Revive Episode 1-2 Recap & First Impression

Drama: Revive (???????)
Airs: Thursdays
Episodes: 16

Ninja's Episode 1-2 Overview
An extremely talent actor, our hero Du Fei dreams of one day to stand on the pinnacle of the entertainment world with his best friend Xie Yi. Despite being no where near as talented as the hero, Xie Yi has found success to be easy while Du Fei is still struggling to carve a place for himself. Relying on Du Fei's help to propel him to stardom, Xie Yi is nonetheless intensely jealous of his best friend and eventually does the unthinkable thing of plotting to kill Du Fei. Clueless of Xie Yi's true feelings towards him, Du Fei gratefully listens to Xie Yi's "kind" suggestion that he should go for a drive in his (Xie Yi's) car to vent off some of his frustration of still being a peon actor.  

The hero is play by Marco who had a very memorable role in Journey of the Flower. 
Waking up in a hospital after a terrible car accident, it doesn't take much for Du Fei to figure out that his best friend had deliberately tempered with the breaks in order to kill him. Assured by his assistant that Du Fei is dead, Xie Yi feels like he is on top of the world as he accepts the coveted best actor award... and delivers the speech that he brazenly stole from Du Fei.

Seething with anger as he lays in the hospital bed and watches a triumphant Xie Yi on the tv, Du Fei accepts the help of a mysterious man who promises to give him a new life to seek his revenge.

Utterly shocked as the bandages finally comes off and he stares at the complete stranger in the mirror, Du Fei screams in horror as the mystery man declares that they have given him a perfect new face to help with his revenge plan.

Du Fei's new face is actually not random. The mystery man had gave Du Fei the face of the driver of the other car that collided with him when the man died. The driver's name was Mu Zi Che and he was a rebellious car racer from a rich family. 
Seemingly not suffering from any guilt, Xie Yi attends Du Fei's funeral and puts on his hurt expression when their mutual friend Lin Xuan yells "What did you do to Du Fei?! You took him to Korea but why did you only brought back his ashes?! Why didn't you die instead?"

Lin Xuan is also a very successful actress as well. She was once friends with both Du Fei and Xie Yi but it looks like she has caught on that Xie Yi was only friends with Du Fei to use him. 
With his talent and brand new face, Zi Che (the new Du Fei) easily catches the attention of the famous Director (Feng Jing) of a top talent agency (ESE). His alarm blaring the moment he sees Zi Che's acting during the interview selection, Xie Yi comforts himself that Du Fei is long dead but is disturbed enough that he orders his assistant to make sure Zi Che will not be accepted into ESE.

Fortunately for Zi Che, his performance left a deep enough impression on Feng Jing that he personally invites our hero to join his company. Ready to take the first step towards his revenge, Zi Che starts his journey by showing up for ESE's vigorous actor training.
Unfazed by the intense selection process that is suppose to weed everyone out except one top preforming candidate, Zi Che soon becomes an eye sore to his follow trainees when his determination to push himself ends up making more work for everyone else.

Furious when he walks in to the shower room to see Zi Che getting beat up, Feng Jing becomes thoughtful when Zi Che harbors no ill will towards the perpetrators but instead asks Feng Jing to be lenient with them.
Not surprisingly, Zi Che successfully completes the intense training/elimination  process and becomes an official talent for ESE. Working on a set as an extra, Zi Che is stunned when the beautiful lead actress suddenly yells in joy when she sees him and proceeds to talk in a very familiar manner with him. As it turns out, the lead actress's name is Liu Yi and she is someone that has been chasing after the real Mu Zi Che for a very long time. Gleefully assuming that Zi Che's new career choice as an actor must mean he is finally ready to accept her, Liu Yi happily present herself at Zi Che's house the next day. 

Constantly on thin ice as he tries to mimic the real Mu Zi Che in front of the car racer's mother and now Liu Yi, Zi Che (Du Fei) confesses to the mystery man that he is still unable to adjust to his new identity. Not mincing words, the mystery man warns Zi Che "You don't have much time to get ready anymore. According to what I know, someone is preparing to drag Du Fei back from hell." 

