That Winter the Wind Blows Ep. 1-3

       I don’t watch melodramas, except for Sirius, That Winter the Wind Blows is the first for me.  I don’t like to be depressed when I watch Korean dramas, although I do like depressing movies.  When I watch a Kdrama I want to let go of real life and watch something fun and bit on the ridiculous side.  I want to watch something that I know will have a happy ending.  The same reason I like Disney Princess movies because I want to see a happily ever after.  Going into a true melodrama, you never really know if at the end you’ll get that happy ending.  So as a general rule I tend to stay away from them, however, when I first saw the trailer for That Winter the Wind Blows I was determined to watch it.  Besides, I’m already sad that Flower Boy Next Door ends next week a bit more melancholy will hardly register.  (BTW, are you watching Flower Boy Next Door? And if not, why not? Go, now, watch it.  I’ll wait here.)

    The drama opens in a barren winter landscape where a lone tree breaks the unending white of winter.  Underneath the tree is a parcel of clothing, and as we see a woman quickly walk away from the tree we are given a glimpse of a baby in the parcel.  This is our “hero” Oh Soo, who we find out in the voice over is living a meaningless life.  The barren tree is very significant because in many ways Oh Soo sees himself like that tree devoid of life. The first episode sets us up for the main plot of the drama and in parts it feels more like an action drama than a melodrama.  There are fights, flights, and car crashes.  But beneath the action you feel Oh Soo’s sense of desperation.  I’ve seen all three episodes out now, and that sense of desperation mixed in with deep sadness prevails throughout the three episodes.  It comes from Oh Soo and also from the main female lead, Oh Young.  Both of their lives, for different reasons, have made them into innately sad people.
    I think since the first episode was shockful of action scenes the second and third episodes nothing really happened.  The story moved forward, people talked, the bad guy stalked, and I became completely hooked on the drama.  I can feel the sadness emanating from these two characters, the loneliness they’ve lived with for most of their lives and it touches something within me.  I don’t want to cry, but I do want to smack a few people.  
    My absolute favorite parts however are whenever Kim Bum and Jung Eun Ji are on camera and not just because I happen to adore them, but because they have wonderful chemistry together and become a backdrop to showcase that although Oh Soo might be lonely he isn’t really alone.  I don’t want to spoil the drama go watch it, well, after you’ve caught up with Flower Boy Next Door of course. 

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.