Que Sera Sera

Cast:
Eric Moon as Kang Tae Joo
Jung Yoo Mi as Han Eun Soo
Yoon Ji Hye as Cha Hye Lin
Lee Kyu Han as Shin Joon Hyuk
Lee Eun Song as Han Ji Soo (Eun Soo's sister)
Geum Bo Ra as Eun Soo's mother

(Warning: contains spoilers)

The main leads in this drama are two couples who are in love with each other, yet driven apart by circumstances to go with the other. Tae Joo and Eun Soo are in love, yet because of circumstances and material needs they are apart. The other couple, Joon Hyuk and Hye Lin, are drawn apart because Hye Lin's father harbours a guilt over the death of Joon Hyuk's father since he was partly responsible for not lifting a hand to save the latter when he slipped and fell off from high ground. Though he knows Hye Lin is in love with Joon Hyuk he would not allow them to marry because he does not want his daughter to be hurt at the end. He considers Joon Hyuk a "time bomb" and he fears that Joon Hyuk will turn revengeful in future when he knows the truth about his father's death. Joon Hyuk is pretty much family with Hye Lin because he was brought up by Hye Lin's parents after his father died.

Kang Tae Joo, a ladies man, is not rich but likes the material stuff in life - money and fast cars. He first met Han Eun Soo when she came looking for her sister, Ji Soo (Lee Eun Song). Eun Soo, a naive and simple lady, with a horrible looking hairstyle, falls in love with Tae Joo first and expresses that love. Tae Joo is accepting of her but when Hye Lin's proposal to provide him with whatever he wants comes his way (money, car, house and eventually the control of his father's business), he rescinds his attachment to Eun Soo and carries on a relationship with Hye Lin.

Eun Soo, however, is not without her suitor. Joon Hyuk, having accepted the fact that he cannot marry Hye Lin, falls for Eun Soo. As the story goes, all four work in the same company. Joon Hyuk, who is a capable young man helming the organisation for Hye Lin's father, gets worried when Tae Joo joins since all that he had built up in the past could crumple down to nothing if Tae Joo, by virtue that he is Hye Lin's husband, could become the head of the company. At one point, he remembers how his father died and is angry and disappointed with Hye Lin's father.

Kudos and Flaws
The kissing scenes at the beginning were just superb, be they between Tae Joo and Eun Soo, or between Joon Hyuk and Hye Lin, or between Tae Joo and Hye Lin, or between Joon Hyuk and Eun Soo. However, as the drama unfolds, the kissing scenes somehow stopped. There are times that I thought kissing is appropriate but no, these scenes did not happen, which is a bit of a disappointment. I mean, when couples are (really) in love, why don't they kiss and make up? Why was there so much kissing when the couples are mere friends and when they become serious with each other, the kissing and lovey-dovey expression of love stop.

The first kissing scene between Tae Joo and Eun Soo in the lift is so spontaneous and romantic. Eun Soo even asked for it "one more time".

Another kissing scene worth mentioning is the one between Joon Hyuk and Eun Soo at a social event. It was unexpected and Joon Hyuk takes the bite and returns Eun Soo's kiss. Aside from the lack of kissing scenes as the story unfolds, there are other scenes that irk me. For example, I find it unrealistic that an audio speaker that falls from a height did not break Eun Soo's skull, or at least hurt her to some degree.

Another obvious flaw was a night scene at a bar and hey presto, the next minute we find that Joon Hyuk has taken Eun Soo out on his small plane. How could night turn into day so fast? Clearly a flaw on the part of the writer or the Director?

The drama is shot in part in Singapore but being Singaporean, I think my country is poorly depicted. Singapore is by and large Chinese but alas, they chose to show a small part of "Little India" in Singapore. I was also disappointed at the choice of a small boutique hotel, The Scarlett, which is not truly five-star Singaporean. I shuddered when I watched that the visitors had to carry their own luggage up to their rooms! No help? No porters? Singapore is a service-oriented multi-cultural and beautiful city, so what's depicted in this drama is a far cry from the real thing. I would prefer if they had shown other facets of this beautiful garden city, like our lovely multi-racial people, trees and greenery, food courts, eateries and more popular restaurants and our popular shopping centres.