Ninja's First Impression:

�NinaReflection.com

For those of you who watched the first episode BUT haven't read the internet novel this show was based on you probably was kinda surprised at the ...um... intense chemistry that seems to be between the hero and Feng Jing. Out of curiosity I took a look at the internet novel and everything made a whole lot more sense once I realized the romance was actually between two male characters. With the Chinese government's restrictions there is no way Revive will actually follow the novel's plot so I am assuming the hero will end up having romantic entanglements with women instead. However, it does look like the show will try to insert as much "bromance" as they can get away with to pay homage to the novel.

 Probably because of the short episode count (for C-drama anyway), Revive's plot moves very quickly ...perhaps too quickly sometimes so that might be why the show's vibe still feels kinda uneven to me. I find myself shaking my head a few times when the show just seems too over the top, yet strangely I am intrigued enough by the story to stick with it for now. 

I do have one concern though...other than the hero I am not sure who the other main characters are. The show has set up two prominent female characters (hero's female friend (in the above picture) that he possibly have a crush on and the actress that has a crush on the real Zi Che) BUT then what's up with the sizzling chemistry between the hero and Feng Jing?? I realize the sizzling chemistry might just be a way to attract the novel's loyal readers but what about the poor heroine that is suppose to compete with that? 

Oh well, other than complete confusion on what ship to jump on Revive is a very pretty show with a good enough story that earns a spot on my "wait and see" list.

Vampire Detective Episode 1 First Impression

Drama: Vampire Detective (???? ??)
Network: OCN
Airs: Sundays
Episodes: 12

Episode One Overview By Ninja

A cop with a bright future ahead of him, life seems great for our hero Yoon San (played by Lee Joon) as he accepts a new undercover assignment with his girlfriend (Yoo Jin) and trusted co-worker. 
We are not shown what transpired with the undercover assignment but the next thing we know Yoon San has rescued a tied up Yoo Jin from a factory and the three undercover cops are trying to get away in a car. Concerned when a strangely stoic Yoo Jin asks the other cop to stop the car, Yoon San fusses over his girlfriend as she insists on getting off the car. Worried that Yoo Jin might catch a cold, Yoon San heads back to the car to grab a blanket but stops when Yoo Jin calls his name. Stunned when he turns around to see Yoo Jin pointing a gun at him, Yoon San looks down in disbelief as Yoo Jin fires a shot at him after murmuring "I am sorry, Yoon San." 
Leaving Yoon San laying on the ground struggling for breath, Yoo Jin calmly gets into the waiting car and drives away. Staring at the car as it drives away, Yoon San screams in pain when the car suddenly stops then explodes right in front of him. 

�NinaReflection.com

Time jump! Yoon San is not a cop anymore but works as a private eye with a friend (Yong Goo Hyung) who treats him more like an older brother. Still hunted by the memories of that fateful night, Yoon San eagerly accepts a case when he sees a picture of a mysterious woman with a very familiar looking necklace. 

The client is Han Gyeo Wool, a girl that will end up joining the private eye agency. 
Going by Gyeo Wool's words, Yoon San had assumed they were just out catching a cheating boyfriend doing some nefarious deeds but quickly realize they are in for some surprises when the guy leads them straight to a bunch of thugs. 

Chasing the guy to a dark ally, both Yoon San and Goo Hyung (partner) are beat soundly when the man proves to be unusually strong. Saved at the last moment when Gyeo Wool yells out "Oppa!" and stops the man, Yoon San finds out the guy was never Gyeo Wool's boyfriend but her brother instead. 
Dang, Jae Hee (playing Gyeo Wool's brother, Gyoo Min) looks awesome here! 

Convinced that her doctor brother had gotten into some serious trouble, Gyeo Wool had hoped Yoon San and Goo Hyung could figure out a way to save him. Going back to the same club where they found Gyoo Min before, Yoon San and Goo Hyung finally get the first hint that this case might be much bigger than they thought as they stare at a giant walk-in with shelves of blood bags. 

