ah, the classic "make human bite dog (this case vampire" instead of dog bites human", from the movie school screenplay professor of your choice.

I love this recap! This recap is great for extra laughter after watching the episodes. Hopefully they can keep the chaotic energy throughout the series.

Many thanks solstices! You promote 2PM's MVs better than JYPE😂

Thanks for being super on top of this weecap @solstices! This was So. Much. Fun.

Episode 1 was mostly setup, for sure, but still totally enjoyable. But then episode 2 really delivered on the premise! We’ve already gotten fish out of water hijinks, drunk-on-ramyeon Woo-hyeol, AND we were treated to very cool vampire Woo-hyeol at the end. I’m so glad they didn’t drag out In-hae’s disbelief too long, I’m excited to get to the parts where she has to cover for him as they both figure out what on earth is going on with him/them.

I LOVED when she bit his neck first! It was such an unexpected move for literally everyone (him, her, me, etc.) and illustrated her character so well! She was able to open the coffin, which already makes her special, but I thought it was hilarious that it was her bite mark that alerted Woo-hyeol to the fact that she was in danger.

I love the fact that Woo-hyeol didn’t start out as a half-vampire, as some of the promos seemed to suggest, but instead became a weird hybrid because his scheme almost succeeded. I have so many questions about this cat character and why he knows so much, but am happy to wait and accept whatever wild explanation I am presented with.

That house is honestly hilarious. It looks like someone has been coming in every six months to dust for the past 100 years - and In-hae could just walk upstairs and sleep in a bed right away? The mattress didn’t disintegrate sometime in the last century? But while I had a good incredulous chuckle at all of it, I really don’t care. It doesn’t ruin anything for me, and it’s still a very cool setting for what I hope will be a big chunk of the drama.

Thank you for the recap! I love this so much!!! What a fun opening week. I was hoping for humor, but I didn't expect to laugh as much as I did. Taecyeon is charming, goofy, and cool, and the FL is strong enough to make the vampire back down😂 Lots of fun ingredients were set up this week, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

I'm actually really enjoying this drama way more than I thought I would. I wasn't even going to watch it but it airs during a time I have nothing else to watch. Can someone answer, the actress who plays the past love is not the FL, right?

Right, someone (by which I mean me) will have to seriously consider where this drama is available and watchable with subs.

I need a goofy pick-me-up for the summer!

These two episodes were fun! I had quite a few laugh out loud moments.
I have forgotten vampire logic but I guess this is Korean vampire with its own rules?

I haven’t watched much of Taec and I didn’t really like his acting in Vincenzo. I found his acting to be over the top. But for this drama his exaggerated acting works. Still not charmed but it works 😅

I do love the FL. She is charming. And I like her acting too.

looking forward to the cohabitation hijinks!

And what’s a half human half vampire. Does it mean they have both characters of humans and vampires? so basically everything goes?

It was okay, a little over the top, but watchable. I will continue on.

It was fun introduction episodes. 16 episodes look a little bit too much for this kind of story.

It's not good for the health to fall in love with a fantastic man in Kdrama world, the women always end up dead...

I'm happy to see Won Ji-Ahn in a lead role!

Solstices, thanks for the recap.

I like it, some comedy after a week of heavier fare. I liked the style of the 20’s night club . Very stylish and pretty.

I’ve already watched both episodes twice. Sure, I was sick in bed and all, but what a way to spend four hours (yes, 1x, even)! I’ve never actually laughed out loud as much at a drama as at this one, especially episode 2.

And, as with others above, our FL has all of my heart—something that rarely happens to me—which puts me in this for the ride. I found myself often more interested in her reaction to a shared situation than his. She’s so insistently present. Love it.

Hearbeat promised us high camp, and it delivered. What fun! I rarely jibe with dramaland humor, but I had a few good laugh-out-moments with this one. This show doesn’t take itself seriously at all, neither will I.

I don’t know too much about OTY but I appreciate an idol ready to make fun of himself.
Director: Mewl like a hungry cat at the windowpane.
OTY: Done
Director: Bunny hop to the ceiling as if you can fly.
OTY: Done
And does my man look fine in a suit. He may give Junho a run for his money on that count. He definitely wins the brow game.

I also really liked WJA as our FL, a great no-nonsense foil to our goofy vampire. Yes, perhaps she’s not that smart if she’s opening coffins in the cellar of an abandoned house. But that’s a genre requirement no?

As everyone said, can they sustain this level of wackiness for 16 episodes? I have my doubts. But for now, I can’t wait for the next episodes to see what these two get up to next.

