Early Access: Melancholia E1

E1. Well, just based on this first episode alone, I'd say that I'm.. intrigued, enough to want to see what else Show has in store, and what story Show wants to tell.

To be honest, there are a number of things in here, that push Show into the category of drama that I wouldn't normally reach for. The biggest one being, I am terrible at math, and always struggled with it, when I was in school. 😝

Math and I are.. the opposite of soulmates, and Show does this thing, where it portrays math as something magical and wondrous. The dramatic, thrill-enhancing music whenever some Math Magic is happening, is something that I'm still getting used to. Right now, I find it distracting (and almost jarring, if I'm being honest), because of my strained relationship with math. However, I think that there's a reasonably good chance that I'll get used to this, and not end up holding it against Show, for distracting me with it.

Another thing is, I am not a huge fan of Im Soo Jung. I didn't enjoy her very much in Chicago Typewriter, though I found her fine in Search: WWW. So far, I don't dislike her character Yoon Su, but I do find that I need a bit more time, to get used to her.

There's something about Yoon Su that dances on the fine line between pure innocence and annoyingly naive, that I think I will need some time to come to terms with. I think Show wants to portray her as someone who's very pure-hearted and idealistic, and who's so borderline genius in her affinity for math, that she's a little handicapped in the everyday things of life.

I get the idea that Show is going for, and while my drama instincts protest that this feels like some kind of cliché, I can't deny that a friend of mine, who's brilliant at music and who's made teaching music her career, is kind of like that. She's absolutely accomplished and very excellent at all the music stuff, and yet, is prone to making mistakes in daily living that most people would consider silly, kinda like Yoon Su's ability to basically forget her personal belongings on the train, this episode.

Therefore, because I personally know someone who's like this, I'm telling myself that I really ought to embrace Yoon Su as she is.

Last but not least, I was not prepared for the luxury high school setting that Show serves up. I mean, I knew, going in, that at least part of our story takes place in high school, so that's not the surprise. It's the kind of high school that kind of throws me. It reminds me of SKY Castle, where all the kids are from well-to-do families, and their parents are extremely involved in their academic journeys, and they're all armed with ambition up to the gills.

It just.. wasn't what I was expecting, and it's taking me a while to adjust my lens and expectations, to accommodate this setting, which I don't exactly find myself in the mood for.

Outweighing ALL of that, though, is Lee Do Hyun in this.

I came for Lee Do Hyun, and he does not disappoint in the least. Immediately, it's becoming clear that his character Seung Yoo is gifted, and might have some savant-like tendencies, in terms of his social awkwardness. At the same time, it's also becoming clear that there's some kind of trauma in his past, that has caused him to want to divorce himself from the math prodigy label, even though he's definitely still interested in math itself.

The way Lee Do Hyun plays Seung Yoo, there are layers of reticence and sadness, as well as lashings of defiance and intensity. It's really, really good, and I'm immediately intrigued. I want to know more about Seung Yoo, and what makes him tick, and what had happened to him, to leave him so determined to distance himself from the math prodigy label. I'm also curious to see what kind of healing path Show has in store for him, because surely that's part of our story, right?

It's coming together in my head, that the connection between Yoon Su and Seung Yoo in this story, sounds pretty similar to the connection between the leads in Secret Love Affair. In SLA, it's a shared passion for music that connects our two leads, while here, it's going to be a shared passion for math. In both shows, the male lead is a young prodigy, while the female lead is in a teacher sort of role.

That said, I don't want to make any assumptions about the story that Show wants to tell. Just because SLA deals with a romantic relationship, doesn't necessarily mean that this show will too, after all? And even if it does, the treatment might be different enough, to make this an interesting study on its own.

I'm curious to see how Show intends to tease out the connection between our leads, and how Show plans to treat their relationship, going forward.

Aside from our leads, I do find our supporting characters pretty interesting, right off the bat.

The one who grabs my attention most, is Jin Kyung as Director of School Affairs, Noh Jung A. I'd last seen Jin Kyung as Head Nurse Oh in Dr. Romantic, so it's really quite fascinating, to see her in such a powerful, amoral sort of role. The way Director Noh carries herself, is like some kind of slinky, wily cat. Her purrs are soft, but her claws are sharp - is what I'm getting from her, so far. I feel like she's going to be a bit of a scene-stealer, in this show.

Pyeon Jung Su is also doing a great job of playing Ye Rin's glamorous, beautiful, but perhaps not very sharp mother. I find her quite entertaining, in all her shallow glory.

And then there's Choi Dae Hoon, who's Yoon Su's fiancé. So far, he appears perfectly pleasant and harmless, but I do wonder if there's more to him than meets the eye, judging from his private meeting with Ye Rin's father, Assemblyman Sung, and the Vice Minister.

On top of that, is the tension underlying the entire high school existence, with Ye Rin's experience taking the spotlight. She's clearly being pressured to perform above her natural aptitude, and Director Noh even tells her outright, that she has to keep up her pretense well, so that the other kids don't clue in to the fact that she's not as good as they think she is. I can only imagine the kind of psychological damage that's doing to Ye Rin, and we're only at the start of our story.

All that to say, I'm cautiously optimistic about this one, and am interested enough, to stick with this, at least for the next little while.

Next episode notes will be out on: Friday, 3 Dec 2021!

*This show will be covered on the VVIP Early Access (US$20) Tier*