Review: My Lovely Sam-Soon

This past week we have been viewing a DVD of what is sometimes called “My Name is Kim Sam-Soon”. If you want to check out this series, you will need to search for “My Lovely Sam-Soon”. The MBC website offers a free download of Episode 1 so you can check it out and see if you are interested in the series at all.

Wikipedia compares this series to a Bridget Jones’ Diary kind of plotline because the lead actress had to gain fifteen pounds in order to assume the role of the fat girl.

We are currently just over halfway through the series and in this article I will discuss some of the cultural and themes things I have noticed.

By American standards, Kim Sam-Soon is thin. She is not as thin as one of her co-stars, but she is by no means ugly. It is almost like the ABC series Ugly Betty in that everyone seems to think the lead character is a fat hog when in fact all the regular folks watching can clearly see that this is not the case. If you disagree with me, just take a trip to your local Wal-Mart and check out the Hoggers in line. Don’t get too close or they could mistake your fingers for a Zinger.

The series provides a glimpse into Korean pop-culture. The series opens with Kim Sam-Soon on a date getting dumped by her boyfriend. She runs into the restroom to cry and ends up going into the wrong restroom and yells at the person knocking on her door. The person knocking on her door is Hyun Jin-Heon. Hyun Jin-Heon happens to be the son of the restaurant owner in which Kim Sam-Soon was being dumped and he also runs the restaurant. Incidentally, Hyun Jin-Heon had a girlfriend who left him several years ago so both of our heroes are single…

Kim Sam-Soon is also a certified Pastry Chef who studied in Paris. Hyun Jin-Heon has been seeking a good pastry chef.

As the series progresses, we find out Kim Sam-Soon’s father passed away and they need $50,000 to save the house. She asks Hyun Jin-Heon for the money and he is so rich that he readily agrees on one condition: Kim Sam-Soon must pretend to be dating him so his domineering Mother will get off his case about not being married. As soon as they reach this contract agreement, their old flames show up and the show takes off!

That’s the setup. I won’t go into any spoilers…suffice to say there are vacations, love triangles, fights, and smackdowns and it is all very entertaining. I haven’t finished the series but I plan to by the end of the week.

Most of the first seven episodes had little or no Korean background music. All music was American pop-music, whether it was Christmas carols or whatever, it was always non-Korean. After the seventh episode, American music mysteriously is absent and the majority of all the background music is (I assume) Korean.

There are several scenes in various episodes that remind me of James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Since it is in Korean, sometimes it is hard to follow what is real and what is fantasy - so pay attention!

Other things that are unique include the series completion. Another fan informed me that TV shows in Japan and apparently Korea are scheduled for a single season. So there is never any plan to extend a series beyond its usefulness for entertainment value. This is interesting to me as it would seem that you could get all your best writing in and then go on to a new project instead of laboring over shoddy scripts and terrible third and fourth season, a la Desperate Housewives. DH used all their good storylines three years ago. It’s time for sundown on Wisteria Lane.

“My Lovely Sam-Soon” will not undergo the staleness that has plagued DH and so many other American shows. There will never be a cliffhanger at the end of a season, and they will never be forced to re-write a season after they write themselves into a corner and declare the entire previous season a “dream” as happened to both Dallas and Roseanne.

They also have “arranged dates” that occur in some episodes. This is probably like using a dating service, but they call them “arranged dates” in the subtitles.

An aspect of the show I find particularly enjoyable is that the lead male, Hyun Jin-Heon, is not perfect. He can be a jerk and sometimes he really does stupid things. So I can identify with him. On one hand you want to see Hyun Jin-Heon and Kim Sam-Soon hook up…but that’s just bad programming (pun intended) by American TV making you feel that way. Right now, halfway through the series, I wouldn’t be bothered at all if Kim Sam-Soon ends up with Hyun Jin-Heon or someone else or nobody at all.

Another thing that strikes me as unique is they explore interpersonal relationships based on blood-type. For example, a B-positive person will react to different situations than an AB-positive or an O. This is comparable to American culture obsessing over the symbols of the Zodiac: Such as Geminis and Leos being a good match. The only other place I have seen this was in the game Star Wars Galaxies (LAG!!) where you could search for other players by blood-type.

The episodes are all about an actual hour long. Thus, commercials are not accounted for. They simply have a solid hour of writing and dialogue that is crisp and pertinent. They are never forced to write a five minute scene, or interrupt a critical point in the plot for a word from our sponsors.

This series reinforces the idea that American TV is pretty bad. The only reason anyone watches American TV at all is out of laziness.

All in all, I highly recommend viewing “My Lovely Sam-Soon” in any way you can. On the traditional 5-star scale, I give the series 4.5 stars. This is only because as a man I simply cannot award 5 stars to a romantic comedy-drama.