Two Weeks continues to look up and up as its gets nearer to its premiere in…..two weeks! Heh, I just had to do that. If I Hear Your Voice didn’t get a 2-episode extension, then The Master’s Sun would be airing next week and get a one week head start on Two Weeks, but now both new dramas premiere on the same day so it’ll be interesting to see how the ratings shake out. I don’t have a dog in this race since I’m planning to watch both so let the domestic audience make their preference known through the ratings. The second preview was just released today and continues to ratchet up the excitement for this drama. Unlike the first preview showing just Lee Jun Ki, this one gives us glimpses of all the main leads from Kim So Yeon, Park Ha Sun, Ryu Soo Young, to Jo Min Ki. And I like what I see, especially the scenes with Tae San and his just discovered daughter in the hospital. I worried that it might come off as exploitative and narratively pat, sticking a sick daughter into the life of a falsely accused fugitive to give him more teeth in his freedom quest, but how the drama handles it is in the deft hands of writer So Hyun Kyung and I give her the benefit of the doubt. I love it when Jun Ki plays a character with intensity, because even if he has the tendency to over-act a scene he still brings with it this raw pain that is straight from the gut. In the preview alone I glimpse in his eyes all sorts of emotion – anger, selfishness, futility, injustice, tenderness. I’m looking forward to the drama tackling the narrative within a two week time frame, because 24 really did it well in the first few seasons of using the ticking clock conceit to great effect without becoming a farce. Visually I know this drama will be a treat to watch since none of the characters are styled hideously on purpose and everyone looks normal and ordinary. Which is what this story ultimate seems to be about, an ordinary loser goes on an extraordinary escape and discovers a purpose in his heretofore aimless life.

Second preview for Two Weeks:

Tae San: Don’t worry about the surgery. You had the baby?!?

In Hye: It has nothing to do with you Tae San.

Tae San: Why did you give birth to her!

Sang Goo: Hey Jang Tae San!

Tae San: It wasn’t me. I said it wasn’t me!

Soo Jin (daughter): You have to give it back to me later.

Woman: It’s Jang Tae San again! Just how did you take care of things?

Moon Il Seok: Don’t come here, you bastard!