Friday 4 March 2016

[REVIEW] Remember - War of the Son

Remember - War of the Son (2015, South Korea)




Title: 리멤버 – 아들의 전쟁
Also known as: Remember
Episodes: 20
Broadcast Network: SBS
Broadcast period: Dec 9th 2015 - Feb 18th 2016 


Seo Jin Woo has the condition of hyperthymesia, which allows him to remember almost every day in perfect detail. To prove the innocence of his father, Jin Woo becomes a lawyer. He struggles to prove his father's innocence, but he slowly begins to lose his memory due to Alzheimer’s. - MDL

Overall Score: 8/10
Character Development: 10/10
Plot Development:  8/10
Acting: 10/10
Soundtrack: 7/10




Let me start off by saying that this drama was one hell of a ride. Right from the first episode you get thrust into this world full of corrupt lawyers, poor innocent victims and an overload of angst. This drama is depressing. However that doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. Sure, we all already know by now that I am a pretty odd person who seems to enjoy angsty characters (lolz, I dunno if that's a good thing ._.) however, even Remember had me question a few things, while I do think that this drama didn't present anything that wasn't typical for the melodrama genre, I do agree to an extent that perhaps some of the scenarios or plot-twists in Remember were a tiny bit over the top and perhaps not necessary. But, that aside, this drama was indeed a very good melodrama. It made you question morality, it made you analyze and think, and most of all, it made you remember what it feels to find hope in the most hopeless of situations. When I watch a depressing angsty drama, I don't sit there and cry my heart out over the fact that I think that the characters will all die a miserable death that serves no meaning (death is not a problem, it is what you die for that matters), and I try to find that slight light at the end of the tunnel and remind myself that this is what real life is. It's a struggle, and melodramas truly show that no matter how shitty something is, even if the main character might die in the end, there are fights still worth fighting for, because in the end, whether it's for the greater good or to protect someone you care about, there is always something that's worth it all.

Remember - War of the Son is exactly about that struggle to find hope in the shittiest of situations. Seo Jin Woo had nothing but his super-memory and yet he never for even a second came close to the thought of giving up on his father. Yoo Seung Ho nailed the role of the young man-turned-lawyer Seo Jin Woo and I really connected to him as a character, and I especially admired his strength and righteousness. I felt like "yeah, this is what a real lawyer should be like" and I think that's what the drama was aiming for, because truth to be told, this drama has a handful of lawyers that are borderline psychos. I mean, okay, sure some people are very easily moved my money, but maaaan, the subordinate-side-villains were really intense O_o some of them made me flip tables and question their sense of morality. Like, are you guys even human? o_o It's definitely not something unfamiliar to the melodrama genre, I was just surprised to see so many assholes in one drama. It almost felt like there was a heartless-soulless man's club - in this drama, and the main antagonist kept recruiting people from that club over to his side, again and again over the course of the drama. I love that there were that many "loyal" people though. Whether it be on our antagonists or protagonists side, there were quite a few backstabbing moments, and as an angst-lover, that's exactly what I was looking forward to seeing. I like tension, and I love to see the tension between the various characters, that was definitely one of the strong points of this drama. There were so many different interesting characters and their relationships and dynamics with each other were phenomenal. One of my favorites were of course Seo Jin Woo and his relationship with his father. I love family relationships so this in particular hit me very very hard. Especially since the Alzheimer topic is very close to home, it felt even more heartbreaking to watch. I've read a few comments on MDL where people have asked how depressing this drama is, since it deals with Alzheimer, and I'm not going to lie, it's not sugarcoated, it truly shows the true ugly colors of the disease and it is sad, but at the same time this drama isn't portraying just the ugly, it also shows how to fight it, how to never give up and what it means to stay human. And therefore, I would still say that it's worth checking out; because there's definitely more to this drama than just the Alzheimer topic. Talking about Alzheimer, it's no spoiler to say that Jin Woo's dad is suffering from Alzheimer in this drama. It made him a very easy victim to frame and manipulate, and that's basically the core of the story. The part with the dad and his subconscious struggle made me spill quite a few liters of tears, (MARK TO VIEW SPOILER) especially every time he went to visit him at the prison and the father kept forgetting that Jin Woo is his son. That freaking broke my heart to pieces. (END OF SPOILER. Not to mention THAT PLOT-TWIST THOUGH, that I for one didn't see coming at all! I remember thinking that ti would be cool yet extremely cruel to have that sort of plot-twist, but somehow considering the plot, it was still fitting, even though it really made me question how far the scriptwriters would go to make Seo Jin Woo's life even more miserable than it already is. Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't agree with the people who said that this drama was just one angsty moment after another, this was in my opinion, totally no the case! Someone once wrote "the only thing left to do is have In Ah get run over by a truck and Seo Jin Woo's life would be 100% miserable," yeah, true thing, but he did have light in his life as well. Let's not get too depressing over here. He did have people who supported him, he had In Ah, and his crew of supporting-lawyers and he did taste victory a couple of times, so yeah...I don't agree on that statement to a 100% -.-*.  


