My Lovely Sam Soon (2005)
Grade:
A-
16 Episodes
Kim Sam Soon is an aspiring patissier who
finds her boyfriend of three years cheating on her on Christmas Eve.
Devastated, the nearly 30 year old runs into the men's bathroom by
mistake, where Hyun Jin-hyeon, a 27 year old owner of a French
restaurant, witnesses her humiliation. Their paths cross again, where
Jin-hyeon learns Sam Soon's profession and hires her to bake at his
restaurant. Jin-hyeon's mother is pressuring him to date, so he asks
Sam Soon to be his pretend girlfriend. Sam Soon agrees when Jin-hyeon
says she can name her price – her family home is going to be taken
from them unless she can scrape together $50,000 to pay off the debt.
How long will the pair be able to fool everyone around them before
the fake relationship starts to stir real feelings?
*It's been a while since a Kdrama
kept me up late into the night, but this one did it! I love how real
the characters feel, and Sam Soon's smart mouth is fantastic. In a
lot of dramas, the female lead is wishy-washy or gives into the
female rival's requests for her to butt out, but not Sam Soon! She is
older than most female leads and that age leads to a wisdom about
herself that is refreshing because it leads to more realistic
responses. There is great character development as well. It did feel
a bit slow towards the last couple episodes, and it doesn't show
everyone's endings, but again, Sam Soon's spunk bumps this show up
into the A range. Also, Sam Soon is supposedly an old-fashioned,
undesirable name, but since I'm American, I didn't get that feel. I
imagine that an American equivalent might be the name “Bertha.”
I'd watch this show again.*
