Scripture Sunday: The Book of Galatians

This letter from the apostle Paul to the church at Galatia is an attempt to set them straight on a few important facts about faith vs. obedience to rigid religious laws. Paul has just barely dispensed with his greeting paragraph when he says to the Galatians, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel". These people were happy to accept salvation through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ, but now they're following another philosophy entirely by trusting in their own good works to save them. Specifically, they're clinging to the old ways of Judaism and following all the intricacies of Moses' laws (ones that extend far, far, far beyond the basic guidelines of the Ten Commandments).

Paul isn't known for mincing words, and he certainly doesn't hold back when he's telling the Galatians that no one should add on to Jesus' gospel of salvation--"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (1:8). Paul is even making provision for his own human failings, here; Paul might one day fall away from the faith, but Jesus' words will still be true and should still be followed no matter what a human leader or a potential divine messenger might say.

One of the big issues in the church at this time in history seems to be the division between Jewish Christians and Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians.  The Jews are trying to make the Gentiles follow all the laws of Moses, when these laws having nothing to do with the new abundant life that Christians are supposed to have. Paul points out that continuing to hold to the religious laws is not the way to be justified (put into a right relationship) with God. ^"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ" (2:16). Even if a person were to perfectly adhere to the hundreds of detailed instructions in the Mosaic law, they would still be justified only through faith.

I think this Faith vs. Works debate is still a big deal in modern Christianity. Non-believers often see Christians as "People Who Don't Do Certain Stuff", and before you know it, we can start to see ourselves that way. We have a long list of bad things that we don't do, and that--combined with the long list of right things we try to accomplish--makes us feel very special. But we are not put into a right relationship with God by sticking close to an admirable list of stuff to do and not do. Justification comes through turning from your sins and trusting in Jesus' sacrifice. All the special religious rules matter very little if you don't have this part settled.

K-Drama Review: Take Care of Us, Captain, Episodes 1-2

Contains Spoilers for Episodes 1-2

Dajin is a young Korean woman with dreams of being a top pilot, but unfortunately she graduates from flight school just in time to be confronted with her mother's death (which, ironically, happens aboard a plane). Yoon-Seong is a pilot who fails in his important responsibilities by briefly losing control of a plane. His carelessness contributes to the death of Dajin's mother, and Dajin's father also dies, leaving her to raise her infant baby sister. Timeskip ahead to seven years in the future, when Dajin and Yoon-Seong again cross paths as pilots, only he's antagonistic toward her, not knowing their unfortunate past connection. What will happen when the truth is revealed? *cue dramatic music*

You'd better prepare yourself for some soap opera-level plot points, minus the sleaziness, because this show is all about the tears and pain and twists of fate. Near crashes! Emergency flights! Malfunctioning planes! Passengers in critical condition! There's some great drama, but also some coincidences that are hard to believe and some real problems connecting with Yoon-Seong and Dajin.

Things I Loved:

1. Goo Hye-Sun. The actress, not the character she plays, because I don't connect with the character as she's written. I watched this show just because I love this actress and wanted to see her in whatever project she had going. Goo Hye-Sun is most famous for her lead role in the popular show Boys Over Flowers, which I still haven't seen, but I actually adored her performance in a much less publicized show called The Musical. There's just something about her freshness and positivity that comes through in every scene she does--she might always be playing a tiny variation on the same character, but it's a character I like. Yay for pluck and courage!

And Oh My Goodness, She's So Adorable!

2. Ji Jin Hee. Again, the actor, not the character. His character, Yoon-Seong, is an odd mix of deep wounds and implacable coldness, so it was hard to root for him. However, the actor seems like he could be great in a different drama. When he tries to convey pain, I don't buy it because the plot and motivations don't make sense to me, but the actor himself sells the emotions very well.

Plus, He Looks Nice in a Uniform.

3. The presence of foreigners! Many of the scenes were filmed on location in Australia, so you get to see lots of Australians in the plane scenes and in airports, and hear their lovely accents in the few scenes which include English.

