On first glance, you might think Run On is simply a romcom and while you wouldn't be entirely wrong, this drama is so much more than that. Behind the fluffy love stories and the romance-generated angst, we got a good look at the importance of self-love and learning how to put yourself first. It's a heartwarming story and while this drama does suffer from the K-drama syndrome of "rushed happy endings", I was very satisfied with not only how it ended but also how we touched on our characters' stories. Let's dive in.
SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
Many times a drama focuses heavily on the leads' backstories and oftentimes we find that their stories will intertwine in convoluted ways all the way from childhood till the present day. It's a trope that happens almost every drama and we've seen it so many times. That's why I find it super interesting that Run On's screenwriters have decided to not focus on our leads' backstories, in fact, we know very little about their pasts. This is a rare situation because oftentimes dramas are pushed forward by focusing heavily on any traumatic or life-changing events in the characters' lives so not seeing that in this drama is very refreshing. Instead, what we just got brief glimpses into Seon-gyeom and Mi-joo's pasts, just enough to get an understanding of their motivations and what shaped them into being the people they are as of the drama, which we'll take a look at below.
What do we know about female lead Mi-joo? She's a feisty translator who, while not dirt poor, still has money issues. Usually, we'll get a deep look into her past but with this drama, we actually don't know a lot about her. We know she was orphaned at a young age but we only get little nods to this throughout the series. There's a scene where she's strolling down a path and we see her casting longing glances at happy families because even after so long she still misses her parents. We also get flashbacks to Mi-joo's high school years, where she gets into a fight with another student who insulted her, and because the other student came from an affluent household, Mi-joo was seen as the aggressor and reprimanded by a teacher (even though she wasn't at fault). We also see her receiving a sum of money from the rich parents as a way of appeasing her. All these are part of Mi-joo's backstory and while they're stepping stones to understanding her character, they're not integral to the plot. If anything, they only serve to give us a better idea of why she has such a strong personality now. Mi-joo's a very no-nonsense character and even though she isn't rich, she doesn't sell her principles for money. Her past experiences with those more powerful than her result in her disdain for Seon-gyeom's assemblyman father Jeong-do, who tries to use his political power to intimidate her into leaving his son. This is what makes this drama so different from others, we don't get like two episodes just to explore Mi-joo's backstory, instead we are now privy to just enough that we understand her better.
We know a little bit more about Seon-gyeom and why he became a sprinter. He was actually a javelin thrower but a shoulder injury dashed any chance of him pursuing that talent. Instead of being a source of comfort, Jeong-do merely asks his son to choose a different sport. The pent-up anger in Seon-gyeom explodes and he runs out of his hospital ward. This first time running will then lead to him eventually becoming a national sprinter. Seon-gyeom experiences the same problems as many K-drama leads who come from a powerful family and that is a dysfunctional family situation where familial bonds are exploited for money or more power. On the surface, the Ki family is perfect. Jeong-do is a powerful assemblyman who plans on running for presidency, mother Ji-woo is a famous actress and their children Eun-bi and Seon-gyeom are successful professional athletes. Jeong-do is a monster of capitalism and power, using his family's status to bolster his political agenda. In order to make their father look good, Eun-bi and Seon-gyeom do the maximum in their respective sport, bringing home many awards. Our hero here doesn't realise that he lives in such a toxic family and for the longest time, he doesn't care about himself, going through all kinds of hurdles just to help his father.
In many ways for this drama, running is sort of an allegory to self-love, especially with our two leads here. Mi-joo has a lot of pride and self-respect, which is why she stands up for herself even against odds that many would consider insurmountable and does her best to defend herself. She takes care of herself and puts her own wellbeing before others. When a high school Mi-joo started running, it was to get away from her problems but in adulthood, she now runs to take care of herself. The marathon she participates in near the end of the drama brings her story full circle as she finally stops running and comes to terms with her problems. Seon-gyeom on the other hand has to learn self-love and this is a huge thing in the drama, with Mi-joo constantly having to teach him to care for himself first before others. This opens our male lead's eyes to his toxic family dynamic and he rebels against his father. He also influences his mother and sister, both of whom have had enough of Jeong-do's nonsense, to turn against him as well. The Ki family has understood the importance of self-love, with Seon-gyeom being at the forefront, and they'll no longer stand for how Jeong-do is utilising them for his personal gain. Much like Mi-joo, Seon-gyeom started running to escape something and eventually it became ingrained in him, even becoming his job. However, it is only once he retires as a professional sprinter that he starts to understand the meaning of loving oneself. I thought that was a very interesting idea that was weaved into the drama.
Apart from this concept of self-love, a huge part of the drama was Mi-joo and Seon-gyeom's love story. First off, their chemistry is undeniable and they complement each other well. This is in no small part due to the excellent acting from Shin Se-kyung and Im Si-wan. While both are fairly famous actors, this is my first time properly seeing them in a lead role and I loved their performances. Shin Se-kyung is absolutely adorable and her portrayal of Mi-joo was super cute. That said, I would say top honours goes to Im Si-wan. I've heard people praise him for his acting range and that's no surprise considering his turn as a psychopathic murderer in Hell Is Other People. I think the best way for me to describe Im Si-wan's performance as Seon-gyeom is "more is less". Seon-gyeom is a fairly naïve and unaware character, who seems to be living in his own world that revolves around running and his messed up family. Throughout the drama, he's a pretty even-tempered guy and Im Si-wan's softer voice added to the character he was building. Instead of showing drastic changes in behaviour to signify mood changes, I find it really cool that Seon-gyeom shows emotional changes through his eyes and voice. This was excellent acting from Im Si-wan because being able to bring across so much emotion with only subtle changes is amazing and I thought it was done beautifully, hence why I said "more is less" with Seon-gyeom's portrayal.
