First Episode, First Impressions -- 7th Grade Civil Servant

Title: 7th Grade Civil Servant (7급 공무원) 
Network: MBC
Episodes: 20
Starring: Choi Kang Hee and Joo Won
Aired: January 2013 - March 2013

I'm very much of the do not judge a book by its cover camp, but I definitely do judge it after a chapter or in some extreme cases a paragraph.  For the most part, I am much more forgiving of Korean dramas.  I am known to give them the benefit of the doubt right up to the very end or until I'm sidetracked by a different drama or new knitting project.  Since my plan to watch list has grown to unruly proportions, I have decided that I will be tougher on dramas and give them one episode, one chapter to convince me that I should invest a considerable amount of my time watching them.  I am horrible at making decisions so I will be going in order as the appear on my list.  First up, 7th Grade Civil Servant.
Episode one opens with a news broadcast with dire information about the economic downturn in South Korea and sky rocketing unemployment rates, as a current unemployee I can relate.  We are introduced to our two leads which can be said, like in almost every other drama I have ever watched, are polar opposites.  Kim Kyung Ja, played by Choi Kang Hee, is from a modest background working three jobs while going to school to take her civil servant exam to join the NIS(National Intelligence Service).  She lives paycheck to paycheck and is barely able to make ends meet.  At the other end of the spectrum we have Han Pil Hoon, played by the cutie that is Joo Won.  He is a rich boy that spends his time racing cars, practicing his marksmanship, and arguing with his father about taking over the company.

The two end up on a blind date when Kyung Ja takes a job from her best friend who owns a match making company and Pil Hoon is bribed by his mother, who was convinced by a fortune teller that he needs a woman in his life, with the promise of a new car.  The hit it off during the first date due mostly to the fact that they did not speak to each other, but rather both of them spent the required two hours studying on their own for the upcoming exam; her with open book and highlighter, him on his handy tablet, Samsung Galaxy 10in looked like to me. They agree to meet the following day for a second outing this time he takes her to race his car against another rich boy.  This leads to probably the worst part of the whole first episode:  She freaks out during the race and starts pulling his hair and manhandling him while he is going full out on a curvy road.  Really!!! Stupid bitch.  How the hell does that make sense??? I understand if maybe you are freaking out because of whatever, but seriously just close your eyes and curse at him really loudly.   I was so pissed off at this whole scene that I hate Kyung Ja.  I want to see her die in a fiery explosion.  Baka (Ok, I've been cheating on Korea with a few Japanese dramas).
During this first episode we are also introduced to a few peeps at the NIS and to the bad guy.  The resident baddie is played by Uhm Tae Wong, a short lived cameo it seems, and for some unknown reason he is after Pil Hoon.

I love a man in all black.

As a first episode it was alright.  It wasn't horrible, but nothing about the first episode compels me to sit through a second one.  I'll probably watch the drama once it ends in a week so I can marathon through as I work on the blanket I'm currently knitting. I was liking the drama, and even digging the "tough" female lead right up to the point where she freaks out in the car after that my whole mindset went from ok, I can give this a chance to checking how much more of the first episode there was to the end.  I hated, loathed, that scene.  It was too long, too annoying, too everything bad.  I might watch it for Joo Won but this is supposed to be an action rom-com and at this point I'm completely uninterested in the main couple being together.

Reply 1997(2012)

    I like to watch dramas after they finished airing so that I can marathon them from start to finish in a couple of days or sometimes even one.  Reply 1997 ended its run on TvN in September of 2012 and since then I have started it and turned it off within the first fifteen minutes on numerous occasions, in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, while Lambo was taking his morning nap and again and again I tried to watch it but there was something about it that didn’t appeal to me so I would stop it put it back on my plan to watch list and pick something else.  About a week ago I started it again,  and maybe this time I was ready to watch it because I made it through the first twenty minutes and two days later I had watched the entire thing wondering why I had put if off for so long.    This drama blew me away.  It is unlike anything else I have ever watched, kudos to TvN for showcasing interesting dramas that are oh so good and different.  Please be advised there will be spoilers.

The drama opens in the present where a group of friends have gathered for their high school reunion.  The voice over lets us know that it has been 15 years since their high school years and that at this reunion one of the couples would be announcing their upcoming marriage.  The story about this group of six friends is told through a series of flashbacks that take the viewer back to 1997 the year of boy bands and dial-up modems.  It is through these flashbacks that we see these young men and women stumble their way through the end of their childhood and into adulthood. 
    I’ve never been one to like anything told in flashbacks mostly because I lack patience.  If we are already in the present just fucking tell me what’s going on quickly, there is really no need to take me to the long last past really just a quick synopsis and away we go.  With Reply 1997, I didn’t mind the constant traveling back in time, in fact, I loved it.  I loved absolutely everything about this drama.  I loved the friendship between the characters, first loves, first heartbreak everything was handled so beautifully in this drama that at times it took my breath away.
    The main character is Sung Shi Won, played extremely well by Jung Eun-ji.  ShiWon is a total fangirl of ‘90s kpop group H.O.T.  She stakes out the singer’s home just to be able to catch a glimpse of him, she camps out with other fans in front of a record store just to be able to be one of the first to get their new album which she of course pre-ordered, her walls are plastered with their posters and when her father rips them from her wall in a fit of rage her whole world is on the brink of ending.

I’m not going to delve into the plot of the drama just going to say that you need to watch it.  It’s a kdrama so you know who it’s going to end but the journey that this group of friends take is beautiful to watch.
    Now, personally the best and most heartbreaking part of this drama is Hoya’s character Kang Joon-hee.  Joon Hee is the male lead’s best friend and he is also in love with his best friend.  You see his heart break bit by bit as he tries not to let his feelings affect his friendship.  As someone who during high school constantly questioned my sexuality and had to keep feelings and preferences bottled in, watching Joon Hee struggle through the minefield that is high school made my breath catch.  Watching him loving someone he knew very well he would never be able to have, made my heart ache for him.  Truth be told, I really wanted Joon Hee to have his happy ending with his first love. That would have made a good drama perfect.