Lore In Stone Cities

Hey there! ExtraKun aka Ekun aka Eboni here with a special edition of The Distractors’ Cut! Unnichan and I have just finished The Full Sun aka Beyond the Clouds with Yoon Kye Sang and Han Ji Hye. We enjoyed it, see how much so!

Ekun: Here we are at the end of another revenge drama. I have a lot of thoughts on how I feel about the show in general, the ending, and the acting. What about you UC? Your initial thoughts now that the show has ended… Go!

Unnichan: Wow, there’s a lot there but now that it’s ended, I feel light. And think that’s so rare when you watch revenge. It’s my favorite genre of drama outside of crime and those dramas have a tendency to be very intense shows, that usually leave you mourning, hollow or both but this one, I just feel good. It wasn’t “happy” but it was pleasant and that in itself is an interesting feat.

Ekun: I agree. I really did have a giddy smile on my face at the end as if I had just finished a rom/com where the idiots finally end up together (I am not calling them idiots because I dislike rom/com’s, its just that a rom/com will never happen to me so…). I was certain that Oppa aka Yoon Kye Sang aka Lee Eun Soo aka Jung Se Ro was dead when he laid down at gram’s house. I was scared in that moment waiting to write a letter or send a tweet to the writer.

Unnichan: Heh. Yea, I was thinking he was dead too. I was waiting for two funerals, Halmoni by herself, people in white, the whole thing, but none of that happened and I was pleasantly surprised. That’s why I say, this was the type of revenge drama that was so ordinary, people would think it was boring.

Ekun: You are right and I hate that. I like that this show did all the WTH crazy in the first 2-4 episodes and then everything else just unfolded “naturally”. The things I loved were: lessons were learned, redemption wasn’t given, and Se Ro and Young Won ended up together at the end. I would have loved for Hyung aka Park Kang Jae to have been alive, but we can’t win them all, ne?

Unnichan: Certainly. But I think that drama was also saying that those that were too far gone, can’t continue on. Han Tae Oh’s in jail and Hyung dies because they were two players whose dealings could never be rectified. It hurt though. Park Kang Jae was the actual one and only tragic character in this drama. This wasn’t even his story and he dies. It’s that classic irony.

Ekun: Ooooooo! Big literary terms– I love it! You are right, but we have seen far worse characters and the show tries to play us at the end, throwing the “crazy” card out there to make people feel sorry and grant redemption by default. This show and All About My Romance are two of the only shows that I have seen (and remember) where it wasn’t passed out like candy. Anyway, I loved the way these characters were brought to life- thoughts Unnichan?

Unnichan: I agree. I’ve read that the characters were unlikeable in the first episodes but I couldn’t disagree more. I absolutely loved Jung Se Ro, for I found him determined and diligent but not a patsy. Nor was he terribly angry. He loved his father but he knew what he was and what he’d done and didn’t dismiss those things. He was unaware but he wasn’t naive or innocent. He stood up for himself but tried to remain loyal and doting (in his own way). I respected that.

Ekun: I loved Se Ro from the first moment I saw him standing in the snow with the gun at his head (remind me to come back to that). Whatever he was about I was down for and I am glad he got through this ordeal and was able to live a peaceful life in the end. I cannot lie, I had a big problem with Young Won, I think it started in episode 3 or 4 but we were done by episode 6. I think she got it together towards the end, but I simply did not like her because of my personality and my personality alone.

Unnichan: I can see that. I’ve been thinking about how Young Won could have been viewed as a character and I definitely view her as weak. However, she never expected people to coddle her or treat her like a broken doll and as long as she didn’t expect that, I was fine. You know how sometimes you know something about yourself, but it becomes glaring when you watch dramas? That’s how I felt with Han Young Won. I don’t easily sympathize with or pity people. I can recognize why people may but I don’t. Therefore, I wasn’t interested in how Young Won was treated by the people around her, ‘cause I wouldn’t have treated her that way. Something horrible happened to her and that sucks but that doesn’t mean I have to hold her hand, walk on egg-shells or dry her tears. And I wouldn’t.

Ekun: My sympathy can only extend but so far and when we got to the current time period I was done with her. Park Kang Jae is my type of guy for real! If he wasn’t a 2 bit hustler I could roll with him forever! I am mad Jae In didn’t get the message until the end- and I was over it with her.

Unnichan: You know I was in love with that man. I did have a moment with him once near the end when we are privy the origin or his bitterness toward Daddy but even with that, I was with Ha Ma Ahjussi— If Park  Kang Jae loved me, I’d stick beside him forever. He was a realistically conflicted and complicated. He was jaded and broken, greedy and angry but he knew himself. To me, that makes him a much better man than most. Therefore, Jae In was dead to me. As a woman, I get it; as a Hyung supporter I would never understand.

EKun: Exactly. I love that a character like Hyung was in the show. He is that person that really makes you look inside of yourself and reflect. Not that he was a bad dude (per se), but just shows how complicated, jaded, greedy, etc. we all can be for so many different reasons great or trivial. I loved how his story was a reflection of what Se Ro was going through, but they both took very different paths once a light was shed, ne?

Unnichan: I think it definitely shows that a beginning, doesn’t predicate the ending, however, I think that Hyung had so much baggage from the onset that it buried him. I don’t see him ever really digging out of it because he always had something to prove. His mindset (thinking) had to change and he wasn’t willing to do what he needed to do for that to occur. Especially not with the added components of guilt to satisfy. I always believed, Hyung always had to see “it” through whatever that was. Much like Han Tae Oh.

