'Crash Landing on You' Is Arguably the Ultimate K-Drama

Crash Landing on You is the most recent K-drama blockbuster.  It’s about a South Korean chaebol heiress named Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) who is blown toward the North Korean side of the border by a sudden weather disturbance while she’s paragliding.  While hanging on a tree, she’s discovered by a captain in the North Korean Army named Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin) who’s patrolling the area with his squad.  While he mulls of surrendering her to the proper authorities, he eventually takes pity on her.  He decides to shelter and protect her, while he and his squad try to figure out how to send her home.  Despite their differences, Captain Ri and Se-ri begin to fall in love with each other over time.

At first, I didn’t want to watch this K-drama.  As someone who detests the leftist-socialist-communist ideology, I found the premise somewhat icky.  It could have been merely due to the over-thinking, “conspiracy theorist” part of my brain, but I felt that it was a propaganda piece for Korean unification.  At worse, I felt that it might incite delusions on gullible, lovesick South Korean girls, that they would obsess about finding their own Captain Ris in North Korea and be prompted of actually crossing the border and defecting, similar to how ISIS somehow managed to brainwash British girls into leaving their country for ISIS and serve as their sex slaves (this actually happened; look it up).  Yep, the idea is wild and irrational.  But I just couldn’t shake off that feeling, and that was what prevented me from checking it out sooner.

However, the massive buzz it was generating and the high recommendations from friends eventually convinced me to give CLOY a chance.  And I actually liked it.  I was able to focus on just the merits of its narrative, as the depiction of NoKor didn’t really bother me.   The show didn’t necessarily glorify North Korea, although it did romanticize it a bit as being quaint.  It didn’t quite portray it as the harsh place it really is.  Even though it did show some cons about living in NoKor, most of them are depicted as inconveniences rather than horrors.  Nevertheless, as long as I treated the show as a “fairy tale”, I was able to just dismiss any discrepancy about NoKor in real life as just another fantastical element of its plot.

If you’ve been watching K-drama for a while, you will immediately realize that CLOY is a legit great.  For CLOY gives off the impression that it’s the embodiment of a K-drama.  Seriously, while watching the show, a long-time K-drama viewer would recognize that the typical tropes are being perfectly displayed or deconstructed in it.  In fact, one of the supporting characters is a die-hard K-drama fan, and some of the dialogue he’s involved in presents some amusing meta commentary about K-dramas.

In relation to this, the special cameos serve as amusing treats to those who’ve been watching Korean media for a while.  Cameos are actually a staple in K-dramas, but I believe CLOY has had the most fun ones so far (my favorite SPOILER is the appearance of the main character of the movie Secretly, Greatly, Bang Dong-gu, the North Korean sleeper agent in South Korea who’s disguised as a village idiot).

Furthermore, I’ve noticed in my years of watching K-drama that most notable series usually functions in four genres – romance, comedy, drama, and thriller.  And CLOY delivers well in all fronts.

Among those four genre manifestations, my personal favorite is the comedy.   If nothing else, CLOY is a hilarious show.  It had me in stitches in almost every episode.  Moreover, the comedy doesn’t only generate laughs, but also a potent feeling of cuteness.  In anime terminology, it’s referred to as moe.  CLOY is pretty moe.

The script isn’t perfect, but it’s generally entertaining and well-written.  The plot has several incredible coincidences that demand much suspension of disbelief, but since the result is engrossing and gratifying, you would be willing to grant it.  And whenever it has parts that are wobbly or are no longer fun, it has earned for itself enough goodwill for you to willingly sit through those parts.  One notably clever touch that it has for every episode is that it has an epilogue that reveals an event in the past – whether from years ago or just recently – that makes you appreciate more the episode that has just finished and/or the story so far.  If there’s only one thing I love about its storytelling, it’s those epilogues.

Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin are amazing in this series.  Prior to watching it, I already knew that Hyun Bin is a terrific, versatile actor from watching Hyde, Jekyll, Me (a disappointing series, but Hyun Bin was pretty good in it) and Confidential Assignment (interesting trivia: he also played a North Korean officer in this movie), but this is probably the best he’s ever been as a rom-com lead.  He plays off really well with Son Ye-jin – who is equally magnetic in her role, by the way – and vice versa.  Their chemistry is delightfully compelling, and thus, the romantic storyline of their characters is truly emotionally investing.  (Another interesting trivia: the two of them had worked before in the 2018 action crime thriller film The Negotiation, in which Son Ye-jin played the heroine, and Hyun Bin played the villain.  The disparity of their dynamic in CLOY makes me want to check that movie out.)

But, honestly, if there were poignant moments that really gave me the feels, it didn’t come from the lead couple’s romance – moving it might be.  Those came from the moments where the characters display friendship, loyalty, redemption, kindness, and generosity.  The show has a way of making those particular dramatic scenes hit home.  They made my eyes genuinely well up with tears.

The supporting cast is quite endearing. The series features two circles that have wholesome dynamics as ensembles, and with which Se-ri has had numerous amusing and heartwarming interactions.  The first one is Captain Ri’s loyal troops, and the second one is the ajummas in Captain Ri’s village.  These characters take part in many of the best scenes (especially the comedic kind) in the show.

Meanwhile, the secondary couple – Gu Seung-joon a.k.a. Alberto (Kim Jung-hyun) and Seo Dan (Seo Ji-hye) – is also pretty noteworthy.  Initially, they are sources of annoyance since they technically start out as antagonists working to foil Captain Ri and Se-ri’s love.  But once that part’s over, they become likable characters as they get to have their own engaging, adorable romantic subplot going for them.  It’s (SPOILER) just too bad that it has to have a tragic ending.

I enjoyed CLOY overall, but it should also be pointed out that, even for someone that enjoyed it, I found the experience of binging it a bit grueling.  It’s because the runtime of each episode is similar to the runtime of an average feature-length film.  As a result, watching a couple of episodes (which are essentially TV movies) at a time could end up being tiresome and overwhelming.  Hence, breaks are a necessity.  In total, the 16-episode series clocks in at 22 and a half hours – that’s almost a day!  Those second third of episodes especially could feel like a chore to sit through (the best episodes are from the first and last thirds of the series, by the way).

If there are things that I didn’t like about CLOY, they are few and trifling.  First, the CGI is horrible, but since this show isn’t necessarily about spectacles, that can be forgiven.

Second, the quality of the action is also disappointing.  Hyun Bin has already proven in Confidential Assignment that he can be a compelling action hero; he’s quite capable of doing fight scenes and stunts competently.  CLOY unfortunately fails to take advantage of his abilities and appeal as an action star.  It’s a real waste of opportunity.  There is, however, one action scene that I extremely enjoyed.  Because what it lacked in technical merits, it made up in swagger.  That is (SPOILER) when Captain Ri’s squad, dressed in stylish suits, battled Chul-kang’s thugs in episode 13.

Lastly, the (SPOILER) bittersweet ending is narratively satisfying.  It’s a fitting solution in relation to the political situation of their conflicting nations, and having Switzerland – the epitome of neutral ground – as the setting of their annual reunion is a clever metaphorical twist.  Nonetheless, it’s still sad that they only have a few weeks each year to be together.  I guess a total “happily ever after” for them, considering the circumstances of their love story, is logically out of the question.  Maybe I was right in assuming that this show is a propaganda tool for Korean reunification.  It definitely makes its audience yearn for the prompt removal of the obstructions and complications that are preventing these two star-crossed lovers to be together for good. LOL!

Overall, Crash Landing on You is arguably the ultimate K-drama.  Now, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I think it’s the best.  I like it, but I honestly love a couple of other K-drama series more.  But what I mean by “ultimate” is that, if we’re asked the question, “What is K-drama?”, it’s something we can point toward that can impeccably define it.  And thus, although I personally don’t think so, I can see the argument for CLOY being a contender for “Greatest K-Drama of All Time.”