With no control over their toxic environment, growing up in a dysfunctional family can lead to a lot of emotional scarring and trauma for innocent young children. Many of them will engage in self-destructive behaviours, turning to alcohol, drugs or even perpetuating the cycle of emotional abuse themselves in future. Sometimes, these kids will turn to delinquency or crime and coupling that with the mindset that they don't need a family since their only experience of having one was bad, it's a recipe for disaster. This is the central idea behind Here's My Plan, which sees female lead and juvenile criminal So-hyun enact a plan to ruin the lives of those who she thinks made her unhappy. As I mentioned in my initial thoughts post, the drama's screenplay was acclaimed by contest judges and going in, I expected a good product that would be a joy to watch. I wasn't disappointed so let's dive right in.
SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
It's important to preface this post by saying that I in no way condone So-hyun's crimes, whether it's pickpocketing or the more serious stuff like arson or even attempted murder. Even if she's portrayed as a sympathetic character who's doing this out of personal trauma, it's still deplorable and should be condemned. Anyway, let's get to it. I totally called one of the drama's most important plot points, namely that male lead Jae-young isn't actually So-hyun's father, being his good friend and colleague. It's revealed that So-hyun's father Min-geon died after saving Jae-young from a factory accident while working, which is why So-hyun's mother Yoo-mi somewhat blames Jae-young and also why Jae-young goes out of his way to help her out of guilt, even putting money into a savings account for So-hyun.
This tragic incident is really only the beginning of So-hyun's downward spiral in life, with Yoo-mi slowly descending into alcoholism and despair. While initially trying to live on without the man of the household, Yoo-mi loses her will to live after their apartment burns down in a fire and attempts to commit suicide together with her daughter by burning a charcoal briquette in their car after drugging her with sleeping pills. Don't forget this because it gets important later on. The suicide fails and So-hyun loses all her childhood memories, being sent to an orphanage for 2 years while Yoo-mi serves a prison sentence for this crime. After this debacle, Yoo-mi becomes indifferent to her daughter and is unable to curb her alcoholism, even becoming involved in illegal gambling to fund her addiction. Her relationship with So-hyun crumbles and of course brings us to the start of the drama, with her high school dropout daughter running away from home and deciding to ruin Jae-young's life (thinking he's her father).
As the drama progresses, we get a better look at So-hyun's motivations and see just how messed up she is from all the family trauma. She has little regard for the people around her, masking her true intentions and using them for her own goal. Of course, all this stems from her mother's indifference and the building up of all her hatred and resentment. Over time though, So-hyun begins to open up somewhat to Jae-young and his worker Yoon-ho, even sort of entering a relationship with the latter. However, she still doesn't know the truth about her father and still wants to ruin Jae-young's life all because of a misunderstanding. She decides to kill Bok-hee, Jae-young's girlfriend and Yoon-ho's grandmother's caregiver, in the same manner her own mother tried to all those years ago, by drugging Bok-hee and burning a charcoal briquette, all in an attempt to ruin Jae-young's life.
By this point, you'd think So-hyun's irredeemable as she continues to do all these terrible things even though the people around her have been generally nothing but nice to her. Of course, as is the case with all dramas, our heroine undergoes character development that changes her for the better. At the start of the series she's the kind of person who only selfishly does things for personal gain, whether it's her usual pickpocketing, ignoring Yoon-ho when he's getting beaten up or manipulating others to get closer to Jae-young and ruin him. As she interacts more with those around her though, she starts to care a little more and becomes more "human", choosing to save Yoon-ho when he's getting beaten up again because of her, saving Bok-hee after she has second thoughts about her murder plan and eventually turning herself in for the aforementioned crime. Granted, none of this changes the fact that what she did was very criminal and very wrong but at the very least, she's a character that you feel sympathy for as you gain a better understanding of her tragic backstory.