Complaints: 1. Melodrama. Take Care Of Us, Captain jumps between good solid drama (intense emotions and meaningful problems) and melodrama (over-emoting and too many wild problems at once). It's edge-of-your-seat viewing when Dajin's mother is dying, but then after the audience has made a huge emotional investment in this one particular loss, Dajin's dad dies in a quick car accident, counteracting the serious emotional climate of the show. Two big losses so close together wind up canceling each other out. And on top of that, Dajin has to raise her sickly baby sister. And on top of THAT, Dajin's aunt saddles her with a major debt and some loan sharks kick Dajin and the sick baby sister out of their house! Oy vey at the problems. I have no doubt that some real human beings have lived through similar bouts of unending trials, but it's a little much to jam pack into the first two episodes of a TV show. And I'm not even discussing Yoon-Seong's housefire-scars, abandonment issues, and his estranged former foster family!


Themes: Personal responsibility. There's a big emphasis on how the 4 "captain bars" of an aviator's suit represent the weight of responsibility and tough choices. Dajin's dad was a pilot who made a decision to protect all 300 passengers on his plane instead of trying a risky landing immediately to save his wife, who was in critical condition.Yoon-Seong tries to accept personal responsibility for his own mistakes, but he also ladles out a healthy dose of guilt to everyone around him. I've never thought about a pilot's responsibility to passengers before, but it really is the equivalent of a doctor going into surgery with a patient, at least in this show. The title of the show is very apt, considering the angle they're taking--we really do entrust our lives to these people and Take Care of Us, Captain is focused on the life-and-death decisions made by pilots.

Piloting is Serious Business, Y'all.

Cultural Observances: 

Funeral hanbok: At her mom's funeral, Dajin wears a formal traditional dress.

Cremation: We have this in America of course, but a burial scene in an American TV show is almost 100% guaranteed to have a full casket burial instead of a memorial to cremated remains, as we see here.

English bonus: Dajin finds a sort-of fortune telling note that says "climb your life" in English. Then she goes on a big, exciting climb over a massive bridge in Australia. I see how the message is intended to be empowering and symbolic, but "climb your life" is grammatically incorrect. Also, the Korean pilots and air traffic controllers speak English to each other over their radios, but I would not have understood them if not for the subtitles.

Episode Evaluations: It's an interesting setup/concept, and I like the leading actors. However, the melodrama will keep me from watching any more episodes.

Scripture Sunday: 2nd Corinthians

Paul's first letter to the Christians at Corinth was pretty harsh, and rightly so--the Corinthian church was plagued by division, lawsuits, and open sinfulness and they needed to be called out for some of their major issues. But now in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul is offering some comfort. Paul also addresses some rumors and accusations against himself from people who say that he is lacking as an apostle and is unqualified to preach.

After the initial greetings in chapter one, Paul presents a contrast between consolation and suffering, mentioning that God "comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ" (1:4-5). There's no denying that there's an element of suffering involved in being a follower of Christ. Jesus himself endured the ultimate suffering, so people who love him can't expect to avoid hardship entirely. However, Paul is discussing the immense spiritual comfort that God provides whenever we are experiencing trouble. Paul goes on to discuss his own tribulations and to thank the Corinthian church for praying for him and for his fellow ministers.

Paul also explains the reasons for the severity of his last letter: ^"For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you." In other words, he wasn't trying to berate them or emotionally destroy them, but he was speaking in a stern manner because of how much he loved them and was worried about their behavior. One particular case of sinfulness that Paul pointed out in 1st Corinthians is addressed again, and Paul says that now that the man has repented of his wrongdoings, the Corinthians should comfort him and express their love for him.

Chapter 4 shows some more of the suffering/consolation paradox, when Paul speaks of himself and of other ministers of the gospel: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (4:8-9). They never give up because they are working toward an eternal goal, and the rewards are far greater than the price they pay: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory"(4:17).

