MaryMeKpop

Wow, talk about range! ‘My Dearest’ and ‘Behind Your Touch’ couldn’t be any more different from each other and yet I’m intrigued by both (in very different ways). ‘My Dearest’ is a historical drama while ‘Behind Your Touch’ is a contemporary comedy with bits of mystery and supernatural (and what I eventually assume will be romance) sprinkled in there. My experiences watching both dramas was quite the contrast.. in a good way.

My Dearest

I LOVE this drama. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this drama. I knew I wanted to check out ‘My Dearest’ the moment that it aired. I mean, how can you say no to Namkoong Min and Ahn Eun-jin?! So when I started the first episode, I played it in the background as I was doing other things. I didn’t pay too much attention to every single detail because I was occupied with other things. But then, somewhere somehow, I stopped multitasking and I became a lot more invested and engaged with the drama. Something within the drama changed and now ‘My Dearest’ is my favorite drama that is currently airing and that I’m currently watching.

‘My Dearest’ follows the lives of Lee Jang-hyun (Namkoong Min) and Yoo Gil-chae (Ahn Eun-jin) during the Qing invasion of Joseon. As with many other sageuks, there’s the political angle and aspect to it regarding the invasion. Then the drama also focuses on Jang-hyun and Gil-chae’s relationship which has to be, by far, my favorite aspect of the show. ‘My Dearest’ has this amazing and effortless ability to capture your mind and your heart and your soul and the butterflies in your stomach in such subtle ways through these two characters. I can’t even count how many times the drama made me swoon and squeal and smile like an idiot due to the interactions between Jang-hyun and Gil-chae. There was a scene in episode one where Jang-hyun noticed Gil-chae as she was going back and forth on a swing in the forest and granted, the moment captured the attention of multiple other men as well but it was Jang-hyun’s smug and casual reaction to Gil-chae that made me go crazy. He was smooth and swoony and he expressed his interest and curiosity in her by pretending to go on a walk just to go see her (EEEEK, just re-watching the scene and then writing about it in this post right now got me squealing!). The two hadn’t even officially met and I was already going crazy.

So as you can see, there’s many more scenes like this one that just drives me insane because of 1) how swoony and smooth Jang-hyun is in trying to capture Gil-chae’s attention/interest and impress her and 2) how adorable the two are as frenemies. She has feelings for another man who her friend is also in love with so she’s emotionally unavailable but I sort of like this push-and-pull dynamic that Jang-hyun and Gil-chae have with each other. He’s the man of her dreams (literally) but she just doesn’t know it yet. Jang-hyun is there for him when she needs it and he helps her out whenever he can but it’ll take her a little while longer to warm up to him and his peculiar ways of expressing his interest in her. Their dynamic at this point in the drama is one that isn’t so lovey-dovey (just yet) but they’ll eventually get the opportunity to get to know each other better. I assume a part of that will be due to the Qing invasion which played a much bigger part in the story as we saw in episode 4. The two will be responsible in saving lives and rescuing other people whether that’d be their own friends or innocent civilians and I assume they’ll work together in making this happen. I can’t wait to see Jang-hyun and Gil-chae’s relationship bloom and blossom and grow and I can’t wait to see them fall more and more in love with each other. There’s maybe a part in Gil-chae where she’s suppressing her interest and curiosity in Jang-hyun, but like Jang-hyun so nonchalantly mentioned in episode 2 to Gil-chae, she’ll “come to him” and they’ll eventually fall in love. I’m already squealing just thinking about it.

Episode 4 was my favorite episode so far because it primarily focused on survival. It was thrilling and nerve-wracking to watch Gil-chae and her group escape from the foreign intruders. Innocent lives were lost and killed, our village elderly couple sadly died, Gil-chae and her group got caught in the end only to be rescued by Jang-hyun and his group thankfully. Episode 4 was filmed and shot and executed in a way that felt like I was watching a movie. It felt cinematic and I was on the edge of my seat holding my breath especially during the scenes with Gil-chae. That’s probably why episode 4 was my favorite episode so far and why it was this specific episode that solidified my love and appreciation for the show. I enjoyed the first 3 episodes but episode 4 took things up another level. I enjoyed the episode so much.

