oh dalja reviews

Episode 1: “Things That Drive Her Crazy”

OH DAL JA (Chae Rim) IS 32 GOING ON 33, successful and competent in her career as an MD (managing director? marketing division? makeup diva?) of a home shopping channel. She’s stumbled her way through her twenties, making mistakes left and right, and learning her lessons, it seems, a bit haphazardly.

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CURRENTLY, SHE LIVES ALONE in a nice apartment and makes a decent living, but has never been in a serious relationship. On the cusp of turning 33 (Koreans consider themselves �aged� on New Year’s Day, rather than on their birthday, which is why they measure seniority by birth year but not so much actual date of birth), Dal Ja is the dreaded old maid of modern Korean society — capable, attractive, and self-sufficient, but still seen as somehow inadequate because she is without boyfriend or husband. Kind of like Bridget Jones, except without all the alchohol, dating, and sex to take the edge off spinsterhood.

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THAT IS, UNTIL SHE finally works up the courage to ask out the co-worker she’s been pining over since her first day on the job 8 years ago: Shin Sae Do, a PD (producer-director) at the network. Blind to his playboy tendencies, Dal Ja blissfully indulges in her first romance, despite missing crucial signs that their relationship is doomed — signs that anyone else with the least bit of dating experience would recognize off the bat.

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NEEDLESS TO SAY, it isn’t very long before Dal Ja’s romance comes crashing down around her when Sae Do decides their co-worker, the glamorous show host Wee Seon Joo, is more his type. He breaks up with her coolly, and Dal Ja, needing to save face, determines to play off her rejection lightly. Unfortunately, she runs into Sae Do and his date in a hotel bar, and her pride and sense of self-preservation force Dal Ja to insist she’s there to meet her date as well.

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At a loss for a readily available male to phone to come to her rescue, she settles for calling someone she met earlier that day: Kang Tae Bong (Lee Minki). He’d given her his card upon breaking her cell phone when accidentally colliding into her on the street, and as Dal Ja is desperate to save face with her co-workers, she calls Tae Bong to be her fake boyfriend for the evening, in exchange for an exorbitant fee.

Tae Bong arrives at the hotel bar, and Dal Ja presents her handsome young �boyfriend� to Sae Do and Seon Joo. One awkward elevator ride later, she finds herself in a hotel room with her on-call boyfriend, crying into a bottle of Johnnie Walker.

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THE NEXT DAY, Dal Ja’s mortified to find that rumors of her dumping by Sae Do have been greatly exaggerated. Worse, they’ve spread throughout the office, and she’s affronted at becoming an object of pity. Sae Do and Seon Joo tell the co-workers that Dal Ja has nothing to worry about, what with her cute younger boyfriend and all. Caught in her lie, Dal Ja is at a loss to respond to her curious co-workers. But out of nowhere, Kang Tae Bong arrives, announcing himself as her boyfriend, leaving Dal Ja mystified and frustrated as to just what the hell is going on….

(end of episode 1…)

Episode 2: “Can Love Be A Business Transaction?”

WE PICK UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF… with Dal Ja wondering why Kang Tae Bong is here and why he’s passing himself off to her co-workers as her boyfriend… (more behind the cut)

DAL JA DOESN’T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED the night before, so Tae Bong fills in the blanks. Far from taking advantage of her (which is the conclusion Dal Ja immediately jumps to, as she’s wont to do), Tae Bong spent the night sitting in the hotel room with Dal Ja while she drowned her humiliations in an assortment of liquors from the mini-bar.

Humiliated and resentful, Drunk Dal Ja had decided she would take her revenge upon Sae Do for so coldly dumping her and making her a joke at the office. She figured she would start by contracting Tae Bong as her boyfriend for a month, at a fee of $3,000 (3 hours per day for 30 days). Basic physical contact, i.e. hand-holding and the like, to be included in the contract price, with deeper contact to be made at $20 per incident. Should either side develop genuine feelings for the other, the contract immediately becomes void.