2nd Corinthians also has some very personal discussions from Paul, where he talks about things in his own life that he doesn't mention (or rarely mentions) elsewhere in the letters he writes. For one thing, chapter 12 mentions some kind of physical malady that Paul has, which the Lord has decided not to heal. Some people guess that Paul had a problem with his eyes, but the exact nature of his "thorn in the flesh" is never described. Paul ends his letter by saying that he's about to come and visit the Corinthians for a third time, and I like how this shows that he had an ongoing relationship with their church. He concludes with some encouraging words: "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you" (13:11).

K-Drama Review: The Musical, Episodes 3-4

Read episode reviews for: The Musical, Episodes 1-2

Contains Spoilers for Episodes 3-4

Back to the world of musicals, singers, and composers! It's an intriguing place to be. Eun-Bi and Jae-Yi are a little awkward with each other because he kissed her cheek in the last episode and it kind of freaked her out (I know, I know...it's so cute). They're working together for a competition to win a big prize and have their musical "Chungdamdong Gumiho" made public. Jae-Yi tries to hide his involvement with the show because he has made a bad impression on Yujin, the main investor of an important theater company. Yujin finds out anyway that Jae-Yi has written the songs for this new show, but it's not Jae-Yi that Yujin has a problem with--it's sweet little unknown Eun-Bi.

If Yujin's company picks up the show, Eun-Bi won't be able to sing the lead. Instead, the famous actress Kang-hee will take over the part. But Jae-Yi isn't about to let his favorite singer/mentoree/best girl Eun-Bi lose out on the part he wrote for her. Yujin says that Eun-Bi and Kang-hee can share the role, but Eun-Bi herself finds a true compromise--what if she attends an open audition for the part, and then the best person is selected? Then no one will be able to say that the songwriter showed favoritism to Eun-Bi.

By episode four, the plot is coming along nicely, with no wasted space. In the beginning, I wasn't interested in the subplot with Yujin and his business stuff, but now I'm very invested in his storyline. It may be hard to love Yujin, but he does stand for order. He's all about the money, but he isn't going to cheat to make it, and I'm guessing his moral alignment would be "Lawful Neutral". Right now, due to some nasty, underhanded embezzling of funds by his own family, Yujin has to find a musical that will bring in a profit margin of 300%, and he thinks Gumiho is that musical. He moves back and forth between moments of genuine goodness and some very cold-hearted attitudes. Keep up the character development, Yujin. You just might be one of the more compelling characters in the cast.

The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last.

Things I Loved: 1. Eun-Bi. I want to hug her and give her milk and cookies because her scenes are so emotionally gripping. My girl Eun-Bi melts cold hearts with her sweetness, and when Yujin witnesses her sorrow, this very guy who once kicked her out of an audition is now concerned for her. Sometimes she's meek and timid, like with Kang-hee, but at other times she rises to the occasion and fights for what she needs.

Looks Like a 12-Year-Old, Fights like a Pro.

2. Eun-Bi and Jae-Yi together. It's like a cuteness overload, but in no way annoying. They even have this whole discussion about their cheek-kiss and what it meant to each of them because he doesn't want her to feel awkward. When Eun-Bi suggests that another actress might be better for the Gumiho role because she can't sing the main tunes in a high register, Jae-Yi goes "No, I wrote the song for YOU, and I'm not changing it to suit other voices".  Aww.

And on the weird side, as a dropout med student, Eun-Bi has a side job washing cadavers, and when she walks out of the building, Jae-Yi's waiting for her with coffee. He's very squeamish about her corpse-washing job and she scares him with her germy death hand. It's a great moment for them.

You Don't Want to Know Where This Has Been.

2. Plot surprises. Sometimes a new decision crops up out of nowhere and does great things to the storyline. Like Yujin's idea of double-casting the main role in Gumiho with Kang-hee and Eun-Bi splitting the part. I did not see that coming, and it made everything afterward so much more rich. 