Ekun: Speaking of Daddy aka Tae Oh.. why is it that the actor who plays these horrible fathers over and over again– I love it every time! He is the “worst daddy in the world” that I love to see. They are never the same and they always leave me crying, throwing popcorn, and loving to hate him. I think I particularly liked the unfolding of Tae Oh more than any other “worst daddy in the world” he has ever played. even though I did not give a *censored* about his story when he was talking to Young Won at the end, I get it and I am glad you laid your cards down and went to jail peacefully aboji.

Unnichan: Kekkeke. To put it simply, it’s because Kim Young Chul Ahjussi is bomb as an actor. I adore him every time I see him. There’s no time I don’t hate him, if I’m supposed to, but I always undoubtedly and intuitively comprehend his motives. There aren’t very many times where his machinations are just one-sided, which makes him human and Ahjussi is excellent at helping me believe that. I thought Han Tae Oh was infuriating because his thinking was so polar opposite to my own, but his actions and emotions in this last episode were raw and tangible that you’re reminded why you love to hate him. And why you respect Young Won so much for her stance.

Ekun: True. True. One last thing I have to mention since we discussed it earlier, and I talked about it in my first post on The Full Sun, my slight disappointment with why Jung Se Ro was trying to end it all. In those first few moments of episode 1, I cried, and I cried hard. I was waiting for this story to unfold as something that would make me think, “Yea, I would never kill myself ,but I see why you got the gun to your head Se Ro.” but, when the story came full circle in episode 15, all I could think was, “That’s it?!” Am I just being a mess because of high hopes from episode 1?

Unnichan: Perhaps. I think it was an emotional response to Oppa’s acting. I didn’t have the same reaction, mostly because I think I’ve seen it before and was waiting for more on who Jung Se Ro was. However, I do understand. When I think back on that moment (in episode 1), it feels like a red-herring, a drama fake out, like drama wanted us to believe something about it in those initial moments that wasn’t inherently true. I won’t say that I don’t understand why a character like Se Ro would want to chuck it all once we get there, but more that we as viewers believe that moment should come from a character with his back against the wall, and Se Ro wasn’t there.

Ekun: Exactly, there was no “back against the wall” for me which lead to my slight disappointment. Overall, I really did enjoy the show, the ending, the entire ride of what lies Beyond the Clouds. You like my pun? Kekeke.

Unnichan: Of course! ‘Cause it’s true. This drama was wonderful. It’s not the type of revenge drama that I thought it was going to be and I’m glad, not only because it wasn’t, but because I gave it a try. I adore Yoon Kye Sang but I was convinced this would be a Crazy for You replay, because on paper it’s the exact same drama but it was worlds apart. It was that one factor in episode one that kept me coming back.

Ekun: Girl you KNOW I was scared this was going to be Crazy for You I can’t live my life eating german chocolate ice cream and crying over Yoon Kye sang! I can’t Unnichan! That was the first Korean drama I ever watched, I am surprised I am still watching them with the sadness that fat that came along with watching it! Then Gong Yoo and Kang Ji Hwan showed me how life in Kdrama land can be beautiful… *Skips holding their hands through a field*

Unnichan: Whatevs. Crazy for You is still my melo-Kdrama favorite. And though I can see how it could traumatize. I love melancholy. I mean I loved A Love to Kill and I’m Sorry I Love You too. The endings to Oppa’s (YKS) dramas were much “happier” than the others. You should be pleased.

Ekun: I was okay with A Love to Kill until the very end. Dongkun watched for Bi (Rain), but ended up liking it a lot more (and learned not to watch shows for Bi’s acting).

Unnichan: Heh. Poor Bi. His acting was decent in Plan B(i). He and the (Daniel) Henney were the only reasons I went ahead and finished that… and the bromance, of course. But I digress— speaking of performance… I thought everyone did a great job, I’m a big fan of pretty much everyone in that the larger cast or the “criminal core” like Jo Jin Woong and Yoon Kye Sang and Kim Yoo Ri was decent here as well, but it was probably performances like Son Ho Joon and Kim Young Ok that really surprised me. Just that they weren’t just bystanders or “serviceable” but generated some substantial emotional payout from me, even if Halmoni was a poorly used device. She really was dragged around like a rag doll sometimes.

Ekun: Son Ho Joon was kind of great. I was apprehensive when we first met his character, but he pulled it off and made it seem effortless. Kim Young Ok is always the best at what she does. I always was asking, “Where is Halmoni?” because I was so emotionally attached to her. This was a stellar cast. I could not have asked for anything more from anyone. Last remarks on Beyond the Clouds aka The Full Sun?

Unnichan: I can say that this was a story that had extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. For, there was very little these characters did or felt, that didn’t seem logical to me, for them. They made choices based on their lives and where they were in the moment. For me, that’s what made this drama work. It was basic and simple but not played out or played up. There were some delights like Young Won’s love for Se Ro, the Hong-Ha Ma duo and to top it off my love for Hyung helped me through. It worked for me. I liked it alot.

Ekun: Agreed! I recommend this drama to people who like revenge dramas. It is basic, but refreshing at the same time. And the biggest reason is Yoon Kye Sang Oppa– don’t pay attention to the fact that I am his groupie ho, but because it will not disappoint!