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Heirs: Episode 1

Finally—and I mean FINALLY—we see the premiere of the most-hyped drama of the year, Heirs: He Who Wears the Crown, Endure Its Weight, which for purposes of efficiency and just plain sense we will be calling, simply, Heirs.

My biggest concern about Heirs would that it would be all hype, no follow-through. All talk, no action. All big names, no plotular significance. With the massive promo machine accompanying this drama—which got going about seven months in advance of its premiere, which is approximately six months more than the average other drama—you had to wonder if they were building it up to a fever pitch that no reasonable drama would be able to match in execution.

My reaction to the premiere: Measured optimism. I liked it. I know, I’m a little surprised that I did, but also relieved because I was pretty much going to watch this drama regardless. I see flashes of promise here and there, in between the parade of stars and starlets, poking its head out from behind the wall of embarrassing English. (I can NOT wait for the show to head back to Korea.) There are hints at emotional depth and layered characters—well, some of them, but as the ones I refer to are mainly the principal cast I think we’re fine on that score. And perhaps most importantly for a romantic comedy, I really like the leads together. There’s acting talent on both sides, individually, as well as character warmth and depth, and then you add in chemistry to the mix and I think we’re looking at a potential sensation. Just a hunch.

Okay, enough dithering. On to the show!

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Hong-ki – “말이야” from the Heirs OST. [ Download ]

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EPISODE 1 RECAP

Southern California coastline. Our hero surfs the day away with his buddies, laughing it up and looking light-hearted. And then… a broody shower scene on the beach. HAHA. I dunno whatchoo got to be so angsty about, uber-rich teenager hero-manchild, but the music and mood tells us he is Very Serious On the Inside about something.

May as well introduce him off the bat: This is 18-year-old KIM TAN (pronounced tahn and not, say, like the English word tan. He’s played by Lee Min-ho, but you either knew that already or this is your first drama ever).

His narration tells us of the parting words with which his older brother sent him abroad to the States, so blunt and succinct: No need to get good grades, just have fun and live lightly. “People with money just eat and play—they don’t bother with dreams,” he’d said. “If possible, don’t even come back.”

And thus Tan realized that his study abroad was more like exile, and that his cold older brother was staking his claim on what he thought Tan might steal from him. Hyung’s name is KIM WON (Choi Jin-hyuk), and at 31 he’s the president of Jeguk (Empire) Group. Their father is the Jeguk chairman and Tan its future heir. But while there’s no literal throne at stake here, royalty seems an apt metaphor: There’s only one crown in this family, and Big Bro’s gonna wear it.

Tan sits at a cafe and is served by a waitress who speaks to him in Korean. (Why hello there, Yoon Jin-seo, what are you doing in Heirs?) Overacting American Friend asks how Tan feels about his family relationships, or rather his lack of them. Doesn’t it sting that nobody’s on his side? Tan just looks around idly and thinks, “I’m too lazy to hate anyone.”

Next we meet CHOI YOUNG-DO (Kim Woo-bin), hotel heir and Big Man on Campus back in Seoul. He bullies a hapless fellow student with a baseball while his lackeys snicker. Aw, why you gotta be an asshole, Woo-bin-ah? His good cheer makes his actions all the more chilling, because everything is laced with underlying menace.

But more than being hit by the ball or mocked, the sense of terror comes from Young-do’s icy reminder that no matter what the victim does, his fate is sealed: His life will continue to be this way forever, and one day these bullies will be his employers.

Young-do gives the guy props for standing up to him, then leaves with a pleasant “See ya after vacation.” Behind him, his sidekicks start the beating.

Young-do drops by a motorcycle shop, where our heroine drops in to deliver a food order. She’s CHA EUN-SANG (Park Shin-hye), a no-nonsense high school student who won’t take crap from anyone (yay for that), calling the cops right away when a couple of the shop ajusshis harass her for a date. The ajusshi hastily backs the hell off, and she marches out to make her next delivery. She catches Young-do’s eye, at least for a moment.

As though we weren’t sure she were a poor Candy girl, she’s got a whole string of part-time jobs. Her friend drops by the cafe where she works; he’s YOON CHAN-YOUNG (Kang Min-hyuk), a platonic childhood buddy who has a girlfriend and encourages Eun-sang to find herself a boyfriend. She scoffs that any time spent not earning money is a waste. Chan-young eyes her with pity, though I’d say Eun-sang has no use for his pity. I do like that about her.

Then, a shrill voice orders Chan-young to look elsewhere—ha, this is the girlfriend, and right away we can tell she’s the high-maintenance type. Her name’s LEE BO-NA (Krystal), she’s an heir (to Mega Entertainment), and she shoots Eun-sang a glare, ordering her to stop flirting with her boyfriend.

Eun-sang is used to Bo-na’s possessive nature and has perfected the way to disarm her fuse with wry nonpliments about how Bo-na’s plenty pretty and how Eun-sang is too busy for this. I get the sense that Bo-na knows she’s being mocked but isn’t quite smart enough to figure out how (it’s all in the tone). Haha. I’m liking Eun-sang more and more.

Bo-na drags Chan-young away, griping about how much she hates Eun-sang. He assures her that they’re buddies, and Bo-na snaps that guys and girls can’t be “just friends.”

Eun-sang launches into her own set of complaints about Bo-na on the phone, although her rant goes unheard by her unni. On the other end of the line, unni is having a fight with her boyfriend in English—ah, this is Yoon Jin-seo. Ignoring the terrrrible English (cringe cringe), unni calls the guy trash. The guy slaps her in the face and says, and I quote, “Bitch get out of my house.”

On her way home, Eun-sang gets caught in the rain and pauses under an awning, where the dreamcatchers in the storefront catch her eye and bring a smile to her face.

Chan-young is on good terms with his father, as we witness as they cook dinner together and chat about his upcoming plans to move to the States. Bo-na insists on following him there, but he hasn’t had a chance to tell Eun-sang yet, with her up to her neck in part-time jobs. As for Eun-sang’s mother, well, Dad refers to her as “the center of power for Jeguk Group”…

…in the sense that she is the Jeguk family housekeeper. She’s also mute, writing her responses on a notepad she carries with her. Mom is warned that the madam of the house is emotional tonight, given that her son (Tan) is ignoring her calls.

Madam Han is on rather rocky terms with stepson Won; when told he has arrived, she downs her wine before he can see her—for whatever reason, she’s not allowed to drink. Hm, so she’s the lady of the house but Won has power over her. That’s interesting, and rather sageuk-like.

Mom scrambles to hide the wineglass for her employer when Won appears. He barely spares a glance for his stepmother as he coldly orders his room cleaned again. Madam Han orders a replacement wine bottle sent to her room, forgoing dinner: “If I were able to swallow any food after suffering this indignity, I’d be a concubine.” So perhaps the sageuk allusions are intentional, then.

Mom wraps up the mistress’s dinner to take home to Eun-sang, telling her that eating and surviving is the most important thing so she should just take it without complaints. Eun-sang says with a bite to her voice, “Is it my fault we live like this?” Is that resentment I hear?

Eun-sang stomps to her tiny room and tearfully blames her sister for leaving them to live in comfort on her own (she’s supposedly going to college in California, though I have my doubts). Then Mom gives her a bankbook to send a large chunk of funds to America—unni is getting married.

Eun-sang is awash in curiosity over her sister’s impending marriage, while Mom is content to stay out of it. She won’t go to the States for the wedding lest they dampen unni’s image, either. Eun-sang says defiantly that they’re not blots on unni’s character, and a slip of the tongue reveals that Eun-sang carries resentment for her sister running away from home. Ah, the subtext is that Eun-sang was left behind in poverty while unni skipped off into the sunset. So rather than wiring that money overseas, Eun-sang says she’ll deliver it in person.

Marriage is also the issue for another of our rich folks, YOO RACHEL (Kim Ji-won), heir to RS International, whose mother announces that she’ll be getting remarried. Rachel balks but Mom breezily tells her to prepare to meet her new daddy.

Rachel is dragged along to lunch, as is the son of her stepfather-to-be, whom we’ve already met as the bullying badass Young-do. Both teenagers sulk in silence while their parents chat pleasantly, occasionally letting out a scoff or sneer. And then Young-do brings the conversation to a screeching halt with the comment, “My sister is exactly my style.” Ha. Oh no you di’n’t.

Young-do’s rudeness earns him a slap to the face (now we see where he got his violent streak) and he leaves the room. Rachel follows him out, though it’s not out of any warm and fuzzy feelings, as she informs Young-do that she’s as opposed to their parents marrying as he is. However, she notes that he probably hates it more, since she is engaged to Kim Tan. And if both weddings happen as planned, then Tan becomes Young-do’s bro-in-law. Aw, is that too much ego for one family?

She think she’s got him all sized up, but Young-do surprises her: “I never said I hated this marriage.” He calls marriage in their class a business merger and points out that her mother holds a number of shares in Jeguk Group: “Who will end up with those?” His words cast a shadow over her face—does he have a point?

Eun-sang works yet another job scrubbing dishes, a Sisyphean task that comes close to cracking her composure today. When her boss asks about her school vacation plans, she answers frankly that she’s going to the States and doesn’t plan to return: “Unni getting married means she doesn’t intend to return to Korea, and that means I’m stuck forever washing dishes and living with my mother.” Leaving is an escape plan she’s been dreaming of for the past ten years.

She packs her things, putting away some blank notebooks for Mom’s use. Eun-sang flips through one of the used ones on the shelf, and the messages weigh down her heart—it’s all stuff like “I’m sorry madam” and “Please don’t be angry, madam.” She cries silently while flipping through the pages, and writes a message in a fresh book: “I’m sorry, Mom. I’ll make something of myself and send for you. Wait just a little.”

Rachel plans a trip to California to see Tan, and while packing she and her mother bicker back and forth some more about Mom’s marriage. Basically her mother offers to cut her free (read: cut her off from her inheritance), and that gets Rachel to back down from her teenage rebelliousness.

Back in his beachfront estate, Tan ignores his calls from Rachel while narrating to us that at first, he’d thought of using his exile to rebel against his brother. But ultimately he ended up taking his advice and living easily, not thinking about too much.

Tan tells Overacting Surfer Bro-Dude that it’s his engagement anniversary, and the exceedingly uncomfortable English conversation at least provides us with one winner. Friend: “You look like none of that is a good thing.” Tan: “No, I always look this good.” (God, these California scenes make me cringe down to my soul. I’ll be so glad when they go back to Seoul.)

Eun-sang lands at LAX with a bit of wide-eyed little-girl-in-the-big-city nervousness. She clutches a page of carefully written notes as she makes her way outside, where she spots Rachel curbside answering a call in Korean. Rachel’s obviously lying (about Tan coming to pick her up and complimenting her about getting prettier), and Eun-sang smiles a bit to herself.

Rachel gets offended and calls her out on it, and after a failed attempted to pretend to be Japanese, Eun-sang apologizes. It wasn’t a mocking smile, though, she assures her—rather, she felt a sense of solidarity for not being the only one to land without a welcoming presence. That just rubs it in more for Rachel, whose mood darkens further.

More surfing. Eun-sang arrives on the pier and notices Tan briefly before continuing on her way. But when she arrives at the address, she’s puzzled at the rundown house and sketchy neighborhood. A sleazy duo answer the door, and Eun-sang fumbles for her English phrasebook. The guy hazards a guess and says her name—must’ve heard it from her sister at some point.

Eun-sang is let in and looks aghast at the frankly disgusting house. The floozy stomps out in a huff and Eun-sang asks the guy about her sister Stella. He laughs at the idea of them getting married and says unni doesn’t go to school, and Eun-sang demands to know where she is.

Tan turns down his friends’ invitation to party hardy, choosing instead to get introspective over his journal at his usual cafe. (“It’s when I’m writing that I think about the fact that I am thinking.”) It’s where Stella unni works, and she chats briefly with him before leaving him to write about how writing makes him think the thoughts that his brother told him not to think. Yeah, it’s all a bit meta, but everybody needs their phase of angsty adolescent journaling, right?

Back at Jeguk Group, Won heads a board meeting where he receives bad news about lower than expected sales for their premium shopping malls. In a nutshell, this scene tells us: (1) President Hyung is a hardass, (2) President Hyung has a tense relationship with Chairman Dad, who technically runs the company though he doesn’t come to work on a daily basis. Not that he needs to—he has eyes and ears in the company reporting to him, behind Won’s back. Hence the tension. Oh, and (3) Chan-young’s friendly dad is one of the board members and looks to be aligned with Chairman Kim, rather than Won.

Back on the beach, Tan looks up and notices Eun-sang on the boardwalk with her suitcase, looking out of place. She spots her sister inside the cafe as unni manages customer leers and accepts their tips. Gahhhh, this ain’t no strip club people. I know this is a Korean drama and not an American one, but aughhhh.

Tan clocks Eun-sang’s upset reaction as Stella flirts with another customer (who asks her to “work for me tonight, you know, work”). He stares at her intently, so intently that it’s actually rather moving, and that’s how Stella finally notices her sister standing there.

The sisters face off on the boardwalk and Eun-sang confronts unni with all the made-up stories of a good school and wonderful fiancé. Unni looks abashed to be caught in her lies, but that doesn’t stop her from opening up her sister’s suitcase right then and there to look for the money.

Eun-sang bursts out that unni was her last hope in this goddamned miserable world, and that she was just hanging in there with mom waiting for her to come back. Unni says sorry, but asks for a pass this time and goes rummaging for that cash.

Eun-sang warns her sister not to dare touch that cash, the money Mom worked so hard to collect, but unni wrests it away and tells her to hurry home. Eun-sang cries after her not to leave, but unni grabs the money and dashes. So Eun-sang is left sobbing over her suitcase crying for her sister to wait for her, and Tan watches sympathetically.