Fortunately for us viewer, the show doesn't make us guess for long of what trouble Gyoo Min is in. In a flash back we see that Gyoo Min's girlfriend was turned into a vampire when she was bitten by a patient while working in the hospital. Taking care of his sick girlfriend, Gyoo Min is soon turned into a vampire as well. Desperate to save his girlfriend who would rather die than feed on human blood, Gyoo Min works tirelessly to come up with a cure for their condition. 
Yoon San and his partner are able to successfully find Gyoo Min's hideout but unbeknownst to them a thug from the club were following them the whole way. Working for the "mysterious woman" (the one with the necklace), the thug grabs Gyeo Wool and threatens to kill her if Gyoo Min doesn't turn over the USB with the file he stole from the club. (This was actually a misunderstanding, since Yoon San was the one the used Gyoo Min's passcard to steal the file. The thug had assumed Gyoo Min had betrayed them but in reality Gyoo Min was alarmed once he finds out what Yoon San had done and warned him that the woman is dangerous.) 

Sick of living as a monster, Gyoo Min's girlfriend charges out into the sun and successfully frees Gyeo Woo while setting the thug on fire. Rushing out in time to see his girlfriend giving him one last smile, Gyoo Min screams in agony as she turns to ashes right in front of him.  
Howling as he was burning alive, the thug frantically fires the gun in his hand. Jumping to cover an unconscious Gyeo Wool with his own body, Yoon San takes a bullet to his chest. Calm now as he walks over to the dying Yoon San, Gyoo Min resolutely injects the only serum he had developed for his girlfriend into Yoon San instead. With one last apologetic look at his little sister, Gyoo Min whispers "I am sorry, Gyeo Wool" before he exposes himself to the sun and turns into ashes as well. 

Ninja's First Impression

I like it! Once you get over the rather confusing first 10 minutes of this show then the rest of the hour was quite good. I usually have mixed feelings towards vampire shows because as much I am interested in a good'o vampire story I am often disappointed by the shows I have tired in the past. 

It looks like our hero will be using his new found vampire status to help in his detective work from this point on. While I am certainly looking forward to our hero's discovery of his new powers I am a bit worried that this show will turned into yet another criminal drama that focuses on a weekly case with a tad bit of "big conspiracy" plot thrown in now and then.  However, I am intrigued enough by Vampire Detective's quirky vibe that I will give this one at least a couple more episodes. 

ps. I was kinda disappointed with how Jae Hee looked in his last drama (Save the Family) BUT he sure looks great here so maybe he just needed a better stylist for his next project. 

Happy Home Episode 9-10 Recap

Happy Home Episode 9-10 Recap By Ninja
Completely convinced that Se Ri's baby must be his dead younger brother reincarnated, an overjoyed Daddy Bong confesses his conviction to his brother. Looking at the two similar baby pictures Daddy Bong gave him, Uncle Bong admits that the babies do look very alike but secretly believes that Daddy Bong is just imagining things because of his grief over their younger brother's death. 

Caught between his joy of having his "younger brother" back and his need to still pretend that he dislikes this illegitimate grandson, Daddy Bong tries to sneak a kiss on the baby's face while his wife is sleeping. Stunned when they catch Daddy Bong leaning towards the baby with puckered lips, the Bong family falsely assumes that Daddy Bong must've been trying to kiss his wife. Embarrassed yet trapped by the need to keep up his pretense of disliking Se Ri and her baby, Daddy Bong could only swallow the truth and allow his family to think what they will. 
Gleeful once she realizes that Daddy Bong has taken a liking to the baby, Se Ri tricks Daddy Bong and Mi Soon into meeting each other at the bathhouse so Mi Soon can see with her eyes how her father-in-law has fallen head over heels in love with her son. 

A side note: Mama Bong was so shocked to see her husband that she took a step towards him but slips on some water and ends up pulling Daddy Bong's pants down for all to see. 

At first severely hurt by her father-in-law's betrayal, Mi Soon becomes thoughtful once Uncle Bong tells her about the pain his brother has harbored all these years over their younger brother's death and of Daddy Bong's belief that their younger brother has actually reincarnated as Se Ri's baby. 

