

- If there were a sequel to City Hall, it should just be about Soo In finding love.  I would totally watch that show.

-Cha Seung Won has a great smolder, but in terms of Kim Sun Ah tango scenes, the one in Scent of a Woman wins by far.

- (Mini spoiler) Uhhh, is it just me, or is gagging NOT a foolproof pregnancy test?  All I'm saying is that maybe you should make sure your wife didn't just eat a bad tuna fish sandwich for lunch before you announce her pregnancy to half the town.

All in all, City Hall got a very solid meh from me.  I can see why people enjoy it, but it just wasn't that magical watch I was hoping to find in my next drama.