Cringeworthy Surfer Friend pops by to lure Tan away to a party (please make him stop talking, won’t somebody make him stop?). This is when I mute my screen and read the Korean subtitles, because goddamn is this bad. Surfer Brah sees Eun-sang crying and jumps to play wingman, helping her with her things. He calls her a fallen angel and fawns over her, then grabs one of her plastic bags from the suitcase and starts running. Wait, does he think those are drugs? Ha, I do enjoy Eun-sang’s reaction: “On top of everything else, am I being robbed?!”

She chases him onto the beach while he giggles and runs around like a little fiendish Rumplestiltskin, until he runs face-first into a volleyball net and goes down. You twat. Eun-sang tries to grab the plastic bag out of his hands, because it’s a grain powder her mother made for her sister, and the powder goes flying everywhere. And up Surfer Dude’s nose, from the looks of it, as he begins to gag and gurgle.

Tan rushes to his side and recognizes that his buddy’s in trouble. A trip to the emergency room assures them that he’ll be fine, despite his allergic reaction to the beans in the powder. Annoyed, Tan asks what the heck she was doing carrying around that powder, and Eun-sang gets indignant—she was the one robbed.

He stalks off in annoyance, leaving Eun-sang to confront a disapproving-looking cop on her own. In her broken English she tries to explain what her grain powder is, but the cop gives her the hardline—where does she live, are they drugs, is she underage, is she illegal? Ah, so many hot-button American political issues, boiled down into an embarrassing cliche soup of a character.

Then Tan comes strolling up and slings an arm around her shoulder, telling the cop she’s cool, she’s just his girlfriend. And of course Tan is on a first-name basis with the officer, who knows enough of Tan’s checkered history to say that they’ll definitely have to look into it with Tan involved. He confiscates Eun-sang’s passport to hold until they’ve investigated.

Of course Eun-sang doesn’t have a place to stay and no cell phone, though she considers calling her sister. Tan points out that it’s not likely that’ll happen given their huge blowup, and she asks for a ride and his phone, offering to pay for every imposition. He points out her money fixation: “Are you rich?” She mumbles, “It’s because I’m afraid you’ll leave.” Aw, that’s not the answer he was expecting, from his expression.

He drives her to unni’s ramshackle house and waits while she knocks on the door. No answer. She supposes she can wait here till unni shows, and he points out exasperatedly how very naive that is. Fine, do as she wants, he says, and drives off.

Eun-sang huddles on the stoop as a group of rowdy guys spot her and make a few catcalls before thankfully moving on. She decides she can’t stay here and starts to walk off nervously… and Tan’s car comes screeching back. YOU BIG SOFTIE.

“Want to go to my house?” he asks.

 
COMMENTS

There are a lot of characters to get through, and we’ve only gotten through maybe half the main cast. So this first episode presents a lot of setup, and there are a lot of names and relationships to get straight. I do think Heirs does a pretty good job with the introductions, in that I wasn’t frantically flipping through character charts and writing notes to myself to keep everyone straight. (That could be helped by the fact that the setup is, despite all the frills, a very basic one.)

I do have reservations about this writer, but I don’t doubt her ability to create witty dialogue and compelling character relationships, and Heirs has that touch. It also has a nice stylistic moodiness woven in and out of scenes, which I like; we’re given glimpses into characters’ inner lives that belie their outer circumstances, and I like that. A lot. Like how Tan is on the surface a troublemaking rich kid who does nothing but party, but that there’s an internal pull to resist that shell that’s expected of him. More on that in a second.

One of my reservations about the writer is that while she is very good at making hit dramas that start with sparkling romantic banter and are later sprinkled in melo angst (or drowned, in some cases), sometimes I feel like her writing is of a different era. As in, an older, less narratively sophisticated one. Her dramas are all modern gloss, but the themes and conflicts sometimes feel like they belong a couple generations back. It’s actually for this reason that I hoped Heirs might offer something fresh, because by making her characters younger, it actually works with those limitations. In a drama about independent thirtysomething careerwomen, you wonder why they can’t just get over the angst and either make up or break up. But youthful passion mixed with the idea that you don’t quite know yourself yet, that you’re still struggling to make it in the Real World? I think it works.

Heirs actually works on a secondary level for me, and that’s in its invocation of the whole royalty theme. They could have played it as a one-off metaphor and left it there, but as the episode unfolded I felt like I was watching a modernized sageuk drama, and I really liked that.

Consider the family at the center: You have the older chairman on his way out, still in charge but leaving the day-to-day business dealings to his ambitious and competent older son. The drama proper hasn’t outlined the exact family relationships yet but the character descriptions tell us that older brother Won is the son of the first wife, who died when he was young. There was a second wife who has since divorced Dad, and now Madam Han is the young new mistress of the house. The concubine, if you will, who has the safety of a son-heir (Tan), but not eternal security for as long as Tan is not registered under her name in the official family registry. That keeps her as an outsider, and she’s putting all her hopes in Tan to grow up, take over the corporation, and change that registry. Taken on its own I might consider the conflict a bit simplistic (archaic even), but seen as a reimagined Joseon-esque power struggle, I actually dig it.

It also explains the brotherly strife, in having the elder son protecting his interests by keeping his younger brother out of the picture. Tan currently has little power, but he could choose to be a rival should he exert himself… so hyung makes sure to keep him far away and occupied with frivolous pursuits. Sound like a few sageuks you’ve seen? Quite a compelling setup.

As for our hero: Who else is glad he’s not the raving asshole (however entertaining) that this writer loves to make popular? I found the heroes of Secret Garden and A Gentleman’s Dignity lots of fun, but when I heard we were getting more chaebols I feared we’d be getting more of the same, and I’m tired of that. Granted, there’s plenty of room for Tan to show some snobbery, but I like that already he’s got some depths—which is particularly interesting because he’s been encouraged not to have them.

I like that his proclivity is to actually be studious and serious, and that the playboy persona seems put-upon, like it’s the only thing he can do with his life. It reminds me a bit of Hong Gil Dong or other stories of disenfranchised heroes who find their preferred paths barred to them by society… although I do suppose it’s a bit perverse in this scenario to have a man of such overwhelming privilege feeling shackled by it. Cry me a freakin’ river, right? Still, it’s a twist on the expected, and so I welcome it.

I am NOT a fan of making Eun-sang such a typical Candy character, because haven’t we hit the ceiling on what you can do with that same ole character? Please prove me wrong on this, but I don’t expect the show to do anything exceptional with her storyline. On the other hand, at least if it had to be done, you got an actress like Park Shin-hye who could make you care about her, who injects some sass into the role anyway.

Most of all, I’m excited about the romance, because there was something about the way Tan looks at Eun-sang that hooked me good. It got me invested right away, and while Lee Min-ho has had his ups and downs as an actor and romantic lead, I am SO READY to fall in love with him… and moreover, to fall in love with him falling in love. C’mon Heirs, be good. You can dooooo eeeeeet!

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Thanks!

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well, I thank the recaps a hundred times cause I don´t have to HEARS the banglish when I read them. Just leave out the ugly white people as well.
I agree that Heirs aims to be emotionally layered and stuff. but it still feels so clumsy.

and what´s with koreans picking the stereotypical blond people to play non-koreans? people dont all look like that it would be more believable if they picked diverse and unusal appearances.

Um, did anyone else get a kick that the umbrella has a MARIMEKKO pattern? Which is a Finnish company also trying to be an "heir" to the original designer. and unlike the Nokia empire, Marimekko is still thriving.

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hey, I got the idea: what if the show uses big brand names to show no matter who you are, companies got a grip over you. be it a Candy or a prince.

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anyone have a thought about this? Coca Cola, that T shirt that created a fuss after the first stills? maybe it is not just sponsoring but has a meaning in the context of the story and the world within the drama? the empires.... we all belong to big companies...
oh dear, now I scare myself.

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and I feel like Heirs is going to be a secret guildt for many. publicly denying that you all kept watching, but staring slackjawed in the middle of a night under a blanket.

sorry, Ivoire, for taking advantage of your not-answered one-word first post. I have a little of that arrogant only-child-need-to-be-first-or-nothing in myself too. sorry. couldn´t resist, mate, as Jack Sparrow would say.

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@redfox - I thought you piggy-backing her inevitable *I'm first* post was very clever. ✔ (do it again)

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I know, right? Loved the trick. :-)

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No apology needed, especially when the "piggy back" is a thoughtful, insightful comment/review rather than the "no-no" one word place holder.

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What doesn't make sense is that his only friend is a druggie blonde dude. Guys like Tan would either get a host of Korean hangers-on first, or the elite rich party crowd in LA.

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Ikr? I'm disappointed that they cant find any Korean actors in the US to use instead.

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Aside from that, Nolan Ross (from the TV show "Revenge") wants his house back! http://i43.tiny-pic.com/2rrapnk.jpg

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NOLAN ROSS WANTS HIS HOUSE BACK.

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@ redfox @ sally_b @ TS @ Kris

I tried reporting this through official lines but since I got no feedback AND only further escalation of the issue, I'm just going to post this; this being my last post and visit to DB.

After DB's rules on list on how to be a continued member of DB through courteous commenting, Ivoire
felt very much singled out BUT I assured her she was being unnecessarily paranoid and that it hadn't been drafted just to get her banished from DB. Though nervous at being slighted, she duly complied and didn't post any further 1st post 'thank you' holders. Neither was this post going to be one. Have you not even missed her absence? Have you only judged her by your own standards your own low expectations, failing to see her sincerity, if not also naivety?

The above veiled and spiteful comments will do nothing but leave her feeling ostracised once more and to be honest I'm really disappointed that such rudeness is allowed to remain there because being Heirs, and the first post, a lot of people are going to read them. It just reeks so much of that pettiness of high school that I thought I had long since left behind.

I'm going to miss DB's and GF's insightful posts but truly I'd rather stand on the other side of this battle of politeness and etiquette in disagreement. Thankfully, you've only disgraced yourselves and hopefully people won't let your slander and backbiting affect their opinion of Ivoire.

Wishing DB and this site, and truly everyone, a better tomorrow than today. Sabah

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" Have you not even missed her absence?" That's what I've bee wondering? Where is Ivoire? Normally she would always be the first to comment. I haven't been on here regularly, but I did realize she was missing in action. I hope she doing good, she and a few (Maybe a lot) others was there for me last year when I asked for prayers for my sister who almost died.

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Hello True2U,

So good to hear from you! :-) I am doing OK, and I do remember you. I also remember when you asked for prayers for your sister. I think it was either during the recaps of I Do, I Do, or during the recaps of A Gentlemen's Dignity, and yes, it was last year.
Not only did I actually prayed for you (and your sister), but I remember asking you about your sister, the next time/next recap I saw your comment. I remember how relieved I was, when you told us that she was OK.

I believe that we come to blogs like this one because of our love of Kdramas, and because we want to understand them better (and yes, fangirl and rave, and rant). I also do think that in the process of being here, and of getting to know each other, some of us do make those connections, and some even become friends. That to me, is a (wonderful) bonus, and the icing on the cake.

I do hope that your sister continues to be well, and so are you and your family and all the people you care about.

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I have perhaps not followed her posts that closely and I was totally not aware of the situation. how could I?

But your criticism is unfair, since I have said nothing spiteful about her. I was just talking about Heirs, and that I am fully aware that I hijacked a post but I couldn´t resist. a pirate is a pirate. sorry if you see that as attacking someone else. I have no idea where you get that from.

I feel like it is not fair to accuse us of what you are, cause how could I fully know the whole background. I will go back and try to find some posts and update myself, what more can I do. I had no idea.

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To be honest, I didn't feel your comment was spiteful and aimed at Ivoire - it sounded like a jumbled post full of random thoughts you needed to get off your chest before it bursts, like a lot of us did - but the commenters responding to your post made it seem like you had intended it as an attack at Ivoire instead (I hope I'm making sense).

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Don't leave! I personally disagreed with the rules list banning first and thank u place holder posts. There are WAY more important things to be bothered/annoyed about in the world and I never understood why so many fellow Beanies felt so strongly about it. If you don't like it, just ignore and move on, or better yet hijack the post and make no apologies. Take it in stride please people because it in no way impeded or interfered with the flow or flow of dialogue, ideas, and other conversation going on. Can't we all just adopt a modicum of civility by overlooking the flaws of others (or at least our ideas of their flaws)? If they overlook ours and we overlook theirs, it'd be a little more peaceful.

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yeah once again, sorry if I, unknowingly, somehow just wanting to discuss a drama and had a burning thought on my mind, took advantage.

if I had been first post, I think everyone had grown a beard by the time they finished reading, I always write so much.

now I feel all bad and I dont even know what I have done wrong. gimme a break I had a 14 hour day at work.

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@red fox, my comment was not directed to u at all! And I am sorry if u felt that way. I was just hoping the poster who said he/she was leaving would read it and not feel compelled to not come back to DBS. I personally don't like some things I see here but I never say anything. I try to adopt a to-each-his-own attitude in the spirit of maintaining peace on this community which I actually find to be the nicest and most civilized of online communities around in spite of a few spats here and there. But in an effort to facilitate the good spirit I was just trying to encourage more forbearance for everybody, myself included and that's how I felt about the first and thank you comment/placeholders for those who didn't like them.

Today I broke my rule of staying out in hopes of helping and perhaps I offended you and other readers. For that, I apologize.

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no, I was not offended, I dont know how. dont worry.

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I second that emotion! If I see any news relating Ha Ji Won I will most likely post a comment, otherwise, I'll just read the comments.

Regarding Viore, she seems like a very nice lady and I for one don't mind her being the first commenter or anybody for that matter. I'd rather see a post where people being appreciative of what GF/JB done for us. I don't know her personally. But I have read some of her post and Iviore she has no problem conversing with fellow Dramabeans and a beautiful mind to booth, if I may say so.

