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Saturday, January 18, 2020

'Extraordinary You' Is a Delightful Existential Rom-Com

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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