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Crash Landing on You: Episode 1

Hyun Bin makes a quick return to dramaland (for him) as a North Korean soldier who finds himself in a situation he never thought he’d be in – protecting a lost South Korean woman. Sohn Ye-jin is a businesswoman who never expected to find herself accused of being a spy, and she uses every bit of her impressive wiles to try to get home and return to her comfortable life. Crash Landing on You is completely different than I expected, and I mean that in the best possible way.

 
EPISODE 1 RECAP

In Seoul, just south of the Demarkation Zone between North and South Korea, a beautiful woman is photographed with her famous actor boyfriend, Cha Sang-yoo (cameo by Jung Kyung-ho). Later, there’s a meeting with her staff discussing how to deflect a possible scandal by saying that the two are just friends playing a joke.

The woman, YOON SE-RI (Sohn Ye-jin), just laughs, not really caring if there’s a scandal because they’ve broken up anyway. She’s more worried about the fact that her earrings were blurred along with her face, since they’re part of a new accessory line her company is advertising, ha.

Se-ri owns her own company, having struck out on her own years ago. She takes a call from her eldest brother SE-JOON (Choi Dae-hoon), who informs her that their father is being released on probation after being incarcerated for (unspecified) financial crimes. Se-ri just hangs up on Se-joon, and his wife HYE-JI (Hwang Woo-seul-hye) excitedly anticipates Se-joon finally being named heir to Queens Corp, the family company.

They attend a dinner along with younger son SE-HYUNG (Park Hyung-soo) and his wife SANG-AH (Yoon Ji-min). It’s obvious they’re only there to garner favor, as the whole family flings barbs at each other under the guise of being very concerned about one another. Both brothers seem pretty problematic — Se-joon is a hothead who got into a fistfight with the union leader, while Se-hyung was recently duped in an investment scam.

Silencing the brothers’ arguing, Chairman YOON JEUNG-PYEONG (Nam Kyung-eub) demands to know why Se-ri hasn’t shown up. She walks in right on cue, and doesn’t even bother to sit at the table as she congratulates her father on his release. She turns to go, but Chairman Yoon calls out that he wants her to take over the company, and Se-ri freezes as the rest of the family voice their objections.

Chairman Yoon explains his reasoning — Se-ri left the family ten years ago and started her own company, and he’s impressed by her success. Her mother and brothers all glare and shake their heads at her, but Se-ri accepts the position, to their dismay. She asks if she’ll have the authority to fire the CEOs who are under-qualified, clearly meaning her brothers, and Chairman Yoon says it’s all up to her.

Se-ri asks for a little time, as her company is launching a line of extreme sports apparel. Chairman Yoon agrees to meet with her before the next shareholder’s meeting, where he’ll announce her appointment. Se-ri excuses herself, all grace and poise, but the expression on her face proves that she’s quite shaken by this development.

The next day, Se-ri is in a great mood as she prepares to personally test her company’s new paragliding apparel. Her assistant, SECRETARY HONG (Go Gyu-pil) is nervous about it – he seems a nervous sort in general — but Se-ri says this is nothing compared to the heights she’ll soon climb to.

She launches herself into the air, and a film crew follows her to take video of her flight. Everything goes well at first, but soon a strong wind kicks up. At first, Se-ri laughs to see a tractor flying through the air — then she realizes that a tornado is heading straight for her. She’s sucked into the tornado, and everything goes black.

Later that night, at the DMZ, Captain RI JUNG-HYUK (Hyun Bin) and his squadron meet up with a group of South Korean soldiers who have captured three men. They claim they have clearance to hunt deer, but the South Korean soldiers caught the men digging up cultural artifacts, and have photographic proof from their CCTV cameras.

Jung-hyuk swears on his country’s honor to make sure the grave robbers are punished. Both sides put their guns away, but one of the grave robbers grabs for a gun and turns to shoot at the South Korean soldiers. Jung-hyuk kicks the gun from his hands, then he and his men slam the grave robbers to the ground.

Jung-hyuk’s squad takes the grave robbers back to their garrison, where they’re met by Officer JO CHUL-KANG (Oh Man-seok). Jung-hyuk reports on the grave robbers, and also that the tornado knocked over a lot of the electric fences. Chul-kang mentions that Jung-hyuk’s squad are switching companies tomorrow and leaving the DMZ, and he tells Jung-hyuk to let the grave robbers off the hook.

Jung-hyuk respectfully refuses, having given his word that they would be punished. Chul-kang sighs for Jung-hyuk to do as he likes, though he reminds Jung-hyuk that he never goes easy on anyone, regardless of rank, so he’d better not do anything to threaten the country’s security.

Out in the field, Jung-hyuk’s squad bunk down for the night. One soldier, Chi-soo, offers the others some contraband snake wine to celebrate their last night, and baby-faced maknae Eun-dong worries that they’ll get in trouble for drinking on the job.