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I feel like I should have said something like Sabah as well, because after reading the comments after redfox I did feel that it sounded like a united front being spiteful and mean to a single user.
I'm sorry, Ivoire, for not saying anything. I hope you don't feel too bad. I honestly felt your comment was just a nice acknowledgement of dramabeans's work, because most of us simply dived into the discussion about the episode and didn't leave any word of thanks to the recapper. I hope you won't be discouraged after this and I'd like to read more of your thoughts and feelings on shows in the future.

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second this, and I was trying to thank too! In fact I might just keep to recaps with Heirs until I am sure there is no banglish so I am extremely grateful to javabeans and girlfriday

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at redfox: I fear we still have a while to wait for that to happen.... *cringe cringe* I'm so grateful to the subbers for "translating" the English speaking scenes so that I can just turn temporarily deaf until the scene is over...

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Hello duskydawn and Redfox,

Thank you for your comments, as I appreciate them. duskydawn was right, I simply wanted to thank the recapper, as I didn't have any questions or comments in mind, when I wrote that line. Is saying "thank you! or Thanks!" a bad thing these days, on this blog? JB not only took the time to recap this ep., but she also wrote an extensive and thoughtful analysis, in her comment section, which I personally appreciated, and it gave me food for thought.

Redfox, I am getting ready to write a rather long comment (which I have not done in a long while) about the things that were misleading in your comment. I hope that it would explain why Sabah probably reacted the way she did. Thank you for apologizing, and for trying to understand what you might have done wrong. That means a lot to me, and I appreciate that.

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ah please no. it has to stop at some point. I hope that time the recap starts with a huge title: NO MORE BANGLISH!

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@ Redfox, I will write my comment below, so I can have more space, because I feel that I will be writing a lot, FYI.

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"It's okay, redfox-baby." :P

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umm, watching ep 2 and for now, at öeast while on minute 18 there has not been a single phrase in banglish

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Knock on wood. *knock knock*
Where are you watching it? Viki isn't yet done subbing it and gooddrama doesn't have it either.

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Ivoire is free to post (just no “First”s, which she isn’t doing), and as she has continued to comment I’ll ask that people not attack her or argue for her. I prefer not to step into commenter conversations but I’d really love to get the conversation back on track here and focus on the drama. Thanks everyone.

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I am watching on Viki, there is enough....

ahh, at 25 minutes in, there you go. oh why I can´t take this any more...

how do I just get past this without having to mute the screen.

so embarrassing.

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and dear Javabeans, there was never any intention from me to say anything against Ivoire. I WAS trying to discuss the drama.

sorry if I steeped over limits.
goodness how many sorry´s does it take to be clean...
sorry, that is not supposed to mean arrogant.

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The comment is not directed at you specifically, redfox. It's pretty clear that the conversation under Comment #1 has gotten pretty off topic so I am just trying to steer it back. Thanks all.

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'ugly white people'...couldn't help but smile, redfox. What would your neighbours say? Those ultra-blonde, ultra-white Scandinavians? : )

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omg! I feel like crying right now! this definitely wasn't the first episode that I was expecting... I mean, they didn't give us another BoF story (that's a relief) but to me this first episode was quite boooring!... although there were things that I really liked...
1. LMH character is great, I mean he's not an asshole, or a stupid rich guy, he has deep thoughts and reasoning... I loved that
2. Shi Hye character was also great, she is tough and I love that too... her acting was awesome to me.
BUT... My real problem with this 1st episode was that nothing really happened, they didn't tell us that much about the characters and although I believe the characters are great, they were very bland in this first episode, they could give us more about them, making them more complex... I really hope this to get better... :'(

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By the way the english and all the awkwardness with the american actors ahhhhgggg I really hated it!

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I agree! Their English are sucks! I was so dissappointed. They don't have a good command of English, they need to go back to Korea ASAP!...better to hear them speaking in their own native tongue...anyways, what do you expect they just learned it for almost a month??? Well, about the storyline I do hope it will gets better on the next episodes. As for LMH in this drama, there's more profound on his character. His acting is quite good but I hope he will give more of it. My rate for this episode is 5 out 10.?

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I actually thought the Engrish as spoken by LSH/Eun-Sang was very true to character - it acknowledged that her English sucked and she was struggling with it. All the others, and the English dialogue was (as expected) the pits.

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I can forgive Lee Min Ho, because of It´s ok baby!
but these terrible white rubber dummies floating around and speaking like... no, making sounds....moaning. that I just ....!

I can´t stop there, it is bat country.

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I agree with you, JayJay! Actually, I had a deeper problem than that. I'm probably being over-sensitive, and it's true that America isn't CEOs and diamonds, but Oh. My. Goodness. Why is every single American guy a randy felon or a jerky lout??? We have an abusive, alcoholic, and disgusting boyfriend, a drug-addled party boy, and every single other male character (except the cop) is there to sexually harass the poor women.

Now, in terms of social responsibility, I suppose it's better to vilify a nationality with global power, but I think it's just objectively wrong and morally reprehensible to represent any race/ethnicity/nationality so terribly.

I enjoyed the show and will continue watching for the Korean parts, I just wanted to call out a small piece of it that truly disturbed me. Was anyone else bothered by this? Does this happen with other nationalities/ethnicities in Korean dramas? What do you think?

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now that you mentioned it. All the american characters here all have bad personalities hehe. It's like the Heirs show is telling us "tourists don't come to america or be careful" hehe. I guess they should have mixed in some good people to balance it out. maybe in ep.2 there will be good people.

about the cop, OMG, shouldn't he have tasted or smelled it first, just like in CSI or law & order.

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The irony is that Hollywood is also very stereotypical about how they depict Asians.

However, rest assured that Americans actually have very good representation in Korea, since in the movie theaters, almost half the movies are Hollywood ones.

So Korea (and most of Asia) is actually quite fair in that regard. Whereas in the US, it's hard to see a foreign movie in major movie theater chains.

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Yes, I just read the whole recap and literally said "boring!" but I am keeping a good faith. So, I will leave the drama until the middle run of its course and then comeback to see how the story develops. For the meantime, Unemployed Romance is my current watch.

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I think some of us feel "nothing happened in episode 1" because so much has already been given away in the Daily Heirs Promo Drop of the past few months. :D

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Actually I think the Heirs publicity bombardment has not only forced me to watch the show, but has already lulled me into a state of craze crack-like obsession after one episode: "you must like Heirs, you must! Think of the talent - you like Park Shin-hye, Lee Min-oh is like the genesis of your Kdrama story. You Will like Heirs, you DO like Heirs". Congrats Heirs PR team, the promo system works.

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omo, if you put it that way...imagine us all sitting swirly-eyed in front of the screens going "aiiiii.....laiiiiik ...Heiirrrs!"
hah. it is more like: "please, please no more promotion photos, day and night, if I do watch will you stop sening your creepy messages?

ah we shouldn´t underestimate the power of brainwashing, indeed.

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thinking about i.....I think that might be true! there was just so much hype about it...and you cant help but like them because its LMH and PSH.....

On the other hand I do really think they did a great job on their acting...but the plot.....oh the plot.....I think without the famous casts sad to say this might have been a big mess.....

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Hi guys
you know any website here in States where I can watch the show? Thks much!

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One more comment and then I'm going to stop contributing to the overwhelming comment numbers (@pogo, sorry if I missed you): why didn't Rachel call her mother out on her transferring shares to the Choi men? All Rachel has to do is get an agreement in writing to secure her own shares and inheritance in exchange for tolerating and smiling through the marriage. Here's mum threatening her with disinheritance, so then tell her to assure that inheritance in writing or else the threat is meaningless: Woobie's going to muscle in and then there's no incentive to play ball.

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P.S. Woobie, please muscle in on me....

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Hey TS - you didn't miss me at all, I'm going to be late to most of these recaps thanks to time differences, lol.

I find the Woobie/Rachel pair most interesting of all, at this point - they have an edge and unpredictability (incest jokes, power struggles, parent issues, mutual bitch factor and all) that the OTP kind of lacks.

That said, I like LMH well enough and adore PSH as an actress, but the second leads were the ones who had the sparks flying - I want to see how he looks in the drama proper, once he starts interacting with PSH. Because Woobie is giving off some serious business smoulder there, all right.

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Dear Ivoire,

What a surprise to disappear from Dramabeans for a week and return to find this thread here. Today as I was going to the market, and as the wind brushed against my face--it had just rained and everything was crystal clear, sparkling, lovely--I suddenly got to thinking about how much I love being part of Dramabeans. And how when I first started commenting here, and it took a lot of guts to become visible, the only comment I had to make was about how happy I was that JB and GF were doing what they were doing and how much gratitude I felt towards them.

And then of course, as time passed, the thanking began to diminish and my comments would mostly be made up of things, most of the times insincere even, that I would cook up just to sound cute or clever. I remember how the reason why I'd begun commenting in the first place was because I was bursting with a sincere urge to say something. If I may be honest, I feel like it's not always the case anymore.

The bottom line is that I do feel gratitude always. So then I remembered you and realised how you are always around saying thank you. And I am wowed at how you never forget it. After a while, I've begun to take it as a given that these beautiful folks will keep putting up post after beautiful post. And forget all the hard work and passion and compassion even that goes into making this site function.

So while initially it did irk me to see your thank you comments from time to time, because I like others felt like you were taking up space. But now I feel...space...but for what? You want to convey your emotions, and you feel thanks. Is this a problem?

I often forget to convey that. But I take solace in the thought that you are thanking these amazing people on my behalf as well. On everyone else's behalf actually. And now every time I see your comment, I smile and add an invisible +1 from my heart.

Dramabeans is so great because of the people who run it. And the people who comment on it. I have had fun, hilarious conversations with people here. I have had incredibly profound conversations too. And some of the insights that JB and GF have given on dramas have actually helped me look at issues in my life differently. And reading a 'Thank you' comment once in a while does not take away from my experience.

So thank you Ivoire for reminding me, and everyone else, that we are in fact thankful all the time, even if we do not mention it aloud ourselves.

And thank you JB and GF, for creating and maintaining an alternate universe where we get to live out our dreams. You guys rock and deserve to be thanked again and again and again.

Annnddd...now that my Oscar acceptance speech is over, have so much reading to do since my laptop fell and the screen cracked and I was without access to computers, which gave a fine opportunity for soul searching...and plenty of time to look out the window at the rains. But it's so so so good to back in this vibrant, crazy world again. You don't know how amazing all of you are.

Stay happy everyone!

<3

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Hello jhu,
I LOVED your Oscar acceptance speech, I have posted a few of those here myself, so I can appreciate them. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment. I will be back later to respond, so please, check back on this thread, among these comments.

Thank you :-)...

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i think i'm gonna like this drama (fingers crossed). i like all the characters and the actors (though i only know 3 of them) so far. but i have one complain, Park Shin-hye in my opinion is the best actress in this drama (first time to see her) but she looks too old to be Lee Min-Ho's love interest. and as for the his American friend, i find it so natural to befriend with such character who is the opposite of his society in Korea, plus I guess he is too lezzy to sought friends and he let them pick him.

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oh no.....i think Kim Eun Suk drama before usually start out very strong ..
but this might be the worst 1st episode of her...
Lee Min Ho just like before, suck in acting and here not only he look awkward.,
but not interest at all...Park Shin Hye still in the bland actresss category...
it's sad how That Winter and IHYV set the par at how their debut episode was epic and TMS debut continue with class..
Heirs just more like a Visual drama..Face .,Place and even their make up looks like wtf.
Not too exciting for the story.,maybe bcoz of it stereotype plot..it's just a FUN episode,with nothing special.
no wonder last night anticipation poll on Nate top by Secret.,2nd Medical top Team..and Heir's last..
Medical Top Team's rating will increase tonight.,and Secret has come to the hot crazy part...
So Heirs need to stop bulshit with their overrate visual.,and focus on the acting more before turn to another Love Rain.

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I didn't think it was so bad. I actually enjoyed it. The English-speaking parts were the only blatantly obvious truly bad acting

I thought the character setups were quite nice. And though the story is stereotypical (like we didn't know that already from promo after promo). I think the main pair are starting out on a different foot than other main couples in similar set-ups.

Minho's character has more depth from the beginning than most of the blandly cold chaebols so I have hopes for characters in general.

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it's true....i maybe not an expert or anything,but didn't you see his acting...just watching his acting you can tell he accept this drama just bcoz of Kim Eun Suk's old record not bcoz of he's interest in the character at all....right?

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If you're criticizing LMH and PSH's acting, I have to disagree. Sure, the plot is a bit stereotypical, but I think those two make it all worth it.

Tan is supposed to appear uncaring and disinterested in everything at this stage in his life, so if LMH's character came off that way to you, he's probably doing a good job lol. Also I just love PSH because she just really pulls you to her. This is my own opinion. :)

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I laughed out loud at his at staring scene. Not sure why it's funny to me. His acting is so one dimensional it's amusing.

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They have so many leads in this drama and most of them have to be introduced in the first week so I think the episode just tried the introduce the leads & for park shin he and lee min ho to meet.
I see where you are getting at tho. Hopefully the drama just gets on better and better :))

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I don't think Lee Min Ho is a bad actor, but his English was soooooo bad. No Hollywood for him in the future.

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He can't act whole speaking English. I feel he is trying to hard on the English and not letting his acting look natural

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It was bad. Made even worse by how hard he was trying. I'm not sure if it moved past bad into comically bad, though. Just...yeah...*cringe*

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even the English speakers are bad and speak too deliberately

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LOL you wont see these terrible random people in any American series. You only see people like that on reality shows.

Why cant they hire some Korean Hollywood actors like Daniel Dae Kim, Will Yun Lee, Tim Kang etc to make a cameo appearance? That would have been so much better than these so call actors.

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Lol, got the money to pay for them? :-P

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I said CAMEO appearance.

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Add kim yoon jin(from lost) to that list! i would have loved to see her play the sister!