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Gradually recalling these facts, Dal Ja’s horrified at the idea, and insists the contract is void. She was drunk, it’s invalid. But Tae Bong stands his ground, saying a contract is a contract, and he checked with her five times before agreeing. Moreover, she already paid him his fee via internet banking transfer, and he insisted that the fee was nonrefundable, which she also agreed to five times. Tae Bong tells her she can make use of his services for the month, or give up the money.

She goes to a lawyer, intent on litigating back her $3,000. (Observant viewers, note the lawyer’s name: Jang Dong Gun, which is a bit of an inside joke. Jang Dong Gun was Chae Rim’s love interest in her breakout role in the drama All About Eve, one of the earlier Hallyu/Korean Wave hit dramas.)

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The lawyer assures her he’ll get back her money — but at a fee of $3,000. Either way, Dal Ja’s screwed.

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SINCE SHE’S ALREADY SPENT THE MONEY, Dal Ja decides to make use of Tae Bong’s services to get her revenge on Sae Do. Dal Ja’s “unni” and senior co-worker, Go Soon Ae, insists Dal Ja’s being childish and stupid, but Dal Ja’s determined. Especially seeing Sae Do around the office, pretending nothing’s wrong and flaunting his relationship with Seon Joo. She’ll get him to fall for her, then humiliate him in front of everyone, like he did to her.

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DAL JA ENLISTS TAE BONG to come to her company New Year’s Eve dinner, going so far as to deck him out in expensive designer clothes and providing him with a script as to his background and profile, so as to impress everyone. However, Tae Bong sells the clothes and arrives dressed casually, and deviates from the planned script. Dal Ja angrily takes him aside and berates him for disrespecting her. This meant a lot to her, and he just made her look a fool in front of everyone.

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Tae Bong wonders if Dal Ja is so completely lacking in self-confidence that she she feels she needs a boyfriend with a fancy job or a foreign car to have worth. Furthermore, if she’s going to these lengths to exact revenge on Sae Do, she should examine if she even loved him: “If you didn’t love him, you don’t need revenge. And if you did love him, then you wouldn’t be thinking of things like revenge.”

To which Dal Ja fires back: “Do you think this is because of love? It’s not because of love. It’s because of my pride. If it really was love… then I wouldn’t for a moment have felt this bad or my pride so trampled. You might wonder what’s so great about pride, but for me? For me, pride is important. Because I’ve come this far holding onto one thing, and that’s my pride. To be at this age without a man, I’ve endured stubbornly holding onto my pride.”

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DAL JA AND HER CO-WORKERS are interrupted by an urgent call into the office on a emergency. They go into overdrive, trying to pull off their New Year’s Eve live broadcast successfully. In the chaos, Dal Ja is pleasantly surprised when Sae Do and Seon Joo both come to her aid, and Dal Ja appreciates that despite what may have transpired, they are her teammates.

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AFTER THE BROADCAST, Sae Do approaches and tries to reinitiate things with Dal Ja. This is the moment she’s been waiting for ?” the moment of vindication, where she can reject him cruelly and laugh. But somehow, after cooperating successfully in the midst of crisis, the sting has gone out of her feelings, and she instead extends an olive branch. They clearly weren’t cut out to be lovers, so why not try being good friends?

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WHEN KANG TAE BONG REPEATEDLY CALLS, she ignores him, prompting him to find her in person. She tells him she’s decided to stop with the revenge nonsense, and won’t be needing his services anymore. Tae Bong’s confused, and she explains that she’s just aged another year. She’ll try doing the mature thing, and consider this an expensive lesson learned.

Perhaps feeling both chastened at Dal Ja’s earlier outburst and burgeoning interest, Tae Bong counters, and says this is the perfect time for Dal Ja to make use of his services. She can practice dating with him, and use up the month on their contract.