Complaints: 1. Evil ex-girlfriend Kang-hee. She's a great nuanced villain, so the writing is excellent and I'm glad she's in the story, but ohhhh she makes me mad. She just won't let Jae-Yi go even though she has found money, fame, and a new relationship to keep her secure. It's like she enjoys the power of having another person emotionally dependent on her, and it burns her up that Jae-Yi is increasingly less affected by her and more affected by Eun-Bi. She's petty and cruel to my favorite character Eun-Bi, and she's hitting on Jae-Yi even though she's married, now! Yuck.

Wants to Have Her Cake and Eat it, Too.

2. Repeated scenes from another show. Eun-Bi punching a strong-man machine and hitting baseballs to burn off steam would have been awesomer if I hadn't seen another main character (also named Eun-Bi!) doing exactly that in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop.

Themes:

Responsibility: Yujin is being held responsible for fixing his cousin's horrible financial decisions. Cleaning up someone else's mess is never fun, and Yujin is handling other people's responsibilities on a few different levels. These episodes explain Yujin's tense relationship with art, because his own dad left him in a tough spot when Dad picked an artistic life over his business responsibilities. Dad's abandonment left super-smart Yujin at the mercy of a jealous uncle who wants to see him fail.

Smartest Guy in the Family, Ironically the Black Sheep.

Heartfelt Singing vs. Vocal Perfection:  With Kang-hee and Eun-Bi, I think this show is setting up a vocal contrast something like Carlotta and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera--one woman is a diva with a perfect voice and plenty of experience, but the other has clarity and sweetness and heart. Guess who the audience is going to root for?

Love vs. Career Dreams: I really think we're going to get both things with this show. Eun-Bi says she wants to focus on the upcoming musical auditions alone, hinting that Jae-Yi shouldn't make any moves. But I like how Jae-Yi puts together what Eun-Bi really means. He doesn't press the issue, but he still notes to himself that she's essentially saying that she finds him more distracting than even musicals, which are her favorite thing in the world. In another drama, the main guy might take offense at her rebuff, but Jae-Yi just smiles to himself, knowing what it signifies.  And really, this show is more focused around "Will Eun-Bi succeed?" than "Will Eun-Bi and Jae-Yi get together?" Because we know they will. They are two wonderful people who deserve each other, but Eun-Bi's career dreams will be the harder thing to achieve.

Look at Him--He's Sold. The Fight is Over.

Mirrored scenes: Yujin watches Eun-Bi's audition tape again and again, moved by her effort and by the way Kang-hee verbally destroys her in public. Maybe he sees a parallel between Eun-Bi's situation and his own--receiving a thorough public shaming for no good reason, then being expected to succeed and excel under impossibly difficult terms.

After Kang-hee's awful behavior, precious little Eun-Bi still wants her autograph because Kang-hee's autobiography inspired her to sing. It all comes around full circle--Eun-Bi got interested in musicals because of Kang-hee's book, and now it's Kang-hee who is trying to crush her dream.

No Conscience+Loads of Talent=Spoiled Brat.

Cultural Observances:

Gumiho: The title of the main play is "Changdamdong Gumiho". This mythical creature is a bit like the Japanese kitsune, only a gumiho is always female and usually vicious, while kitsune are more mischievous.

Songs in (or inspired by) English: "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago plays while Eun-Bi and Jae-Yi have breakfast. "Open Door" by Swedish singer Lisa Ekdahl plays as Kang-hee warms up. Eun-Bi sings the Korean version of "Roxy" from Chicago.

New words: "Ya!" is hey, or hey you, and I think it's super-informal speech, something you can only use with someone of equal or lesser status.

Episode Evaluations: So sweet, with so much emotional payoff. Very good developments, here.

K-Drama Review: The Musical, Episodes 1-2

Contains Spoilers for Episodes 1-2

Eun-Bi is a medical student, but her heart is in musicals. She daydreams about the Phantom of the Opera and watches musicals on her iPhone when she should be paying attention in class. She hasn't tried out for any shows yet, but she entertains herself by singing at all hours.