Another awkward scene happened while the couples, Tae Joo, Eun Soo, Joon Hyuk and Hye Lin, are in Singapore. Why did the Director get an expatriate to act as a thief and later have him accused Eun Soo of theft? Expats in Singapore are respected and "upmarket", so again here, the storyline is not real. The writer should have done better research about the people in Singapore, our lifestyle and our culture.

When Joon Hyuk and Eun Soo got married, there should be no excuse for Tae Joo, then Hye Lin's fiancee, to be absent from such an important occasion. A business trip is the weakest link for an excuse. Note that Tae Joo then is working in the company so what urgent business does he has that cannot be cancelled in view that one of his family member is getting married.

Joon Hyuk's character is neither here nor there - not bad, yet not trusting. He wants to do bad, yet has a heart. Therefore this prevents him from going the whole length to wreck the business of his foster father. He likes Hye Lin, yet is able to drop her in an instant. He loves Eun Soo, yet is unable to forget her past. Rather than trying to sort things out and start life anew elsewhere with Eun Soo, he chooses to accept the "wall" that divides them.

I watched the drama in Mandarin but the translation into English is so bad I want to offer my service to translate for these Korean dramas! Email me if you need a Chinese-English translator. Ha ha.

Actors
Eric Moon as Kang Tae Joo cuts a highly confident hunk who thinks of himself as handsome and that ladies swoon at his feet. In the end, however, he faces up to reality and realises that he cannot go on hurting the people he loves and the people who love him. Eric Moon is all right in this role - cheeky and charming, but he looks haggard and very tired at the end when the drama ends.

Jung Yoo Mi as Eun Soo is naive and simple. Her hairstyle is atrocious, downright ugly. She only looks pretty in one scene - when she accompanies Joon Hyuk to a social event. That scene had her in a pretty dress with coiffured hair. Other than that scene, that poor girl didn't have someone to style her hair, not even when she was trying her wedding dress nor on her wedding day! This seems so "unfair" since Yoon Ji Hye as Hye Lin is so beautifully dressed all the time. Sure, Hye Lin is depicted as a rich lady with airs but I think Jung Yoo Mi should have been given a chance to look good especially when she begins work in the company. After all, as Eun Soo she is supposed to be interested in merchandising, so surely she would have picked up some fashion flair after a while. With that kind of dressing (even at work!) and hairstyle, how could Tae Joo, a ladies man, fall in love with her?

My gripes with Eun Soo's dressing and hair go beyond. I think her mum (Geum Bo Ra), though poor, dresses better than her. I also think that it cheapens her each time she asks a man if he is interested in her. It clearly shows she is inexperienced and is hard up for it.

Yoon Ji Hye as Hye Lin is luckier in that she gets to wear the best dresses and has lots of changes of fashionable clothes. She oozes a certain amount of charm and from her acting, I get a sense of a hot-blooded rich spoilt brat. Her acting calls for improvement though. Beyond her eyes and pout, she needs to acquire a wider repertoire of expressions.

Joon Hyuk, though portrayed as capable, is weak. He has all the opportunity to dress in suits, but alas, Lee Kyu Han, as Joon Hyuk, needs to fatten up so he can look good in the suits. Otherwise, at closeups, he just looks too skinny and without authority. Men in suits do look sauve when they have broad shoulders. As head of the company, Joon Hyuk does portray a manly and decisive style. However, as the drama unfolds, he becomes all whiny and untrusting. I cringed at his attempts to cry. The saving grace is that Joon Hyuk realises at the end that he cannot "possess" Eun Soo's heart and love. He understands that the "wall" between him and Eun Soo will always be present. The "wall" refers to Eun Soo and Tae Joo's love for, and familiarity with, each other.

Lee Eun Song as Han Ji Soo (Eun Soo's sister) is a forgettable character. Weak and sickly she is not given much opportunity to portray a range of expressions, except for being wide-eyed and innocent.

Is the drama worth your time? I guess yes in that this romance comedy is not the cry-till-your-heart-aches type of drama. It does have an ending, albeit it could have ended on a more romantic and unforgettable note. Storyline definitely has its flaws but then this is celluloid. The actors are not great looking but then their characters have a charm and life of their own.