What can I say? I am loving this. It was so funny I just smiled through both episodes. And what can I say about babe? He just looks gorgeous in all those suits!!

I liked all characters so far, although I'm missing present HaeSun and how she fits in the story. It will be interesting.

As for InHae, I love her. When that student entered the room and she read the signs, she just did the best for her. I can't wait to see more about her. Won Ji An was my absolute 2022 crush as I posted during last year's RoundUp, and she continues to be!!

One last thing... am I the only one who finds DoSik assitant/secretary/chauffeur a bit shady?

I've said it all on the fan wall so I'm just going to do a replay here!

Sometimes comedies almost make me believe I don't like comedy as a genre. Until something silly like Heartbeat comes around and my faith in my potential to laugh at simple jokes is completely restored.

Disclaimer: I love vampires. I like all kinds of monsters really but vamps are always at the top of that food chain. That's it though. That's all this drama had going for it. I don't care about anyone on the cast, I'm sometimes convinced kdramas forgot how to do comedy, or even decent fantasy, and I don't crave romance enough to make me ignore absurdities.

This had little chance of being any good and it certainly had no business making me laugh or becoming very curious and yet it did both!

Well done show! You did all you had to do. Just take a simple premise and explore many possible silly outcomes, laughing at the situations but not at the expense of character's credibility or audience. Tell me some of the lore so I can get behind the reasoning of the fantastical element and become intrigued. Make me care about the main characters showing their motivations and throw them in each other's path. Now, keep it up for the next 15 eps!
Ok Mr. Vampire, if you throw time travel in the mix as well how can I possibly have an impartial opinion? Second ep was as adorable as first and I only have 3 minor complaints.

1- Why is he running around hungry after being locked for a century? Let him feed! He would have bitten something even if it was just a mouse!

2- How is he not amazed by phones?

3- Mr Ko as a human even looks like a cat but he is too convenient. He appears to tell him the hows and whys and move the plot along in the most shameless way. Do I care? Not really.

ps: His suits are even better than those of a certain hotelier making waves elsewhere and he doesn't even need slowmo to do it. :P

Due to Amazon Prime making it exceedingly difficult for me to actually find (thanks to beanie guidance, discovered I could only locate it by searching by Taecyeon) and then watch this (I cannot speak to the accuracy of the subtitles, but my god can I rant about their delayed or not-at-all appearance every 10 lines or so), and the fact that I've only seen the first episode, I liked this.

I'm a vampire girl, so I'll watch pretty much any media that features them. I like the sexy, dark vampires best, but also have a soft spot for campy, goofy ones. This show tries to have it both ways and I'm not entirely sure it's successful (as tall and adorable as Taec is, and acknowledging he's won the brow game, I found the constant repetition of women gawking at his incredible handsomeness to be a bit much). The special effects are also pretty terrible, and the supporting cast needs edgier writing.

BUT I love the FL, especially the fact that she's not a reincarnated version of his first love. The actress is one of the few things I remember fondly about "Wish Upon Me" and I'm happy to see her playing a much more likeable and sympathetic character. Great choice for this role.

The tone also (mostly) works despite my misgivings as stated above. I didn't laugh much, but I smiled a lot, which is just as good. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a kpop fan and as such, have not and will not get any 2pm references, so I can't speak to any meta fun that might be happening. But I like cat man!

Right now, this show fits in nicely with the other ones I'm watching, and doesn't bore me, so I'm here for it.

Aahhhh. This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for. It’s completely ridiculous and I love it. How can Taec be so funny just *sniffing*? The old-time Hollywood horror movie sound effects are a perfect match for the over-the-top acting, cheesy visual effects, and vampire vamping.

I’m not sure how long the show can keep this up, but for now, I’m not going to nitpick or Go Crazy about nonsensical plot points. I’m just going to enjoy it.

