Watch With Me! “My Love From Another Star” Week 1

Or: If it’s meant to happen

BE ADVISED: The following post contains spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

Image: Soompi

Dear readers, I just finished watching the first two episodes of My Love From Another Star last night.  I have been in eager anticipation of this drama for a good while, because I have a soft spot in my heart for a fantasy angle, not to mention a star-crossed (get it?) love affair.  So, despite my guilt at being seriously behind in writing the other posts I am supposed to send your way, I had to share this experience with you.  Because I have to talk to someone about it or I’ll go nuts.  I honestly don’t remember how I survived without this blog.  And it’s only been in existence since October.  Anyway, the first week was a really promising start for this drama.  I feel like the premise had a strong set up, but they’ve left enough open that I still want  to know more.  I like both of the Alphas, but they still have a lot of growing to do, which is important in the beginning.  And perhaps most important to me, it seems pretty well-written, thank you Jesus.

Part I: Time Lords

And that, Unnis and Oppas, is the first and last Doctor Who reference I will be making about this drama.  You’re welcome. Our drama begins with a UFO sighting over Choseon in the early 1600’s (DF couldn’t figure out if it was 1601 or 1609.  Any of you out there know the truth?).  Meanwhile, a 15-year-old bride is making her way to her marital home for the first time, already widowed.  And obviously, she’s not too happy about that.  It’s great when you can feel immediate sympathy for a character within the first five minutes of the drama.  Definitely a good sign.  Also, sidenote:  I was almost squeeful when I saw that the girl in question is played by Kim Hyun Soo.  I absolutely adored her in Good Doctor, and I think she is a really promising young actress.

Ok, fangirl moment over.

Suddenly, the saucer appears above her traveling party, and the resulting turbulence sends people and objects flying everywhere.  The young widow and her palanquin are flung over a cliff, and she is headed for a long fall onto the sharp rocks below when time…stops.  I need a moment of silence for this scene.  I have watched so many dramas lately where cinematography and composition have been put aside in favor of throwing the plot at us viewers as fast as possible.  I literally sighed when I saw Kim Soo Hyun (just noticed these two have almost the same name. Dude.) walked through time in this scene.  And not just because he’s beautiful.  I loved the soft, contemplative background theme, the leaves and other…bits of nature…suspended in the air, even the little teardrop floating in front of the young girl’s face.  Masterfully done, and definitely a good sign for the rest of the drama.  We also picked up on a couple of important things about the alien’s character in this sequence that will become important later.

• The way he is dressed fits well with the nature of his relationship with Cheon Song Yi/Seo Yi Hwa.  I remember thinking when I first saw him that he looked like some kind of monk in his black cowl-neck shirt.  I think that plays into the fact that he is constantly saving her from death, and that she regards him as some kind of Grim Reaper.  He stands apart from everyone else, but becomes involved when she is in danger.
• Along with that, later in the series he talks a lot about how he doesn’t like to get involved with people’s lives.  But here, he did something pretty big to get involved in someone’s life, and seemed pleased to do so.  Which makes me think that his current standoffish attitude and coldness might be a result of something that happened to Yi Hwa.
• He’s beautiful.  I know that this isn’t news to everyone else, but this is actually my first drama with Kim Soo Hyun (GASP).  And a lot of the time I had to bring myself back to the moment because I realized I had been staring at his lips for a long time and had no idea what was going on.
• In the scene in the library where he is explaining who he is and where he comes from, I felt like he was actually talking to someone, rather than having a meta-moment.  Especially after we saw Song Yi doing an interview at the end of one episode.  I feel like he is doing an interview also, which may become a plot point later on.
• We learn he has the following powers: Super good hearing, telekinesis, either really slow aging or immortality, and oh yeah.  Time is his bitch.

Sidenotes:  If it were me, and I had stopped time to save a woman from falling off a cliff, I may have pulled her palanquin a smidge further onto solid ground.  I mean, there was every possibility she could have tumbled back down as soon as she tried to get out of the thing.  Just saying.  Also, this whole problem he has with exchanging fluids with humans is going to be a serious roadblock in the way of amorous activities.  Great.

Hallyu Life:

I think we’ve all seen what happens when a woman is led to believe that her only value is physical.  Cheon Song Yi (Jun Ji Hyun)  has just this problem.  Having made her Hallyu debut at 15, she has grown up in the spotlight, praised for her good looks, and not really made to work for anything.  So now, at age 29, she is barely educated, has few friends, and reaches out for affection on social media.

Sad day.

As mentioned above, I love when I can immediately sympathize with a character (something that was seriously lacking in Heirs btw).  The interesting

Image: Dramabeans

thing is, the writers have made Song Yi into both an annoying and sympathetic character at the same time.  She’s obnoxious because she’s spoiled, arrogant and selfish, but they’ve wasted no time in giving us ample reason to feel for her.  Case in point: Her mother.  I don’t know where Drama Mamas get off.  But this one has some serious issues.  She makes no secret of the fact that she uses her daughter for money, takes no interest in her life, and openly accuses her of being a talentless hack who only made it because of her beauty.  Charming.

And poor Song Yi clearly has no idea what friends are.  I guess this is an epidemic problem in the social media age, but she seems to think that Instagram followers and friends are one and the same thing.  As such, she gets really hurt when the “fans” turn on her, as they do all to often when she says something dumb.  Which also happens all too often.

