So Not Worth It (Initial Thoughts)

I've said this before in older posts but I have a soft spot for sitcoms. There's just something about cheesy comedy coupled with ridiculous laugh tracks playing in the background that speaks to my soul and these elements have been staples in Western sitcoms for a long time now, which is why I was pretty excited to get something that combined this idea with K-drama. A Netflix Original marketed as the latest Korean sitcom, So Not Worth It (or directly translated to I Hope the Earth Collapses Tomorrow) is set in a university dorm for international students only and focuses on the crazy shenanigans that go down in this multicultural environment. Headlined by Park Se-wan (Just Dance, Never Twice) as female lead SE-WAN and Shin Hyun-seung (Be My Boyfriend) as male lead JAMIE, episode 1 alone has a lot of heart and was an absolute joy to watch. Without further ado, let's dive in. 

INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT)

Right off the bat, you'll probably notice that the drama has an extremely diverse cast and thankfully this isn't diversity for diversity's sake because we're actually meant to be seeing foreign university students. Half of our eight lead characters are played by non-Koreans and out of the rest, two are playing foreign characters and one is mixed. Something I want to mention is that having a huge cast of leads is very common for sitcoms so this drama definitely stayed true to that idea by introducing many characters right off the bat. Another thing to note is that most of the characters have the same name as our actors and that was probably so that the screenwriters didn't have to come up with more foreign names. 

I've never lived in an international university dorm myself but the setting depicted in episode 1 is probably fairly accurate and realistic, correctly depicting the mash of cultures that'll spawn out of having foreign students living in close proximity with one another. As someone from a country that has many foreigners living, working and studying here, I also thought it was interesting to see how different students adapt to the local culture depending on how long they've spent there. American senior CARSON [Carson Allen (Spring Turns to Spring, When the Camellia Blooms)] behaves like a grouchy "kkondae" or boomer and speaks Korean so fluently that if you closed your eyes, you probably couldn't tell she was a foreigner. She might as well be considered a Korean herself but on the other end of the spectrum, we have MINNIE [(G)I-DLE's Minnie in her drama debut], a Thai K-contents major whose command of the language isn't all there yet and who's obsessed with K-drama, possessing a very much romanticised view of South Korea. 

As I mentioned up top, the drama's main character is probably Se-wan, the only "actual" Korean lead character and the dorm's resident advisor. She's a senior just like Carson and juggles her time between studying and working, holding down lots of part-time jobs presumably to pay off her school fees. Se-wan's character is a more lighthearted take on the "monster of capitalism", doing whatever she can to make some spare change, even using her position as resident advisor to cop a quick buck out of her foreign dormmates. This is part of what brings her into contact with American freshman Jamie, a handsome guy who has caught the eyes of many girls in the dorm, who Se-wan tries to scam into buying her a new phone after he supposedly broke hers even though her screen was already broken to begin with. Jamie's quite a clueless guy and seems extremely introverted, wanting to change rooms in the dorm because he doesn't like living with and sharing a toilet or showering facilities with others. 

Jamie does seem to be overly sheltered as well and demonstrates an incapability to work properly, messing up all the part-time jobs that Se-wan recommended him for in an attempt to pay off her broken phone. All things considered, Jamie seems like quite a bumbling pretty boy and even gets rushed to the hospital after collapsing from severe constipation, something I didn't even know was possible. Even with such a ridiculous reason, Se-wan worries a lot about him and through their interactions after this incident, there's definitely some kind of budding attraction between them. However, there's more to Jamie than meets the eye as the end of the episode shows him answering a call and more or less confirming that he has some sort of secret agenda. As the drama progresses, we're probably going to get a better explanation of this plotline so let's wait and see. 

This drama will undoubtedly be packed with comedy and our leads are no doubt going to be a huge part of that. I've only talked about half of our main cast so far but the remaining half were definitely the funniest ones this episode, with their slapstick antics eliciting a chuckle from me. Korean-Australian SAM (GOT7's Choi Young-jae in his drama debut) is a pathological liar who spouts out huge fibs like nothing, only to be given away by his ears turning bright red (an extremely amusing example of visual humour), and is constantly bullied by Carson and Minnie for being the youngest of the bunch. Korean society takes hierarchy very seriously and one's expected to treat an older person (or a school/workplace senior) with a great deal of respect, so seeing Sam getting the short end of the stick by being the "maknae" will probably allow Korean viewers to look at what might have happened to them in the past through a goofier lens and it's made even more hilarious by the fact that the people calling Sam out aren't even Korean themselves. 

When it comes to humour, how can I forget the hilarious trio of HYUN-MIN [Han Hyun-min (Tale of Fairy, Hip Hop King - Nassna Street)], HANS (Joakim Sorenson in his drama debut) and TERRIS [Terris Brown (Jazzy Misfits, True Beauty)], who absolutely killed me with the ridiculous situations they end up in. Hyun-min, much like his actor, is a Korean sophomore who's often mistaken as a foreigner due to his mixed heritage (being half-Nigerian) but as a Korean citizen, he isn't allowed to live in the dorm. This causes him a ton of trouble as he lives far away from campus, spending an exhausting 5 hours commuting to school only to barely make it in time and totally knockout during lectures. As such, Hyun-min tries everything he can to smuggle his way into the dorm, including crashing with graduate students Hans and Terris. The former, a Swede, is a stickler for the rules and somewhat of a weirdo while the latter, a Trinbagonian, is tagged as a player and a know-it-all. 

In episode 1, we see Terris moving out to stay with his girlfriend, giving Hyun-min his golden opportunity to use the room in his place, sneaking in a joke that the security guard can't tell apart two Africans anyway (a moment that's played for laughs but is probably actually happening in real life). Of course, this is against the rules and rubs Hans the wrong way, who threatens to report Hyun-min to Se-wan. After some hilarious incidents that involve stolen umbrellas, threats of grievous physical harm and Hyun-min sacrificing himself to "save" Hans, the two become close friends who share food and drinks like a couple. Unfortunately, Hyun-min still gets reported by Hans, who believes that friendship shouldn't trump the rules but the dorm-crasher is protected by Se-wan. I use "protected" in the loosest of ways because she practically blackmails him, forcing him to sign a 7-year slave contract which entails him having to answer to her beck and call within 10 minutes. The man is so desperate to live somewhere near campus that he readily signs regardless of the terrible terms. 

This first episode alone is absolutely hilarious and I can't get enough of it. Even though there're the classic sitcom laugh tracks peppered throughout, almost excessively so, I find it all part of the experience of enjoying sitcoms. This series will definitely appeal to both Korean and foreign audiences, in no small part due to the diverse cast but also the jokes that everyone can laugh at. So far I'm liking the somewhat realistic approach of this drama and I'm very much looking forward to the rest of it. As of right now, this drama isn't living up to its name because it's certainly NOT So Not Worth It.