Thanks @solstices for the great HEARTBEAT episodes one and two recap.
First off I loved both episodes. Being a guy of a certain age kpop has never been on my radar except for a few occasions and when performers enter kdramaland. Your links are terrific and giving me a needed education. I knew the first two sentences of your recap had to come from the tune “Heartbeat” and checked out the lyrics.
I tell you though, the Park Kang-hyun (Do-shik) link of him singing was a huge revelation. What a voice. A great tenor. (Being an opera buff I could picture him on stage belting out great Puccini arias. Apologies for the diversion.) A few rambling thoughts:
1. Taec, Woo Ji-an and the rest of the cast are nailing their parts. Just great. The humor was spot on;
2. The mansion and Club Shaded Oasis are the same place. Beautiful set design and I loved the early 1920s scenes. (I Shazamed the jazz tune being played and didn’t get a response so it must be ost).
One of the best lines in episode one was in the club when Dong-seob threatened someone bad mouthing Woo-hyul to “knock your fangs out”.
3. O/T. I recall that late in 2021 Taec and Junho went head to head with dramas airing simultaneously: Taec in SECRET ROYAL INSPECTOR & JOY and Junho in THE RED SLEEVE both available on Viki US. Looking only at the ratings Junho won that contest and will probably win this one as well with KING THE LAND. However, I watched both above dramas (I am passing on KTL) and SRI&J was my favorite of the two.
I will repeat something from back then, in the area of romance Taec does ‘sweet’ beautifully, leave the ‘heavy breathing’ to Junho lol.

This is my first Taec drama and I do not know if he has always been good at physical comedy and comic expressions, but this guy seems to take those scenes seriously and delivers it. Him worshipping Buddha with much dedication (as if he was a real vampire trying to become a human) made me guffaw.

Wait, no meta hyperlink for "Let's go home/to our house"?)))

This was really fun, tho I had to FF a lot in Ep2 due to my weak tolerance for excessive cringe. But mad respect for actors, esp Taec, for going all out with it anyway. Vampire/supernatural squad are a hoot (cat spirit, bwahaha!), humor is mostly nice (telling pranking ghosts off since he's no human lol! and ramen drunkenness!), retro suits fashion show was A+, campy CGI didn't stick out the wrong way (all the flying!) and I really felt ML's anguish, poor guy is so unlucky! Btw, isn't it a discrimination to say that since vampires nave no human-like physical reactions to being in love they can't have such feelings at all? He seemed pretty serious about his first love, lack of a fluttering heart notwithstanding. I do wonder why couldn't he just fall in love with some vampire lady and solve his problem this way, but alas, bad romantic karma is a real bitch and can happen to the best of us. Now the real question is whether FL is The One he's been waiting for or we're in it for a genre trope defying twist later on? I've seen from cast list that there is going to be some confusion over the matter...

Now for the not so great parts - FL being THIS close to your typical insufferable romcom Candy gives me eyeroll. Does she have to screech so much? Or open random coffins and then act like it's not a super rude thing to do? Plus this whole tropey "poor girl's misfortune galore" was AWFUL. I mean, I expected tried tropes here, but this was a little too much for me. Hope now that she knows his true nature - and has a nice house to live in - she calms down significantly cause I'm not gonna torture my poor ears with the next HJE even for cutie Taec with fake fangs. Reverse bite was fun though. Creative way to bind a man to you. How far the connection goes, I wonder? Also some "funny" scenes/dialogues were over the top. That one vampire minion obsessed with looks is totally overdoing it, even actor's charisma can't save the poor writing. I do feel sorry that 20th century flashbacks were so scarce, they were cool. Re-open the club, maybe? That's the business that never goes out of fashion and ML already has experience in the field, so why not? Oh, and SML can go and donate himself to science - I don't get what's the deal with him nor do I care, honestly.

I like that they aren't another fated couple meeting coincidentally but share a real connection. Better both are aware of it so no need to wait for them to learn about it.

It might be just me but too good to be true second leads turn out to be obsessive or harbouring deep secrets. But I won't jump the gun. Time will tell if Do, -sik is really a good guy or not.

I am enjoying the hilarious moments. Taecyeon is doing a good job at making those moments feel real and not forced. Can't the cohabitation start already?

Thanks for the recap! I really enjoyed these first two episodes. So many great moments between the leads.

I think the thing that got me about the bite reversal was once she realized it was working, she dug in even harder. If she doesn't end up being the reincarnation of the first love interest, she'll have been a pit bull in a past life lmao

I haven't watched these episodes yet and am debating whether or not to get an amazon prime membership. I'm very thankful for the recap, especially with your opening line! I used to listen to 2PM songs. Heartbeat is such a classic.

👏👏👏👏👏 Well done solstices, I think even Taecyeon would be chuffed by your clever word play.
Since TOTNT has finished there has been a noticeable gap for light hearted hijinks and I think this show might help fill that void.
I really enjoyed these episodes, it was just plain fun.
We have another feisty, female lead which is great to see and I like the contrast between the two leads.
Like others have expressed, 16 episodes may be too long but so far it's entertaining and that's all I'm looking for.
It also helps that Taecyeon looks very dapper in a suit, he is giving Junho a run for his money.

