[Drama sequels] More woohoo in Waikiki

by Guest Beanie

By @OldLawyer

When I read this month’s theme I thought, “I have to do this,” because one show immediately came to mind. It just seemed like such an obvious answer to the question, and it truly would be wonderful if it were actually to happen.

K-dramas are usually complete. They are like novels and once you reach the end of the story it is finished. As much as I would have loved a second season of Because This Life Is Our First, that story is, in fact, complete. There really is no way to make a second season. In order to have a second season one must be able to see the first show as incomplete—that further developments are possible.

Woohoo Waikiki is that show. This is because it was not simply a romantic comedy which is resolved when Yoon-ah and Dong-gu get together. Waikiki was a pure comedy, with our characters getting into all sorts of funny situations, not only over romance, but also in their struggle to make a living and build careers. Aristophanes would have appreciated both the broad humor and moments of sheer pathos—those moment which just grabbed our hearts and made us love these people. Like the moment during the fake wedding when Dong-gu sees his bride.

I think we all know that this was the moment when Dong-gu fell completely and irrevocably in love with Yoon-ah. Just think—they can tell their grandchildren that they first kissed at their wedding. Because even though it was a fake wedding at that moment, it really wasn’t—it was just premature. I am reminded of the lines that end Lie to Me: “At first it was a lie, and then it was a dream, and then it became real.”

The truth is that Dong-gu and Yoon-ah really are already married (they should just go get it registered). But now they need to learn to live together as a family with baby Sol. There is a lot of comic potential in such a story: In the Japanese comedy Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo, the wedding ends the first season. The second season is the story of the first years of their marriage. (Sadly, the Korean version, Playful Kiss, chopped most of that off; the Taiwanese did not make that mistake in their version…) Of course both of them still need to make a living and baby Sol will be getting older and into mischief.

As far as romance, neither of our other two couples has fully worked out their relationships yet. We have the potential for two more weddings here. But will they happen?
Some of the funniest moments in the first season were related to the struggle to find or advance careers, or even just find work. Remember when Joon-ki became an internet sensation thanks to a wardrobe malfunction during a home shopping commercial? There is no reason why Joon-ki could not have many more adventures as he tries to put together a future for himself and Seo-jin.

The romance between Soo-ah and Doo-shik was really just starting when Waikiki ended, and Doo-shik’s career was at a standstill. He has had exactly one success: writing an erotic film script. I understand that Korea produces a substantial number of erotic films. As Soo-ah and Doo-shik become more enmeshed in each other’s lives, one could see a situation where another production company aware of his successful first film comes to him with an offer to do more, and Soo-ah pushes him into it. Given that inherently funny situation, all sorts of comic scenes and misunderstandings could arise as Doo-shik finds himself becoming more successful but in a really embarrassing career, but one that is almost inherently funny precisely because it centers around sex.

At this point Soo-ah has confessed to Doo-shik (while sedated), but has Doo-shik really reciprocated? That too is yet to come. I don’t think it could possibly top Yoon-ah’s video confession to Dong-gu. For anyone who has ever wondered what the word aegyo means, just go re-watch that clip. It is a perfect example.

With Doo-shik, I think that the writers could rightly find something both ridiculous and equally touching. Doo-shik’s character just lends itself to that. For that matter, when Joon-ki proposes marriage to Seo-jin, he will probably have to do it more than once, as one plan after another backfires.

Woohoo Waikiki is a slice of life ensemble comedy. You may have noticed that I have not tried to write a script or devise a plot as such. The first season had a sort of organic growth to it rather than a tight plot. That is why a second season is possible. Each character and each couple simply need to continue to deal with life as a continuation of what has gone before while taking the next natural steps in life. This is why Waikiki can have a second season: These characters naturally have more life to live, making possible more touching moments and belly laughs.

And, of course, we would get to have have lots more cameo appearances by just about every major actor in K-dramaland.

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