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the english parts are terrible as are the stereotypical american characters theyre a nightmare to watch
the american parts are acted and written terribly
why are they even in the drama?
its on foxs "dads" level of stereotypical garbage
i hope the characters get back to korea asap!!
park shin hye can speak 4 languages i thought english was one of them ?
mandarin korean japanese and english?
lee min ho to my knowledge hasnt starred in a drama since city hunter so we shall see if he can deliver in another role

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Yep, they picked up cheap actor-wannabes in LA...

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Seriously there are plenty of Korean or Asian American actors who are not famous at all and who are waiting for someone to give them a chance. They certainly won't demand a big paycheck for a kdrama. So the execs of Heirs had options.

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i did not think this first epi was that great either. i really want to like heirs, and i found reason to hope i would in the very beginning--we didn't even have ot wait a full two minutes for a broody shirtless shower scene (*happy dance*).

but immediately thereafter, it fell flat to me. for example, the abrupt voice over that introduced the angst w/o an appropriate transtion seemed odd to me. then lee min ho is at a restaurant . . . in California . . . in the U.S.A. (i.e. an English speaking country) and the waitress is speaking Korean--this is a little odd but a plausible leap of logic could account for this. however, then LMH's friend randomly says a few lines about him not blaming his family--this line comes without any prior dialog or set up of how they got onto this subject. now i know the voice over was probably suppose to be the marker for this random line, but HUH?

then, the obvious stereotypes. not a fan but i can (try) to ignore that, but it is hard to ignore the terrible acting of the American actors. HELLO production team--you were in Hollywood, California. the place is teeming with unemployed actors who can actually act and nobody managed to find a single competent actor?

i'm not giving up yet, but this show is close to being on the chopping block for sure.

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That's what I thought too...couldn't they find better American actors? I mean that bro-actor of LMH was soooooo annoyingggg!!!!!

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call me evil witch, but I was hoping he would come near death or go into a coma. thta would have looked very bad for the heroine though.

what if the drama started with heroine ending up in jail hmm
and he would have to chooce to stick with his friend or protect a clueless fellow citizen with no one on her side.

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I wouldn't have minded killing him off. I hate useless characters.

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Lol agreed. I honestly don't understand why they always hire Americans who have absolutely zero acting ability.

I thought if that guy opened his eyes and mouth any wider every time he said anything, he would pass out from the effort.

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Lol!

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I sooo agree with you!

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I agree with your opinion.

some transitions didn't go too well and it did feel awkward. "LMH's friend randomly says a few lines about him not blaming his family", yeah it totally felt out of place. and you could predict some scenes in advance (like the last part when Tan's car came back, and how Young-do got Rachel all sized up), quite typical so it was not surprising.

The directing wasn't too good, was it? I really really loved how Master's sun was directed (awesome camera angle, appropriate speed - when to slow-motion and when to not, etc), and then when i watched this drama, it felt flat (I feel they could have done a better job).

this episode left me with mixed feeling. Not that it was really bad (the Eunsang-Mom scene where Mom was in front of the fridge, making bean powder really touched me, reminding me of my own Mom), but wasn't compelling either (kind of a weak start). hope it gets better tomorrow.

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LMH/PSH is going to eat you alive. lol

But It seems that my fear might come true. As much as I love Kim Eun Suk (City Hall being her greatest work and my #1 drama) I was worried that they pick all this handsome men and beautiful women to carry the drama. I hope she doesn't rely too much on them to carry her script.

I'm even a bit turned off by how they stereotype Americans. That's why I prefer when the drama is not shot in the US or certain places. I hate seeing one nation stereotype another. They always seems to pick the worst American actors, wait.. sorry. More likely random people to act in dramas.

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LMH/PSH fans are going to eat you alive. lol***

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Yes, the stereotyping/ awkward English really took me out of the drama in this episode. Let's see, we have our surfer dude/ druggie, abusive white BF, sexy bikini ladies, random gangsters. . .

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They made me cringe, so embarrassing to see Americans portrayed this way.

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"Let’s see, we have our surfer dude/ druggie, abusive white BF, sexy bikini ladies, random gangsters"

Let's see, LOL!!! It was cringe worthy.

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I actually thought the gangsters did the best acting of all. But it was sooooo stereotypical I just laughed and laughed. "Yo, I didn't know there were cute Asians 'round here!" Oh man...man oh man.

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Oh gotta love how every white guy that crossed our paths ended up being rude/flirtatious. If not, a druggie.
Not saying there aren't guys out there like that, but there are decent guys out there too who will help a foreign girl all lost with her luggage & clothes strewn all over the sidewalk.

*My cringe-worthy moments were all LA related so i CANNOT wait until we get back to korea.

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Totally agree with the point about dramas being shot in other countries. Also, the fact that the dialogue in another language sounds really unnatural, even when it's a native speaker saying it - not sure if it's the script, or the actors, or both.

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And that's the reason why I couldn't watch boys over flower (J-Version). Saw a 10 min video, when the lead came to America, and couldn't understand English. So I was interested in watching to see what would happen next. -_- suddenly this African American guy out of nowhere and stole her bag -_- really? (and Another scene as well) The stereotyping was too suffocating I didn't even watch it till the end.

"dialogue in another language sounds really unnatural"
I realized that. Natives make it seems like their unsure if they're saying it right. Heck, some speak so. slloowww.that.you.wonder.if.English.was.their.native.language.

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That was season 2 though. You should watch season 1 of Hana Yori Dango, there's no English in it and it's really good.

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Love Rain had good actors... the script writing is the main problem...

Then again the script writing is also mainly to blame for Heirs.

A drama has a lot of factors - acting, directing, script writing, etc... But if the script is the main problem, there is nothing much that can save it really...

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I do Love Rain as well, esp the young actors part

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I read in baidu there some criticsm in medical top team about the surgery scene and kwon sangwoo's mispronounced which related medical jargon, so that's why the rating is lower only achieved 7%.

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OMG Dari0 i think we should be best friends in all Park Shin Hye's dramas i've always found her to be for the most part unintresting and boring. if they made the main actress someone like Park Min Young or Shin Min Ha this drama would be way more intresting and attractive. I had sincerly hoped all my fears about Park Shin Hye in this drama would be unfounded but alas i'm right again!!!!!!!!!.

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Shin Min ah is too old for Lee Min Ho and Park Min Young is not a better actress than Park Shin Hye...also she and Min Ho are exes...awkward ;)

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How is Shin Minah too old for him!? She's only 29.

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Jael didn't say PSH is bad acting tho...I do kind understand her point.
Talking about acting skills, I think PSH is way better than other young casts here, but it's type of character she acts. She is rather quiet type of actress than bringing energy in the story. She shine only if she has energetic male lead opposite...and LMH is same type of actor as PSH so both looks bit bored if they are together.

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I'm not her fan either. I like that her character feels envy and is a bit harsh on people, but I don't enjoy Park ShinHye as an actress. Personal preference.
I wouldve loved shin Minah in this role. She just played a young girl in Arang, late 20s actors often play teenagers - & hardly anyone is a teenager in this cast - and she has a spice too her that I freaking love.

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I would be over-the-moon if Shin Min Ah were leading this drama. But she isn't. PSH is doing OK, she really carried this first episode, but the sparks, they will not fly.

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It's a relief to read what I've been thinking, too. Not a fan of Park Shin Hye, sorry to say. I find the underlying personality she projects for all her roles is faintly irritating, as well as her mannerisms. So I just can't see the 'chemistry' here with LMH that others speak of. His--amazing!--intense glances are directed often into & off-camera, and my impression is that he's working hard pretty much in a vacuum.

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Can't compare it to Love Rain, JKS & Yoona have awesome chemistry. International fans enjoyed it a lot.

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ew...I can't even swallow how JGS tryna kiss Yoona and Yoona was like -_-

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With just the cute & lovable scenes they had together, i have no doubt about their oozing chemistry, kissing scenes are like icing on the cake - additional tantalizing sweetness.

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You don't have to be beautiful
to turn me on~

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Just need your body baby from dusk till dawn. You don't have to be rich to be my girl, you don't have to be cool to rule my world... i just want your extra time with your kiss... lol.

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after reading at Netizenbuzz...
i found that all Korean netizen comment there exactly have the same opinion with your point...wow Dari0..,your eyes must be sharp....they dissappointed with the plot and acting! at first i though this 1st episode was ok.,even if it's just for me.,but they agree with you more than mine...Lol.

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Love Rain was fail only in Korea , and mostly because it was in a same timeslot as a drama that already had built audience.

But internationally it was a hit, both in sales and ratings. And JGS and Yoona have visibly more chemistry than LMH and PSH.

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I did not think ep1 was especially bad, but neither was it all that good. I think the problem I have with this drama is that there are just too many characters to keep track of, and I fear that most will end up being just talking props with no real importance but to be a foil for the 5 or 6 man characters.

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I would guess for people who watch a lot of TV series/dramas, Heirs would be the last choice in the list of current shows since the story is not so new therefore it can't convince people to watch it right away, while other TV series seem to have many "unknown" to make people curious to watch them right away. Eventually, people still love to watch Heirs because of LMH or for their idols but it is something can wait.

I guess I'm the only one think that LMH can act really well? His eyes express all the feelings, he doesn't need to use too much body or face expression like many Korean actors. I didn't watch BOF but he did super well in Personal Preference and City Hunter. He didn't act super in Faith but he still acts well, it seems he doesn't like the role much. About the lead lady, I still can't find the image in Tree of Heaven. I hope she can play long family drama one day, may be she will stop the habit of acting innocent, just be real.

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I dont think PSH is being unreal and too innocent...I think she just really has little experience in the dating department that is why she doesnt have much to base it from....excepts from what she thinks and what she reads...so that is why she always appear like innocent ...its hard to portray something when you havent had any experience from it....so that limits her as an actress....I do think she has been typecasted to play such roles.....and it would be great to see her out of her safe zone and into more challenging roles.....

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I agree with you that Lee Min Ho is a good actor. I especially loved him in Faith. And even though BOF was his breakthrough role I found his acting very convincing

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Okay...I just wanna say go easy on the lip gloss...they are men...

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LOL it's so distracting. how come male or female, they're all wearing that fuchsia lipstick? they must be big sponsors.

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it's kdrama fuchsia, and I am thinking a kdrama line of cosmetics (k-osmetics) would sell really well...

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Lol!!!

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i haven't watched the show yet... but your comment made me LOL for a good 2 minutes. Thank you.

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LOL! Everyone has to look prettty here!

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Lols, and here I was about to blame my laptop screen or my eyes for that funky color...

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Thank you for the recap!

I was moved by the emotional scenes...and then I cringed at the bad, in-English acting.

Should be a fun story to follow! :)

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I'm with you! I was genuinely moved by a few scenes while also cringing at the bad English. Though I kind of developed a strange fondness for Terrible Even In His Own Language Surfer Friend.

I pretty much agreed with everything javabeans said, I swear she read my mind. I was a fan of the female lead though I expected not to be, and though I was sure there wouldn't be any, I really liked the chemistry I was feeling between our main pair. And man, LMH sure does know how to brood and stare piercingly. I especially loved how JB compared this to a sageuk...who knows if the writer had that in mind, but I like thinking about it that way, too!

There was so much expectation with this drama, the fact that I even enjoyed the first episode at all says something.

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That moment when Lee Min Ho started speaking full sentences in english... I died laughing! Why is he so terrible!

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I KNOW! Same here. I paused the video to have a total freakout. Holy terrible dialogue coach batman!

This is NOT a promising start. It felt like an extension episode where they filled time with surf scenes and rando stuff.

Medical Top Team was just handed a great gift.

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I feel like this drama has so much potential. I'll watch episode 2 because there were a lot of scenes I liked. But Krystal's acting/charcter. Woo Bin's character, even Park Shin Hye's character at time all annoyed me greatly!

Ugh!! I wanted so much from this drama!

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The Surf scenes made me cringe. You can clearly see that it is not LMH, and when there are close-up, you see the pier at the background, meaning he his facing the sea, and not the beach. Duh. If you are going to spend soooooo much time on surfing, at least, make it looks good!!!

I was actually expecting worse for his english, so I was positively suprise. Also, "it's ok baby" should be a new international pick-up line!!!

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I love it!

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1. excellent observations
2. omg you just made me laugh so hard that I spit out my water. This whole 5.0 thread is hysterical.

Thanks Alicia.

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Anytime! I love Korean Dramas!

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Actually, the drama to watch in this time slot is Secret. It shot up from around 5% to 12.4% in 4 episodes and I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up reaching 20% during its run.

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So far I also like Secret better, but it is pretty early to tell how this one will go. I am already seeing a lot more clichés and stereotypes in this one than I had hoped for.

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I like Secret a lot too! I just have that taste for melodramatic and makjangy stuff, lol. Heirs is something that would never interest me because it reminds too much of BBF which I hated since I read the manga version of it. I think I'll just read the recaps instead because it's just so amusing reading all the opposing comments and being awed by the sheer volume of them too.

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I am glad you were laughing. I was annoyed. I was like, "What?! Did you not pay attention in English class? Did you not go to hakwon like every Korean child when you were young?" I had thought that LMH could do no wrong, but I was wrong.

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What really gets me is all the hype about how much Min Ho was studying English... he should fire that tutor

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His tutor might have been Rain.

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This would explain a lot. Did you see Speed Racer or Ninja Assassin. He wasn't terrible, but the english wasn't great either.

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Lol! Good one!
:-)

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LOL

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I'd laugh (because this comment is quite funny) but don't go insulting my future husband again. I might have to cut you *wink*

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Don't worry, your oppa is safe from any more ridicule ;)

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What surprised me even more was that other cast members speaking english had better english than him.
Park Shin Hye was one of those people. Atleast hers sounded cute.
And that just confirms my belief that with the english language you just gotta let it flow. I think because he tried too hard, his acting looked unnatural and his words sounded labored.