Back in South Korea, emergency responders rescue the videographers that were filming Se-ri’s flight, but Se-ri herself is nowhere to be found. Secretary Hong is beside himself as he looks up at the sky and asks tearfully how high Se-ri intended to go.

In the morning, Se-ri regains consciousness to find herself still in the paragliding gear, hanging from a tree. Her walkie-talkie isn’t getting a signal, so she starts yelling for help, and nearby Jung-hyuk hears a strange noise.

He gets a call that the tornado did a lot of damage to their equipment, so Jung-hyuk sends Joo-mok to help and goes to investigate the noise. He finds Se-ri still hanging from the tree, and when she sees him, she assumes that the South Korean army was dispatched to rescue her… until she spots Jung-hyuk’s insignia and realizes that he’s North Korean.

Jung-hyuk orders Se-ri to come down but she whines that it’s too high. He cocks his weapon so she hops right down, landing on Jung-hyuk and clinging to him like a monkey (the way he throws his hands in the air cracks me up — strange time to be a gentleman, Jung-hyuk). Se-ri gets off of Jung-hyuk and he asks for her name, but she declines to say since they just met, ha.

I’m dying here, Se-ri thinks that Jung-hyuk has defected to the south. He gives her a thousand-yard stare as she promises not to report him, and she asks him to let her go home. Jung-hyuk informs Se-ri that he didn’t go south, she came north, and she’s so startled that she blurts out, “North Korea??” in English, ha.

He clarifies that they’re in the DMZ, on the North Korean side. Se-ri explains that she was blown here by the tornado, convincing Jung-hyuk to put his gun away. He tells her to explain it at her investigation, but Se-ri has seen too many movies and she freaks out that they might think she’s a beautiful spy or a beautiful secret agent (LOL).

Se-ri says she’ll just get herself home, and takes off running. She crosses a stream, and Jung-hyuk calls after her that she’s in a minefield. He swaggers closer, bragging that he’s an expert in the mines’ locations, then ~snick~, he steps on a live mine. Oh, the look on his face is priceless.

Se-ri figures out that she now has the upper hand, and when Jung-hyuk teeters off-balance and drops his walkie-talkie into the water, she grabs it up. Jung-hyuk reminds her that he has a gun, but Se-ri smirks that he’d be killing the one person who can help him.

She leaves the walkie-talkie half-submerged so that it will drift down to Jung-hyuk, but not until she’s gotten away. As she goes, Se-ri tells Jung-hyuk that she hopes they never meet again, though he’s totally her type, ha. Jung-hyuk stops her from stepping on another mine, then gives her directions to the neutral zone and tells her to veer right once she gets there.

They hear Jung-hyuk’s squadmate, Kwang-beom, approaching, and Se-ri runs off. Jung-hyuk tells Kwang-beom that a South Korean woman is in the area by accident, and to give the order for any strangers to be detained unharmed. Kwang-beom notices that Jung-hyuk is standing on a mine and offers to call for help, but Jung-hyuk has Kwang-beom disarm it himself, even though he’s only done it once in training.

When Se-ri arrives at the spot where Jung-hyuk told her to turn right, she second-guesses whether he was telling her the truth. We don’t see which direction she ultimately chooses, but soon a very hungover (and whiny) Chi-soo is telling some of the squadron to track her down and shoot her, having misheard the orders.

Chi-soo sees Se-ri running across the field in her bright purple jumpsuit and gives chase, calling for backup when he runs out of breath. Se-ri leads them through some fields and into another clearing, where they skid to a halt — it’s another minefield. Jung-hyuk has his soldiers split up and go the long way around, but before they catch up, Se-ri makes it to a fence with a downed tree making it possible to jump over.

She goes for it, unable to hear Jung-hyuk’s men yelling that she’s going the wrong way: “If you go there, we’ll all die!” Chi-soo takes a shot at her, so she jumps to the other side of the fence. She heads toward the guard tower where Joo-mok is supposed to be on lookout, but he’s too busy watching the old South Korean drama Stairway to Heaven and never even sees Se-ri zooming right past the tower.

Se-ri keeps going, believing that she’s approaching safe territory. At one point she falls and rolls down a hill, hurting her knee, but she jumps up and continues running. She zips within a few feet of Eun-dong, who’s reading a letter from his mother and fighting homesickness and doesn’t notice.

Back in Seoul, Se-ri’s family gets the news that she’s gone missing. Hye-ji, Se-joon’s wife, is in the middle of asking her prayer group to pray for her and her husband as someone usurps her husband’s position, and when she gets the call, she celebrates that her prayers were answered before she even prayed them, HA.

Se-ri’s brothers go to the search site to talk to the police, but not because they’re worried for Se-ri — they want this kept out of the media to avoid stock prices dropping. Secretary Hong, meanwhile, yells at he police to look harder, and from his car, Chairman Yoon notes Secretary Hong’s genuine concern for Se-ri.

