Heirs Kdrama Review, or, Why Coco and Vivi Are So Hard on Kim Tan

So, we actually managed to cover most of our Heirs-related feelings in our finale commentary, but we figured we should probably give a more thorough (and serious) analysis of the show as a whole.  After all, it has consumed so much of the kdrama community for the past 2+ months that it deserves some parting words!

Here's the one-paragraph overview: Heirs started out kind of ridiculous.  Then it became a train wreck, but also the most boring train wreck I have ever seen. Then it somehow improved for the last handful of episodes.  Is it worth watching for people who skipped it while it was airing?  I give it a decided meh overall, bordering on "Is it over yet?  What about now?"



Let's start with the positives.  Many of he the secondary characters were interesting, funny, and charming.  It took a while to get invested in some of them (like Hyo Shin) just because we were jumping back and forth between so many people, but the side friendships and romances were often a welcome relief from the main couple.  The two superstar couples of this show were Chan Young/Bo Na and Ki Ae/Hee Nam (the two mothers).  In both cases, I didn't particularly like the characters at first, but they gradually grew on me until I smiled every time they entered the scene.

The second positive is Kim Woo Bin as Choi Young Do.  Wait, you already knew that Coco and I are completely and totally biased in favor of Young Do?  How ever did you figure it out?

I know I'm not the only one who started this show feeling a little guilty that I found Young Do more interesting than Kim Tan in pretty much every scene.  My theory is that Young Do had to be disturbingly cruel and violent at first to at least give people a fair shot at favoring the intended main couple.  Even then, the early episodes were a mental tug-of-war where one side said, "But VIVI, you should never favor bullies!  It's despicable!" while the other side said, "I can't help it!  He's so fascinating!  Plus, Kim Tan is about as interesting as watching cement dry!"  It also helped that we knew from episode 1 that this guy would never actually get the girl, so it's not like we were really advocating abusive bully boyfriends anyway.

Even when I couldn't really like Young Do because he was too scary, he was always interesting to watch, and full credit there goes to Kim Woo Bin for making every facial expression in every scene meaningful.  He has won a few new fans over here for sure.

And now...the bad.

Really, most of the problems in this show boiled down to the central couple. There was very little romantic scaffolding at the beginning of the show to indicate why Kim Tan would be so obsessive about Eun Sang, and there especially wasn't any strong reasoning for Eun Sang to return his affections.  The male lead was already asking "Do I like you?" in episode 2, which pushed the show into the "romantic obstacles abound" phase before it had time to develop the romance in the first place.  That's also probably why the middle of the show felt so draggy--we skipped ahead to freeze frame love triangle standoffs by episode 5.  What options did they have by episode 10 but to repeat this standoff for the twentieth time?  Oh, wait, they could always go for the sad drive-by ignore walk.  I counted five of those in one episode alone! FIVE!  Sure, there was some cute banter in the last few episodes, but it was a little late by then.

Without this romantic scaffolding in place, we just kind of had to trust the writer's word for it that this couple was madly in love.  I remember that I talked a little about internal versus external kdramas in my review of Nice Guy.  If that drama was internal, this one was a step beyond external.  These characters didn't even look like they were in love.  Eun Sang looked horrified every time Kim Tan invaded her personal space (over and over and over again), and yet, the words "I like you" suddenly came out of her mouth.  If the dialogue says it, it must be true!

He just confessed his feelings.  She's literally trembling with fear.

Doesn't that face say "I'm so happy you kissed me"?

Yup, suuuuuper happy right now.  Ah, young love!

"It only looks like you're hurting me against my will!  And this struggling is struggling for joy!"

This kind of forced feeling plays into a bigger theme on Heirs, and that theme is that it's all about Kim Tan.  I finally realized that Kim Tan's obsession was never even about Eun Sang as a person--it was always about Eun Sang as his personal symbol.  He chased her down obsessively, but that relationship was still very self-focused.  Here are some examples:

• Kim Tan's dialogue often focuses on himself rather than Eun Sang: "Do I like you?" "Why don't you ever listen to me?" (Uhhh, because you've been ignoring everything she says?) "I'm going crazy because I want to hug you." (Followed by a hug.  Against her protests.) "But I like you!" "Just do as I say!"  
• He instigates violence against Young Do time after time after time, and he almost always uses Eun Sang as an excuse. (Fun fact: In four out of five fights, Tan gets physical first.  Young Do only hits Tan first when he's trying to sober him up.)                                                                                                                                                                                         But if you look at the most troubling of these scenes (where he kicks down the door while shouting "I'm gonna kill you!"), his first thought isn't to take care of Eun Sang's safety (while "bad guy" Young Do does manage to shield her).  Instead, his first thought is to punch Young Do and hit him with a chair.  It's not so much about protecting Eun Sang as it is about his own rage against Young Do.
• I was happy that Kim Tan finally realized the impact his rampaging tactics had on Eun Sang's life, and I guess his decision to stop chasing after her was some twisted kind of selflessness, but he followed it up by going on that absurd bender of violence and pouty tears.  Was he only sad about Eun Sang, or was his inability to "protect" Eun Sang mostly emblematic of his powerlessness against dear old daddy-o?