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Also, since I'm leaving in August to teach English in South Korea, I think I will keep this episode in my arsenal as to why it is important to pronounce things correctly.

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You should also keep a list of unrealistic expressions used in K-drama, but not in real life...
Like "yo-yo, ma bro" (BOF)... hahaha

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Yes!

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Feel you on that one. My sister laughs everytimes she watches that scene.

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My friend and I say this line to each other to this day. I love it, lol. Cracks me up every single time.

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I bet your korean sounds perfect?
Dont cry even if your future korean students laugh at your korean pronunciation.

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Oh, I know my Korean sounds terrible. But I'm not pretending to be a fluent Korean speaker either.

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To think these rich "heirs" couldn't even afford a good English tutor!

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Right? I feel like some of the budget for the visuals could have been sacrificed...

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Rather than mocking LMH's English, ( although I just couldn't stop smiling ) I was a little off set by the way they showed American people. Is this really a co production? Does Dramafever really want to sell it to the American market? All western people look like crazy . The Korean and western world seem rather incompatible and suddenly Korea looks like the best and most advanced place in the world. By the way, this reminds me Lovers in Paris a lot.
After cooling down a bit and being an immigrant myself, I realized that the cultural differences can be really strong, especially for a person who never set her foot further than her home in Seoul. I actually understand how it can feel to come to a foreign country as a kid and then just try to get bearings if not fit in. It can be pretty hard. You end to befriend strange types , like Jason, the surfer guy. And I don't think the actor overacted - he was good at portraying the differences in culture as the koreans see it.
On the positive note, I really really liked Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won acting!!! They are a revelation to me. PSH is as usual, that's all I have to say for now. LMH ? Will he manage this time? We will see. Depends greatly on the story.

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The surfer stereotype did not shock me nearly me nearly as much as the poor korean working as a prostitute in a US restaurant did.
You could have knocked me over with a feather.

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I wasn't so disappointed with the view they gave of Americans/Californians and this is probably because I expected this to happen. I mean, Eun Sang needs a reason to leave America and want to go back to Korea. They need to make it seem like it is such a terrible place and something she has only falsely idealized. They did go a little overboard, but I wasn't surprised.

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@ Lily - Yeah, that implied near-prostitute scene was a moment of sheer "WTF" for me also. Do Korean directors and writers really think that beachfront restaurants in California are havens for Foreign Good Time Girls?

I still don't get that whole thing about why or how the older sister got into that situation and continues to leech off of her family. And apparently she is staying long term in the US on a student visa (?) - if so, deportation is just a phone call away.

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Lol You took the words right out of my mouth. I really like him normally but he was just so awkward here

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But, we have to admit, if LMH was right there in front of us, we will not care about his english accent! :-)

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I think there's no way Heirs will live up to my hyped expectations (I blame the constant updates) so it's no surprise that the first episode was a bit disappointing. IThats not to say I didn't like it so 'll still be watching ofc (it's only the first ep), but I was ready (and hoping) that this would be the crack drama of the year. Anyway, everything and everyone is major eye candy and people can act.Imagine how happily surprised I was to find the American actors bearable (as for LMH's English... Eh...)!

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I'm expecting no fascinating plot. It's been hyped too much. I'm just in it for the eye candy :P LOL

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Ditto. I expect nothing but prettiness from Heirs, and I think that's how everyone else should go into this drama too, lol

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I was underwhelmed by the first episode too but i understood that a big reason was because 1. It was setup with all our characters and 2. We've already seen a chunk of it in all the promos!
I'd probably give show a few more episodes when we've got all our characters established and they move back to south korea. That's where all the good stuff is!

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Be good Heirs, be good.

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wow. the episode ratings came out for episode 1 and its the worst premiere numbers that Kim Eun Sook has seen since... ever. Kinda disappointed before I even watch it.

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why does it matter if its the highest or not? it's the quality of the drama that counts :B

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I think it was overhyped. I was starting to feel as though I could put together all the stills and previews and come up with the first episode without watching it. Even though I know in actuality that wasn't true. Also, when things are so hyped I often think that maybe they are overcompensated for something. Again, no proof of that, just my reaction to being bombarded before a movie or a TV show even comes out.

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It was over-hyped. There was so much stills and trailers Which I didn't watch because I knew they would give away key scenes, just like they do for the movies. Everywhere I went was talking about "Heirs".

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High school dramas rarely get high numbers, furthermore for their 1st episode but they can increase if they are good. I was expecting less than 10%...
As for the KES dramas: The ratings of her dramas tend to rise rapidly after an average start.

PS: Apparently, there is a conflict between the Director and KES (lines of dialogues simplified cause it's too hard for some of the actors).
http://www.hancinema.net/famed-scriptwriter-revels-in-cliche-61372.html
I will let everybody meditate on this. As for me, I felt while watching this first episode, that it was a weak start... and I get the answer to my question. A Director who cares for the script when instead he should be busy with actors directing.... I'm imperially pissed of.

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Maybe he was making some scenes or script more "modern"?

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so we can blame the director for the dialogue

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I don't think much of the director editing the script either without collaborating with the writer. That's like saying oh, yeah well we sold the drama on your script and well, that was a good idea, thanks, but we are going in a different direction now that we are actually do it.

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1st episode was really good ! love park shin hyes acting skills

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Can say I actually...like Park Shin Hye's character, Cha Eun Sang?
Because I find her relateable, well, her relationship with her mom anyways. (I don't mean the super dramatic parts, more their interaction.) At that age, I was also a prideful brat: I would hurt my mom's feeling, feel bad afterwards, and try to smooth things over with conversations about what she is cooking for the night.
Also the dinner scene where she throws a tantrum/skip dinner and when mom comes in to the room, Eun Sang yelled "Told you I am not eating!" Then Mom wacks her but compromises with what Eun Sang wants. That was also like the writer picked the scene from my brain.

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I was thoroughly disgusted when Eun Sang scoffed at her mute mother to text instead of sign outside.

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Then it worked. Teenager dissing mom perfectly.

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oh, I felt the same. who cares about the english when this scene existed. It made me so mad.

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@panshel and kgirl26
Why so harsh on her? She's a teen, and she has her insecurities. And it makes sense that a mute mother makes for a pretty big insecurity. At the end of the day, she cares a lot about her mom.
I am sure a lot of us has been through a point in our lives where we are embarrassed of our parents/family. It's kind of like me as a teen refusing to speak Chinese with my family in public because it's embarrassing.

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Haven't watched the episode yet but from the recap and discussion, Eun Sang reminds me of Eun Chan in Coffee Prince--working various odd jobs and being the breadwinner and not getting crap from anyone.

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Their characters even have similar names. Yoon Eun-Hye was very good playing the Eun Chan character. I hope Park Shin-Hye will do well in this drama, too.

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I thought that this scene was the best written - and the best acted - in the whole first episode.

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Thanks for recapping.....can't wait to watch the episode...
Same here....I was going to watch the show regardless of the fact that the plot didn't deliver....

So excited for the Lee Min Ho-Park Shin Hye pair :-)

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That was a slow opening ep. I was a bit bored. I never watch the previews but I was hoping for some tonight just to see if something interesting happens. It's got potential though. I think just just tried to introduce to much in the first hour.

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I was waiting for shin hye's sob scene (1st episode & already a sob scene) to pass and but wanted an extension on the introduction of other characters. The American surfing bro dude was a bit over the top. So not the best episodes. The last 20 minutes actually really good but everything else was meh & not too exciting

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Yeah, I think it will get better once they get everyone's story out there. With so many characters, the slow start is necessary and familiar. I am liking the world they are setting up though (even if it is a little predictable) and I think it will be good once it gets rolling.

Apparently the writers have not seen a movie set in California that was made after 1995 and believes it's populated with nothing but lecherous dopeheads, peroxide blonds, and Latino cholos. I did have better hope for the English scenes since they were actually LA for filming but I guess the budget for English Speaking Actors was pretty small. I'm almost sure they paid all those people in beer.

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Also, I'm just relieved that it's not very BOFesque. Except for Woo Bin's scene's, which has me worried for when we get to the school part of it (I had to keep reminding myself that these people were in high school). Is ShinHye's character going to be going to the same school are them? If not, then it probably wont be much like BOF at all.

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from the character description she will be in same school

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So far it is a train wreck. The one thing I learned is that everyone in California is a jerk, druggie, promiscuous, woman harassing,partying, thief. Watching this for Woo Bin but disappointed that he is playing a BOF style bully. I laughed at loud at the over acted scene of her crying over her open suitcase.

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That's bad news. Kim Woo Bin was the main draw for me to want to watch this drama, too. Now I am not so sure. Your comment and the fact that Kim Woo Bin looks very strange, almost like an alien, in the photos above. What gives?

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well to be fair WooBin's character might become more interesting with more back story. Most of the characters have been introduced so now we can get into the plot.

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I'm watching this for Woo Bin, too. I didn't hate his character. He made me curious to find out why he's acting that way. It's good to see him in a drama where he has a bigger role. Although his "soon to be step-sister" seems like an awful actress. I wish they'd picked someone who had better "I hate you. Well, I hate you, MORE" chemistry going on between them.

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Actually, she's a pretty good actress; you wouldn't even recognize her from her other roles. She's also an absolutely fabulous singer - my favorite time with her has to be in What's Up.

We'll have to see what she can do with a hard-assed bitch, I guess.

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The hysterical crying i get (because i felt so much for her with that shameless sister).
If you found out your sister left you to take care of your mute mother by yourself(god bless eun sang), said she was getting married to an abusive boyfriend while living in a dump, said she was going to college (when she's really not doing anything productive with her life), and then TAKES the money that your mother worked hard as hell for..only to spend it on something useless.
Then you're stuck working multiple jobs and not being able to live as a normal girl should at your age...

(forgive me i'm partly using this post just to vent at how much i despise the older sister!)

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I actually thought the sister-sister scene was pretty realistic. I would have felt just like Eun Sang who shockingly found out about Eun Seok's fake life story in the US. I like PSH's acting.

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I guess we are among the few that did NOT think the spilled suitcase crying scene was over the top. I can understand how she would feel after being hit by so much, all in one or two days. I have a lot of other issues with the episode, but that is not one of them.

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the highlight of this recap is when @javabean write
'C’mon Heirs, be good. You can dooooo eeeeeet!'
i know you want to admit this is not a good start...

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Actually I'm surprised at the negative comments here. I liked it! (The English is sooooo bad, but the rest of the stuff, I'm liking it.) But then again I had lowered my expectations months ago so I was expecting nothing.

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Maybe this is why I liked it to. I went in expecting to only like the incredible (HOT) cast and not the actual drama. So with my expectations lowered, I was pleasantly surprised with the first episode.

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I'm also surprised that a number of people dislike it. Maybe the expectation was really too much.

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I almost wish they never filmed in America. I'm all for introducing diversity in Korean drama's but not in the way that perpetuates stereotypes. Have they forgotten that they have American fans, myself being one? This is an insult. I haven't seen ONE positive depiction of an America, at least ONE and I would have maybe overlooked this blatant disrespect for America. SMH. I will note the directors name for future reference when I want to watch a drama.

Anyways, I will say that I'm glad that this drama doesn't seem to be moving slow- albiet, it did get off to a horrible start. I hate slow dramas. I'm glad they met in the first episode and I am interested to see where this drama leads. If the stereotypes become overbearing I WILL stop. They get a pass THIS TIME.

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the American cop was a decent guy, just doing his job but yes every other American shown was despicable. I'm expecting drama to improve once the entire cast is in Korea.

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yup that cop was the only decent american actor in there

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I agree, his acting wasn't bad at all. I forgot about him but he was still shown as a "bad cop" who took away her passport! As Tan said he was very much aware that it wasn't drugs. Heck, the hospital confirmed it. What more confirmation did he really need? Not one positive depiction of America.

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Yeah, umm, in case any non-Americans are wondering, police do not have the authority to just take passports from law abiding tourists carrying bean powder. And why was the policeman even there in the first place? It's not like they hide out in hospitals waiting for people with allergic reactions to stop by. The doctors clearly knew it was bean powder, so no reason to notify police.
Also, how was Eun-Sang getting around LA? It's not exactly a quick walk from LAX to everywhere else. And I'm hoping she would know that there ain't no subway. And why carry that much cash in CHECKED BAGGAGE? Sorry, but that's retarded. Well, it's dumb to carry that much cash anywhere.

I know that all dramas have plot holes, but when they pile up like this, on top of all the American stereotypes/cliches, it's just hard to pay attention to the bigger picture.

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@ visitor: If I read the location right, it was 34 miles from LAX to the house where her sister was supposedly staying (according to Google Maps). So not exactly a short walk :D

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Having done that, Koreans will be gracious, when an American drama gives Korea and Koreans similar treatment.

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I personally think that is a false analogy for many reasons. I do not think that it is a precise choice on the part of Korean drama makers to retaliate racism in their productions as a result of racially insensitive American material. I do think that there are many stereotypes regarding Asia in general throughout the US and also many stereotypes regarding Americans throughout Asia as well, and neither are necessarily justified.

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Oh please. If an American TV show used even one fraction of the negative stereotypes Heirs did, it wouldn't make it to air.

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@Faye: You might want to re-check a huge part of American TV shows (and European ones as well). The writing of foreigners on "Heirs" might not be complex, but it is far from the racist stereotypes that some other shows perpetuate. (e.g. "2 Broke Girls")
Also, negative stereotypes of Asian people equal racism, whereas negative stereotypes of Americans are just that: stereotypes. (As "American" is not a race..)

I must say, I find this outrage genuinely funny. Don´t get me wrong, I too cringed a couple of times, but the portrayal is far from as bad as people make it out to be.

