Shin Sung Rok Sings for the Lovers of Music OST as the Drama Plot Heads into the Amnesia Crapper

I feel for viewers of Lovers of Music (Trot Lovers) that are still watching because of genuine love for this drama. Up until this point it’s been middling but enjoyable, the stuff that I watch with judicious use of the FF-button and deriving decent kicks from scenes here and there. The most decent and rootable character remains Jung Eun Ji‘s Choi Chun Hee. I want her to get whatever the hell she wants and deserves in this drama. Jung Eun Ji is such a real entertainer, she has none of the airs or superficiality of many of the young actresses out there and her face and figure is gorgeously natural. She feels like a cool roommate who will assemble your IKEA furniture with you without bitching and then later have a beer and then bitch about the douchey guys down the hall who wouldn’t help. The problem with this drama really is all about the story and execution, and now both have gone in the crapper thanks to episode 11’s flamingo dive into the cesspool of amnesia. I was barely tolerating Ji Hyun Woo‘s Jung Joon Hyun up until now, he got better in the last few episodes only to have the plot dump him right back to the beginning after being bonked in the head by a falling stage light and reverting back to the pre-CCH asshole he used be. Ugh, this is so NO in terms of inane plot twist and NO in terms of delivering exactly what never worked about this drama. And two NOs does not make a YES! In case folks think I’m second lead shipping because I stuck Shin Sung Rok‘s eccentric and straightforward Gun Woo on the top, the answer is I’m not second lead shipping because Chun Hee doesn’t like him and instead likes Joon Hyun and I think Chun Hee is smart and capable enough to know which guy she likes so I’ll respect her decision all the way. Shin Sung Rok is on top because his scene was the only good on in this episode as he sings for Chun Hee and also the drama capitalized on his singing prowess by releasing the latest OST sung by Shin Song Rok.

I don’t think amnesia is always a bad plot device. It’s a contrivance, yes, but if used rarely and judiciously actually has really compelling pay-offs. Think Bae Yong Jun in Winter Sonata, his amnesia had multiple levels of issues to resolve and allowed the drama to milk super angsty scenes when he didn’t remember his first love. Using amnesia here smells like cow dung left out in the hot sun, stinking to high heaven with the desperation of creating conflict by using lame filler separation. Joon Hyun’s amnesia means nothing because he just turned into a decent nice guy and started having feelings and dating Chun Hee. She too just started liking him back. That was sweet but nothing that would anchor the ensuing angst were he to forget her. Imagine your new boyfriend forgetting you, that would suck but nothing to be all like “woe is me” about. Joon Hyun getting amnesia is simply to make Chun Hee’s life suck and that feels like the entire premise of this drama. Chun Hee’s life sucked in the beginning when her dad abandoned her and her little sister with debt and she’s forced to sing for a living. She’s barely starting to get her life back on track and having a modicum of singing success when suddenly it’s all upended because of Joon Hyun’s amnesia. What the fuck? She didn’t have either her singing or Joon Hyun for long enough for me to feel bad that she lost it, I just feel shitty because this whole conflict is manufactured rather than organic.

I really enjoy watching Shin Sung Rok’s performance as Gun Woo and his second male character is neat and weird enough to feel refreshing. His feelings for Chun Hee are sweet even if there’s a tendency to be overreaching, but at the same time he’s mature enough to step back when he’s rejected. I like him wayyyyy better than Joon Hyun but if Chun Hee wants Joon Hyun then I’m cool with that. Ultimately this drama doesn’t have a compelling romance any way I look at it but the music is nice and there are occasionally fun scenes to liven up the watch. Shin Sung Rok’s OST is decent but the treat is listening to his singing style which is really more stage-oriented and shows with a lot of confidence and improvisation quality. This song isn’t all that memorable if he wasn’t singing it but the best track from the drama OST so far is still the second OST “Be Opposite” by Beige.

Shin Sung Rok “Boiling” OST:


Comments

Shin Sung Rok Sings for the Lovers of Music OST as the Drama Plot Heads into the Amnesia Crapper — 22 Comments

  1. It’s a Krap Broadcasting Services/Killjoy Broadcasting System “romcom” – this meltdown was only a matter of when and how. This is the third Mon/Tue “romcom” they’ve sucked all the rom and com out of. Remember, if you dare, the way the return of the zombie wife destroyed PMAI or the way Mirae ended up apparently incapable of making any damn seontaek at all. I went into this one with eyes wide open open, hoping they wouldn’t do it again, but expecting that they would. And they have.

    • Haha i know right. MHIYD was a total letdown. It’s like the bad aftertaste that u can’t seems to get over with. I love yoon eun hye and she seems to MIA right now. I hope she’ll come back soon with a great drama coz i really2 want to forget MHIYD.

  2. I would really appreciate it if you won’t write spoilers in the post title šŸ™
    As it kills enjoyment for people like me who are waiting to marathon this later..

    • I kind of agree with this.

      Though now that I know there’s a lame amnesia plot, I’m probably not go to marathon it :p…..

      I have to get caught up on Joseon Gunman, though :).

    • To be fair, it doesn’t say who gets amnesia. It really could have been anyone.

      And to be honest, knowing someone gets amnesia doesn’t spoil the Story. The Story itself does that.