I saw Kim Tan progressing in some ways (like self-confidence and less family neediness), but for the most part, he wasn't much better at the end of the show than he was at the beginning.  While Young Do apologized to the kid he bullied, I wasn't convinced that Kim Tan wouldn't just punch someone else in the face if they got in the way of what he wanted.  Is that kid who broke down the door and grabbed the chair gone, or was he pacified because everyone changed around him?  His brother supported him, his dad had a stroke and caved, and even his mommy troubles came to an end.  What bad habits did Kim Tan abandon in all of this?

In the end, though, I'm glad I watched Heirs.  Even the painful music and the ridiculous styling were fun to mock!  Love is the moment, guys.  Never forget.  Or is love my pain?  Or is the moment my pain?

One more terrible styling choice for the road, okay?
The caked on face makeup in this scene kind of makes it look like his face is melting, like a Barbie that got left in the sun too long.

Heirs Kdrama Review, or, Why Coco and Vivi Are So Hard on Kim Tan

Random Things about Heirs

Coco and I got caught up on Heirs today. A few non-plot-related notes:

1. Is it a bad sign that with all of the major romantic developments, this is the scene that I enjoyed the most?

2. Maybe I couldn't get more into the other romantic moments because I was insanely distracted by Kim Tan's half of a bolo tie:

I don't understand it, but I also can't stop looking at it.

3. That "Love Is the Moment" song needs to be played at someone's wedding. And then never, ever played again.

That's all. Sometimes, these things just need to be said.

Random Things about Heirs

Live Blogging the Heirs Premiere

It feels like we've been hearing nothing but Heirs updates from the kdrama world for months now.  Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye in one show together! *head explodes* Even though the premise of teenagers in love has us a little skeptical, we couldn't let such a massive occasion pass by unnoticed, so we decided to live blog it, Oscars style.

You know how style journalists write commentary on awards shows as they're airing? Things like "Ooooh that dress looks like she wrapped herself in seaweed and crawled out of the ocean!" (I don't know anything about fashion actually. Is that what style journalists say?)  That's what we did here.  We watched the Heirs premiere and just wrote whatever came to mind.  It isn't the most in-depth commentary (for that, check out my drama club review on DramaFever over the weekend), but it was fun for us!

And here we go in three...two...one...

00.00-- Vivi: My palms are actually sweating. Settle down, Vivi. You’re not the one starring in this show. You’re safely on your couch in your pajamas. It’s gonna be fine.

00.10--Coco: OMG here comes some ‘90s Saved By The Bell “Best Summer of My Life” music and surfing scenes! How did they know how to reach deep into my nostalgic teenaged heart?

1.29-- C: Hey, I’m fairly impressed with Lee Min Ho’s engrish! Does this mean we are one step closer to being wed?

V:  I politely decline to comment.  He’s trying so hard!

1.42—V: It’s not a good sign when I have to read the subtitles to figure out what the Americans are saying.  So far, I feel like they’re just mumbling to cover up the fact that they probably don’t speak English at all. “Hey!*mumbling incoherently* Bye!”

C: Also I think they’ve managed to depict every stereotype of southern California ever. Can that girl get any tanner or blonder? Not to mention the surfer best friend.  

V: I feel like the model for this best buddy slacker surfer friend came from some made-for-TV teen movie circa 1992.

C: Totally dude!

1.51— V:Is this some kind of record? We’re under two minutes into the thing, and we already have a shower scene. Kim Eun Sook clearly knows what her audience wants. Why waste time?

C: Doesn’t count. Not standing in front of a mirror with steam rising. It does appear he is brooding about something, however.

3.13—V: Biggest plot mystery so far: Is Lee Min Ho sporting some lip gloss as he gazes into the distance?

C: I don’t know, but he sure looks pretty! And so, so contemplative. And probably misunderstood. And he probably doesn’t know how to love because he has never been loved.

4.15—V:Wait, what kind of second male lead hits defenseless nerds with a baseball? Ouch!

C: This is all very unexpected. My psychological frame for making sense of Kdrama things is being thrown out of whack.

7.03—V: I’m getting flashbacks of Eun Chan with Eun Sang delivering food and demanding her payment like a boss.  On another note, did she just say that she’s a second year in high school?  What does that make her—15? 16?  For my own sanity, I’m just going to pretend that she’s a sophomore in college, okay?

C: Second male lead looks intrigued by her sassiness! What the? Are you sure he’s not the male lead?

8.50--C: Now that’s what I call a second male lead. I think the writers got a little carried away with casting so much eye candy, they don’t even know what to do with them all!

