Extraordinary You is the kind of K-drama you would love to go into
blind. The first four episodes are
executed in a way where the premise gradually unfolds to the viewer in a
delightful series of twists-and-turns. Going
in, I already know what it was going to be about, but I still had a blast. How much more if I knew nothing about it and
had my mind constantly blown away during those first few episodes? Thus, if you are reading this and don’t know
anything about this show yet, I recommend that you stop reading and just jump
right into it. Without knowing anything,
you may probably be confused of what’s going on at first. But it really gets rewarding in the end (at
least, as far as those first four episodes go).
The 32-episode series is mostly
set in a prestigious private academy for rich kids, and follows Eun Dan-oh (Kim
Hye-yoon), an heiress who is suffering from a heart disease. Her character is initially set up as if she’s
just another lead heroine of a typical high school drama – the kind where a
collection of pretty boys have to vie for her love. In this story’s case, these “pretty boys” are
known as “A3” (Kim Young-dae, Jung Gun-joo, and Lee Jae-wook) – a trio of rich,
popular, talented, athletic, smart, handsome boys who basically rule the school and whom every female
student is fawning over. Yep, they are
essentially an analogue of F4, and the show seems to be a Meteor Garden/Boys Over
Flowers/Hana Yori Dango
derivative. (From here onward, this
article will get a bit spoiler-y.)
One day, Dan-oh begins to hear strange,
loud pops and experience moments where she skips forward in time, without any
memories of how she has gotten to that point.
After encountering several more of these uncanny events – which, by the
way, her classmates are oblivious to – she learns that she’s actually a
character in a manhwa (i.e. Korean comic book)!
The weird sound she hears is the flipping of the page, and she’s moving
from one point in time into the next without any memories of what happened in
between because she’s jumping from one scene to another! Dan-oh is naturally shocked, upset, and in
denial at first. Eventually, she comes
to terms with it, and decides to just enjoy the life of the main character of a
high school romance comic book. She particularly
becomes elated thinking which one of A3 is her leading man.
However, she comes to another
shock later when she learns that she’s not the female protagonist of this comic
book at all. It’s actually her classmate
Yeo Joo-da (Lee Na-eun), a poor student who has received a scholarship in that
school. Recalling back past events,
Dan-oh realizes that those particular instances which seemed to reinforce her
assumptions that she was the main character were actually centered on Joo-da
all along. Dan-oh, to her horror, is
actually just an extra.
All this happened during the
pilot – the first two episodes – and I really enjoyed how everything was
carried out. It’s an elaborate joke
that’s been executed to perfection. And
not only does the punchline provide big laughs, but it also serves as a
brilliant means for the narrative to establish what the deal is with this
series moving forward.
The next two episodes afterward
are just as excellent and essential, that by the end, you should be hooked for
the rest of it already. Episodes 3 and 4
lay out the rules of this world, which the series, for the most part, has been
consistent in adhering to during its progress.
Moreover, and more importantly, these episodes focus on finally
revealing who Dan-oh’s leading man is – who I think has the best character
introduction in a K-drama ever. The
climactic reveal and the build up toward it are simply outstanding with their direction. Casting relatively unknown newcomer actors for
this show proves to be a tremendous advantage as well for maintaining the mystery
of his identity, since if the show had recognizable names or faces, the
knowledge of who’s the biggest star among them would have immediately given
away any surprise. Thus, at least for
me, there’s some legitimate questioning going on – “Who’s the leading man? Is it one of A3? No?
Then who?”
As it turns out, Dan-oh’s male counterpart
is a nameless extra (Kim Seok-woo a.k.a. Rowoon) – the 13th student
in the class’ roster. He has no
significance and presence to the manhwa’s plot, and as a result, the other
characters – including Dan-oh, at first – aren’t aware of him. Dan-oh recruits him to change her arc in the
manwha, and later, she gives him the name “Ha-roo.” I really like the unique character set-up for
Ha-roo – how he’s such a non-factor “extra” that his classmates have failed to
notice his existence all this time even though he’s been among their midst
right from the very start.
Extraordinary You is a lot of fun overall. But it’s not entirely perfect. At some point,
there are aspects that just get repetitive and slightly problematic. And, honestly, I was expecting a lot more
from its payoffs. Now, I don’t think it
ever goes off rails, but it’s probably all thanks to the momentum that the
first third of splendid episodes ignited.
It’s admittedly more interesting in its early parts than in its latter
parts.
One thing that allows this show to
overcome its flaws is the adorable, investing characters, which have been
excellently brought to life by their respective actors. As I’ve mentioned earlier, the cast of this
show consists of “unknowns.” But, based
on their performances in this show, I don’t see them remaining “unknowns” for
long. Lee Na-eun, Rowoon, Kim Young-dae,
Jung Gun-joo, Lee Jae-wook, and Lee Na-eun are definitely going to be big
K-drama stars in the future. Lee Na-eun,
particularly, displays the versatility of a legit lead as she can convincingly
shift from drama to comedy and vice versa without losing a beat (her ugly-cry
face is hilarious, though). Ronwoo is
probably the most robotic of the bunch, but it works to the advantage of his
character’s personality. Meanwhile, Lee
Jae-wook plays a character who is such an A-hole that he’s frustrating to watch
for the most part, but there’s no denying that he’s one of the standouts with
his performance.
As what can be expected with the premise it has, Extraordinary You becomes a
meta deconstruction of high school shojo.
And like the best kinds of genre dissections, it’s coming from a place
of parody. Meaning, in a sense, it’s a
roast of high school shojo. Much comedy
gold is generated by some of the self-aware characters – especially Dan-oh and
D-hwa – reacting to and being dismayed by how their respective characters are
being written by the author of the manhwa.
However, while fun, the show can also be a tad pretentious with this sometimes. For example, it pokes fun at the corny
dialogue, ridiculous tropes, and sappy moments inherent to the genre
(particularly, Boys over Flowers and
its derivatives), but then, it employs the same in its own narrative later.
Another nit I want to pick is the
big reveal about Dan-oh and Ha-roo’s past.
I feel it’s a betrayal of their characterizations’ initial appeal. I liked how they are supposed to be mere
extras – powerless nobodies – and yet they opt to be defiant of the fatalism
inherent to their situation, proceeding to scheme and labor for existential wins. Thus, the big reveal about their past kind of
philosophically contradicts that, as if they are able to do what they’re doing
in the present only because they used to be “special” in the past. But that’s just me.
Extraordinary You wraps up rather satisfyingly. But if one chooses to reflect upon it, it
actually leaves behind plot holes and dark and vague implications for its
characters moving forward (big SPOILER: it might have been a happy ending for
the heroes, but in the end, it won’t change the fact that they are living in a
temporary manhwa world. Thus, their
“happy ending” will only last until the end of the current story which their
world is catering to. What happens
afterward? Another cycle? Then another one? And what happens if the author stops making
manhwas? It’s ultimately a tragedy). Still, it has just been a sweet, pleasing
show overall that it has earned for itself the right to ask its audience to be
optimistic and buy a “happily ever after” resolution.
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