      Oh, web speculation guessed this story turn ever since a song entitled “Remember Me” became part of the OST. It was only a question of time that someone got amnesia.

    • Er, sorry about that but it’s going to happen from time to time. The best way to shield yourself from spoilers in dramas that have already aired is to avoid drama discussion sites. If it’s a dealbreaker like “She’s a GIRL!” in Crying Game then I’ll avoid but almost any other event that happens in drama episodes that have already aired is game to be discussed in either the title or the body of post.

    • Wouldn’t it be more surprising if they didn’t use the amnesia trope, because it is used in what feels like 99,9% of the Kdramas? *irony mode off*

      Thank you Miss Koala, because due to your headline I’m most definitely staying away from this show I was hesitant to watch anyway. You saved me a lot of lifetime. <3

  3. As i watch ep 11, i said to myself “so the writer wants to go down that path” and sigh. I mean whyyyy oh whyyyy. I was happy enough seeing everything goes in place in ep 10. And then here comes amnesia the most ridiculous reason of all. Anyway captain koala, have u watch temptation? Suprisingly i kind of like the storyline. It’s unpredictable and everyone is acting very well. It’s been a while i care about every character in a drama.Temptation easily leaves trot lovers behind in term of rating and i can see why.

  4. I was transfixed watching him sing. I felt slightly nervous for him and didn’t know what the character had in mind – whether he was good and wanted to impress her or if he was bad but wanted to make an impression on her.

    He started softly then he got stronger and his movements were amazing. Huuuuuge smile on my face. I hated that the purpose of the scene was to have Renewed Ass Hat watching her, and she didn’t get to be amused by his adorable tallness. They didn’t even show the whole song!

    Aneeeeway. Agree that bringing back the Jerkface pissed me off, too. It isn’t what viewers want to see with JHW. We want warmth, smiles, kisses, singing. We want him to play lettuce farmer with Byul and cook food.

    I love your description of JEJ’s appeal. Throw in that the girl can sing anything in tune anytime with heart. I want to hang out with her, too!!

    • I, too, agree about JEJ. Get this girl another lead right away! I would love to see her in some sort of road trip show because she seems definitely the kind of person who you could go on .a road trip with.

      And it is important to have that kind of friend! Do you know IKEA charges at least an extra $85 for assembly?!?!

    • It’s not like the OTP falling in love process was all that awesome to begin it. It was barely serviceable. To do it ALL OVER AGAIN is so brain dead on the part of the writer.

      • We just fastforward any scenes that doesn’t have Shin Sung Rok (love this guy and NOW his singing too) in it… He is adorable, unique looking and very talented. Please do NOT make him play a bad guy again…

      • Exactly this! It wasnt awesome or near to that, actually it was bad. Specially for CH. Even if I force myself to understand why this CH girl would fall in love with that guy, I cant find any answer! b/c love is blind…ohh yeah yeah, bla bla… And CH was smitten-or whatever you call it- with GW. And bc of that forceful kiss she suddenly realized she has feeling for JH?? WTH! You say you okey with CH loving JH but imma not okey. And bc of this matter I dont even like CH anymore… This is exacly like how EmergencyCraple made feel. But even so I’m dling this drama and will marathone only GW scenes later.

  5. Thanks for the plot warning. I’ve given this drama way too much slack for the writing, just cuz I love CCH. Too bad it’s getting worse. I don’t mind amnesia at the beginning of a drama, but in the middle or end, it’s just like you said–manufactured.

  6. Yep, the shark was jumped big time last night. For me to say that is HUGE. I normally just watch and don’t complain when things get silly. But… This is downright stupid. And the sad thing is, I don’t want it to get more stupid! Why drama writers, WHY? Did you run out if ideas? Bah. What a disaster. I will keep watching simply because that darn SSR is so dang handsome. Is it me, or is getting better and better looking as he ages? Oh. Excuse me. My shallowness is showing…

  7. The whole amnesia trope is doubly bad, here – not only were our lovers not together long enough for us to angst over their separation, but the re-set of Joon’s personality proves that his true nature is to be a jerk – that only the influence of CCH and Byul make him, temporarily, a decent human being. So instead of a hero who has a cold exterior but a warm heart underneath, we have a selfish hero who was for a brief time charmed into being a relatively nice person. The amnesia shows that Joon was not redeemed, at all – given a bop on the head he goes right back to his natural horrible behavior.
    The writing in this show is so lame I feel truly sorry for the actors. I was so looking forward to JHW’s comeback drama, and it has turned out to be such a shabby production that I won’t watch it. And his hair still bugs me. I’m extremely Cranky over this whole fiasco.

    • More than the hair, the make-up is THE WORST EVER EVER EVER in the universe.

      The crew should be fired, or better, should be forced to walk around in the make-up they are putting on their leads.

      White face, red neck, redder hands – dead giveaway.
      At one point, SSR looked like he was wearing a mask. Both JEJ and JHW would look 200X better if they were more natural. I don’t understand this at all.

      • The make up makes everyone look like they are on a Kabuki stage. It’s beyond terrible, the foundation matching is simply bizarre. Is the make up artist blind?

  8. Totally agree with you about amnesia in these drama series. It’s been done, redone, overdone, and now wastefully done just to fill in the script… The writing upsets me but at least the actors are consistently showing their professionalism.

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