As a German, I might be a little desensitized since my fellow countrymen are usually either portrayed as Nazis, other super-villains or just really dumb (or to be die-hard fans of David Hasselhoff for whatever reason), but I really think you guys should not take this all too seriously.

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If you don't think that American shows use racist stereotypes then I would like you to sit through just five minutes of Two Broke Girls and get back to me. That's one of the worst examples (everyone except the two White protagonists is an offensively written minority or foreigner) but there are plenty more. Asian is the new Black for American TV. The token minority who is a walking bag of cliches.

That's why I don't get too bent out of shape when I see ignorant stereotypes of Americans in general (I don't like it when they are racial stereotypes) on foreign media because the same thing happens the other way. How many shows or movies about Americans traveling in other countries have accurate portrayals of the locals? None. I don't think it's done on purpose in either direction. It's just that the shows are written for the home audience and the priority isn't necessarily sociological accuracy.

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@Faye: I direct you towards Sullivan and Son.

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100% this. Overall, I actually liked the drama (more on that in a separate post), but the stereotypes were so offensive that it took me right out of the drama. There was no stone left unturned in their portrayal of evil American stereotypes, from the abusive, cheating boyfriend to the stoned, dumb surfer dude to the aggressive, hostile black police officer (bonus points for anti-Americanism AND racism there!). Considering how welcoming so many in this country were to the production, it's not only bad storytelling, it's rude and ungrateful. And you're right -it really is a turn-off if they're trying to attract American viewers.

As a first-generation American with immigrant parents, I don't enjoy movie or TV stereotypes. I find anti-American portrayals equally offensive.

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Yes. I know that TV shows - whatever country they happen to originate from - use cliches and stereotypes to tell a story quickly, because of both lazy writing and lazy brains. We've all seen them, and it seems to take a great deal of effort for television to heave itself out of the muck and mire of trashy populist chauvinism.

But all these wrongs don't make it right. Frankly, I expected a bit more sensitivity from Heirs, because they were over here for so long, took so much time and effort to produce at least two episodes - now I hear it is 4 - in SoCal. With this joint production, they seem to want to woo US viewers - so why didn't they bother thinking out of the box?

Every possible stereotype is trotted out, and it took some effort to fit them all in; they even went all the way to Compton to get a suitably trashy house in a garbage-strewn neighborhood for PSH's sister. Based on Heirs, Korean viewers are going to think that LA is filled with drugged-out surfer dudes, drunken, rude white guys, huge, rude black policemen, and tanned blondes in bikinis. Oh, and all the men who go to coffee shops proposition the waitresses.

We can shrug it off, but if you are American (or look it) don’t be shocked if you visit Korea and everyone assumes you have drugs, carry a gun, and are a potential rapist and/or easy. ‘Cause that’s all they see on TV.

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You have to remember that Koreans have a lot of good exposure to Americans because almost half the movies show in theaters are Hollywood ones.

So this just merely shows another side of it.

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Sometimes low expectations=a win. When you expect nothing, anything you get over that feels like a bonus :)

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Am suprised too !

I thought it was a pretty good premiere !
Considering the worst I expected, it's actually not bad at all !

Am having trouble with main leads chemistry, just not feeling it !
Hoping few more episodes will change it !

Is it wrong that I feel chemistry between woo bin and Kim
Ji won? ?

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well you're not alone .. hahahab

i like their banter though its hort .. hahahaha

PSH just sucks out all the energy for me .. huhu

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I see faults, but I see positives too. I was really expecting the naysayers to jump all over the first epi so I am not surprised. I'm reserving analysis on positives and negatives until after the second epi to let it digest a bit. I'm had some snarky thoughts I admit, and a couple of hmm interesting and oooh boy moments too. I don't love it or hate it. It definitely has a different feel about it, and very cynical and discontent characters which gives it a modern Generation Right Now feel.

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I agree. maybe it's because I too didn't expect much from the drama, but I really liked it and I cant wait to see how it goes... Even if the English speaking parts were torture (please get them to 대한민국 ASAP!), the over acting on the American's, i think, part can easily be overlooked (i've seen acting on that same level in some popular and loved kdramas). All in all it was a first episode that intrigued me to see what the writter will do.. the negative comments I think are way too much. But then again we all dont like the same things...

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I had no expectations whatsoever except for the general hotness of the cast, so I was pleasantly surprised, too! I thought the over-the-top American friend was satire in itself. This PD does have quite the wit.

Say all you want about Lee Min Ho, but when he stared so intently at Park Shin Hye while she had her mini meltdown, that really got to me. I'll watch for all the prettiness and "stare offs" b/w Lee Min Ho and Woo Bin my love.

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I was hoping for something kind of light and easy to digest, if you know what I mean. So far, it hasn't disappointed. I laughed a bit at the "childhood friend" guy who had on waaay too much makeup... until I realized everyone in the drama is going to be over-glossed. The awful blonde surfer buddy even made me laugh because he reminded me of the American actor Jeff Spicoli who is the classic icon of "surfer dude". I'm optimistic about this drama, too.

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Sean Penn plays Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, if you've never heard of the character. I should have proof read before submitting. Oops.

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Personally I like it too. That said, I also went in with low expectations and am pleasantly surprised about how much I liked it.

I like Park Shin Hye in the projects I've seen her in and although her character is a typical candy, I like the edge of resentment that lies just beneath the surface.

Lee Min Ho is an actor I'm actually quite indifferent to, but I like his acting here in the first episode (I've pretty much learnt to ignore English scenes in K-dramas;).

And Kim Tan is a character I really dig. Given this writer's track record, Kim Tan is a refreshing lead and a main character than one can actually relate too. I love his irreverent musings "The first thing I thought about when I was sent to the US: I could eat a lot of almonds.":D Loved that!

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agree with you! I wasn't expecting anything at all from this drama, in fact i think I was expecting it to be bad..so my expectations were so low that i actually liked it despite the bad english..

I think this premiere is better than those dramas with a great start but turned out bad, so I hope Heirs will still be better.

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I'm totally on board with you here, I don't get all the negativity either.

But then I really WANT to like it, but had super low expectations at the same time, so I guess that's the key to enjoying the show? Well, that being said after one episode, I just hope it doesn't get worse :D

I had also almost forgotten why Lee Min Ho was my first k-drama love, but I remembered <3

A general criticism though, that really throws me out of the immersion (not only in this drama, but in general) (and no, I'm not talking about the english...):

It's that everyone has the same cell-/smartphone.
Yeah, I get that they have sponsor contracts and everything, but it's kinda distracting when the poorest of the poor candy girl has the same phone as the richest of the rich chaebol heiress...

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I don't get the negativity other than the fact that you're gonna get some cringeworthy american actors, engrish, and a whole lotta material that we've all already seen in promos. But we all knew this was coming, no? It's not the first.
That's why i'm holding off judging heirs until we get back to south korea and get the ball rolling. Alot of the stuff in this episode was set up. I too, saw the bits of promise. Kim Eun Sook said she'll try everything in her power to distinguish Heirs from your typical highschool drama and add a fresh, fun twist to it.
My expectations were dialed wayy down too, which is why i'm not disappointed as well.
Plus, there's alooot of hate on park shin hye (who i thought did well with what she was given. How was she boring? I guess that will always be an opinion to me).
As of now, Heirs wasn't quite the crack that Boys over flowers was, but you can tell that the conflicts and material will be more developed than it was in boys before flowers.

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i agree with jb.. i like it... the story is not too over the top nor exaggerated

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After all those news and hype about the drama, I also decided weeks ago that I'll just decide if I like it after I watch it. And hoho, I like it. I guess people were so hyped over those months of promotions and expected like a moviesque drama. I fee for them. I also felt disappointed after watching the trailer of Battleship and then watching it in theater only to cursed at poor story.

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Lowered expectations is my new way of watching dramas. It is also the perfect way to watch Heirs.

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will see how's the 2nd episode, before i decide whether to drop it..

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Okay, everything about it has been done a million times before. I'd say as far as living up to the hype, it failed. It wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't that interesting. It could be a grower, but I feel with the hype this drama needs an outstanding first episode to really hook people.

And the English! The stereotypes! Please go back to Korea. I'm begging you....

Other than fangirling purposes I don't see much of a reason to watch it. I'll keep watching for a little bit longer though.

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thanks a lot , unfortunately I have to wait for the subs:(

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They're already up on Dramafever :)

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I know! I was surprised how quickly they had it up. Wouldn't it be great if they could have subbed episodes up that fast on a regular basis? ;)

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So torn on whether to watch this one or not.

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Give it a try and see what you think.

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I'm cringe because of that terrible english,but because you're gorgeous,I'll let it slip. Woo bin ah,please don't be such a jerk,pretty plissss :)

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I kind of had the same reaction of liking it more than I thought I would. It was somehow both exactly what I expected and then more. It's hard to explain. But I felt like I knew everything that was going to happen, but I still was affected by it. I still cared. I'm not sure if that was writing, acting, or a combination of both. But it was a nice surprise. Let's hope Heirs can keep this up. But really, I'm watching for the eye candy no matter what. Good lord all those boys were looking FINE!

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after exams i'll be watching this drama. thanks for the recap.

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I loved the premiere. I cared about the characters despite the bad English and the storyline is interesting. Shin Hye has enough sass for me to not see her as a typical Candy lead and it's nice that they don't start off with the leads hating each other's guts. It's a familiar tale but it's unique its own way.

I think the first episode did quite well so I'll definitely stick around for the rest of the series.

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I have to say I take my hat off to you! What a great way to recap! I have been waiting all day for your recap and I am so glad I finally read it! I actually think in the same lines it was a very interesting episode if you are only looking in the surface you do not see it. I thought LMH's character had great depth as in a rebel, a softie and that intensity in which he was looking at psh was really electrifying. I agree that psh's role is being done too many times the classic poor girl but I think that she does bring her own character and makes it her own. I am totally loving this!! can't wait for the next episode!!!!!!!!

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Not expecting much so as not to be disappointed or annoyed after it ends. KES' style of writing is just average to me, but so far the acting from both leads are good. The English speaking is as expected (not good, but not bad either). Still don't like the gumiho guy so ff his scenes. Also waiting for Kang Haneul to show up.

Anyway, as my drama crack this year already finished (MS!) I'll just watch this while waiting for AM1994 & Basketball.

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You can do it Show! Be good! Keep being good! But seriously, I was surprised at the tone of the first episode. I was going in expecting more ridiculous, over-the-top, Boys Over Flowers type drama but this was a lot more serious. I'm so glad Lee Min Ho's character isn't just the snobby, rich douche. And so far, I haven't hated Park Shin Hye so that's a good sign too. Anywhoo, thanks for the recap! (And I'm surprised at all the negative comments. This was way better than I had expected.)

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I think this show made the mistake of labeling it as gossip-girl esque because that show was waaay over the top (and that's not the vibe i get from Heirs despite the world being populated with rich kids). I do agree with the tone being more serious, which is why i'm giving Heirs the benefit of the doubt to create some layered conflicts.
I'm also relieved our hero isn't as much of an ass right off the bat compared to the typical chaebol in k-dramaland.
And i agree, the load of negative comments on this site is puzzling to me.
I think it all boiled down to: Who had lowered their expectations, and who was swept away in the hype?

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I think you're right, it all came down to expectations. I saw all the hype and kind of assumed it would suck lol. But I'm with you, it deserves a chance to create the layered conflicts.

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I personally think a lot of the negativity is predisposed-there was a lot of negative comments about this drama from the first announcement off castings, or at least misgivings for various reasons.

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what im seeing here is some people cant just admit that it was good because they had already labeled it bad and they do not want to be proven wrong...and by the way, its still the first episode, just chill, its supposed to introduce us to the characters and i feel it did just that.. i am liking this drama despite what the haters think..if u do not like it just find another drama and don't spoil it for those who do.

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I actually see a lot of mixed viewpoints here - there are lots of negative comments but I think most people (myself included) had positives as well. There are very few who are walking away from it, just a majority are hoping for something more, at least from what I have read so far...

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I thought it was a sloppy first ep. And here I actually set aside my reservations towards casting and writer before watching. I get that there are a lot of people and stories to get through, but the execution could've been cleaner. Seemed choppy and forced, both in the editing and writing departments.

And, sadly, I'm least satisfied with Park Shinhye's performance, WHAT? I love her... I am just not feeling this Candy, GAH. Kim Eunsook's candies are usually intolerable, at least to me.

I am so looking forward to the high school antics. Although, when we hit Melo-Angstville and are saturated with tears, noble idiocy, and general idiocy, I'm sure the fast forward button and I will become best friends. And I'll surely be swinging by here to keep updated.

My favorite scene was Eunsang and Rachel's airport encounter. There seemed to be something under all of that. Hope their relationship goes somewhere. Hope this drama goes somewhere. Ha.

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^
You said everything what I wanted say...editing and writing were so choppy, and this candy type heroine....tho I love PSH, I can't stand it! Too much sympathy asking from 1st ep.

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I liked park shin hye's performance. Her character on the other hand, i felt meh about. In fact, i liked her performance better than lee min ho in this first episode, although i liked his character more. does that make sense?
i try to distinguish performance from how their characters are written.

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*cringe* Can we just skip all the California scenes and head straight for Seoul? Just reading the recap for those scenes make me cringe....

Oh, Korea, you and your stereotypes... It's like the writers were just like: What's in California? I know...

Laid-back Surfer Dude(s). Check.
Chick(s) who live in bikinis. Check.
Friends (?) that party hard and do drugs. Check.
Perverted Group(s) of Guys to hit on our heroine (and her sister). Check.

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um yeah i used to live in southern california and wow way to give us a bad rap. i'm ashamed if this is what koreans really think of us...

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Don't worry, they don't. Almost half the movies in Korean theaters are Hollywood ones so they also see the good parts.

It's actually a lot more balanced that most American views of Korea!