I got suspicious vibes from our second male lead, Do-shik. The hint of an illness also seems important. The first episode mentioned humans craving vampire blood for its powers. Perhaps this includes vampiric healing abilities. It's probably too soon to make such predictions, but I can't help but imagine the second lead desiring our male lead's blood at some point.

As others have already written, I do wonder how the writers will be able to keep the story compelling and interesting for fourteen more episodes.

I personally think the first two episodes were okay, but Taecyeon is doing a good job with the comedy. :)

i was struggling with the weird "flying" scene in the start. The word "campy" is definitely the best (and only) word to use to sum up this drama.
You can always count on Taecyeon to go for the unserious roles :')))

I'm going through the comments (again) just to quote my own comment to my own face:

So, I will be waiting a few weeks before binge-watching 4 or 6 episodes in one evening and rocking a charming zombie face on the next morning.

We said we'd wait a few WEEKS. We clearly said weeks. What happened? Why have I already watched the first 2 episodes? Why? Why? Why? And more importantly, where is my self-discipline?!

I agree with @redfox that the stranded vampire in a new, modern world did feel a little forced. For those familiar with Live Up To Your Name, Joseon acupuncture expert Heo Im does manage to navigate his way through modern day's Seoul. Admittedly, he gets temporarily confused and assumes that ambulances are free taxis, but he can decrypt the Korean signs and find architectural elements to use as reference points. He is taken aback by modern civilisation, and I would expect an early 20th century vampire to be too. However, Woo-hyul has seen early 1920s cars, he's seen the world evolve as his life spans across several centuries (even if we exclude the nearly 100 years he spent as a fangful sleeping beauty in a coffin). Why is he so lost? Don't get me wrong, I have no sense of orientation and have been known to use sat nav devices to navigate my way in a single street (I'd love to come up with one convincing argument to my defence but the truth is that spatial orientation and myself have been respectful enemies my entire life). But Woo-hyul is not me. Surely, being his age, he can tell east from west...? I guess after a few centuries roaming around and stuffing yourself with garlic in direct sunlight, you develop a vague sense of orientation (and questionably bad breath).

That being said, the delightful hissing and little bunny hops trying to unlock his weak vampire abilities after a 100-year-long nap, were hilarious. And, it felt to me that it would have appeared a lot more forced in the hands of someone else. On paper, I'd have rolled my eyes and been annoyed at the scene. But, fair play to Taecyeon, his desperate and confused facial expressions did sell the deal for me. It also explains why we do seem to see his fangs appear when he first meets In-hae. That must have been the last straw depleting his vampiric energy.

Also having watched so many copy-paste drunken scenes, being drunk on ramyeon so a stroke of genius. Yes, writer-nim, what a fun idea!

The house, as everyone mentions, is intriguing. @jls943, @lixie, @elinor I join your bemused surprise: Why is everything in the house still in good working and relatively clean condition? If I don't vacuum at least once a week, my bedroom looks like that Aragog's cave in Harry Potter. Who's cleaning and maintaining all of it, and more importantly, can they come and do my home too?

So far me likes it.

This was funnier than I thought it would be, and while I have absolutely no idea about Taecyeon (I understand he is a popular idol and belongs to the same group as Junho, but I don't follow K-pop at all), I admit he has great screen presence. I absolutely love the female lead. She looks older than she is and oozes confidence.

That bite! It was so novel that I seriously doubled over and then some. I loved the part where he describes how hard it was for him in the coffin....'you are not human?' says the ghost. hahahahahaha!

That house though, how is she able to sleep, it's so creepy, not to mention dusty and windy. Also, how come his beautiful white suit did not have any disintegration for 100 years that he was in? Ah, I know logic needs to take a back seat.

I love the bite connection. Is she the past lover? Let's see where this goes.

I was prepared for all the cheesiness but some of the effects are really bad 😆 last 10 minutes of ep 2 was good,it kept my interest for the next episodes!

I'm not into vampires so I was thinking of giving Heartbeat a pass, but I was curious if it was funny so I gave episode 1 a go. More than 12 hours later, I was at episode 12. :p I'm not sure what kept my eyes glued, Taecyeon is funny hamming it up (in ep. 1 I was laughing in the scenes where he was trying to prove he was a vampire), Won Ji-An is shaping up to be someone to watch out for based on this drama.

I liked that when they were demonstrating how poor In Hae was, she was squeezing the last drop from her sample-sized skincare-not using high-end brands. I also think that the PPL is minimal on the show (the obvious ones to me are the noodles and Grandmother's Tteokbokki)?