Jae-Yi is a composer who has worked on hit musicals, but now he's burned out and he wants to write pop hits. He's a little frayed around edges, a little world-weary, and he says that money and fame are his major goals. (Uh-huh. We'll see how long that lasts.) Some of his hesitancy to compose has to do with his ex-girlfriend Kang-hee, whom he knows he'll run into if he rejoins the world of musicals. Six years after the breakup, Jae-Yi has not moved on. One night, Jae-Yi hears Eun-Bi singing one of his songs on the street and he tells she has no talent for musicals. But his insult gives her the strength to pursue her dreams.

Fast-forward to one year later, when Eun-Bi has cut her hair into a boyish bob and is working in the snack bar at a movie theater as a way to support her dream. She is faced with opposition not only from musical producers (she has auditioned 80 times with no results), but also from her dad who is tired of her taking leaves of absence from med school. Fortunately, Eun-Bi meets Jae-Yi again and he is actually impressed by her energy and her ability to memorize music. He takes her on as an apprentice because he wants to do something that will bring back the joy of music for him. Jae-Yi gives her a big opportunity--if she wants to be in a brand new musical, he'll sign on for the project as well and write the music. If she isn't ready to follow her dreams, he'll back out of the project, too. Guess what she picks?


Things I Loved: 1. Eun-Bi. She wins me over right away. How could you not love a girl who's smart enough for her third year of med school but wacky enough to daydream about musicals? I sing so much myself, I feel like she's a kindred soul. As an actress, she wins me over 100%, and makes me want to see her happy and see her achieving her goals.

Completely Devoted to Music, and Soooo Cute.

2. Eun-Bi and Jae-Yi together. When they meet again a year later, not remembering each other, it's an adorably sweet moment when he asks her to sing part of the new song he's written. You mean he's going to play pretty music while she sings it? Whee! Even in the first two episodes, these people are good for each other. When Eun-Bi's with Jae-Yi, her confidence is better, and when Eun-Bi says that music electrifies her, her attitude challenges Jae-Yi to examine why he makes music. And he's so nice. Could we possibly have a male lead who is actually an upstanding guy? Normally, the K-drama leading men are jerks at least to some degree, but this guy recommends Eun-Bi for a role in a big musical, becomes her tutor, and is generally helpful.

Nice Man. Successful Composer. Your Mother Would Love Him.

3. The stressful auditioning process. While this is not by any means a dark, gritty show, it does portray the sadness and embarrassment of failing an audition. All over the world, it's the same--you have to work, claw, and scrape to get an audition and even if you are cast, your chances of success are extremely slim. This show doesn't really try to sugarcoat the difficulties of being a struggling actor or singer, and I appreciate the lack of overt glamour.

Get Used to Disappointment.

4. Funny moments. I particularly appreciated Eun-Bi comparing her own face to Nickhun of the K-pop band 2PM, when deciding whether she could pass as a boy to win a male role in an audition.

No, Eun-Bi, You Look Nothing Like This.

Complaints: 1. Christine. She's bossy, braggy, clingy, and terribly annoying.  Christine moves in with Eun-Bi for free room and board and offers singing lessons in return, only her lessons have a negative affect. I really dislike the freeloading Christine, but I hope she may have some positive impact in the future plot rather than just being a monkeywrench in the proceedings.

Your Cutesy Act Isn't Fooling Anyone, Missy.

Themes: Love of Art vs. Love of Fame/Money. Eun-Bi loves musicals just for the sheer joy they bring her. Jae-Yi loves his art, but in order to protect himself, he has decided to focus on money. Yujin on the other hand likes his profits and only supports art as long as it's lucrative...

Yujin is an interesting character. He's the grandson of an important businessman, and he invests money in musicals. Yujin's very intelligent and knows where to put his money, and he also has a lot to prove to his own relatives, who have some major inter-family tensions. But is he a hero or a villain in this story? It could go either way.

Cold, Calculating...and Sinister?