Her mother is upset, too, as she recalls following Se-ri out of the house after Chairman Yoon asked her to take over Queens Corp. Mom had said she expected Se-ri to stick to her vow to disown the family and refuse the offer. Se-ri had replied that whenever she’s startled, she still yelps, Mommy!, which is strange since she has no mother.

Se-ri falls again, and she stops to rest and remove her paragliding gear. Meanwhile, Jung-hyuk and his squad determine that this is kind of all their faults for being distracted while Se-ri was escaping. Chi-soo points out that what’s important is that they catch her before the State Security Department finds her and they all get into big trouble. They show up for their guard transfer, but they can’t stop worrying about Se-ri and are determined to find her.

In the city, Se-hyung’s wife Sang-ah tells him that Se-ri’s disappearance is his last chance to get control of the company. She tells him that he should be looking for the person who scammed him, otherwise he’ll lose everything.

Cut to con man GU SEUNG-JOON (Kim Jung-hyun is back, y’all!), who’s currently in China to meet up with a contact. They discuss the fact that Seung-joon backstabbed Se-hyung, and that he’s probably tracking Seung-joon right now. Seung-joon wonders where he can hide from someone with practically unlimited money and resources, and his contact says that there’s one place in the world where nobody can follow him…

Chul-kang goes to speak with the grave robbers, and it quickly becomes clear that he’s involved in their poaching of artifacts. He has them show him on a map where the artifacts can be found, and he tells them that they’ll be rewarded handsomely. Uh-oh.

He sends them in a truck, assuming they’re going to be released. But instead, their escort vehicle slams into them and pushes them off a cliff, and their truck bursts into flames. A woman walking along the road witnesses the incident, but as she’s running away, she also runs afoul of the escort vehicle.

Se-ri managed to get herself good and lost and walking in circles, so she’d started tying vines onto branches to mark where she’d been. This is helpful as Jung-hyuk and his squad go out looking for her after dark, worried that they’ll be punished if she’s found and it’s discovered that they were all negligent in some way. They follow the trail she left behind, but when Jung-hyuk realizes where she was heading, he grows worried.

She eventually stumbles into what looks like a village, and she’s sure she’s almost home. The streets and houses are completely dark and there’s nobody to be seen, but suddenly the whole village blazes with light, and the villagers emerge now that the electricity is on for the day.

They crowd around a man with a bull and cart, talking about things Se-ri has never heard of like chicken egg tickets. A nearby tower fitted with loudspeakers blasts music, and the villagers hurry to gather together and begin a jaunty little exercise routine.

Se-ri, watches, confused, as children line up and march to school together. Signs light up that say “Paradise of the People” and “The great leader is always with us,” and reality dawns on Se-ri — she’s still in North Korea.

A military vehicle approaches Se-ri where she stands in the street, and she’s blinded by the headlights. Someone swoops her out of the way just in time, and she looks up to see Jung-hyuk standing over her protectively.

EPILOGUE

When Jung-hyuk had first found Se-ri, she’d been hanging from her paragliding equipment, complaining at Secretary Hong through her broken walkie-talkie. Jung-hyuk had lowered his gun and watched as Se-ri threw a tantrum in mid-air, and had smiled at how cute she was.

 
COMMENTS

I like it! I went into Crash Landing on You with practically zero expectations other than general character descriptions and having only seen one trailer, so I had no idea what to expect. It’s a lot funnier than I expected for a show set in North Korean and starring a North Korean soldier. Hyun Bin’s straight-laced character absolutely cracks me up when he’s faced with Sohn Ye-jin’s hyper, almost manic energy. Their chemistry is already intense, especially their comedic chemistry, and I anticipate that to transfer over to romantic chemistry quite smoothly.

I didn’t immediately like either Se-ri or Jung-hyuk — Se-ri came across as spoiled and cold, while Jung-hyuk, being a soldier, seemed very stiff and formal. But as they interacted, they won me over, and I already love them both. Se-ri is strong and intelligent, enough of both to cast off her worthless family and create her own success, and she’s also hilariously quick-thinking to the point that she out-smarted a North Korean officer. And Jung-hyuk turns out to be a bit goofier than he seemed, the way he held onto his pride even as he stood on that land mine and suffered Se-ri’s taunts. I can’t wait to see them become closer, and watch as the more vulnerable, human sides of them emerge.

The supporting characters seem equally strong — Se-ri’s horrible brothers hope she stays gone so they can have the company, while her dad seems to genuinely admire her business prowess and her mother regrets her bad relationship with her only daughter. Meanwhile, Jung-hyuk’s squad are flat-out adorable, reminding me of hapless little ducklings as they stumble around following their not-much-more-savvy mama duck. I hope that they do find Se-ri, and that they form a weird little family, because I think Se-ri could use some better “brothers” even if they are the enemy.