It would be remiss of me not to mention our second leads Dan-ah and Young-hwa, who follow the trend from our leads of not having the drama focus on their backstories. As such, we don't know much about either character. In Dan-ah's case, we know that her soccer player dreams were dashed after her half-brother Myung-min meddled with it, causing her to be banned from the sport by her father. We also know that she has inherited an illness from her father, something that her other half-brother, idol Tae-woong shares. You might think these tidbits about her past are unimportant but in truth, they serve to show us the struggles that Dan-ah has had to go through to reach her lofty position now. The machinations of a jealous Myung-min and the favouritism shown by her father all tried to beat her down but she rose to the top regardless.
One thing I really like about this drama is how most of the female characters are strong, independent women who forge their own paths. Mi-joo was like this for the most part but Dan-ah is really that girl. She has to be one of the most badass women in K-drama, being not just a CEO at her young age but also not taking any nonsense from anyone in the male-dominated society. Because of the very mercenary business world where she ekes out her living, Dan-ah has built up high emotional walls and adopted a very "ice queen" manner, hence why Young-hwa calls her "Rapunzel". Speaking of Young-hwa, the turning point in Dan-ah's character arc comes when she actually meets him. From the very start, she was enraptured by one of his paintings and unbeknownst to her, she starts to fall for him, although her pride probably wouldn't let her admit it. Young-hwa on the other hand falls head over heels for Dan-ah and tries his very best to win her over. As the drama progresses, the pair grow closer together despite their massively contrasting backgrounds and personalities, with the amiable Young-hwa finally getting the standoffish Dan-ah to open up to him. It's a secondary love story that was very intriguing to follow and I especially liked how they found their way back to each other even after falling out at some point.
What I find interesting about our second leads is how they've changed each other. Initially, Dan-ah sees Young-hwa as nothing more than a tool for her to best Myung-min by putting up one of Young-hwa's paintings in their company's art museum so she can take control of it. As for Young-hwa, there's no mention as to what his goals prior to meeting Dan-ah were. Maybe it was a humble one like graduating but eventually his dream changes to being together with Dan-ah. As the series progresses, we also see Dan-ah changing so that while she still has the goal of besting her half-brother, she changes as a person and becomes far warmer to others. A prime example of this is in her interactions with Tae-woong, who she seemed to strongly dislike because of his nature as a bastard son. However, by the end of the drama we see that she's changed gears and now she's willing to accept Tae-woong as her own brother. It's very nice to see how this couple have become better versions of themselves after meeting each other and we get lots of sweet moments between the pair. Even when they were apart for a time due to Dan-ah's work life, they found their way back to each other.
I've always known Soo-young as an idol and while she's been an actress for some time, I haven't seen anything with her in it so it's quite refreshing to see her in an acting capacity. She really plays the diva role well and I think you'll see her as one of those characters you'll initially love to hate but eventually ends up growing on you. As for Kang Tae-oh, I know him as a great comedy actor and he really shines in that aspect here. Lots of the funny scenes in this drama have Young-hwa in them and Kang Tae-oh performs so well here. These two also had amazing chemistry and sold their couple well. I think this is one of those times where people will like the second leads as much as the first leads if not more (although that's questionable because Mi-joo and Seon-gyeom also have great chemistry). In general, the four leads also have really engaging interactions with one another and I find them very entertaining to watch. They're a riot.
Just like in some of the dramas I've seen previously, this drama also opened our eyes to abuse of power, both in terms of bullying and shows of political force. Early in the drama, the national sprinting team is dealing with assault cases, with two senior athletes savagely beating a junior athlete who has more skill than them. What sickened me was that because these senior athletes come from influential families, the team coach turns a blind eye to the bullying and pretends that nothing happened. This infuriates Seon-gyeom who tries to right wrongs by beating up the two athletes and making the news public, hoping that it'll shine a light on the abuse within the team. Unfortunately because of his father's political power, the situation is blown over and Seon-gyeom is initially let off with a six-month suspension instead of being banned from the track. That's barely the tip of the iceberg of Jeong-do's abuse of his political power. Throughout the drama, we see that in his bid for even more influence, Jeong-do is more than willing to exploit his family for his own benefit, even burying his own daughter in a scandal with a rival politician. It's despicable and absolutely sickening to watch. Thankfully by the end of the drama, Jeong-do has realised the horrendous nature of his acts and retires from politics, attempting to mend his familial relationships after being abandoned by his family.
I don't really get why I heard of people being disappointed by this drama. Was the ending somewhat rushed? Somewhat, yes but that's a problem that many K-dramas deal with. With this drama, everything wrapped up fairly nicely for our leads as well as many of the side characters. Seon-gyeom and Mi-joo are becoming stronger as a couple, Dan-ah and Young-hwa have reunited, and the Ki family is mending. A few of the other side characters have also found happiness in their lives and we get a short montage in the last episode showing their happiness. I won't delve into that scene because I didn't really mention many of the characters in this review but safe to say, it's quite a heartwarming wrap up. The drama itself also had a very important message to it because when things are looking down and your life seems to be going through a rough patch, the most important thing that you need to do is take care of yourself first. Only once you love and care for yourself properly, you'll be able to heal and continue to Run On to whatever the future has in store. Thanks for reading.
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