Sunday, September 15, 2013

Review: Thank You

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Rating: Highly Recommended

Synopsis and Character Introduction: 

Lee Young Shin (Gong Hyo Jin) is a mother who single-handedly raises her 8 year old child, who unfortunately was infected by the HIV virus, Lee Bom (So Shin Ae). The child acquired the disease in the hospital after she received treatment that needed blood transfusion. However, negligence was committed by one of the medical staff who did the procedure. The said medical personnel was a doctor, who repented on her mistake by making her service available in a clinic of a far flung place in the countryside. She is Cha Ji Min (Choi Kang Hee) who had her own share of suffering after being diagnosed of pancreatic cancer that caused her death. Before she passed away, her last wish was to apologize personally to Lee Bom and her family and to admit that it was her fault for not making sure that the blood was safe to be transfused. Unfortunately, she didn’t manage to express her feelings to them because it was time for her to go. But then, she was able to give Lee Bom the special teddy bear she personally bought before going in the island. The place is called Blue Island that is far from civilization.


After Cha Ji Min passed away, her boyfriend suffered a great loss. He is Min Gi Seo (Jang Hyuk), a professional doctor who earnestly gave his support to Ji Min all throughout her illness. However, he wasn’t able to save her and blamed himself for it. Because of that, he decided to completely leave his profession in exchange of working in the company of his mother. He had to survive in order to fulfill the last wish of her deceased girlfriend. That is, to relay the apologies of Ji Min to the family of the child in the Blue Island. This led Min Gi Seo in the Blue Island, together with the aim to integrate the business of her mother in the area. However during his first few days, he encountered a lot of the different instances that calls for his service as a physician. Even though he didn’t want to be involved at first, he was bothered by his conscience to not be. Along with him in the said project of the company was Choi Suk Hyun (Shin Sung Rok), a chief engineer of the business venture that they are supposed to build and by chance, a former resident of the place who only returned after 8 years of absence. He was a friend of Lee Young Shin in the past and allegedly, the father of Lee Bom.

Part of Young Shin's fammily is Mr. Lee (Shin Gu), the grandfather of the household who has dementia. He has a lot of interesting ways to address someone because of the effect of his illness to his thought process. His habit is to call everyone with different regard that brings hilarious side effect dementia to elderlies. However, his presence has left a heartwarming countenance in the story through the special personality of his.  

Side Notes: Sorry if I have spoiled some of the details that were made to be revealed the earliest as the latter part of episode 2. My purpose was to introduce Bom in a clear manner through her disease. 

Commentaries:

Woah, watching the series was a breath of fresh air to me. Maybe the setting was instrumental about it as it was shot in the countryside. It was a stand out series for me. Because of this, I had a craving for more dramas of this kind of vibe that it brought to my feelings. Aside from the period dramas that were being shot outdoors, and in these areas where the nature is mostly involved, this drama was a completely different treat of nature. The cinematography may not be top notch but the view of the countryside – I could imagine breathing some fresh air through the scenes, the mountain and the sea was breathtaking in an effortless execution. I loved where the house of Young Shin was located which is at the center of the field, a humble place to live yet so heartwarming. Normally, other dramas would have to exert a lot of effort in the production most especially to appreciate the environment but for this drama, I felt that it was only a low budgeted cost but everything was attractive and appealing in my eyes. I really do have a soft spot for nature so I give this drama plus points for going natural and authentic.

As much as the storyline is concerned, I loved how the drama managed to inspire me through the different behaviors of individuals that were shown – the good and bad sides of the human nature. Even though I hated the neighborhood because of their ignorance from AIDS; with how they discriminated the family of Young Shin from the village in fear of being transmitted with the disease; and as much as they were heartless for doing those things which was frustrating to me, I appreciated how the drama made space for vindication and change of character. Human beings are bound to commit mistakes but there will always be people who have the key role in bringing out the best out of our circumstances and to bring us the best option for our problems. This goes to everyone in the story, not just the bullies around but for the lead characters as well because they weren't made to flaunt a perfect role. No matter how good you are as a person, sometimes the circumstances are difficult to deal and because we are limited of our power to fight our emotions, we commit mistakes.

Reality Bites.

Moving on, I also loved the humor of this drama through Mr. Lee who has an obsession with 'chocopie'. Whenever he is with his grandchild Lee Bom whom she called Bean Paste, I feel like I’m watching a sitcom because their relationship is funny most especially when they do silly things together. Moreover, I loved watching their relationship grow because both were like kids in my eyes even though Lee Bom would have to be the more mature one of the two. 

Characters:

I was delighted to confirm that Grandpa Shin Gu (from Grandpas over Flowers) took the role of Mr. Lee though at first I wasn’t sure about it so I had to check dramawiki. Woah, I loved him in GoF but I find his character here in ‘Thank You’ very loving. I personally enjoyed his acting and I craved for more! I was also introduced to the young actress, Seo Shin Ae in this drama who took the role of Lee Bom and I thought that she did a great job. Boy, she was so cute in the drama and she's surprisingly great with acting as well. This unnie is a fan of yours already! Of course, I rediscovered my love for Jang Hyuk and Gong Hyo Jin through this drama, they were awesome. Two of my favorite actors in the industry! No doubt about it.

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