‘My Dearest’ isn’t perfect by any means and I often find that the editing can be a bit old-fashioned (but in a charming way.. if that makes any sense. It’s sort of reminiscent of the editing in dramas that you saw from 5-10 years ago). Sometimes, the cuts and transitions from one scene to the next can be a bit rough. But the drama has gotten better with each passing episode and that gives me the hope that it’ll continue to improve. Episode 4 was absolutely thrilling and exciting and anxiety-inducing all at the same time. Things will only get more intense, including the relationship between Jang-hyun and Gil-chae, and I’m all here for it. I can’t wait for more swoony and smooth and adorable interactions between the two (future) lovers and I also look forward to watching how the people of Joseon survive in the battle for their country.

Behind Your Touch

To go from talking about ‘My Dearest’ to this drama is such a huge contrast and I honestly don’t know how I feel about it, LOL. And I’ll explain why in 4 short words: this drama is weird. This drama is odd and peculiar; it is unique. It’s an acquired taste and I’ve never felt so uncertain about a drama before. I was iffy on the drama one minute and then the next, I was laughing at how silly and ridiculous it was. Then I was back to not knowing whether I wanted to keep watching the drama and then I was suddenly enjoying the humorous antics in the show. So as you could tell, ‘Behind Your Touch’ was an interesting drama and watching the show was such a wild roller coaster ride. I’m not entirely sure as to how I feel about the show two episodes in and I can’t say with certainty that I’m going to finish it all the way through. In fact, the chances of me dropping the show is probably higher than the chances of me completing it.

‘Behind Your Touch’ stars Han Ji-min who plays Bong Ye-bun, a veterinarian with the superpower to see into someone’s past when she touches their.. rear end (yes, you read that correctly. Their rear end). This extends to both animals and human beings and you can guess that this gets her into quite some trouble. Lee Min-ki plays Detective Moon Jang-yeol who was demoted to the police station located in the same village where Ye-bun works. There, he bumps into the controversial veterinarian and the two don’t get off to a great start. But they find that they may have more on their hands than they anticipated when there’s a sudden serial murder case in their village.

This drama was a little too odd for my liking and it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. I think I would have been okay with the silly and ridiculous shenanigans if Ye-bun’s superpower wasn’t at the expense of touching someone else’s rear end. If it was another body part such as the head or the legs or the stomach, I would have thought more positively of the drama. And while I get that the whole rear-end thing is purposely added in to heighten the comedy of the show, I’m not fully on board with it. I’m not entirely comfortable during the entire episode.

And that’s the bit about this drama that turns me off and rubs me the wrong way because if this drama had just tweaked things a little bit where Ye-bun’s superpower was focused on a different body part, I think I could have gone along with the ride and enjoy the drama more for what it was. I get that it’s exaggerated, that it’s supposed to be comedic, that it’s even filmed and shot in a way that feels like that of a sitcom. It’s not meant to be taken seriously but yet I can’t get 100% fully behind it. It’s such a shame because I actually think Han Ji-min is doing great in her portrayal of Ye-bun and I actually quite like her so far in the drama. I love Lee Min-ki and I miss watching him in a drama so I’m primarily only sticking around for him right now. He (surprisingly) has great comedic timing and he’s so entertainingly funny in the drama. I love how naturally funny he is and how he’s this super eager and determined detective stuck in a village with hopes to eventually return back to Seoul so he tries a little too hard to catch that big break but he soon realizes that there’s not much that goes on in the small village. But of course, all of that will change with the serial murder case and maybe the drama too will take a turn (for the better) once it dives into the mystery aspect of things. So far, it’s been very comedic and silly and humorous but I’m curious as to how the drama will feel once things ramp up with the serial murder case.

I also couldn’t help but just imagine what the drama would have been like if the two main leads were played by other actors as I watched the first 2 episodes. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed watching Han Ji-min and Lee Min-ki in this drama but for some reason, I was reminded of Park Eun-bin’s character, Song Ji-won, from ‘Age of Youth’ while watching Ye-bun’s story so that got me thinking of what this drama would have been like if Park Eun-bin was the lead actress. Similarly, Jang-yeol is such a comedic character that I think it would have also been perfect for someone like Lee Kwang-soo who’s also just so naturally and effortlessly comedic. Just me and some random wishful thinking..

I’m not completely sold on ‘Behind Your Touch’ and there’s this feeling of uncertainty and iffy-ness that I feel when I watch it and yet I can’t give up on it just yet. Lee Min-ki plays a role in me wanting to keep watch it but I’m also curious as to how the drama will turn out now that it’s hinted at the murder case. I think I’ll give the drama another try by tuning into episodes 3 and 4 and then assess from there. I don’t have a whole lot of confidence with the drama so far but maybe, just maybe, it can turn things around.