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JUST THEN, MYSTERIOUS MEN REAPPEAR and give chase, prompting Tae Bong and Dal Ja to flee and escape capture. Tae Bong offers little explanation, only that they are troublesome debt collectors. As Dal Ja and Tae Bong evade the men, they find themselves enjoying the running, like energetic, carefree teenagers.

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As Dal Ja and Tae Bong stop in an alley to catch their breath, Dal Ja is caught off-guard by her own wild imagination…

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Tae Bong shrewdly picks up on Dal Ja’s weird vibe, and teases her about her fantasy. If she imagined a scenario involving kissing him, he could indulge her fantasy in a real-life example instead. Dal Ja denies it, and as he teasingly presses on, they’re interrupted…

(end of episode 2…)

Episode 3: “A Romantic Inquiry Into a Fateful Encounter”

Dal Ja and Tae Bong have just escaped from strange men who are chasing Tae Bong for an undisclosed reason. Stopped in an alley to catch their breaths, Tae Bong teases Dal Ja about giving her a free practice kissing session when a stranger interrupts, believing Tae Bong to be accosting Dal Ja…

WITH HIS PERFECT TIMING and dashing looks, Dal Ja wonders if this could be destiny working to bring them together. She doesn’t correct the stranger’s assumption that Tae Bong is bothering her, and gratefully accepts his “help” in brushing off Tae Bong’s unwanted advances. However, minutes later, when her Man of Destiny returns to give her his card and sees her talking with Tae Bong, he rescinds his offer. Clearly Dal Ja didn’t need his help after all. Dal Ja’s embarrassed and chagrined to have lost out on this opportunity.

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DAL JA TELLS GO SOON AE (her senior “unni” co-worker) about her Man of Destiny and his perfect qualifications. He has a fancy car, good looks, and is capable and obviously well employed. She bemoans her lost chance, but Go Soon Ae contradicts her. What good are qualifications over natural feelings and impulses? People would be a lot happier if they weren’t always measuring the other person’s qualities and adding up their skills. The brain is complicated; the body is simple. But she figures Dal Ja wouldn’t know what she’s saying, since she’s never made a relationship decision based on sexual attraction. Dal Ja uncomfortably remembers her fantasy about Tae Bong, while their conversation is overheard with a mix of curiosity and shock.

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MEANWHILE, SAE DO (Dal Ja’s playboy ex) gets dumped by Seon Joo, who’s grown bored. It’s a shock to his ego but surprisingly, to his heart as well, as he’s developed feelings for her. But Seon Joo coolly moves on, rejecting his appeals to continue dating.

MEANWHILE, SAE DO (Dal Ja’s playboy ex) gets dumped by Seon Joo, who’s grown bored. It’s a shock to his ego but surprisingly, to his heart as well, as he’s developed feelings for her. But Seon Joo coolly moves on, rejecting his appeals to continue dating.

He mopes to Dal Ja, who awkwardly tries to comfort him, only to be seen in yet another compromising position by none other than her Man of Destiny, aka Eom Ki Joong.

Eom Ki Joong is a newly arrived brand representative for the home shopping channel. Dal Ja is nervous working around him — she fears that whatever interest he may have had in her has been crushed because he’s got the wrong idea about her. Her fears are right on, as Eom Ki Joong treats her with disdain and coldness. He remarks that she’s got quite a lot of men around her, which Dal Ja attempts to refute. But it looks like that ship has sailed.

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STILL MEETING WITH TAE BONG for relationship advice, Dal Ja gets a few tips on how to behave. Tae Bong doesn’t think Eom Ki Joong is very interested in her, but if she wants to give it a shot, Dal Ja should try a little harder. She should also restrain from believing in things like Prince Charmings and destiny. “There’s no such thing as a man of destiny in this world.”

