K2

Drama Rating: D+

On Viki This drama has managed to acquire over 6,000 ratings, and a large majority of these people have decided they love this drama. I have no idea how that's possible. K2's 9.4 out of 10-star rating has me wondering if I even watched the same drama that everyone else watched. I've even started to question if these people are just flat out lying to trick unsuspecting viewers into sharing in the same unpleasant 16 hours they've just endured.

Plot

One of the three strong points this drama has going for itself is the plot. Revenge, the knight rescuing the princess, and the evil witch. All of these story arch's work well and can be entertaining to every demographic of viewers. What determines the success of these lot devices are the capabilities of the writer. This drama proved that the writers do indeed have some sort of capabilities in the writing department, considering I was intrigued by the first episode, but something is lacking. I couldn't tell you why it happened or what caused the sudden change, but I do know that by episode 9 I was ready to drop the whole show and move on with the next drama available.

If I were to do a lightning review for someone just to warn them about the imminent doom I would say this, "keep your expectations low!" This might be the disparity between me and the viewers that loved this drama. I went into the show without any expectations, but by episode three I wanted K2 to be the greatest drama ever written. I was even beginning to think that K2 was better than my favorite kdrama Scarlet heart! As with any great tragedy the greater the climb the harder that fall. I, in essence, created my downfall by expecting too much.

Overall thoughts/Where it went wrong

I don't think I'll ever be able to get over the huge train wreck these writers created. Imagine creating the world's fastest, and safest form of transportation, and then putting a brick wall on the tracks intentionally! People passing by can see this is a bad idea, and some may even call the authorities out of concern, but the people on the train can't see it coming because they are only focused on initial expectations. I feel that the writers missed a huge opportunity to make this "THE" drama of the year for two reasons: one K2's love interest was Anna, and two Anna. Yes, all of my complaints stem from one character because of this I'm left with tons of "what if" questions.

Question one: What if Yoona hadn't been choosen for the role of Anna?

Some people may think this is me taking a dig at Yoona, but it's a dig at idols in general (much better I know). If the particular idol has a certain image to keep up, or isn't as interested in acting, or their company wants to represent certain qualities in the idol dramas are altered. I can only think of a few kpop idols/actors that have successfully dropped the idol image to embrace their roles interestingly, and except for D.O the rest have stopped promoting as idols. Which Is why I ask the question, what if there was no Yoona? Maybe the character would have been written with more dimension, maybe her character growth would have been less choppy. I can't criticize Yoona's acting, although K2 has caused me to avoid all of her subsequent works, because I'm assuming she did her best with the way the character as written, but still...

The first time we meet Anna is in Spain, shes been sent there because she's the illegitimate daughter of Jang Sae Joon, an assemblyman running for president. This right here is where the problems start, and they never end. Anna, we learn, is stricken with extreme childhood trauma from witnessing her mother being killed. Okay fine, there are many tragic characters in dramas, and most of the time parental loss is very easy to sympathize with, but in this case not so much. I have no idea what kind of crazy anti-depression/anxiety medicine Anna is on, but she is slightly insane. Running through the streets of Spain, barefoot, in a white nightgown, is not normal. Especially if you do it while screaming and crying. Meeting a stranger in the streets of Spain and asking for help, fine. Assuming he's Korean right off the jump, stupid. Being afraid of the maids living in your house that have been taking care of you for years, I'll overlook it. Running away from home in a strange country that you haven't been in for years, unrealistic.

The worst part of Anna is that she can't decide if she wants to be a helpless little girl or a woman ready for revenge. I mentioned earlier that by around episode 9 there is a sudden and uncalled for change concerning Anna's behavior, and this all starts with her "uncle." Now you may be wondering, "why is uncle in quotation marks?" Well that's because, in the moment when Anna decides to hop in his car and trust this "uncle" with avenging her mother, she has no idea if he's telling the truth or not. She hasn't bothered to verify if they're related, find out what kind of person he is, or see if he has any ulterior motives. She just goes with the logic of, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and trusts him one-hundred percent. Like a freaking idiot! You all might be thinking at this point (like I did) where is the character development. Just one episode before she didn't even trust her bodyguard, or any of the people she's known for years. She couldn't even walk outside without having a panic attack. When paparazzi showed up at her house she freaked out, how can she possibly model? Why would a person like this ever want to be in the spotlight? That last question is the most important one to me. Why would a person with Anna's history, Anna's personality, Anna's symptoms ever want to appear in the spotlight?

Question 2: Who decided that Anna was a better female lead than Choi Yoo Jin?

Okay, I understand that it looks like I'm complaining about Anna again, but I promise to keep the criticism to a minimum in this section and just focus on Choi Yoo Jin. This character is the exact reason I believe Anna could have been written way better. The writer has proven that she has great skills and can adequately develop a character, create plausible situations for them to be in, and logical reactions to events. To explain why Yoo Jin would be a better female lead I first have to explain the male lead. K2 or Kim Je Ha is a former special forces operative who is currently on the run for war crimes. He's been falsely accused of murdering a female translator who also happens to be the woman he was engaged to marry. Because of his former occupation and this traumatic experience Jae Ha has developed a Woodcutter persona (like in red riding hood). He cannot stand stronger, tougher wolves attacking any weak little red riding hood's. His disposition to protect the vulnerable and weak have caused him to be noticed by Choi Yoo Jin as someone with enough skill and honor to work under her.

Okay now back to Yoo Jin, after listening to my description of K2 your immediate reaction might be, "Yoo Jin is a successful Chaebol who is the wife of a man running for president. Wouldn't this make her a wolf and not little red riding hood?" To answer that question, yes. She is certainly a wolf in many ways. She is the one who has stopped Jang Se Joon and Anna from seeing each other all these years, and in a way she is partly responsible for Anna's mother's death. If her story arch only had this I wouldn't classify her as a female lead, but it doesn't her story has so much more depth and complexity than Anna could ever hope for. Yoo Jin like Anna had a lonely and often loveless childhood. Her father was cruel and distant, and her mother just like Anna's was not around. Her father's mistress and her half brother treated her cruelly as if they were enemies, and her life was all pretty much predestined. As an adult none of the loneliness or cruelty seems to change. Her husband cheats constantly, her half brother is still a jerk, and all the people around her are employed. To make matters worse she has also developed a harsh personality that cuts off any close contact to keep herself from being hurt ever again.

In comes Je Ha, He, unlike her other employees understands Yoo Jin, He knows instinctively when she needs help, and he protects her even from her own husband's cruel behavior. Even when she pushes him away and tells him not to fall out of line he always looks to protecting Yoo Jin and her interests first.

Closing:

I look for four things in a drama: plot, character development, good acting, and consistency. This drama managed to excel in all of these areas at one point and royally screw up at every other point. The only way I can explain this discrepancy is a change in writers/ writing. Maybe, Anna was written well to start, but was altered to protect the idol image that Yoona carries. Maybe, The plot was interesting to start, but someone came in and changed it. Maybe, there were fewer action scenes in this drama, But Ji Chang Wook was cast. And for goodness sake Kdrama writers, I can only suspend my disbelief for so long before it starts to get too ridiculous. When setting up a drama world that is similar to our real world you can't just change things without making that distinction clear. Korea is not a politically influential country in the world we live in. They can't just order around Spanish Police. The only way I'll believe those characters had half the power they claimed to possess is if they also had some kind of American or Chinese backing. Suddenly making South Korea a world superpower is very unrealistic, and if the writers wanted to do this they should have made it clear in the first episode. For these reasons and many more I couldn't give this drama above a D, and I only added the plus out of respect for Ji Chang Wook.