First Impression: The Lover/더러버
Mnet's The Lover is a drama that depicts 4 couples living together in the same apartment complex. This a really interesting concept because the couples are not married and chose to live together versus what we usually see in dramas that force couples to suddenly move in together i.e. pregnancy or disapproving families. While we do see that one of our couples does have someone who doesn't agree with their cohabitation choices, it's obvious this was a choice both made together. I am not sure the percentage of Korean couples living together before marriage, but it seems this show is aiming to depict something that's everyday life for those who choose this. It's trying to say it's wrong or right, but this is the reality for many couples.
We're introduced to our couples in what seems like a regular day, nothing special. Oh Do Si (Oh Jung Se) and Ryoo Doo Ri (Ryu Hyun Kyung) is our main couple who have been living together for 2 years and chose not to get married. Do Si a voice actor who barely gets any work while Doo Ri is a reviewer who runs a blog. These two seem to have a relationship where she appears to be in control and harsh at times, but her love for him is quite obvious. For Do Si, he has to love Doo Ri or else he wouldn't have stayed as long as he has. Doo Ri has a younger brother, who happens to be unemployed, that doesn't agree with his noon living with her boyfriend and doesn't miss any chances at telling her ho whe feels even though she could care less about his opinions. He goes as far as saying he hopes she's on birth control if she's having sex every night. If anyone is following me on Twitter, you'll know this entire scene angered me. Never mind the fact that I felt the actor was a little lackluster, the simple fact that he is even thinking about how much his sister has sex is disturbing enough. Doo Ri is in her thirties and can take care of herself, I hope we either don't see him again or calms himself down next time he visits, Do Si can't keep giving him money to get him to be nice.
Our second couple is Jeong Yeong Joon (Jung Joon Young) and Choi Jin Nyeo (Choi Yeo Jin), they have been living together for a year and happen to be 12 years apart. Jin Nyeo is described as a penny pinching ahjumma stuck in a hot woman's body, she takes care of her boyfriend who happens to be in a band. This couple fights a lot, but manage to make up as soon as they argue. Jin Nyeo seems to be more in control in this relationship, but Yeong Joon doesn't follow everything she says . He's immature and can appear to be too much for Jun Nyeo, but he's a sweetheart towards her when needed. We're not given enough background on these two make a full assumption on why they chose to live together, but knowing Jin Nyeo is the noona it's safe to say that she's been on her quite a while and Yeong Joon is always by her side.
We move on to not-yet-a-couple-but-will-they-be-together? couple: Lee Joon Jae (Lee Jae Joon) and Takuya (Cross Gene's Terada Takuya). Joon Jae likes his space and quietness, but when he gets behind on his rent he has to get a roommate. Enter Takuya, a man who is on his last stop on his world travels in Korea. From the beginning there is a spark between these, but the main reason Joon Jae let Takuya in is because he is Japanese thus he assumes the man can't speak Korean very well automatically giving him his space. But Takuya is very talkative and thinks it's a shame that Joon Jae doesn't really go anywhere. Since the language barrier, some words are mistaken for other terms in Korean which have Joon Jae saying yes or no to even if he isn't too sure what his new roomie actually means - or does he?? The two are put on compromising situations from sharing a bed to Takuya sleepily putting his pants in Joon Jae's face. Something tells me this will be a fan favorite couple.
The last couple to be introduced is newly engaged Park Hwan Jong (Park Jong Hwan) and Ha Seol Eun (Ha Eun Seol) who have been living together for roughly 2 weeks while waiting for their home to be finished. These two have been together for under a year and from the moment we're introduced, we can see they really don't know a lot about one another. Seol Eun's description says she doesn't want her man to see her as less than feminine and works to keep up that appearance, but so far I didn't see any of that. If she wants to be seen as the perfect embodiment of a feminity then moving in together was the wrong thing to do. Right off the bat, we see that Hwan Jong already has some grievances with her as she appears to eat the 'good' stuff from their meals and leaves him with the less-than-desirable portions. She's either in denial about her habits or is fully aware and tries not to change it. Hwan Jong doesn't seem like the type to be very vocal about what's not happy with seeing as as long Seol Eun is happy then he's okay, but it won't last very long. They both give off that new relationship vibe that shows how much of themselves they're hiding from their partners. Time will tell if they can break down those walls and become more open with one another.
