Why Crash Landing on You is the Best K-Drama I Have Ever Seen
Ever since I got introduced to K-Pop, I have shown more interest in watching Korean dramas, aka K-Dramas. I have seen some great ones, others have been hit-or-miss. However, one that particularly caught my eye was Crash Landing On You. The story follows the star-crossed romance between a North Korean army captain named Ri Jeong-hyeok and a South Korean businesswoman and heiress named Yoon Se-ri who meet by chance when the latter gets caught in a tornado while paragliding that causes her to “crash land” in North Korea. After several failed attempts to return to her overprivileged life in the South, Se-ri must adapt to the humble North Korean lifestyle and eventually makes some real friends with Jeong-hyeok’s comrades Pyo Chi-su, Kim Ju-meok, Park Gwang-beom, and Geum Eun-dong, who assist Jeong-hyeok with hiding her from the authorities, as well as the village wives aka the ajummas. Eventually she and Jeong-hyeok fall in love, both of them going to extremes to protect the other whenever things go south. I have heard a lot of buzz about this series that I decided to see if it indeed lived up to its hype.
I initially found this series overrated but I slowly but surely started getting into it. The show was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. I normally don’t cry when watching movies/TV shows but this show managed to make me shed a few tears, especially in a powerful scene in the finale where Jeong-hyeok is getting taken away in handcuffs once he crosses the NK/SK border and Se-ri tearfully runs to her lover to bid him goodbye complete with a shot of the star-crossed lovers passionately embracing in the middle of the NK and SK border security officers holding each other at gunpoint. Take away the love story and this show, in my opinion, also does a good job at depicting the harsh reality of the divide between NK and SK as I found myself sympathizing with the non-villain North Korean characters. A non-romantic scene that made me tear up in particular was the North Korean orphan boy desperately stealing food to feed his sister, giving a painful reminder that there are many kids like them out there in real life, and not just in North Korea.
The chemistry between the lead actors Hyun Bin and Son Ye-Jin is through the roof that it’s no wonder they tied the knot in real life. The actors of antagonists Cho Cheol-gang (the corrupt NK lieutenant-commander in the Ministry of State Security who arranged the murder of Jeong-hyeok’s brother and becomes suspicious of Se-ri after Jeong-hyeok must declare that she is his fiancee when she is caught hiding in his house by Cho), Yoon Se-hyung and Go Sang-ah (Se-ri’s antagonistic brother and sister-in-law, the latter of whom wants to take over Se-ri’s company Se-ri’s Choice), who all actively plot against our protagonists, do a good job at making you hate their characters. Even the supporting characters who I found either annoying or didn’t care much about in the beginning, grew on me, especially Jeong-Hyeok’s comrades, who ended up becoming my favorite characters. They provided some much needed comic relief to all the love story/NK vs SK drama, especially when they see Seoul for the first time, but without coming across as caricatures and while still having character, acting more like real brothers to Se-ri than her own flesh and blood. A specific example being when the youngest member Eun-dong, who is just 17 years old and has 9 more years of military service to complete, expresses a desire to go to school like any other kid his age. I also enjoyed the camaraderie of the village wives, as well as their interactions with Se-ri. The actor for Man-bok (the NK wiretapper who is coerced by Cheol-gang and feels immense guilt for being forced to facilitate Jeong-hyeok’s brother’s death) did a good job at portraying his desperation to earn Jeong-hyeok’s forgiveness. Even second male lead Gu Seung-jun, the SK con-man on the run after stealing from Seri’s brother Se-hyung’s company, who I didn’t care much for in the beginning. He arguably got more character development than Jeong-hyeok, as while the latter may live under dictatorial rule, he can get away with almost anything thanks to his father being the Director of the General Political Bureau. He must hide from South Korean officials in North Korea and has no connections to pull his strings whatsoever.
Towards the end of the series, I found myself sympathizing with the second female lead Seo Dan, Jeong-hyeok’s affluent ex-fiancee. At first she appears to be the stereotypical jealous bitter arranged fiancee upset that the man of her dreams has fallen in love with another woman and seems to be created for the sole purpose of coming between the main couple until it is revealed that she had feelings for Jeong-hyeok since before they got engaged and he never made an attempt to reciprocate those feelings or at least politely tell her that he didn’t feel the same way. Especially given that SPOILER: he had met Se-ri in Switzerland when traveling with Dan. And things get even worse from there when she starts to fall for Gu Seung-jun, thus creating another SK/NK love story but he SPOILER: dies after saving her life, utterly devastating her and serving as an ironic echo to when he said no one will mourn him. This couple felt forced together for me but they still managed to have great chemistry in the little screen time they had together and ended tragically.
The series had a perfect bittersweet ending with Jeong-hyeok and Se-ri still finding a way to be together but not without the reality of the conflict between their countries. This is a series I would recommend to anyone who is a K-Drama fan and I give it a 10/10. Great acting, insane chemistry between the leads, beautiful visuals, and interesting characters. The show perfectly balances comedy, drama, romance, and suspense. I am currently on my second viewing and it is even better than the first, back when I thought it would just be another show I would be one and done with.