Talking about In Ah, I really liked Park Min Young in this drama! I have to say this was probably my favorite role of hers since City Hunter (yeah, unpopular opinion, but I did not like her that much in Healer -le gasp- don't kill me). I found her really strong in this drama and while I did wonder whether she was a good pick to play alongside Yoo Seung Ho at first, I'm glad I quickly changed my mind after a few episodes. They fit together so perfectly well! I wouldn't say they are my favorite couple to ship, but I liked their relationship. It was a moral and mental support - relationship, very similar to the relationship between the main leads in God's Gift - 14 Days and that's kind of what I was hoping that this drama would aim for as well. Sure, it was really nice to see Jin Woo get a few romantic moments in his pretty shitty life, but the romance factor wasn't that big in this drama. And honestly, I like that. It just shows that you shouldn't press romance into every drama just for the heck of it. If the romance serves a purpose, sure, throw it in, but in some cases, it just seems forced and out of place. I did like the chemistry between Yoo Seung Ho and Park Min Young (I mean come on, I'm pretty sure we all loved that ONE particular scene, right right? -wink wink-) MARK TO VIEW SPOILER but I like that their relationship stayed platonic for the most part of the drama. END OF SPOILER In Ah always felt more like a big sister to Jin Woo (perhaps because the age-difference between the actors too, dunno) and I had no problems whatsoever with that. 


Another relationship I really really liked was the trust-hate-dynamics that Jin Woo had with Dong Ho. Park Dong Ho was hands down that one of my favorite characters. Why? Because he was complex to the core! This sassy gangster-lawyer was a mystery from head to toe. It's only later on that you find out about his backstory, but even then he stays mysterious. Just whose side is he on anyways? - that's the question that keeps popping up in your mind every once in a while. He seems like a nice guy but he is a sly fox, a schemer. Someone you'd rather not be involved with, and yet at some points in the story, he seems to be only guy who Jin Woo trusts or pretends to trust.Why? Because you just can't figure out what's on Dong Ho's mind. You knew Nam Gyu Man was the antagonist, Jin Woo was the protagonist, but what was Park Dong Ho? A schemer who would backstab both of them? An evil mastermind who would show his true colors in the end? Or a tragic anti-hero? I don't know if I got too wrapped up in my own analysis of Dong Ho, but it wasn't until the end that I felt like we found out just who he was. And I liked that. His story was all about redemption. A very different and unique twist if I may add, but definitely redemption. Overall, I think his story was a very interesting one and he is definitely a type of character I want to see more in dramaland. + I'm a sucker for those gangster-but-not-entirely-gangster characters who have their own crew of minions xD They're so badass.

Nam Gyu Man, My creepy psycho man that I hate to love <3 Anyhow, no I'm not into psychos, but I loved Nam Gyu Man's character. I've already written a post about why this character is one of my favorites, that that statement still stays. Now I'll just add a bit more to it. THAT ENDING THOUUUUGH. I can't say I felt bad for him. Actually I was probably cheering for it to happen at that point, but that one particular scene with his father struck me. For a split second, he saw a side of Gyu Man that we never thought he had. For a split second we got reminded that he too, is human. A very twisted one, but still a sad human being who just wanted to please his father.
To me, parents are always the real villains of dramas, even if the children are shitload crazy, I still feel like in the core, it's the parents fault. Gyu Man was born with anger-management issues, but perhaps he could've still had a normal childhood if it weren't for his father who put too much pressure on him and abused him into the monster he became. I'm not justifying people like Gyu Man in any way, I'm glad we got a very satisfying ending for his character, but I think this drama also wanted to portray that we should pity those type of characters as well. Just like Jin Woo once said "You think I'm pitiful? I think you're the pitiful one" to Gyu Man, and it was a very wise choice of words in my opinion. It was that one sentence that could hurt Gyu Man in the soul. He knew he was pitiful, deep down he knew just how shitty his life was, but he hid behind a wall that was his psycho-persona.He was a sad person and I did actually feel something during the close-up scene on Nam Gyu Man's face MARK TO VIEW SPOILER (before he committed suicide in the prison cell).   END OF SPOILER. Also, since the synopsis on MDL was a bit confusing, or weirdly written, quite a few people, myself included were both surprised and yet not so much of one particular plot-twist concerning Jin Woo's character. I don't think it was a bad add to the plot, some people say it was a bit too much, but I personally felt like "why not?" I mean, it added more to the dark theme, the adrenaline ride, and added more rush to the already "running-out-of-time" - mood the plot already went for. I've said it before, but it's very difficult for me to claim that an ending of a drama is bad or terrible. A happy lovey-dovey ending could be just as bad as a bittersweet or sad ending, depending on the type of drama it is. Therefore, in this particular case, I found the ending very fitting of the overall story. The message this drama was trying to portray was well delivered in it's entirely and the ending helped add up that extra spice to it. I actually really liked the direction the ending took. It did the drama justice in my opinion. 