Cultural Observances:

Korean stuff vs. American stuff: Gu Jak jokes about giving Jae-Yi a "New York style" welcome, before hugging him. Christine also says "New York style" in regard to a certain kind of singing, which I've also heard called "the Broadway belt". Jae-Yi himself went to Juliard in New York.

Soju: Jae-Yi threatens to stop buying soju for his friend Gu Jak, and the little green bottles can be seen in a few different scenes. Korea is basically the Ireland of Asia, so drinking culture is huge over there, and it's absolutely normal.

K-pop: The hit song "Roly Poly" by T-ara plays in Eun-Bi's apartment.

New Words: "Halmoni" is "grandmother", and Eun-Bi has a lot of phone calls with her grandma.

Episode evaluations: Surprisingly endearing. The show might not be very funny, but it has a couple of lead characters who I care very much about. I think I'll keep watching!

Watchable bonus: Here's the first part of the first episode, subtitled in English. Taken from Youtube.

Scripture Sunday: 1st Corinthians

1st Corinthians is the first of two letters Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth. Corinth had a lot of problems, and sometimes the believers in Christ got very far away from the truth of the gospel.

To start with, the Corinthians were dividing themselves into factions based on which spiritual leader they preferred, Paul, Peter, or Apollos. Paul points out the foolishness of this distinction in chapter 1, verse 13, "Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" He's saying that Jesus Christ is the one we follow; Christians are not supposed to be divided into groups that follow after an idolized preacher or spiritual leader. Divisions in the church are not a good thing.

Chapter 5 deals with an even more serious situation in the church. Fornication (that's sex outside of marriage) is a problem for the Corinthians, and one person in their congregation is especially noteworthy because he's sleeping with his father's wife. And the Christians at Corinth are conducting business as usual instead of confronting this guy for his sins. Paul makes an important distinction between the way Christians are supposed to treat other Christians who are living in open sin and the way we're supposed to treat non-Christians. We are to love non-Christians and spend time with them, but when someone says they belong to Jesus and yet they live their lives in open sin, Paul says we are not to fellowship (keep company) with these people. 5:11--"But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."

But after addressing these very difficult moral matters, Paul says some beautiful things about Christian love in Chapter 13, "The Love Chapter", which is one of the most well-known passages in the New Testament. Paul is in the midst of discussing spiritual gifts like prophesying and speaking in tongues when he says in 13:1--"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." The word "charity" in this case means "love" instead of the modern sense of "giving to the poor". Paul is saying that even if he has the flashiest and most impressive spiritual gifts, his words will be like the sound of a clanging instrument if he speaks without being motivated by love. God does not place a lot of value on people showing off their spiritual side--he cares about our hearts and whether we love him and love others. Here's the rest of chapter 13, for reference:

^"2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
³And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
⁴Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
⁵Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
⁶Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
⁷Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
⁸Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
⁹For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
¹⁰But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
¹¹When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
¹²For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
¹³And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."


1st Corinthians addresses many painful issues in the early church, but it also shows believers the importance of truly allowing God's love to work in our hearts.

K-Drama Review: 49 Days, Episodes 1-2

Contains Spoilers for Episodes 1-2

Jihyun is a happy bride-to-be, fluttering about in a pretty world where her parents dote on her, her two best gal pals help her out of every jam, and her fiance Minho is basically the perfect man. Jihyun is insulated from harm on every side, like a fairy princess. Then a car accident lands her in a coma, but a well-dressed grim reaper who calls himself the Scheduler gives her a second chance at life. Jihyun has 49 days to collect the true tears of three non-family members who will truly mourn her if she's gone. As an added complication, Jihyun has to witness these tears while borrowing the body of YiKyung, a chronically depressed woman.

Because Jihyun is everybody's favorite girl, this assignment should be a piece of cake, right? Only it turns out that finding true tears is rather difficult, and not everyone who said they loved Jihyun really did. There are problems with her dad's business, there are tensions with her inner circle of buddies, and her fiance's best friend might just be in love with her. How does YiKyung's life connect to Jihyun's? And who is this mysterious Scheduler, anyway? Faster than you can say "Supernatural body-switching romantic Korean drama", everything's gotten insanely complicated.