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same here!!
I cringe at all the stereotypes.
Also, i couldn't stand the over-acting of the surfer friend. This was so bad...... Plus, playing "wing man", and running off with some plastic bag, that could contain any powder? WTF dude?

Please please please, i cross my finger for the scene in the orangery (hey, an other Cali stereotype!) to be better!

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Seriously! It was like one of those exposes on the danger of Korean girls dating predatory Americans. (Of course, no such problem with the guys and the chesty blonde bikini gals).

I'll stick with it for Lee Min Ho - I may last longer than I did with Faith - but I was continually distracted by recalling what earlier dramas featured the same chaebol/prodigal son/cheeky poor girl tropes.

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yeah- I'm fairly convinced that the writing team has no exposure to American culture other than through repeated viewings of Blue Crush.

On the bright side, though, that made what was an otherwise slow episode hilarious.

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I thought they used the surfer bro for hilarity. No?

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Too bad then. If they had used him for hilarity, they failed. His character was annoying rather than funny.

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I actually found him to be both. I laughed when he hit the net. He deserved it.

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I live in California, so I was a little offended by the stereotypical references... (but then I remembered EatyourKimchi's video on Korean Stereotypes on Foreigners)...

The entire time I was watching/reading the recap, I remembered the California commercial on Misconceptions. And I wondered if that's how the world really sees Californians.

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But...it's how most Americans view Californians, too. We know it's a stereotype and not true of everyone...but true enough of enough people to make it funny, ne?

I'm sure you're absolutely bright and driven and interesting just like everyone else here - don't let something like this make you feel bad :(

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I blame the "Beach Boys" lol. I'm not a native Cali but I currently live in Socal. I love to surf, hang out at the beach etc so I rolled my eyes at the stereotype because its not true for everyone even for most of the native Californians around me.

English being my 3rd language kind of make me feel sorry for LMH. That's a lot to ask of him even if he has been taking English lessons in Korea for years. I still have an accent but its much better now since I've been around native English speakers.
Learning a new language is not just about writing and speaking, its much more than that. It's about people and their culture etc etc.

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I hadn't even watched the trailers or read the spoiler but I found this ep really boring, so many cliches and all the English dialogues are just ridiculous.
TWTWB, IHYV, MS and even All about my romance started off very good at the first ep, but this one is just lackluster.
Hopefully the next ep will be better.

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I was honestly ready to judge this drama because of all the hype and BOF comparisons (am I the only one who hated this drama), but it wasn't that bad. Everything is stereotypical and has been done before, but it feels a bit fresh as well. This year had a lot of different type of dramas like IHYV, Good Doctor, and Master's Sun, so I think Heirs can't compare to the freshness of those dramas, but I am optimistic. I keep trying to like her but Park Shin Hye is still not doing it for me...she is just so bland and boring on-screen, and she somehow seems to suck all the chemistry out of the couple. Not the biggest fan of LMH, but so far I think he is doing pretty good with his role, and you can see him try to create some chemistry. Love Kim Woo Bin..he was my favorite from the premiere.

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It was alright. I am sadly no longer obsessed with LMH. Actually, I have realized that he is just a regular good actor. For me, he played Gu Jun Pyo awesomely and he was pretty good as Yoong-Sung in CH. BBF is also my least favorite drama, so I didn't like Gu Jun Pyo just because of the hype. He made the drama worth watching for me, but everything else I've seen of him has bored me (even CH at times. I know, I know.).
I was so hoping to get hooked again with Heirs but he was just ok again. I think Woo-Bin can easily steal his thunder if he doesn't step up. Chan-Young (KMH) was adorable! I didn't find PSH to be as awesome as the recap points out but she was ok. Overall, I think this episode was ok but I don't know that I will be as hooked as I though I'd be with the series (despite low expectations from the get go).

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I agree with you on all points. Lee Min Ho was the only reason I watched Boys Before Flowers from beginning to end because he basically came alive on screen and I was completely fascinated by him.
But since then he's unfortunately crept back into his cave because despite having seen all of his other dramas I have never liked any of his other roles. It's really a pity, because I do think he has the potential.
(I think City Hunter just had an awesome director and beautiful music, but the acting from the two leads was dull, well, except for the badass dad. He was great.)

Unlike Park Shin Hye. I've never liked her acting in anything and I'm still not convinced that she's actually a good actress/or someone with the potential to become a good one.

I also think that Woo Bin did a better job at portraying a layered character, even though he had less scenes than Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye. His storyline is the only reason I'm going to continue watching for now. Well, and the 'Mistress', because I like the actress.

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The dad in City Hunter was amazing! I liked LMH for the most part but the romance was boring. You are right about the directing and editing. That show was pretty and episodes felt like watching a movie.
Despite my low expectations for this show I thought Lee Min Ho could bring back the spark since this is his closest role to Gu Jun Pyo after Boys Before Flowers, the role that made me love him. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now but I'm not crossing my fingers. Hopefully the scenes in Korea will be much better. I am not expecting this show to be good (if it is, all the better). I just want it to be fun/entertaining.
As for Woo Bin, I am liking his creepy character a lot. I don't find it annoying that he is playing a rich bully as long as he does it well. Yes, it is stereotypical and overdone but I am not hoping for much here. I just want to be entertained! And of course, we all know that he will end up being redeemed so it's all good.

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Perhaps we were all wishing to see a Gu Jun Pyo but ended up with a more mature Gu Jun Pyo?
I don't know, i think it's good he's moved on from his BOF days. I still enjoy him as an actor, even if his acting wasn't as outlandish as it was in those days.

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Oh, I don't want him to be stuck in Gu Jun Pyo mode forever but that show gave me very high hopes about his acting. I honestly thought he had the skills to make any character amazing despite the flaws of whatever show he was cast in (as BOF was deeply flawed). The only reason I am bringing up BOF is because of how awesome I thought he was as GJP, not because I want him to be GJP again. Now I am wondering if everyone else in BOF was so bad that they made LMH shine so bright.

I don't think he is a bad actor and I haven't hated his other roles but they have been a little underwhelming for me. He has potential but he is not the awesome actor I once thought he was. Here's hoping that he proves me wrong this time :).

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A few things:
1. I was totally cringing during the English scenes. Plus the California scenes were so stereotypical.
2. This is probably one of the weakest first episodes I have seen.
3. I will admit that it took me a while to fall in love with Secret Garden when I watched it while with A Gentleman's Dignity I fell in love within four episodes.
4. I can see the potential of this being a really good drama but I also can see it as a really bad drama.
5. I feel that with a cast this size a lot of characters are going to be just brushed away.
6. Knowing me I might end up dying for every Kang Ha-neul scene because you can never have too much Kang Ha-neul.
7. I'm really iffy with it right now but because I love Lee Minho I will watch it even if there is an amnesia plot because they always find their way into a drama.
8. On the bright side we got a Lee Minho shower scene in under two minutes.

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Never too much Kang Ha Neul: amen, sister. Amen. I'm afraid he's going to get lost in the shuffle as a tertiary character.

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"8. On the bright side we got a Lee Minho shower scene in under two minutes."

Yesss, I did NOT mind that.. haha. ;)

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the cali scenes are on dads level of stereotypical garbage
why are they even in the drama?

5.clearly the leads of this drama are park shin hye and lee min ho so hopefully the drama can integrate more characters into their stories with well crafted sub plots
eg:in the first ep alone we spent approx 10mins each on establishing lmh and psh characters while inter splicing scenes from some of the supporting cast
7.please no amnesia plot!!!!

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Oh please, that's not even close. Besides, almost half the movies in Korea are Hollywood ones where Americans get a lot of positive roles.

So that's a lot more balanced than you see in the States.

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Thanks for recap!

I'm actually liking the storylines of otp and side characters So far. You have the underdogs who you want to cheer for, the bullies who you want to hate, the ditzy jealous girl who you want to knock some sense into her and the cutie best friend who everyone should have in real life. :p

Good start so far. I hope it gets better with each episode thought. If not, I have the cutie s and pretties to get me through. Haha

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This episode was all over the place. First forty-five minutes, I had no clue what was going on. Just felt like random scenes strung together. And the characters act like they walked out of a comic book, Krystal especially.

When are our main characters going back to Korea because I can’t take much more of this cringe-worthy acting. People think idol actors are bad; foreign actors are even worse. Where do they find these people? I thought L.A. was filled with struggling actors waiting tables. There were no decent ones?

Favorite character so far: Kang MinHyuk. Makes me wish this was the cliched best-friends-falling-in-love storyline (instead we get the cliched rich-boy-falling-in-love-with-poor-girl storyline). Hope Chan Young doesn’t disappoint me as the show progresses. Amidst the plethora of casting news, how did I miss Jo Yoon Woo’s casting? As soon as I heard HongGi’s voice, I knew this would be another awesome FNC OST.

Thanks for the recap, javabeans!

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"Where do they find these people?"

That's what I want to know!

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Just to comment on this: in order to act in any reputable US film or TV production, an actor needs to be a member of the Screen Actors Guild (union.) Part of Guild membership means that you only work on productions that have an agreement with SAG. This agreement usually includes things like the production employing members of the other unions (lighting, sound, editing, etc.)

Most overseas productions aren't going to use local, US union crews. This mean that SAG members (aka just about anyone who wants real acting work in LA) can't act in the production. So you get less-than-stellar actors, the director may not be giving them much direction, and there may be language challenges so it all adds up.

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Thanks for the insight! Didn't know the film/TV industry in the US was that regulated, but that goes very far in explaining why Korean dramas seem to have difficulties finding decent actors even in the US!

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Kang MinHyuk's character was very loveable. I hope they explain what he sees in that horrible girlfriend of his.

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Agreed!

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Some guys are drawn to drama queens. I think they find them amusing.

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So should I try it and get a rich sweet guy? I don't think I could live with myself! Ugh, then that kind of guy turns me off.

Still wish I could do it though.

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lol he clearly likes it when Krystal's character being all bratty and bossy around him

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They must have blown the budget on sets, fancy clothes, and helicopter shots...they had nothing left for even the mediocre struggling actors.

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the fancy clothes usually go after the drama to star their clothes there, they give money for that, so they don't spend money on it.

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That has to be it, because what other reason could there be for the below-the-bottom-of-the-barrel 'talent' English-speaking actors they scraped up and cast? I'm not a good actress and I could have done better than Blond Surfer Dude. There is absolutely no excuse for how incredibly shitty the English-speaking talent was. None. I could understand if they were in Korea, but California? It boggles the mind.

The fiasco with the powder had me shaking my head. Blond Surfer Dude is the stupidest druggie ever. If the powder in Eun-Sang's suitcase had been cocaine, his stealing it probably would have brought down the wrath of whoever she was a drug mule for not only on his ass, but also Tan's, and as much of a troublemaker as Tan might be, I highly doubt he's going to be like, "Oh, you stole a shitload of coke so now there are Really Nasty Men coming to kill you? Yeah, sure you can stay here and we can keep hanging out, no problem." Not happening. His actions after he smacked into the volleyball net were a whole other round of stupid. One, trying to snort all that powder then and there was a great way to have lots of people calling in public drug use, and, two, snorting that much coke at once is a great way to kill yourself with an OD, because on top of whatever went up your nostrils any that got inside your mouth and eyes would have been adsorbed into your bloodstream as well. Ripping the package open spilled the powder all over everywhere and most of it ended up being wasted. Congrats, you idiot. You just wasted 90% of the 'cocaine' you stole. *rolls eyes*

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That looked like it was around 1.5 to 2 kilos - so if it was cocaine it would have a wholesale value of around $75K to $150K.

IMO, that whole surfer-druggy scene was just stupid. But my question is, why did she bring bean powder in the first place? Not like it is hard to find in the US.

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It was the Bean Powder of sorrow, watered with her mother's tears.

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Jo Yoon Woo was the kid being bullied right?! Maybe he'll have a bigger role where he rebels against his bully…?

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Yes, Jo Yoon Woo was the kid being bullied by Kim Woo Bin. I loved him in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop and Cyrano Dating Agency. I hope he is not only a one-episode cameo and gets to retaliate against his bullies later, but since there's so many characters in this show as it is, I'm not hopeful he'll have a bigger role.

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I almost hope Kim Eun Sook pulls a BBF with his character, without the homicidal bribed by mommy dearest problem. But to come back after Young Do spends time with Eun Sang, and after she gets to know Jo Yoon Wo's character/maybe has class with him :) It would actually put any comparison to Gu Jun Pyo on Young Do instead of Tan.

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I've been really excited about watching this show but at the same time kept my expectations super low, which I think will be the key to viewing success!

I like the different plots and conflicts sprinkled throughout. Overall, I enjoyed it. I felt for Eunsang's older sister and her crappy situation, despite being horrible, and Eunsang herself even though she basically abandoned her mother. I liked the glimpses of take-no-shit backbone she's demonstrated so far and I hope she keeps it up with Kim Tan throughout the show. I also liked that Woo Bin's character doesn't seem to be a typical second lead - he looks like much more of a dick than the first lead, which I can't ever remember seeing before.

Most of what I didn't like is obvious - the English mostly, and I rolled my eyes at the portrayals of Americans/American life (despite being totally hilarious omg).

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Them being in high school didn't seem practical at all so I forced myself to believe they are all college students. Seriously just making the characters 4 years older make the more plot logical. (Seriously what 18 from a chebol Korean family be living in a SoCal mansion alone with a American druggie going the HIGH SCHOOL?)

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it would be so much more believable if they were college aged

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In my mind they're in College.

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Mine too. It's the only way I can see this.

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Not to mention they're all way too old to be believable as 17-yr-olds anyway. LMH certainly looks young, but put him next to actual high schoolers and I'm thinking the difference would be pretty obvious.

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My favorite female character so far is Rachel, not sure if I have a favorite male lead yet. The bullying scene made me cringe. I actually dislike everything about Young Do. There is not one redeeming quality about this character so far. Atleast Chuck was charming. I don't get charming from Young Do, so I hope there is a turning point for this character.

