Big
is big only by the name! The moment I admitted that, it became easy for me to
complete the drama because my expectations felt down right away! After approximately
eight episodes I wasn’t expecting to see something good happen which is
horrible, I know. Coming to this cruel conclusion was among the most difficult
thing for me to do. If you could have pictured my emotional state the second
the leads were confirmed. I had pain in my chest but the kind of good pain you don't mind having once in a while. I was beyond excitement. Gong Yoo in his first post army drama
role and Lee Min-Jung? A matchmaking
made in heaven. You know I once dreamed of this paring and I was convinced that
one day dramas gods will answer me and that was my answer. Big was my ultimate prayer’s answer. The Hong sisters at the script, Gong Yoo and Lee Min-jung as leads, everything
was ideal under the sun. The mix was perfect! What more could I have honestly
asked? (A logic and coherent scenario maybe? Of course but I didn’t know at
that precise moment that the drama would unfortunately be what it ended up
being!) Anyway I was so excited that I was practically in levitation with not
much hope to come back on earth. But my levitation lasted a short moment
because Big did exactly what I thought
won’t ever happen: to bring me back to earth in a violent way! Nothing’s a sure
bet I swear.
I started to feel the gravity winning on me when
I first read the plot of the drama: “Gil Da-ran (Lee Min-Jung)
is a struggling substitute teacher trying to get her certificate. She is
engaged to a kind and handsome doctor, Seo Yoon-jae (Gong Yoo);
it is a fairy-tale-come-true until one month before the wedding, Yoon-jae
inexplicably becomes distant. At the same time, Da-ran meets an 18-year-old
transfer student from the United States, Kang Kyung-joon (Shin Won-Ho),
who's got an attitude towards everyone except Da-ran. Kyung-joon gets into a
fateful car accident with Yoon-jae and the two of them drive over the guard
rail and into the deep waters. Yoon-jae tries to save Kyung-joon but in the
process, Yoon-jae ostensibly dies and Kyung-joon ends up in a coma. Kyung-joon
soon wakes up finding himself in Yoon-jae's body.” (Source: Wikipedia)
I
got scared, like seriously scared. You don’t have a big fan of switching
bodies/souls/identities/(add what you want) here. So I naturally freaked out. Of
course I can live with that switching bodies idea but I like having a character who’s
himself/herself all way through the drama. Simplicity is most of the time for
the better. But in the name of my excitement, I put all my doubts aside and
decided to trust and follow Gong Yoo and Lee Min Jung in their choices. Ok I
dropped Lee Min Jung’s previous drama Midas
but that doesn’t mean anything. One would say that isn’t a good sign. Well
maybe but you should have tried to convince my excitement at that moment:
mission impossible. Plus being a Hong sisters previous work’s fan (Delightful Girl has a special spot in
my heart), I couldn’t reasonably let a detail like switching bodies/souls
spoiling my moral.
The
promo started pretty quickly leaving me no choice but being on board. You can’t
say no to that kind of invitation anyway.
I
drooled literally: ‘No need to say more
my dear Gong Yoo. I’m with you. You can switch your body/soul/arms/legs with whomever
you want it’s ok with me! And if you need to be shirtless again in (many) other
scenes I won’t mind, I promise!’
Needless
to say that my level of anticipation went crazy. I was ready like never I was
before.
The
opening episode was cute, light and fresh. The souls switching (because that
what it’s all about) came quite early in the drama. That honestly surprised me.
But it’s never a bad thing when a drama surprised you. It can only predict more (good?) surprises to come.
Little
parenthesis: if I had to bet the screen time the young Shin Won-Ho
would end up have in the drama I would have lost all my coins. Anyway.
The first couple episodes were marked with the recognizable seal of the Hong sisters: puns, souls switching hijinks, memorable laugh out loud moments, emotion and some mystery.
I
enjoyed those episodes a lot. Gong Yoo had a real comic potential and it was
just pleasant to watch. After her excellent job in Smile You I really hadn’t any doubt that Lee Min-Jung would
portrait a quirky, endearing Gil Da-ran. Rom-com are her specialty. Let’s say
it she wasn’t my favourite character from the Hong sisters. She was sometimes
frustrating to the point of banging my head against the wall. The two managed
to show a credible chemistry and brought the characters alive. Despite a
scenario that was progressively going somewhere uncertain, they created a kind
of warm bubble and smoothly took us in it (the cinematography was gorgeous that
helped!). That’s how I lived the first episodes and yes I liked it!
But
then we slowly but surely entered in the second part of the drama also quite recognizable
from the sisters: intense sadness, (a lot of) tears, dilemma, self-reflection,
sacrifice, extreme melodrama. My
Girlfriend is a Gumiho was probably the first drama of the Hong sisters
where I felt the strongest that two parts progression in their work. The Hong
sisters have at the same time a strong comic side and a hyper super developed
melodramatic one that can be quickly annoying sometimes, I admit it. Therefore
I wasn’t that troubled to see that familiar second part coming. I was even prepared
to it. But instead of a super melodramatic second part the sisters served us a
crazy nameless second part. It was a scenario of non sense where we had to
found our way ourselves without any much help. As much as I enjoyed the first couple
of episodes, I ended up pressing play without too much conviction until the
moment I sorrowfully admitted that the drama (and that also means me) was going
nowhere. At least nowhere good. It was basically getting crazier, that’s all.
**Spoilers Alert**
To be totally sincere the idea of seeing Gil
Da-ran fallen for a 18 year-old boy’s soul trapped in a 30 year-old man body
didn’t excite me at the last. Then I gave the idea a second thought. The
possibility for the sisters to go to the bottom of that idea seduced me. I mean
it wasn’t the first switching bodies/souls drama but it could have been new to
let the love story between those two actually happen. Yoon-jae dead there was
no real obstacle to another love story. Ok a love story of that kind with an
important age gap, could have been seen like immoral or outrageous or
inappropriate but it’d have been interesting. I haven’t watch the other
switching bodies/souls drama with the same premise (I Love Lee Tae-ri) so I can’t compare but gosh when you deal with
that complicate material it’s practically an obligation to go off the beaten
track. At least that’s what I think. That could have been original and
audacious. But there were no concrete love story and it was neither original
nor audacious. Uncertain and confusing at best. On the other hand I got that
somehow the screenplay has to please the audience. And when watchers are not
ready for something forcing it is never a good idea.
**End of Spoilers Alert**
The
scenario made us go back and forth and left us in a land named: ‘We don’t know
how to end our drama and since we don’t know, go and try to understand the end
by yourselves’. I don’t want to visit that land again, there’s not much fun
actually. Only frustrations and unanswered questions. Gosh it’s killing me ‘cause
we really had an explosive cocktail in our hands but the explosion was so
ridiculously tiny that no one really felt it. Was there any explosion in the
first place? Good point but that’s another story.
I’m
vigorously critic about Big because
having watched and enjoyed many of their dramas, I know the Hong sisters could
should have done something better than that! Such a waste! A waste of Gong Yoo who
was excellent; a waste of Lee Min-Jung even if her character wasn’t always at
the top and of course a waste of my time.
I
think it would be unfair not evoke her because somehow she also ended up wasted:
Suzy, who portrayed the cheerful and crazily in love Jang Ma Ri. So far,
that’s certainly where I preferred her the most. That kind of role fits her
perfectly. She was just adorable and at
her best.
Mistakes
happen, even a 16 episodes drama kind of mistakes. The thing is to forget them
quickly and my mind is already working on it.
Because I can’t be completely ingrate, everything
wasn’t a disappointment in Big. So thank
you Gong Yoo (and thanks to your abs too).
OR 