As for the story, we haven’t seen much besides the setup of Se-ri’s family situation and Jung-hyuk’s military career, so I don’t have a lot to say just yet other than that so far, I find it entertaining and somehow endearing. I’m already amused by poor Se-ri’s predicament, stuck in a North Korean garrison with only a North Korean captain between her and either going home, or possible imprisonment. Of course in real life this wouldn’t be funny, but this isn’t real life, and I can’t wait to see all the weird humor and hijinks that can be mined from the situation. Se-ri and Jung-hyuk both stand to get into a lot of trouble if she’s caught, and I think Se-ri knows it, so I anticipate her leading Jung-hyuk around by the nose as he tries to figure out how to safely get rid of the annoying woman he’s been saddled with.

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I think I remember commenting that I wasn't sure if this was my train wreck but... now I think it might be?

This episode was surprisingly well-written, with a nice mix of fantasy and reality. Kind of Lost Princess Sageuk meets Wizard of Oz. The bad CGI and green screen work added to the fantasy feel (my favourite was weird CGI owl but I have to give weird CGI cow and weird CGI fawn a nod too).

I can see this whole thing going spectacularly off the rails somewhere between episode 8 and 10 but for now I'll give it a few more episodes.

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PS Kim Jung-hyun Kim Jung-hyun Kim Jung-hyun Kim Jung-hyun Kim Jung-hyun

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He is HOT. Where has he been all my life? Those hooded eyes, the eyebrows and that drawl. Is he in any other drama? He needs to be the lead.

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Oh, wow, that's a whole thing.

He has had lead roles before. The more recent in the middle of last year was the lead in as how called Time. He had a breakdown and had to take time off for his mental health. It's taken him 18 months but he's back working again and I'm so glad. Time was a badly written melo but he was AMAZING in it. I was worried that dropping out of a drama would ruin his career but it hasn't. I'm really relieved because he's great and deserves all the good things.

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Check out his 2017 drama short The Love of a Buzz Cut on YouTube. He's charming as a hair stylist/boy toy who falls for a young teacher.

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he's also one of the leads in School 2017

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Oho, the strange wind has noticed Mori?! 😍 Welcome to the fan club! I’ll add to the other suggestions:
- REBEL THIEF WHO STOLE THE PEOPLE: Broody thug that has you rooting for him. He does guyliner like nobody else.
- BING-GOO: he shows that it’s possible to tell a good story about someone who got frozen and woke up 30 years later. He’s adorbs in this 2-episode mini drama.
- SCHOOL 2017: Have you ever heard of Tae Swoon? I don’t even remember his real name in this. He was just Tae Swoon for beanies.

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He's Mori . . . 😍

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He was also the lead in Waikiki. It was a hilarious show.

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Same, LT. I watched it expecting a total trainwreck, but somehow it's so much better (and thank goodness that both Se-ri and Jung-hyuk are good people). And even the absurd part is believable within the drama world. Let's see how soon I'll have to eat my words (though I do hope it stays enjoyable till the end). Also, yay Kim Jung-hyun!!

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I was laughing my head off at the tornado scene. I was half expecting Se Ri to say: I've believe we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto "aka Jung Hyuk".

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I swear that flying tractor was straight out to the American midwest in 1952. There was also a bicycle and a cow. And the soundtrack was definitely inspired by it too.

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And all the brothers are cackling: "I'll get you my pretty, and your little company, too!!!!"

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bahaha! this :D

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Wow, you're even more of a cynic than I am. I'm going to like this drama, regardless...I'm going to like this drama, regardless...

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Damn, this is like the least cynical thing I've written in about six months, man *cries*

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Hardee, har, har...
btw, I fully expect this to turn into serious, less comedy at about ep 8-10 (if it's only 16 eps?). Of course if it's a true romance, he'll have to defect to South Korea, thus setting up a season 2 where he's in danger. Or, they'll both just move to Switzerland.

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That's why I put "off the rails" somewhere between 8 and 10. There's just too much stuff in here that could used for angst and it's an easy way to fill a few episodes.

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@leetennant But it's the angst I really look forward to, otherwise it gets boring. Besides, we all know Asian dramas mix genres. First comes comedy, then angsty thriller/horror/suspense etc, and lastly, romance.
I think this is why first times (mostly Americans?) were so shocked and taken with Parasite - they'd never seen genre mixing before, or the Asian way of storytelling.

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maybe he will find a wormhole at the end that lets him go back and forth

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it is fantasy..
south and north might just reunite :P

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The CGI raptor in the beginning reminds me of that other CGI raptor that figured prominently in Memories of Alhambra. At that time I thought it was a nod to Assassin's Creed as the drama was about a game.

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This is "A Netflix Original Series"...
1: How many seasons will it take her to get back??
2: Ironic to use the word "original" with regard to a kdrama, especially soon after watching 2 hours of "Selection: The War Between Women".

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I was really looking forward to this till I saw it on the upcoming series section on Netflix. I will hurt someone if they make it into seasons.

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Due to my drama addiction I'm not able to see a "normal" TV series. More than 6 episodes and more than two seasons and it's done for me.