Kim Hwan-hee has done an excellent job in this role. When So-hyun's masking her loneliness under this self-assured illusion, Kim plays a character that comes off as slightly annoying but yet is someone you root for, and when our heroine breaks down in front of her mother and screams her frustration out at her, your heart just sinks at the raw emotion pouring off her. I've said this many times in the past but the acting prowess of K-drama child actors/actresses make the skills of the adult actors in my country's local productions look unprofessional in comparison and Kim Hwan-hee's performance in this drama is evident of that.
Here's My Plan is very much a drama that tells the story of a young girl who learns to break out of the dysfunctional family cycle and learn that there's no point resenting her parents for making her life worse. Instead, she knows that in order to find her own happiness, she has to get out of that rut in her life and move beyond her pain. As such, this drama is essentially completely focusing on So-hyun's character, with the 3 other leads and supporting characters being used as stepping stones in her journey of personal growth. That's not necessarily a bad thing, although there're things that can be improved. Let's talk about male lead Jae-young. I can appreciate the fact that he's a really nice guy who helps a runaway So-hyun when he didn't know her true identity and even after he finds out who she really is, Jae-young lets her tell him the truth in her own time. Despite all the terrible things she's done, he understands that she just needs something to take out her anger on and so Jae-young tries his best to help her. Acting-wise, I don't really have much to say about Ryu Soo-young's performance here since his character doesn't really change too much but I guess he served his purpose. For me, the thing that stood out to me the most is how much he looked like Ji Chang-wook but other than that superficial thought, there's nothing much else.
As for second male lead Yoon-ho, I didn't really feel the chemistry between him and So-hyun as well. They had cute moments befitting their age, sure but at the same time, he was just another way for her to grow as a character. He does have his own backstory, needing to take care of his dementia-suffering grandmother all alone after his parents passed away but that's about it. Yoon-ho does share some words of wisdom with So-hyun but again, it's all about helping her become a better person. Similar to Ryu Soo-young and his portrayal of Jae-young, Kim Do-hoon does alright as Yoon-ho but there's nothing outstanding about him.
The last character I'll talk about is Yoo-mi, So-hyun's mother. Out of all the leads, she doesn't appear all that much but her presence is definitely felt through her daughter's actions. A large part of why So-hyun is the way she is is because of her mother's poor parenting and Rie Young-zin has done a pretty good job playing the defeated mother who drowns her sorrows in alcohol. The interesting thing is Yoo-mi doesn't express too much emotion in her scenes but you can visibly see her tiredness and you can feel that she's given up on life, with Rie bringing that across to us very well. I haven't seen many works from these 4 lead actors but safe to say they did good jobs in this drama.
A huge problem that many K-dramas face is that near the end of their typical 16-episode run, things get a little draggy and the story ends a little too abruptly. Here's My Plan escapes the former problem because it's only a quarter of the usual episode length, being 4 episodes long, and so we only focus on a very small cast of characters and keep a very tight story. This reduces a lot of unnecessary plotlines and keeps audiences' interest, something that a lot of dramas fail to do. However, the small number of episodes do result in the story progressing a little fast and does inevitably lead to the drama feeling a little rushed in the end with everyone getting their happy ending. So-hyun gets counseling at youth social services, Yoo-mi heads back to rehab for her alcoholism (and attempting to make amends with her daughter), Jae-young and Bok-hee resume their relationship, and Yoon-ho continues his romance with So-hyun. Of course, the delinquents who beat up Yoon-ho throughout the drama also get their just desserts. See, everything ended very nicely but it does feel a bit too rushed. Shame.
Going into Here's My Plan, I really wasn't expecting it to touch on such realistic and sensitive topics, and I definitely wasn't expecting it to go this deep. Through the dramatised elements, there's still a very powerful message in here. Sure, you might not have as bad a situation as So-hyun, where she has a dysfunctional family but at the same time, everyone has their own problems. Instead of blaming the world and finding ways to resent others for your misfortunes, take the time to reflect and look ahead, making the best of your life and finding your own happiness. Thanks for reading.
Comments
Post a Comment