AT A COMPANY LAUNCH EVENT showcasing a new line of lingerie, Dal Ja and Go Soon Ae look on as she pines for Eom Ki Joong. Dal Ja works up her courage to approach him…

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…but unfortunately for her, Sae Do’s been drowning his sorrows in cocktails…

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Embarrassed and smelly, Dal Ja hides out in the bathroom, with only a flimsy slip to change into while she waits for Tae Bong to bring her a change of clothing.

Tae Bong hurries over, but is intercepted by the same men who were pursuing him in Episode 2. He’s taken by force…

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AFTER FREEZING ALL NIGHT waiting in the bathroom, Dal Ja realizes what Tae Bong had told her is right. “There’s no such thing as a Man of Destiny. There’s no Prince Charming who’ll run to rescue me. I can only count on myself.” So rather than waiting, she decides to walk out, in her slip and all.

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AS SHE LEAVES, she stumbles into Eom Ki Joong. She apologizes for not acting professionally and staying to supervise the event, having locked herself in a bathroom stall all night. She’s about to walk away when he stops her and offers her his coat. He also asks her out to dinner sometime. And while it should warm the hackles of her romantic heart, she wonders why she isn’t more touched by the gesture, although she is thankful for his help.

TAE BONG FINDS A WAY to escape his captors and rushes to find Dal Ja, only to arrive too late; the event has closed for the night.

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But he manages to find Dal Ja at the subway station, where he gives her the clothes he’d bought.

And leaves with a wave.

(end of episode 3..)

Lately I’m watching a new kdrama that’s currently airing in Korea, called Dal Ja’s Spring, starring Chae Rim and Lee Minki. At first, I wasn’t planning on watching the show, for a few reasons. I’m not particularly drawn to either lead, and it sounded fun but forgettable. But I heard good things about it, and as its timeslot competitor Goong S (see prior post) hasn’t been as captivating as hoped, I gave it a shot — and I’m very glad I did.

Dal Ja is proving to be very, very winning.

Its closest comparison is probably the “Korean Bridget Jones” series, My Name Is Kim Sam Soon, but I don’t think it’s all that similar, although the thought did flash across my mind in the first episode. Since then, though, Dal Ja has managed to take the potential for cliched and overused plots, and cleverly twisted them. If you’ve seen a lot of kdramas, you’ll notice certain similarities — one might call them conventions if we’re being nice, or overused tired plot elements if you’re not. In any case, both series share similarities to Bridget Jones, but while Sam Soon was more a literal adaptation of the character, my one-liner description for Dal Ja’s Spring is more Bridget Jones in an existential crisis.

Although there’s a substantial focus on romance (what would a kdrama be without that?) there’s also a refreshing additional focus on themes of pride, self-worth, respect… It’s almost certain that Dal Ja will end up happily coupled with Tae Bong, but as the series has explored Dal Ja’s own development into an adult, you’re left with the sense that this is a series that could possibly have a happy resolution with the female lead being single (imagine that!). There are a few episodes that have focused on Dal Ja learning to respect herself and finally realize that she is a person of value, rather than allowing herself to be pushed onto the sidelines all the time.

Of course, there IS the requisite love geometry at play (sometimes triangles, sometimes more amply-sided), but given that there are other themes at work, Dal Ja’s Spring seems more meaningful and resonant than most other dramas. Maybe it’s since I fall into the prime demographic (20- and 30-something single females), given that it’s particularly relevant thematically. Or maybe it’s because the show is just very well-written, well-shot, and well-acted. And just as entertaining and hysterical as the best of ‘em.

Plus, it manages to be all of those things while working in some pretty timely pop-culture references. And while some of them are predictably Hollywood-related, it’s the home-grown, Korean pop-culture references that are the sharpest and amusing: Viewers familiar with typical Korean news programming will recognize the telltale theme music when Dal Ja lapses into fantasy mode as an anchorwoman narrating the developments of her own love life, Greek chorus-style. And the parody of the hit drama Hwang Jini was cheeky and sly, playing on the sexual innuendo (Hwang Jini = famous historical giseng, the Korean equivalent to a geisha) and twisting it comedically instead.