There are so many characters I want to talk about, but maah then this post would be longer than my Bachelor degree thesis X_x therefore, I'll just quickly mention that I really liked Nam Gyu Man's right hand man and friend Ahn Soo Beom, I felt like he was a  very important add to the cast. It's not something we usually see in dramas, and I really liked that we got to see the antangonists relationship with someone who is actually close to them, and cares about them from the bottom of their heart, despite all of their flaws. Their bromance broke my heart, mostly because it was one of the most sincere friendships I've ever wittnessed, until the very end I felt like Ahn Soo Beom cared about Gyu Man, I don't think we'll ever fully understand why, but that feeling of staying by his side, and even when things crumbled down to the ground....he still believed in Gyu Man. That scene at the end when he went to visit Gyu Man and told him "take care, my friend" ....gosh, you could feel the pain and regret in his voice. Their bromance, was phenomenal and definitely something I want to see more of in dramaland! Give the villains a subordinate who sees the good in them when no one else does, I want to see more of those kind of scenes T_T!
Another character worth mentioning is the lawyer guy who had court-phobia! I don't know if this is just because I can relate to it a bit (I ger really nervous when I talk in front of a large crowd) but I really liked how his character development went. I really cheered him on! >_< he was so funny and yeah, a really nice add to the cast! He lighted up Seo Jin Woo's day a bit and the overall dark theme of the drama got a bit of a lighter shade at times when it was needed!
Sidenote, I liked Gyu Man's sister, however, this is where the drama hits its first flaw, she felt a bit undeveloped. As a lawyer herself, I kind of wished she'd have had a bigger role in the drama. In the end, she was just on the side and witnessed it all (sure she did give a hand in a case or two here and there) but I dunno...I feel like since she was supposed to be a lawyer, the scriptwriter could've used her character a bit more. Added her into plot twists, and given her more screen time. I liked where the story was going with her and Jin Woo, but that quickly died out. I wish it would've continued a bit longer, it would've been a nice punch to Gyu Man's face xD
Another flaw that I have to point out, and this is also why the drama couldn't get more than an overall score of 8, is the poorly handling of important evidence. I tried to look away, but I can't. The USB scenario in particular....-sigh- I didn't agree with people when the episode aired, but now I feel like perhaps I was a bit too biased towards Jin Woo and Dong Ho. They're supposed to be professionals, so to make sure a rookie mistake...-sigh- no backup? No extra copies of important evidence? Really? A small human mistake or just a way to prolong the plot hm...?
Another thing that I tried to ignore at first, but it kept bugging me til no end when it happened not once but twice. Seo Jin Woo's "hidden" room. Yeah....let's just say that it didn't really live up to its name. Apparently he forgot to put a door to that place, or I dunno...lock it? or cover it up somehow. He should take lessons from Batman. Sure we can play the card that he forgot to lock the door and other things, but he was far from along in that building, he could've easily asked In Ah to double-check the oh-so-important room, but nope. Major flaw in my opinion. They were just lucky Nam Gyu Man loves the chase more than the actual catch, or I wonder in what direction the story would've gone from the middle part of the drama....

Overall, despite its plot-twists-that-just-serve-to-prolong-the-story-a-bit-further, the drama was still very enjoyable. I enjoyed the court-scenes more than I thought I would. I actually didn't felt like skipping any, which is far more than what I can say that I felt like doing when I watch "I can hear your voice" - for some reasons, some court-scenes in that drama were yawn-material for me, so yeah, this drama did keep up the tension all the way through. The characters are definitey this story's strong points. Acting was top notch! And no, Yoo Seung Ho nailed it, he wasn't "just" a cry-baby <- as some people on MDL pointed out. Sorry people, I definitely don't agree. Seo Jin Woo's character felt very realistic to me, despite the supernatural element, he was just a human "boy/man" and Yoo Seung Ho portrayed that nicely. Nam Goong Min, marry me. Nuff said xD hahah, yeah, everyone did a very good job with their roles. There wasn't really anything major lacking, but I still feel like I can't give it more than a 8. Perhaps it should've been a tiny bit shorter, which is a bit odd to say since I believe it was actually already shortened by 4 episodes, correct me if I'm wrong xD.
OST, was okay. Not something that I'll be replaying on youtube, but not something that didn't set the right mood either. It fit the drama but it wasn't anything spectacular. Do I recommend this drama? Yes and no, perhaps only for melodrama fans or if you like Yoo Seung Ho or lawyer-themed plots.

What do you guys think? Do you agree with my rating? What did you think about Yoo Seung Ho's return-drama? :D
If you want to read my full post on why Nam Gyu Man is an epic antagonist that I love to hate, click on this link down below.
http://omodramaland.blogspot.se/2016/01/omodramalands-cant-contain-feels-corner.html

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