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Please don't say that. I am praying it is just a regular drama and not seasonal.

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YUPPPPP. I had reservations about the show at first, but this first episode won me over (see all the reasons dropingu lists above)...but I'm going to wait until it's all aired because netflix. im over the "second season phenomenon" netflix seems to think is cute.

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Yup. I’ll watch it when it’s over. Over over. I’m not getting vagabonded again.

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not 👏 getting 👏 vagabonded 👏 again 👏

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Or Kingdomed. (I'm still waiting for the ending of that series.)

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Actually Kingdom was good - except for the fact they broke it into two seasons. arggggh

Vagabond was just good exercise for the eyes with all that rolling back in my head...

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@stpauligurl there will be a season 3 of Kingdom as well.

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@oppafangirl - a third season already planned?

Well I guess zombies are just that hard to kill....

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I liked Kingdom. I never watched Vagabond. I'm just not going to watch Kingdom again--even if Netflix shows it--until I'm sure I'll be able to see an ending. It's a pain waiting a week to see the next episode of a drama. This waiting months--or years--reeks. (All continuity is gone.)

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"I'm not getting vagabonded again."

no truer words have been written...

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Sobs.. i still can’t believe Vagabond gave us a beginning, take us thru a whole round of backstory only to leave us at the starting point again 😭

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What's worse is that I can't believe I continued watching it the week after week - only to be left at the starting point.
sigh...

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well, we didn't know the finish line was actually the starting line 😅😢

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I’d join you in the wait because this is a big drama and they might just fall to the temptation of more bucks per season... but I’m weak and I loved the premiere. I feel like I’ve stepped on a landmine.

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i knooooow. im so torn!

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We won't know if the landmine explodes until the very end of ep. 16.

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Nice :P

After watching Arthdal and Vagabond, I have no high hopes for it being a lovely closed drama after 16 eps. It’s started off strong though, so I’m ready to see where it goes!

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I’m thinking this will be more on the lines of Camillia and not Arthdal!

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i haven’t seen either of those yet (starting camellia next tho!) but i think i get what you mean and i hope you are right!!

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Oh, ye skeptics...
Netflix has only done the "two season" thing with the really big dramas, not the little ones like this one. Most of the other dramas air only one season.

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This show may not be a "little one". Judging from Beanie reactions, I fear that if they weren't planning on multiple seasons before, they might be now.

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But why don't they have season 2 of The 100? I swear Netflix is goofy.

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Some people are taking the fun out of this kdrama by seriously pointing out social issues differentiating the North and South. If it is the intent of the movie, then I think they have miscast Hyun Bin. I am ready to enjoy this drama as it is. No great expectations.

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My only complaint about this issue (and take it as you will) is that they seem to be making caricatures out of the North Koreans. It's ridiculous to assume that North Koreans don't know how South Koreans live, seeing as they show them IN THE SHOW watching South Korean kdramas (which we all know they do, legally or not). They aren't stupid just because they are North Korean, and that seems to be the implication because every character seems to have the same common-knowledge blind spots. This is a comedy. They get to take some creative license. I just wish they hadn't been quite so heavy handed about it (although, on the flip side, the heavy handedness might be better as it is clear this is meant to be funny, not realistic).

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I guess those situations are intended to be funny; although, I will understand if some people take offence. I hope the show will not proceed like its treading on thin ice.

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So Se ri left the family to start her own business from the ground up....with her family name, resources and connections.

Yeah, she wasn't eating 2 dollar ground chuck until the line made a profit.

I know these shows are fiction and I don't know why this particular point bothers me when so much more should.

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I think the point there is, her brothers could never (with all the advantages), even if they tried their hardest.

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Because in real life, people like her come out and say that even through they had wealthy parents they achieved it all by themselves. You know, fully discarding the paid tution fees, personal tutor, needed network and the support to do unpaid internship or the ones in different country/state.

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"All I had was the trust fund with a few million in it"

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So lots of Americans do this—take their parent’s fortune or some help and connections and make more money. My town is full of them. Crazy. They just know what to do—it’s like generations of doctors or lawyers. They just know how to navigate things to be successful and daddy’s name doesn’t hurt either.

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I’m convinced it’s something that’s learned at home by rich people, or else it’s in their water. Even many who aren’t so smart know how to work things to their advantage.

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I surprisingly liked this pilot episode.

Some scenes made me laugh because they were funny and some because they were so ridiculous:
-When the soldiers kept yelling at her to come back because she was going the wrong way. LOL
-When Jun Hyuk warned her of the mines and he ended up stepping on it. LOL
-When cutie hoobae helped him take the mine out, but didn't completely trust him and cutie hoobae sulked about it. LOL
-The paragliding accident. Ridiculous.
-She fell into his arms. Pfft. Ridiculous
-The CGI truck accident. Ridiculous. I mean c'mon this isn't the first time a vehicle rolls down the mountain and exploded, but you couldn't even get the CGI convincing? LOL.
-The CGI owl. LMAO. Ridiculous

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I liked those parts you mentioned. But some parts got draggy. I wanted to see more of Hyun Bin and her. My attention kept wandering when they showed other scenes. Too many things happening. Luckily, Hyun Bin's smile made everything okay.

