Written by Serendipity
With one watch under my belt, I don’t think I’m as enamoured as you are (though perhaps I may revise my opinion upon a re-watch). I’m very aware of the show’s faults, which leave me at times mirthlessly embarrassed (slapstick & toilet humour), yelling at the screen (why are all these people Too Dumb To Live?) or even bored (what, William/Beojin are gormless and need their sorry asses saved by Park Kyu again?). But at the same time, I thoroughly enjoyed my watch and I find myself thinking about the show at unexpected moments, which I reckon means that it has enough charm and heart to rise above its technical shortcomings and be greater than the sum of its parts. Surely the mark of a work of art.
The plot is flimsy at best, rather lazy at its worst. The show hangs on Island charm and on its people. It was inevitable that it climaxed back on Tamra – the Island scenes were its strength and the show knew it.
The people – what people! Primarily, Park Kyu / Im Joo Hwan. Im Joo Hwan has a ridiculous pretty face but I don’t begrudge it him because his performance as an actor was revelatory. He commanded the screen. He was convincing as the snotty noble, every sneer and grimace. He was utterly convincing as the heroic warrior-scholar; young and slender though he is I have no trouble believing that he is a man who can command armies and win the confidence of kings. And of course he is heart-breakingly convincing as the fragile young man broken in love. He nailed every nuance of every repressed feeling. What a gift he was handed with the multi-faceted character of Park Kyu, and how he cherished and polished that gift. His every scene with the mature actors among the excellent supporting cast (Beojin’s mother, Officer Kim, his own mother) were all gold, he had such sizzling chemistry with all of them.
I thought Seo Woo was more than serviceable. A character like Beojin would usually get my goat, so the fact that I didn’t actively hate her or want to feed her to sharks is testimony to Seo Woo’s sheer charm as an actress. William the character / Pierre Deporte the actor I just could not abide; I thought the character was thoughtless and essentially self-centred. But in the end I was glad that he sailed off a whole man; at one point I thought the plot might let him go completely psycho-possessive boyfriend and I liked him just about enough to feel happy that he got a decent ending and didn’t get disposed off as the third wheel in complete disgrace (or death).
I was primarily interested in Park Kyu’s internal journey. I don’t think I would have been a fraction as invested in the show if not for IJH’s realization of PK. When everyone got marooned (emotionally) in the capital, while I felt sorry for Beojin and the divers, my heart really broke for Park Kyu. Not only was he in the throes of thwarted love and obliged to stab his own heart by enabling his beloved and her crush (and how my heart broke for him even more when he was devastated by his failure to). He was someone important in the capital, but he was surrounded by people (including his own family) who wanted to use him and his gifts, and he was desperately lonely. One of the most poignant moments for me was when he confessed that he longed for the happy time when he lived as a nobody in the Jang’s store-room.
For the show is ultimately about loving people for who they are, and the redemptive power of such love. The ending was pretty much perfect. SPOILER WARNING: I’d wondered whether Beojin’s father might turn out to be banished noble himself, later pardoned and reconstituted thus allowing Beojin to marry into the Parks. But PK settling on the island as an official (which was my other pet prediction) and giving up worldly riches and fame for warmth for the soul was the much truer arc. For it’s all about the joy and nobility of living close to the land and among people who accept you for who you are. It’s not an original “noble native” / “the simple joys of life” trope, but it is well-done and completely believable. Everyone was and forever would be miserable in Hanyang, and all was well, sunshiny and honest on Tamra the Island.
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