Sometimes I think it's a genius move to have shorter dramas, since many normal length 16 episode dramas tend to drag a bit near the end. With only 4 episodes, Check Out the Event blitzes through its story, giving us little filler and tying up plotlines just as fast as they're introduced. This gives us a simple drama complete with all the usual tropes, and an ending that generally leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. So, to start off the new year, let's talk about this special drama.
SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
As mentioned in my initial thoughts post, most of the drama focuses on the love story of leads Song-yi and Do-kyum, who spend most of the time at loggerheads with each other. Do-kyum has broken up with Song-yi for no apparent reason and starts to act extremely cold and distant to her, even though he's still obviously very much in love with her. Over time, we find out the true cause to this 180 degree emotional change. Do-kyum is part of an indie band and had been trying to make it big, finding investors to support their music. At some point, they think they've made a breakthrough with one of their investors, even giving him a handsome amount of money in a bid to head to TV, but unfortunately, the guy runs away with the money, leaving a now penniless Do-kyum and his band out to dry. Seeing himself as a failure, our male lead decides to breakup with Song-yi so that she won't be implicated in his financial mess and does his best to push her away.
This is undoubtedly the drama's most important underlying plotline as it is the catalyst for everything that comes after, and it constantly rears its out head throughout the drama's events. Even when Song-yi and Do-kyum go on their couples trip to Jeju, the latter uses it as a means of tracking down the man who conned him of his money. It's actually quite sad because as the drama progresses, our female lead does her best to reconcile with her boyfriend but even when it seems like we're having a breakthrough, nothing comes out of it. The pair are clearly still in love with each other but they're not getting any closer to getting back together.
Song-yi and Do-kyum's love story forms the crux of the story, and the ups and downs of their relationship are on full display for the viewers, allowing us to really follow their journey as a couple. It also helps that the characters are portrayed expertly, with Bang Min-ah really showing off her acting chops as Song-yi. Absolutely hilarious and adorable when she needs to be, you're still able to observe the sadness in Song-yi's expressions even in "happier moments" and Bang is able to bring this across perfectly. This is more or less the first time I've seen an acting performance by her since I'm mostly used to her as an idol but she's pretty good. As for Kwon Hwa-woon, who plays Do-kyum, he's just wonderful. In his prior roles in Doctor John and Mouse, he portrayed such wildly different characters with completely contrasting personalities and Kwon brings elements from both of these portrayals into Do-kyum. The appropriate whimsy when he's jealous and the heartbreaking coldness when he's trying to push Song-yi away, both sides of Do-kyum shine with Kwon's acting. Huge props to him for that.
In my initial thoughts post I predicted that I would end up rooting more for second male lead Ji-gang but in the end, that didn't really come to fruition. Sure, he's more outwardly supportive of Song-yi than her real boyfriend but I never really wanted them to go any further. I also like that he never forced her to break up with Do-kyum or tried to drive a wrench in their relationship, even helping them out at times. Even though Ji-gang did try and win her over for a long time, he knows when to let go and decides that it's best for Song-yi to find her own way in life and love. While there was definitely some chemistry between him and Song-yi, I actually thought that Ji-gang was even better when placed alongside Do-kyum. The two of them are a riot to watch when they childishly fight and argue over who deserves Song-yi, but even then they never make it hard for her. There's something special about these kinds of non-toxic characters and I'm glad that Ji-gang was there as a foil to any actions from Do-kyum that might turn viewers away. Props to Ahn Woo-yeon for the portrayal.
Now, although Song-yi and Do-kyum's love story is the drama's central plot point, Check Out the Event as a whole touches on different aspects of what it means to be in love and follows various couples at different stages of a relationship. Song-yi and Do-kyum were of course a couple in the "middle", having dated for about 5 years now and being comfortable with each other while still having that innocence of young love. Representing the passion and excitement of a love that's just begun is influencer couple Song Jong-ho (UP10TION's Lee Jin-hyuk) and No Hyo-jung (Nam Kyu-hee). Having met on a reality show, the young couple are in the crazy early stages of a relationship, seemingly very in love with each other and generally being quite wild (as many young couples are). Unfortunately, all that glitters isn't gold.
Something that's repeatedly brought up is how incompatible Jong-ho and Hyo-jung are, the pair fighting over everything only to make up shortly after and the cycle just repeats itself. Hyo-jung wants attention and love from her boyfriend, attention that she deserves, but Jong-ho is oblivious to this, constantly on his phone, texting other girls right in front of her, forgetting little things like putting on his couple ring and generally behaving indifferently to her. Eventually, after the 1-year time skip in the last episode, we see that the pair have broken up and amazingly, Jong-ho still doesn't understand why, thinking that "it just happened". Of course, he still regrets the way his relationship ended and does check on Hyo-jung from time to time, only to see that she's dating someone else, someone who gives her the attention that Jong-ho never did. In many ways, this is a pretty realistic depiction of how many relationships come to pass, with couples drifting apart because of a lack of commitment from one party.
On the other end of the spectrum we have Kang Jae-nam (Kim Hee-chang) and Hyun Kyung-mi (Kim Young-sun), a couple who've been married for 15 years. My early theory was that this couple's plotline would be that Kyung-mi was sick but how wrong I was (for the most part). Viewers are led to believe that Jae-nam is having an affair, showing him constantly on his phone, behaving suspiciously and even meeting with another woman in the same hotel. I too expected him to be a cheating scumbag but the final episode reveals that that couldn't be further from the truth. The other woman Jae-nam met was actually Kyung-mi's younger sister, who has been trying to convince her older sister not to get a divorce. Confused? Let me explain.
Through flashback sequences, we find out that the couple's young daughter went missing many years ago while under Kyung-mi's care and is heavily implied to have died since then. This guilt has stuck with Kyung-mi ever since then and she thinks that every time her husband looks at her, he'll be reminded of their dead daughter, so she wants a divorce to "set him free". Naturally, Jae-nam doesn't want to go through with that so he went on this couples trip in an attempt to save their marriage. It's a sad state of affairs, seeing what was once a happy marriage crumble because of one incident, an incident that's implied to have happened many years ago, because Kyung-mi couldn't move on since then. Compared to the previous relationship, this might not be something that happens all that often but it's still a very depressing thought to have, that a relationship ends this way. After the aforementioned 1-year time skip, it's implied that the couple do get a divorce but end up meeting each other on an arranged blind date, with the pair having seemingly healed from their emotional wounds and ready to try again. It's a heartwarming ending for this couple and gives a hopeful feeling that there's always light at the end of the tunnel.
So as you can see, each couple represents different stages in a relationship and though the drama touched on all of them, the greatest focus was evidently still on Song-yi and Do-kyum. Earlier, I mentioned that the short runtime means the plot moves fast and there's some good to come out of that. There's very little fluff and the story finishes just as quickly as it started. However, the pace of the drama also becomes its biggest issue because there's just not enough time to develop the characters. Don't get me wrong, these characters are thoroughly entertaining to watch but we just don't know enough about them to really get invested. I might be able to find Song-yi really fun but there's really nothing much else to her character. The same applies for the others, you just can't get attached to them.
As I properly predicted, we get a happy ending. Although they don't properly get back together, Song-yi and Do-kyum both head back to Jeju, this time for a singles trip with arranged blind dates. While they may not end up being each other's dates, they still walk towards their destination together, holding their partner's hand. Again, this drama is enough to give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside but it's nothing earth-shattering. All I will say is, if you're feeling like a simple romance that gets right to the point, be sure to check out Check Out the Event. Thanks for reading and have a good 2022.
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