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Same. I took breaks here and there before I finished both episodes. I’m not too interested with Seri’s brothers fight for inheritance or North Korea’s politics. But okay, Hyun Bin’s smile at the end made me continue to episode 2 👍🏼

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he he.. surprisingly, for me the best part was korean village and simple living..

it was really interesting..and reminder of how simple, social, and happier the world was when people could trust each other..and community was important because that was the world

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Ahhh that didn’t happen until episode 2, so I was refraining to say anything about the townspeople. But yes, I liked the little community.

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So far so good, I went in expecting beautiful catastrophe on the scale of Arthdal but I'm positively disappointed. I like how self aware the show is of it's cheesiness and tropey-ness(?), hope this will continue. Actors seems to have a lot of fun and I see a lot of familiar faces in the background, plus they scaled up in fate department (you were so awesome in that cameo @yyishere) and truck of doom with fangs?? or were that claws??

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I was good, wasn't I? *BEAMS* Though I felt a bit jealous of @egads. She played the edgy landmine so well she kind of stole the thunder from me. The whole first part was about her and Hyun Bin. I kind of felt left out. *SULKS*

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I'm the one sulking. Nobody ever mentions ROPE. And if I hadn't kept her improbably safe in that tornado she would have crash landed on a small farm vehicle miraculously pulled from America's midwest instead of a hot military officer with a bad haircut.

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Lol. What is it with the haircut of SK men???

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There, there. Hang in there, Rope.

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I'll just hang out restraining some CGI livestock for a while and see if you don't miss me.

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I'm sorry I stole the attention, but it's not often that land mines get to play a pivotal role in a rom com.

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i hope this amazing sentence gets as much love as it truly deserves.

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I'm not sorry to say that you totally stole the show, @egads get overshadowed by tornado and monster truck of doom unfortunately. Let's hope next episodes will be her time to shine ;)

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I happened so fast. The pig spoke to me. It said, "Oink. Up, up and oinkway." And then I blanked out.

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"Beautiful catasthrope"
I probably have to borrow this phrase to describe some of the future dramas I'll watch.

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Give it time. There are signs it may still end up that way.

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truck of doom with fangs

Aren't these all the rage for 2020?

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Having the character watch kdramas and point out how ridiculous the tropes are (while employing so many themselves) was a stroke of genius. Thumbs up, scriptwriters. I'm here for it.

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so, was it right or left..did HB tell her the right way?

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The next episode will tell you!

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i watched it.. but didn't understand

i would assume since he is lead, he has to be righteous.. and end credit scene already means he finds her cute and he realizes she is here by mistake

but clearly since she is female lead, she will choose alternative

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So you're saying Catch the Ghost cheesiness is bad but it's good here?
ok..

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I breezed in here to talk about Hyun bin.

He looks so good in uniform. That clenched jaw, those mean eyes, the dimples, the little smile at the end. My heart. The way his fingers played with that trigger, omg, so sexy. The way he looked at her when she was up in that tree, that little smilemplaying upon his lips, that indulgent look, like he's taking her in, and liking what he sees...I wished it was me up in that tree.

Seri - hm, not quite sure what I feel about her. But her chemistry with Binnie is sizzling.

And on an aside, that tornado was quite something. I giggled through it and at all the wind mentions.

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Kim. Jung. Hyun.
Sorry Hyun Bin.
Your dimples are no match for Kim Jung-hyun's gravitas.

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He is like so HOT. I felt my jaw drop, when he appeared. He reminds me of Takashi Kaneshiro.

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I'm so glad he's back.

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But...but The Dimples. They have a life of their own.

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I know, right. They talk to me.

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I.LOVE.IT!!
Hyun Bin is striking HOT! Their chemistry is amazing and I enjoy the humor very much.

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I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this episode, I loved Jung hyuk and Se-ri's scenes together and can't wait to see their hijinks trying to keep se-ri hidden in the town.

I love the goofiness of our soldiers and the shot of Se-ri running past the solider watching a drama was hilarious!
I do think that this episode was a little too long, I needed to take a break whilst watching. Hopefully I will find time to watch ep 2 this week.

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I had a feeling this drama was going to be interesting to watch even as others were saying that this drama was going to be ridiculous and a mess. But the comments just cracked me up. Anyway turns out I was right. Every one seems to like it. I know I do. Of course things could still go wrong but that hasn't happened yet. This episode turned out to be quite funny. I believe it will turn more serious later on.

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I expected to love it, to be honest. I love this writer! Having just finished a rewatch of You From the Stars last month, I'm freshly familiar with her brand of recognisable characters and whimsical premises. It's also beautiful (and I'm easy, so a beautiful show has to be pretty damn awful to lose my attention). So yes, I like it. More Kim Jung-hyun though, please.