Making up her mind, Mi Soon calls for a family meeting and declares that she is willing to raise Se Ri's baby as her own. Looking at the shocked face all around, Mi Soon continues as she looks at Se Ri "So it's time for you to leave my home."

In this hour, Hae Won (heroine's little sister) and her love interest Kang Min continues to dislike each other on sight. In fact Hae Won has even gone as far as submitting an anonymous letter on the company web site about Kang Min. Unfortunately for Hae Won, it didn't take much for Kang Min to figure who wrote the anonymous letter and confronts her triumphantly when Hae Won needed his help to save a work project. 

We haven't seen a lot of this couple yet BUT it looks like things are about to get interesting since Mama Bong just had a pregnancy dream. Mama Bong had assumed it must be Hae Ryung that is pregnant but obviously that's not possible so I am guessing it must be Hae Won. 

STILL clueless that Madam Jang is planning to use him to get rid of Hae Ryung, Ji Gun has a polite but very unpleasant confrontation with Madam Jang when she uses his patient (Yu Hao) as a publicity stunt for herself without any regard for the little boy's health concerns. 

Seething that Ji Gun would dare to call her out for her selfish deeds, Madam Jang forces herself to tolerate Ji Gun's presence for the time being since he is a vital part of her evil plan.  

Happy...and perhaps with some desperation, Hae Ryung welcomes Madam Jang's suggestion of taking care of Yu Hao not only because the little boy is around the same age as her son but she needed something to distract herself from her husband's betrayal. 

As Madam Jang hoped, united in their effort to take care of their little patient Hae Ryung and Ji Gun starts to see each other regularly at the hospital. 
Unable to shake off the image of seeing his wife smiling happily with Ji Gun, Hyun Ki is not pleased at all when Hae Ryung becomes involved in Yu Hao's care. Angry when Hae Ryung tries to leave an important dinner party just because Yu Hao hasn't woken up from his operation, Hyun Ki grabs her arm to stop her from leaving. 

Turning her cold gaze on Hyun Ki, Hae Ryun frees her arm and tells him "I did tell you I will try for our marriage but that doesn't mean I am willing to obey your every wish and live without a soul like I did before." 
Unable to go into the intensive care, a worried Hae Ryung wonders around the hospital while waiting for Yu Hao to regain consciousness. Walking into the kids play area, Hae Ryung is surprised when she finds Ji Gun huddling in the corner. Her heart melting into a puddle (well, mine was...so hers must be) when Ji Gun looks up at her with tear stained face and says in broken voice "Yu Hao ...might not wake up...it's my fault again." Hae Ryung puts a comforting hand on Ji Gun's arm. 

Wrapping her arms around Ji Gun naturally when Ji Gun leans towards her, Hae Ryun pats his back slowly. 
Already furious when he is given an envelope containing pictures of Hae Ryung laughing with Ji Gun, Hyun Ki loses his composure when he catches his wife holding another man and drags Hae Ryung away with him. Desperate to explain, Ji Gun chases Hyun Ki down but just ended up getting punched in the face in front of the hospital staff. 
Ignoring Hae Ryung's own attempt to explain herself, Hyun Ki takes her to a hotel and tries to force himself on Hae Ryung to prove that she is his wife after all. Protesting and struggling against Hyun Ki, Hae Ryung finally gets a word in and tells him that while she has been hoping to get pregnant in order to reclaim the happy home they once had but that doesn't mean she is willing to be treated this way. 
Pushing Hyun Ki off her, Hae Ryung starts to leave but pauses and mutters "I don't know if we have anything left between us." Not looking at Hae Ryung, Hyun Ki replies "Everyone else live this way." 
Unable to do anything as he watches Hae Ryung being dragged off by her husband, Ji Gun is left worrying about her but is too scared to make a bigger mess of things by calling her. Racing off to search through the hospital when his co-worker tells him that he just spotted Hae Ryung, Ji Gun stops in his track when he sees Hae Ryung sitting forlornly by herself. 