V: Were people just volunteering to be in this series?  All we need is a womanizer with a heart of gold, and we’ve pretty much covered every male lead in the history of everything.  And no, Surfer Dude doesn’t count.

9.50-- C: Oh Krystal, honey, just stick to singing. Sorry, but acting is not for you.

12.47—V:Is that dream catcher going to be our terribly symbolic item for the rest of the series?  One can only hope that Park Shin Hye gazes at it wistfully at least 25 more times throughout the course of the show. (Fingers crossed!)

C: Buy me one now, Vivi! As an ancient symbol of our unending blogging friendship.

V: What if I painstakingly fashion one for you with my own two hands?  Does that make it more symbolic?

C: Only if it included strands of your hair as the webbing. Actually, that kind of just grossed me out. Please don’t use strands of your hair.

17.05—V:Not only is Eun Sang’s mom a downtrodden housekeeper, but she also can’t talk.  In the Olympics of misfortune, this woman wins the gold so far.

C: And where is her husband? We already knew the female lead has to be an orphan, so I guess it’s no shocker that he isn’t in the picture.

V: “Isn’t in the picture”?  He’s DEAD, Coco.  Because that’s what you get when you’re poor.

C: You’re right. Poor= everything is taken from you. EVERYTHING.

21.30 C: This all feels very Gossip Girl to me. Choi Yong Do=Chuck Bass, anyone?

V: YES.  So much yes to that statement. And Rachel=one of the female ones!  With the brown hair!

23.49—V: Rachel may be a terrible person (I assume), but I want her dress to be in my closet.  RIGHT NOW.

25.17—V: Serious concern: What will happen to Young Do’s super-gelled hair when he takes that helmet off?  I want to know.

C: All I know is that is definitely will not look as good as Ji Hoo’s helmet hair did!

26.0 C: Sorry but she is not as chipper about all her side jobs as Eun Chan was. In fact I’d say she’s kind of a whiner. You never saw Eun Chan crying cause someone knocked down her bottles of milk!

27.16—V: Okay, not as bad as I thought.  At least she’s 18!  But still, these people are too young to be engaged and stuff. (Shakes fist while rubbing geriatric knees) Kids these days!

30.02—V: It’s supposed to be a touching moment, but when I see “DRY CLEANING ONLY” written again and again all in caps like that, all I can think is, “REDRUM.”  Does this make me a bad person?

C: Yes! It does seem much more ominous than touching. This would be perfect to put in a trailer where you took some clips and changed the music to make Heirs seem like a Horror movie.

31.05—V: Aaaaaaaaaand there it is.  I was wondering how long it would take before we got a Park Shin Hye doe-eyed cryfest.

C: I’m afraid there’s going to be more of this than I’d like, but there’s always more of this than I’d like in all of her dramas. That, or the slightly confused and shocked face.

36.04—V: I’m sorry to break it to you, Eun Sang, but knowing the word for “subway” won’t help you much in LA.

C: And what exactly was the “Would you like people or…” phrase she was about to say? “Would you like people or trained monkeys to be your taxi driver?”

46.06—V: This may be an obvious point to make for a show called Heirs, but holy smokes are there a lot of grumpy rich people on this show. How will I decide who to hate first?

47.08—V: Apparently, Americans are the WORST.  Is this man propositioning her, or is that some terribly translated pickup line?

C: I think the producers are trying to make America seem as scandalous as possible to make sure that Koreans aren’t tempted to come here for the tan blondes and surfer dudes. They are like syrens!

51.50—V: Don’t listen when they compare you to angels.  They just want you for drugs.

52.48—V: I’m glad that in all of his time in America, Tan learned the truly important English phrases, like “dipsh-t.”

53.52— C: I just knew we’d eventually see the snotty Jun Pyo we all know and love. I’ve missed you so much!

V: Ah, their first fight!  Nobody pulls off sassy blinking like Park Shin Hye.  Nobody, I tell you.

59.46—V: A gang! That’s what you get for coming to the U.S.!  Everyone steals your bean powder and gives you money for sex and makes fun of you for being Asian!

C: And don’t forget the constant sound of police sirens! I didn’t expect Heirs to be such a morality tale, but lesson learned. Thank goodness they didn’t end up in NYC. You don’t even want to know what happens on the streets at night in this part of America!

1:00.30 C: Oh look! Here comes Edward Cullen! He even has a reddish hint to his hair like in Twilight. I wonder if he can read her thoughts too? That would be an unexpected twist the likes of the Secret Garden body switch!

1:01.02—V: When Lee Min Ho asks you to come home with him, I believe the correct answer here is a hearty “YES.”

How did you guys feel about the premiere?  Was it everything you hoped for and more?  Hard to say from just one episode, but at least it was entertaining! Comment below!

Live Blogging the Heirs Premiere