The English, oh the English. It was ALL cringeworthy, from the Americans to the Koreans. Oh please hurry back to Korea, I can't stand it.

I agree that Kim Tan's character is very layered and that's what I like the most about this character. I feel like I still don't know much about him. So hopefully as the story progresses I will have a more concrete opinion on him. As for now the verdict is still out. But I am leaning towards liking him.

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Yes! Rachel is my favorite so far and her one line of English was by far better than everyone else's. I actually like the chemistry between her and Young-do. To me they're the most interesting characters so far and would have preferred them as a couple but don't want to get into the whole incest thing.

I love Lee Min-ho and Park Shin-hye but feel indifferent about their characters and chemistry here. We'll see.

But Chan-young and Bo-na are adorable even if she's a little insecure and crazy.

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But it WOULDN'T be incest though. They're going to be step-siblings, which in my book, makes it acceptable to ship them. And ship them, I have been. Hope something actually comes out of the pairing. If not romantic, I'd totally be fine with their relationship being a twisted partnership where they jointly plot and scheme to thwart the main couple. Young Do seems to harbor quite a dark streak, and I hope they explore that.

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Ship them we shall then! From the previews and this 1st ep, I'm digging their characters, individually and together. Since there's a million characters, I hope the writer doesn't shaft their developments because there's a lot of layers to unveil and I hope it's a fun ride.

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I agree with you both. Step siblings do not equal incest, especially at their age! That darkness definitely needs to be unveiled, although I can see from the 'family' meal where it started. Also why will Tan being a brother in law tick off Young Do? I guess we will get to that. I'm looking forward to the sparks flying between them. It should be fun :)

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I find it interesting that this time, the second lead is the one who's the asshole bad boy - and Woo-bin does that VERY well (on the flipside, he's also great at playing dorky and cute, see Vampire Idol and School 2013 for evidence)

I do think his styling for this drama is all wrong for a 24 year old actor playing a high school student, but that's on the coordis, not him.

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Rachel (AKA Krystal) was born in San Francisco, though she moved to Korea at a fairly early age. Not sure if she still hold US citizenship or not.

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OOPS! Not Rachel, Bo Na.

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Glad to find people who like Rachel. I quiet like how Kim ji won portrayed her here, i want to root for the bitchy girl for once lol and of course i'm on Rachel-Young do ship, found their interactions promising. cause you know she's not going to marry KT, the later obviously will cancel it and i can't wait to see them partnering up or sthing.

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I thought Rachel owning Eun Sang by speaking fluent Japanese was totally badass. Hoping against hope that the writer won't just make a snooty, run-of-the-mill second lead out of her, and actually give her some depth instead.

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There's nothing charming about Chuck. Ever. 1st episode of GG he already tried to take advantage of Jenny. That's enough for me to put him in my irredeemable column.

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really i love to kang minhyuk, i am excited for the episode 2.

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So perhaps this is random of me, but I am so happy to see PSH with her black hair again.

That aside, the plot isn't doing much for me, but since both of our male leads can pull off intense stares, I'm hoping to have a show full of UST. Loads and loads of USTy goodness.

LMH and PSH already have crazy chemistry-- and once WB starts interacting, I'm sure it will all blow up.

At least, that's what I'm hoping. . . Plainly, I have very low standards.

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crazy chemistry, really? Because I'm sad I'm not feeling any of it :(

LMH seems to be trying but his chemistry goes and gets blocked on PSH's anti-chemistry walls.

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Does it make sense to say that I felt the chemistry only when they weren't talking to each other? It's almost like the script's dialogue is getting in the way of it.

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'anti-chemistry walls' - hahaha! not completely agreeing with you, but I'm not disagreeing with the description either.

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‘anti-chemistry walls’ = WIN!!!!!! lol

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Wow that's what I feel too!

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Oh, I so agree about her black hair!

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this is ridiculous. Perhaps it is for making him look younger?

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I think the hair color is making him look older, hope he gets a makeover and has black hair.

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I think this is just tan

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LOL - a very good one - Kim Tan is Tan!!

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I was pleasantly surprised by the first episode. I wasn't expecting much. When I first heard about the drama months ago I was rather meh; the premise didn't sound particularly interesting. In part I decided to watch it just to see what the big to do was. And also because I like the leads.

There are so many characters that a lot of the episode was spent just introducing them. I did like how each scene/intro was loosely connected to the previous. I'm going to have a hard time keeping track of who's who.

Park Shin Hye has really improved as an actress since You're Beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing how she'll flesh out her character.

As for Lee Min Ho's English, I didn't really hear anything to complain about in the delivery/acting department. It's just that the script is a little...not normal English. I have no problems with him having a heavy accent - it was understandable enough and he wasn't being presented as a native speaker.

On the American scenes, it's very interesting to see a portrayal/interpretation of American culture by non-American entertainment, cringeworthy though it may be. Surfer Dude, however, no...just no. Yes, the script and what he's supposed to say is weird English, but his acting... plus, he looks much too old to be playing someone in high school.

Overall, I'm pleased and looking forward to tomorrow. And to watching the men fall in love with Eun-sang. I *love* when the guys fall first, and fall hard.

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Yes, Heirs! Please be good! I have never dumped a drama of my oppa's and I really don't want to start now

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The first episode really changed my expectation of this drama! I thought it was going to be the Korean version of Gossip girl but ended up being another typical K-drama of rich guy and poor girl. The current direction they are going is like "Boys over flower" but they are now in university! Please surprise me!

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So far, despite the ridiculous cringe-worthy English dialogue (and American actors, jeez) this was a good first episode. There were a few characters I can already tell I'm gonna dislike: Rachel, Bo-na (sadly since I adore Krystal), Stella unni (though we probably won't see much of her) and maybe, possibly, sadly Young-bo. Which is a real shame since I have an unadulterated love for Kim Woo-bin, and here his character is an ass and a bully. Why is he a bully, Show? Why? I'm still holding out hope that he can be cool and sweet(-ish) when it comes to Eun-sang, but I don't know. I also hope that Bo-na stops being a brat and trusts her boyfriend. (But is he the second male lead or is Young-bo?) And as for Rachel.... I don't like her. Not one bit. She's everything I hate: spoiled, rich girl with a complex, and the male lead's fiancée. *SIGH* I don't like her. She came off as quite the bitch to me. I liked Bo-na better than her.

Choi Jin-hyuk is doing a good job playing the hardass, jerky hyung. I hope he cools it down later on, though, and he and Tan can have a bromance as bros should.

I'm still not quite sure where this show is going. I think the writer is doing a good job so far (although she should never write English dialogue again (if she's the one writing it)). I actually like her antiquated style of writing. But that's just me. I loved AGD, but hated SG. So, maybe I'll LOVE Heirs.

I like Tan, by the way. I think Lee Min-ho is doing an excellent job playing the introspective teen. I so hope he doesn't become an ass down the line. I hope he'll be able to stand up to his brother and his dad and to Rachel, because she seems like she'll be clingy when it comes to him. Or his relationship with Eun-sang, rather.

I like Eun-sang too. I adore Park Shin-hye, and she adds some spunk to this Candy character. I don't mind Candy characters when their done right and played right. And Park Shin-hye is good at playing these roles.

Thanks for the recap, Javabeans!

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2nd lead is young-do...

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Thanks! I was really confused about it!

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Off topic, but is dramafever or any other websites possibly have Medical Top Drama eng subs? I've been looking for it.

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Viki.com is subbing now

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Im 2 digustingly happy bout this

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I went in with very low expectations, so I get to be on the somewhat pleasantly surprised train. I'm not saying I'm fully on board yet, as for some reason I have never been able to connect with either a drama written by Kim Eun Suk or Lee Min Ho (I know, you're all gasping) or anything vaguely Gossip Girl. We all have our things we click with and don't, right?

But, there are a few actors in here I enjoy, and as overpromotion as this thing has gotten, I figured I could either avoid it on principle, or at least check it out so I could form an informed opinion.

Having watched the first episode, I wouldn't say I am cautiously optimistic, perhaps cautiously ambivalent would be closer, which is better than I expected :) Now if you told me it was going to stay in California for much longer...shudder...

I do like that our Candy girl isn't just a plucky ray of sunshine. She may be working 15 jobs, but you can see layers of hurt and bitterness in feeling like this is the lot in life she's being given little choice about. I really do hope they can do more with her character in this regard, not suddenly turn gold-digger to get a quick route out, but that she'll find a way to be proud of her mom and forge her own path.

Woo-bin...right now he kinda scares me. I don't like to see any body get smacked around, but I'm glad we got that brief look at what his home life looks like for an idea of what has influenced him. He doesn't get fully excused, but it helps to have perspective and hopefully he'll do some (major) growing. Please?

Guess we'll see what tomorrow brings!

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Woo-bin's character was painful to watch. I know many people here love him, but as I've never seen him in anything else before so my first impression is: who's this scary menacing creep?!

Have to agree with you about Lee Min Ho. So far I've only seen him in Faith, Personal Taste and Boys over Flower and those are all shows that I dropped halfway, but I like him here more than I did in any of his previous dramas and to me, Kim Tan is way more interesting as a character than Gu Jun Pyo ever was.

Agree with everything you say about Eun-Sang. I like her sass and I hope we continue to see more of that and her character does indeed have room to grow. Looking forward to the next episode!

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Woo Bin is very successful at being creepy and menacing; see White Christmas.

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Long live Mireu! Pink-haired Woobie is the best Woobie..and yes, he was creepy and menacing. Until he wasn't anymore, that is, and turned into a guy you liked and felt sorry for. He was great in White Christmas. Definitely check it out.

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You need to watch City Hunter. It's the best.

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I don't know what you're talking about, I love them in the states. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell when Korean dramas get cheesy (apparently "Asa!" is a really dorky thing to say??). But when they're all speaking English I feel like I finally get it. I get to laugh at how terrible Min Ho's accent is (bless his soul for trying though). Enjoy how awful the American stereotypes are. See Shin Hye's character react to all of it. It's fun. I want them to stay in California forever. Okay, not forever, but a few more episodes.

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LOL are you in opposite-land? Tell me what it's like over there. Can Song Seung-heon emote?

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hmmm....I need to sleep this comment out...maybe when I wake up...it makes sense...

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I also did not have a problem with his English.
1. To my knowledge they never said how long he had been there.
2. People have accents even if they speak fluent English and have been here 20 years. H%££! I was in London once and someone knew I was from the southern part of the US!
3. Her reactions ( looking down her shirt lol) were great in my opinion.

I think surfer bro was waaaay out there but unfortunately I do know a few like him just...less. I thought the cop was fine, and that group of guys were just passing by no biggy but kinda scary if you have stereotypes in mind visiting a foreign land. ( or opposite as Javabeans put it) :)

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Loved #3, I literally laughed out loud. I love a heroine with a sense of humour.

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That's why I have some hope for this drama. I like it when a writer can put in little bits of humor here and there, and when the actors/actresses can pull it off.

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LOL, you're killing me over here!!!

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I like it, it may not be a master piece, but it's only the first episode. The people complaining about ratings. I don't think its possible for the writer to ever reach her rating highs of other dramas (unless it's a weekend drama) because TV watching has change so much since "Lovers in Paris" wich I believe got higher then 30% rating. There's just too much available now, and there's a crazy melo ( ajuhmas who hold the remote love those Melos) playing that has fairly loved leads in it with a 3 week lead.
Anyhow I'm sticking to it. Bring on episode 2

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You're right, javabeans, the feel is definitely "like a couple of generations back" on say, Hermosa Beach, late 70s, hyper beach bum druggie surfers, blonde babes, and all. Although Hermosa beach never changes - a trip back where time stands still in patchouli oil, drugs, and sand. Couldn't have picked a better house where her sister lives with gross, has-been Calif. guy. Even the American names - Stella, Jess, it all fits. Makes me like this all the more.

Best line: (cop) "People don't usually eat food through their nose, right?"

This is really going to be fun. I'm up for it, kdrama fuchsia lipstick, chaebol/candy plot, rebel scholar, motorcycles, and beach volleyball. Bring it on!

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surfer dude was a character straight out of Fast Times at Ridgemont High

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YES! I loved it, Gu Jun-pyo and Jeff Spicoli, together at last!

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Lol

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Speaking of stereotypical names, the name of the blonde bikini girl they hung out with was Tammy. I had to laugh at that. (No offense to anyone but that name does sound very surfer girl to me.)

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~Tammy - truly a dated name, isn't it!

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I felt like the cop was the only american actor who probably twisted the dialogue and made it into something that sounded more natural and funny to boot.
The only downside with him, he was horrible at his job. you don't just take people's passport like that and leave em. Ha. This is just a drama, afterall.

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Love it...I agree this is going to be so fun, but at the same time showing the depth of reality. I love the Engrish-everyone has different accents that's what makes us unique. There is also, a great review on the drama on
Hancinema by William Swartz. He has caught the depth that most have missed. Keep it coming Heirs.

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thanks, vik, I checked out the review by WS - insightfully fills out the underlying and deep-rooted theme that you are tied to the culture that makes you who you are no matter where you hang~ I really think this is going to be fun to watch :)

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Part of the problem for me is Secret Garden is the drama I feel the most conflicted about. To this day, if you ask me whether I loved it or hated it depends on the day. I feel similarly about City Hall and haven't watched any of the other dramas all the way through. I feel so conflicted about this writer. Sigh.

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I actually liked it. I thought that the characters were good. Usually, when I see the first episode, I get bored the first 7 minutes and for me it is like an eternity to watch the full episode. But with Heirs, I actually felt hooked to the story.

Talking about acting, the things that I did not like was the engrish the actors had and the part where PSH cries when her sister leaves. Oh, and, as always, the American actors are overacting, but other than that, I really liked it!

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