Picking up Ji Gun's phone call after a moment of hesitation, Hae Ryung assures him that she is doing quite well. Staring at Hae Ryung with pain in his eyes, Ji Gun replies "You really are a good liar." Turning around in surprise to find Ji Gun standing a short distance away, Hae Ryung smiles and assure him again "It wasn't a lie. I am really okay." Looking at each other in the semi-darkness, Hae Ryung and Ji Gun quietly apologize to each other for what happened earlier that night. 
Apparently not fooled by his mother's words that Young Eun has left, Hyun Ki guessed right away that she is the one behind the mysterious envelope with his wife's photos. Unmoved by Young Eun's taunting words that suggest Hae Ryung is cheating on him, Hyun Ki informs Young Eun "It's over between us. I told you from the beginning that it would end when you stepped over the line." Not defeated by Hyun Ki's declaration, Young Eun simply says "You know in the end you will come back. The sad truth is that there is only one person in this world you can trust...and that's me, Lee Young Eun." 

Called urgently to the hospital to explain the affair rumor between his wife and Ji Gun to President Lee (Hyun Ki's boss and Ji Gun's ex-father-in-law), Ji Gun quickly assures his boss that the whole thing was a misunderstanding over Ji Gun's refusal to accept their job offer.

Mindful of Young Eun's parting hint that he can force Ji Gun to accept the Medical Research Center position by bringing up Hae Ryung, Hyun Ki causally tells Ji Gun that if he wants to quiet all the rumor that is circulating around the hospital right now then he should accept the job offer. Frustrated, Ji Gun wonders what the job has anything to do with Hae Ryung but Hyun Ki answers back "What crazy guy would hire the man his wife is cheating with?" 

As Hyun Ki gets ready to leave, Ji Gun suddenly changes topic and tries to explain again that nothing is between him and Hae Ryung. Calmly replying "I know," Hyun Ki explains that his wife simply has a condition of transferring her affection when she sees any boy that reminds her of their son. In a quiet voice, Ji Gun replies "Your wife is not crazy...she is just a very warm and loving person." 
Showing up at the hospital with her mother-in-law to visit the thankfully recovering Yu Hao, Hae Ryung is visibly uncomfortable around Ji Gun as she averts her eyes every time she talks to him. Noticing Madam Jang's stiff posture as she wheels Yu Hao back into his hospital room, Hae Ryung jerks back with dismay when Madam Jang looks at her with loathing and says "You are disgusting." Dismayed to find out from the nurse that Madam Jang has heard the rumor circulating around the hospital, Hae Ryung rushes home to explain but finds herself locked out of the house.

Without the time to tell Hyun Ki what happened when he comes home, Hae Ryung tries to explain herself to Madam Jang again, but she was cut off immediately as Madam Jang smilingly tells her son that Hae Ryung was waiting outside to let him know that she wants to go back to her parents house for a while. Displeased by his mother's words, Hyun Ki gets even more angry when he walks into the bedroom to find Hae Ryung's luggage already packed. So frustrated that she actually started to laugh when Hyun Ki accuses her of packing her bags without even talking to him, Hae Ryung declares "I didn't think so before, but I realize now that you and your mother are really quite similar. Fine, that's right. I want to go home. I really want to see my mom right now." 

Ninja's Thoughts

What a horrid character Madam Jang is! But then I guess that will make it that much sweeter when she finds out that her precious son has personally made sure that she will never have grandchildren. I do find it rather ironic that while Madam Jang is so gleeful to see her son getting suspicious of Hae Ryung but on the other hand she is also displeased by the idea that Ji Gun might like her daughter-in-law. I can't quite figure out if Madam Jang is just being possessive for her son or if she just doesn't want Hae Ryung to find a better man than Hyun Ki. 

As always, I am getting pretty tired of Se Ri and just wish Mi Soon would toss her no good husband aside since Se Ri surly deserves to spend the rest of her days with a loser like that. However, it does melt my heart to see how much the Bong family means to Mi Soon and it pains me that losing her husband might mean she will lose the only family she has ever known. 

All in all, Mi Soon's plot aside, I am very satisfied with how Happy Home is progressing and feels completely grateful that I can stare at Lee Sang Woo for two hours a week!