KDrama Review: In Soon is Pretty

“Are accidents really looking for me? Or is it that everything that
happens in our lives beautifully appears searching for us when we truly need it?”

I truly did not need In Soon is Pretty. I was not enamored. In the end, the love story between In Soon and Sang Woo was sweet, but it took too long to get there and too many of the ancillary characters annoyed me.

However, the series has given me a new marker on my kdrama scorecard and that’s “Chemistry” or the “BinSunAh” Factor. (For my readers that have never watched any Korean Drama – Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah starred in “My Name is Kim Sam Soon” – possibly my favorite kdrama ever. The story was good, but the chemistry between HB and KSA was electric. You felt it in every scene. You felt it watching the outtakes. As far as I’m concerned, it is what made the show so successful.) You can have a mediocre story, but when you have leads that connect, it transcends everything.

On to the review.

Ponder Angst – Very little ponder angst in In Soon is Pretty. They get the full 20 points.

Love “ – “ Angles – There are really no angles here. Sang Woo loves In Soon. In Soon “thinks” she is in love with her teacher, but he never gives her any encouragement – to the contrary, he’s very clear that it’s not happening, so I’m not counting it as an angle. 10 points.

Sizzle – I’m sorry but I got no sizzle out of ISiP at all. Sang Woo was good looking but some of his behavior was annoying. SW and IS had a nice kiss at the end, but…it was at the end. Geun Soo was attractive, but I kept wanting to brush his bangs out of his eyes. I will give it 5 points for having some longing looks from Sang Woo toward InSoon which made my belly flip. 5 points.

Physical Intimacy – Sigh* Nothing. If my boyfriend for whom I have declared my love and affection came back from overseas unexpectedly, I would have run headlong into his arms and squeezed hard. In Soon timidly opens her arms, almost apologetically really and there is an awkward hug. I have to give it something, sort of like a pity grade: 5 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – **Spoiler Alert** Mom didn’t take an eternal float in the ocean as I had hoped. No…SHE lived. Geun Soo died - complications arising from leaving the hospital AMA before his thug incurred stab wounds had a chance to knit. (We also learn that In Soon sleeps the sleep of the dead, since she had fallen asleep prone across him, and GS managed to get up, detach a variety of tubes and hoses, put on his clothes and walk out without waking her up). Geun Soo did reach a level of redemption and experienced personal peace before he arose from this mortal coil. More pity points here – even though its not constipation or anorexia - I’ll give it 20 because I didn’t want GS to die. Then again, if Mom had died, I’d have given the show 50 points just for having the courage to get rid of that waste of humanity.

The BinSunAh – “Chemistry” We had 2 attractive leads with a powerful story line. A story about loneliness, fear, how the media manipulates the public and how the public feeds in to the manipulation. Unfortunately, while the love story between SW and IS was sweet and really endearing, in the end when they finally came together as strong independent people, it was not enough to make me rush to KBS.com or to YesAsia and buy it (I own Coffee Prince, Thank You, Kim Sam Soon, Jumong and Emperor of the Sea...I'm doing my part to keep the kdrama business afloat). Can’t mess with the science, and In Soon is Pretty didn’t have the test tubes touching.

Going to the Beach – As I said above, we had lots of talk of suicide, but none came to fruition. 0 Points.

60 points. Not so good, but not so bad either. I can offer the only perspective I have – which is I couldn’t even bring myself to review Hello! Miss! or Joyful Girl’s Success Story. Those were just awful shows with no redeeming value whatsoever – Joyful Girl’s Success Story was Jang Hyuk pre-Army and, well, let’s just say he developed some kinda hottie muscle in the military that he didn’t have before. I can’t take my eyes off him now, but back then, Hyuk was yuk. Anyway, In Soon is Pretty at least made the meter.