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Thank you so much for the recap! Loving the drama and I can't wait for the next episode!

Anyway, just want to let you know that it wasn't Eun-dong who disarmed the mine for Jung-hyuk. It was Park Kwang-Beom. Eun-dong was busy reading the letter in the field when Se-ri was running away. Hahaha~

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I watch this without knowing anything about the storyline except the fact that Hyun Bin and Sohn Ye Jin are the two stars. I LOVED it. This might be my next crack drama after Camellia. Love the short epilogue at the end. Clever editing.

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I read the comments and there’s nothing left to say except that as a die hard fan of My Ahjussi I was so happy to see Kim Yeong Min^__^

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Same! I didn't know he was in this and excited to see more of him.

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Wait, I didn't see him (Kim Yeong Min) in the first episode. Was he there or going to be in future episodes? I really like him as well.

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If I remember correctly he appeared briefly on the 2nd episode >.<

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Yes!!! Same here. I was also happy to see Oh Man Seok in another comedy! His character is such a comic book villain, and he plays it with a certain set of his jaw that just KILLS me. Love him.

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Son Ye-jin is so cute and hilarious in this, her face while she was running through the minefield was hilarious and the background music was so funny as well. Love the directing and the cast is strong to pull off such a cheesy story (but hey, cheesy stories are why I watch kdramas in the first place 😉).

So happy to see Kim Jung-hyun back! His character seems really interesting and I can’t wait to see how he’ll be getting entangled with our main leads. Never thought I’d get to see Hyun-bin and Kim Jung-hyun interacting on screen but I’m in need of it!

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I love it that the drama doesn’t take itself seriously. The tornado for example was hilarious. And I love the heroine for acknowledging Hyun bin good looks even in an awkward situation haha!

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Her telling him he was her style in the middle of all that crazy cracked me up. Ma'am, you could get blown up to kingdom come any second and that's what's on your mind?? 😂 But then again, what better time to do that than right before you get blown to smitherens?

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I honestly really really like it, I’m sure there’s a lot wrong with it if you look into it deeply but for now I’m enjoying the characters a lot and as long as it continues to hold itself in this Not Too Serious manner i have faith it’ll be a fun one. I really didn’t need to start a new drama (currently trying to catch up with all the majorly hyped ones I missed this year) but I find myself pleased I started anyway. (Also: this is my first time watching hyunbin and I have to say I Really Really get why you all seem to like him so much)

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My first Hyun bin show was Alhambra and I was smitten. He really hasn’t done anything yet, just you wait.

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I did like the first episode but there's that lingering feeling that this might go down on the 2nd half. That's why, I'm keeping my expectations low. Well, Hyun Bin's dimples will keep me going on the 2nd half, right??

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I'm with you on this - though this feels like the general consensus with everyone. What a jaded bunch we are...

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There's no escaping from those dimples ;)

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I keep telling everyone, that its ok. If the plot goes south (literally and figuratively), Hyun bin will be sporting a stylish hair and that nothing else will matter.

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I still have a PTSD twitch from the MOA recaps and two months of people using Hyun Bin's dimples to excuse crappy writing. So... no. Please, God, no.

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Thank you for this @egads.

that is all I can respond with - just thanks for pointing that out about MOA...

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Here's to hoping the writing won't be as crappy as MOA.

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Ah, Hyun Bin. First time I saw you was way back in 2005 in Kim Sam Soon and now here we are. I'm really loving his character in this one.

I actually loved Seri from the first time she was shown. Yes, she's spoiled but look at her environment and how she grew up. Tbh, I don't think she's that bad of a character? We have a strong, independent woman who is doing her own thing and she's flawed. I think that's great. I'm tired of the virtuous, seemingly perfect female heroine so Seri is pretty refreshing.

Not gunna lie, it is slightly awkward to watch this kdrama with the whole North Korea element since I'm Korean American. But I'm trying to suspend that for this drama to enjoy both the pretty faces of Hyun Bin and Sohn Yejin.

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I also loved her immediately. It's clear she's a spoiled brat, but she's also intelligent, cunning, and talented. And she's about to correct her biggest flaw. Love it.

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I liked it, in fact I was so charmed I told my friend I would wait for her to watch it. What really sold me though was the scene after the credits, when he sees her frustrated and is charmed. I'm really excited, but this will be the last comment I make on the show until my friend and I watch it😔

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The episode was not terrible but if you suspended belief on the premise and the story lines, it was an easy watch.
What may save this show is that it is not taking itself too seriously. To start off SYJ's character in a mediaplay dating scandal (it is all a business opportunity to her) after the leads dating denial was breaking through the fourth wall to wave a finger at the shippers. And references to a dream sequence foretells more fantasy (Wizard of Oz) than realism. A fish-out-of-water roller coaster ride is what we can now hope for.

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Yay!! Thoroughly enjoyed the pilot episode. It was funny, ridiculous, OTT, gorgeously shot, some bad CGI etc. loved it nevertheless.

