Her Private Life (2019)
Grade:
B-
16 Episodes, 1 Hr each
Viewing
Platform: Viki
Art
lover Sung Deok-mi is a dutiful museum curator, putting in the time
to hopefully move up the ladder, but her secret, private life could
put all that in jeopardy. Deok-mi is a secret SUPER fan, spending her
spare time following around the singer Cha Si-an and running a
successful, popular blog on the idol. She manages to keep her secret
over the years, including from her own parents, but unfortunately,
when the current director's husband is imprisoned for using the
museum and its art acquiring process to embezzle millions of dollars,
Deok-mi is passed over for the promotion. The cold, detached Ryan
Gold – an American-raised Korean and fairly well-known artist –
swoops in and changes all their plans in an effort to “re-brand”
the museum and take attention away from the scandal. What happens
when Deok-mi inadvertently poisons the new director? Will Ryan be
able to overcome his secret illness that forced him into early
retirement as a painter? And how will the new director react when he
starts to suspect Deok-mi's secret?
*The
first few episodes were energetic and fun to watch, with plenty of
secondhand embarrassment and cringe-worthy comedy. However, Ryan's
character was cold to the point I could not see anyone falling for
him, and in retrospect, it's hard to believe. There is (spoiler
alert) no true villain, which makes for a gentler ending, driven by
character development rather than plot, but I was disappointed with
how soon Deok-mi's conflict was resolved. The second half of the
drama focuses all on Ryan and his backstory, so it isn't even about
“her private life” anymore. (I've found a majority of dramas
follow this pattern, a kind of bait-and-switch, from the female to the male lead; I'm not sure I like
it.) There are also a few pro-LGBT messages throughout, and the leads
sleep together before marriage – two themes that follow traditional
Western television (so for those viewers who enjoy Korean dramas
because they are definitively NOT American, this drama might be a
“miss” for them). The music is fun, and there are some
entertaining parts, but it's disappointing how the drama just
couldn't keep up the energy and momentum it starts off with. I
probably wouldn't watch it again, but it also wasn't terrible.*