Boy Meets Girl

In a classic rom/com move, Min Joon (alien boy’s present name) and Song Yi meet in the elevator.  Because Song Yi is used to being stalked by fans, she assumes that Min Joon is looking to make a pass at her…simply by virtue of the fact that he boarded said elevator.  Maybe famous people need their own special elevators now.  Come to think of it, they probably have them.  Regardless, this leads Song Yi to looking like a serious fool when it turns out that they are next door neighbors.  Awkward for her, but a great way to get them together on a regular basis.  Which happens sooner rather than later when Song Yi is caught get her one-woman show on in the middle of the night.  Pro tip: If you are going to belt it after 10:00pm, you better hope:

A. You can carry a tune, or

B. You don’t live next door to this guy.

Of course, if that’s not enough…Song Yi has been caught making ignorant comments on the internet one too many times.  In an effort to save her reputation, her manager decides that she has to go to school and be seen pursuing an education among the common people.  The first class she ends up in is some kind of class about love (all I know is they talk about Eros a lot).  And who should be her Professor of Love but Do Min Joon!

Awkward.

The Trouble With Betas

Image: Dramabeans

Lest we forget that this is a Kdrama, let me introduce you to the other two sides of our Big Four Love Square. On the female side we have Yoo Se Mi (Yoo In Na), a life-long friend of Song Yi, who also just so happens to be her rival in work and love. Since they debuted at about the same time, Se Mi has taken supporting actress to Song Yi’s lead.  While they are friends, they are also direct competition for each other. Their relationship is interesting, because they don’t seem to vocalize their rivalry, nor do they seem to be especially close.  I think that their mothers probably kept them at arm’s length from each other once they debuted, so that neither would let her guard down.  Which is really sad.

I found myself wondering while I watched this if Yoo In Na identified with her character.  I loved her in Queen In Hyun’s Man, but other than that she seems to be a chronic Beta Femme.  I felt a lot of sympathy for Se Mi during the scene when she is waiting to shoot, and the men are standing right next to her talking about how she’s not as famous as Song Yi.  I found myself wondering if  the actress channeled some of her own feelings into this scene.  She has a gift fro bringing a part of herself into her roles that I think registers with audiences really well.

And now let’s bring in our Beta Male, Lee Hee Kyung (Park Hae Jin).  Now, friends.  To be completely honest, most of the time I don’t side with the Beta, Young Do excepted.  But most of the time I at least feel bad for them.  And yet, I am finding myself completely without sympathy for this character.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a “bad guy” per se.  He’s just…annoying.  Like Se Mi, he is another life-long friend of Song Yi’s, and he has always assumed that he and Song Yi would end up together.  So much so that he isn’t even dating her but he takes it as a matter of course that they will be engaged soon.  Meanwhile, Se Mi has clearly been carrying a torch for him all her life, and he is absolutely oblivious.

Sigh.

The scene when he ditched Se Mi to go find Song Yi (who happened to be passed out drunk in Min Joon’s apartment) killed me.  You In Na is so good at looking heartbroken!  That aside, I can’t help but feel bad for the girl who always has to play second string.  Especially since Se Mi doesn’t seem to have a hostile bone in her body.  This is the kind of sympathetic Beta Female I have been waiting for all my life, but at the same time I don’t know if I can take it.  I am telling you right now.  If these writers make her into a mean girl I am going to lose it.

Fate

As we have discussed previously, Min Joon has been carrying a torch for a long-lost love for 400 years.  That’s a long time, y’all.  But in the course of these episodes it comes to light that he developed some kind of psychic connection with her, so that when her soul was born again as Song Yi, he was once again able to find her immediately in her time of need.  I’m not going to lie.  This whole trend of her almost dying and then him coming to the rescue doesn’t bode well for the resolution of the series.  But, this is just week one, so I am going to keep the hounds of apprehension at bay for as long as possible.

That being said, this psychic connection was a great way to set up a backstory for Min Joon and Song Yi, prior to their meeting in the elevator.  It turns out that when Song Yi was about the same age as Yi Hwa, she was running away from Hee Kyung (big surprise) when she was very nearly taken out by a truck.  I’m telling you, it is not safe to cross the street in Seoul.  However, when she is literally inches from demise, time stops once again, and she finds herself in the arms of a tall dark stranger.

Lucky thing.  I hate her.  Not really.  Much.

Though Song Yi can’t recall the face of the man who saved her, she has always remembered him as her first and ideal love, and so can never truly consider Hee Kyung.  Sad day for him.  Meanwhile, Min Joon doesn’t know who his old love’s body double grew up to be.  That is until her discovers that Song Yi left her wallet in his apartment and sees her picture inside.  And when he begins to see another vision of her in danger, he has no time to lose in finding out what he already suspects, that fate has brought Yi Hwa back to him.  And she lives next door.

Well folks, all told I think this is going to turn into a good, addictive drama.  And believe me, I am breathing a massive sigh of relief, because I really don’t need another Heirs.  The production quality is beautiful, I sympathize with both female leads, we have time travel, space travel, clairvoyance, fate, and quite possibly a tragic ending.  I’m hooked.  Now if the drama will stop giving Min Joon new powers, give us some more historical scenes, and promise not to turn Se Mi bad, we’ll be good to go.

Bonus Points:

• So far, we are averaging 1 shower scene per episode.
• That scene when Yi Hwa told him her name and he levitated.  Kdrama gold.