Hyun Bin - we didn’t see much of him but The little smile sneak peak was all that I needed

Kim Jung Hyun - welcome back!! Stay healthy.
He looks suave. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

And yes!! I love the boy squad already. We need more of them in the coming episodes.

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The question I keep asking myself after watching the first ep is "How on Earth is the premise of this show absolutely absurd yet it still works?". I was skeptical of Crash Landing on You since the synopsis was published many moons ago. Then the promos came out and made me curious. Then I found myself watching the first episode. Definitely had my eyes rolled into the back of my head for the first 20 minutes. But all of a sudden I started laughing. I started liking the characters. And the world started to make sense a bit...

Maybe this is kdrama magic or maybe I've been duped and this will all come crashing down in the next few weeks. But right now I am here for it.

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They are sneaky that way, these kdramas, but there must be something wrong with me that I keep getting sucked in anyway.

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The tornado scene with the flying tractor - straight out of Wizard of Oz, the fantasy. So I'm going with fantasy...

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I've got to say, this drama is really a breath of fresh air! I thought it would have a more serious tone due to the South/North Korean conflict and all that other political stuff, but I was pleasantly surprised!

I loved all the funny little antics and comedic lines in the drama and each character really held their own. I seriously giggled every time it panned to Jung Hyuk and he has a stone-faced look. The contrast of his seriousness and her over the top silliness really cracked me up! And Jung Hyuk's little crew of ducklings were just so endearing! I have a feeling they are all going to be one big happy family! I hope there are more scenes with them!

I'm also loving what I'm seeing so far between Jung Hyuk and Se-ri and can't wait for more OTP interactions! I can already feel the sizzling chemistry that's yet to come!

Crash Landing on You is definitely going to be my crack drama for the winter!

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My overall favorite scene was the epilogue where Jung Hyuk smiled at Se-Ri while she was up in the tree, yelling into the broken walkie-talkie. It was such a sweet scene, really. It made his stern, stone-faced North Korean officer demeanor feel just a little human and I loved that. I'm living for the ending edits because they just give you a little surprise every time.

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omo. Ok i had incredibly low expectations for this drama, but I am here for it now. this was so much fun! my favorite thing is when dramas nail the incredibly tricky balance between believable and unbelievable, and so far this is spot on. I'm not going to watch anymore until it's all aired, because Netflix+second season nonsense, but i am incredibly incredibly excited now.

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ugh i just re-read this, and i would like to issue a public apology to you all and to the word incredibly for all the times i overused it. terrible writing. really, (dare i say) incredibly bad.

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Reminds me of the week I used 'heartbreaking' for every sad scene or scene where I cried. I tend to do the whole reuse words a lot too. These past two weeks I guess the word is 'empathy', heh.

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Also the times I have used 'heh' itself.

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I'm beginning to get used to being duped by Netflix, so I'm just going for it.

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Like the bulk of commenters I had zero expectations for this show. I've actually never seen Hyun Bin in anything (yet), I did like Son Ye-jin in SITR, and I was mostly curious as how an SK show might portray NK. That being said...

This show had me at the mine scene. Like, as Captain Ri stepped on a live one, I realized I'd done the same in watching this. That scene was just magical in its subdued hilariousness. Hyun Bin's quiet 'Ruh Roh' face, Ye-jin's triumphant grin, their banter - it was pretty pitch perfect. And as the episode continued and we got to learn more about the supporting cast, I feel like there's a really strong ensemble here and a writer/PD team who's prone to whimsy without all the over-the-top facials/slapstick that we've seen elsewhere this year.

I'm also excited for the meta potential of the soldier who's obsessed with kdramas. There's some comedy gold hidden in there for sure.

So, yeah, I'm on board. And since I'm live-watching, I may need to start sourcing some tunes for 'Crash Landing on You: The Musical' (open to recos).

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Ooops... Slow work day, so here comes Crash Landing on You: The Musical.

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Oh, oh. It's my first Hyun Bin drama. What should I binge watch to learn more about my new k-drama boyfriend?

Also, Se-Ri's structured suits are giving me Grace Jones flashbacks. (You're gonna poke someone's eyes out with those shoulder pads!) And Jung-Hyuk in uniform is so very, very pleasing.

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His most popular dramas are My Lovely Kim Sam Soon, Secret Garden and Memories of Alhambra. If you haven't seen any of those, you most definitely should.

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I've added them to my cue. Perfect for winter break binging!😉

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I've only seen him in Secret Garden and My Lovely Kim Sam Soon, but I like him a lot better in the movie "Late Autumn". He plays a gigolo in Seattle who spends a few days with a woman on leave from prison.

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Oh, yeah, I loved Late Autumn. Holds the record for the longest k-drama kiss.

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That kiss did seem very long. Interesting that the actress, Tang Wei, was rumored to have been dating Hyun Bin but now she's married to that film's director.

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