There’s something to be said for a drama that ends just the way you expected but manages to be satisfying just the same. Which doesn’t mean it was flawless (and I’ll discuss that later) but for the most part, I ended this series with a satisfied sigh. Despite having a second season planned for later this year, we get a nice wrap-up for the characters and a general sense of well-being for their future.
As I’ve said in practically every recap, I’ve really enjoyed Last Scandal. Now that we’re almost at the end, I don’t feel it would ruin anything to say that I found the ending satisfying and happy, which are the only two components (or, practically the only two) that I absolutely require in a romantic comedy.
However, that isn’t to say that the series is perfect, and every drama has its little blips here and there. There have been a few of those in Last Scandal that haven’t bothered me because the rest of the drama was so enjoyable, but Episode 15 is the first time I felt an actual sense of disappointment. I still found it very good, however, so without further ado…
MBC’s hit “ajumma Cinderella” drama The Last Scandal of My Life has been officially confirmed for a second season, to air on Wednesdays and Thursdays (moving from family-friendly weekends to prime trendy-drama territory) in October.
Not one to mess with a good thing, the production is keeping their talent pool intact, bringing back director Lee Tae Goon, writer Moon Hee Jung, and the two stars Choi Jin Shil and Jung Jun Ho. They’ve discussed the possibility of following this with seasons 3 and 4 (going for a more long-running, American serial feel, perhaps) if the second season proves to be a hit; the target ratings number given is 25%.
However — and this is what troubles me — apparently the characters’ occupations and situations are all undergoing a “change,” although the nature of those changes hasn’t been specified. Oh, please don’t muck this up, MBC.
Like I said, Episode 13 marked the darkest point in the series, which in the big picture isn’t even terribly dark, but it did sink Last Scandal into a pensive mood for an episode. But the producers certainly know where their success lies, and are quick to inject some humor and levity back into the storyline once the characters have some time to react to the issues of the previous installment.
SONG OF THE DAY
Lee Seung Chul - “안녕이라고 말하지마” (Don’t say goodbye). There’s something about Last Scandal that makes me nostalgic for old-school kpop music, which is probably because I first heard of Choi Jin Shil around the time I encountered K-pop culture as a kid. Lee Seung Chul is one of the all-time greats, writing, composing and performing live when most kpop was manufactured and processed and lip-synched (well, I guess some things don’t really change). Anyway, I love this song and its simple lyrics, which start, “Don’t make a sound, our love will fly away / Don’t move, our love will weaken / Don’t say a word, our love will be overheard / Don’t come near, our love will move farther away,” and continues in that vein. [ Download ]
Veteran actress Choi Jin Shil (40) (most recently of the romantic comedy/family drama The Last Scandal of My Life) — whom I love and have thought was adorable since I first saw her act in Jealousy in 1992 — has been granted the right to legally change her two children’s surnames from that of her ex-husband to her own. While this isn’t necessarily a rare occurrence, it’s a formerly impossible but now growing practice in a society that until very recently was strict in its application of Family Registry Law (the patriarchal system requiring children to be registered under the father’s name). (Women keep their names upon marriage in Korea, which I used to think was oddly forward-thinking, but which I’m now inclined to believe has more to do with keeping a woman as an outsider when she marries into her husband’s family.)
Following Choi Jin Shil’s 2004 divorce from baseball player Jo Sung Min, her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter will take her surname Choi. The court granted permission saying they based the decision on the fact that she’s been the childrearing parent for the past four years.
Choi explained she doesn’t intend to remarry, but as her ex-husband has remarried and she wants to live her own life, she wanted to her children to proudly bear her family name. (Apparently the kids didn’t see the occasion as a big deal; when she told them of the name change issue, they were expecting it as an obvious outcome.)
According to the article, 80% of applicants in cases like this involve divorced women who want to remarry, whose children will take on the last name of their stepfather. Those who intend to raise their children as single mothers make up the other 20%. A source with the court explained that in cases like Choi’s, the name change isn’t made to sever ties with the children’s biological fathers, but in affirmation of the care their mother has provided and an assurance of that relationship. (In ye olden days, the rigidity of Confucian-based values favored men and gave many women the shaft in regards to family relationships, their children and custody. Recent law changes are expanding women’s rights and giving them more freedom, although the changes are still new and the shifts bound to be gradual.)
Episode 13 is probably the most serious episode of the series, and perhaps appropriately so given the subject of the current plot. It continues some of the relationship reversals begun in the previous episode and we have some more solid acting all around (although I think Byun Jung Soo as Na Yoon is a marked cut below the others). And thankfully, although the gravity of the situation is a necessary development, the drama doesn’t remain mired in gloom for too long.
SONG OF THE DAY
Lee Eun Mi - “사랑하다는 말” (Saying I love you) [ Download ]
