Camelot
New York
Crash Landing on You is a fun and lighthearted drama, perfect for anyone who wants to take a break from thinking and just relax for an hour. The cast was adorable and their dynamics, whether of rivalry, friendship, or love, were believable and well fleshed out. I thoroughly enjoyed this drama and that may lead one to question why I've given it a relatively average score. While I feel Crash Landing succeeded in its attempts at lightheartedness it's premise was simply too ridiculous to ignore.
The idea of a South Korean woman being blown into North Korea by a freak tornado is in itself slightly out there, but no more so than some of the more unique premises found in other kdramas. Where the premise veers into the absurd is how our North Korean lead and his subordinates reacted to her arrival. And even more absurd is how our second female lead, Seo Dan, who dislikes SeRi from the moment she meets her also seems to willingly risk it all to keep her true identity as a South Korean secret. It was simply asking too far a stretch of my imagination to think that North Korean soldiers would welcome a South Korean with open arms and relatively easy acceptance. All of the plans and attempts to return SeRi to South Korea were also simply preposterous. I found myself laughing at times because of just how silly everything was which greatly cheapened the more serious moments in the show.
All that said, the cast was the absolute highlight of the show. Hyun Bin was amazing as Ri JungHyuk. He captured a more subdued quiet man's character without coming off as brooding. This alone is a feat as there is already an overabundance of brooding males in dramaland. The subtle variety to the strong silent type Hyun Bin offered through his acting was refreshing yet simple. Son YeJin as Yoon SeRi provided much-needed balance to JungHyuk's calm by being quite over the top with many of her emotions. She was funny and strong-headed while also having moments of sadness and anger. It was amazing how she got on so well in North Kore but as her strength of character was well developed beforehand it made it all very easy to believe. She too was a delight that made even the more ridiculous moments of the show enjoyable.
Overall this drama was like a light little snack: easy to digest but satisfyingly filling all the same.
The idea of a South Korean woman being blown into North Korea by a freak tornado is in itself slightly out there, but no more so than some of the more unique premises found in other kdramas. Where the premise veers into the absurd is how our North Korean lead and his subordinates reacted to her arrival. And even more absurd is how our second female lead, Seo Dan, who dislikes SeRi from the moment she meets her also seems to willingly risk it all to keep her true identity as a South Korean secret. It was simply asking too far a stretch of my imagination to think that North Korean soldiers would welcome a South Korean with open arms and relatively easy acceptance. All of the plans and attempts to return SeRi to South Korea were also simply preposterous. I found myself laughing at times because of just how silly everything was which greatly cheapened the more serious moments in the show.
All that said, the cast was the absolute highlight of the show. Hyun Bin was amazing as Ri JungHyuk. He captured a more subdued quiet man's character without coming off as brooding. This alone is a feat as there is already an overabundance of brooding males in dramaland. The subtle variety to the strong silent type Hyun Bin offered through his acting was refreshing yet simple. Son YeJin as Yoon SeRi provided much-needed balance to JungHyuk's calm by being quite over the top with many of her emotions. She was funny and strong-headed while also having moments of sadness and anger. It was amazing how she got on so well in North Kore but as her strength of character was well developed beforehand it made it all very easy to believe. She too was a delight that made even the more ridiculous moments of the show enjoyable.
Overall this drama was like a light little snack: easy to digest but satisfyingly filling all the same.
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