Things I Loved: 1. YiKyung-as-Jihyun. Oh my. YiKyung's actress has amazing abilities, but you don't really see her range until "Jihyun" takes over. YiKyung's overwhelming depression drags down her scenes, but I like YiKyung-as-Jihyun very much, because the actress perfectly mimics Jiyhun's mannerisms and bubbliness, but she makes it even more endearing, somehow. It's like the audience is getting to see immediate evidence of how Jihyun makes YiKyung's life better and how the two of them might be affecting each other in ways other than a parasite/host relationship. And when Kang starts getting scenes with the baffling YiKyung-as-Jihyun, we see a lot of humor and learn  lot about Kang in the process.

Seriously, This Girl Can ACT.

2. Kang. He's a grumpy man, but he's got a good heart. His backstory seems rather convoluted because he's a genius architect who owns/manages a restaurant, he spent a lot of time in America and has a best buds relationship with Minho who was his college pal, but he still went to highschool with Jihyun...it looks like the writers went a little overboard with trying to give Kang a finger in every pie. But who cares if he's miraculously connected to everyone in Korea? No one can resist a kind-hearted grump.

He Resents Everything. Except Jihyun.

3. Jung Il-Woo's marvelous turn as Scheduler. He's fussy and fastidious, griping about how mortals keep messing up his neat, perfect death lists. He treats Jihyun kindly, but she also exasperates him because she insists on treating him like a buddy and calling his special reaper-phone at all hours. It's very funny when he gets upset at Jihyun, because she's such a sweetie, not even a grim reaper can stay mad at her. Scheduler's very cool, and it doesn't hurt that he brings in the younger demographic, either.

Pictured: The Only Reason That Teenage Girls Watch This Show.

Complaints: 1. The acting for Jihyun wasn't the best. The actress is shockingly pretty, but her acting isn't very nuanced so far--the happy face, sad face, and horrified face are all we get. Now, this does reflect Jihyun's own lack of depth and nuance, but I still wish the acting had delivered a tad more oomph.

Her Hair is Beautiful, Though.

2. The pacing. It's rather slow and it takes a long time for the basic concept to be set up. The music and the visual quality in the show are very classy, but it was hard for me to stay invested in episode 1 long enough for the "good stuff" (which is actually the bad stuff) to start happening.

Themes:

Life and Death: With a show about comas and souls and second chances at life, of course they're going to play up the life and death themes. Jihyun's life is, well...brimming with life. She's always giggling, joking, and all but skipping around. This contrasts sharply with YiKyung who is like an animated corpse and who can no longer interact with people. YiKyung attempts suicide by walking into traffic because she can't get over the death of her boyfriend who passed away in a car accident, so it seems like everyone of importance in this drama is closely acquainted with loss.

Ignorance: This is just what I'm noticing when I watch the show, but Jihyun seems somewhat ignorant. She definitely isn't dumb, but there just seem to be so many things about the real world that she has no knowledge of. When a small travelling emergency crops up, Jihyun doesn't know how to react, so it's up to her friend In-Jung to troubleshoot the issue. YiKyung on the other hand isn't ignorant, but she does try to ignore the world around her, to the extent that she can't recognize a customer who has been frequenting her workplace for six months. Both women have blind spots--Jihyun can't see the harsh side of life and YiKyung can't see the beauty of life.

Both Have Some Big Lessons to Learn.

Cultural Observances:

Hanbok: Women wear traditional old-fashioned dresses as Jihyun's engagement party.

Episode Evaluations: I love the complicated supernatural setup with the genuine tears and a limited number of days to collect them. The acting from YiKyung and Scheduler was also spot-on, but the show moves a little too slowly for me to want to watch the whole thing. However, I was curious enough to read a recap for the final episode, so I'd know how it ends!

Watchable bonus: Here's the first part of the first episode of "49 Days" with English subtitles. Taken from Youtube.