kdrama: Jeong Yak Yong (2009)
May. 27th, 2016 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreSomething about Jeong Jo's reign seems to inspire short sageuks. Or at least, 3 that I've watched (maybe 4...I can't recall when Joseon X-Files was set). Jeong Yak Yong is an 8 episode procedural sageuk about the titular Joseon Scholar. Framed for charges of corruption, JYJ is stripped of his official title and sent to by a minor official in a small province, where he promptly proceeds to start coming across murder investigations and helping/annoying the local police.
The cases tend to focus on social ills and abuses, and should probably include warnings for rape and suicide, and spousal abuse in the first episode. Nothing close to most US procedurals or "grim and gritty" shows in these regards, but moreso than most sageuks. I should mention it ISN'T a "grim and gritty" show-it's lighthearted when it comes to character interactions and serious with the cases and social issues. Aside from JYJ, the main characters and his partners are Seol Ran, a female police officer who is a baby social activist (and who JYJ has a crush on) and his bodyguard Moo Young, who doesn't actually have a lot of personality. His main job is to look pretty and save JYJ from getting killed a lot. And Seol Ran, sometimes, but she's less prone to needing it. There's also Seol Ran's boss, and thief JYJ occassionally employs, the mother and daughter who runs the inn he stays at, and a mentally ill young man who has latched on to JYJ. The supporting characters are largely used for comedic relief, sometimes well, sometimes not so well.
Since it's episodeic in nature, almost all the usual sageuk faces show up at some point. My favorite is the not-so-regular-in -sageuk guest appearance of Yoon Ji Min, who I loved in both Chuno and Warrior Baek Dong-Soo. I really wish she got more sageuk roles, or major roles in general. I found it hilarious that she was playing a well known and respected investigator here, since she played an assassin in her other sageuks, even though they came after.
Overall, I thought the series was pretty good, though I did briefly think I'd have to anti-rec it after something in the last episode, but it fixed that at the last minute.
The cases tend to focus on social ills and abuses, and should probably include warnings for rape and suicide, and spousal abuse in the first episode. Nothing close to most US procedurals or "grim and gritty" shows in these regards, but moreso than most sageuks. I should mention it ISN'T a "grim and gritty" show-it's lighthearted when it comes to character interactions and serious with the cases and social issues. Aside from JYJ, the main characters and his partners are Seol Ran, a female police officer who is a baby social activist (and who JYJ has a crush on) and his bodyguard Moo Young, who doesn't actually have a lot of personality. His main job is to look pretty and save JYJ from getting killed a lot. And Seol Ran, sometimes, but she's less prone to needing it. There's also Seol Ran's boss, and thief JYJ occassionally employs, the mother and daughter who runs the inn he stays at, and a mentally ill young man who has latched on to JYJ. The supporting characters are largely used for comedic relief, sometimes well, sometimes not so well.
Since it's episodeic in nature, almost all the usual sageuk faces show up at some point. My favorite is the not-so-regular-in -sageuk guest appearance of Yoon Ji Min, who I loved in both Chuno and Warrior Baek Dong-Soo. I really wish she got more sageuk roles, or major roles in general. I found it hilarious that she was playing a well known and respected investigator here, since she played an assassin in her other sageuks, even though they came after.
Overall, I thought the series was pretty good, though I did briefly think I'd have to anti-rec it after something in the last episode, but it fixed that at the last minute.