While watching this drama, I was less than 3 minutes in before I realized why this drama is airing on a cable network. They aren't shy about showing real life or "adult" situations which makes this drama all the more worth it. From Takuya using a Japanese word for sweats that also means 'dick' in Korean causing some confusions for Joon Jae to Yeong Joon and Jin Nyeo openly talking about condoms. Some things feel very explicit and others may need some thinking before you actually get the double meaning. This isn't your regular K-drama that sometimes alludes to sex, it's actually mentioned quite a few times with one person wanting her partner to 'cuss her out' in the middle of it. These are real people being depicted in which most viewers can either see themselves or someone they know in one of the characters. Is this drama worth it? If you're up for an in-your-face no holds bar drama that shows how adults in relationships can actually act then yes I'd say it's for you.
We move on to not-yet-a-couple-but-will-they-be-together? couple: Lee Joon Jae (Lee Jae Joon) and Takuya (Cross Gene's Terada Takuya). Joon Jae likes his space and quietness, but when he gets behind on his rent he has to get a roommate. Enter Takuya, a man who is on his last stop on his world travels in Korea. From the beginning there is a spark between these, but the main reason Joon Jae let Takuya in is because he is Japanese thus he assumes the man can't speak Korean very well automatically giving him his space. But Takuya is very talkative and thinks it's a shame that Joon Jae doesn't really go anywhere. Since the language barrier, some words are mistaken for other terms in Korean which have Joon Jae saying yes or no to even if he isn't too sure what his new roomie actually means - or does he?? The two are put on compromising situations from sharing a bed to Takuya sleepily putting his pants in Joon Jae's face. Something tells me this will be a fan favorite couple.
The last couple to be introduced is newly engaged Park Hwan Jong (Park Jong Hwan) and Ha Seol Eun (Ha Eun Seol) who have been living together for roughly 2 weeks while waiting for their home to be finished. These two have been together for under a year and from the moment we're introduced, we can see they really don't know a lot about one another. Seol Eun's description says she doesn't want her man to see her as less than feminine and works to keep up that appearance, but so far I didn't see any of that. If she wants to be seen as the perfect embodiment of a feminity then moving in together was the wrong thing to do. Right off the bat, we see that Hwan Jong already has some grievances with her as she appears to eat the 'good' stuff from their meals and leaves him with the less-than-desirable portions. She's either in denial about her habits or is fully aware and tries not to change it. Hwan Jong doesn't seem like the type to be very vocal about what's not happy with seeing as as long Seol Eun is happy then he's okay, but it won't last very long. They both give off that new relationship vibe that shows how much of themselves they're hiding from their partners. Time will tell if they can break down those walls and become more open with one another.
While watching this drama, I was less than 3 minutes in before I realized why this drama is airing on a cable network. They aren't shy about showing real life or "adult" situations which makes this drama all the more worth it. From Takuya using a Japanese word for sweats that also means 'dick' in Korean causing some confusions for Joon Jae to Yeong Joon and Jin Nyeo openly talking about condoms. Some things feel very explicit and others may need some thinking before you actually get the double meaning. This isn't your regular K-drama that sometimes alludes to sex, it's actually mentioned quite a few times with one person wanting her partner to 'cuss her out' in the middle of it. These are real people being depicted in which most viewers can either see themselves or someone they know in one of the characters. Is this drama worth it? If you're up for an in-your-face no holds bar drama that shows how adults in relationships can actually act then yes I'd say it's for you.
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